The Maleficent Seven (From the World of Skulduggery Pleasant) by Derek Landy Page B

it’s just a point of honour.”
    “If the opportunity presents itself,” said Tanith, “you go right ahead and kill him.”
    “I will.”
    “Just be careful of his magic wand.”
    Sanguine muttered something she couldn’t hear, and Tanith grinned again.
    A man appeared at the window above, leaning out, talking to Kaiven. A man in his fifties, balding. Jackie Earl.
    “And we have our target,” Tanith murmured. “You’d better head over to Annis, give her some encouragement. Let Jack and Sabine take care of the gunmen – you focus on Kaiven. He’s the only one who’ll pose a problem.”
    “I still don’t like you going after the bow alone.”
    “You don’t think I can handle one little mobster? Please.” She kissed him. “Go on now, scoot.”
    Looking decidedly unimpressed, Sanguine disappeared into the wall, and Tanith turned back to Earl as he closed his window.
     
    From where she crouched on the roof, hidden in darkness like she was, Annis could peer down into the courtyard and remain completely invisible. She watched the men walk with their guns slung over their shoulders, even caught bits and pieces of their conversation. Not very interesting stuff.
    She heard something behind her and fixed a smile on to her face, but it was only Sanguine.
    He frowned at her. “What’s wrong with your mouth?”
    “Nothing,” she muttered.
    “Have you had a seizure?”
    “It’s nothing.” God, he annoyed her. Why did it have to be him? Why couldn’t it have been Jack? Then they could have crouched here, in the dark, waiting to kill people, and it would have been romantic. Jack wouldn’t have asked whether her smile was a seizure, she knew that much.
    Or maybe he would have. There was no point lying to herself. She’d seen how he looked at that little blonde thing, Sabine. At first she’d mistaken the look in his eyes for hunger. Sabine was a tasty morsel, it had to be said. She was a meal waiting to happen. Annis herself had fantasised about it. It was perfectly natural. She wasn’t ashamed of her urges.
    But the more she saw them together, the less sure she was that it was hunger in Jack’s eyes. Or at least that
kind
of hunger. Maybe it was a hunger of a different sort. And that little piece of trash, that floozy, that Jezebel, that blonde harlot, was stringing Jack along like this was all a game. Anger burned in Annis’s throat.
    “Did you hear anything I just said?” Sanguine asked.
    She blinked at him. “
Whu?
”
    “Get your head in the game, Annis. You got a job to do.”
    “I know,” she snapped. “I just have... things on my mind.”
    “Do us all a favour and focus, all right? You’re the starter’s pistol. You go down there, cause a distraction like only you can do. That’s the signal for Jack and Sabine to start picking off the mortals and for Tanith to go after the bow.”
    “Where’s the vampire?”
    “There’s a reinforced door down the other side of this courtyard – I’m assuming that’s where they keep the vamp. They’ll release it soon after you make yourself known, so be ready. And if you see a guy with a wand, leave him alone. He’s mine.”
    Annis peered downwards. “How am I supposed to get down there?”
    “Tanith said something about that,” Sanguine told her. “Let’s see, what was it? Something about the element of surprise. Oh, yeah, I remember.”
    He put a hand on her back and pushed, and Annis was suddenly tumbling, arms flailing as she fell, skirt up around her head. The ground came to meet her and its embrace was not soft. She bounced, rolled and lay there on her back, gasping, struggling to breathe. She looked straight up and saw Sanguine, waving down at her. Her skin started turning blue.
    She heard running footsteps, getting closer, and forced herself to sit up, gritting teeth that were already lengthening in her mouth. Her fingernails were growing too. Moaning slightly, she got to her feet as half a dozen men ran up, guns in their hands. When