Hi friends! I hope we are all sincerely enjoying CoHF. I know I am. But... I needed a break, so I am writing this chapter. :) This will be one of my last updates for until I return to the U. S. on June 18th. So enjoy!
If you have suggestions, please feel free to let me know what they are!
combatbootchic12: Ah, yes, you're memorable haha. Yes, I think it will be interesting to try and get Mortmain and Valentine to work together. Oh, I have decided to make Tessa a ShadowLock, but she doesn't know what she is. Not yet, at least. 'Tis the perfect reference to what she is. :)
Yoyolacoco (Guest): I LOVE Jules too! I'm in love with Will and Jace and Jem and OMG the list could continue!
SilverCarstairs: Mwuahaha! I knew you'd like the Jessa! So, for your sake, I shall make this a Jillessa. And oh Jem with dimples is a sight in my head...
Another Shadowhunter Author: I love your username! Enjoy. :)
Guest: Will do!
Enjoy the chapter!
Disclaimer: I own only the plot (somewhat).
"To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world
and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others."
~Tony Robbins
"I just don't understand," Maryse was saying for the fifth time since the girls had returned. "The results came back positive for Will's blood. But where could he have gone? What could have happened to him?"
Emma rubbed her aching temples. "We're the last ones to know. Have you spoken to Alec or Jem?"
Maryse looked at Emma long and hard. "You're the Carstairs, right? Emma Carstairs?"
Emma, who thought she was already known to the Lightwoods, was taken aback, but nodded. "Yes, that's me."
"Have you been introduced to James?" Maryse wondered.
Emma shook her head. "No. I've always known who he was, though, just never formally introduced to him."
Maryse regarded Emma. "It's quite strange, I must say, the lack of resemblance in you two. He was born in Shanghai, moved to London, and you, you're from Los Angeles. Quite opposite in appearance, too, considering your lightness to his darkness."
Emma flushed, looking away from Maryse, just as the doors to the library burst open. Alec, Jem, and Isabelle came through, talking animatedly.
Emma saw Tessa raise her head, and upon seeing Jem, glance away quickly, her cheeks brightening. Emma couldn't help but smile as she stood up. Maryse stood, too.
"James, I didn't get a chance to introduce you formally to your cousin. Emma Carstairs, meet James Carstairs. Jem, this is Emma."
Jem tore his gaze from Tessa to look at Emma in amusement. "You're my cousin? I've heard so much about you."
Emma bit her lip. "The same can be said about you," she said softly. She turned to face Maryse again. "Do you want us to go back out and search some more?"
Maryse shook her head. "Not today. You guys can go home and rest. You've found more than we've been able to, so thank you. We will discuss where to go from here, and we will confer tomorrow our next plan of action."
Alec scowled. "Mother, I meant to ask, about the dead Shadowhunter-"
"It's been taken care of, Alexander. The Clave is looking into what happened with Hodge Starkweather," Maryse snapped.
Tessa cleared her throat. "You said we will confer tomorrow? What time would you like us to return here?"
Maryse sighed, closing her eyes. Her black hair was pulled back tightly. "Be here by eight."
Clary nodded curtly. "We shall see you then."
Tessa stood, following her friends to the exit doors of the library, when Jem stopped her, grabbing her arm. His eyes were soft when he looked at her.
"You didn't get hurt today?" he asked her softly. Tessa looked down at his hand on his arm, astonished, and then back up at him. He flushed and dropped his hand. "I apologize. I should not have been so forward with you-"
"There's no need to apologize," Tessa replied with a warm smile. "But no, I didn't get hurt. I'm just tired and sore and hungry and thirsty."
Jem beamed at her, his silver-brown eyes sparkling. "I suppose you had better get home then, huh? Wouldn't want you withering away, now would we?"
She shook her head. "Who would find your parabataithen?"
Jem's smile seemed to waver only slightly. "I know you will. I have faith in you."
Tessa craned her head back; it wasn't much, but Jem was tall, even to Tessa, who was tall for a girl. "But you don't even know me."
Jem raised his eyebrows. "What would you say if I told you I'd like to?"
She laughed. "I'd say that it's cheesy but cute."
