Ash and Quill
Page 31
"And her? You think Jess is going to thank you for putting her back in the Iron Tower? You know what's going to happen to her, you cold bastard?"
"I don't know and don't care, because I'm not my weak-livered brother. She's not my concern." Jess wanted to take the fear from Morgan's eyes, the pallor from her face, but he had to play this out, had to. He looked at the soldier who faced him, and slowly lowered his hands and put them behind his back. "Take me to the Archivist, if you want to live to see the morning."
"Whatever you think you're doing, it won't work!" Wolfe shouted. The soldier with him dragged him up to his knees, and loose graying hair fell around his face. It didn't disguise the urgent fire in his eyes. "Brightwell! It won't work!"
For an eerie moment, it felt like Wolfe was talking to him. To Jess, not to Brendan. But Wolfe didn't know. They'd taken great care to leave him out of all of this. Wolfe, Dario had argued, could break. Would break. But in that second, Jess wondered if Wolfe knew. Had maybe known the entire time.
"Sorry, Scholar," he managed to whisper. Brendan's smile on his lips. Brendan's voice. But inside, his soul was tearing itself apart. "There's no turning back now."
And that was the moment when the door of the entry hall of the Archive of the Great Library opened and the Archivist Magister walked in. Oh, not alone. Not by half. He had a dozen High Garda elite guards around him. He wore a rich, thickly embroidered robe of midnight blue, and a crown with the eye of Horus rising like the sun from his forehead. Gold and rubies, and worth a king's ransom.
He had an old man's face, worn and seamed and burned by years in the hot Egyptian sun, but his eyes were young. They missed nothing. Not the state that Jess was in, or the relatively undamaged captives.
"I met another Brightwell, once," the Archivist said. "He looked a great deal like you."
Jess spat blood onto the marble floor and grinned. He knew he looked half-savage. Didn't care.
"Yeah, well, I'm nothing like my fool brother," he said. "And you're going to want to keep me close, Archivist. Because I'm bringing you everything you ever wanted. Brendan Brightwell, at your service." He managed a mocking bow.
The silence rang for a long moment. Thomas, Jess thought, had done him a favor damaging his voice. Nothing about him would seem familiar now, not even that.
The Archivist considered all of it for what seemed far too long, and then nodded.
"We'll see," he said. "Take Scholar Wolfe to the cells. The girl goes back to the Iron Tower. And you, Brendan Brightwell . . ." The Archivist paused for so long that Jess had to ready himself for the end, for the sound of High Garda guns to be the last thing he heard. "You come with me."
They walked out of the vast hall of the Great Archives, into the heat of an Alexandrian day, and the smell of the only place he'd ever felt at home, and Jess thought, Now all we have to do is play the game.
But he had the eerie feeling that this game was barely even begun . . . and that it wasn't chess at all.
From here on out, it was war.
Continued in Volume 4 of
THE GREAT LIBRARY
SOUND TRACK
As always, music led me through all the dark corners and twisting paths this book took, and I hope you'll enjoy listening to the amazing talents of these artists along with me. Please purchase their music if you can; it keeps them able to create and bring us all more joy.
"Conrad"
SOHN
"Your Future Is Not Mine"
Daisy (feat. Joseph of Mercury, Illangelo Remix)
"Wild Horses"
Bishop Briggs
"River"
Bishop Briggs
"The Ballad of Mona Lisa"
Panic! At the Disco
"Genghis Khan"
Miike Snow
"Kissin' and Cussin'"
Carolina Chocolate Drops
"Emperor's New Clothes"
Panic! At the Disco
"Irresistible"
Fall Out Boy (feat. Demi Lovato)
"Shades of Otherworld"
Dagda
"Ophelia"
The Lumineers
"Daughter's Lament"
Carolina Chocolate Drops
"Way We Go Down"
Kaleo
"Moonshiner's Daughter"
Rhiannon Giddens
"Castle"
Halsey
"The Gifted People"
Dagda
"Reels 113"
Ellery Klein & Ryan Lacey
"I'm Born to Run"
American Authors
"Victorious"
Panic! At the Disco
"Good Die Young"
Molly Kate Kestner
"Empty Gold"
Halsey
"Home"
morgxn
"Pray (Empty Gun)"
Bishop Briggs
"Train"
Brick + Mortar
"Unsteady"
X Ambassadors
"Be Your Love"
Bishop Briggs
"Adventure of a Lifetime"
Coldplay
"Fire"
Barns Courtney
"Unbound"
Robbie Robertson
"The Way I Do"
Bishop Briggs
"Fire"
PVRIS
"Notorious"
morgxn
Ash and Quill
Rachel Caine
Questions for Discussion
In the world of the Great Library, books are seen as valuable and revered objects. Are there any books you can think of that our current world sees in the same way?
Why do you think the Burners have been allowed to remain in possession of the City of Philadelphia for so long?What might have held the Library back from destroying it earlier?
Were you surprised that Jess and Dario had a plan to get the team safely out of England, in anticipation of Jess's family's betrayal? Why or why not?
When Jess trades places with his brother, what do you think his ultimate plan is? Did you expect him to do that?
Ultimately, who would you guess becomes the new Archivist in Alexandria? It could be any of our main characters. Who would be the best?
Author photo (c) 2013 Robert W. Hart Rachel Caine is the New York Times, USA Today, and international bestselling author of more than fifty novels, including the Great Library series, Prince of Shadows, the Weather Warden series, the Outcast Season series, the Revivalist series, and the Morganville Vampires series.
Connect Online
rachelcaine.com
facebook.com/rachelcainefanpage twitter.com/rachelcaine
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