The Invisible Library (39 page)

Alberich exploded. ‘You pitiful little idiot! Do you have any idea how much effort I’ve had to put in here over the last few days?’ He was shrieking like a harridan, and though
the knife at Vale’s throat was steady, his face was
wrong
– his mouth open a little too wide, his eyes staring furiously, spittle spraying the side of Vale’s face. ‘I
shift skins twice. I take my attention away from very important projects. And because you have been running around hiding this book, my efforts have been wasted. Do you think that’s funny,
Ray? Do you?’

The room began to shift and crawl around him. The papers on the desk ran into liquid and dripped away, running down to splash against the floor. Dead silverfish dissolved into vapour that blew
outwards in widening curls, as though Alberich and Vale stood at the centre of a whirlwind. The panes of glass in the display cases began to vibrate, thrumming as if someone was singing at an
impossibly high pitch. And now Irene could feel it pulsing at the back of her skull, humming in her ears. ‘Stop it!’ she cried out.

‘No,’ Alberich said. He smiled at her, abruptly calm. ‘No, it isn’t funny. I’ll take that book. You will give it to me.’

‘Or you’ll cut your hostage’s throat?’ Irene said. She was still shaken from the sudden flux. Everything about it had been
wrong
. The Fae were bad enough, but this
softening of reality had been much worse. She’d been ready to face death, even, but that – no.

‘Be reasonable,’ Alberich said. ‘I’ll need a new skin soon. Another Librarian’s skin would suit me quite well. So would Vale’s position in society.
Don’t give me any excuses, Ray. Don’t give me any more reasons to slit this man’s throat and then rip your skin off. Be very polite, be very helpful, and listen to what I’m
about to tell you.’

Irene simply jerked her head in a nod. She was afraid of touching off that anger again, afraid for Vale’s sake – and, more honestly, terrified for herself.

‘Where was I?’ For a moment he reminded her of Dominic Aubrey, making her wonder how much of that charade had been imitation and how much had been genuine Alberich, filtered through
a dead man’s skin. She’d
liked
Aubrey. ‘Ah yes. Motivations. Tell me, Ray, what is the purpose of the Library?’

‘To preserve,’ Irene said automatically.

Alberich nodded as though he’d expected that answer. ‘Now tell me – tell me honestly and sincerely – that you’ve never thought about using the knowledge
you’ve helped preserve. To change the worlds around you for the better. Or do you think that they’re already perfect?’ His voice dripped sarcasm.

Irene felt as if she was having to run through a minefield blindfolded, with no idea what the correct answers were. ‘Of course I’ve thought about it. But you know that they
don’t send us – ’ For a moment she wished she hadn’t used the word
us
. It brought them onto the same level. – ‘out on missions unless they’re
certain that they can trust us.’

‘And you accept that so readily?’

‘It’s the price I chose to pay to get what I wanted.’ She’d never wanted anything else.

‘Don’t think I make this sort of offer to just any Librarian,’ Alberich went on. ‘You’ve shown a degree of intelligence which has impressed me. Not all Librarians
know when and how to break the rules.’

‘Excuse me a moment,’ Vale said politely, while Irene wondered if Alberich gave the
normally I wouldn’t spare your life, but you’re special
spiel to every
Librarian he met. ‘Might I ask what happened to the original Miss Mooney?’

‘Who?’ Alberich said blankly.

‘The woman whose body you are occupying.’ Vale’s tone dripped with cold disdain. ‘Jennifer Mooney, one of the more influential figures in the Iron Brotherhood. I
recollect the face from one of Singh’s photographs. I wish I had remembered it earlier.’

‘Oh.’ Alberich smiled. ‘Ah, Ms Mooney – I had to take her identity in quite a hurry, in order to use the Brotherhood as a diversion.’

Irene could have kicked herself. Of
course
. The alligator attack on the Embassy, to distract Silver. She clearly remembered him dashing off to protect ‘a book’. And Alberich
had been right on the scene afterwards, leading to their almost-drowning. Then there was the assault on the Natural History Museum – all of it made sense now. That was what he’d meant
earlier when he’d said that he had taken control of the Brotherhood. She saw Vale’s face twitch in mortified humiliation. He must be having the same chain of thought, and blaming
himself for not deducing it earlier.

‘And they have the most baroque ideas about false names and false identities. You’d think that a pro-technology group would be more efficient about record-keeping, wouldn’t
you? Now if only you’d said “Damocles”, I’d have known precisely whom you meant.’

He didn’t even know her name
. For some reason, that utterly chilled Irene through and through. And Alberich must have seen it in her face, for he went on, ‘
And now, Mr
Vale, no more words; your vocal cords are locked shut.
’

Irene saw the sudden flare of panic in Vale’s eyes and saw his mouth move, but he made no sound.

I don’t think he copes well with being helpless.

Anger fought with the fear that held her still too, its heat against the cold.
And I don’t think I cope well, either
.

‘Let us assume that you have three options, Ray,’ Alberich said, dropping back to his conversational tone. ‘The first is that you agree to help me. Give me the book, swear your
loyalty by certain oaths which I shall dictate to you, and join me. The Library was never meant to be just a storehouse for books and a school for the obsessive. It could change worlds. It could
unite
alternate worlds. It has potential,
you
have potential, and that potential is being wasted. I would swear my protection to you, just as you would swear your loyalty to me, and
you would be safe. You could learn to use Fae powers, just as I have done. Perhaps in time you would challenge me, but together we would do terrible and wonderful things. You know that some key
books can change the worlds to which they are linked. Help me, and we will change them for the better. You’ll have the power to
make
things better. If you refuse that power, then
that’s a choice in itself, isn’t it?’

