Tanith smiled. “Yeah, that tends to be the hard part. Coming out to other sorcerers isn’t a big deal – we’re all at it. But those limited life spans mean that mortals tend to be a little more conservative. Some of them.”
“They’re going to be cool about it,” Valkyrie said.
“Of course they are.”
“But I’m still nervous.”
“Course you are.”
“How about you?” Valkyrie asked, sitting back. “Boys? Girls? Both?”
“Neither,” said Tanith. “Been too busy for distractions.”
“Is that why you’re back in Ireland?”
Tanith sipped her tea, then put the cup on the saucer and the saucer on the coffee table. “Yeah.”
“Are you in trouble?”
“When am I not?”
“Anything I can do to help?”
Tanith shook her head. “I got myself into this, Val. I’m going to get myself out.”
“How brave,” said Valkyrie. “How noble. How dumb. If I can help, let me help. You have friends.”
“I know I do,” Tanith said, her voice quiet. She let a few seconds go by before speaking again. “Have you heard of Black Sand?”
“Sure,” Valkyrie said. “The terrorist group in Africa.”
Tanith did not appreciate that. “They’re not terrorists, Val. You can’t believe everything the Sanctuaries tell you. They’re a resistance group.”
“And what are they resisting?”
“OK,” Tanith said, shifting slightly, “China wants control of the African and Australian Sanctuaries, right? I mean, that’s fairly obvious.”
“Of course,” said Valkyrie. “She already controls one Cradle of Magic – she’d love to control all three.”
“But she’s not actually doing anything about it, is she? She would like control – but she’s not trying to take control. That would be like declaring war on your allies, and she’s not going to do that.”
“Right.”
“Except she is.”
“Tanith—”
“Just listen. I could get you proof, but this isn’t your fight. I need you to understand why I’m doing what I’m doing. She can’t just take them over, as much as she’d love to, so she’s being sneaky about it. As far as I can tell, she’s focusing on the three African Sanctuaries first. She’s got spies and double agents working in a, quite frankly, bewildering array of schemes designed to usurp the Council of Elders, and replace them with her own people. Then they’ll bow to China as their Supreme Mage, and she can focus her attention on Australia.”
“And Black Sand …?”
“Black Sand are resisting,” Tanith said. “They’re targeting her schemes and disrupting them wherever they can.”
“And you’re involved with them, aren’t you?”
“They needed fighters and I …”
“You needed somewhere to go,” Valkyrie finished.
Tanith looked away. “I was lost,” she said. “With what happened to Ghastly, and Billy-Ray … I couldn’t stick around, you know? I was looking for a fight, and they offered me one.
“But, a few months ago, Sanctuary forces rounded up a load of friends and families of Black Sand members. Innocent people, Val.”
Valkyrie frowned. “They would have been interrogated by Sensitives,” she said. “They can’t be that innocent.”
“They knew what was happening, but they had no part in it. And now the Sanctuaries – who have no idea we’re doing all this for them, to keep them independent – have decided to make an example out of them by sentencing them to thirty years in prison. Each.”
“So you’re here to convince China to release them?”
“No,” said Tanith, “that’d never work, and she wouldn’t be interested anyway. I’m here to offer up the Black Sand leader in exchange for the people they’ve imprisoned.”
“The Black Sand leader,” Valkyrie repeated.
“Yes.”
Valkyrie closed her eyes. “Tanith, please tell me you’re not the Black Sand leader.”
“I can’t exactly do that, Val.”
Valkyrie groaned. She put her cup on the coffee table and leaned forward. “They’ll throw you in prison. Not one of the good ones, either. Ironpoint, maybe, or Coldheart, if it was under Sanctuary control.”
“I know.”
“The other convicts will kill you,” Valkyrie said. “You won’t last a week.”
“Oh, ye of little faith,” Tanith said with an unconvincing smile. “I give myself two, easy.”
“Let me talk to China. Me and Skulduggery. We’ll sort it out.”
“You won’t be able to,” Tanith said. “This is bigger than your friendship with her, Val. You know her. I know her. From her point of view, she’ll have no choice but to be seen as ruthless, and lock me away in the worst prison she has. The fact that she hates me and I hate her will have nothing to do with it. She’s set herself on this course, just like I have.”
Valkyrie blinked. “But … OK, wait, so why are you here? I mean, what’s the plan?”
“I told you the plan.”
“No, you told me the stupid plan where you go to prison. I mean the good plan where all this is taken care of and you stay out of prison.”
“That plan doesn’t exist.”
“Not yet it doesn’t, but that’s because you’ve just come to me about it. I’ll come up with a good plan. Skulduggery will … well, he’ll watch as I come up with a good plan.”
“Skulduggery’s not very good with plans,” Tanith agreed.
“Don’t do this yet,” said Valkyrie. “Promise me that, OK? Give me a little time to think of something.”
“Val, I appreciate the offer, but there’s really nothing you can do.”
“Give me time.”
“Innocent people are in jail cells as we speak.”
“A few more days isn’t going to matter,” Valkyrie said. “It’ll give them time to maybe work out in the yard or something. Start a diet. Make new friends. Don’t rush into this.”
“No one’s rushing, believe me.”
Valkyrie clutched Tanith’s hand. “Help us.”
“Help you what?”
“Help us with this thing,” she said. “This Abyssinia thing. We need all the help we can get. There are bad guys all over the place – more of them than there are of us. Help us with this, and then if your thing hasn’t been sorted or we don’t at least have a good plan, then you can continue with your stupid one.”
“Val …”
“Give me a chance to help you. Please.”
Tanith sighed, and Valkyrie grinned.