"I certainly am," Erskine grumbled as he scanned the hallway outside. "A bit of namby-pamby flirting isn't going to shake my confidence. Honestly, how long does it take to walk into the Sanctuary? What's keeping them?"
China might have answered Erskine - or Solomon - but when the glowing sigils appeared, she purposely lost all interest and awareness in what else was going on. It was rare that she came across a set that not only worked, but was elegant and streamlined and hidden from view while active - and it wasn't hers. She turned back to the same wall as before, and ran her hand up over a stream of them. They were much too solid to react to her presence, but she could feel the magic they were pulsing with, every minute of every day.
It was a little like being blind. She didn't know the language, and so she didn't know the sigils very well. China was forced to pay attention to the effects they were having, rather than simply assuming those effects were there. Each individual effect was too small to be consequential, but as far as she could tell, most of them did the same thing. It made sense; they were warding sigils. But their effect, like what Solomon did to the light in the room to make them visible, was looped and rebounded and compounded.
"I'll admit," she eventually managed in a tone that was only partly absent, "I'm impressed."
"That makes Wreath, what, the first man ever?" Erskine muttered from the doorway.
"Second. Skulduggery takes that honour, I'm afraid."
"Does he?" Erskine turned back into the hallway, grinning. "Did you hear that, Skulduggery? Apparently you're the first man ever to impress China."
"I impress a lot of people." Skulduggery appeared in the doorway next to the Elder, and China was mildly irritated to find herself glad she was turned away from the skeleton detective. He may have been willing to look past her indiscretions by now, but China still couldn't get the image of Vile out of her head. She'd been worried about Skulduggery ever finding out what she did to his family; she'd never even dreamed she might have to worry about Lord Vile as well.
"I like what you've done with the place, Erskine."
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China might have answered Erskine - or Solomon - but when the glowing sigils appeared, she purposely lost all interest and awareness in what else was going on. It was rare that she came across a set that not only worked, but was elegant and streamlined and hidden from view while active - and it wasn't hers. She turned back to the same wall as before, and ran her hand up over a stream of them. They were much too solid to react to her presence, but she could feel the magic they were pulsing with, every minute of every day.
It was a little like being blind. She didn't know the language, and so she didn't know the sigils very well. China was forced to pay attention to the effects they were having, rather than simply assuming those effects were there. Each individual effect was too small to be consequential, but as far as she could tell, most of them did the same thing. It made sense; they were warding sigils. But their effect, like what Solomon did to the light in the room to make them visible, was looped and rebounded and compounded.
"I'll admit," she eventually managed in a tone that was only partly absent, "I'm impressed."
"That makes Wreath, what, the first man ever?" Erskine muttered from the doorway.
"Second. Skulduggery takes that honour, I'm afraid."
"Does he?" Erskine turned back into the hallway, grinning. "Did you hear that, Skulduggery? Apparently you're the first man ever to impress China."
"I impress a lot of people." Skulduggery appeared in the doorway next to the Elder, and China was mildly irritated to find herself glad she was turned away from the skeleton detective. He may have been willing to look past her indiscretions by now, but China still couldn't get the image of Vile out of her head. She'd been worried about Skulduggery ever finding out what she did to his family; she'd never even dreamed she might have to worry about Lord Vile as well.
"I like what you've done with the place, Erskine."
"Wasn't me. This was Solomon."
"Ah." Skulduggery nodded. "Sanctuary wards?"