Valkyrie had no idea what the Death Bringer was, and she'd never even heard of the Passage. But she did know that Gabriel could, for lack of a better phrase, read minds. And she recognized that Skulduggery had asked the questions partly to humiliate Solomon into telling Valkyrie the truth, and partly because they would get their answers anyway - all Solomon had to do was think about it. It didn't feel fair or right, invading peoples' minds like that, but Valkyrie chose not to say anything. She was hardly going to start guilt-tripping anyone else.
Skulduggery seemed just as surprised as Valkyrie felt, though, by Gabriel's reaction to whatever was in Solomon's mind. Somehow, that made this little side trip even more terrifying. Skulduggery had known enough to believe that whatever Solomon said would scare Valkyrie off Necromancy forever, but there was more even the detective wasn't aware of? Again, Valkyrie wondered just what she was getting herself into. Was she really going to ignore everything an Archangel was saying just because of the extra power it brought her? Could she really -
The ring on her finger grew cold. Valkyrie looked around in time to see the shadows streaking towards Gabriel, trying to cut him off, and she spun to Solomon in alarm. He didn't know, he didn't know what the hell he was doing, he didn't know how much danger he was putting himself in. "Stop! Solomon, please, don't - "
Too late.
The shadows, predictably, dissolved against the Archangel with no more of an effect than making him stumble. Gabriel getting hurt wasn't what Valkyrie had been terrified of. She turned back to her Necromancy teacher, expecting to see... what, exactly? To see him collapse, dead? In agony? Frozen or blown up or just gone?
Solomon was still very much there, thankfully, but he was frozen. Frozen in a mask of terror, staring at Gabriel, and Valkyrie looked from one to the other feeling utterly helpless and completely frustrated. What was the Necromancer seeing? What was Gabriel doing to him? Skulduggery was standing quietly by, either steadied by trust in Gabriel or just not caring about the outcome.
He wouldn't care about what happened to Solomon. He was probably finding this whole thing funny.
It took a few long moments, but Solomon finally slipped out of the spell and collapsed to his knees, and Valkyrie rushed over to make sure he was alright. She froze when she saw the red streaks running from his eyes, but forced herself to move past it and help him back to his feet.
"I'll admit," she heard Skulduggery saying behind her, "I wasn't expecting the blood. His own fault, though. How much did you show him?"
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Skulduggery seemed just as surprised as Valkyrie felt, though, by Gabriel's reaction to whatever was in Solomon's mind. Somehow, that made this little side trip even more terrifying. Skulduggery had known enough to believe that whatever Solomon said would scare Valkyrie off Necromancy forever, but there was more even the detective wasn't aware of? Again, Valkyrie wondered just what she was getting herself into. Was she really going to ignore everything an Archangel was saying just because of the extra power it brought her? Could she really -
The ring on her finger grew cold. Valkyrie looked around in time to see the shadows streaking towards Gabriel, trying to cut him off, and she spun to Solomon in alarm. He didn't know, he didn't know what the hell he was doing, he didn't know how much danger he was putting himself in. "Stop! Solomon, please, don't - "
Too late.
The shadows, predictably, dissolved against the Archangel with no more of an effect than making him stumble. Gabriel getting hurt wasn't what Valkyrie had been terrified of. She turned back to her Necromancy teacher, expecting to see... what, exactly? To see him collapse, dead? In agony? Frozen or blown up or just gone?
Solomon was still very much there, thankfully, but he was frozen. Frozen in a mask of terror, staring at Gabriel, and Valkyrie looked from one to the other feeling utterly helpless and completely frustrated. What was the Necromancer seeing? What was Gabriel doing to him? Skulduggery was standing quietly by, either steadied by trust in Gabriel or just not caring about the outcome.
He wouldn't care about what happened to Solomon. He was probably finding this whole thing funny.
It took a few long moments, but Solomon finally slipped out of the spell and collapsed to his knees, and Valkyrie rushed over to make sure he was alright. She froze when she saw the red streaks running from his eyes, but forced herself to move past it and help him back to his feet.
"I'll admit," she heard Skulduggery saying behind her, "I wasn't expecting the blood. His own fault, though. How much did you show him?"