Eddie stood up and drew out a seraph blade, though she didn't light it.
"What are you doing?" Max hissed as she set off towards the Hotel Dumort.
Eddie threw a glance over her shoulder. "Improvising." She replied lightly. She didn't want to admit it, but she was having a better time than she had in months. The adrenaline pumping through her veins drowned whatever fear she would otherwise be feeling and egged her on, making her feel invincible.
"You said you were great at plans!" Max tried to shout back at her, but it came out as a forced whisper. Eddie grinned and kept walking, climbing over the low, rusting fence surrounding the Hotel.
"I lied." She shrugged in response.
"EDDIE." Max hissed through clenched teeth, stooping low to the ground and hurrying after her. "You'll be seen!"
Eddie shrugged again. "That's the idea."
Max shook his head. "You're insane. You're absolutely insane."
Eddie paused to roll her eyes at him. "Look, my dad knew the representative of the Night's children when he was on the Council. I met her a few times. Trust me."
Max glanced up at the Hotel and back to her. "You better know what you're doing." He said, but Eddie wasn't listening. She cupped her hands to her mouth and raised her head to the Hotel.
"LILY!" She shouted, louder than was necessary. If there were vampires inside, they would already have heard them. Still, it seemed like the right thing to do. "LILY, IT'S EDDIE BLACKWELL. WE NEED TO TALK."
"Eddie, stop." Max pulled on her arm. "It's not going to-"
"You know, there are more conventional ways to summon me, Nephilim."
Eddie jumped at the sound of the smooth voice in the shadows. As she watched, the shape of a young woman emerged from the darkness and stepped forward. She was very small with a sharp, pretty face, and dressed in a fitted black designer suit and stiletto heels. She looked out of place in front the run-down Hotel.
"Lily." Eddie said, not bothering to lower her voice. "You heard me."
"Of course I heard you." Lily replied, examining her nails. "The entire Hotel heard you."
"Wait, there are others in there?" Max asked, glancing up to the boarded windows.
Lily rolled her eyes. "It's almost dawn, Shadowhunter. Everyone's in there." She had a pretty voice, Eddie thought, but somehow sharp. Like a knife wrapped in candy floss.
Then she turned her attention to Eddie. "Arthur Blackwell's daughter." She said cooly. "I did not think we would meet again so soon. I was sorry to hear about what your father did. I thought he was a good man, for a Shadowhunter."
Eddie felt her hands curl into fists, her nails leaving little half-moon dents in her palm. "This isn't about my father." She replied stiffly. She was all too conscious of Max's gaze flickering from the vampire to her, trying to put two and two together.
"We need your help." She continued.
Lily's pencil-thin eyebrows slid up her pale forehead. "Indeed. Why else would you come here."
"There is a rogue vampire in your clan." Max said. "He has broken many Covenant Laws and killed innocent mundanes."
"And you would like my assistance." Lily drawled.
Eddie and Max both nodded.
"You realise," Lily said, examining her nails again, "That under no Law am I bound to help you?"
"We understand that." Eddie said quickly. "But I was hoping, as a former acquaintance of my father, that you might consider it a favour?"
Lily looked up and fixed her with a black stare. "I don't do favours, little Shadowhunter." She said, the knife piercing through the candy floss.
Eddie held her ground, but she felt Max take an involuntary step backwards.
"However, in this case, I may be of assistance." Lily continued absently. "The vampire of which you speak has been causing disruption among my clan. It is in my best interest to have him… disposed of."
Eddie let out her breath. "Then I believe we can come to an arrangement." She said with a small smile, directed smugly at Max.
"You did WHAT?" Isabelle stood with her hands on her hips in the centre of the kitchen. Behind her, the eggs she had been cooking were starting to smoke. Eddie considered pointing this out, but shut her mouth when she saw the look of fury on Max's sister's face.
"It was amazing, Iz." Max protested. "And this way, the vampire is dealt with safely. You're always going on about safety."
"YOU SPOKE TO THE HEAD OF THE VAMPIRE CLAN MAXIMUS LIGHTWOOD. You can't just do that! What if she wasn't happy to see you?"
"But she was." Max persisted, running a hand through his hair. There were dark bags beneath the rim of his glasses and his eyes were slightly bloodshot. Eddie suspected she looked even worse. Neither of them had slept since they got back from the vampire Hotel, and all Eddie could think about was her bed.
"Iz, what they did was actually kinda smart." Simon, who had leaped forward to rescue the blackened eggs, turned and laid a hand on Isabelle's shoulder.
"I didn't say it wasn't smart." She snapped. "I said it was dangerous."
"Ha!" Eddie heard Jace's voice behind her, although she hadn't heard him come in. "That's a bit rich coming from you, Iz."
Isabelle stuck her tongue out at her adoptive brother.
"Let it go, Izzy." Clary collapsed into the chair beside her husband. "They're alive and unhurt. That's all that matters." She turned her sea green eyes on Eddie, who was struggling not to sway on her feet. "Bed." Clary said. "Both of you. Now."
Max and Eddie didn't need telling twice.
As she lay curled up in her white fourposter, Eddie couldn't help but let a small smile creep its way across her face. She'd been here less than a day, and already she was getting in trouble. Some things never changed, even if the person she was inside had.