Ghastly almost did move, because of that telltale crack in Wreath's voice. It wasn't as if Wreath had anywhere else to go; he couldn't drive. He just wanted some distance. That was perfectly understandable. God knew Ghastly needed some distance when he first found out - quite literally.

But it was when Ghastly realised he was only making excuses to himself that he snapped out of it, and shook his head. If he had to justify it to himself, then he wasn't doing it. "Not on your own. Corrival would shoot us if we were indirectly responsible for an Elder getting attacked again. What's eating you?"

For the moment, Wreath didn't seem like an Elder. For the moment, he seemed a lot like the teenage boy Ghastly first met after watching Skulduggery crash his mother's sailboat into the docks. Not just defeated; not just numb, or betrayed. Lost. Confused. Wanting guidance, with no idea how to ask for it.