Skulduggery stood by his earlier assessment of the situation: it was about damn time. Ghastly had teased him enough times about getting married so early - relatively early, of course, considering Skulduggery was only about 60 at the time - when the tailor had never had a real relationship in his life. Honestly. It was about damn time.
Getting dragged through that portal and all kinds of hell for a year was completely worth it, if Skulduggery's disappearance had been the trigger.
"It's a good thing we weren't going to go searching, then." Skulduggery returned Gabe's look with the barest hint of approval, mixed with a dash of gratitude. "Maybe we will when we have an Archangel who wasn't attacked by a Faceless One on the way here outside of time and space. Otherwise, we have enough trouble to deal with right in front of us."
~~
The church was exactly the same as the last time Skulduggery had set foot in this part of town. It was a low, squat dirty building that didn't look any different from the surrounding low, squat dirty buildings, in a failed attempt to keep from drawing attention to itself. The inside wasn't much better; there were pews and an altar of sorts, and Skulduggery briefly wondered what Gabe would think of that - the stolen relics of worship twisted to feature a race of dark creatures humanity wouldn't be able to begin to understand. He also wondered, just as briefly, what the man scurrying towards them now would think if he knew exactly who he would be talking to. The thought put a small smile on the detective's face.
"Can I help you?" the man asked with a sort of snobbish nasally tone, and the same holier-than-thou attitude so many worhsipers of the Faceless Ones seemed to adopt. Skulduggery couldn't remember his name, or ever having met the man before.
Ghastly spoke in place of Skulduggery, who everyone agreed should probably stay quiet and use his hidden identity as a last resort. "Has China been here recently?"
"China Sorrows?" The man glanced furtively around, suddenly not quite so holier-than-thou. "Why?"
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Getting dragged through that portal and all kinds of hell for a year was completely worth it, if Skulduggery's disappearance had been the trigger.
"It's a good thing we weren't going to go searching, then." Skulduggery returned Gabe's look with the barest hint of approval, mixed with a dash of gratitude. "Maybe we will when we have an Archangel who wasn't attacked by a Faceless One on the way here outside of time and space. Otherwise, we have enough trouble to deal with right in front of us."
~~
The church was exactly the same as the last time Skulduggery had set foot in this part of town. It was a low, squat dirty building that didn't look any different from the surrounding low, squat dirty buildings, in a failed attempt to keep from drawing attention to itself. The inside wasn't much better; there were pews and an altar of sorts, and Skulduggery briefly wondered what Gabe would think of that - the stolen relics of worship twisted to feature a race of dark creatures humanity wouldn't be able to begin to understand. He also wondered, just as briefly, what the man scurrying towards them now would think if he knew exactly who he would be talking to. The thought put a small smile on the detective's face.
"Can I help you?" the man asked with a sort of snobbish nasally tone, and the same holier-than-thou attitude so many worhsipers of the Faceless Ones seemed to adopt. Skulduggery couldn't remember his name, or ever having met the man before.
Ghastly spoke in place of Skulduggery, who everyone agreed should probably stay quiet and use his hidden identity as a last resort. "Has China been here recently?"
"China Sorrows?" The man glanced furtively around, suddenly not quite so holier-than-thou. "Why?"