‘It looked quite successful to me,’ Kai said. He tried moving his bandaged arm, and winced. ‘Irene, I’m sorry. I should have had more faith in you.’
‘It was hardly how I’d have planned it,’ Irene admitted. She was feeling more coherent now, though horribly exhausted. The knowledge of what she’d done to the books lay like a lead weight at the bottom of her mind, dragging all her other achievements down with it. She’d burned them. Unique books – stories that would never be found again – and she’d burned them all. There should have been some other way. There must have been some other way. If she’d tried harder, if she’d been more intelligent, then perhaps she would have found a way to save the books, as well as stopping Alberich.
She realized that Kai deserved a better response for his apology, and forced a smile. ‘I nearly got killed. Several times,’ she said. ‘Li Ming was quite right. It was reckless. I wasn’t expecting you two. I really wasn’t. Thank you.’ Her voice shook, and she had to bite her lip not to cry.
To Irene’s surprise, the arm that went round her shoulders and gave her a comforting squeeze was Vale’s. She let herself relax, assuring herself that it would be only for a moment. I’m not being weak. I’m simply leaning on him for a moment, just till I get my strength back.
‘We should have been there sooner,’ Kai said firmly.
‘What happened to the Fae woman?’ Vale asked, in tones of academic interest.
A lump rose in Irene’s throat. ‘She’s dead,’ she said, not looking at either of them. ‘She pushed me out of the way of a falling bookcase. I’d have died if she hadn’t. She got me there safely, but . . .’
‘Save your sympathy for someone who didn’t try to kill you multiple times over, Winters,’ Vale advised sharply. ‘She knew perfectly well what she was doing. If she didn’t make it out alive, then she has nobody to thank but herself for getting into that situation in the first place.’
Irene scrubbed her arm across her stinging eyes. Her face was smeared with ashes. ‘Believe it or not, that doesn’t help much, either.’ She knew she should try to be more gracious, but her stock of patience had run dry. ‘I would have liked her to get out of this alive. Even if you don’t think she “deserved” it.’
‘And your Alberich. Dead, I hope?’ Vale asked.
‘I hope so. I hope he burned.’ Irene’s own vengefulness surprised her.
‘Along with his books. It’s a shame they couldn’t be saved,’ Kai said.
She was going to have to confess it sooner or later. She might as well get some practice in now. ‘That was my fault,’ Irene said. ‘I started the fire. I ordered them to burn.’ She could smell the ashes all over her, and she wondered morbidly if any of them came from the unique books in the cages. The ash felt ingrained into her skin, a mark of irredeemable sin more permanent than any scarlet letter.
Vale shrugged. ‘A shame, but it clearly worked.’
‘Yes, but . . . they were unique,’ Irene protested. She wasn’t getting the sort of disapproval she’d expected. ‘And I burned them.’
Vale and Kai exchanged glances. Kai shrugged. ‘I can sympathize,’ he said. ‘Even if I wasn’t training as a Librarian, I’d sympathize. They were books. They were unique. But I know you, Irene. You wouldn’t have done that if you could have found any other way to stop him. It’s not your fault. If you’re blaming anyone other than Alberich, then you’re wrong.’
Irene struggled with the urge to tell him that he’d got it all wrong and that she should be blamed, but the thorough lack of condemnation from either man made it difficult. ‘How did you get here?’ she asked, changing the subject.
Kai lay back and looked at the ceiling. ‘I found Madame Coppelia and passed on your message,’ he said. ‘Then Vale and I decided to come after you.’
‘That’s suspiciously vague,’ Irene said. ‘And rather lacking in details.’
‘But substantially correct. Besides, this way you can’t claim it was all your fault and that you should be punished for getting me into trouble.’ Kai sounded positively smug.
‘True,’ Vale agreed. ‘Strongrock can apologize for all of it, together with whatever reparations he needs to make to his uncle’s servant.’
‘Oh dear.’ Irene wasn’t sure she really wanted to know what had happened to Li Ming. She was finally starting to relax. It helped if she didn’t think about some of the things that Alberich had said. ‘I’m having trouble believing it’s all over. Part of me is afraid that the lights are going to start going out again, or that I’ll open the door and . . .’ She let the sentence trail off.
Is Alberich really dead? Irene’s paranoia whispered. I’ve seen his skin ripped from his body, I’ve seen him thrown into chaos, and now I’ve seen him caught in an inferno, in a world that’s falling apart. It should be enough to kill anyone – human, Fae, dragon or Librarian. But how can I be sure?
For a moment there was silence. Then she shook herself and clambered to her feet. ‘All right,’ she said firmly. ‘Time to move.’ It felt as if time had started again. This little moment of stillness couldn’t last. Her personal clock was ticking. There were things to do, people to see, questions to ask. Books to read.
‘Couldn’t we wait a little longer?’ Kai asked pathetically. But he let her and Vale help him up.
‘Nonsense, there’s far too much to do.’ Irene finally put a name to the sensation she could feel rising in her, like a kite catching the wind. Possibility. Anything seemed possible now.
She looked between the two men. Her two friends, here in her home, in the Library. This was what defined her, far more than any birth or bloodline. Maybe Alberich was right, or maybe he was lying, or maybe he was simply mistaken. She could ask her parents later. No, she would ask them later. That was a promise. But she would be the worst sort of idiot if she let Alberich’s malice poison what she had, here and now.
‘I should probably be getting back to London,’ Vale said, a little reluctantly. ‘There’s a lot to be done. I can’t leave the place without a wave of crime breaking out, and this time I’ve gone further than usual.’ He looked around. ‘So this is your Library. I can’t say this corridor’s very impressive.’
