Guild shook his head. “He was still human. He let the vampires come at us, but he broke off to the north wing, to the Repository. I have people down there now, trying to ascertain what he was after.”

There was a curse and they turned to see Davina Marr pointing her gun at them, fury in her eyes. “Step away from the Grand Mage,” she demanded.

Guild shook his head. “Put down the gun, Detective.”

“Sir, these people are fugitives! Pleasant and Cain were working with the vampires! They assaulted me!”

“They were not working with the vampires,” Guild said, “and as much as it pains me to admit it, they saved my life. They’re free to go, Detective Marr. Put down the gun. That is an order.”

Marr blinked and lowered the weapon. “The Desolation Engine,” she said dully.

“What?”

“Dusk took the Desolation Engine. We’re doing a visual search now, but it appears to be the only item that’s missing.”

“What’s the Desolation Engine?” Valkyrie asked.

“Essentially, it’s a bomb,” Ghastly said. “It obliterates everything within its radius, wipes it all out. These days it would be called a Weapon of Mass Destruction.”

“It was only ever used once,” Tanith said. “Back in, when was it, 1498? A town outside of Naples. Every living thing, every building, tree and stone, was obliterated.”

Valkyrie frowned. “Why is there a bomb in the Repository?”

“That’s a very good question.”

“It’s been made safe,” Guild said. “It can’t be activated. It was kept here because it’s the only one of its kind. The Engine is useless to whoever has it.”

“You’re sure about that?” Skulduggery asked.

“Positive. It’s a paperweight now.”

“That may be so, but there’s a reason Dusk went after it.”

“Then get it back,” Guild said. “Do what you need to do to find them and stop them. You will have access to every resource we have for the duration of the investigation.” He sighed. “Pleasant, I don’t like you and the idea that you were going to spend the rest of your existence on a world of Faceless Ones really warmed my heart these past few months. My wife was saying to me just the other day how she’s noticed a spring in my step lately. That was because I thought you were gone forever.”

“I missed you too, Thurid.”

“But it’s time to set my personal loathing of you to one side. We’ve just witnessed a massacre, and we need to catch those responsible and make them pay.”

“You seek revenge,” said Skulduggery.

“I seek retribution.”

Skulduggery looked at him and nodded. Valkyrie and the others followed him as he walked away. Marr glared at them with fury in her eyes and they left her to whatever argument she was about to have with her boss.