The Lost Plot

by Genevieve Cogman

  Kai looked around at the confusion and the troubled night sky, his face as distant as if he had been reading an account of it in the newspaper. “I wouldn’t want to intrude on your lord’s territory or in his business,” he said coldly. “Besides, what do you expect me to do? Throw myself between the two of them and hope that they halt in time? Even if I raised the river against them, it might not be enough to stop them both.”

  Irene needed her voice back, right this minute, in order to contribute to the discussion. She coughed loudly.

  Kai met her eyes, and his expression lightened at the realization that she had something to say. “Of course,” he added, “if you have the antidote to whatever’s been done to Irene, that would affect my decision.”

  Hu shrugged. “I’m sorry, Your Highness. My lord has that.” He glanced at the ruined top of the St. Regis Hotel. “Well, had that. It might take a little while to fetch it. If you were to reason with my lord and with the lady Jin Zhi, while I take Miss Winters in charge . . .”

  Irene made her opinion on that clear with a healthy sniff. She pried Kai’s arm from around her waist, pointed at her throat, then mimed drinking something, looking at Kai and Evariste hopefully. If Kai knew what it was, he might also know some way of fixing it.

  Kai shook his head. “I’m sorry, Irene. I don’t know what he’s given you.”

  “And if I don’t know the words for it . . .” Evariste trailed off, his forehead furrowed in thought. It was all very well for a Librarian to have the Language, but if they didn’t have the words, their power was useless.

  In between her panic and fury, Irene wondered: what was the drug she’d been given? Ordinary magic, if one could use that term, wouldn’t have worked on a Librarian. And a paralytic drug would have affected her mouth and throat too, not just her vocal cords.

  Which meant it was dragon magic of some sort. She’d seen Fae magic powerful enough to bind dragons—Kai had been collared to stop him using his powers. So why couldn’t dragons create something that could block a Librarian’s abilities?

  She held up one hand to Kai—wait—and then stepped over to Evariste, pulling out her battered eyebrow pencil and looking for something to write on.

  Perhaps more than anyone else present, Evariste must have understood exactly how frustrated she was feeling. He pulled his coat back from the books he was carrying, offering her a cover to scribble on.

  Irene looked at the cover of the topmost book. Her eyes widened before she could stop her reaction. It wasn’t the Journey to the West. It was The Dream of the Red Chamber.

  Evariste gave a very slight nod at her reaction. “It’s under control,” he muttered. “As much as anything is at the moment.”

  Irene pulled herself together. Symbolic cleansing, she scribbled on the cover. Get water, as pure as possible. You use the Language—say it’s washing my throat clean of dragon influence as I drink it.

  Hu saw what she was doing, and his horrified intake of breath was almost audible despite the noise going on around them. “Don’t write on the books!” he nearly shrieked, in a manner worthy of a Librarian.

  Kai stepped between Hu and Irene and Evariste before Hu could launch any one-dragon assaults to drag the books out of their hands. “Are you sure you can’t get hold of that antidote? Before we end up defacing the queen’s personal reading matter even further?”

  Hu’s face was tight with frustration. “My lord kept it on his person. I don’t have it. Your Highness, there isn’t much time—”

  The two dragons clashed in the sky again, curling around each other like the links of a chain, before breaking free. Their roaring rippled across the city. The street lights flickered in a crazy chiaroscuro as their posts shook and trembled. People abandoned their cars, fleeing on foot.

  Irene knew roughly how large Kai was as a dragon. Both of those dragons were bigger than he was. No doubt in time—possibly lots of time—his royal blood would have him outgrowing them both, but at the moment he was young. Purely on grounds of size, he’d be outweighed and outmatched in an open fight against either of those dragons. If they joined forces against him, he might even be risking crippling injury or death. She couldn’t just send him up there and tell him to stop them.

  But this couldn’t be allowed to go on. Not for the sake of the dragons—but for the sake of this New York, and the whole of this world. Having two dragons fight might mean more than simply physical damage. It might mean that the world itself was somehow destabilized.

