The Burning Page

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 might 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.