"The Faceless Ones," Skulduggery explained, "left a part of one of them behind when they were exiled. It formed the center of a nasty piece of work called the Grotesquery." He inwardly shuddered at the memory of having to deal with that monster, how it almost killed Tanith and withstood all that even Mr. Bliss had to throw at it. "That was their Isthmus Anchor, what made it possible for them to find our reality. When the portal was forced open, I effectively tossed it in after them. But..."

He reached up and touched his hat. "This isn't my head. My own was stolen a while ago. I never quite found out what happened to it, but it would be in that reality somewhere, wouldn't you say?"

Skulduggery missed that head, more than he liked to think about. It had higher cheekbones.

"I won't claim to know exactly how this works," he added, "but it sounds like it would be easier for you to... sing my tune, as it were. Rather than the tune of someone you've never met."