"He has got a habit of making strange things happen," Gabriel agreed, smiling fondly at Skulduggery. "Or so I've heard. I'm looking forward to seeing this trait in action." The last he said teasingly, because, really, there wasn't exactly much the Archangel found strange. New, exciting, yes, but very rarely strange. (Valkyrie just happened to be one of them.)

The Archangel debated mentioning that Skulduggery had been just as, if not more, disbelieving as his friends now. Certainly he hadn't known this was even an option--not with the way he'd reacted to Gabriel first telling him. Gabriel may have brought it up, except that Ghastly's question was of more importance, and at the prospect of some relief, Gabriel was willing to let Skul's attempt at nonchalance slide.

"I'm not entirely sure exactly what Skul has in mind," he said, "but frankly, I'm--not in very good condition right now." The smile faded for a moment, though he summoned it a moment later to reassure everyone. "My life's not in any danger, but when I was bringing Skul through realities a Faceless One tried to hitch a ride and I wasn't able to defend myself." This time, the smile turned grim. "The ocean between universes took care of that little problem, but I'm not going to be good for much until I heal. And my injuries need tending to."

Skulduggery had seen how bad they were. Gabriel hadn't. He could feel them, and that was enough.