There. Gabriel smiled faintly as Prave's thin facade of ignorance crumbled. Ghastly and Skulduggery were good at this, this double-act. Valkyrie too, and Tanith. They all of them knew each other, and the procedure, very well.

It made Fletcher, loitering at the back of the group nearby, stand out even more. Gabe caught the teen's eye and made a rueful, sympathetic face, as if to say 'they're way ahead of us, aren't they?'

Prave's sudden silence made Gabe look back over again, the smile still there. The Archangel quietly let Skulduggery answer, grateful for the lack of too much movement. "Sorry," Gabe said, genuinely sympathetic, "but we need to talk to him. I guess we'll just have to wait."