  Evariste had been frowning at Irene’s written instructions, but finally he nodded. “We need water!” he called to Kai.

  Hu’s backup thugs were looking rather overtaken by events, but they had been listening to the conversation. Before Hu could tell them to keep quiet, one of them spoke up, pointing at a side street. “There’s a joint there,” he suggested. “Brown door, third on the right, you knock three times and ask for Louie . . .”

  “Right.” Kai strode towards it, with Irene and Evariste hurrying to keep up. Hu followed, still protesting, his thugs trailing behind and looking increasingly confused.

  There was indeed a speakeasy there, and it was doing a thriving trade. Many were reacting to the crisis by getting drunk, and Irene couldn’t blame them. It was a perfectly reasonable response to the situation, and it was supporting local businesses. A win-win situation.

  “Water,” Kai said, forcing his way to the bar and getting to the point. “A large glass of the purest water you have.”

  The man behind the bar stared at him, then shrugged. “You want ice with that?”

  “Wasting time on this is a bad idea,” Hu said. The wolves had been left trapped in the concrete. Evariste had been extremely deaf to Hu’s hints that it would be a good idea to free them, that it would give Qing Song a reason to show him favour, et cetera, et cetera. A small part of Irene hoped that nobody killed the wolves while they were helpless, but on her scale of priorities it rated rather low.

  “On the contrary, I think it’s an extremely good idea,” Kai replied. “I think releasing Irene is a much better idea than me throwing myself into the fight and making matters worse.”

  “Well, if Miss Winters must contribute to the discussion, can’t she simply write it down?” Hu offered. “Just gargling with water isn’t going to restore her voice.”

  The barman pushed the glass of water across the counter, clinking with ice cubes. Kai caught it and slid it towards Evariste. “Will that do?” he asked.

  “Give me a moment.” Evariste put his bundle of books on the floor, glanced sideways at Hu, then rested a foot firmly on top.

  Hu winced. “You won’t improve your bargaining position by destroying them in front of me,” he said.

  “After all this shit, I’m not letting go of them.” Evariste turned his attention to the glass, picking his words. “Water in the glass in front of me, let your impurities enter the cubes of ice until you are pure.”

  Just because most of the people in the speakeasy were busy getting drunk didn’t mean that they were going to ignore free entertainment. When the ice cubes began to grow murky and dull, there were yells of laughter and comments of disbelief.

  “Always knew your gin was bath-tub quality,” one man commented to the bartender, “but looks like your water’s even worse.”

  “Ready?” Evariste asked Irene. He flipped the cloudy ice cubes out of the glass and passed it to her.

  Irene nodded.

  She tipped her head back and took a long swig of water, then another. It was absolutely tasteless and oddly unappealing. If only she’d been able to think of a symbolic cure involving brandy.

  “The water that Irene is drinking is washing her throat clean of all other influences,” Evariste said, “dragon, Fae, or anything else, so that she can once again speak freely.” He frowned, his mouth tight with concentration, and visibly swayed, putting out a hand to brace himsel
f against the bar.

  Irene buckled to her knees, dropping the glass and clutching her throat and her stomach. The water slid down her throat like broken glass, as if someone were scouring her gullet with a wire brush. Her breath sawed painfully in her lungs, and she would have screamed, but she couldn’t get the sound out. She could hear her stomach gurgling, and her brain supplied violently disturbing images of fluids at war inside her. She was vaguely aware that she was curled up on the floor, with Kai supporting her. The speakeasy crowd had moved back to give her space, some of them even having the kindness to call for doctors. But nothing mattered besides the claws that seized her throat from inside and dug into her . . .

  And then, like ice dissolving in rain, they were gone.

  Irene took a breath that was mercifully free from pain, then another, and tried to speak. “I think I need a brandy,” she croaked.

  That was when Hu and his men moved. One of the thugs bowled into Evariste. He punched him hard in the stomach, grabbed him by the tie, then cracked his head against the bar. The other kept his gun on Kai and Irene as Hu stepped forward and picked up the bundle of books.

