It was Jin Zhi.
She casually kicked the door shut behind her. Her golden hair was pinned up in a loose coil around her head, and her evening coat was a wide-sleeved golden velvet wrap which draped like a court robe. She simply walked in, confident that the rest of the world would catch up, get its act together and be ready to take orders. ‘Good evening, Qing Song,’ she said. ‘I’m sure you don’t mind me joining you.’
It was only training that kept Irene’s expression of mild confusion pinned to her face: her stomach was dropping like the express lift down to Security in the Library. Jin Zhi knew who Irene was. If she shared that information with Qing Song, and he realized that Irene had been lying to him from the very beginning, then . . .
‘Be welcome to my lodgings, small as they are,’ Qing Song said. His voice was emotionless, but his wolves were all awake, watching Jin Zhi with burning eyes. ‘I had thought you were in China. Might I ask what brings you to this place, alone and without attendants?’
‘Servants aren’t always reliable,’ Jin Zhi said. ‘And China didn’t reveal what I sought. You must feel the same way, or you wouldn’t be here.’ She shrugged off her coat and allowed Hu to take it, which he did without a word. Her trailing dress beneath it was in a harmonizing shade of gold, sculpted to bare her shoulders. Even without her heels she stood an inch or two taller than Hu – with them, she easily overtopped him, dominating the room like an open flame. Her eyes flickered from Qing Song to Irene and narrowed. ‘You’re keeping curious company.’
‘An offer of employment,’ Qing Song said flatly. ‘A minor matter. Your visit takes priority, of course.’
‘A minor matter?’ Jin Zhi moved across to take a chair, while Qing Song resumed his seat. ‘Given our circumstances, I’m not sure I’d call hiring a servant of the Library a minor matter. I seem to recall that we were absolutely forbidden to ask for help from the Library.’
Irene felt her stomach tie itself slowly in knots. The dragons had been ordered not to get Librarian help? Then Qing Song hadn’t only gone against custom – he’d outright broken the rules of their competition. He couldn’t allow the slightest chance of that information getting out. Evariste would never have survived handing the book over. And as for Irene’s own survival . . .
And Jin Zhi had just revealed that she knew Irene was a Librarian, even if Qing Song hadn’t realized it. How fortunate Qing Song had so much on his mind, Irene thought gratefully. If he’d spotted Jin Zhi’s slip, and assumed that the two of them were in collusion, then the situation would have lost whatever traces of civility it had left.
‘I am not asking for help,’ Qing Song said dismissively. He signalled to Hu, who moved noiselessly to pour him some water and offer a second glass to Jin Zhi. ‘I am commanding it. There is a difference.’
Jin Zhi flicked a finger towards Irene. ‘Has she accepted your service, then?’
Qing Song’s mouth tightened very slightly. ‘The Librarian Marguerite was about to give me her pledge,’ he said.
Jin Zhi’s lips slowly parted in a smile. She took the glass from Hu and turned to Irene. ‘How very interesting. Perhaps I should bid for her service, too. I could offer good terms.’
She’s figured out that Qing Song doesn’t know who I am. Irene felt a metaphorical precipice yawn in front of her. And she’s going to use that.
‘It is discourteous in the extreme to attempt to steal my servants,’ Qing Song said coldly. But this was something he clearly hadn’t considered.
Jin Zhi laughed. ‘Qing Song, I would pity you if I didn’t know you so well. I’ll make what offers I please to her. Or do you want to throw me out?’
The fingers of Qing Song’s free hand tightened on the arm of the chair, but he didn’t reply. Apparently the rules of engagement between high-ranking dragons prevented that sort of action. He flicked a quick glance at Hu, who twitched a shoulder very slightly in response: very much a question-and-answer, a query of Can you think of anything and a response of There’s no help for it. Hu might be the servant here, but it seemed Qing Song trusted his opinion a great deal.
‘Very well, then.’ Jin Zhi turned to Irene. ‘Marguerite.’ She pronounced the name as if it was a dollop of honey, drawing out the syllables. ‘I’m not sure what Qing Song has offered you, but I imagine that I can offer you more. In addition to my personal gratitude, and my guarantee of your safety.’
‘My safety?’ Irene said, breaking her silence.
‘From the rest of this room, for a start.’ The curl of her smile was, as Kai had commented a day ago, extremely gracious. ‘You must be aware that you are in a dangerous position.’
‘Believe me, madam,’ Irene said, ‘I am very much aware of that fact.’
‘Then why hesitate?’
‘Perhaps because she is not the sort to be cowed by threats,’ Qing Song said.
‘I’m not the one threatening her,’ Jin Zhi answered. This time there was a note of venom underneath the honey. ‘She is in danger, but I’m not the one who put her there.’
‘A rational man keeps his temper within bounds,’ Qing Song said. ‘Even if she might offend me by refusing, I am hardly going to behave like some sort of child.’
For some reason that made Jin Zhi twitch, her whole body going rigid as her glass splintered in her hand. Water trickled down over her briefly scale-patterned fingers. ‘Apparently you have nothing better to do than recall past insults.’
‘And apparently you have nothing better to do than repeat them.’ Qing Song’s tone was vicious.
Irene looked back at the reflection in the windowpane. The men behind her were both still in the same position, but their attention was on Qing Song and Jin Zhi rather than on her. For the moment, the bickering pair weren’t looking at her either.
Unfortunately it was probably only a matter of time until the dragons turned back to her and demanded an answer.
She should have been afraid. She should have been terrified. But a swell of anger was rising inside her. If Jin Zhi wanted to play use-the-Librarian just like Qing Song, then Jin Zhi would get exactly the same treatment. They were the ones who were breaking their own competition’s precious rules. If they’d left themselves open to blackmail by doing so, then that was their own fault. It was time to get out of here.
She took a step forward, and both of the dragons turned to look at her. ‘Madam. Sir. Before going any further, I would like to make it absolutely clear that the Library knows I’m here and what I’m investigating. You can’t just snap your fingers and make me disappear. However great your powers, and however noble your families.’
‘Must I repeat myself?’ Qing Song asked. ‘I am not making that sort of threat.’