He just smiled at her. "So what do you think?"
She tilted her head to the side. "I think I'm alright with that."
"So how about tomorrow, I'll take you out for coffee when you get finished?"
Tessa nodded. "It's a deal. Will you-"
"Tessa!" Emma barked. "Stop flirting with my cousin. I want to go home."
Tessa looked at Jem sheepishly, both of them blushing. She felt the eyes of Alec and Isabelle on them. "Text me, okay?"
With that, she turned and left.
Will watched with mild interest at Valentine and Mortmain through the bars of his cell. They were discussing their plans of action. Valentine was sitting at the table, leaning forward on his elbows, his fingers steepled. Mortmain stood by a white board, drawing out his ideas.
"So basically," Valentine said, "your plan is to completely wipe out the Shadowhunter race with these... automatons? Using a binding spell to attach a demon spirit to the body?"
Mortmain nodded like a kid in a candy store, eyes bright, cheeks bright with color. "Correct."
Valentine sat back, folding his arms across his large chest. "Interesting. I wasn't going to go to that extent. I was simply just going to rebuild the Clave under my rule."
Mortmain fiddled with the marker in his hands. "I see what you're saying, but wouldn't it be... better without them?"
Will sat up, suddenly alert, like a dog's eyes pricking up a sound.
Valentine tapped his chin thoughtfully. "I haven't given it that much thought. Though, my son had a rather peculiar idea," he said, leaning forward, black eyes glittering like coal in a fire. "He obtained a cup, much like the Mortal Cup, without me knowing. It's made out of adamas-"
"What the Shadowhunters make their weapons out of, and their demon towers in Alicante. Right?"
Valentine nodded. "Precisely. Well, with this cup, he considered acquiring blood from Lilith, the Lady of Edom, to make a new race of Shadowhunters."
Mortmain's eyes widened. "Do you think that would work?"
"My son, Jonathan-"
"Talking about me again, Father?" a hard voice, much like Valentine's himself, said. A boy, the same age as Will, emerged from a door set in the shadows. He was nearly the spitting image of a younger Valentine. Silver-white hair like tinsel, black eyes, sharp features... the only difference, other than age, was the fact that Valentine was broad and bulky, whereas the boy, Jonathan, was tall and slender.
"I was just telling Mr. Mortmain of your idea using the cup-"
"I've decided to call it the Infernal Cup."
Mortmain cackled. "Clever. My automatons are considered the Infernal Devices."
Jonathan smiled at Mortmain coldly. "Great minds think alike." He turned back to his father. "Father, if you will allow me to act as Jonathan Shadowhunter did. Let me spill my blood in the Cup, and we shall summon Lilith-"
"No," Valentine snapped. "Jonathan, I think you should help me get the Mortal Instruments first."
Jonathan's jaw locked. "Why do you want them?"
Valentine fixed his cold glare on his son. "Because then the Clave will be stripped of all their powers. Plus, with the Mortal Sword, I can reverse its heavenly powers into ones of demonic powers. From there I can bring all the demons I want to my disposal. We will also have the demonic automatons provided by Mr. Mortmain. Then, and only then, may we summon Lilith. But first, we must capture Shadowhunters to perform that ritual on."
Jonathan nodded. "Yes, Father. As you please."
Will had fallen asleep. The battle going on in his mind was exhausting him beyond all measures. What side should he take? Why couldn't he realize what was truly going on? Why couldn't he remember who he was before Valentine had taken him?
Yet every time the old Will would begin to resurface, Valentine's Will would push it back down, and old Will wouldn't make another appearance for a while.
Now, he slept, but fitfully.
In his dream, Will was sitting in a dark room, at a table with a single spotlight on him. The metal table in front of him was coated with a thick layer of dust, like frosting on a cake. It was obvious the room had been unoccupied for some time.
"William. You need to know what will save you. Who will save you," a voice said from the thick shadows gathering in the corners of the room.
Will scowled, his blue gaze sweeping through the room, but not seeing anything. Where were his Nightvision runes when he needed them?
But he didn't need help identifying the voice. He would know that voice from anywhere, like it was the back of his hand.
