He looked around. “Just you, then?”

“Annis is dead, Dusk’s on the loose and Wilhelm is still screaming,” Tanith said. “Pretty much exactly how I thought it’d go.”

“That’s a big damn sword.”

“Yes, it is.” She held it out to him. “Take it. Get it out of here.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’ll find my own way out. Take this to the other weapons and melt them all down.”

“I am not leaving you here.”

“Billy-Ray,” she said, looking into his sunglasses, “trust me. I’ll be right behind you. But the important thing, the really important thing, is this sword. It’s the dagger and the bow and the spear. They have to be destroyed – now, while we have the chance.”

“There is no way I’m leaving without you. We had a plan. We stick to the plan.”

“The plan didn’t take into account whatever is in the ground waiting for you.”

“Then we don’t leave through the ground. We leave through the walls. You think any more alarm bells ringing is gonna make a difference to anyone? We just walk out of here.”

“Too much could go wrong.”

“Tanith—”

She cut him off. “Billy-Ray, that’s the new plan, OK? That’s what we’re doing. You get out of here now, right now, and you destroy the God-Killers. I’ll make my own way out and meet up with you.”

“Damn it, woman—”

She grabbed him, kissed him, pressed the God-Killer into his hands and stepped back.

He looked at her. “Will you marry me?”

“What?”

“This might not be the best time—”

“You think?”

“But I’m asking you to be my wife. Will you do me the honour?”

“I... Listen, you get that sword out of here, and when I meet up with you again, I’ll give you my answer, OK?”

“OK,” he said. “OK. I love you.”

The ground crumbled as he sank down into it, and a moment later, Vex and Saracen came sprinting down the corridor – the vampire right behind them.

“Aw, hell,” breathed Tanith.

Vex and Saracen ran by. Tanith jumped to the ceiling and sprinted along with them. They rounded a corner, kept going.

“Either of you have a plan?” she asked from above.

Saracen was too busy panting for breath to answer. He used to be so much fitter. Vex, on the other hand, didn’t seem bothered by how fast he was moving.

“Let’s split up,” he said, raising his eyes to look at her. “We’ll keep running this way, you stop running completely. It’s the last thing it’ll expect. Hopefully, the shock will lead to a heart attack or something.”

“Or,” Saracen gasped, “we can run into a room and... Tanith can... seal the door behind us.”

“The simpler option,” Vex conceded. “OK, let’s do that, then.”