The Masked City (The Invisible Library 2)

‘Move, Winters,’ Vale snapped, as though he hadn’t been flat on his face and watching Kai a moment ago. He caught her elbow to pull her to her feet, and the two of them ran along the bridge to the stairs at the far end, clattering down them without any attempt at stealth.

Kai came strolling across the surface of the water, now raised to their level, to greet them. Water streamed down his clothing and hair and dripped from his hands, until a last rivulet rippled around him like a snake and flowed back into the main body that supported him. ‘The guards are unconscious or injured,’ he reported, lifting his hands to run them through his hair with a sigh. ‘Ah, that feels good. I don’t think the waters outside will be as pleasant. They will have too much of a Fae touch to them.’

‘I didn’t know you could do that,’ Irene said, at a loss for words. She was feeling light-headed. Perhaps they even had a chance now. She could have kissed Kai - and then her common sense cut in. This was not the time.

And when is the right time or place? an internal voice put in unhelpfully. He just saved your life. He’s standing there with his clothing clinging to him. It’s not as if he would try to stop you. In fact, the way he’s looking at you …

‘Can you do it again?’ Vale said urgently.

‘Oh yes.’ Kai rolled his shoulders, the muscles in his chest flexing. ‘The waters will obey my will - here, at least. I may have more difficulty outside.’

‘I don’t think that you’ll be able to assert your authority against the Ten in Venice,’ Irene warned him, and the moment passed.

‘I was thinking of here, not there,’ Vale said, beckoning them into motion again. A piece of rock shivered and cracked away from near his feet, and Irene caught his arm to steady him. ‘Winters, if I remember correctly, there was another large body of water close to the staircase leading into this place?’ She nodded in agreement. ‘Well then, what if Strongrock can move the water from its basin and raise it up to the level of that staircase? And carry us along with it? I know he can keep us safe in the water, as he’s done it before. The Ten might be able to stop a few humans coming down the stairs, but they might have more difficulty with an oncoming tidal wave clearing our path.’

‘I suppose that gravity will take care of most threats,’ Kai agreed.

Irene imagined it. Water sluicing down the stairs into St Mark’s Square in a great torrent. She liked it. But despite Vale’s casual optimism, she couldn’t help feeling there might still be some personal safety issues. ‘We’ll still need to exit the Campanile into Venice itself,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘It would be astonishing if guards weren’t waiting for us outside. But yes, if the momentum of the water is great enough after it’s flooded down the length of the tower, they’ll be unable to stand in its way. Kai, can you do this while actually keeping us - well, alive?’

Kai took a moment to think about it, which wasn’t quite as reassuring as Irene would have liked, but then he nodded. ‘It may be uncomfortable, but you’ll be safe,’ he said. o;We are likely too high up to try dropping from the bridge,’ Vale said, peering round a pillar to see what lay beneath them. ‘Hmm. Another of those vast artificial reservoirs. It looks like it holds plenty of water, which could break our fall, but there’s no way of knowing how deep it is. And the pillar those soldiers have claimed is pretty much touching the far side.’

Irene wondered if his calm was a front. They were caught between the destruction behind them and the men in front, with a razor pendulum counting down the time they had left. She needed to run, to hurry, to try something, if only she knew what.

‘Wait.’ Kai’s voice was suddenly commanding. ‘Let me have a look.’ He snaked along to the next pillar, pulling himself up to inspect the water below. ‘Hmm. A good hundred feet down. That wouldn’t do for you, no. But that body of water is huge - it looks big enough. And deep enough.’

‘Deep enough for what?’ Vale demanded.

‘To rouse it. There’s nothing living there to stop me.’

‘Kai—’ Irene began, but he was already moving.

‘Stay down.’ With a nod to her and Vale, he rose to his feet, swinging over the rail in a single motion. A bullet, fired too late, hit the stone and chipped it.

Irene bit back a near-scream, leaning between the pillars and watching as Kai fell. He converted the jump into a dive as gracefully as any professional athlete and plunged into the water. It seemed to rise to receive him, flashing like liquid mercury as he vanished into its darkness.

For a moment nothing happened. Her throat closed up and she was barely able to swallow. Vale’s hands gripped one of the pillars, and she could see his knuckles showing white through the flesh.

Then the water bulged upwards in a dome, and Kai rose within it. He drifted upwards with no apparent effort until he stood on the dome’s very tip, the water seemingly as solid as glass. Irene found it hard to watch, as the soldiers suspended against their pillar seemed all too close. But Kai raised his hand as they aimed, and a wave rolled across the vast sunken reservoir towards them. It uncoiled like a serpent’s tongue, gathering speed as it rose. It reached up and outwards in response to the movement of Kai’s hand, crashing down on the soldiers’ small platform with an unnatural weight. The wash of water sent them scattering, and the hollow boom of its falling echoed around the cavern, drowning out the sound of falling rocks for a moment.

‘Move, Winters,’ Vale snapped, as though he hadn’t been flat on his face and watching Kai a moment ago. He caught her elbow to pull her to her feet, and the two of them ran along the bridge to the stairs at the far end, clattering down them without any attempt at stealth.

Kai came strolling across the surface of the water, now raised to their level, to greet them. Water streamed down his clothing and hair and dripped from his hands, until a last rivulet rippled around him like a snake and flowed back into the main body that supported him. ‘The guards are unconscious or injured,’ he reported, lifting his hands to run them through his hair with a sigh. ‘Ah, that feels good. I don’t think the waters outside will be as pleasant. They will have too much of a Fae touch to them.’

‘I didn’t know you could do that,’ Irene said, at a loss for words. She was feeling light-headed. Perhaps they even had a chance now. She could have kissed Kai - and then her common sense cut in. This was not the time.

And when is the right time or place? an internal voice put in unhelpfully. He just saved your life. He’s standing there with his clothing clinging to him. It’s not as if he would try to stop you. In fact, the way he’s looking at you …

‘Can you do it again?’ Vale said urgently.

‘Oh yes.’ Kai rolled his shoulders, the muscles in his chest flexing. ‘The waters will obey my will - here, at least. I may have more difficulty outside.’

‘I don’t think that you’ll be able to assert your authority against the Ten in Venice,’ Irene warned him, and the moment passed.

‘I was thinking of here, not there,’ Vale said, beckoning them into motion again. A piece of rock shivered and cracked away from near his feet, and Irene caught his arm to steady him. ‘Winters, if I remember correctly, there was another large body of water close to the staircase leading into this place?’ She nodded in agreement. ‘Well then, what if Strongrock can move the water from its basin and raise it up to the level of that staircase? And carry us along with it? I know he can keep us safe in the water, as he’s done it before. The Ten might be able to stop a few humans coming down the stairs, but they might have more difficulty with an oncoming tidal wave clearing our path.’

‘I suppose that gravity will take care of most threats,’ Kai agreed.

Irene imagined it. Water sluicing down the stairs into St Mark’s Square in a great torrent. She liked it. But despite Vale’s casual optimism, she couldn’t help feeling there might still be some personal safety issues. ‘We’ll still need to exit the Campanile into Venice itself,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘It would be astonishing if guards weren’t waiting for us outside. But yes, if the momentum of the water is great enough after it’s flooded down the length of the tower, they’ll be unable to stand in its way. Kai, can you do this while actually keeping us - well, alive?’