When Corrival hung up and the resulting silence extended into the metaphysical, Ghastly found himself hoping that maybe they'd manage to get through this mess without alerting anyone to the truth. Because, after all, Corrival wasn't Grand Mage, and Delafonte Mien might forget his considerable fear of the man if he knew who he had in his Gaol.

That illusion was shattered a second later. Tanith folded first, although she did manage to keep her noise level down well enough that she could pass it off as laughing at Mien's embarrassment. It made her, and a second later Valkyrie, seem unforgivably cruel, but at least that was the extent of Ghastly's worries.

Fletcher didn't join in, which may have strengthened the idea of him being insane - or ruined it, depending on your perception. That scowl meant the Teleporter was probably remembering every other time Tanith and Valkyrie both couldn't stop laughing. Far too often, actually, these last few days. Ghastly briefly wondered if telling them the truth about Skulduggery and Gabriel would end that urge, or only exacerbate it.

Either way, it wasn't any help here. Ghastly flipped his phone closed and put it away without trying to explain what the others found so amusing. "So where are they?"