“Well, now you’re just being silly. What you’re saying, basically, is that your thoughts mean something to your thoughts. It’s a loop of nonsense. Go off and think about it, OK? It took me a while to come to terms with all this, too. But I’ve learned so much. And not just about how to mix and match atoms and particles and molecules and stuff. Other things. Fun things. You know the God-Killers?”

“Uh … yeah, like the Sceptre …”

“Actually, no, I’m talking about the sword and the dagger and the stuff you and Tanith stole.”

Sanguine felt the blood drain from his face. She knew. Oh, God, she knew. And he didn’t even have the dagger with him. He’d been worried that she’d notice it under his jacket. Why the hell hadn’t he just brought it anyway? “Sure, right,” he said. “What about them?”

“Do you know how they were made?” Darquesse asked. “Those four? Other God-Killers were made in different ways, of course. The Sceptre was forged by the Faceless Ones somewhere, but these four weapons started out as ordinary objects. Nothing special about them. But then they were left in this pool of water, deep inside the caves under Gordon Edgley’s house. Whatever qualities that water had, it made the weapons soak up magic, made them acquire the ability to kill a god. Isn’t that fascinating? It goes against everything we’ve been told about how magic works. I’d love to find that pool. Don’t you think that’s fascinating?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Pretty fascinating.”

“Billy-Ray?”

“Yes?”

“You look nervous.”

“Yeah. I guess I am.”

“You think I’m going to turn you into a cushion, even though I told you it wouldn’t matter if I did?”

“That’s why I’m nervous, Darquesse.”

She chuckled. “You’re funny. I don’t know how I didn’t see that when Valkyrie was in charge.”

“Maybe my humour is an acquired taste.”

“Maybe.”

“I just popped by to make sure everything was, y’know, hunky-dory. I’m actually heading out again.”

“Oh? Where are you going?”

“Just out. Just headed out. Errands to run. I’ll be back later, so … OK, well, I gotta go.”

“See you soon,” Darquesse said, smiling, and Sanguine smiled back. He walked out and immediately sank into the ground.

He turned, moving deeper through the darkness. The familiar rumble of shifting rocks filled his ears. It used to make him feel safe. There were only a handful of people in the world who could do what he did – even fewer now, after what had transpired during the War of the Sanctuaries – and that little fact had transformed the dark and the cold into a refuge. Down here, he couldn’t be touched. Down here, he couldn’t even be found.