Ashes didn’t hear, or didn’t answer. Alice pushed weakly away from the door, in the direction of the basin. If she could remove the nightshirt, the water might start to drain – not fast enough, she suspected, but it was all she could think of. But the cold was in her now, stealing along her limbs and clutching icy fingers through her chest. Her legs felt like they’d been strapped to concrete blocks, and keeping her head above water was all she could manage. Presently, even that seemed impossible. Her jaw was so tightly locked, she thought her teeth would shatter, and her arms had gone completely numb. She tried to paddle, but only managed a weak thrashing. There was a stinging pain from the wound in her cheek as it went below the surface.

She wondered if her father had felt like this as the Gideon came apart around him. She could see him, clinging to a rail as the ship slipped below the waves. She couldn’t breathe.

Something shifted, as though a hole had opened in the floor and the water was streaming out, sucking Alice down with it. But the water wasn’t moving, only Alice, and she was moving not down but away, in a direction perpendicular to the usual three dimensions. She felt something strain, and then snap—

Chapter Ten: The Wizard of the Library

CHAPTER TEN

THE WIZARD OF THE LIBRARY

Alice opened her eyes to the familiar flicker of gaslight.

She was in a bed, under thick covers, soft and heavy and above all, warm. It felt wonderful, and for a while she simply luxuriated in the sensation. She was wearing a fresh nightgown, and someone had attended to her cuts and scrapes. Her hands and feet were wound with linen, and a bandage was affixed to her cheek with sticking plaster.

The room was not one she recognized, but by the rich decor she guessed it was somewhere in Geryon’s private suite. Bookcases lined the walls, and a fire glowed from a small hearth. A high-backed armchair had been positioned beside the bed, as though someone had been sitting beside her.

Alice lay back, covers pulled up to her chin, and savoured the warmth and the simple sensation of being alive. After being nearly devoured, drowned, frozen and stabbed, she was content to let matters take their course for a while.

As it happened, she didn’t have long to wait. The wood-panelled door opened to reveal Geryon himself, carrying a steaming mug in both hands. He padded across the room in his carpet slippers, looking just as he had when she’d first seen him, in ratty clothing and old-fashioned whiskers, but something indefinable had changed. The way he moved carried a sense of purpose, of power, and the air fairly crackled as he passed.