“You’re young,” she said. “You don’t know how the world works. Give yourself a hundred years. Talk to me then.”

They looked at each other for another few moments, then she sighed. “What do you want?”

“Richard Melior. You know him, right?”

“Yeah. I first met him back in … I don’t know, 1965 or something. I was living in San Francisco. Why?”

“You were friends?”

“At the time, sure. Why, Temper?”

“He’s in trouble. I’m trying to help him.”

Mehrbano turned away. She put a hand on the couch and pulled it easily back into place, then sat. “So it’s true,” she said. “You’re working with the Skeleton Detective.”

“We’ve worked together, yeah.”

“Working with the enemy.”

“Skulduggery was never any enemy of mine,” Temper said. “I’m young, remember? The truce was seventy years old by the time I was even born. We live in a time of peace, Tessa.”

“Yeah, yeah,” she said. “So is this a case you’re working on? You a private eye now? A detective?”

“I’m a something,” he said. “Have you had any contact with Melior lately?”

“Can’t say that I have.”

“He’s involved with some bad people, and his involvement could have consequences for the rest of us – your Church included.”

“It’s not my Church.”

“Well, it’s for damn sure not mine.”

“The Church of the Faceless is a church for us all, Temper.”

“Except the unworthy.”

“You’ve been away for a while,” Mehrbano said. “You haven’t seen the changes that have been made. We’ve gone back to a more tolerant ethos – the true ethos of the Faceless Ones.”

“Which is what, exactly?”

“Acceptance. Forgiveness. Love.”

He laughed. “You expect people to buy into that? After a thousand years of hate?”

“Mevolent twisted the Church’s teachings to reflect his own prejudices. Look at the original texts. There’s nothing in there about sorcerers being the only ones to bask in the glory of the gods. The path is there for the mortals, too.”

“That’s interesting,” Temper said. “Because when I was part of it, the mortals didn’t get much in the way of consideration.”

“That was under Eliza Scorn,” said Mehrbano. “She’s gone now, and so have the last traces of Mevolent’s influence. It’s a brand-new day. You’d probably be welcomed back into the fold.”

“The same people who conducted those insane experiments are in charge, Tessa. Creed’s in charge. The Church might be a different kind of crazy these days, but it’s still crazy.”

Mehrbano sat forward, elbows on her knees and head in her hands. “What do you want, Temper? Tell me what you want and then leave.”

“I’m looking for Savant Vega,” Temper said. “I’m trying to find out if he’s alive or dead, and, if he’s alive, I’m trying to find out where.”