Skulduggery said nothing. In a way, he hoped Valdis was right; having someone on the turtle capable of matching Vile's power would be something of a safeguard. But on the other, heavier hand, Skulduggery still remembered killing a god. Killing a god, and for no reason other than because he wanted to see if he could. If it came to an all-out battle, he had his misgivings about being outmatched.

Fortunately, things wouldn't come to an all-out battle. Malicant was gone, and the biggest challenge left was getting the three warring kedan families to cooperate.

"You're very pessimistic," Skulduggery eventually said, standing up. "You should work on that. It takes years off your life."