‘Define “we”. Irene was planning this. You were agreeing with everything she said. I just . . .’ Evariste’s indignation trailed off. His voice cracked. ‘I didn’t have any better ideas. I just want my daughter back. I didn’t even know she existed, I spent years working at the Library without being there for her . . .’
Kai breathed in, then out again, controlling his frustration. ‘Right. Let’s consider this as a military operation. Enemy forces consist of gunmen working for the local gangs, who may know what you look like.’ He raised one finger. ‘And possibly the police, if they’ve been paid off.’ Another finger. ‘And Qing Song and Hu – who will certainly recognize me as a dragon if they see me.’ And if they thought he was after the book in order to influence the contest, then . . . well, accidents could happen. They shouldn’t. But they did.
Evariste nodded. Fortunately he couldn’t hear Kai’s thoughts. ‘Yeah. Assume they’ve got a couple of dozen men scattered up and down the Mile, maybe more.’
‘There aren’t any secret police round here in this time and place that we could pose as, are there?’ Kai asked hopefully.
‘Naah,’ Evariste said. ‘There’s the FBI, and the anti-drink taskforces, but those aren’t quite the same thing. And if we try showing up at the door, claiming that we’re there to raid a secret distillery underneath the Metropolitan Museum of Art – not only are we going to get noticed, we’re going to get laughed out of town.’
‘That wasn’t what I had in mind,’ Kai said with dignity, reluctantly putting the idea aside. ‘We’re going to have to get in there unnoticed . . . We could bribe our way into one of the cleaning crews and get in that way, but we haven’t the time.’
Kai paused and looked Evariste up and down measuringly. An idea had just alighted in his head, fully formed and arrestingly plausible.
‘I’m not sure I like the way you’re looking at me,’ Evariste said.
‘There may be dozens of thugs watching for you,’ Kai said, ‘but they won’t be able to see through solid wood. I’m going to have us crated up and shipped in there as a work of art.’
Evariste stared at him. ‘That’s crazy.’
‘But would it work?’
There was a long pause. Then Evariste said, ‘You know, it just might.’
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The early-evening sounds of Fifth Avenue – and Fifty-Fifth Street – drifted in through the open full-length balcony windows. The sky outside was that perfect shade of clear dusky blue that came after sunset but before true nightfall. Twilight lay like a curtain over New York, waiting to be drawn back for the evening’s entertainment. And up here, at this level above New York, one could see the sky without the buildings getting in the way.
Qing Song was sitting in one of the suite’s large armchairs, a book open in his lap. Two of his wolves lay on either side of his chair, their heads cocked as though they’d been listening to him reading to them. The others were sprawled around the room like unusually three-dimensional rugs. ‘I see you found her,’ he remarked to Hu.
‘Not without some difficulty, my lord,’ Hu said. ‘One would think she was trying to take in as many landmarks as possible.’
A thread of unease ran down Irene’s back. For Kai’s sake, she couldn’t afford for them to suspect she’d been leading them on a false trail. ‘Well, I’m here now,’ she said coldly. ‘And I would appreciate it if this gentleman’ – she jerked her head at the thug behind her – ‘would kindly point his gun somewhere else.’
Qing Song gestured, and Irene felt the pressure of the gun leave her ribs. ‘Of course,’ he said. ‘I’m glad there was no need for anything more excessive. Humans are such fragile creatures. Even Librarians.’
Irene would have had to be deaf to miss Qing Song’s switch from courtesy to barely veiled threats. Maybe he’d decided there was no further need to hide. ‘We manage to get by,’ she said. ‘Has there been any news about your stolen jade statue?’
Qing Song closed his book. ‘It might surprise you to know that I was not entirely honest with you earlier.’
He considered her thoughtfully. The wolves beside him raised their heads to look at her, their eyes utterly impassive, as if they were assessing her weight in pounds of steak. ‘I am about to make a request. It will be to your advantage to listen. It will be even more to your advantage to accept.’
‘You have my full attention,’ Irene said politely. Over his shoulder, in the open windowpane, she could see the reflection of the room. The two thugs who’d been sitting on either side of her on the car ride here were still a couple of paces behind her. Hu had walked across to the sideboard and was filling a glass with water. And the wolves, of course, were all over the place. Making a break for it looked impossible.
But if Qing Song was about to come clean on what he’d been up to, then the next few minutes were going to be very interesting.
‘I am looking for a particular book,’ Qing Song said. ‘I require it as a matter of urgency. My previous researcher was kidnapped, but I still have his materials. If you can find it for me, within the next couple of days, then you will have my gratitude. I and my family will remember your conduct.’
Irene had to admire the way he’d explained Evariste’s absence. ‘Kidnapped?’ she asked.
‘Fae interference.’ Qing Song’s face was set like stone. ‘They foul all they touch.’
‘So when we met this morning . . .’
‘I was tracking them,’ he admitted. ‘Their trail led me to your fellow Librarian’s door. He may be another victim of their schemes. But for now, my priority is locating that book. I trust I can count on your service.’
‘But I may not be able to find your book within the “next couple of days”,’ she temporized. ‘I’m a Librarian, not a miracle-worker.’
‘I will be satisfied only by your very best efforts,’ Qing Song said. His voice was inflexible. ‘You will remain here. Hu will provide everything you may require.’
‘You’re assuming that I’m going to say yes.’ Irene tried to gauge his mood, but the wolves weren’t providing any clues this time.
‘I don’t think you can afford to say no. And if you value the health and safety of other servants of the Library, then you will obey me.’
‘You’re asking me to break the Library’s principle of neutrality,’ Irene said. Anger coloured her voice. ‘Why is one book so important that you’d set yourself against the whole Library – breaking a truce that has existed for longer than either of us has been alive – if I don’t help you find it?’
‘You don’t need to know,’ Qing Song replied. He was addressing her as a subordinate now, as if she’d already given in. ‘And it will be up to you what you tell your Library, once you’ve found the book.’
He watched her and waited.
But before Irene could decide exactly how she was going to say no, there was a knock at the door.
Qing Song raised a hand and glanced at Hu. ‘Investigate,’ he ordered.
Hu moved to open the door, then fell back a step, startled, as the person on the other side strolled into the room. The two thugs both reached into their jackets, but dropped their hands again when they saw it was a woman. Qing Song rose to his feet.