Now that his skull was on show, people glanced at him as they passed. They were probably wondering who Omen was, maybe thinking he was someone important. He felt that charge of pride and then, inevitably, the emptiness that followed. He was used to this. He was the Chosen One’s brother, after all.

“Do you know if there’s been any sign of Jenan and the others?” he asked. “It’s been two days and the teachers won’t tell us anything.”

“Still missing,” Skulduggery said. “Every Sanctuary around the world is searching for them, and for Lilt, and we’re all keeping a watch for Coldheart to reappear. We’ll find them. Eventually.”

“Why does she want them?” Omen asked. “Abyssinia, I mean. She has her gang of psychos and a prison full of convicts. What does she want with a bunch of schoolkids?”

“I don’t know,” Skulduggery said. “That is annoying, I’ll grant you, and it’s not a sensation I am either familiar or comfortable with. Do you mind if I ask you a question now? Why are you out here? It’s cold and you’re shivering.”

Omen shrugged. “I kind of get the feeling that everyone’s mad at me.”

“Why would you think that?”

“Because everyone’s mad at me.”

“Not everyone, surely.”

“The teachers are mad that Never disobeyed the Supreme Mage because of me. They see that as reflecting badly on the Academy, and they blame Never and Never blames me and they also blame me, I think.”

“Well, yes,” said Skulduggery, “I suppose that’s true.”

“And my parents are mad because of, well, all of it, and Auger’s mad because I didn’t tell him what was going on and I could have got myself killed.”

“Fair enough.”

“And then, even though none of the kids in school know I’m involved in any of this, they’re still mad at me because they just don’t like me.”

Skulduggery nodded.

“And that’s it, really,” said Omen.

“That’s not so bad!” Skulduggery said cheerfully. “I thought it’d be much worse! That’s only a dozen or so people! Plenty more have been mad at me over the years. You’ll be fine. Best thing to do is just not think about it.”

“Right.”

“See? Isn’t that better?”

“I don’t know. I’m still thinking about it.”

“They’ll forgive you,” Skulduggery said. “You did a good thing. A brave thing. They’re mad because they don’t want you risking your life. They’re mad because they care. Because they love you. Obviously, I’m not talking about your classmates or your headmaster here. They have legitimate reasons to be mad at you. But family, Omen … family forgives.”

“Yeah. I hope so.”

“If it makes any difference,” Skulduggery said, “I’m proud of you.”

“You are?”

“Absolutely. Although I sincerely thought you’d be a better fighter.”

Omen smiled awkwardly. “Yeah.”