‘All right,’ said Alice, who had had just about enough of being discussed as though she weren’t there. ‘First of all, I have no idea what you need help with, but you can forget it. Second of all, nobody brought me anywhere.’ She turned her head to glare at Ashes. ‘This cat said that you might be able to help me, but apparently he had something else in mind. Someone in his position ought to be a little more forthcoming, or else he might find himself tail-deep in the mud.’

‘There’s no need for that sort of thing,’ Ashes said, alarmed.

Isaac chuckled. ‘Right. You haven’t been told much, have you?’

‘He’s a Reader,’ Ashes blurted.

‘So am I,’ Alice said. ‘What’s so special about reading?’

‘No, you’re not,’ Ashes said. ‘He’s a Reader. A wizard. A magician. A wielder of arcane forces.’

‘What is that supposed to mean?’

‘It means he can use these books,’ Ashes said. ‘Or try to, anyway.’

Isaac shot Ashes a cold glance, then turned back to Alice. ‘I know this may be hard to accept—’

‘I’m standing by the side of the pond in the middle of a library with a talking cat on my shoulder,’ Alice deadpanned. ‘What’s so special about these books?’

‘Take a look and see,’ Isaac said. It was hard to tell with his back to the fire, but she thought he was smirking.

Alice turned back to the mushroom. Ashes dug his claws into her shoulder a little harder.

‘I really wouldn’t,’ the cat said. ‘Trust me. Your head will hurt for hours.’

‘I don’t think so,’ Alice said. ‘Anything he can read, I can read.’

‘It’s not like that, I told you—’

Alice flipped the cover open and looked down at the first page. It was a solid block of text, but the characters were in a language she didn’t recognize, all strange curls and crossed lines. There was something off about them, as though they were out of focus, and she felt herself going cross-eyed. Then the print moved, with a crawling sensation that seemed to go straight from the page to the back of her eyeballs, and formed itself into familiar English words.

‘Wait a minute—’ Ashes said.

Alice read:

Alice opened her eyes in another place entirely. It was dark after the brightness of Isaac’s fire . . .

Chapter Eight: The Swarm

CHAPTER EIGHT

THE SWARM

Alice opened her eyes in another place entirely. It was dark after the brightness of Isaac’s fire, with only faint glowing patches on the walls. She could feel brickwork underfoot, cracked and crumbling with age.

Ashes dug in all four sets of claws at once, hard enough to draw blood. Alice gave a screech and grabbed for him, but he jumped, landing with a soft thump on the bricks and vanishing into the darkness.