“Eventually. Not for a while. If we’re lucky. This is the second time Dragonclaw has got away from us, though. First the Jitter Girls, now a Warlock. He really is breaking all the rules.” Skulduggery looked up. “Still, maybe this will convince the Elders to take the Necromancer threat seriously.”

Valkyrie frowned. “You don’t think they do already?”

“Not really, no. Neither does anyone else. All the Sanctuaries around the world are either too busy with their own problems or they’re preparing to battle this oh-so-mysterious Darquesse. If the Death Bringer was seen as a threat, we’d have teams from twenty different Sanctuaries storming the Temple as we speak.”

“Maybe that means the Passage won’t be a bad thing, then. Maybe it will save the world.”

Skulduggery shook his head. “Paul Lynch had a vision of something that got him killed. This ridiculous Dragonclaw person isn’t covering up that trail for the fun of it.”

“Then maybe the other Sanctuaries are just hoping that Lord Vile carries out his threat and kills the Death Bringer.”

“Very likely,” Skulduggery said.

Valkyrie hesitated. “Do you think he’ll come after me, like he told you he would?”

“That was before,” Skulduggery said. “That was when everyone thought that you were going to be the Death Bringer. Now that we actually have one confirmed, all his attention will be focused on her.”

“Lucky, lucky Melancholia. You’re sure about this, though?”

“I’m sure. Killing you won’t help Lord Vile achieve his aim.”

“Do you have any idea why he’s so keen to stop the Passage from happening?”

“I don’t,” Skulduggery murmured. “It must be important, though, to bring him back like this. I thought he was gone for good.”

“Guess he just doesn’t want to live in a perfect world.”

A van pulled up at the mouth of the lane. Sanctuary sorcerers got out, nodded to them as they began cordoning off the area.

“You don’t think the problem here is us, do you?” Valkyrie asked. “I mean, maybe we’re so used to being the ones who save the world that we can’t see it when someone else is about to do the same. Solomon keeps saying that the Passage is going to help people.”

“True,” Skulduggery said. “But if you asked Serpine why he wanted to bring the Faceless Ones back, he’d have told you the same thing. It all depends on what people you’re talking about helping. That’s the wonderful thing about just about every religion on the planet – they’re all so incredibly selfish.”

“You are a cynical man, Mr Pleasant.”

“We live in cynical times, Miss Cain.”

He dropped her off at the pier, and she watched him drive away before turning to the shadows. “I know you’re there,” she said.