Wreath was bitter. Why? Because Skulduggery managed to sneak up on him, because he was wearing the same magic-cancelling gauntlets Raine described from the Dreaming? Or because he expected Skulduggery to do something he'd forgotten to do?

If Valkyrie was bitter in a similar situation, it would have been because Skulduggery disappeared without telling her anything. In her case, that was a justifiable response, given her youth and her friendship with Skulduggery. Wreath, on the other hand? Had his perception of Skulduggery healed so far that he was starting to expect the same sorts of things Valkyrie did?

"Solomon," Skulduggery said, and then stopped. It was only an educated guess. Then again, he wasn't sure he cared about educated guesses anymore. "If I were to give you a hug, could I be relatively sure you wouldn't kill me in return?"