But then again, if Coppelia knew about Kai’s true nature, perhaps there were other dragons at large in the Library. Maybe there was a Secret Alliance. (That sort of thing would demand capital letters.) Perhaps the lower depths of the Library sheltered great slithering coils of ancient dragons and . . .
. . . and she was going to drive herself into paranoia at this rate. ‘I agree that sleep would be a good idea,’ she said, causing both Vale and Kai to give her aggrieved looks. They could have a bonding session some other time, or after she had gone to sleep. Dragons might be stand-offish in general, but this particular dragon seemed inclined to be friendly, or even outright demonstrative, and possibly even a thorough Romantic. She was much more detached. Semidetached. Her brain was tired enough that her thoughts were making stupid connections. ‘I hate to impose on you for a bed, Mr Vale, but . . .’
‘Of course,’ Vale said, giving in gracefully. ‘The bed in the spare room has already been made up for you. I’m afraid that Mr Strongrock will have to make do with the couch in here. My housekeeper has put out some blankets. I’ll just fetch them.’
The moment he was out of the room, Kai turned to Irene. ‘Well?’
‘Well, what?’
He folded his arms defensively, drawing himself to his full height. ‘I expected you’d want to talk about . . . well, you know. You’ve probably guessed.’
She’d thought about how to handle this. She’d run through several different scenarios in her head, and none of them that started out ‘so explain why you’re a dragon’ had ended well. He was proud. She was familiar with the emotion. ‘No,’ she said. ‘I’m not going to ask you any questions.’
Kai stood there like a beautiful statue (in a second-hand dressing-gown with frayed cuffs), blinking at her. The rain was audible on the window for several seconds before he could bring himself to speak again. ‘You’re not?’
‘My trust in you hasn’t changed.’ She put her unbandaged hand on his wrist. ‘I believe that if it mattered, if it was truly important, then you would tell me. You wouldn’t jeopardize the mission for the sake of your own pride. But when it comes to your private matters – yours and your family’s – I don’t intend to pry.’
‘Irene.’ He swallowed. ‘That’s very generous of you.’
‘Think nothing of it,’ she said, turning away.
‘And it makes me feel like hell,’ he said to her back.
Ah, guilt. Which Irene was very definitely feeling herself at the moment, for what she’d said and also what she hadn’t said to Vale, and for the way that she’d manipulated Kai. She could tell herself that she’d only acted as was necessary in a dangerous situation, but she knew perfectly well that he’d confessed his nature to save her life, and she’d just . . . well, given him orders and enforced their relationship as superior and trainee. All her feelings of natural justice encouraged her to confess something to him in return, but she wasn’t sure what she could say.
And now he was offering her another chance to manipulate him. Under some conditions, Irene would happily have encouraged his guilt in the hopes of getting him to spill the full details, but in the middle of a mission wasn’t one of them. I am not a nice person, she thought, to be thinking only of the mission, sparing nothing for my responsibilities to him.
‘What do you want me to say?’ she asked, turning round to look at him. ‘I’m grateful that you saved our lives. Thank you.’
‘You’re taking this far too calmly.’ He ran one hand through his hair. ‘You should be demanding answers, being furious—’
‘I thought you said you knew me.’ She pointed a finger at him. ‘Look. So far – so far just today – I have coped with discovering the skin of a senior Librarian, with running into a trap of chaos energies, with an attack by alligators, with an encounter with Alberich himself, and with an attempt to drown us in the Thames. And you have the nerve, the insolence, the undiluted gall,’ she could hear her voice rising, and at this point she didn’t much care, ‘to expect me to throw my hands in the air and run round in little circles just because you happen to be a dragon?’
Kai made desperate calm-down gestures with his hands. ‘I thought you were going to interrogate me! I was trying to think what to tell you!’
‘Well, I’m not going to interrogate you.’ Irene lowered her voice. ‘So calm down. Will it make you feel better if I promise that later on we’ll have some coffee and I’ll ask you a lot of personal questions?’ Yes, she could look forward to that. She would look forward to that.
It surprised her that she was indeed looking forward to that.
