Rafe burst into giggles. Gabe blinked at Erskine, nonplussed. "Er ..." He was blushing, wasn't he? Just a bit. Yes, he was. "No, not really. The point will be to ease the burden of his anger, since that's the catalyst. The web doesn't need to be sensitive enough to touch on ... other things."

Because if they could feel Skulduggery's care, then it was very likely they'd be able to feel Gabe's too, at a second remove. And the Archangel didn't particularly want them to be able to feel those, from either side. That was theirs. He'd never had something over which to be possessive before, but he was being it now, and he wasn't going to apologise for it.

"I'm in," Corrival said from the doorway. Bliss was standing behind him, his pale blue eyes trained on Skulduggery. Corrival glanced toward the detective, his face set. Something in his soul had calmed; maybe it was just the process of telling someone else about it. Or maybe he'd just had the time to come to terms. "Don't think I'm forgetting your stupidity, Skulduggery. I'm in because you and the world need to be protected, and I made Vile my responsibility the moment I covered up for you. I'll be damned if I step out now because of your stupidity."

"That's four," Gabe said brightly. "We only need the other three to make up seven points and we're set, although I won't say no to anyone else if they want to weight in. Better think it over, though. This kind of link isn't easily reversible."

Solomon's brow furrowed and he tilted his head at Gabe with that slow turn of contemplation. He'd noticed Gabe's turn of phrase, but didn't understand it and dismissed it in favour of considering his own circumstances. "I'll think about it," he said after a moment. "I don't know if I'll make things worse."

'I don't know if I can handle it', was what he meant, but it was a fair concern. Solomon had burden enough already.