“We’ll leave him for last,” Alice said. “I’ll take you and Isaac to a place where you can wait for the others while I see what I can do with Michael and Jennifer. Maybe the two of you can think of something in the meantime.”

“Brother Isaac is here?” Dex said.

“He came to warn me,” Alice said, a faint blush rising in her cheeks.

“I should have known he would not stand idle,” Dex said, smiling.

Alice blushed a little further. She turned away to cover it, reaching out for the fabric again. A few deft twists connected them to Isaac and Ashes, and she led everyone to the clear square that surrounded Mr. Wurms’ table. The scholar’s books were still scattered about, but of Mr. Wurms himself, there was no sign.

“Hello, Brother Isaac!” Dex said.

“Hi, Dex.” Isaac sat down on the bench beside the table, then started coughing at the cloud of dust he raised. Ashes jumped from his shoulder and picked his way delicately over the books to stand beside Alice.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me?” he said.

“This is Dexithea,” Alice said. “Dex, this is Ashes-Drifting-Through-the-Dead-Cities-of-the-World, or Ashes for short.”

“Charmed,” Dex said, not at all alarmed by the talking cat. The other apprentices, Alice reflected, had been better prepared by their upbringing for the library than she had been.

“You three try to come up with something we can say to Garret,” she said. “I’m going to see the other two.”

“Should I—” Isaac began.

“I don’t plan to fight them,” Alice said. “I’ll be fine.”

Alice rounded the corner, stepping out of the portal of folded space, and almost immediately had to throw herself to the floor to avoid having her eyes clawed out. The huge hawk swooped past her, pulling up with a flap of its wings that raised whirlwinds of dust on the floor, and circled around for another dive.

Michael, one hand on his glasses, stood a little farther down the aisle, with Jennifer protectively in front of him. Alice waved her hands.

“I just want to talk—” she began, then ducked again as the hawk swooped. This time its claws got hold of a twist of her hair, which tore free after a painful yank. Alice felt blood well on her scalp. “Would you stop?”

“Jen—” Michael began.

“She’s trying to trick us!” Jen said. “Don’t listen!”