But Darquesse could find him. There would be no escape from her down here, not if she were coming after him.

He piled on the speed.

He didn’t pay attention to how fast he was going. Sometimes he liked to time himself. Not tonight. He got to his place in Dublin, rose up through the cracking, crumbling floorboards. The first blush of dawn brightened the house, not that he needed light to see. There weren’t even any bulbs in this small house on this quiet street. No one knew about this place. Not even Tanith. The only people he’d brought back here were—

“Move and I shoot.”

Sanguine yelled and spun.

Skulduggery Pleasant was sitting in Sanguine’s favourite armchair, the one in the corner. His hand was on the armrest. In his hand was a gun.

14

A COMMON ENEMY

echnically,” the skeleton said, “I should have shot you for that. But let’s start over. Move again and I really will shoot.”

Sanguine stayed perfectly still. He was too busy getting over the fact that there was someone in his house to even think about trying something sneaky.

The girl walked in. The reflection, Stephanie. She walked right by Sanguine like she didn’t have a care in the world. For a moment, she was close enough for him to grab, maybe use as a shield. But she knew that. She was testing him. They both were. He wasn’t going to fall for it.

She went to the couch. Sat. Looked at him like she was bored. He started to feel that maybe now was the time to start speaking.

“I’m real glad you’re here,” he said.

Stephanie laughed and Pleasant tilted his head.

“I’m serious,” Sanguine continued. “I was coming to talk to you, actually. I just stopped off here on my way to Roarhaven to, y’know, collect my thoughts. And a few other things.”

“Where is she?” Pleasant asked.

“Darquesse is with Tanith.”

“And where is Tanith?” Stephanie asked.

“With Darquesse.”

“I don’t have to shoot anything important,” Pleasant said, pointing the gun at his legs. “I can just shoot something painful.”

“I don’t want you to shoot anything, but I’m not gonna tell you where they are. You really think Darquesse won’t be able to sense a strike team if they get in close? And then who’ll she blame for telling you where to find her? Momma Sanguine’s favourite boy, that’s who.”

“Then if you weren’t going to tell us where she is,” Stephanie said, “why were you coming to see us? Unless, of course, you were fibbing about that.”

“Stephanie, I’m insulted. I would never fib to you. I can’t tell you where she is, but I can help you stop her. Would you be interested in such a deal?”