The surprise at a full and honest answer gave way quickly to fear.
She'd been wary of Skulduggery when he was here, but the detective hadn't acted like anything ever changed. He'd joked with her. It had taken China a few minutes, but then she was even able to joke back.
Now, she knew why. If Skulduggery was rattled by what might have been a very close encounter with Lord Vile, then it made sense that he would try harder after the danger passed. Work harder. Face head-on the things that made him angry and change them. It should have been comforting, that fact, since he was historically so good at keeping control of his emotions. It wasn't.
It wasn't, simply because it could apparently happen even when Skulduggery resisted it outright. And he would never not blame China for the deaths of his family.
China felt a chill traveling down her back. She fought it. No matter what had happened to Skulduggery after he disappeared through that yellow portal, he hadn't spent centuries fighting himself just so he could fail at the first stressor. There was something more. "Tesseract's death?" she asked again, putting one elbow on her knees to help her feel the unconcern she was so used to conveying. "Just Tesseract's death, or the manner in which he died?"
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She'd been wary of Skulduggery when he was here, but the detective hadn't acted like anything ever changed. He'd joked with her. It had taken China a few minutes, but then she was even able to joke back.
Now, she knew why. If Skulduggery was rattled by what might have been a very close encounter with Lord Vile, then it made sense that he would try harder after the danger passed. Work harder. Face head-on the things that made him angry and change them. It should have been comforting, that fact, since he was historically so good at keeping control of his emotions. It wasn't.
It wasn't, simply because it could apparently happen even when Skulduggery resisted it outright. And he would never not blame China for the deaths of his family.
China felt a chill traveling down her back. She fought it. No matter what had happened to Skulduggery after he disappeared through that yellow portal, he hadn't spent centuries fighting himself just so he could fail at the first stressor. There was something more. "Tesseract's death?" she asked again, putting one elbow on her knees to help her feel the unconcern she was so used to conveying. "Just Tesseract's death, or the manner in which he died?"