Skulduggery was planning to announce that he had his original skull back on - made even more impressive by how painful it had been getting it there - when Gabriel did it for him. And as the Archangel did sound better, Skulduggery pushed aside his other questions for now in favor of celebrating. "Thank you," he responded happily. Although no one could tell he was beaming, it would be hard to miss the pride in his voice. "I even have a spare now," he added; not that he ever intended to use it.

Ghastly frowned at him, the barest of smiles flickering on his face. "I can't tell the difference, Skul."

"What do you mean? There's a clear difference," Skulduggery retorted, sounding and feeling vaguely offended. "Gabe can tell. You've known me much longer than he has."

"I do feel the need to point out," Ghastly continued teasing, "that he's an Archangel."

"That's no excuse. I expected better of you, Bespoke."

"Where's your other skull?" Tanith interrupted, doing her best to keep a straight face and falling just short of the mark.

"In the van. I didn't think carrying it around was wise." He'd also dug around in the van until he found Ghastly's spare mobile, and one thing Skulduggery confessed he was not looking forward to: China meeting Gabriel. They wouldn't tell her the truth, of course, but there was no doubt in Skulduggery's mind that her inherent abilities wouldn't work on the Archangel, and China would want to know why. That was going to be a hazardous conversation.

Sobered by the thought, Skulduggery turned to Gabe once again. "Speaking of which," he began, aware that vans didn't lead directly to Archangels, but not particularly caring at the moment, "I assume your brothers know where you are. Michael and... Rafe. I don't want them trying to come through as well. Even Guild wouldn't miss that."