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‘Don’t be,’ Vale said, his tone as caustic as he could make it. ‘I hardly enjoy the experience. You are one of the most notorious roués in London.’
‘One tries,’ Silver agreed. He reached out to take a glass of hangover remedy, which had been swiftly fetched by the attentive Johnson, and downed the contents with a wince. ‘One tries very, very hard indeed.’
‘So how do you see the current situation?’
‘Well, what I know is that Alberich’s been looking for assistance.’ Silver set the glass down on its tray, abruptly serious. ‘And before we go any further, detective, I want your word that what I’m about to say will clear any debts – which I may or may not owe you from the Venice business.’
‘“May or may not owe me?” ’ Vale said. ‘That sounds remarkably uncertain.’
‘I dislike admitting that I owe anyone a debt. I’m sure you can understand that.’
‘And so you’re weaselling around your obligations.’
‘If owing a favour ever becomes a matter of life or death for you, too, then perhaps you’ll understand,’ Silver snapped. ‘For the moment, you will just have to accept that such things can cause a great deal of trouble. So if I tell you what I know about current goings-on, will you consider our debt cleared?’
Vale knew that the Fae were bound to keep their given word. It was one of the more useful pieces of information about them, together with the fact that cold iron weakened their powers. He wasn’t going to object to these little advantages: the Fae were irksome, and their glamours were inconvenient, as well as borderline illegal. ‘You have my word that I will consider the debt cleared, in return for you telling me what you know about “current events”. I can’t speak for Winters.’
‘Yes, such a pity she’s not here,’ Silver said. ‘I’d be enjoying this discussion a great deal more if I was having it with her.’ While he did not quite lick his lips at the thought, his expression suggested a barely restrained carnality.
Vale could only be grateful that Winters was elsewhere. Even if she was quite capable of handling Silver, she would certainly not enjoy being exposed to his insinuations. Her behaviour last night, towards Vale himself, was something quite different from this . . . impropriety. ‘You overrate yourself,’ he said briefly.
‘And I thought we were going to be civil.’
‘You are the instigator of a dozen conspiracies here in London. You’re running at least one spy ring that I know of out of your embassy. And in the Venice affair you knowingly sent Winters into a situation that might have killed her, or worse, purely to save your own miserable hide. I would say that I’m being remarkably civil.’ Vale leaned back in his chair, as much as it allowed. ‘Would you like me to go on?’
Silver looked up at the ceiling as though demanding patience from some unseen deity. ‘Oh, by all means go on. I’m hardly unaware of your opinion of me. I rather appreciate it. But if you actually want information, then perhaps you should let me speak.’
Vale was forced to concede Silver’s point. ‘Continue,’ he said tersely, mentally saving a few choice insults for a later opportunity.
‘Alberich has a number of allies among the Fae,’ Silver began. ‘To put it bluntly, he’s done favours and he’s owed favours. A couple of months back, shortly after the Venice business, I heard rumours that he’d been looking for . . . collaborators, shall we say. A step up from agents, but far from being equal partners. The sort of Fae who are weaker than I am, but still strong enough to walk between the worlds on their own.’
‘Indeed,’ Vale said neutrally. His mind flashed back to the woman Zayanna and her plausible but unsupported tale. ‘Do go on.’ Silver spread his hands. ‘That’s pretty much all I’ve heard.’
‘Was Lady Guantes one of these Fae?’
‘I wouldn’t know,’ Silver said. ‘The lady has vanished from sight – and good riddance. I’m sure we’ll have trouble with her again, but it’ll take her a while to build up her power base.’ He was remarkably casual about the subject, Vale felt. ‘But the epilogue to the Alberich business is that some of those who were taking an interest in his offers have since dropped out of circulation. Or so I’m told. Which leads me to wonder why you’re here and asking after him.’
‘But what was he wanting collaborators for?’ Vale asked. ‘Surely there must have been some talk about his ultimate plans? Offers of potential rewards? Even speculation would be useful.’
‘Yes. Yes, you have a very good point there.’ Silver frowned thoughtfully. ‘There has been significantly little detail available. My best guess would be that his offers were vague enough that only the desperate were attracted. Sadly, there are enough of those – people who’ve lost their patrons, who’ve come out as losers in intrigues, and so on. Poor fools.’
‘You’re surprisingly sympathetic.’
‘Not sympathy so much as pity,’ Silver said. ‘Sympathy would imply I might even try to help them. Pity is much safer. It can be delivered from on high without getting involved. I pity them. I sympathize with you, detective.’
‘Me?’ Vale said, surprised.
‘I warned you not to go to Venice.’ Silver’s gaze was very direct now, and there was an odd intimacy to his tone, a suggestion that the two of them shared some sort of connection. ‘I know what sort of effect a high-chaos world has on an unprepared human. I didn’t want to lose you, detective. And I’m still not sure whether I will or not.’
Vale drew back, affronted by Silver’s manner. But if he was to be honest with himself, what truly repelled him was that he somehow understood what Silver meant. It was as if Silver was talking to another of his own kind – another Fae – and the thought of that revolted every atom of his being. The brief enjoyment he’d taken from sparring with Silver faded, and his earlier ennui threatened to sweep over him again. He’d been able to hold it off, convincing himself that his actions would somehow be worthwhile and make a difference. But now it all seemed so shallow once more, and ultimately irrelevant. He hungered for the sheer fire of their earlier conversation, the keen delight of matching wits with Silver. And at the same time he found that desire disturbing.
‘So all you know is that Alberich had a plan in mind,’ he finally said, trying to get back to the subject at hand. Winters needed his help. That much was important. ‘And while some of your kind may be involved, they are currently incommunicado.’
‘Succinct and accurate,’ Silver said, and yawned again. ‘If anything else has happened within the last few days, then I haven’t yet heard. But you must agree that you now know more than you did. My debt is paid.’
Vale was forced to nod in agreement. ‘I accept this. I could only wish, for once, that you knew a little more than you do.’
‘But, my dear Vale, we’re hardly finished.’ Silver leaned forward, his face avid and hungry for information. ‘You haven’t yet told me what you know, or why you came here to ask all these questions. Obviously Alberich’s making his move. Is there nothing I can say or do that would persuade you to share information?’
