Ash and Quill(93)

"No."

"And you're an unrepentant criminal."

"Exactly." He wondered whether the doors locked properly, and if that curved divan across the room was sturdy enough to hold them both . . . until Morgan stiffened and stepped back out of the embrace.

"Should have known I'd find you where the best books are kept, Jess," said a voice from the door, and Jess realized with a savage pulse of fury that Dario stood there, arms folded. Enjoying the show, no doubt. "Though I admit, finding you doing something other than reading them is a new experience. This must be the most excitement this room's ever seen."

"Oh, shut up. What do you want?" This was one of the moments, Jess thought, when punching Dario until his hand got tired seemed very, very tempting.

Dario's lurid delight slid away, and he stepped in and closed the door behind him. Bolted it. Jess moved away from Morgan and in front of her-protecting her, though he didn't know why, or from what. But Dario only walked to the divan that Jess had been so recently considering, and sat down. He must have had a closet full of clothing waiting, too, and he'd chosen the most opulent thing he could: a rich black velvet coat with gold buttons, thick cuffs, and a wine red silk shirt beneath it. Boots so shiny they seemed coated in glass. He'd had his hair cut and his beard trimmed back to a precise goatee, and somewhere, he'd found a single ruby stud to wear in his left earlobe. Somewhere-possibly from Jess's father's collection-he'd found an ebony walking stick with a golden lion's head.


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He looked like he belonged in a castle. Like he owned at least two.

"Jess. Sit down," he said. "We need to talk."

"Get up," Jess said, "and walk out."

They stared at each other for a long moment, and then Dario crossed his legs and sat back, clearly refusing. "I know you're not stupid enough to think we're safe," he said. "And this might be exactly why we started our discussions back in-back there." The little hesitation, the way he avoided the name Philadelphia, told Jess that Dario wasn't over it, either. He just hid it better. "So sit down."

"I'll go," Morgan said. "I should rest." Jess turned to face her, and she positioned him so that she could kiss him with his back to Dario, and Dario wouldn't see her whisper, "Careful, whatever it is you're plotting. I still don't trust him."

He nodded, just slightly, and let her go.

Once she'd gone out the door, he locked it behind her and turned, leaning against it, arms folded. "This isn't the time."

"It's the only time there is. Anit received word while I was loitering near her-close enough to hear her captain deliver the message. I credit you with spying skills, but I grew up eavesdropping."

"Get to the point, if you have one."

"The Archivist has announced the closure of the city of Alexandria."

"What?"

"A defensive measure against Burner attacks. So he says. But the Welsh-run newspapers-your father keeps quite a good collection of them, by the way-say differently. There's been a defection of treaty countries-more than the Archivist can safely try to punish at once. America's in open rebellion, and the New York Serapeum fell to the Burners yesterday." Dario inspected his fingernails. Manicured, Jess noticed. "Your rescued doctor seems to be their new spokesman. Better than the last cabrón. But the important thing is that it's starting. Even without Thomas's press working yet, there are rumors of it. The Welsh and the English only agree on one thing, and that is that they both want the Library to stay out of their affairs. The French queen may be in exile, but Portugal agrees to shelter and help her. Add America to that boiling pot, and the Archivist will be wanting to crush resistance quickly."

Jess, without really meaning to, found himself sitting in a chair across from Dario, elbows on his knees. Leaning forward and thinking hard. "He'll purge any dissenters from inside Alexandria. Go after anyone who opposes him in any way." 

"He's already started. There was an announcement in the Alexandrian paper-your father gets that, too-that they will celebrate a Feast of Greater Burning at the statue of Horus in thirty days. Pomp, circumstance, and sacrifice."

Jess slowly raised his head and met Dario's dark gaze. Neither of them blinked. "They'll be killing prisoners at the Feast of Greater Burning. And Khalila's family-"

"Is in cells at the Serapeum," Dario finished. "We have thirty days to find a way to stop it. And we can't do it from here."