Chapter Fourteen
She pushed open the doors to the Institute, breathing in the familiar air. Church was waiting for her as she walked in. "Hello handsome." She cooed, bending down to run her fingers between the spot on his head.
He curled towards her, letting out a deep purr. She stood back up. "Okay, sweet boy, take me to Jace."
Church let out a displeased noise but he got back to his feet anyways. He led her through the vast Institute to the greenhouse. Jace was right where she imagined he would be, standing in the midst of the morning glories.
"What are you thinking?" She asked him, announcing herself.
He turned his face towards her. "What?" He asked.
She looked around. "You only come up here to think. So, what are you thinking?"
He shrugged. "The Inquisitor. I've not heard very assuring things."
She went to stand next to him. "Just think about this: she can't be worse than our father." The smile she gave him was meant to be reassuring on his part, but she wasn't sure it wasn't for her as well.
Her old room was still the same. Granted, it had only been a few days since it had been abandoned for the more comfortable option at Magnus' place.
Her bed was still ruffled from the last time she had slept in it. She had cleared her clothes out, save for a few items she had left behind in case she ever needed to crash at the Institute.
She ran her hand over the dark wood of the vanity desk.
There was a soft knock on the door. It swung open. Alec and Jace were standing in the doorway. "My mom wants the two of you in the library." Alec said.
She sucked in a breath. That could only mean one thing. The Inquisitor had arrived. "Then we mustn't keep her waiting."
She left her room to join them in the hall. Alec was standing at an angle away from Jace. Her eyes narrowed in on his neck. Was that…?
"Alexander, what in the name of the Angel is on your neck?" She gasped.
His face turned a furious red and his hand flew up to cover his neck. Jace let out a loud laugh. "He fell." Jace told her.
She snorted. "Sure."
Alec delivered them to the library and left them there. The door was left half open. Jace looked back at Eliza before pushing the door the rest of the way open and stepping inside. She followed him inside.
The library was shrouded in cold air. She looked ahead, the fire was no longer burning. Her eyes ventured upwards, the light from the freshly risen sun glaring in. Declan was safely tucked away from any harm it could do him, sleeping somewhere dark.
Her eyes fell. As by instinct, her eyes landed on Hodge's old worn chair. It was filled, but not by Hodge.
"Thank you for coming." The person said.
The person rose from the chair with a grace only Shadowhunters possessed. Her smoke colored cloak fell to where her boots stopped. She wore a stiff-fitting slate suit. Her pale blonde hair was slicked back into tight bun. Her steel grey eyes were cut narrowly.
Eliza could only assume that this was the Inquisitor.
The woman's mouth twitched, but then her cool expression resumed. "Eliza and Jonathan Morgenstern?"
"Yes. This is them." A voice said from behind them.
Maryse was walking towards them. She had changed into night clothes, having swapped the black suit for a silk robe.
The Inquisitor glided towards them, almost as if her feet didn't even bother touching the ground. Her pale white hand reached out and she grabbed Jace by the chin, forcing him to stare at her.
Eliza jerked, but bit her tongue. Her smart mouth hadn't helped much with Maryse and she was sure that it would only do worse with the Inquisitor.
But the woman saw the small movement. She turned away from Jace, glaring at Eliza. Her mouth curled in contempt. "You look exactly like your father." It was by no means a compliment. An insult of the highest regard.
Eliza let a half smile slip. "That must make you wonder what else dear old dad passed on to me besides the looks."
It didn't seem possible, but the woman in front of her paled even more.
"I'm kidding." Eliza breathed. "It's a joke. I tried to kill him, I live with a warlock, and I'm dating a vampire. What else do you want from me?"
Jace let out a breathy noise, not so easily mistaken for quiet laughter. Jace may have been one of the few, if not the only person, who appreciated and understood her sense of humor.
The Inquisitor stepped back. "You will call me Inquisitor and nothing else. Is this understood?"
"Ten-four." Eliza quipped.
Jace whipped to stare at her, an incredulous look on his face. She cut him a look before turning back to the woman.
"I go by Jace Wayland. Not boy or Jonathan Morgenstern." Jace said.
By the look on her face, the woman didn't agree with that. "Your name is Jonathan Morgenstern and that is what you will answer to, boy. Anything else means you are a liar, just like your father."
