“Or we could just phone the English Sanctuary and tell them to prepare,” said Frightening.

“Would they even listen to us?” asked Saracen. “Aurora, you’re American. They might listen to you.”

“And then they’ll do what?” she asked. “Double security? You think that’ll be enough? They’ve got other things to worry about.”

“I don’t think we should tell them,” said Vex. “Tanith Low may be a Londoner, but she’s spent the last few years working pretty exclusively with the Irish Sanctuary. Any action she takes against them, they’ll just blame it on Ravel and Skulduggery, and they’ll have their excuse to go to war.”

“So what do you suggest?”

Vex shrugged. “We break into the Sanctuary and steal the sword before Tanith does, and get out before anyone is any the wiser.”

Saracen laughed. “That’s a ridiculously stupid idea.”

“I know.”

“If they discover us, they’ll definitely go to war.”

“There is that.”

“And do you even have any idea how we’d break in?”

“Not yet.”

“We could wear disguises,” said Frightening.

Aurora nodded quickly. “Like a false beard. I’ve always wanted to wear a false beard.”

Vex frowned. “But you’re a woman.”

“Exactly. They’d never suspect it was me.”

With the help of Saracen, Vex stood. “Then it’s decided. We see what we can do about this damaged aeroplane and these pesky bullet holes, then we break into the English Sanctuary, steal the sword, beat up Billy-Ray Sanguine and nobody goes to war.”

20

ilhelm Scream was not exactly a game-changer, of this Tanith was aware, and having him finally join up as the seventh member of her little team did little to inspire confidence in the others.

“Him?” said Jack, glaring at Wilhelm from where he perched on a sealed pallet. Jack had been in a bad mood ever since one of Vex’s lot had shot him in the foot. “This is your secret weapon? This is your ace in the hole? He looks like he’s about to cry.”

Wilhelm did, actually, look like he was about to cry, but that may have had something to do with the fact that they were in a freezing cold cargo plane that apparently needed extraordinary amounts of turbulence to stay in the air. Tanith prayed that he’d hold it together for just another few minutes. At the very least, she prayed that he wouldn’t throw up.

“Wilhelm is the reason we have got as far as we have,” she said. “He’s kept us informed as to Dexter Vex’s strategy, his timetable, his roster... Wilhelm has done some incredible work for us, and I think we should thank him and admire his bravery.”

She clapped, but nobody else joined in. Wilhelm said something that was lost in the roar of the plane’s engines.

“Sorry, Wilhelm? What was that?”