And now the Archangel was apologising to her. China might have laughed if she was capable of discerning deeper meanings at the moment.
Facts rummaged around in her head looking for footholds that didn't exist. They drifted through her consciousness, following each other in some basic semblance of order, accompanied by no feeling whatsoever - only a certain kind of doomed acceptance. Somehow, someway, God existed. Gabe the American cowboy was also Gabriel the Archangel, who saw fit to rescue Skulduggery from the equivalent of a hell dimension. Gabriel himself may not come from here, but God was everywhere. The path China was walking, as Gabe put it, wouldn't lead anywhere good. Skulduggery had almost complete trust in Gabe. That feeling had to be mutual. An angel was Skulduggery's friend.
Skulduggery's angel.
Remus Crux.
The sliver of fear that crept through the shell of shock brought the rest crumbling down, and suddenly China could feel again - suddenly and violently. And it was the fear that overwhelmed her first. China had been relying on the minimal risk of Crux encountering Skulduggery, relying on that luck to hold out until her own work was finished and she could deal with the problem herself.
China no longer had that luxury. Could angels read minds? Could they hear prayers? Would Gabe know if the insane religious fanatic prayed to the Faceless Ones? And if he learned the truth, would he tell Skulduggery?
Of course he would. Time, very suddenly, became the most important thing in the world. Because if Skulduggery didn't kill her for it - and he would, probably in the most painful way he knew - the Archangel surely wouldn't let past mistakes and injustices slide, no matter how misguided they might have been. Crux needed to die before any of that happened.
China had never felt real panic before. Some vaguely cohesive academic part of her marveled at how it totally eclipsed normal, rational thought. It was like as soon as she came to the conclusion, every other drifting thought fled, crowded out of her mind. It would have been an interesting study, if this were any other moment in time. China was experiencing raw, unfettered emotion without her usual restraints, her usual control, her usual discretion. It was much, much worse than the random thoughts she didn't have any control over. At least those disappeared once she'd had them.
"I have to..." Suddenly China couldn't sit still, not until Crux was dealt with. But she couldn't even begin to come up with a suitable excuse. "I need to go."
Skulduggery was suspicious. She would recognise the way his head was tilted in her sleep, even without the slight change of expression on his face. But he didn't say anything, and so China looked toward Fletcher, the only Teleporter in the room she wasn't suddenly terrified of. "Would you mind, Fletcher?"
The boy started and looked around, uncertain. "Um... sure, I guess. Just back to your library, right?"
"Yes." China wouldn't have bothered being polite, but something unknowable spurred her on. "Thank you."
no subject
Facts rummaged around in her head looking for footholds that didn't exist. They drifted through her consciousness, following each other in some basic semblance of order, accompanied by no feeling whatsoever - only a certain kind of doomed acceptance. Somehow, someway, God existed. Gabe the American cowboy was also Gabriel the Archangel, who saw fit to rescue Skulduggery from the equivalent of a hell dimension. Gabriel himself may not come from here, but God was everywhere. The path China was walking, as Gabe put it, wouldn't lead anywhere good. Skulduggery had almost complete trust in Gabe. That feeling had to be mutual. An angel was Skulduggery's friend.
Skulduggery's angel.
Remus Crux.
The sliver of fear that crept through the shell of shock brought the rest crumbling down, and suddenly China could feel again - suddenly and violently. And it was the fear that overwhelmed her first. China had been relying on the minimal risk of Crux encountering Skulduggery, relying on that luck to hold out until her own work was finished and she could deal with the problem herself.
China no longer had that luxury. Could angels read minds? Could they hear prayers? Would Gabe know if the insane religious fanatic prayed to the Faceless Ones? And if he learned the truth, would he tell Skulduggery?
Of course he would. Time, very suddenly, became the most important thing in the world. Because if Skulduggery didn't kill her for it - and he would, probably in the most painful way he knew - the Archangel surely wouldn't let past mistakes and injustices slide, no matter how misguided they might have been. Crux needed to die before any of that happened.
China had never felt real panic before. Some vaguely cohesive academic part of her marveled at how it totally eclipsed normal, rational thought. It was like as soon as she came to the conclusion, every other drifting thought fled, crowded out of her mind. It would have been an interesting study, if this were any other moment in time. China was experiencing raw, unfettered emotion without her usual restraints, her usual control, her usual discretion. It was much, much worse than the random thoughts she didn't have any control over. At least those disappeared once she'd had them.
"I have to..." Suddenly China couldn't sit still, not until Crux was dealt with. But she couldn't even begin to come up with a suitable excuse. "I need to go."
Skulduggery was suspicious. She would recognise the way his head was tilted in her sleep, even without the slight change of expression on his face. But he didn't say anything, and so China looked toward Fletcher, the only Teleporter in the room she wasn't suddenly terrified of. "Would you mind, Fletcher?"
The boy started and looked around, uncertain. "Um... sure, I guess. Just back to your library, right?"
"Yes." China wouldn't have bothered being polite, but something unknowable spurred her on. "Thank you."