The Burning Page

‘That’s logical,’ Kai agreed. ‘So?’

‘So he didn’t know which book we’re after.’ Irene held up a finger. ‘But he did know which world I was coming to. He even quoted the Library designation, he was so busy trying to impress me.’

Kai shrugged. ‘So he knew some things, but not others. That in itself isn’t—’ He broke off, making the connection. ‘Wait. Someone from the Library would have had access to the records to report our destination and would have known the book you’d been assigned to collect.’

Irene nodded. ‘Which suggests that whoever passed Alberich the information wasn’t a Librarian. But he discovered the world’s designation from someone.’

‘The werewolves who stole your folder?’ Kai suggested. ‘If they saw your mission papers?’

‘Possible, but unlikely. The documents in the folder were in the Language, remember. Anyone who read them would have read them in their native tongue. If one of them passed on the information, why just the world’s designation? Why not the name of the book as well, and the place where it was located?’

‘I’ll allow that. But that means—’

‘Yes,’ Irene interrupted. ‘Exactly! The only people who’d know the world’s designation, but not the book, are the ones who saw the outside of the folder, but not the inside. Which means the people who were waiting in Vale’s rooms when I arrived.’ As she said it, the theory became near-certainty. However, her pleasure at the logical construction drained away as she accepted the conclusion. ‘Which means one of them is working for Alberich.’

‘Not Li Ming,’ Kai said at once.

‘Hopefully not.’ Irene didn’t necessarily share Kai’s faith in the other dragon, but she’d really prefer it if Alberich didn’t have dragon allies as well as Fae ones. ‘And surely not Vale, either.’

‘Of course not,’ Kai said. ‘And there’s no reason for it to be Singh. Which leaves Zayanna.’ Obviously, his tone added.

Irene nodded reluctantly. ‘I didn’t want . . .’ she started, then fell silent, trying to think what she had wanted. There had never been a reason to trust Zayanna.

‘She’s Fae,’ Kai said dismissively. ‘It’s all a game to them. Probably her patron did throw her out, like she said, and Alberich offered her a better deal.’

‘If her patron did throw her out, it was because she helped rescue you,’ Irene said quietly.

‘For her own reasons.’ Kai jingled his chains. ‘And speaking of rescues, how about our own?’

Irene pulled herself together. ‘Yes. We need to get out of here, and get back to Vale’s world. If Zayanna’s been communicating with Alberich, then she can tell us how to find him.’ And then they could work out what to do next.

Irene had never had a reason to trust Zayanna. But she’d wanted to. She’d felt sorry for her. She’d chosen to trust someone whom she’d been warned against by Kai, by the Library’s own guidelines, by simple common sense . . .

And now everyone she’d left behind might be in mortal danger.

A sullen swell of anger built inside her. This was a personal betrayal. She’d never really appreciated how much worse this felt than professional treachery. Perhaps because she’d never faced quite so personal a betrayal before, and certainly never with such high stakes.

‘All right,’ she said, bringing her hands firmly together. She could feel a solid strength growing in the back of her mind, which had been lacking earlier: the power to use the Language, and the force of will to command it. She’d exhausted herself against the Empress, but now her strength had returned, like rainwater collecting after a drought. ‘Kai, once we’re out of this cell, I’ll need you to find the shortest path towards the waterfront.’

‘Certainly,’ Kai said. ‘Is that how we’re leaving?’

‘Eventually. I’m assuming that you can command the waters, or the water-spirits, in the way you’ve done before. This world being a high-order world won’t stop you?’

‘It’ll make it easier, if anything. I won’t need to summon the local spirits.’ He sounded quite definite about that, and Irene wondered if they’d report on him to the local dragons. ‘But what about the book? It’ll be difficult getting up to the Empress’ bedroom, as security is bound to be on high alert . . .’

‘We’re leaving it behind.’

Kai stared at her, shocked. ‘But it was your mission. We have to get it—’

‘It’s even more important to find the link to Alberich,’ Irene said. She hated abandoning a mission, and hated abandoning a book even more, but the real threat was Alberich. If they went to grab the book and lost the chance of finding Alberich himself, then they’d have treated the symptom, but died of the underlying disease. ‘Our priority is getting out of here and finding Alberich’s accomplice – whether it’s Zayanna or anyone else – and using them to stop Alberich.’

‘Using them how, precisely? Alberich doesn’t seem the type to stop attacking the Library just to keep someone else safe. Shouldn’t we actually do our assigned job first?’

‘I could be wrong,’ Irene said. Her anger was still burning, making her want to spit out every word, to shout at someone who deserved it, to hammer against the cell door. She controlled it. Kai’s objections were reasonable and deserved an answer, even if the answer was going to be a flat no. ‘In which case I will have weakened the Library by not obtaining a vitally important book. And in which case I will take full responsibility, and I will feel every damn bit of guilt that I deserve to feel. But I don’t think I am wrong. I think Zayanna is part of Alberich’s plan. I strongly believe that at this precise moment getting our hands on her, or whoever’s helping him, is the most important thing we can do.’