"So your plan," Gabriel began, his cautious tone not matching his inflammatory words, "was to sit about reading newspapers for another three months and... then wander aimlessly? And you're upset because, what, I didn't stop to peruse the headlines first? Should I have consulted Belial's horoscope in the back, too, just to be sure?"

He surveyed the demon across the table, noting that Crowley's face seemed tight, drawn with the same lines of fatigue that the angel suspected might have been etched in his own expression upon arriving in Amsterdam. Perhaps it was the discovery of this similarity that added more understanding to his tone as he continued. "Or is all this just to emphasize that I should have spoken to you first?"