Skulduggery found it difficult to believe that Gabe hadn't even asked for details about Landel or his Institute, but then, Skulduggery hadn't spent thousands of years with unwavering faith in a single being. Besides, for all Skulduggery knew, His way of handling it was to send Gabriel, just as the Archangel kept insisting. It had worked in the end, so there was no real point to complaining. Skulduggery just wished he could share Gabe's unwavering sense of optimism.

He was still wearing the rosary, wrapped around his bony wrist and partly hidden under his illusionary suit jacket sleeve. Part of Skulduggery was surprised he'd forgotten about it, and part of him was surprised he was remembering it now. "So if I hadn't kept this at the end..."

He didn't need to finish the thought. Skulduggery was still deciding if he'd deserved the rescue or not, but he couldn't deny that nothing seemed to have gone wrong yet. In fact, Gabriel taking it upon himself to save him had stopped Valkyrie from putting the whole word in danger by foolishly opening a portal right into the dimension. Gabe's presence might also be convincing her to give up the power of Necromancy, which Skulduggery knew would be in everyone's best interests. At the risk of jinxing the lack of consequences, Skulduggery was slowly beginning to relax.