Carefully Gabriel rose and made his own way back to the table, sinking down into his chair again and reaching for the cards. "Maybe," he admitted to Skulduggery, "but it would have been nice to see. She lost a lot today. Through her own actions, but even so--things aren't going to be easy on her for a while."
He would have to put in more effort at visiting, perhaps. But later. Right now, she needed her own space.
Gabriel smiled at Ghastly, a bit wearily but mostly just serene. "Imagine having never seen the ocean before, and then being dropped onto a beach. You'd believe, you'd know, the sea went on forever. That's what China saw. My name is already owned by Someone else, Ghastly. All that I am pales in comparison to He Who lies behind me, and it was from Him she would have had to wrest it."
In the back of his mind, he was teasing out that image. An image of a man, insane and insistent, driven by revenge. Gabe didn't quite react to Fletcher's reappearance, because he was too busy staring at his hand on the facedown cards.
Everything in a soul is tinted by that soul. Gabriel had seen that face before, in Valkyrie's--tinted by fear. In China's, it had been tinted by the same, but a different kind. Valkyrie's had been shock and pure fright.
China's was the resigned fear which came with cold intent.
Killing intent.
Gabriel looked up and directly at Valkyrie. "Valkyrie, I'm sorry to bring this up," he said, "but it could be important. Who is that man? The one who met with you at your house the night before Skulduggery and I arrived in this dimension? Not Solomon. The other one."
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He would have to put in more effort at visiting, perhaps. But later. Right now, she needed her own space.
Gabriel smiled at Ghastly, a bit wearily but mostly just serene. "Imagine having never seen the ocean before, and then being dropped onto a beach. You'd believe, you'd know, the sea went on forever. That's what China saw. My name is already owned by Someone else, Ghastly. All that I am pales in comparison to He Who lies behind me, and it was from Him she would have had to wrest it."
In the back of his mind, he was teasing out that image. An image of a man, insane and insistent, driven by revenge. Gabe didn't quite react to Fletcher's reappearance, because he was too busy staring at his hand on the facedown cards.
Everything in a soul is tinted by that soul. Gabriel had seen that face before, in Valkyrie's--tinted by fear. In China's, it had been tinted by the same, but a different kind. Valkyrie's had been shock and pure fright.
China's was the resigned fear which came with cold intent.
Killing intent.
Gabriel looked up and directly at Valkyrie. "Valkyrie, I'm sorry to bring this up," he said, "but it could be important. Who is that man? The one who met with you at your house the night before Skulduggery and I arrived in this dimension? Not Solomon. The other one."