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       24 THE PLOT THICKENS…

      anguard had noble intentions,” Skulduggery said, his voice filling the space between them all. “His dream of peace was a dream that inspired a great many people who were sick of the war, people on both sides. Someone once said about him that he had seen what he was capable of, what we all were capable of, and it frightened him. So he tried to save us.

      “He believed the answer was to allow Mevolent and his lot to worship the Faceless Ones openly, as a religion. He was certain that, given time, they would learn to curb their ruthlessness and to behave with…civility.

      “Meritorious didn’t agree. He didn’t trust Mevolent or any who stood with him. And while Vanguard had started out as a lone voice, preaching understanding and acceptance, it was a voice that echoed and carried. Soon it was a roar.

      “The dream of peace, you understand, is a dream that comforts everyone except the soldier on the battlefield. He can’t think about peace. He can’t hesitate. The soldier lives in the war. In combat, war is his mother, his friend and his god. To believe in anything else is suicide.

      “I think Meritorious came to the conclusion that the voice that started it all had to be silenced. It was getting too dangerous. Too many people were starting to believe that there was an easy way out. Too many soldiers were starting to have doubts. Meritorious needed them fighting Mevolent, not dreaming of peace.”

      “But this is all guesswork,” Ghastly said. “Skulduggery, I had my issues with Meritorious, but he was a good man. What you’re suggesting here is cold-blooded murder.”

      “I know,” Skulduggery said. “And something like that, if it got out, would tear the Sanctuary apart. Which is why he would have assigned the job to Thurid Guild.”

      Ghastly took a seat – heavily. “Of course. Guild headed the Exigency Programme.”

      “What’s that?” Fletcher asked.

      “Exigency Mages are highly trained individuals used for covert strikes against the enemy,” Skulduggery said. “Assassination. Sabotage. Dirty tricks. It’s not pretty, what they do, but it is necessary.”

      “They tried to recruit us,” Ghastly said. “Skulduggery, me, a few others. We were an independent unit in the war. Guild tried to recruit us, but we didn’t like what he was asking us to do.” He looked up. “So you think Guild assigned the job to one of his guys?”

      Skulduggery nodded. “It makes sense. Meritorious needed an assassin who could completely disappear afterwards and Guild would have volunteered his people. He’s always been brave like that.”

      “Do you know who it was?” Valkyrie asked.

      “No. Every single shred of evidence pointed to Mevolent’s men and Scarab in particular. By the time it registered that this was all too neat, too easy, we’d already captured Scarab and thrown him in prison.”

      “You could have said something.”

      Skulduggery didn’t answer.

      “Let’s say you’re right,” Tanith said. “Let’s say Meritorious and Guild orchestrated Vanguard’s assassination and framed Scarab. For 200 years Scarab’s been sitting in his cell. After being cut off from his magic for so long, he would have started to age again, right? So he’s an old man, he’s out and he’s angry. He has his psycho son and their nutball gang, and they’re looking for revenge. So they steal a Desolation Engine that won’t go off and a Soul Catcher. How does this help them get their revenge?”

      “And who are they going to get revenge on?” Fletcher added. “Meritorious is dead.”

      “They’ll be going after Guild,” said Skulduggery, “so we should warn him. They’ll probably be after me too, but you don’t have to warn me. I already know. As for what they want with the things they’ve stolen, I haven’t worked that out yet. But I will.

      “On the plus side, the more people Scarab has, the greater our chances are of finding one of them. Crux was last seen in Haggard – maybe he’s still there, trying to find a way through China’s perimeter.”

      “I know the area,” Tanith said. “I’ll take my bike, have a look around.”

      “And I know of a couple of bars Sanguine used to frequent when he was here last,” Ghastly said. “They’ll still be open, even this late. I can ask if he’s been in recently.”

      Skulduggery nodded. “Take Fletcher with you – you’ll get through it faster. Unfortunately, we know next to nothing about Dusk. The vampire I took to the holding cell isn’t co-operating, which isn’t much of a surprise, and his kind are impervious to most kinds of psychic reading.”

      “Then just get Valkyrie to ask her vampire mate,” Fletcher said.

      Skulduggery turned sharply. “Her what?”

      Valkyrie glared at Fletcher and he blushed.

      “Uh, didn’t she…She didn’t tell you?”

      “I didn’t tell him,” Valkyrie said, her jaw tight.

      Skulduggery looked at her. “You have a vampire friend?”

      “He set up the meeting with Chabon,” she explained. “I was never alone with him. Tanith or Ghastly were always—”

      Skulduggery whirled on them. “You knew about this? You knew she was meeting with a vampire and you allowed it?”

      “We had it under control,” Tanith said.

      “You never have a vampire under control!” Skulduggery roared. “It could have killed her! For what? For a chance to get me back? You should have left me there!”

      Tanith looked away and Valkyrie lowered her eyes, her face burning. Only Ghastly kept his gaze level.

      “It was a risk,” Ghastly said, as calm as ever, “but it was a risk we decided to take. And now that she has made contact with this vampire, we should consider using him to try and find Dusk. It’s only logical.”

      Skulduggery didn’t move for a moment.

      “Agreed,” he said at last, all anger gone from his voice. “Valkyrie, would you be able to arrange that?”

      She nodded slowly. These abrupt changes of mood were becoming unsettling.

      “Excellent. If we’re

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