"I'm not their personal secretary," Skulduggery answered, amused. He'd briefly toyed with the idea of giving his disguise a rest once they were out of the public eye, seeing as most of the Dead Men hadn't ever met him looking like this and couldn't possibly be as comfortable with it as they were with the skeleton. He hadn't given them enough credit, it seemed. Rover and Descry never even commented on it, barely batted an eyelash. And the others were either following their example to the letter, or were just so uninhibited that they didn't mind the appearance of a stranger in their midst. Skulduggery was putting his vote forward for the latter, himself.

Either way, he was quite enjoying being able to sit in a restaurant and order food as if it - and he - was perfectly normal. He was enjoying being able to retaliate for certain comments Rover made by hooking his foot around the leg of Rover's chair and pulling, watching the Elemental tumble backwards with a startled yelp. And of course, it went without saying that he enjoyed the reunion, no matter how brief it might end up being.

Or what the actual purpose was. No one had yet mentioned it. Skulduggery might have been the first one, but he didn't want to ruin the atmosphere if he could help it. Not when the reunion might very well be as brief as a day.

"Can't you summon them?" asked Erskine. "You're nothing but a soul. Actually, can't any of us do it? Doesn't it just take a prayer?"

"So goes the traditional knowledge," Skulduggery nodded.

"If we all pray really loudly at the same time, would that be the equivalent of screaming?"

"Probably." Ghastly cut Erskine off short before the Elder could test it out. Gabe, Rafe, Rover wants you. Something about peanuts.