He sighed. ‘At least I’ll have that to dread, I suppose.’
‘Kai.’ Irene gave him a very deliberate stare. ‘Were you actually looking forward to telling me everything?’
Kai tried to meet her eyes in a decisive way. He settled for looking over her shoulder. ‘It isn’t as if I’ve done this before,’ he muttered.
‘Later,’ she said meaningfully. ‘I promise.’
She turned to see Vale at the door with an armful of blankets. ‘Am I interrupting?’ he asked politely.
‘Not at all,’ Irene said firmly, and swept past him with as much dignity as she could manage. He and Kai could stay up talking as long as they wanted.
Hopefully Bradamant wouldn’t turn up with any emergencies until after breakfast.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Kai and Vale were both up before Irene, and she walked in to find them sharing breakfast. Yesterday’s awkwardness seemed to have vanished, and they were talking amiably enough now. They seemed to be enjoying discussing politics (a hindrance to all right-minded men), previous investigations that Vale had undertaken (though generally without books being involved), zeppelins, and the proper method for eliminating giant centipedes.
Irene made the proper noises of good morning and yes, I slept very well, thank you for asking and please pass the marmalade as she took a seat. She then inhaled coffee by the cupful until she felt more human, letting the men resume their conversation. Her hand was feeling much better, even if it was still in bandages. Last night’s rain had passed, and outside the window the sky was – well, as clear as could be expected, given the constant smog. Rays of sunlight were filtering down. No doubt birds were singing in the countryside. Things weren’t too bad.
She wondered if she could actually get to quite like this alternate.
The door banged downstairs, and two sets of feet came hastening up the stairs.
‘Ah!’ Vale said, dusting toast crumbs off his fingers with a napkin, and pushing aside the spoon and egg which he’d been using to demonstrate the finer points of zeppelin control. ‘That would be Singh. I know his step. And no doubt Madame Bradamant with him.’
Irene hastily refilled her coffee cup and tried to ignore feelings of imminent doom. It had been such a nice morning, too. ‘They’re up early,’ she commented.
‘Oh, Singh is always welcome here for breakfast,’ Vale said cheerfully. ‘Especially when I’m working on a case that involves him.’
Perhaps that was why Singh had allowed Bradamant to meet them here, rather than keeping her at the station. Irene wondered a bit nervously if there had been any communication between Vale and Singh last night after she’d gone to bed. She stiffened her spine and was smiling pleasantly when Bradamant and Singh came in. Bradamant had somehow managed proper morning dress, neat and pristine in dove grey with violet cuffs and jabot, and had an umbrella tucked under one arm. Singh, behind her, was still in the same uniform as last night, but his moustache and beard had a spruce, freshly combed look to them. He carried a well-stuffed black briefcase that looked as though it had seen an investigation or two.
‘Ah!’ Singh said, his eyes fixing on the breakfast table.
‘My dear Singh,’ Vale said, springing to his feet and seizing the coffee pot, ‘we must speak a moment. Ladies, Mr Strongrock, please excuse us. Miss Winters, please do invite your friend to some breakfast. We will be back in a moment.’ With one boun
d he had swept Singh out of the room, taking the coffee with him, and abandoning Bradamant in the process.
‘Would you like some toast?’ Kai said helpfully, rising to his feet.
‘By all means.’ Bradamant furled her skirts and seated herself on the sofa next to Irene. ‘Is our host usually prone to such dramatic moments?’
‘I think he wanted to explain something to Inspector Singh,’ Irene replied. Her feeling of imminent doom was getting worse. She passed the toast and butter. ‘They’re old friends, and no doubt they wanted to discuss things without us listening. Quite reasonable.’
‘Oh, absolutely.’ Bradamant drew off her gloves, picked up a knife, and swiped butter across the toast. ‘So what do we all have to say to each other while they’re out of the room?’
Irene ran through her mental list of languages and their applicability to this alternate. She wouldn’t put it past Vale to be listening to the conversation. Imperial Russia had conquered China and Japan a while back in this alternate, so the odds were against Vale knowing Japanese. However, Bradamant did know it, and all things considered, she rather thought Kai would as well. ‘Last night I told Vale the basics of the Library,’ she said bluntly in Japanese.