"Between the two of us, Jace isn't the liar. That would be me, who lied about her identity for months." Eliza waved her hand, smiling brightly.
"Don't undermine me, Liz. I like to believe I'm a liar in my own way." Jace snipped.
The Inquisitor smiled at them, her smile cold and unwelcoming. "The two of you are so like your father. So intolerant of authority. I promise you that if you spin any of that intolerance towards me," she reached out, grabbing Jace's chin sharply again, "you will envy the fate that your namesake was awarded."
She let his face go and stepped away. Jace's chin was red with finger marks. He glanced at Eliza.
"Lucifer." Eliza said. "She means Lucifer, the Morning Star. God cast him to the pits of hell and Ms. Inquisitor plans to do worse to us." She explained. She turned to the Inquisitor. "Speaking of, is there a Mr. Inquisitor? Or are you so frigid because you aren't being welcomed home from work in the proper manner?"
"Liz." Jace said sharply. She turned her face towards him. There were slow rising spots of blood on his chin from the Inquisitors nails.
"Inquisitor Herondale, they've both agreed to trial by the Sword." Maryse cut in.
Finally, Eliza thought. She had wondered how long it would take for Maryse to swoop in and cut off her smart mouth. She had wondered how long it would take Jace to stop her from putting her foot in her mouth.
If she smarted off, Jace couldn't have the chance.
The Inquisitor turned to Maryse. "Maryse, you understand that the Clave is displeased with you. Your previous allegiance to the Circle and the events that have recently transpired are…suspicious. Valentine set a perfect trap for you and Robert and the two of you fell into it like little rabbits."
"It wasn't a trap." Jace told her. "He called me Wayland because he knew they would take me if they thought Michael Wayland was my father."
It was the truth. Eliza knew that much. He had wanted Jace safe and to ensure that, he called him by Wayland. The Lightwoods couldn't say no to Michael Wayland's orphaned son. Not when Robert had been his parabatai.
"Jonathan, have you heard of the cuckoo bird?"
"Pardon?"
"Cuckoo birds have a bad habit of laying their eggs in the nests of other birds. After the baby hatches, the cuckoo bird pushes the other baby birds from the nest. The parents end up working overtime to feed the bird that killed their babies." The Inquisitor explained.
"Are you insinuating that my brother planned to kill the Lightwood children? That's quite rude and ignorant of you." Eliza told her.
The woman turned sharply on her. "Excuse me?"
The look Jace was giving her was begging her to keep her mouth shut. But if she didn't say something, he would. And she couldn't let him.
"They're his siblings, more than I could ever hope to be. Alec is his best friend, his parabatai. Izzy may not be able to cook, but she means well. And Max, he idolizes Jace and Jace adores him. To even begin to assume that Jace would think of harming them is ignorant and to say it, in front of Maryse, it's rude. For the Inquisitor, you aren't very inquisitive."
The woman's face turned an angry shade of dark red. "You impertinent and arrogant little girl! How dare you? Did your vile father bring you up like this?"
She smirked. "Not intentionally. Jace got the Wayland Manor and spaghetti baths. I got lashings and if I was truly displeasing, a good smack to the face. The impertinence and arrogance are a result of being sent here."
"And your brother? How was he raised?" She asked.
Jace answered for himself. "Just as you think. He taught me how to pull the legs off out insects, beat small animals, all the fun things like that. Let the world sing with rejoice that he faked his death and abandoned me before he could instruct me on how to properly rape and pillage." His words were full of a cool anger.
"He certainly didn't teach either of you how to control your tempers. The two of you may appear to be angels, but you are certainly not. I know just where to send you to ensure that you stay calm."
"Please tell me you're sending us to our rooms." Eliza said.
"Just the opposite. The prisons of the Silent City. I belief your blatant insolence will dissolve after spending the night there."
"Imogen!" Maryse's voice was high. She hadn't known.
Eliza knew enough about the prison cells of the Silent City. Of the hundreds of levels, the cells were at the lowest, beneath even the dead Silent Brothers. The cells were reserved for the most violent of criminals. The Inquisitor- Imogen Herondale- must have truly been worried to send them there.
