Sanguine shrugged. “And how is that my fault? You know full well never to give a vampire good reason for revenge, and yet you still stopped him from killing Valkyrie Cain on that beach, four years ago.”

“There were, what do you call them? Extenuatin’ circumstances. You’d all lied to me.”

“You can’t take any of this personally, Jack.”

“I can, and I do. It was because of Dusk, and because of you and your dear old dad, that I’ve been in a gaol cell for the last two years. I’d still be there right now if I hadn’t escaped.”

“Nonsense. We’d have come to get you out.”

A sneer crossed Jack’s face. “Not bloody likely.”

“I’m serious. We were all set to mount a daring rescue attempt when we heard you’d managed it all on your own.”

“And why would you want to get me out? Need my help, do you? Another dangerous little mission?”

“As a matter of fact, yes.”

“Yeah, knew it. Get lost.”

“Jack...”

“Not interested.” Jack turned, knees bending, ready to leap away.

Sanguine stepped forward. “Where are you going? Where is there to go? They’ve got the area sealed off, Jack, and they’re closing in. They’re going to get you, drag you back and throw you in a cell so deep you’ll never even breathe fresh air ever again.”

“And let me guess,” said Jack, turning his head slightly, “the alternative to all that is hookin’ up with you and your dad and the vampire again, is it?”

“Not my dad. They have him locked away and no one knows where. As for Dusk, though, yeah, he’s onboard.”

“Forget it.”

“Ask me who’s leading this little mission.”

“No.”

“Tanith Low.”

Jack turned fully now. “You what?”

“You’ve been out of the loop, Jack, so you won’t have heard. She’s got a Remnant inside her now. It’s changed her outlook on a whole load of things. She’s one of us.”

“You bein’ serious?”

“Would I joke about a woman who wears leather that tight?”

“Tanith Low’s possessed by a shadowy little Remnant and has gone all evil on us, has she?” Jack said, then considered it. “And what, exactly, would this mission entail?”

“It would entail, exactly, the retrieval of four God-Killer level weapons from around the world. We have all the locations – we just lack the manpower.”

“And what’ll you be usin’ these weapons for, may I ask?”

“Well, that’s a little bit of a secret at this juncture. If you sign on, though, everything will be explained.”

Jack’s eyes narrowed. “And the risk?”