The toast cracked and splintered in Bradamant’s hand. ‘You what?’
Irene returned the other woman’s glare. ‘We were attacked by Alberich on our way back here.’ She decided to leave Kai’s contribution out of it. ‘He trapped us in a carriage in the river and left us to drown. We escaped, but after that I had to give Vale some sort of explanation.’
Now she recognized the churning in her guts, the uncertainty in her mind. It was the nervous reaction she always used to get when reporting to Bradamant, decades back, when she had been a student and Bradamant had been mentoring her in the field. It was, apparently, something she still had to get over, if she could figure out how.
Bradamant hadn’t been the type to insist on formality while Irene reported back. No, they’d always sat together or facing each other, as comfortable as one could possibly ask. And every time Irene had tried to explain something, she had been wrong. Always.
Bradamant considered the reply, clearly looking for holes. ‘You could have given him a story about a secret society,’ she said. ‘That’s what I told Inspector Singh.’
Irene was going to answer in the negative again, say something like I didn’t think that it would work or I couldn’t think of a way to make it convincing, when she felt Kai’s eyes on her. He clearly understood what they were saying. He was looking at her with something that took her a moment to identify as trust, as expectation that she could handle things. She had to deserve that trust.
She composed herself, took a firm grip on her cup of coffee, and turned to meet Bradamant’s eyes. ‘I took a field decision that Vale would be more useful and cooperative if he knew the truth – well, some of the truth,’ she said. ‘In this place and time, I am not a courtier to present an opinion to a king, but a general in the field, expected to handle things as they arise for the good of the Library. Vale is a highly intelligent man, well informed on the current situation and trained in noticing discrepancies. Alberich had already made reference to the Library, and I was forced to use my own abilities to break free from his trap.’ Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Kai relax a fraction, leaning back into his chair. ‘An incomplete story would only have roused Vale’s distrust. We have enough enemies in this place and time as it is . . . Belphegor.’
Bradamant snorted. ‘My actions were a valid response to the situation.’
‘Do you still have the books?’
Bradamant hesitated a moment. Possibly she could guess what Irene was about to suggest. ‘I do. Some of them are rarities, you know. They would be appreciated by other Librarians.’
‘I have no doubt,’ Irene said wryly. ‘You have always had excellent taste. But it may be necessary to return those stolen books to their owners in order to secure cooperation.’
Bradamant put down her toast very deliberately, and stared at Irene. ‘You have no authority to order me to do such a thing. Or are you planning to turn me over to your new friends instead?’
‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Irene said, and tried to ignore the mental voice that pointed out that yes, it would certainly convince Vale and Singh that she was on their side. And Bradamant could easily escape from any prison cell anyway. ‘I am assuming that you were sent by one of our superiors. Why?’
‘To find the Grimm book,’ Bradamant answered. ‘And yes, let me reassure you: I do have orders from one of our superiors to that effect.’
Irene tried not to show her relief. Bradamant was still loyal to the Library. A number of unpleasant possibilities had just been ruled out. Even if there was some sort of internal dispute going on inside the Library about who was supposed to be fetching the damned book, at least she didn’t have to worry about Bradamant being in league with Alberich. ‘It’s possible that our target is one of those books that’s linked to the whole alternate,’ she said. ‘The fact that Alberich’s after it shows just how important it is. And you could only know of my mission from someone highly placed. Surely these factors make it an absolute priority for us to work together to find the book and bring it to the Library? Or do you have some other goal?’
Bradamant brushed crumbs off her fingers. The toast lay on her plate, slowly cooling. ‘Certainly my highest priority is to bring the book back,’ she replied. ‘But I cannot see why Alberich should want to kill you. It isn’t as if you have the book.’
‘And you do?’ Kai put in, his tone highly formal. But it wasn’t the formality of junior-to-senior: it was the formality of someone with authority in his own right, to a peer in another discipline.
From the look on his face, he realized that a second too late.