Eliza hadn't expected to be sent to the cells. She was only trying to protect Jace, but she had made the situation much worse for him instead.
The cells were much colder than she had expected. Colder and darker. She couldn't make out anything in the pitch black of the dark.
She had been cuffed to the wall, only able to walk a short distance inside the small cell. The only consolation was that she'd been stuck inside a cell with Jace.
She was sure it wasn't for lack of space.
"What were you thinking?" Jace asked her, his voice echoing slightly.
She looked in the direction of his voice, but saw nothing. Only darkness. Her eyes burned from straining to see what she couldn't. She closed them, leaning her head against the stone wall. "Just now? Be more specific, please."
"Earlier, in the library, with the Inquisitor. What the hell were you thinking, Liz? Talking to her like that. Acting like that."
She sighed heavily. "I believe I laid it on much too thick. I was doing my best to channel my inner Jace Wayland."
She wondered what face he was making across the cell from her. "Why?"
"To protect you. Not that it did much good." He asked her to explain further. "I know you. You would've opened your mouth and put your foot directly in it. I was doing the sisterly thing and preventing you from putting yourself in worse favor. She didn't like you before she met you and she hated you even more after laying eyes on you. With me, Jace, I'm a lot worse off than you. You have the Lightwoods to vouch for you. I have no one."
"You have Magnus. And…Declan."
She snorted. What a lineup. "The High Warlock of Brooklyn and the head of the London vampire clan. They don't have much pull with the Clave, Jace. If there's a chance that only one of us gets out of here with only the shame of the Morgenstern name on them, I'm going to make sure it's you."
She heard his breathing deepen. He definitely didn't agree with her. "Eliza, you can't do that to yourself. You'll be taking the blame and punishment for something you didn't do. Do you know what they'll do to you?"
She swallowed. She wasn't sure, but she knew it wouldn't be fun. "Big brother, listen to me. You have people to go back to. The Lightwoods, Clary, that incessant faerie waitress. What do I have? I have lied and ruined so many things, so many lives. Look at what I've done to us. We barely speak anymore. If serving penance for the sins of our father and my own sins is the way to atonement, it's the least I can do."
His chain jingled and she knew he had moved. She heard the echo of his footsteps. "Is that what you think?" He whispered. "That you ruined us?"
"It's what I know, Jace." She replied easily.
Before Jace could take the conversation further, a sound cut into the air. A high sound, a scream that exuded pure terror. It seemed like forever before it ended.
"What was that?" She asked quietly.
All she heard in response was the clang of Jace's handcuffs scraping against metal. She heard his body slid down the stone wall and she knew he was sitting. "Don't speak." His voice was barely a whisper, not loud enough to resonate an echo.
More screams came and went, splitting into the air, ringing high in her ears. After the screams came crashes. Crashes and screams, screams and crashes.
Eliza didn't think that any of it was supposed to happen. Very few things brought about the feeling of fear in her. Her father, losing any of those she cared about, and…whatever the hell was happening above her.
Light blossomed in front of the cell. Her head jerked up. Brother Jeremiah was standing in front of their cell, a torch in his hand. His hood had fallen back, letting the light reveal the mutilation of his face. His mouth, once sewn shut had been ripped open. Covered in…blood.
He started to step forward towards them and then startled forward, falling to the floor. There were cracks in the air as his bones shattered against the hard stone. The torch rolled towards their cell door.
Eliza stared over at Jace, his face stricken with fear. He darted forward as quick and far as the handcuff would allow him to, reaching out for the torch.
Silent Brothers were not meant to use their mouths. They were silent for a reason. But there lay Brother Jeremiah, his mouth gashed open. She was sure that the sounds they had heard above were the agonized screams of Nephilim who hadn't opened their mouths in centuries.
Eliza bit back fear. She couldn't be afraid, she wouldn't allow it. Whatever came for her, it would never be as bad as her father.
Jace reached again and this time, grasped the torch in his hand. He used his other hand to bring his finger to his lips, motioning for her silence.
She couldn't have made a noise if she wanted. The one coming for them brought the fear right back. It was a disgusting noise, the noise that something wet and sluggish makes as it drags itself forward.
Nothing came. Nothing stepped into the light of the torch.
Somehow, she was not comforted by that. Jace rattled his wrist, throwing it against the wall. What the devil was he doing?
