Before Hu could think what to try next, Irene said, ‘Every gun within range of my voice, open and eject your bullets.’
The resulting confusion gave Kai the opportunity to take Hu’s thugs down. Irene checked on the groaning Evariste, helping him upright. ‘Can I have a brandy?’ she asked the bartender. ‘Two brandies, in fact?’
He was staring at her as if she was a specimen in a zoo. ‘Lady, what the hell did you just do?’
‘Look at her,’ another man said, pointing. ‘She’s her. She’s Jeanette Smith!’
‘Yes. Right. Fine.’ Irene took a deep breath in the sudden silence. ‘I’m also a trained mesmerist and I can control the wills of everyone around me. And right now’ – she looked the bartender straight in the eye – ‘I really, really need a couple of brandies.’
‘You want to stop for a drink, now?’ Kai demanded.
‘We need to work out what we’re going to do next – and I might as well have a drink while I’m doing it.’
It wasn’t just one of the fundamental principles of the Library; it was one of the fundamental principles of humanity, and it was found in all places and cultures. It wasn’t altruism, or ethics, or sympathy for people in trouble. It was a case of clearing up the mess they had made.
The crowded room buzzed as some newcomers pushed their way through the door. The mob of drinkers parted to make way for them, and Irene recognized George, with a couple of his henchmen. Lily was one step behind, an attaché case in her hand, her face murderous as she caught sight of Kai.
‘You.’ George pointed a diamond-ringed finger at Irene. ‘And you.’ He pointed at Hu. ‘I can’t say I know what you’re all up to in my town, but I am – what’s that thing you Brits say? – I’m not amused. I am not one bit amused. And as for you.’ His finger shifted to Kai and Evariste, and his tone of voice slipped from furious to lethal. ‘The moment you get out of here, you’d best start running. And after what you did to my men, however fast you run, it’s not going to be fast enough—’
‘Stop it.’ Irene was surprised to realize that she’d interrupted. The room went even quieter, shifting to horrified anticipation. ‘Mr Ross. George. Right now we just want to leave town and get out of your way. But there’s a bigger problem than us, and that’s the dragons.’
The bartender had been quietly making up a drink, which he slid down the bar. George took a slug of it. ‘Lady, if you think I haven’t noticed that we’ve got two honest-to-life giant flying dinosaurs out there, then you’ve had too much to drink. We can’t just wait for the army to send some planes to shoot them down. But luckily my Lily here’s got an answer to that one.’
Kai had twitched at the phrase giant flying dinosaurs, but when he saw the curl of Lily’s smile he stiffened. ‘What do you mean?’ he demanded.
‘I mean that I can shoot rifles just as well as handguns,’ Lily said, her eye on Kai as if she was sizing him up as another target, ‘and I haven’t met a shot I can’t make.’
‘Mere bullets won’t hurt them,’ Kai said.
‘I didn’t say I’d be firing plain human bullets.’ Lily glanced to Irene. ‘How about you? Should I be getting one with your name on it, too?’
Irene put her glass down with a click on the bar. ‘No,’ she said firmly. There had to be a way round this, one where everyone got out alive. She could almost see it. She just needed time to think.
‘I suppose that makes my life easier,’ Lily said. Though there was a disappointed note to her voice.
Kai lowered his voice. ‘Irene, if there’s the chance that she could hurt them, then we can’t just let her—’
‘I know,’ Irene agreed.
They couldn’t let Lily do this. Though no doubt Lily would say, how did they propose to stop her? If Lily could infuse her bullets with Fae power, it might indeed be enough to wound or kill a dragon. And if Lily shot down two dragons of noble birth, this world would become a Fae-versus-dragon battleground.
Which meant that Irene had to stop it here and now.
She had Kai, who could rouse the river. She had Hu, who was retreating towards the door. Though Hu only wanted the fight stopped on his own terms. But he was practical: he might help persuade Qing Song to negotiate, once they were all out of here. She had Evariste, with his Librarian skills. She had a Fae gun-moll, who might listen to her if she could offer a better alternative. She had the local crime boss of New York. And she had the resources of this bar, such as it was.
The tang of brandy still burned her throat and, as she swallowed, Irene saw a plan that just might work. But since half the people in the room wouldn’t even consider going along with it, she also needed a plausible lie.
‘Mr Ross,’ she said. ‘George. What if I could offer you another solution?’
‘I don’t know,’ George said. ‘What’ve you got?’
‘Lily,’ Irene said. ‘Do you have something that would shoot tranquillizer bullets?’
Lily shrugged. ‘I have guns that’ll shoot anything you like. But if you think I’m going to waste my time drugging those two, when I could be shooting them in the head, then you’re dreaming.’
Kai was also frowning. ‘Irene,’ he started, ‘there isn’t a drug strong enough to affect those two – at least, not in a bullet-sized dose.’
Irene unobtrusively spread her fingers in the five minutes sign that she’d given him earlier, back in Boston. ‘Just a moment,’ she said. She drew Lily to one side and lowered her voice, murmuring into the woman’s ear. ‘I’ve got a plan. And it’ll get those dragons out of here without wrecking New York or bringing their families after you. But I need your help. You and George.’
‘Lily?’ George said suspiciously.
‘Just a moment, boss,’ Lily replied. Her visible eye was as cold as frozen steel. ‘You’ll give me your word on that?’ she whispered to Irene.
Irene swallowed. This was a serious pledge for her to be giving, based on a plan she hadn’t even fully formulated yet. But if she wanted Lily to cooperate, and George with her, then she had to convince her now. ‘I swear by my name and power that I intend to stop the dragons fighting and remove them from this world as fast as possible,’ she muttered. ‘But I need you to fetch your tranquillizer gun, I need you to act as if you think this’ll work, and I need George to have a couple of lorries of high-proof alcohol waiting by the river at the location we agree upon. The lorries need to look inconspicuous, so that nobody gets suspicious. Agreed?’
Lily hesitated. Then finally she said, loud enough to be heard, ‘Agreed.’
The door slammed open again, blocking Hu, who’d almost managed to reach it. Captain Venner stood there, several cops filling the space behind him. ‘I don’t know what the hell’s going on, but I know you’re behind it,’ he began, ‘and you’re all—’