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Irene had to stop herself grinding her teeth ‘A Librarian is supposed to be about subtlety,’ shenoticed--oh, sorry’ She removed her hand from Kai’s forearm and watched Kai affrontedly smooth out the wrinkles on his jacket sleeve ‘Uize’ What she wanted to do was scream How dare she! until the chandeliers tinkled But she couldn’t

‘Perhaps she has important information and wanted to talk to you,’ Kai said

‘But hoould she knoere here? Or – wait’ Irene frowned ‘Dominic Aubrey could have told her – did she enter this alternate before he died?’

‘Or did she have so Irene’s own thought

Irene was silent for a longpossibilities over in her head ‘Unthinkable,’ she finally said ‘I won’t believe that of her’

At that ain, and Bradamant turned her head She looked across the ballroom, and for ain Bradamant’s face which she hadn’t expected to see Shock

‘She didn’t expect us to be here,’ she murmured

Bradamant recovered almost instantaneously, and turned aith a contemptuous little twitch of her shoulder to bestow her attention on the hties with his chest so encrusted with military medals and orders that it was a wonder he didn’t fall over

‘Why don’t you introduceher face into what should with any luck be a pleasant s on And this ti horse, decoy or tool

Not this ti at Brada here? I know she said she wanted the ht obviously occurred to him ‘If she’s your senior, then maybe she has clearance now for you to cooperate on the s si is possible,’ Irene said slowly, to give herself time to think and to find an anshy this could not, would not be the case She wasn’t sure that she would be able to physically obey if it were Her loathing of the other woman was too bone-deep for that ‘But if it were the case,’ how careful, how conditional, ‘then she would have some sort of token from the Library, and she’d show it to me She hasn’t even tried to find me yet So I’m dubious’

‘I trust you,’ Kai said He touched her hand briefly, reassuringly ‘I do trust you, Irene I wish that you could tell me why you don’t trust her’