Well, that was easy enough. Gene had picked up some basic first aid and minor triage care from helping after the explosions and all, but Raine's method looked to be far more efficient than merely splinting something. Idly he brushed his hand across the rings under his shirt, turning the motion into scratching an itch on his neck, and he wondered if he could turn the rings to doing that as well. The final ring's powers were a mystery to him, and not for the first time he was intensely annoyed by the fact that Eshai, rest her (poor-choice-making) soul, had dragged him to Keeliai mere minutes before he would have had the final ring and been able to take care of this Malicant problem once and for all.

But when Skulduggery mentioned the armor again, it took all he had not to tense up. I could just tell him the story with it and satisfy his curiosity, he thought facetiously. If I could somehow assure him it wasn't this Lord Vile without revealing myself, I'd do it in a heartbeat. The skeleton was a little too interested in this for comfort.

'Lord Vile'...a name without finesse. 'Mandarin' is a far superior title, anyway.