He pulled Dusk’s face down into a knee, then caught him with that same knee in the chest as he tried to stand back up. Dusk’s legs gave out and his defence dropped, and Vex sent the punches raining down.

There was movement behind him and a hand clutched his shoulder and he went suddenly cold and gasped, stepped back, feeling like his life was being dragged out of him. He turned, saw a girl with short blonde hair and a frightened face and he pushed, shoved her away from him, and the moment the contact was broken he could breathe again. But his magic was gone.

Dusk got up, still shaky, bared his teeth and Vex slugged him across the jaw. It wasn’t the first time a Leech had drained his power and it wouldn’t be the last. His magic would return. In the meantime, he still had his fists.

He almost didn’t notice the wall starting to crack, but at the last moment he threw himself backwards, and Sanguine’s straight razor missed his throat by a hair’s breadth.

“Billy-Ray,” said Vex, giving him a tight smile, “it’s been a while.”

Sanguine brushed the dust from his suit jacket, regarding him through those sunglasses of his. Behind him, Dusk got to his feet slowly and the blonde girl, the Leech, joined them. Vex could tell, just by the expression on her face, that she wasn’t a fighter. The poor thing looked terrified.

“Hasn’t been long enough,” Sanguine said. “Last time I saw you, you were breaking my arm.”

“You had just tried to kill me.”

“I was pretty sure I had killed you.”

Vex pulled down his collar, showing him the old scar across the right side of his throat. “Almost,” he said. “To be honest, it wasn’t your best work. You seemed distracted that day.”

Sanguine shrugged. “I ain’t gonna lie, I had things going on. But that’s no excuse. I was hired to kill you, I should’ve killed you, that’s just the way it is. Leaving you alive was just... well, it was unprofessional, and I apologise about that. Seen in that context, you had every right to break my arm.”

“Think nothing of it,” said Vex, watching the way Dusk was eyeing him.

“We can kill him now,” the vampire said. “Sabine drained his magic.”

Sanguine shook his head. “Afraid not. We’ve done what we came here to do.”

Dusk’s lip curled. “We came here to kill them.”

“We came here to slow them down,” Sanguine corrected. “If we killed any as a result, that’d be a bonus. Hey, you really want to get into a fist fight with Dexter Vex, be my guest. But Tanith already has the spear and we’re about to leave for London, and they’re in no fit state to come after us. Are you, Dexter?”