Kai chuckled, and Irene found herself smiling. ‘It’s larger than you think,’ she said blandly. ‘I can’t promise that we have any criminal records, but I’m sure we can find something to interest you. I need to report to Coppelia, and to find out if there was any damage to the Library from what Alberich did. So that’s our first priority, but after that . . .’ She shrugged.
‘And I’m free of that taint now?’ Vale inspected his fingers as though he would be able to see some sort of visible contamination, or the lack of it.
‘I believe so, or you couldn’t have entered the Library.’
‘Then you are absolutely correct, Winters. We’ve work to do.’ Vale started striding down the corridor, and Irene and Kai had to hurry to catch up with him. ‘Which way do we go from here?’
‘We look for a room with a computer in it, and Irene can check the map when she contacts Coppelia,’ Kai said. ‘You’ll like computers, Vale.’
Vale frowned. ‘Are you telling me this place isn’t properly organized?’
‘It’s extremely organized,’ Irene said defensively. ‘It’s just not very helpfully organized, from our point of view. Don’t worry. Nobody’s ever been lost. Well, not permanently.’
‘You reassure me greatly,’ Vale said drily. ‘You’d better take the lead, Winters. We’ll follow.’
Irene led the way down the corridor under the clear overhead lights, leaving behind the smell of ashes and corruption. New horizons seemed to stretch in front of her. It didn’t matter if the Library still wanted to insist she was ‘on probation’. She knew what she had done, and so did the people whose opinions she cared about. Even if there were new mountains ahead of her, she had the energy to face them and to wear them down.
And she had friends to help her.
This sense of possibility migh
t not last, of course. Nothing ever did. But she wasn’t going to spoil it by looking too far ahead. They were safe in the Library, and the Library would endure.
Praise for the series
‘I absolutely loved this . . . flavoured with truly unique mythology and a dash of the eldritch. Such clever, creepy, elaborate worldbuilding’
N. K. Jemisin
‘Richly realised settings and wicked sense of humour. Also, Irene is a great heroine: fiery, resourceful and no one’s fool, she has a wonderfully droll sense of humour – much like the novel itself’
Guardian
‘Written in a similar vein to Deborah Harkness’s All Souls trilogy . . . Contemporary meets fairy-tale in this novel’
Big Issue
‘Surrender to the sheer volume of fun that appears on every page . . . thoroughly entertaining’
Starburst
‘Part spy mystery, part steampunk fantasy, The Masked City is a joy to read and Cogman makes it look effortless. She knows her characters, understands how to pace the action and the world she has built is intricate and compelling . . . an adventurous, fun and exhilarating read that will leave you immediately wanting the next instalment’
SciFiNow
‘One of those rare fantasies that seems to arrive fully formed within the first few pages of the book . . . Irene herself is a fantastic central character, a capable, intelligent female lead who seems to have one of the best, if dangerous, jobs in fiction’
Den of Geek
‘Fantasy doesn’t get much better . . . If you’re looking for a swift, clever and witty read, look no further’
Fantasy Faction
‘Highly entertaining . . . It reminded me a lot of Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next series’
TheBookPlank
‘The Invisible Library is everything I could ever want out of a book . . . a stunning work of art that has me absolutely begging for more’
FantasyBookReview
‘An adventure story to delight the heart . . . The characters of Irene, her companion and those they encounter are vividly drawn, and the story moves along at breakneck speed to a thoroughly satisfying conclusion’
ScifiBulletin
‘A book that was a sheer joy to spend time with . . . solid prose alongside great pace’
Falcata Times
‘An exciting, fast-paced introduction to a world you will yearn to revisit . . . Books such as The Maze Runner and The Hunger Games series are paving the way for stories like this’
Geekchocolate
‘I’ve seen it compared to Doctor Who, I’m sure it’ll be compared to Harry Potter, and it’ll probably get compared to every Anglophile novel full of vim and fun that’s ever been written. These comparisons will all be well-earned’
BastianBalthasarbooks
THE BURNING PAGE
Genevieve Cogman got started on Tolkien and Sherlock Holmes at an early age, and has never looked back. But on a perhaps more prosaic note, she has an MSc in Statistics with Medical Applications and has wielded this in an assortment of jobs: clinical coder, data analyst and classifications specialist. She has also previously worked as a freelance roleplaying game writer. Her hobbies include patchwork, beading, knitting and gaming, and she lives in the north of England. The Burning Page is the third novel in her Invisible Library series.
By Genevieve Cogman
The Invisible Library
The Masked City
The Burning Page
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I can’t believe that I’ve got this far. Thank you to everyone who’s helped with this book, and with the ones before it.
Thank you to my agent Lucienne Diver, who took a chance on me and has always been there to support and advise me. Thank you to my UK editor Bella Pagan, and to my US editors Diana Gill and Rebecca Brewer, who made this book a great deal better. You are all very much appreciated.
Thanks to my beta-readers and friends – Beth, Jeanne, Anne, Unni, Phyllis, April, Nora, and everyone else. Thanks to the classification team and all my other friends at work, who give me support, friendship, and coffee. Thanks to all my readers and friends online who’ve enjoyed the previous books – I hope that you enjoy this one too.
Thank you to my family – my mother and father, my brother and sister, my aunt and uncle and all my other relations. It’s your support, and the books on your shelves, which have helped make this book what it is.
And thanks to all good libraries and librarians everywhere. You are needed and appreciated, and you always will be.
First published 2016 by Pan Books
This electronic edition published 2016 by Pan Books
an imprint of Pan Macmillan
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Associated companies throughout the world
www.panmacmillan.com
ISBN 978-1-4472-5628-1
Copyright © Genevieve Cogman 2016
Cover Images © Shutterstock
The right of Genevieve Cogman to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Pan Macmillan does not have any control over, or any responsibility for, any author or third-party websites referred to in or on this book.
You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
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