  “I think I’ll take these, Your Highness,” he said smugly. “My lord will be able to make his explanations much more easily with these in his possession.” Almost as a formality, he flipped back the fold of Evariste’s coat to inspect his prize.

  He stared.

  Irene had read the phrase He froze as if turned to stone, but she’d never seen it happen. For a moment the only living thing in Hu’s face was his eyes, filled with horror as his position collapsed like a house of cards. Not only did he not have what he wanted, but he’d just put a large hole in his chances of ever getting it.

  Before Hu could think what to try next, Irene said, “Every gun within range of my voice, open and eject your bullets.”

  The resulting confusion gave Kai the opportunity to take Hu’s thugs down. Irene checked on the groaning Evariste, helping him upright. “Can I have a brandy?” she asked the bartender. “Two brandies, in fact?”

  He was staring at her as if she were a specimen in a zoo. “Lady, what the hell did you just do?”

  “Look at her,” another man said, pointing. “She’s her. She’s Jeanette Smith!”

  “Yes. Right. Fine.” Irene took a deep breath in the sudden silence. “I’m also a trained mesmerist and I can control the wills of everyone around me. And right now”—she looked the bartender straight in the eye—“I really, really need a couple of brandies.”

  “You want to stop for a drink now?” Kai demanded.

  “We need to work out what we’re going to do next—and I might as well have a drink while I’m doing it.”

  It wasn’t just one of the fundamental principles of the Library; it was one of the fundamental principles of humanity, and it was found in all places and cultures. It wasn’t altruism, or ethics, or sympathy for people in trouble. It was a case of clearing up the mess they had made.

  The crowded room buzzed as some newcomers pushed their way through the door. The mob of drinkers parted to make way for them, and Irene recognized George, with a couple of his henchmen. Lily was one step behind, an attaché case in her hand, her face murderous as she caught sight of Kai.

  “You.” George pointed a diamond-ringed finger at Irene. “And you.” He pointed at Hu. “I can’t say I know what you’re all up to in my town, but I am—what’s that thing you Brits say?—I’m not amused. I am not one bit amused. And as for you.” His finger shifted to Kai and Evariste, and his tone of voice slipped from furious to lethal. “The moment you get out of here, you’d best start running. And after what you did to my men, however fast you run, it’s not going to be fast enough—”

  “Stop it.” Irene was surprised to realize that she’d interrupted. The room went even quieter, shifting to horrified anticipation. “Mr. Ross. George. Right now we just want to leave town and get out of your way. But there’s a bigger problem than us, and that’s the dragons.”

  The bartender had been quietly making up a drink, which he slid down the bar. George took a slug of it. “Lady, if you think I haven’t noticed that we’ve got two honest-to-life giant flying dinosaurs out there, then you’ve had too much to drink. We can’t just wait for the army to send some planes to shoot them down. But luckily my Lily here’s got an answer to that one.”

  Kai had twitched at the phrase giant flying dinosaurs, but when he saw the curl of Lily’s smile he stiffened. “What do you mean?” he demanded.

  “I mean that I can shoot rifles just as well as handguns,” Lily said, her eye on Kai as if she was sizing him up as another target, “and I haven’t met a shot I can’t make.”

  “Mere bullets won’t hurt them,” Kai said.

  “I didn’t say I’d be firing plain human bullets.” Lily glanced to Irene. “How about you? Should I be getting one with your name on it too?”

  Irene put her glass down with a click on the bar. “No,” she said firmly. There had to be a way round this, one where everyone got out alive. She could almost see it. She just needed time to think.

  “I suppose that makes my life easier,” Lily said. Though there was a disappointed note to her voice.

  Kai lowered his voice. “Irene, if there’s the chance that she could hurt them, then we can’t just let her—”

  “I know,” Irene agreed.

