The Burning Page

Vale rose from the chair that he was sprawled in to frown at her. He looked almost worse than last night, and his sleep had clearly done him no good: his eyes were still sunken, and his face was paler than usual, with a high flush on his cheekbones. He took in Irene’s dishevelment and the dust on her coat with a single glance. ‘Apparently Winters here would rather gallivant around the London Underground with werewolves than trouble herself by coming back here directly. Instead she sends you all to fill my rooms, in the hope of distracting me.’

So much for last night’s softer mood. Irene reminded herself that Vale was prone to vicious sarcasm when worried. He wasn’t the sort to express genuine concern, like Kai – in fact she’d better reassure Kai fast, before his protectiveness tipped over into something irrational. ‘I’m all right,’ she said, holding up one hand. ‘I went to the Library. I just ran into some trouble afterwards. Zayanna, what are you doing here?’

Zayanna was curled up on the sofa, her shoes kicked off and her feet tucked underneath her legs. She’d discarded her coat somewhere, and her dress flowed in cascades of highly fashionable cream lace, which showed a lot of cleavage. She was nursing a glass of brandy and a clearly unpleasant mood. ‘You did say that you wanted to stay in contact, darling! And you weren’t at home, so I thought I’d try your friend instead.’

‘I see,’ Irene said, suppressing an urge to demand some of that brandy. ‘I hope you haven’t all been too worried about me. I apologize for my delay in getting back here. It wasn’t my fault.’

‘Perhaps you’d care to explain to us whose fault it was,’ Vale said, relapsing back into his chair. ‘And what it has to do with the current situation. Please distract me, Winters. I am bored nearly to death with these infantile arguments. Did you get those papers from your Library?’ His gaze was on the folder under her arm, ignoring the irritated looks that everyone else in the room was giving him.

Irene nodded. ‘But when I left the Library, I was kidnapped.’

She was aware that Li Ming was listening, but couldn’t think of any way to get him out of earshot that wouldn’t be highly rude. It would probably insult both him and Kai too. As usual, the dragon in human form was impeccably dressed in silvery-grey and could probably compete with Zayanna for the title of Most Fashionable Person in the Room. Kai would win the Most Handsome award, but he was looking attractively scruffy at present, not elegantly stylish. Vale would carry off the Most Brooding. And Irene herself would have to settle for the booby prize in all categories.

Physically, Li Ming resembled a human female, with the same inhuman perfection that characterized Kai and the few other dragons that Irene had met. But among other dragons, Li Ming was considered male, and he acted that way in human form as well. Irene had given up trying to deduce the exact details, and had asked Kai about it – as tactfully as she could. Kai had explained, in tones of kindly condescension at human convention, that social gender among dragons was what the dragon in question said it was. And since Li Ming said he was male, then he was male. Irene had thanked him for the information, and had broken off the conversation before Kai could get into any further commentary on human limitations, et cetera. Kai might be very non-judgemental when it came to personal gender roles, but he was extremely superior when explaining how non-judgemental he was.

‘I was drugged by werewolves, carried off and chased through the Underground tunnels,’ Irene reported succinctly, before everyone else could get more questions in. ‘Then I extricated myself and came here. Apparently they were hired by a woman who gave them the poison with which they drugged me.’

Vale looked interested. ‘Which poison?’ he asked.

‘Which woman?’ Zayanna asked. ‘Was it someone local, or an old friend?’

One hand still on her shoulder, as if he wasn’t prepared to risk letting go, Kai tugged Irene over to the armchair he’d been occupying. ‘Are you all right?’ he asked. ‘I knew we shouldn’t have split up—’

‘Your highness, you demean the lady,’ Li Ming put in. ‘Clearly, if she’s here and safe, she was quite competent to handle herself. Though it is a shame that she caused you concern.’

Irene sat down in the chair. It was easier than arguing with Kai about whether or not she needed to sit down. ‘In any case,’ she said, ‘I’m here and safe, and I’m glad to see that all of you are all right.’ Zayanna had risen and was splashing brandy into a second glass. ‘Oh, yes please,’ Irene added.

‘Some small payback, darling,’ Zayanna said, putting it into her hand. ‘Do you have any idea who the woman is?’

Irene had reviewed the possibilities several times in the cab. Lady Guantes was the standout candidate, but it could honestly be anyone. It didn’t even have to be a Fae. It could be a dragon who objected to her current working relationship with Kai. It could even, if Alberich had a traitor working for him, be another Librarian . . . ‘Short of getting the werewolves to sniff all the possible candidates, no,’ she said. ‘Lady Guantes is the obvious candidate, but it was inefficient; and if she was hiring assassins, she might be more likely to use a proxy to contact them. I don’t know.’ She sipped the brandy.

Kai’s expression had darkened to a scowl at the mention of Lady Guantes. Of course, given that she’d been an equal partner in Kai’s kidnapping, he viewed her as unfinished business. Irene also suspected Kai didn’t want to admit that he’d experienced any such emotions as post-traumatic stress, worry or even outright fear. ‘We need to establish a safe base,’ he said firmly, glancing to Li Ming, who nodded. ‘Then we can track the kidnapper down and eliminate this threat.’