Vex let himself smile for a moment. “Darquesse is being forgotten about,” he said. “The attention of every Council around the world is focused here. All anyone is talking about are the rising tensions and this war that everyone’s assuming is an inevitability. We’ve taken our eye off the ball, Ghastly. When Darquesse comes, she’s going to take us by surprise, no matter how much warning we’ve been given.”

“Then it’s a good thing we have people like you and Skulduggery and Valkyrie, isn’t it?” Ghastly said. “People who can ignore orders and protocol and just do what needs to be done.”

Vex raised an eyebrow. “Is that your way of giving me permission to keep doing what I’m doing?”

“Since when do you need permission? Just try not to actually start this war, OK? We’re in enough trouble as it is. How’s Saracen, by the way?”

“Same as ever. He says hi. Told me to tell you if the Council of Elders needs him, just call.”

“We were planning on it. You found out what his power is yet?”

Vex scowled. “No, I didn’t. But I will.”

28

ne of the interesting things about the English Sanctuary, Tanith reflected, was that they had an actual dungeon. The prison cells were on the floor above, with their clean lines and sanitary conditions, but the dungeon was where the real magic happened, as it were, with the bars and straw on the floor and chains on the walls. It was all dark and lit by flaming torches. All very Gothic. All very moody. All very London.

The wardens of this delightful place were an odd pair. A handsome fat man and an ugly skinny man who only stopped bickering long enough to debate on whether they should hang Tanith upside down on the wall. The consensus reached was that she was a Wall-Walker, and so she’d probably be quite used to hanging upside down, so really what would be the point?

So here she stood, arms shackled above her head, alone in the dark and the cold once again. She didn’t care. The important thing was that by now Sanguine would have taken the God-Killers to the furnace and melted them all down. The important thing was that Darquesse was now safe. Tanith smiled. Then she looked around. God this was boring.

Someone approached and looked in through the bars at her. He didn’t fling ill-conceived insults, so it wasn’t either of the wardens. He stepped into the light and she met his eyes, but her defiance quickly turned to curiosity.

“I know you,” Tanith said. “I saw you in Germany. At the party.”

“Indeed you did,” said the dark-haired man.

“Who are you?”

“My name is Moribund.”

“Moribund,” she said. “From where do I know that name?”

“I was a prisoner,” said the man, “in Dublin. I was held in a cage, and you released me.”