  They couldn’t let Lily do this. Though no doubt Lily would say, how did they propose to stop her? If Lily could infuse her bullets with Fae power, it might indeed be enough to wound or kill a dragon. And if Lily shot down two dragons of noble birth, this world would become a Fae-versus-dragon battleground.

  Which meant that Irene had to stop it here and now.

  She had Kai, who could rouse the river. She had Hu, who was retreating towards the door. Though Hu only wanted the fight stopped on his own terms. But he was practical: he might help persuade Qing Song to negotiate, once they were all out of here. She had Evariste, with his Librarian skills. She had a Fae gun-moll, who might listen to her if she could offer a better alternative. She had the local crime boss of New York. And she had the resources of this bar, such as it was.

  The tang of brandy still burned her throat and, as she swallowed, Irene saw a plan that just might work. But since half the people in the room wouldn’t even consider going along with it, she also needed a plausible lie.

  “Mr. Ross,” she said. “George. What if I could offer you another solution?”

  “I don’t know,” George said. “What’ve you got?”

  “Lily,” Irene said, “do you have something that would shoot tranquillizer bullets?”

  Lily shrugged. “I have guns that’ll shoot anything you like. But if you think I’m going to waste my time drugging those two, when I could be shooting them in the head, then you’re dreaming.”

  Kai was also frowning. “Irene,” he started, “there isn’t a drug strong enough to affect those two—at least, not in a bullet-sized dose.”

  Irene unobtrusively spread her fingers in the five minutes sign that she’d given him earlier, back in Boston. “Just a moment,” she said. She drew Lily to one side and lowered her voice, murmuring into the woman’s ear. “I’ve got a plan. And it’ll get those dragons out of here without wrecking New York or bringing their families after you. But I need your help. You and George.”

  “Lily?” George said suspiciously.

  “Just a moment, boss,” Lily replied. Her visible eye was as cold as frozen steel. “You’ll give me your word on that?” she whispered to Irene.

  Irene swallowed. This was a serious pledge for her to be giving, based on a plan she hadn’t even fully formulated yet. But if she wanted Lily to cooperate, and George with her, then she had to convince her now. “I swear by my name and power that I intend to stop the dragons fighting and remove them from this world as fast as possible,” she muttered. “But I n
eed you to fetch your tranquillizer gun, I need you to act as if you think this’ll work, and I need George to have a couple of lorries of high-proof alcohol waiting by the river at the location we agree upon. The lorries need to look inconspicuous so that nobody gets suspicious. Agreed?”

  Lily hesitated. Then finally she said, loud enough to be heard, “Agreed.”

  The door slammed open again, blocking Hu, who’d almost managed to reach it. Captain Venner stood there, several cops filling the space behind him. “I don’t know what the hell’s going on, but I know you’re behind it,” he began, “and you’re all—”

  “Perfect.” Irene stepped forward, conscious of all the eyes on her. “You can be useful too. Gentlemen, Lily—we can stop those dragons. But I’m going to need your help.”

  There was a silence that ranged from faith and trust (Kai) through horrified disbelief (Evariste) to a sort of harmony between high-grade suspicion (both Hu and Captain Venner) and consideration (George and Lily). Everyone else contributed slack-jawed incomprehension.

  Finally George said, “Tell us what you’ve got in mind, Miss Smith. I’m interested.”

  CHAPTER 25

  “Kai.” Irene turned to him, trying to sound confident. If a single person here stopped trusting her, she might lose all of them. “You think that if you tried to stop the dragons fighting, they’d both turn on you?”

  Kai winced, but nodded. “I don’t have the authority to command them. I am technically of higher rank, but I can’t back it up. If it came to a fight, my power over the elements is greater than theirs, but they both outweigh me physically. And there’s nobody here to witness them,” he added sourly, “at least, nobody who’s not in their service. So they wouldn’t have to answer for it.”

  “Right.” Irene pointed a finger at him. “You’re the bait.”

  “A few more details, please?” Kai said plaintively.

  “In just a moment . . . George.” She pinned her best smile on her face. “You’ve seen that I can do some unusual things.”