him, but I always respected him. Annie Abattoir and Jessica Sorrow stood before me, on either side of Larry Oblivion. They looked at me like I was a ghost, some horrid spectre at the feast, some ancient evil from their worst nightmares. And maybe I was.

"My brother Tommy fought on your side," Larry said finally. "In the great War against Lilith. He trusted you, even though he had good reason not to. And when they struck him down you just stood there, and watched him die, and did nothing to help."

I spread my hands helplessly. "You're judging me over something I haven't even done yet. And may never do… That's why I'm here. I need you to tell me what I have to do to prevent all this happening." They stared back at me, unconvinced. I took a step forward. When dealing with Enemies, it's all about confidence, or at least the appearance of it. I gestured at the great haunch of meat burning over the fire. It smelled really bad. "You seem to be preparing dinner. Do you mind if I join you? There's nothing like struggling to avoid the Apocalypse to give you an appetite. What are we having?"

Larry snorted, amused despite himself. "That… is one of Lilith's children. Pretty much all there is left to eat, these days. Apart from the bodies. There are still a lot of dead people left over from the War, but we haven't been reduced to cannibalism. Not yet. Oh yes, they're still lying around; decades after the War. Nothing decays any more, you see. Except the buildings. All kinds of strange energies were released during the final days of your struggle with your mother. And now all the natural processes are… out of order. Existence follows new rules now. Sometimes we don't feel the need to eat or drink for days or even weeks at a time. And we don't sleep. Bad dreams can take on a life of their own, these days."

"It's hard to keep track of time any more," said Jessica, in a voice like a shell-shocked child's. "There's no way of measuring it, you see. There are no days, the night never ends, and watches don't work even though there's nothing wrong with them. Perhaps you and Lilith broke Time, during the War…" She cocked her head to one side, like a bird, still fixing me with her direct, unblinking gaze. "How did you know where to find us?"

"My gift," I said. "And a little help from an angel."

Her mouth twitched briefly. "You always did move in exalted circles, John."

"Heaven and Hell have abandoned us," Annie Abattoir said harshly. "Nothing left to fight over, any more. Do you know who we are? Why we stay together? Why we still struggle to survive, in this worst of all possible worlds?"

"Yes," I said. My mouth was suddenly dry. "You're my Enemies. You've been trying to kill me ever since I was born, striking back through Time, to kill me before I do… whatever it is I do that brings about the destruction of the Nightside."

"And the world," Larry said flatly. "Don't think this is just London. There's nothing else."

"We had to do it," said Jessica. "It was…"

"Oh please!" I said. "Don't you dare say It was nothing personal! You and your Harrowing have hounded me all my life! I've never been able to feel safe, feel secure, because I could never know when your bloody assassins would appear suddenly out of nowhere, killing everyone in their path for a chance to get at me! You made my life a living Hell!"

"You made the world a living Hell," said Count Video. "Everything we've done is justified by what you did."

"I haven't done anything yet!"

"But you will, John," said Jessica. "You will."

I made myself control my temper. I was here for their help. And there was still one question I hadn't asked. Something I had to know.

"Where's Suzie?" I said. "Where's my Shotgun Suzie?"

Larry looked a little surprised. "You expected her to be here?"

"She tried to kill me," I said. The words hurt, but I forced them out. "She told me she was one of you. That's why I came here, through Time, for information. The future isn't set in stone. This doesn't have to happen. Tell me what you know. The things only you know."

"She volunteered, to be made into one of our assassins," said Larry. "You do know she volunteered, to be made over into… what we made her?"

"Yes," I