“No one was more surprised about that than I, believe me. But the more I thought about it, the more I understood. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that Lord Vile is merely Skulduggery with a mask on. They’re two different people. Skulduggery’s anger and violence had overwhelmed him, and there was nowhere left to turn. So, he blinked, and was gone, and in his place stood Vile. Vile came to us, he absorbed our teachings, his power grew at an exponential rate, and he quickly became our most powerful Necromancer.

“Only he abandoned us. We didn’t even get a chance to tell him about the Passage, but it didn’t matter. He didn’t want to save the world. He wanted to destroy it. And the quickest way to get what he wanted was to leave us, and join Mevolent.”

“Serpine killed his family.”

“Serpine killed Skulduggery’s family. Vile didn’t care. To Vile, Serpine was just another instrument to use, like Baron Vengeous, or Mevolent himself.”

Valkyrie knelt by Skulduggery. “I know he’s lying. He’s trying to trick me. I know you’re not Lord Vile. Lord Vile is a mass murderer. Explain this to me. Skulduggery, please, just explain it. Make it make sense.”

He looked at her. She could see through his eye sockets, to the flickering shadows that played on the inside of his skull. He turned his head, the shadows moved, and he looked at Tenebrae.

“You brought me back,” he said. “That’s it. That’s all there is to it. The great mystery I’ve never been able to solve. The great question. And you, you are the answer.”

“You sound disappointed.”

“I thought there would be more to it. Instead, I’m, I’m the result of a Necromancer trick.”

“If it makes you feel any better, it wasn’t easy to trick Nefarian Serpine. I wasn’t even sure it would work – something like that had never been tried before.”

Skulduggery walked towards Tenebrae. “You didn’t tell anyone. All these years, you didn’t tell anyone.”

“Why would I? What would it achieve? If your friends knew your secret, they’d have found a way to kill you long ago. And then my wonderful work would have been undone. I liked the fact you were walking around, saving the world in your own little way. It must be like what a proud parent feels.”

“How do I stop it?”

“Stop what? Vile? I’m afraid I don’t know. These developments are quite unexpected. Your subconscious is your own. Maybe if you wish really, really hard.”

Valkyrie looked at Skulduggery. “It’s true?” she asked, her voice hollow.