“Fletcher was always going to be your ex-boyfriend, from the moment you met him. He’s just finally caught up with where he’s supposed to be.”

“Tanith frowned. Did people still go on DATES any more? She was sure they did. They probably called it something different though. She tried to think of the last date she’d been on. The last PROPER date. Did fighting side by side with Saracen Rue count as a date? They ended up snuggling under the moonlight, drenched in gore and pieces of brain – so it had PROBABLY been a date. If it wasn’t, it was certainly a fun time had by all. Well, not ALL. But she and Saracen had sure had a blast.”

“Still, he figured, sometimes you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do, and then sometimes you’ve just got to run like hell after it’s done.”

“It all depends on what people you’re talking about helping. That’s the wonderful think about just about every religion on the planet – they’re all so incredibly selfish.”

“Of course I want to kill you,” said Skulduggery. “I want to kill most people. But then where would I be? In a field of dead people with no one to talk to.”

“The fact is that we have no way of knowing if the person who we think we are is at the core of our being. Are you a decent girl with the potential to someday become an evil monster, or are you an evil monster that thinks it’s a decent girl?””Wouldn’t I know which one I was?””Good God, no. The lies we tell other people are nothing to the lies we tell ourselves.”

“Corrival looked around. ‘So is this it? Is everyone here? Erskine, maybe you should start the ball rolling. I have places to go and things to do.”Me?’ Ravel asked. ‘Why do I have to start it? You’re the most respected mage here. You start it, or Skulduggery.’Skulduggery shook his head. ‘I can’t start it. I don’t like most of these people. I might start shooting.”

“She had been a teenager once, and she knew that, despite the apparent contradictions, a person’s teenage years lasted well into their fifties.”

“You’re under arrest for multiple counts of murder. You have the right to not much at all, really. Do you have anything to say in your defense?”

“Where are you going?””Nowhere special. I just have some… things to do.””Why did you pause?'”I’m sorry?””You paused. You have ‘some… things to do.'”No reason, I just–“”You’re up to something.””No–“”Then why’d you pause?””Get in the car.”She got in. He got in.”Seat belt,” he said.Why’d you pause?”His head drooped. “Because I’m up to somthing.””And why can’t I come with you?””Because it’s something sneaky.””Do you promise to tell me later?””I do.””Well all right then.” She clicked her seat belt into place. “Let’s go.”

“You have no idea about presents or what they mean. The lastpresent you gave me was a stick.”“You wanted a weapon.”“It was a stick.”“It had a bow on it.”“It was a stick.”“I thought you liked the stick. You laughed.”

“Gordon Edgley’s sudden death came as a shock to everyone – not least himself. One moment he was in his study, seven words into the twenty-fifth sentence of the final chapter of his new book, And the Darkness Rained upon Them, and the next he was dead. A tragic loss, his mind echoed numbly as he slipped away.”

“Plans are invitation to disappointment.”

“An untied shoelace can be dangerous,’ he said.’I could have tripped.’She stared at him. A moment dragged by.’I’m joking,’ he said at last.She relaxed. ‘Really?”Absolutely. I would never have tripped. I’m far too graceful.”

“I swear, talking to you is like talking to a really good-looking and mildly stupid brick wall.”