“Apart from the resistance we’ll face in the actual retrieval of the weapons from their current owners, there’s also a little group of sorcerers who are going after the same things. Our aim is to get to the weapons first, swap them with some clever forgeries and slip out before anyone realises something is wrong.”

“Who’s in this little group of sorcerers?”

“Dexter Vex and a few others. Seven in all. Tanith’s recruiting her own team to match it. You’re our number-one pick.”

“I won’t be on any team with Dusk. If we leave him out, I’m in.”

“That’s great news. Tanith will be delighted. One slight problem. Dusk is already in.”

“You said I was your number-one pick.”

“And you are. In our hearts. Alphabetically, though, Dusk comes before you.”

“And what do I get out of all this?”

“For a start, we burrow away from here and get you out of London and away from the search teams. If they do find you, you’ll have our little group fighting by your side. But more than that – Tanith’s been doing some research.”

“Oh, yeah? About what?”

“About you, and what you are, and where you come from. If you help us find these weapons, she’ll tell you everything you’ve always wanted to know.”

“You’re lyin’. She knows nothin’ about any of that. No one does.”

“Jack, you’ve been a killer all your life pretty much, right? You’ve been a villain. She’s been a hero. She’s had access to things you can only dream about.”

“She knows what I am?”

“Yes, she does. Are you in?”

“Tex, if you’re lying to me...”

“Jack, she needs her team. She’s done her research. When this is over, you’ll have your reward. So what do you say? Are you in?”

Jack raised a hand to his mouth, and his sharp little teeth worried the skin of his knuckle. It didn’t, in fairness, take him all that long to think it over. “Yeah,” he said. “I’m in.”

“Wonderful news,” Sanguine said, and smiled.

“So where is she? I can’t wait to see the all-new, all-evil Tanith Low.”

“You’ll be seeing her soon enough, don’t you worry. Right now she’s recruiting the third member of our little group, someone who comes before both you and Dusk alphabetically, but a distant third in our hearts.”

“Yeah?” Jack said. “And who might that be?”