"Undead skeleton?" Skulduggery asked, amused. "Of course not. There's no such thing. I'm quite dead. Or was, before this." He glanced down at the flesh-and-blood hand resting on the tabletop in front of him. "But the skeleton part is very much accurate."

Skulduggery was used to a whole host of reactions upon being introduced into the world of magic, but skepticism was not one of them. Not as a talking skeleton, when you had all of the proof right there at your fingertips. Sure, there were some who believed they'd gone insane, but that wasn't quite the same thing. Faced with such adamant denial, Skulduggery could do little other than shrug. "You don't look particularly gullible," he replied evenly. "You asked. I answered. That's it."