"You're welcome, Paddy. And technically speaking, Seany, you're a skeleton too," Dexter told the boy. "You're just a skeleton with lots of meat and blood and skin all on top of it. Skulduggery's whole body is fake. It's a really, really good fake, made for him by his boyfriend, but it's still a fake. And you can meet him when Paddy says you can. Or when you both just happen to be in the same place at the same time."

His banner fluttered with glee and amusement, and it had been doing so the whole day. It would have been pleasant, if it weren't so distracting.

"As I understand it, it was a gift from Gabe," Solomon said, finding the edge of Paddy's chair so he could situate himself better between the wall, the door and the pathway. "And then became an apology. Valkyrie's parents found out about her use of magic. They weren't very pleased with the man who'd been responsible for leading her astray." He shrugged gracefully. "Skulduggery decided humiliation was the better part of valour."

All of which was interesting to hear about the once, may have been more interesting if Solomon could actually see the pictures, and had nothing to do with why he was here. Now that he was here he didn't particularly want to beat around the bush. "Have you a few moments, Paddy, or would you rather we chaperoned the children here before they blow something up?"