"Well, yes," Skulduggery said with an air of confusion, as though he couldn't understand what was so difficult to understand about a headless skeleton playing card games. "He wins at poker by cheating. If we had been caught cheating, I'd never have managed to win a spare head."

Did he have his own questions? Very probably. It was difficult to think of any just then, as Skulduggery was feeling quite a bit calmer after the meditation than he usually did, and the effect tended to stifle his thoughts in their infancy. "By all means," he told her with a nod. "The pleasure was mine. Good evening."

He didn't know precisely where he'd go, but maybe another round of the turtle's circumference was in order.