Dex rose gracefully and came closer. Alice held on to the Swarm thread until Dex hugged her tight; then she let the magic lapse with a sigh and hugged back.

“So,” Dex said when they pulled apart again. “We have established that we are not going to do battle. What are we going to do?”

“How much did your master tell you about this prisoner that’s supposedly escaped?”

“Very little,” Dex said. “The Most Favored attempted to contact Geryon, and when that failed she guessed it had destroyed him. She told me only that we had to help Ellen set her spell, and that you and anyone else left here might have been influenced.” Dex cocked her head. “Have you been taken over by some monster, Alice?”

“Not that I know of.” Alice gave a weak smile. “I haven’t seen any escaped prisoners either.”

“But Geryon is gone?”

Alice hesitated, then nodded. “At least temporarily. When the other Readers make certain of that, they’ll tear the library to pieces.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to try to convince all the apprentices to say that he’s still here. The old Readers will assume it’s some kind of trick and be cautious. That should at least buy some time.”

Dex frowned. “That . . . might work. The Most Favored would seek other ways to be certain of Geryon’s presence, but that will take time, and she will be worried he might be concealing himself.”

“And when she does find out, you can always say I tricked you somehow,” Alice said. “She never needs to know we lied.”

“I thought you would come up with a way to avoid fighting, if only I could get Brother Garret to quiet down.” Dex grinned, but only for a moment. “I do not know that the others will agree.”

“Ellen might, if we can get her away from Garret,” Alice said. “What do you know about the other two? Michael and Jennifer, was it?”

“Not a great deal. They are both apprenticed to Vin Einarson, but I have never worked with them before. I believe them to be relatively inexperienced.”

“Okay. I might be able to talk some sense into them, then.”

“That leaves Brother Garret,” Dex said.

“That’s a problem,” Alice said, shaking her head. “Did you know he was alive?”

“Not until today. He joined us after we entered the library. I had thought him lost in Esau’s fortress.”

“Me too,” Alice said. “You’ve known him longer than I have. What might convince him to lie to his master?”

“I am not certain. Sister Ellen, perhaps? The two of them are close, though they try to hide it. But . . .” Dex’s lip twisted. “He is stubborn.”