Given the choice, Ghastly would have preferred a much less crotchety welcome-back-from-hell for Skulduggery than Kenspeckle and his obvious dislike for the man. Skulduggery didn't exactly have hobbies, or many friends, but they could have planned a Dead Men reunion. Erskine was usually nearby, and Anton was never more than twelve hours away. Dexter might even have come back to civilization when he heard what happened.
But, as was often the case with anything involving Skulduggery, there wasn't much choice.
Ghastly didn't miss Tanith's minor wince, either. The four of them had discussed how Skulduggery would feel about Valkyrie's foolhardy plan to rescue him by reopening the portal, and effectively placing the whole world in danger. They'd managed to avoid directly mentioning it so far - not that Skulduggery wouldn't have guessed - but Kenspeckle had no such qualms, and Ghastly glanced over at Skul to see him watching Valkyrie. Valkyrie was doing her best to stare at the floor and avoid catching his eye.
Ghastly was not looking forward to when she'd have to tell Skulduggery about the Necromancy. Or, come to think of it, anything she'd done over this past year.
After a long moment, Skulduggery dragged his gaze away from Valkyrie and answered Kenspeckle's question. "We're here, Professor Grouse, because we need your expertise. There is quite literally no one else in the world who could even come close to accomplishing what we have to ask of you." It wasn't bribery, or even flattery, exactly; Skulduggery was just stating a fact. "If you'll hear us out, I think you'll agree that hiding from Guild is the only responsible thing to do."
"And," Ghastly added to Skulduggery's request, eyeing Gabriel, "you might want to be careful about who you call irresponsible." As friendly as Gabriel had been up until that point, Ghastly knew the stories from the Bible. He wanted to be able to trust that Skulduggery knew what he was doing, but his friend's judgment had been wrong before.
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But, as was often the case with anything involving Skulduggery, there wasn't much choice.
Ghastly didn't miss Tanith's minor wince, either. The four of them had discussed how Skulduggery would feel about Valkyrie's foolhardy plan to rescue him by reopening the portal, and effectively placing the whole world in danger. They'd managed to avoid directly mentioning it so far - not that Skulduggery wouldn't have guessed - but Kenspeckle had no such qualms, and Ghastly glanced over at Skul to see him watching Valkyrie. Valkyrie was doing her best to stare at the floor and avoid catching his eye.
Ghastly was not looking forward to when she'd have to tell Skulduggery about the Necromancy. Or, come to think of it, anything she'd done over this past year.
After a long moment, Skulduggery dragged his gaze away from Valkyrie and answered Kenspeckle's question. "We're here, Professor Grouse, because we need your expertise. There is quite literally no one else in the world who could even come close to accomplishing what we have to ask of you." It wasn't bribery, or even flattery, exactly; Skulduggery was just stating a fact. "If you'll hear us out, I think you'll agree that hiding from Guild is the only responsible thing to do."
"And," Ghastly added to Skulduggery's request, eyeing Gabriel, "you might want to be careful about who you call irresponsible." As friendly as Gabriel had been up until that point, Ghastly knew the stories from the Bible. He wanted to be able to trust that Skulduggery knew what he was doing, but his friend's judgment had been wrong before.