It was his parabatai. His best friend. Jem.
"James?" Will called. "James! James, help me. I don't know where I am or what's going on with me-"
"Valentine has drugged you, and he continues to do so. You will stay under his full control if you allow him to keep injecting you," Jem said.
Will clenched his hands in fists in his lap. "How do I keep him from injecting me? Why does it give me such strong emotions when I am injected?"
Jem appeared out of the shadows then. He looked worse, more ill than the last time he saw his best friend. His hair was a pale silver, not bright at all, but more a dull grey. His eyes were so pale, their irises almost all concealed by blown-out pupils. He was so frail and thin, so pale, his veins like maps under his skin.
"You are feeling the emotion you would feel if you weren't under the drug. If it's longing, or depression, or happiness, or anger, or confusion... any emotion, really, will hit you in full force. You need to be prepared for that."
Will's breath hitched, and he felt his heart race in panic. "James, are you ill? How can I help?"
"By getting yourself out of there. By saving you and Julian and Jace. But it may take a while. Plot and strategize in the smartest ways possible. Explain to them what I have told you."
Jem began to fade; he started to become translucent.
"Jem! Don't leave me. Help me," Will cried in distress.
"She will help you."
"Who will?" Will demanded.
Jem disappeared, and Will screamed in frustation. He glanced back down at the table only to realize he had scrawled in a single word in the dust-covered surface. Not just any word, though, but a name.
TESSA.
Will sat up in his bed, his shirt sticking to his skin in cold sweat, his hair plastered to his cheekbones and temples. He gasped for air, imagining his dream over and over again, replaying them in his head.
And for a single moment, he was back in his own mind.
Walking out of the Institute, into the sunshine... Valentine appearing as he rounded the corner... Valentine attacking him... Hodge Starkweather, his old tutor, dead at his feet in a pool of blood... Valentine and Mortmain and Jonathan plotting revenge on Shadhowhunters...
It was too much for Will to think about. But then an image popped into his vision, but this time, it was writing clearer, in block letters.
TESSA.
Who was she?
"William Herondale!" a voice barked.
Will shot out of his bed, landing in a crouch. When he realized it was Valentine, he righted himself. "Master. How can I help you?" he asked.
Valentine smirked without a trace of amusement. "I decided to wake you. You sounded miserable in your sleep, mumbling names."
Will frowned. A name teased the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't place what it was. He recalled, vaguely, waking last night from anxiety and panic. Why?
"Names? What names?" Will wondered.
"Someone named Tessa? Does that ring a bell to you?" Valentine snapped.
Mortmain stood up quickly. "Tessa? Tessa Gray? What of her?" he asked, hurrying over to Will's cell. "Do you know anything about her?"
Will shook his head. "I have never met a Tessa before."
Valentine scowled suspiciously. "He can't lie, Axel. The drug prevents it. He has no memory of Tessa."
Mortmain's shoulders dropped. "I need to find her. She is a key in this binding spell."
Valentine turned toward Mortmain. "How?"
Mortmain hesitated. "You see, the Shadowhunters killed my parents, John and Anne Shade. They were both warlocks; I their adopted son. You see, my father invented these creatures, but I took the experiment over when he died. I am missing the spell to bind the demon energies to the automaton bodies. Tessa can retrieve that spell from my mother."
Valentine's brows furrowed. "Explain. How? How can she get it from a dead man?"
Mortmain licked his lips. "You see, Tessa was created for a specific reason. She was born from a demon and Shadowhunter."
"But their children are stillborn-"
"Not," Mortmain said, "if the Shadowhunter has received no Marks. In this case, her mother, Elizabeth Gray, had not received Marks, had not even known she was a Shadowhunter. Thus, I had an Eidolon demon pose as her husband, and therefore Tessa was created. She is a shape-shifter, but an odd one at that. She has access to thoughts and actions of the person she changes into, memories of theirs."
Will watched this exchange with wide eyes. Why did that name sound so familiar? Why did it seem so... important?
Valentine clasped his hands behind his back, rocking forward on his heels. "I see. So she can access the spell from John Shade."
