The Masked City (The Invisible Library 2)

Irene rose to her feet and bowed again. ‘Thank you, your majesty. I am grateful for your concern in this matter. I will do my utmost.’ Urgency to get going buzzed in her, fighting the pressure of his authority.

The door whispered open and, as she walked towards it, the currents of the room pulled around her legs like water, dragging her out with them. It was easy just to follow them, to work on holding herself upright, to focus on putting one foot in front of another …

She stepped out into the light of the exterior office and the weight abruptly lifted from her shoulders, leaving her suddenly so light and unrestrained that she nearly stumbled. The ache of the brand across her shoulder-blades was gone too, though it had only seemed a minor irritation compared to the dragon king’s presence. And while great storm clouds were massing on the far side of the windows, darkening the room, there was still an entirely different quality of light here than in the depths of the throne room beyond. Irene had never been a great believer in the value of sunlight as a child (as in Put the book down and go out and play), but right now she thought her teachers had had a point. Tsuuran - or should she think of him as Li Ming, if that was his real name? - closed the door behind her. ‘May I be of any assistance with your return travels?’ he asked politely.

It seemed pointless to try and hide her method of travel, and speed was vital. ‘I need access to a library,’ Irene said, trying to make it sound commonplace.

‘Of course,’ Li Ming said. ‘I am sure that his majesty would not want you to be troubled by any delay. Now, will any library do?’

‘As long as it is reasonably large,’ she said. ‘A few rooms of books at least, please.’ The pendant was still in her hand, and she placed it over her head as Li Ming murmured into a small telephone. The jade was cold against her skin and stayed cool, a reminder of its presence. She couldn’t sense anything from it, as Ao Shun clearly could. But perhaps if she was closer to Kai, or if she used the Language in some way, she could coax it into providing information.

Half a minute later, Li Ming was escorting her out to the lift. ‘A vehicle will be waiting for you downstairs,’ he explained, striding beside her. She had to walk fast to keep up. ‘It will take you to the Bibliotheque du Panier.’

‘Thank you,’ Irene said. She was running out of polite ways to express it. ‘I am very grateful.’

‘Think nothing of it,’ Li Ming interrupted. ‘It is the least we can do, under the circumstances. I can only apologize for the haste of my behaviour. Now, if you will forgive me …’

We both have work to do. The unspoken subtext was so clear that Irene let herself be hurried through polite goodbyes and shooed down and out. In a way, it was reassuring that Li Ming was clearly in such a hurry, assuming his pressing business was to do with Kai - or that he wanted Irene to be getting on with her rescue attempt. There was indeed a vehicle waiting, a luxurious chauffeured hover-car, which flicked her off to her destination in minutes, under a sky that was knotting itself into a full-blown thunderstorm.

When Irene reached the Bibliotheque, she created an unobserved passage back to the Library out of sheer instinct, far too busy visualizing threats to Kai to worry about being observed. That urgency stayed with her, even back in the Library. Past the endless bookcases, through the empty rooms, until she found a terminal. And then she had to summarize it all into a quick email for Coppelia, one that she knew might be cited later in evidence against her: The Librarian responsible for Kai’s security when he was kidnapped …

And what did she have to say? It’s worse than we thought. Kai’s deep in chaos and if it’s a world that would poison his uncle, then it may well kill him. He’s weak and in distress. Ao Shun may not hold this against the Library, but he will certainly hold it against me. And he’s even threatened to destroy Vale’s world. As an object lesson. But all she could do was report the facts.

The pendant was still cold against her flesh.

Irene waited for a reply, tapping her fingers against the wrought-iron table on which the computer sat. An impatient glance around the room confirmed that it was decorated in an outdoors-pastoral style - whitewashed bookcases, wrought-iron painted furniture, rough floorboards.

She didn’t bother to check what books were on the shelves.

With half her attention, she summoned up a map of the quickest route to the Traverse back to Vale’s world. Astonishingly, it wasn’t too far away. An hour’s walk. Perhaps half an hour, if she ran.

No answer from Coppelia.

The minutes were ticking by.

I know that you prefer to run to your superiors for orders, Vale’s voice echoed in the back of her mind from past arguments.

I needed to gather information and talk to Kai’s people, she told herself. It was the right thing to do. And Coppelia had endorsed it. However, going to hunt for Kai was a different thing entirely. Librarians-in-Residence were supposed to stay in the alternate world to which they’d been assigned. Running off on her own would be reckless, unwise, unprofessional. She might lose her position. She might lose more than just her position. New information could arrive at any minute and she wouldn’t be there to see it.

No answer on the screen. No further data about the Guantes. Nothing.

The thought came to her in a sudden moment of terrifying release. What could Coppelia tell her to do that she wasn’t going to do anyway? Coppelia knew that Irene would do her utmost to find and protect Kai.

And what if the orders weren’t to find and protect Kai?

‘Well,’ Irene said out loud, standing up. She leaned down to turn off the computer. ‘In that case, I suppose … that I didn’t receive any orders. What a pity.’

The high heels were appropriate business wear. But it was easier to run in stockinged feet, carrying the shoes down shadowed corridor after shadowed book-lined corridor.

Nobody had crossed her path by the time she reached the Traverse. She readied herself, brushing her feet off and slipping her shoes back on, then steadied her handbag under one arm. For a moment she hesitated, as though Coppelia was going to step out of the shadows and offer assistance. But Irene was past needing that. She stepped back through the door and into her current home.

The room on the other side was full of large hairy men. They had guns. And they were pointing them at her.

CHAPTER NINE

Irene’s first impulse was to freeze. She didn’t have the reflexes for action-hero moves - at least, not without preparation. Also, dramatic action heroes were usually taller, fitter and more athletic than their adversaries. She, on the other hand, was five foot nine in her socks and not overly muscular - unlike her five well-built new adversaries. an - or should she think of him as Li Ming, if that was his real name? - closed the door behind her. ‘May I be of any assistance with your return travels?’ he asked politely.

It seemed pointless to try and hide her method of travel, and speed was vital. ‘I need access to a library,’ Irene said, trying to make it sound commonplace.