While Valkyrie called Fletcher and apologized for dragging him back to the graveyard so soon, Skulduggery joined Gabriel a short distance away from Solomon. The Necromancer was staring at his cane on the ground, as if willing it to do something with the power of his mind; his knuckles were white from gripping the edge of the bus bench. All things considered, no matter what potential threat the Necromancer turned out to be, it was probably best to leave him alone with his thoughts for now. Skulduggery would have welcomed that chance back when he first found out, but nothing about that hospital let him sit and gather his thoughts for longer than a few minutes at a time.

"That went well," Skulduggery told Gabe cheerfully. "We came to make sure Valkyrie had the opportunity for an informed decision, and we got another evil world-ending plot, as well as a traumatised Necromancer. I'd say our work here is done."

Dusk was just starting to creep through the sky, and Skulduggery looked up towards the small orange sun, head tilted. He hadn't had an opportunity to see the sunset properly for a very long time. At Landel's, he'd been locked in a windowless room for dinner most days; with the Faceless Ones, the large red sun never moved in the sky. He'd forgotten how the light almost seemed to turn golden at this time of the evening.

After a few moments, the detective returned his gaze to Gabriel. "Did you really have cocktails with Him right before dimension-jumping?" he asked. "Did He explain anything?"