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– nor alive enough to do either of us harm.’
    â€˜But… what are we supposed to do
now?
’
    â€˜Did you not hear?’ Destine asked of the Irishman. ‘I intend to take control of the Hades Consortium’s vessel, and once we are in Rome, my son will guide us to this hive!’
    â€˜You mean you were
serious
about that? About us taking his ship?’
    â€˜Cornelius needs us!’ said Destine, matter-of-factly. ‘But we must make haste, for he has a day’s advance on us. I just hope that he has managed to avoid getting himself into trouble already, but with Cornelius you never know.’
    â€˜Forget him, what about
us?
’ bellowed the strongman. ‘This hare-brained scheme is like something Cornelius himself would cook up, so it is!’
    â€˜That, my dear Aiden, is what I am relying on,’ said Destine. ‘Now, we must depart with haste if we are to find this ship. Antoine cannot stay here much longer.’
    â€˜In case he wakes up, you mean?’ asked Prometheus.
    â€˜
Non
,’ said Destine, ‘because he is bleeding all over my carpet.’

Chapter VII
The Dead Weight
    â€˜Destine, are you sure this is wise?’ asked Prometheus less than half an hour later, as he marched along the River Thames embankment in the dead of night with Renard’s unconscious body slung over his shoulder.
    â€˜Wise? Possibly not,’ said Destine, walking briskly at his side. ‘But it is essential nevertheless.’
    â€˜But we don’t even know which one is the right ship!’ said Prometheus. ‘It could be any one of about a
hundred
of them! It’s owned by the damn Hades Consortium, remember? It’s not as if we can just stop and ask for directions!’
    â€˜Maybe not,
mon ami
, but I have a guide nonetheless,’ said Destine, tapping her forehead. ‘Even though Antoine is quite unconscious, there is an aura of evil that clings to his flesh like the stench of old tobacco. I shall merely follow my nose.’
    Within fifteen minutes, the Frenchwoman’s nose had performed its job well. Destine stopped suddenly and pointed to a many-sailed ship moored at the end of a long, wooden walkway. ‘
Voila!
This is the one!’
    Prometheus stared up at it. ‘How can you be so sure?’
    â€˜
Persephone
,’ said Destine, pointing to the name painted upon the ship’s bow. ‘From Greek mythology, she was the consort of the ruler of the underworld. Rather apt for a vessel owned by the Hades Consortium,
non
?’
    â€˜All right then,’ said Prometheus. ‘So now that we’ve found the right ship, what are we going to do? Just stroll on up and ask them nicely to take us all the way to Italy? I don’t think it’s going to be that easy, Madame.’
    â€˜Shame on you, Aiden!’ said Destine, playfully slapping the Irishman’s broad chest. ‘You have partnered Cornelius on many adventures in the past, were you not paying attention?’
    Prometheus grinned. ‘To be fair, I was usually too busy clobbering blokes to be taking notes, and if I
were
attempting to do something this suicidal, I sure as hell wouldn’t be taking no advice from Cornelius, so I wouldn’t!’
    â€˜Then it is lucky for us that I am here!’ announced Destine. ‘We shall board this vessel and convince its captain that we are operatives of the Hades Consortium tasked with delivering our injured colleague here to Rome. We shall demand private quarters, and not to be disturbed for the duration of the journey. Once we arrive in Italy, we will force Antoine to take us to the Hades Consortium’s lair. How does that sound,
mon ami
?’
    â€˜Fine up until we get to the part where we’re supposed to convince the captain that we work for the bloody Hades Consortium,’ acknowledged the strongman. ‘Having a plan is all well and good, but I’m used to Cornelius’s