Bradamant didn’t seem to mind. She graced him with a delicate smile, and Irene wondered if anyone who didn’t know her would have recognized the calculation in her eyes. ‘If I did,’ she said, ‘I wouldn’t be here now.’
‘I think we would profit from a council of war,’ Irene said. ‘Or we will all assuredly hang separately.’
Bradamant thought about it, dusting her fingers again and again until not even the smallest crumb could have remained on them. Finally she said, ‘I will agree to that much. For the moment.’
Irene nodded. She turned towards the door. ‘You can come in now, gentlemen,’ she called. She’d have been listening if it had been the other way round, after all.
Vale opened the door, and held it for Singh to enter. Both men looked a little irritated, Singh more than Vale – but then, Irene reminded herself, who knew what Bradamant had been telling him last night? There were few things worse than thinking you knew everything about secret goings-on, and then finding out you’d been fed a nice plausible mess of lies.
Vale occupied his armchair again. Singh looked at Kai in a way which suggested that he usually got the comfortable chair Kai was sitting in, then pulled over the high-backed chair from by the desk. He cleared off a stack of newspapers, and settled down with a snort, flipping out notebook and pen.
‘I have been discussing the situation with Inspector Singh here,’ Vale said. He steepled his fingers. ‘It has become quite clear that we are all in pursuit of the same thing. Several members of the Iron Brotherhood were questioned last night – with Madame Bradamant’s cooperation – ’ he nodded to Bradamant – ‘which has established some interesting facts.’
‘May I ask what you’ve found?’ Irene said, glancing at Kai, who looked impatient for news.
Inspector Singh regarded her with the same wary distrust that he was displaying towards Bradamant. What fun. ‘You may recall the explosion a couple of nights ago, under the Opera House?’
‘I’m afraid I only know the very basic details about that,’ Irene said. ‘Was it related to the Iron Brotherhood?’
Inspector Singh nodded. ‘It was indeed, madam. They happened to meet there, and unfortunately the blast took out a
number of their more senior members.’
‘Unfortunately?’ Kai said. ‘Surely, if these people are criminals . . .’
Inspector Singh shook his head. ‘Your reaction is understandable, sir, but you must understand that we have infiltrated some of these societies to a degree. We know who runs them, Mr Strongrock, and we know who’s in charge. We have some idea of which way they’re going to jump in a crisis, even if we can’t bring any charges against them. For the moment,’ he added ominously. ‘The unfortunate result of this little affair was that a woman of whom we know little is now leading the society. The Grand Hammer, I believe they call her. And this woman is, shall we say, an unknown quantity. I don’t like unknown quantities, Mr Strongrock. They don’t fill my notebook and they don’t go to prison as they should.’
Irene leaned forward. ‘Are you saying, Inspector, that this “unknown quantity” is linked to last night’s events at the Liechtenstein Embassy?’
‘You would be quite correct, Miss Winters,’ Inspector Singh said. He rearranged his lips in a thin distrustful smile. ‘Now from what Mr Vale here has told me, I’m inclined to wonder if this woman is linked to the person you know as “Alberich”. Given that one of the aims of last night’s little exposition, alligators and all, was to search Lord Silver’s rooms while he was otherwise occupied.’
‘For a book,’ Vale interjected.
‘Indeed,’ Inspector Singh agreed. ‘That’s what our questioning confirmed. For a very specific book. The same book that was stolen from Lord Wyndham recently by a certain thief. Or should I say, believed to have been stolen?’ He shot a glance at Bradamant. His face was inexpressive enough, but his eyes were very dark and very angry.
Bradamant seemed to crumple in on herself. If she had had a handkerchief, no doubt she would have held it to her eyes and sniffled bravely. As it was, her lower lip quavered and her eyes were wide and limpid. ‘If Irene has told you about the Library,’ she said, ‘then there’s nothing more that I can say. I admit that I took,’ Irene admired her careful avoidance of the word stolen, ‘some books in order to make the Grimm’s disappearance look unimportant. But I certainly didn’t kill Lord Wyndham. Why would I have wanted to? I didn’t even know the man.’
The Invisible Library Page 19