"It's not going to matter to you in a couple of days anyway," Erskine pointed out. "You'll be able to see us all, no matter where we are."
"But at least now we'll know that," said Saracen. So that certain people can't be idiots anymore went without saying. He shifted so that he could lean his head against his father's knee. "I'm voting against the bell, personally, but I wouldn't say no to some kind of motion-sensor."
"Motion-sensor?" Tanith asked, amused.
"What, there isn't a sigil for that? Something to detect living skeletons? Or is the soul-bond supposed to take the place of that now?" Saracen hesitated. "What does that even mean? Soul-bond? Can we feel whatever Skulduggery's feeling now?"
"God, I hope not," said Skulduggery. The bell lifted silently into the air again. "That's an invasion of privacy I never signed up for."
"You don't get any more privacy," Ghastly informed him. "We have your soul on a leash. That's about as close as a group of people can get."
Erskine could have thought of a few responses to that, but he was rather more preoccupied by... well, everything else. There was a buzzing in his head, the sort just shy of a pounding and not quite at pounding level because he still wasn't sure he could believe what he was hearing. The banter was normal. The banter was precisely what anyone who knew the Dead Men might expect. Despite what they'd just put Skulduggery's soul on a leash for, despite what they'd just been discussing and what everyone had learned in the last five minutes alone, despite everything, the Dead Men were continuing on as though nothing had happened.
He either couldn't believe it, or couldn't understand it.
And yes, Descry, Erskine was aware of how hypocritical that was, considering that he'd been angry with Skulduggery earlier for being just as certain that he was beyond help. But Skulduggery had a period of adjustment, at least. Erskine wouldn't call five minutes an adequate period of adjustment. And that wasn't taking into account all of the plans he'd have to rethink and the people he'd have to talk to. The lifelong beliefs he'd have to rethink. Corrival. Corrival. And now, Merlin was claiming each and every one of them was incorruptible even by Satan?
Erskine didn't feel incorruptible. For now, it was all he could do to stand up straight. And that, he was only managing because at least three of the Dead Men were currently using him for support.
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"But at least now we'll know that," said Saracen. So that certain people can't be idiots anymore went without saying. He shifted so that he could lean his head against his father's knee. "I'm voting against the bell, personally, but I wouldn't say no to some kind of motion-sensor."
"Motion-sensor?" Tanith asked, amused.
"What, there isn't a sigil for that? Something to detect living skeletons? Or is the soul-bond supposed to take the place of that now?" Saracen hesitated. "What does that even mean? Soul-bond? Can we feel whatever Skulduggery's feeling now?"
"God, I hope not," said Skulduggery. The bell lifted silently into the air again. "That's an invasion of privacy I never signed up for."
"You don't get any more privacy," Ghastly informed him. "We have your soul on a leash. That's about as close as a group of people can get."
Erskine could have thought of a few responses to that, but he was rather more preoccupied by... well, everything else. There was a buzzing in his head, the sort just shy of a pounding and not quite at pounding level because he still wasn't sure he could believe what he was hearing. The banter was normal. The banter was precisely what anyone who knew the Dead Men might expect. Despite what they'd just put Skulduggery's soul on a leash for, despite what they'd just been discussing and what everyone had learned in the last five minutes alone, despite everything, the Dead Men were continuing on as though nothing had happened.
He either couldn't believe it, or couldn't understand it.
And yes, Descry, Erskine was aware of how hypocritical that was, considering that he'd been angry with Skulduggery earlier for being just as certain that he was beyond help. But Skulduggery had a period of adjustment, at least. Erskine wouldn't call five minutes an adequate period of adjustment. And that wasn't taking into account all of the plans he'd have to rethink and the people he'd have to talk to. The lifelong beliefs he'd have to rethink. Corrival. Corrival. And now, Merlin was claiming each and every one of them was incorruptible even by Satan?
Erskine didn't feel incorruptible. For now, it was all he could do to stand up straight. And that, he was only managing because at least three of the Dead Men were currently using him for support.