“I’ve done a little more snooping,” Omen said. “I spied on them, on Mr Lilt and the study group. I think Mr Lilt is going to kill Byron.”

“Who’s Byron?”

“One of the Arcanum’s Scholars. Byron Grace. He’s all right, actually. He’s not that bad.”

“Is he part of the group that wants to kill all mortals?”

“Yes,” Omen admitted, “but I don’t think his heart’s really in it. Mr Lilt was saying he’ll probably have to kill him. Mr Lilt, that is, killing Byron. Anyway, I was thinking maybe you could take Byron into protective custody? Maybe he’s got information we could use. Do we do protective custody, or is that a mortal thing?”

“We do it,” said Skulduggery, “but I doubt we’ll have to. Parthenios Lilt has been arrested.”

Omen blinked. “Because of me?”

A nod. “Directly because of you, Omen. I passed on your suspicions to the City Guard and they wasted no time in kicking down his door. They do so love to kick down doors. Lilt’s involvement opened up a fresh list of suspects, and I have a very strong feeling that we’ll put a stop to whatever the anti-Sanctuary is planning because of it. We owe you a huge debt of gratitude.”

Omen blushed. “It was nothing. I mean, I just … I just kept my eyes open, like you asked.”

“What you did was very brave. Never forget that.” Skulduggery stood up.

“Are you OK?” Omen asked him.

Skulduggery tilted his head. “Excuse me?”

“I heard you were hurt.”

“Ah. Yes, I was, but I’m OK now. It’s a dangerous business.”

Omen smiled. “I’ll try to remember that. So what do I do now?”

“I don’t know,” said Skulduggery. “Go to breakfast, I’d imagine.”

“I mean about the mission.”

“I have good news about that, actually. Your mission is over.”

Omen’s smile faded. “It is?”

“Now you can go back to being normal,” Skulduggery said. “Study. Do your homework. Do what you’re told. All the things that normal people like doing.”

“Normal people don’t like any of that.”

“They don’t?”

“No. Nobody likes doing what they’re told.”

Skulduggery took a moment to process the information. “Then why do they do it?”

“I don’t … I don’t know. Maybe they don’t know what else to do.”

“Huh. Interesting.”

“Are you being serious, about the mission being over?” Omen asked. “Because I really think I can be more useful. I have one of their masks, the kind the Scholars wear, and I’m thinking I can get into the room where they hold their meetings.”

Skulduggery slipped his gloved hands into his pockets. “Omen, you’re a good lad. There’s a reason we came to you.”

“Yeah,” Omen said, “because I’m invisible. Because nobody notices me.”