For once, Skulduggery didn't have to make the decision. No one did. Something in China's words had told Gabe more than they told him; the Archangel was back on his feet, seemingly oblivious to the pain from before, his back tight in a way that implied something was very, very wrong. And if China's frozen reaction to it was any indication, whatever Gabriel had picked up on was something dangerous. Something Skulduggery needed to know.
'Gabriel, what?' he tried praying. Or thinking; praying didn't exactly feel like the right word anymore. 'What is it?'
If Gabe had any intention or capability of answering, he didn't have the time. Before Skulduggery could even decide to ask China something more, loud and hurried footsteps cut through the silence. Nobody moved until the owner of the footsteps was over the threshold, and then China - an expression of startling dread on her face - spun around.
She'd known it would be Crux. Who else would be walking into a Church of the Faceless right at that moment?
Skulduggery had the unsettling suspicion that they were on the cusp of something big. He just couldn't for the life of him figure out what. He knew everything China had done during the war; what could Crux possibly be holding over her? What was China so very terrified of that she didn't even want an Archangel to know?
There were times when the direct approach was easily the best way to go, and everyone being shocked into stillness was one of them. It had grown so quiet in the church that Skulduggery very distinctly heard a sound he hadn't heard in years - his own heartbeat. An illusion, obviously, but it beat very firmly in his fake chest, quickening with each passing second. It was strangely mesmerising.
Gabe hadn't answered the prayer, and China obviously wouldn't be in any kind of a state to answer questions. So Skulduggery broke the spell with a casual, friendly tone. "Ah, Crux! Just the man we wanted to see. Rumour has it you know a secret. Care to share? Tucked away in a stream of nonsense, perhaps? However you're most comfortable. I'm very good at picking apart nonsense."
The casual and relaxed tone was, of course, meant to be misleading, but in more ways than one. Under the offhanded question, Skulduggery was tense as a whip, almost hyperly alert, and his mind was working with an efficiency unusual even for him. So when the gun from China's purse appeared in her hand, aimed right at Crux's head, and had the trigger depressed with a speed that almost blurred, Skulduggery was the first to react.
The gun went off just as Skulduggery's hand snapped, as it flew from China's hand. The shot misfired and the bullet, instead of burying in Crux's skull, buried itself in the roof of the church. The gun hovered in the air above China's head for a moment, and then Skulduggery flicked his wrist and the weapon flew off to land harmlessly in a corner.
His thoughts were encased in a layer of icy calm. That was evident even in his illusory eyes, plainly visible to anyone who looked at him. It was a dangerous sort of calm that Skulduggery tended to avoid, because the ice was much too thin and much too easily broken. But at the moment, it was all he had. With Valkyrie's dangerous rescue tactics, how she'd tried to keep them secret, and everything Gabe had gone through just to bring a murderer back into a world that wasn't even his, Skulduggery's patience was already stretched past its usual mark. He was determined, now more than ever, to hear whatever it was Crux had to say.
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'Gabriel, what?' he tried praying. Or thinking; praying didn't exactly feel like the right word anymore. 'What is it?'
If Gabe had any intention or capability of answering, he didn't have the time. Before Skulduggery could even decide to ask China something more, loud and hurried footsteps cut through the silence. Nobody moved until the owner of the footsteps was over the threshold, and then China - an expression of startling dread on her face - spun around.
She'd known it would be Crux. Who else would be walking into a Church of the Faceless right at that moment?
Skulduggery had the unsettling suspicion that they were on the cusp of something big. He just couldn't for the life of him figure out what. He knew everything China had done during the war; what could Crux possibly be holding over her? What was China so very terrified of that she didn't even want an Archangel to know?
There were times when the direct approach was easily the best way to go, and everyone being shocked into stillness was one of them. It had grown so quiet in the church that Skulduggery very distinctly heard a sound he hadn't heard in years - his own heartbeat. An illusion, obviously, but it beat very firmly in his fake chest, quickening with each passing second. It was strangely mesmerising.
Gabe hadn't answered the prayer, and China obviously wouldn't be in any kind of a state to answer questions. So Skulduggery broke the spell with a casual, friendly tone. "Ah, Crux! Just the man we wanted to see. Rumour has it you know a secret. Care to share? Tucked away in a stream of nonsense, perhaps? However you're most comfortable. I'm very good at picking apart nonsense."
The casual and relaxed tone was, of course, meant to be misleading, but in more ways than one. Under the offhanded question, Skulduggery was tense as a whip, almost hyperly alert, and his mind was working with an efficiency unusual even for him. So when the gun from China's purse appeared in her hand, aimed right at Crux's head, and had the trigger depressed with a speed that almost blurred, Skulduggery was the first to react.
The gun went off just as Skulduggery's hand snapped, as it flew from China's hand. The shot misfired and the bullet, instead of burying in Crux's skull, buried itself in the roof of the church. The gun hovered in the air above China's head for a moment, and then Skulduggery flicked his wrist and the weapon flew off to land harmlessly in a corner.
His thoughts were encased in a layer of icy calm. That was evident even in his illusory eyes, plainly visible to anyone who looked at him. It was a dangerous sort of calm that Skulduggery tended to avoid, because the ice was much too thin and much too easily broken. But at the moment, it was all he had. With Valkyrie's dangerous rescue tactics, how she'd tried to keep them secret, and everything Gabe had gone through just to bring a murderer back into a world that wasn't even his, Skulduggery's patience was already stretched past its usual mark. He was determined, now more than ever, to hear whatever it was Crux had to say.