The noise came again, closer to them now. Jace stumbled backward as the whispers came. Dark, terrifying whispers. Whispers of an assured death.
She wanted to scream at him to let the torch fall, to let the light die, but she couldn't form the words. They were stuck in her throat.
The closed door behind Brother Jeremiah's body began to open slowly. She knew that what pushed itself through the door belonged to that dark sluggish noise. It was formless, black like the night. It had eyes the color of blue ice.
Then it lunged.
All she saw before the darkness swallowed her was the glow of Jace's face in the torchlight.
Briefly, she wondered if everything had been a dream. Maybe that thing had been a nightmare from being in the prison cells.
The darkness was there again, as familiar as ever.
"Eliza." The coldness of the familiar voice made the hairs on the back of her neck raise.
No. No, it couldn't be. Her stomach filled with the bitter feeling of the fear he brought.
"Jonathan." The voice came again.
She heard him stir. "Who's there?" Jace's voice was groggy.
"I'm disappointed that you don't recognize the voice of your father." Light came then, blazing like the fire of hell.
Valentine stood, guarding himself behind the dead body of Brother Jeremiah. He held a witchlight stone in his hand.
"What…What was that thing that came?" Jace asked.
Eliza rested her head against the wall, stretching her legs out. "A beast of hell that our doting father released, I'm sure." She bit icily.
Valentine's dark eyes scoured the cell, running over the conditions of the two of them. "Jonathan, you're hurt." He stepped closer to the bars of the cell. "Who put you in here?"
"The Inquisitor. She's a very cross woman." Jace answered.
Valentine stared at Jace, his mouth set in a thin line. Eliza took the time to look him over. She had never seen him in the true battle wear of the Shadowhunters. He wore thick dark leather clothing and arm and leg braces made of electrum plates. There was a sword strap over his chest and she knew that Phaesphoros was on his back.
"Are you here to kill us?" Jace asked him.
Eliza couldn't help but laugh. The idea was absurd. Both of them turned to look at her. "We all know that's a ridiculous notion. I'm just the one who said it."
"He killed Brother Jeremiah, Eliza." Jace insisted. "Who's to say he won't kill us?"
She stood up, walking forward. She cut her eyes, staring at her father. "Now tell the truth, Father. Why did you kill Brother Jeremiah? I'll even go as far to ask as to why you killed all the Silent Brothers. I heard the screams. Those were screams of death."
Valentine spared a passing glance to the corpse of the Silent Brother at his feet. "You've always been smart, Eliza. I'm sure if you really think about it, you can use that brain and smart mouth of yours to tell us all why I'm here."
Her eyes scoured him, once again landing on the sword. Closer inspection lead her to see that it wasn't his broadsword. Not Phaesphoros at all.
"The Soul-Sword. You stole the Mortal Sword?" She hissed.
Jace let out a gasp.
Valentine took the sword from its sheath, presenting it before them. It was bigger than his own Phaesphoros, the blade thicker and wider. The hilt was shaped in the form of outspread wings. She wasn't sure how she had mistaken it for Phaesphoros, but lent the mistake to the darkness. "Maellartach." Valentine breathed.
"It belongs to the Silent Brothers. You can't take it." Jace told him.
Valentine let out a hearty laugh. "It belongs, my son, to the Nephilim. And Nephilim I am. And when I know that I can trust you and you I, Jonathan, I'll tell you exactly what I plan to do with it."
"You want to talk about trust? You abandoned me again, sneaking off into that portal and then smashing it! And you tried to kill Clary and Eliza."
Valentine shook his head. "Jonathan, I promise you, I would never hurt you sisters. Just as I would never hurt you."
"You've only ever hurt me!"
Valentine stood, a half shocked expression on his face. "I am sorry you feel that way, my son. I am sorry for everything I've done. I'm sorry for not explaining to you why I have behaved the way I have."
Eliza slid back down the wall, propping her elbow in the corner to rest her head. "Oh, this should be good." She laughed. Her father glared down at her. "Please, continue. I can't wait to hear what you've come up with now."
"You don't need to explain." Jace told him. "What you've done needs no explanation. You killed our grandparents, took my mother hostage, and took up arms against other Shadowhunters and killed them. Any lies you have to tell, I don't want to hear."
