“And you better tell your kitty cat to step outside,” the American added, without looking away from the Elder. He tilted the Macuahuitl and sent sparkles of reflected light around the room, shining it into the cat’s eyes.

The lynx stopped and fixed its narrow head on the Elder; then it turned and moved silently from the room.

“You have made an enemy of me,” Kukulkan said.

“Well, I’m not feeling too friendly toward you right now either. You were talking about killing me,” Billy reminded him. “That can upset a man.”

“Am I the only adult here?” Machiavelli said suddenly. He had not moved from the chair and had watched the Elder with fascination: he was behaving like a spoiled child. “Enough of this nonsense; we are supposed to be on the same side.”

“No humani threatens me…,” Kukulkan began.

“And no one-Elder, immortal, human or monster-threatens me,” Billy said.

“OK, we’ve established that neither of you likes to be threatened,” Machiavelli said mildly, “so let us now return to the business at hand. It seems to me,” he continued quickly, looking at each of them in turn, forcing them to focus on him, “that we have all disappointed someone or other. However, we have an opportunity to make amends.” He looked at the Feathered Serpent evenly. “We are grateful-both of us-to still be alive. We know we’ve failed; now let us see how we can make amends.”

“I didn’t f-” Billy began, but a look from the Italian silenced him.

“We are aware that our failure reflects poorly on you,” Machiavelli said, deliberately accepting blame in an attempt to calm Kukulkan. “But who else is aware that Billy and I have failed?” The Italian knew that if he could keep the Elder thinking and talking, then there was a chance he could resolve this situation.

Kukulkan returned to his curved stone stool. “You mean other Elders?”

The Italian nodded.

“No one else; I am sure the news has not even percolated through to the Shadowrealms yet. Well, reasonably sure,” he added, “though there may be spies in the city that I do not know about.”

Billy the Kid returned to stand behind Machiavelli. “Do you people trust anyone?”

“No,” Kukulkan said simply.

“So if Billy and I were to return to Alcatraz, awaken the army and set it loose on the city, then our mission would be considered a success. And no one would be the wiser.”

Kukulkan thought about it for a moment and then nodded. “That is true.”

Machiavelli spread his arms wide. “And no one would need to know about our failure… and you would be spared any embarrassment.”

“You were also tasked with killing Perenelle, and she has escaped,” the Elder reminded him. “How do you intend to find her?”