It was funny how you could expect someone not to believe you, and yet still feel disappointed when they ultimately didn't. Or at least seemed like they didn't. But there was no way to backpedal, no way to take it back, and nowhere to go but forward. So Ghastly took another sip, another deep breath, and plunged on.

"We didn't rescue him. The Archangel - Gabriel - did. The two of them met in an alternate dimension that they both got dragged into, and apparently, after they escaped, Gabriel went..." and here Ghastly hesitated before using the phrase, "... dimension-hopping... rescued Skulduggery from the Faceless Ones, and brought him back here. Brought him back here just before we would have opened the portal."

Ghastly could suddenly understand, now, why people occasionally paced. It was the need for movement, even without any end goal. Ghastly didn't usually pace, because he had his tailoring if he needed to move aimlessly around his shop. Skulduggery didn't usually pace, either, but he had a remarkable ability to remain perfectly still no matter what else was happening around him.

"Gabriel's still here," Ghastly added. "Injured. Far too injured to leave again. We've been helping him the best we can."

The moment for explaining about Skulduggery and Gabe's unique relationship came - and went. It might have made a perfect preamble for talking about Vile, but Ghastly couldn't quite bring himself to say the words out loud yet.

The moment for explaining about God came and went.