Montgomery sits in her chair. "You wished to see me."

"Yes. Prototype plan is --" and he goes over the prototype plan they'd agreed on the previous day. "Obviously you know more about local security and politics than we do, any obvious problems?"

"No, although I don't know anything about the catacombs. --The person who showed you the catacombs, they're trustworthy?"

"Yes."

"The big problem is keeping Peter out. I will try but-- it's going to be suspicious, whatever I do. Especially if I'm busy aiding you with Cast Out The Black Pharaoh. How are you planning to divide up helping me cast and dealing with unexpected events?"

"Someone should assist in me casting, it is irritatingly likely to fail with only me."

She looks. "Mordred, Zoe, you look more magically powerful. Unsure how Mordred's nonhuman ancestry will affect this. Possibly positively."

"I'll help, I'm good at languages and the worst for distracting Lukas on account of the murder."

"I personally would find someone I murdered being alive very distracting.

Is there any reason to delay later than tomorrow night?"

"Don't think so, unless you want to vanish from Malta immediately afterwards, in which case you might want some time to make arrangements for that."

"This is why I have a yacht. It is not a novel fact about my life that I might need to flee suddenly."

"You know, there's some kind of nautical phantom with a boat out there on the waters," he mentions, inanely.

He's just. Not. Going to acknowledge that.

"Fair enough. Or if there was something immediately going to happen with the --" do not call it the rift maw lady moon thing -- "new moon but that seems even less likely."

"I have no idea what might happen with the new moon or with nautical boat phantoms."

"Cool. Tomorrow night, then."

Later:

"A-- are you guys going to want me to-- to lead you through the catacombs?"

"We are. Sorry for the short notice."

"Um. That sounds kind of. Um. Potentially fatal."

"What isn't?"

"Most things I do!"

"...Is leading us through the catacombs going to be significantly more difficult than we realized."

"Well, no, but some demons might go down INTO the catacombs. Or just, like. Men with guns."

"The men with guns are accounted for and demons seem... unlikely. Since the local demon is a giant mouth affixed to a wall."

"A floor, actually, but the point holds."

Martin did NOT SURVIVE THIS LONG BY LISTENING TO PEOPLE WHEN THEY SAID THINGS AREN'T FATAL.

Hey Zoe absolutely acknowledged it might be fatal.

"How about I write you guys... directions."