"Precisely," Mortmain said. "She is very powerful, whether or not she knows it."
Valentine and Mortmain had stopped in front of Julian's cell; Julian glanced up from his spot on the floor, where one leg was propped up, the other extended in front of him, one hand dangling over his knee.
"Blackthorn," Mortmain said, amused. "How is Emma Carstairs?"
Julian's eyes widened, and the image of a young blonde girl, amber-gold eyes came to mind... And then it was gone. He blinked. "Emma... Carstairs?"
Valentine smirked. "You cry out for her in your sleep. Better learn to control your desires, Julian, for they can be the death of you."
It all came crashing back to Julian. Emma, jumping in front of Julian to protect him. Emma, holding Tavvy, helping him feed his brother. Emma, training with him. Emma, the best Shadowhunter he had ever met. Emma, growing from a young girl to a young woman. Emma, becoming more beautiful than she already was. Emma, his would-be parabatai. Emma, his best friend. Emma, whose parents had died. Emma, who had fled the day before their parabatai ceremony. Emma, who always held a special piece of his heart.
He gasped at the memories, jumping to his feet. He looked at Valentine and tried to keeping the loathing from his features. If Valentine saw it, he didn't seem to care.
"Emma?" he said again, pretending to be clueless, for some part of him knew he shouldn't have remembered.
Valentine laughed coldly. "Yes. Considered the best Shadowhunter aside from Jace Herondale, or Lightwood. Whatever he wishes to be called."
Jonathan Morgenstern burst through the doors, not looking as flushed as his rushed arrival appeared. He glanced in bemusement at Valentine and Mortmain, who were in front of Jace's cell. He was leaning against the far wall, bored expressions crossing his face.
"Father, I have news on Clarissa," he said, which earned him the honor of his father turning his attention on him.
"Do you, now?" His words were crisp; cool.
Jonathan nodded. "Yes. It took a while, but I finally got news." He waited for a reaction from his father, but all he got was a cocked eyebrow.
"Well? Are you going to tell me what it is?"
Jonathan nodded. "Yes. She still doesn't know of her superior powers, of the extra angel blood in her," Jonathan paused, thinking of the demon blood coursing through his veins, longing for someone to care for him, but not quite sure how to get it. "She goes by Clary now, and is ever more like her mother."
"You mean your mother?" Valentine said calmly.
"She is not my mother. Mothers love their children unconditionally; she hated me with a passion. Therefore, I hate her as well," Jonathan snapped.
His father chuckled. "Fair enough. But I loved her, once, and you need to except that. Her blood runs in your veins, just as my blood runs in Clary's veins, no matter how much she hates me." He turned away, looking at Jace again, who looked curious.
"I'd like to meet Clary," Jace said. "She sounds interesting. Perhaps she would make a great asset to our team here."
Jonathan snorted. "No. She isn't worth of it. Father, there's one more thing."
"Yes, Jonathan?"
"Clary is in search for the three boys. As well as Emma Carstairs and Theresa Gray."
Valentine and Mortmain exchanged devious grins.
"Excellent," Mortmain said.
"Let them come straight to us. But leave no hints in their paths. No, they must find us on their own," Valentine proclaimed. "For when they do, their reward shall be great, indeed."
Hi guys! :) how was this chapter?
I know... not a whole lot on the girls. But, there needs to be a fair enough amount of the boys in there too. I promise it will get more detailed soon.
I've just been so busy with finishing the school year and packing for a trip. I'll be out of the country without much Internet for 2 weeks, so I'll update when I return. Of course, I'll try and update this one more time before I leave.
Hail and Farewell! :)
NO ONE GIVE ANYTHING AWAY ON COHF YET OKAY?! I HAVEN'T FINISHED IT.
Playlist:
1. In My Head-Jason Derulo
2. Whatcha Say-Jason Derulo
3. Troublemaker-Olly Murs
4. It Makes Me Ill-'N Sync
Anyway! I hope you liked the chapter, and like the story! :)
Let me know in your review.
Please? :)
With a cherry on top? :)
Favorite, follow, review... if you would like! :)
Au revoir (until next time)
Xoxo! (Bisous)
~Caitlyn