All the worlds for her own. Of course she wasn’t going to take the bargain. Of course she could never be his minion and slave. But the thought of the pure irresponsibility of doing
precisely as she wanted, with the power to do it . . .

‘The second choice is for you to put the book down and walk away.’ He was watching her closely through the stolen eyes of the woman whom he’d killed. ‘Your elders
won’t blame you. They know my quality, my power. They’ll consider that you did the sensible thing. I might even agree with them.’

She gave a little jerk of her head in acknowledgement.

‘And the third choice . . .’ Alberich shrugged. ‘You would regret putting me to that trouble.’

Irene swallowed. Her imagination was functional, and thus troublesome. It was now giving her unpleasant ideas about what Alberich might do if he actually exerted himself. If he viewed killing
and skinning someone as merely regular business, what would he consider extra effort? Half-formed images nauseated her, and she swallowed back bile. She barely managed to keep her voice steady.
‘I think that’s only two choices, though.’

‘Is it?’ Alberich murmured.

‘I have the suspicion that there’s only one way I walk out of here alive.’

‘Well, true,’ Alberich admitted, ‘but the second option would be comparatively painless for you. My word on it.’

‘Can I ask—’

‘No.’ His eyes narrowed. ‘I think you’re playing for time, Ray. I need your decision now. I’ll throw your friend in as a signing bonus, but I want your decision in
five seconds.’

Four.

Three.

If she swore herself to him in the Language, she’d be bound for life. He wasn’t stupid. He was the sort of person who’d have prepared the wording in advance. There would be no
loopholes.

Two.

Perhaps people said he’d killed Librarians because nobody had ever come back. But maybe they’d all joined him. She could be joining a secret group who were going to change reality
and make the universe a better place.

One.

Maybe someone who went round skinning and killing people (order as yet unspecified) was not concerned with making the universe a better place. Just a thought.

Zero.

‘Ray . . .’ Alberich said. He had a hopeful sort of smile on his face, as if he genuinely wanted her to say yes.

He probably did.

She was about to die.

What she needed was a miracle.

What she got was a dragon.

Irene had always assumed, when she’d read about dragons roaring, that the descriptions were figurative or at least hyperbolic. She’d thought that phrases like
‘shook the earth’ referred to the awe in which dragons were held. Naturally the world around them would be sundered by their fury. What else should one expect from dragons?

But the physical world wasn’t shaken by a dragon’s roar. Reality itself trembled.

‘What the devil!’ Alberich swore, the words at odds with his prim female persona. His hand visibly tensed on the knife at Vale’s neck, and Irene knew with a sickening dread
that he was about to slash the detective’s throat open purely on reflex. Then his eyes narrowed in thought. ‘Too simple. Ray. By my will and by your name, you can neither speak nor
move.’

It wasn’t the Language, it had nothing of the Language’s command, but his words had their own power, and Fae magic hung in them like chains. Irene was pinned in place like a
butterfly, her brand burning on her back as the Library’s power fought his command. She was conscious of everything around her – the crushed insects, her hurried breathing, the trickle
of blood on Vale’s neck, Alberich’s calculating eyes – and none of it was any use. There hadn’t been time to invoke the Library and force him out of the room as she’d
planned. She’d been as shaken as he was by Kai’s roar, he’d just recovered faster. It made her feel stupidly embarrassed, but she had to remind herself that this wasn’t a
marks-will-be-awarded situation, it was a he’s-about-to-kill-you situation.

But for all her fury, she couldn’t move a muscle.

‘A pity,’ Alberich said. ‘I was really quite impressed with you. Bradamant was efficient, but not remotely as perceptive. I’m afraid you’ve run out of time to
decide, if there’s a dragon in the picture, but rest assured that I will remember you fondly.’

The door slammed open, and Alberich’s eyes widened as he saw who it was. He opened his mouth to speak, but three bullets in rapid succession hit him in the centre of the forehead. It was
as neat and quick as a sewing machine’s needle rapping down again and again. He staggered back from Vale, arms flailing as his skirts churned around his legs. He grasped weakly at the table,
but no blood ran from the open wounds.

‘
Vale and Irene, move freely!
’ Bradamant shouted in the Language. ‘And get away from him!’ she added in English. ‘I don’t know if that’s killed
him.’

‘It hasn’t,’ Alberich said. ‘
Gun, explode.
’

Bradamant threw the gun aside just in time. It came apart in mid-air in a burst of metal and fire. She ducked at the same moment, moving for cover. Vale threw himself to one side as Alberich
gestured. But a ripple of air tore into Vale and flung him into one of the display cases, which shattered in a burst of glass. There was an ugly cracking noise.

Vale didn’t get up again.

‘I really shouldn’t give people so much time to decide,’ Alberich said. He ignored Irene as she stood, frozen. His Fae magic still held her, wrapped in chains around her name
and spirit. ‘Bradamant, my dear, would you like to make a deal for the lives of your friends?’

‘Only a fool would make a deal with you,’ Bradamant snapped. She’d taken cover behind a large free-standing cabinet.

‘Accurate but impertinent.’ The holes in Alberich’s forehead were bloodless, and unnaturally dark, with neither flesh nor bone visible. He raised his hand, palm towards
Bradamant. ‘The greater lords of the Fae don’t manifest in their true form in the physical worlds. Do you know why?’