Paper and Fire: Sneak Peek #3

"You can't be serious," Jess said, and looked up at the tomb of Alexander the Great.

Dario hadn't told him where they were going, or he'd have refused it outright back at the café. Maybe the wine had lulled him too much, because he'd agreed to at least take a look. And now, here he was. Looking.

Next to the Lighthouse and the Serapeum, the tomb of Alexander was the single most recognizable structure in Alexandria . . . a memorial that had survived in all its original gaudy glory. It crouched in the center of the lush park square, looking exactly like what it was: an overdone tribute to an oversized legend. Marble clad, of course, with statues of gold at each corner on each of four levels. The other statues that lined each level were stone, or looked to be, at least—warriors, horses, gods. On top, Alexander's chariot was drawn by mighty warhorses frozen in midcharge, and the boy king's statue showed him as handsome and glorious as the gods themselves.

A pretty dark-eyed girl strolled past the two of them, and gave Dario a bright smile as she trailed a hand over the flowers planted on the path. The Spaniard smiled back and bowed to her, which elicited a giggle. Jess sighed. "Tell me we aren't here just so you can peacock to the ladies."

"It's an added benefit," Dario said. "I'm supposed to meet someone here who may have a book for us."

"Meet who, exactly?"

"Am I supposed to ask for formal introductions when buying illegal things? I was under the impression it was more of a casual acquaintance."

"Where did you meet this person?"

"I inquired," Dario said. "I'm not without skills, you know. If you must know, he's a sailor out of Rome. He said he has a stolen log book from a prison there."

"Every city has a prison!"

"This one is run by High Garda. Not local police."

Jess didn't like it. "Do you know him at all?"

"No. Which is why I want you here, with your long history of . . . questionable things. I'll pay for the book, you take it away from here, and we will all live to read whatever it is I'm spending a ruinous amount of my savings to get."

"Dario, buying black market is not your strength. You should have told me. I could have—"

"There wasn't time," Dario cut in. "Are you going to help or not?"

This wasn't the spot Jess would have chosen for such an exchange, either: too many casual strollers in this park, some with families. Too many ears to bear witness, and he hadn't missed the fact there were two sphinxes roaming the park, too.

The sphinxes weren't the only threats. One of the golden corner statues—Hera, he thought, the queen of the Greek gods—turned her head and tilted it down to regard them as they passed, though if she were holding up a corner of the building, she probably couldn't step away. Jess didn't care for even that much attention. And then he saw out of the corner of his eye that one of the sphinxes had padded down the path and stretched out in a long, low crouch not far away. It wasn't directly watching them, but the nearness of the thing made his instincts scream with alarm. It wasn't so much that he was afraid they were following him—though he had to admit, he was more than a little haunted by the idea they were—but that he didn't care for their closeness during such a highly illegal activity.

Not that Dario would even think of that. He seemed to take automata as just part of the landscape.

"I don't like this," Jess said. "It's too open, too obvious. Sphinxes. Call it off. We can meet somewhere safer."

"I can't call it off, and I didn't pick the spot," Dario said. "This is my one chance to get this book. Go if you're too afraid. But I'd think someone so well versed at criminality would have a little backbone."

"There's a difference between courage and blind arrogance," Jess said sourly. "Where is this contact of yours?"

"He'll be here soon." Dario seemed oblivious to the threats. Jess's throat tightened as they neared the sphinx, and it turned that pharaoh's head toward them. The eyes gleamed dull red, then brightened.

"Dario, we should go."

"Ah, there he is." The idiot waved, and Jess spotted a man in plain working clothes trudging down a path toward them.

Somewhere in the bushes, Jess heard a rustle. He turned his head toward the noise, and saw that another sphinx watched them through the hedge. The human-shaped face stared with eerie concentration, and the eyes burned bloody red.

Jess forced Dario's arm down. "Inside. Get inside."

"No, he's right there—"

"Follow me. Now!"

Jess turned and launched into a run back toward the tomb's entrance. He heard the crack of breaking branches and didn't look back. Dario was just a step behind, and caught up as the sphinx let out a sound like the high shriek of a hawk. It was coming for them. Jess put on a burst of speed, digging into his strides and lengthening them, and within four long steps he was past the hedges, and in another ten, halfway around the tomb building, with Dario struggling to keep pace. Screams rose as the pursuing sphinx rounded the corner at a lion's lope, and people who'd been casually enjoying the park dove out of its path and ran for the exits. Jess tried not to think about the damage it could do to innocent bystanders. He'd seen the raw, red destruction left by automaton lions in London. He and Dario were risking not just their own lives, but those of everyone caught in this place.

Jess and Dario darted up the marble steps. "Why are they chasing us?" Dario demanded, gasping for breath. Jess hadn't even felt the run. Dario needed to get out from behind his desk more. "We're Library! We're wearing the bands! What in the name of God—"

"They already knew! Your contact sold us out. Or someone sold him out," Jess shot back. "Did you think you could just stroll over and get handed something the Library kills people for? With no experience and no training, in a public place? Idiot!"

Dario was utterly out of his element, all his composure shaken. For all that he'd survived Oxford and the disasters that came after, he'd never, until this moment, truly seen the Library as his enemy. He'd never understood what it meant to come face-to-face with its dark side. Jess almost envied him that. And almost pitied him.

But there wasn't time for either.

Paper and Fire is available everywhere July 5, 2016

Preorder now (US): Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Books-a-Million, Indiebound

Preorder now (UK): Waterstones, W.H. Smith, Amazon UK