Archangels weren't anything like Tanith imagined - if she'd ever imagined meeting one at all, which she hadn't. Gabriel had none of the holier-than-thou attitude that a lot of priests did, none of the judgmental looks, none of the pretensions. He had an honest face, he laughed easily, and he laughed for a while after Tanith's relief that Skulduggery was joking had faded. She couldn't help but be at ease around him now, even if his true identity still tugged at the back of her mind.

What did the existence of Archangels mean for the world of sorcerers? Where did the Faceless Ones come from? What did it all mean? Tanith was mildly frustrated to realize that she was having a minor existential crisis, and so she tried to distract herself by answering Gabriel's question.

"I met him a few years ago," she explained. "We worked together to stop a war before it started."

"I am quite good at that," agreed Skulduggery. "I rid the world of three threats in all, if I remember correctly."

Tanith smiled wryly at him in the rear view mirror. "You also got me stabbed through the stomach, Valkyrie tortured, and Ghastly turned into a statue."

"Well, yes," Skulduggery nodded after a slight beat. "But it all turned out fine in the end."

"Honestly," Tanith told Gabriel, "I don't think I would have stuck around if it wasn't for Val." She shot her friend a warm smile in the backseat. "But I sort of unofficially work as a detective now."