I heard Gio shut the door behind me.
Me or Gio. What did the two of us have in common? We were the only Lokants of our little group, and… the only ones with a way out of the Library.
‘How nice to meet you, Rastivan,’ I said, with my blandest smile. ‘I am always delighted to meet fascinating people, of course. What do you do in Sulayn Phay?’
Rastivan’s eyes flicked to Gio behind me, and then back to my face. He looked cowed, and I wondered if he had only just realised that he’d landed in the centre of a fine trap. ‘I am a, um. Research specialist.’
‘Oh?’ said I politely. ‘How interesting. What is your subject?’
Rastivan did not seem to know what his subject was, for he hesitated. His eyes flicked to Gio again.
The more I looked at Rastivan, the more I felt that something was amiss wit
