... A snarky Archangel. Maybe not directly boastful, but definitely not modest, and case in point. No wonder he and Skulduggery had become such good friends. Ghastly ignored Gabe's look in favor of keeping an eye on Prave, who was still grumblingly sweeping in the corner, and making sure he didn't run off to do God-knows... who-knows-what.

A silly and unnecessary distinction, maybe, but Ghastly couldn't help feeling a little bit paranoid these days.

"I could always go get the cards," Fletcher pointed out, and after a moment, he went a light shade of red. "But I wouldn't mind more language lessons either."

Valkyrie turned to stare at him. "Really? You? You wouldn't mind more of what basically amounts to school and learning?"

"It's fun, alright?"

Valkyrie slowly shook her head and lowered her voice in case Prave was trying to eavesdrop. "Now that's a miracle if ever I saw one."

"You'd do well to take a page out of his book, Valkyrie." Skulduggery remained standing, leaning against the back of a front pew with his arms folded. "I've never met anyone with less interest in history. Well. Perhaps a couple of tree frogs, but other than that..."

"Boring history," Valkyrie corrected him. "When you're trying to tell me about how Sanctuaries were established, yeah, I tune out. That's boring. I'm a teenager, Skulduggery. I live life for the excitement."

Skulduggery cocked his head. "In that case, I'm sure you wouldn't mind telling me about the past year and everything you've been up to. Talking to a vampire. Getting attacked by a dead and psychotic madman. Is there anything else I should know?"

Valkyrie's hesitation spoke volumes, and Ghastly didn't blame her when she tried to change the subject. They'd done a few things Skulduggery would most definitely take issue with, and all of them had been Valkyrie's idea. "I also think language lessons are a good idea," she finally said fairly quickly. "Or more dogs. I still think cats are evil enough to lead us directly to him."

They ended up passing the time with a mixture of the two - an impromptu language lesson for both Fletcher and Valkyrie, since Skulduggery insisted it would be an invaluable part of her training, and discussing whether seeing a pack of cats meant one of Gabe's Fallen angels could be nearby. (As it turned out, it didn't.) There was something almost relieving about the oncoming threat of Lucifer when they could joke about him like that - as if they no longer had to take it seriously. Not that any of them were starting to think of this as a game, but it also helped pass the half an hour or so before China arrived at the church.

~~

Alternatively, for China, the time between putting her gun in her purse and arriving at the church doors was agonisingly long, and a bit of a blur. She vaguely recalled having second thoughts about the whole plan, and while it was obvious what she eventually decided, she couldn't remember the reasoning behind it. Because there was a reasoning of some kind, dark and shrouded and hidden somewhere back in the recesses of her mind.

But right now, all China felt was a cold panic, which flushed her all over again whenever she thought about how Skulduggery would react if he knew. How dangerously angry he would get. How much like killing her he would feel.

The fact that he now had a face, and she'd be able to see the dangerous anger, wasn't helping. China's imagination spun angrily out of her control, a new and frightening sensation, and clamping it down simply gave the panic free reign to terrorise.

Was she insane, now? As insane as Crux was? No. If anything, China was seeing the world with a kind of intense sharpness, more aware of everything as a whole than she'd ever been in her life. In some ways, she was more sane than most people could ever hope to be. But in spite of that - or maybe because of it - China's mind had disconnected. She wasn't doing anything clearly - thinking, panicking, remembering, or imagining.

She was becoming as uncontrolled as a regular mortal.

So when she froze in the doorway of the church and her first reaction was a bright smile, it was more out of well-worn habit than anything else.

Skulduggery still didn't know. China wouldn't have walked in alive if he had. But they must have known about her intentions somehow. Her gaze would have fallen on the Archangel - was he a mind reader? - but China found it strangely difficult to meet his eyes. Guilt? Shame? Both emotions which China had said, all her life, were useless and only got in the way?

Of course, maybe their presence there was entirely unrelated. Maybe China was so predisposed to panic at this point that it was what she naturally jumped to, even without a reason. The thought made her sick. China wasn't that far gone.

"Fancy seeing you all here." The weight of the gun in her purse seemed to press down on her mind, and China tried not to think about it. "Changed your mind about allowing this place to exist, Skulduggery?"

"China." Skulduggery nodded at her, level and calm in a way he wouldn't be if his angel told him anything about what was running through China's mind. She allowed it to disconnect even further. "We were just out for a stroll. I'm much more interested in what you're doing here."

China's throat had gone dry. China's throat had gone dry. Of all the downgrading things to happen during a panic.