Then Solomon was aware. Probably from before trying to do anything with the Cleaver, since neither of the angels had a chance to explain what he'd been so close to doing yet. Clearly, he'd never told anyone, or Tenebrae might have tried to cut his losses with Vile and try again.

That didn't exactly surprise Skulduggery. Admitting to having an ability Lord Vile was infamous for would have put Solomon right up there on that same level, and Solomon wasn't known for being an ambitious man. He was many things indeed, cruel and manipulative among them, but nowhere on the list was he ambitious. Certainly not suicidally so.

Skulduggery debated pretending that the fact wasn't new to him, simply because it was a detective's natural instinct not to give things away. He might have, except that this wasn't an interrogation. This was just a very serious conversation between friends. They needed to be on equal footing for it to work, and Skulduggery starting out with a lie wasn't going to make that any easier.

"It is." He looked away to spare Solomon the embarrassment of not being able to make proper eye contact. "I've never known anyone else to be able to. It... was a bit of a surprise."

To say the least.

He shifted all of his weight onto one arm and turned. "How long have you been able to do it?"