“Or,” Darquesse continued, “am I really as confident as I appear? If so … why? Why am I this confident? What secret am I holding? What do I know that you don’t? Or, to be more precise, what else?”

Vector’s lip curled. “Did you just call me stupid again?”

“You’re missing the point. You’re letting your pride get in the way of your thoughts. I’m standing here insulting you, openly mocking you, and yet I’m not threatened by the horrible death you’re promising. So I ask you again – why do you think that is?”

Vector’s eyes narrowed. “You’re trying to make me believe you’re still her.”

“Yes.”

“But you’re not.”

“Can you be sure?”

“The Skeleton Detective wouldn’t hang around with you if you were still her.”

“You don’t think I can fool Skulduggery? Really? Especially when he secretly wants to be fooled?”

She saw it all. She saw his shoulders slump a little. Saw his fists open slightly. Saw him swallow, and his eyes widen. She saw the blood drain from his face.

He stepped back. “Please …”

“You were saying something about pulling my arms and legs off?”

“Please don’t kill me.”

“You were saying something about making me quiver in fear?”

“I surrender. Please, I surrender.”

“And you seemed insulted when I implied you were stupid. Almost like you were going to argue. Tell me, Vector … are you going to argue?”

“N-no.”

“So you are stupid?”

“Yes. Are you going to kill me?”

Darquesse hesitated. “I should. I mean … I want to. I think. You’re annoying, so …” She raised her hand, and Vector flinched. But she hesitated again. “Something’s wrong,” she said.

Vector saw what he thought was his chance, and his fist came round and shattered against Darquesse’s jaw. He howled, and reeled away.

“Y’know what it is?” Darquesse asked. “It’s humanity. That’s what it is. Humanity is contagious. I’m around people who do good for five minutes and already I’m thinking of doing something good, too. Isn’t that ridiculous? It’s like there’s something inside me that wants to be part of a group, or it wants them to like me or … or something like that. Bizarrely ridiculous. And pointless. No matter how much I might want to seem like one of them at this particular moment, it’s only a matter of time before I go back to being me.”

“You should try being good for a little longer,” Vector said, clutching his broken hand.

“Ah, you’re just saying that because you think I’m going to kill you in a minute.”

“Are … are you?”