Skulduggery hefted the stone in his palm. "That very much depends on how irritated he is over his defeat at our hands. If he wants revenge, then yes. If he isn't quite so short-sighted, then no."

His fingers curled around it, and an image of a blonde woman faded up from nowhere only a few feet away from Raine. She was wearing a hooded cloak with the hood pushed back off her head, her hair braided and swept back over her shoulder. She was about to laugh, head tipped back and eyes sparkling, but her mouth had scarcely opened before Skulduggery dropped the stone and the image faded again.

"Ah," he said. His voice, usually like smooth velvet, seemed to lose all change in tenor whatsoever. "My wife."