"I was surprised too," Skulduggery agreed, smoothing right over the joke as if he hadn't even noticed it. "But it was actually Davina Marr who called. Convicted prisoners don't generally have the right to a phone call. The three of us were a special request."

"I thought he hated us," said Valkyrie. "Why would he want us to be the last people he ever sees?"

"I don't know. Why don't you ask him?"

"Maybe he wants to thank us again for saving his family."

Skulduggery inclined his head. "That could be it. Although one has to wonder, if Marr gave him the opportunity to choose his escorts, why he didn't choose his wife." She didn't work for the Sanctuary, per se, but being allowed to choose your own escort was already unheard of. It wouldn't be a huge leap to let the former Grand Mage see his family one last time.

That, or Guild had something to tell them. Technically, all three of them were currently Sanctuary detectives. Even Gabriel was being treated as a foreign detective on loan, working under Skulduggery's supervision. There had been a few questions after Scarab's arrest, because Gabe hardly looked like a Sanctuary operative even by the standards of sorcerers. That, and he still walked stiffly. Still moved gingerly. Still suffered from occasional headaches, even though he'd finally started listening to Skulduggery and not done anything too strenuous for the last couple of days.

Those questions stopped pretty quickly when Skulduggery stepped in. He'd been worried at first that Corrival mentioned something to someone at the Sanctuary, but as it turned out, it was just Skulduggery's reputation. Strong as ever, it was good to see.