Of course. Guild was in prison for orchestrating the assassination of Esryn Vanguard, and the very last thing on his mind would be his liquor cabinet. Not to mention Erskine could really, really use the drink.

So he finally relented, and didn't hesitate in gulping some of it down, although Erskine did tilt his head back more gingerly this time. It was good whiskey. Expensive, probably. Only the best for a man who had the fate of the world on his shoulders.

"You've got mine, too," he muttered when he was done. "You've probably got a good deal of them, actually. Who else would be nearly so humourously grumpy all the time?"

Something Corrival had mentioned earlier caught in Erskine's mind then, and he quickly sat up, frowning. "Hang on. Until things settle. What do you mean by that? Is Skulduggery...?" He paused. "Are we in danger?"

That thought hadn't occurred to him before. Still hadn't, not properly. Very suddenly, Erskine was mentally kicking himself for slamming Skulduggery against the ground so hard before. He'd never even considered how it all came out, how Corrival and Ghastly discovered the truth. And if they knew because something had slipped, because Skulduggery had gotten angry enough about something to stop caring about hiding it...

... then it was a very good thing Gabriel - Gabe - was around, wasn't it?