"That's true," Erskine agreed with a nod. "I'm sure we could even make the request unofficial. That's the part that excites me, really."

"You're looking forward to prison," said Skulduggery, completely ignoring the both of them. "Probably because you know that with your failure, the people who hired you will want you dead. Prison is the safest place for you, now that you're backed into a corner. So really, answering our questions is in your best interests. You're not leaving this room until you do."

Tanith, who was really rather enjoying the sight of Marr in shackles, frowned and looked at Ghastly. "Does that mean we don't have to worry about Sanguine anymore?"

"We're never that lucky," grumbled Ghastly. "He wasn't hurt anymore. He can hide for a good long time. And that's assuming that these mysterious employers were at all worried about us apprehending him any time soon."

Tanith scowled. "You know, just once, I'd love for all the bad guys we don't like to be the ones without the advantage."

"They don't have the advantage. Most of them aren't very clever."

"And these mysterious employers?"

Ghastly hesitated. "Well, they are clever. But we don't know for sure that we don't like them. Maybe they're normally very polite."