“Take her to the van,” Chabon said. His men dragged Sabine backwards, covering her mouth to silence her screams. The last Tanith saw of her, her eyes were wide and full of fear and then she vanished in the shadows.

“Group together,” said Chabon, “and face the wall. On the count of three, you walk forward quickly. Very quickly, do you understand? If you become solid halfway through, it’ll be messy.”

Tanith faced the wall. Chabon was somewhere behind them. She fought the urge to peek. Knowing how to sneak in here would be very handy indeed.

“Three,” Chabon said, “two, one. Go.”

A light hit them from somewhere and Tanith’s entire body buzzed. She held her hand up to the wall and she could see the bricks through it. It was the hand of a ghost – pale and slightly luminescent. She walked forward, forcing herself to keep her eyes open as she passed through the wall, almost laughing at the sensation. Then she was on the other side, in a dimly lit room, and she returned to normal.

“Everyone in one piece?” she asked.

Wilhelm was frantically searching himself to make sure he was OK. Annis didn’t bother, and Dusk didn’t care. He winced in pain, and Tanith saw how jagged his teeth had become. They were splitting his gums and filling his mouth. It wouldn’t be long now.

“I thought we were a team,” Annis said.

Tanith looked down at her. “We are a team.”

“And Sabine? Wasn’t she part of it, too?”

“She was a very important part of it. She was payment.”

“Are you going to betray us like you betrayed her?”

“No,” said Tanith, “of course not. Sabine didn’t belong here and you know it. She’s not like us. But we needed her, and now that she’s gone, the rest of us can forge ahead. You. Me. Dusk. Sanguine. Even Wilhelm here.”

“And Jack,” said Annis.

Tanith nodded. “Of course. And Jack. The team wouldn’t be the team without Jack. Come on, we don’t have much time.”

She knew this Sanctuary well, so she led them through the corridors nobody used, ducking into empty rooms to avoid Cleaver patrols. The closer they got to the Repository, though, the harder it was to stay unnoticed. Still, their luck held much longer than she thought it would. They were actually in sight of the Repository door before three sorcerers stumbled upon them.

The sorcerers stared, then backed away.

“Dusk,” Tanith said softly as the sorcerers turned and ran.

Dusk took off in pursuit, low to the ground, almost loping after them. He pulled at his chest and his skin parted instantly and the vampire bounded from Dusk’s human form. It disappeared round the corner, already closing the distance between it and its prey.

“Let’s go,” Tanith said. “Before it comes back for us.”