Chapter 10
Creeping slowly down the dark hallway, Finn held up Asmodei, lighting up a path for him to follow. He stopped in front of a door with the same symbols from the floor.
"In Hoc Signo Vinces," Finn recited, under his breath. It was so familiar. What is it? Cautiously, he opened the door to the room, weapon in hand, prepared for whatever was ahead. Entering the room slowly, Finn immediately noticed the weapons in the room. Upon closer examination, he realized that the runes on the handles were not angelic, but demonic. In the corner of the room, a black bow next to a set of arrows caught his attention.
Finn took the bow off of the rack and twirled it between his fingers. Slowly, he took out his stele and traced a pattern on the handle of the bow. The simple rune of angelic power, the first of all Shadowhunters, became visible on the handle. The bow changed in color from black to gold.
Slinging the bow and the bag of arrows over his shoulder, Finn walked to the other side of the room, examining the desk. On the desk lay a single black and white photo. The photo captured a group of Nephilim around his age. Finn noticed that one of the teenagers looked very familiar to him. Arm around a girl, a man with very pale hair stood, seemingly the leader. He looked just like…Sebastian. But he couldn't be Sebastian. Finn knew that for sure. This man had to be Valentine Morgenstern. And the rest of the teenagers had to have been the original Circle of Raziel, Finn realized. This photograph confirmed what he had already believed true.
Finn put the photo down and began to look through the drawers. The first one he opened held a single box. Unlocked. Finn took out the box and warily opened it. The box contained sheets of paper. Finn read them quickly, knowing his time in the office was drawing to an end. Finn heard a loud noise from the other side of the building. Startled, he returned the box to its previous spot and quickly ran out of the room.
Hearing the movement from the other side of the room, the Morgenstern men both turned to find Asher just a few feet away. Quickly, Jonathan pushed Violet to the floor and ran towards Asher with the sword. Audrey slashed her seraph blade in Valentine's direction with no luck.
Violet took this opportunity to crawl to her father and free him. She took out her stele and carved at the surface of the wooden floor, hoping to disfigure the runes enough to free him. Valentine noticed and flung a knife from his belt in their direction. Asher yelled a warning, with Jonathan on top of him, and both Violet and her father moved out of the way in time.
Violet grabbed the knife, leaving an indentation in the floor. She made eye contact with Audrey and both of them attacked Valentine together. Valentine dodged Violet's attack and swung at Audrey. Audrey fell to the floor a few feet away, knocked out cold. Asher looked at Violet helplessly while pinned to the floor by Jonathan.
"Well, crap," he said quietly.
"Any ideas, Ash?" Violet asked so quietly that only he could hear.
"Nope."
"Dorothea." It was Dmitri who spoke suddenly.
"What?" Valentine asked, shocked.
"Madame Dorothea," he repeated. He didn't say anything else.
"The mundane running that old shop in the city?" asked Jonathan, clearly confused. Their father said nothing more.