As glad as Gabe was to see Ghastly, the Archangel was acutely aware of everything in the corridor which wasn't being said. Tanith's wariness was bad. Skulduggery's wariness of Ghastly and Corrival was worse, if only because Gabe could see in them everything that Skulduggery never expected. Corrival Deuce was still wary and ready for defence--but firmly on Skulduggery's side. And Ghastly?
In Ghastly, in the way the tailor looked at his oldest and best friend, there was nothing but a wistful wish to set things straight, and a complete lack of idea how to go about it.
Later. For now, there were things to do. Things Skulduggery wasn't going to be pleased about, and from the way Corrival was frowning in thought, glancing sidelong at him, the sorcerer knew it too. "Could you do it?" he asked Gabe directly. "Find Scarab?"
Gabriel exhaled, pressing his palms against the wall behind him, the wall against which he was leaning, and felt the tingle of memories in it. "I can," he acknowledged evenly. "It'd be quicker than searching the terraces one by one, and we don't know how much time we have."
In spite of himself, the Archangel was looking at Skul as he said it. He didn't particularly want to aggravate his headache again, but he felt better than before. He was moving more easily--not completely easily, especially the more time passed and the effects of Kenspeckle's massage wore off, and particularly as it had focussed on his back and not on his limbs. It was enough that Gabe thought he could handle searching for a very specific soul he'd memorised while in Scarab's dungeon.
The thing was that he'd promised. And Skul had already objected.
And yet ... Gabe glanced toward the door, sitting ajar, at the seething crowd just visible through it. Eighty-thousand people. It wasn't really a choice at all. If he could quicken their search to save eighty-thousand lives, how could he say no?
"Do it," Corrival ordered. "There's no telling when Scarab will decide to go ahead, and there's no point in wasting the time."
Gabriel didn't want to break his promise--again. He'd already broken it so much today. Yet, in the face of eighty-thousand souls and still more after that once the non-magical world knew of magic's existence, how could he refuse? Slowly Gabe nodded. "Alright."
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In Ghastly, in the way the tailor looked at his oldest and best friend, there was nothing but a wistful wish to set things straight, and a complete lack of idea how to go about it.
Later. For now, there were things to do. Things Skulduggery wasn't going to be pleased about, and from the way Corrival was frowning in thought, glancing sidelong at him, the sorcerer knew it too. "Could you do it?" he asked Gabe directly. "Find Scarab?"
Gabriel exhaled, pressing his palms against the wall behind him, the wall against which he was leaning, and felt the tingle of memories in it. "I can," he acknowledged evenly. "It'd be quicker than searching the terraces one by one, and we don't know how much time we have."
In spite of himself, the Archangel was looking at Skul as he said it. He didn't particularly want to aggravate his headache again, but he felt better than before. He was moving more easily--not completely easily, especially the more time passed and the effects of Kenspeckle's massage wore off, and particularly as it had focussed on his back and not on his limbs. It was enough that Gabe thought he could handle searching for a very specific soul he'd memorised while in Scarab's dungeon.
The thing was that he'd promised. And Skul had already objected.
And yet ... Gabe glanced toward the door, sitting ajar, at the seething crowd just visible through it. Eighty-thousand people. It wasn't really a choice at all. If he could quicken their search to save eighty-thousand lives, how could he say no?
"Do it," Corrival ordered. "There's no telling when Scarab will decide to go ahead, and there's no point in wasting the time."
Gabriel didn't want to break his promise--again. He'd already broken it so much today. Yet, in the face of eighty-thousand souls and still more after that once the non-magical world knew of magic's existence, how could he refuse? Slowly Gabe nodded. "Alright."