"Planning?" Skulduggery asked as he glanced around at the path they were on. His head jerked back in an overly dramatic imitation of surprise. "Ah. We seem to have wandered away from the party. How about that."

He was joking, of course. It had been a very long time since Skulduggery found himself doing things he hadn't consciously initiated. That was one of the joys of waking up to find yourself a living skeleton.

"I've been well," he answered. "I've been surprisingly well for being a soldier in a war which threatens multiple worlds, in fact. You?"