Easier said than done, when you didn't have to, but Skulduggery was startled enough to instinctively start taking deep breaths anyway. Gabe getting snarky with him was a new enough occurrence; Gabe getting snarky with him after an episode that had left the Archangel helpless the last time it happened was enough to snap Skulduggery out of the blinkered rage.
But he still watched Gabe's face as the Archangel reassured the others, searching for any sign of pain or weariness. There wasn't any. Slowly, Skulduggery forced himself to relax, to drink in the favorable outcome, even though it didn't quite add up in his mind. Whatever China tried to do, it was a mental attack. How did that equate to getting physically thrown against a wall? Skulduggery might have accused Gabe of breaking their earlier promise, if he thought Gabe was capable of consciously causing someone harm like that.
He nodded once when Gabe asked if he was ready, but didn't quite trust himself to speak yet. He trusted himself even less when Gabe explained what China had tried to do.
"She tried to..." Ghastly paused, glancing over at China's unconscious form, then back at Gabe in amazement. "She was really going to... but then she must have known who you really are. And she was going to try anyway?"
"She's certainly arrogant enough to," Tanith pointed out, heading towards China's body, tapping Ghastly on the arm as she passed him. Ghastly was startled out of his puzzlement enough to join her, and together, they hoisted China back up onto the couch.
Skulduggery had to resist the sudden urge to burst out laughing. He'd always known China was arrogant. He'd always known China was willing to do some pretty self-serving things regardless of how stupid they might have been. But trying to control an Archangel? Trying to control an Archangel? Oh, he was angry, no doubt about that. He was angry she'd even thought about attempting it. And he still wanted her to pay for it, as part of a general need for revenge the anger instilled in him. But if China would wake up insane, or broken, or... if she even woke up at all with her memory intact, that would be punishment enough. And when Skulduggery thought about it, it was really very amusing.
"How did she find out?" Valkyrie asked, misplaced concern for China written all over her face. "What made her that desperate?"
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Easier said than done, when you didn't have to, but Skulduggery was startled enough to instinctively start taking deep breaths anyway. Gabe getting snarky with him was a new enough occurrence; Gabe getting snarky with him after an episode that had left the Archangel helpless the last time it happened was enough to snap Skulduggery out of the blinkered rage.
But he still watched Gabe's face as the Archangel reassured the others, searching for any sign of pain or weariness. There wasn't any. Slowly, Skulduggery forced himself to relax, to drink in the favorable outcome, even though it didn't quite add up in his mind. Whatever China tried to do, it was a mental attack. How did that equate to getting physically thrown against a wall? Skulduggery might have accused Gabe of breaking their earlier promise, if he thought Gabe was capable of consciously causing someone harm like that.
He nodded once when Gabe asked if he was ready, but didn't quite trust himself to speak yet. He trusted himself even less when Gabe explained what China had tried to do.
"She tried to..." Ghastly paused, glancing over at China's unconscious form, then back at Gabe in amazement. "She was really going to... but then she must have known who you really are. And she was going to try anyway?"
"She's certainly arrogant enough to," Tanith pointed out, heading towards China's body, tapping Ghastly on the arm as she passed him. Ghastly was startled out of his puzzlement enough to join her, and together, they hoisted China back up onto the couch.
Skulduggery had to resist the sudden urge to burst out laughing. He'd always known China was arrogant. He'd always known China was willing to do some pretty self-serving things regardless of how stupid they might have been. But trying to control an Archangel? Trying to control an Archangel? Oh, he was angry, no doubt about that. He was angry she'd even thought about attempting it. And he still wanted her to pay for it, as part of a general need for revenge the anger instilled in him. But if China would wake up insane, or broken, or... if she even woke up at all with her memory intact, that would be punishment enough. And when Skulduggery thought about it, it was really very amusing.
"How did she find out?" Valkyrie asked, misplaced concern for China written all over her face. "What made her that desperate?"