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– ‘I didn’t ask for any of this,’ he went on smoothly ‘I would much rather have si you, in a perfectly reasonable way, to stand up straight, stop staine I’m one of your superiors’

He could have been one of her superiors too It was easy to ih – such as Coppelia with her clockwork liaze But all had the sa Other than that and the ru about him She didn’t even knohat he looked like And he terrified her

‘Under the circumstances--’ Vale put in

‘Remember that I can and will freeze your vocal cords too,’ Alberich said ‘And your lungs Unless you want to explain events yourself? In which case, Ray here becomes worthless’

‘I believe Miss Winters can handle this,’ Vale said ‘I will only interrupt if I have so while people held knives at his throat, Irene reflected savagely ‘Allow me,’ she put in ‘I believe that the main factor here was that Wyndhaiven how much Vale seems to know of Library business,’ Alberich said pleasantly

Irene decided to ignore that as she wondered how long Kai would take And would she knohen he’d finished? She needed to spin this out as long as possible, weave all her guesswork into a convincing narrative, and pray that Alberich would accept it ‘Wyndham had connections with the Fae,’ she started confidently, ‘but he also knew that Dominic Aubrey was a Librarian and, as such, opposed to the Fae Wyndhaht that he could use it as a bargaining chip to gain so soe It was one of those Fae relationships He decided to otiated So he sent it under cover of another parcel to the Natural History Museuo there to look for it? ‘And then he wasMy agents didn’t find the book while they were there, but that would be because Belphegor got there first The Iron Brotherhood were extre assassins, autos too It seeet hold of the book I didn’t feel like dealing with Silver or the other local Fae Some of my allies have issues with certain factions But I won’t bore you with the details I entered this alternate, took control of the Iron Brotherhood, found the locally stationed Librarian, questioned hi of that, do you still have it?’

Irene abruptly wanted to be sick She’dolf attacks, zeppelin near-crashes and silverfish fatalities, but this was different Questioned him Assumed his skin ‘It was you, wasn’t it? The first time?’

He understood her question, ill-formed as it was ‘Oh yes I was the one who h To be honest, you’ve been rather a surprise to et you nowhere,’ Irene said pri else was clearly ticking over behind Alberich’s eyes too ‘If you’d found the book in the Natural History Museu a portal elsewhere You wouldn’t have needed to come here And you’ve admitted Wyndham knew that Aubrey was a Librarian Answer me, Ray Did Wyndham send the book to Aubrey?’

‘Yes,’ Irene said The word ca from her mouth in response to his question and his use of her name before she could waltz around the subject any further

A high colour showed on Alberich’s cheeks It er-reaction trans me that the book ca at her throat, trying to say itself Vale’s eyes hed the benefit of distracting Alberich further against the risk of his cutting Vale’s throat if he lost his te the word out, before Alberich felt the need to ood on his threats

‘And it’s the book on the desk?’

Irene opened her ed itself from her lips ‘Yes’

Alberich exploded ‘You pitiful little idiot! Do you have any idea how much effort I’ve had to put in here over the last few days?’ He was shrieking like a harridan, and though the knife at Vale’s throat was steady, his face rong – hisfuriously, spittle spraying the side of Vale’s face ‘I shift skins twice I take my attention away fro around hiding this book, my efforts have been wasted Do you think that’s funny, Ray? Do you?’

The rooan to shift and crawl around him The papers on the desk ran into liquid and dripped away, running down to splash against the floor Dead silverfish dissolved into vapour that bleards in widening curls, as though Alberich and Vale stood at the centre of a ind The panes of glass in the display cases began to vibrate, thruh pitch And now Irene could feel it pulsing at the back of her skull, hu in her ears ‘Stop it!’ she cried out