Valentine drew closer to the cell, reaching through and placing his hand on Jace's shoulder. "Jonathan, I want to trust you. Please tell me that I can."
Noise came from above. Voices and footsteps. A response to the massacre.
Please, please catch him. Take him.
"They're much quicker than I anticipated." Valentine murmured. He drew back from the cell, concealing the light of the witchlight stone until there was once again, only darkness. "We aren't done yet, children. I promise you."
"Unchain us! Let us go." Jace begged.
She heard him click his tongue. "That would hardly be fair at this point in the evening." She heard him step away.
"Father, no. Please!"
"Don't worry, son." Valentine said through the darkness. "When you wish to find me, you will find me." He retreated quickly, his footsteps echoing in the darkness.
She heard Jace slump against the wall.
"He was never going to let us out of here." She told him. "Don't beat yourself up about it, thinking you did something wrong. He's messing with your head."
He didn't say anything in response.
The faintness of voices far away floated above her. Rescue.
Her eyes had finally adjusted to the darkness, no longer bothering to strain to see. "Jace. There are people here. It could be a response to the attack."
He said nothing.
"Jace. They're going to come for us. It's not as if no one knows we're down here."
She heard footsteps coming down the stairs, coming towards them. Relief settled itself in her stomach, comforting and warm. The whitish glow from a witchlight stone came closer. Now illuminated was Brother Jeremiah's body in front of the cell. He was twisted in a way that only the dead were. The stitches that had once sewn his mouth shut were ripped, hanging from his lips in gory threads. Blood had formed a small puddle on the ground where it had dripped from his mouth.
She heard something rattling against the electrum bars that sealed the cell. She leaned forward, her ears prickled.
The sound that came next burned her ears. It was screeching metal, metal ripping out on itself, out of the stone. The door made into the bars fell into the cell floor, crashing down.
Light from the witchlight stone flooded into the cell.
"Clary?" She breathed.
Her younger sister stood in front of her, a stele in one hand and a witchlight in the other. Alec and Izzy stood behind her outside of the cell.
But Clary wasn't looking at her. She was looking at Jace.
Eliza's eyes slid over across the cell. Jace was slumped into his corner of the cell, his head lying against the wall. His manacle, now empty of his hand, lay beside him.
So that's what he's been doing, she thought.
His wrist had been made raw from the act of pulling it from the manacle. Blood trailed down his arm, bruising beginning to make itself known.
He was unconscious. "Well, now I know why he was ignoring me. He passed out." That hurt a little less, realization that he wasn't upset with her.
Clary looked over at her. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" She asked Eliza.
"I'm fine. I need out of these chains, though."
Clary nodded. She placed the witchlight stone on the floor. Jace's eyes flew open as Clary brushed the hair back from his face.
His eyes darted from Clary to Eliza. "Am I dead?" He asked. "Be honest."
"Not even close." Clary told him.
She heard the cell door rattle with movement again. Alec walked into the cell. "Guys, we really should get out of here."
Eliza shook her manacled wrist. "Well, if someone would get me out of this infernal thing, I would be the first to leave this place." She told him. "Unlike my brother, I'm not a friend of pain and don't seek it out."
Jace shot her a withering look. Alec stepped forward and bent down in front of Jace. He took out his stele and began placing runes on Jace's wrist.
"Izzy, see if Brother Jeremiah had any keys on him, please." Eliza suggested.
Izzy looked bewildered, staring down at the corpse of the Silent Brother. Scrunching her nose, Izzy starting picking over Brother Jeremiah's robes. After a few seconds, she plucked a ring of keys from his belt. She stepped into the cell and unlocked the manacle.
Eliza's wrist fell and she grabbed it, rubbing the raw skin gently. She stood up, rolling out her shoulders. "By the Angel, Imogen Herondale is going to get a piece of my damn mind." She hissed.
"I think that's what got us here in the first place. Your impertinence and arrogance." Jace snapped.
She rolled her eyes. The healing runes that Alec had placed on his wrist were already beginning to heal the damage done. Jace wobbled as he stood up, leaning against the wall.
"What happened here? I know that the Silent Brothers didn't turn on each other." Alec asked, sparing a tired glance to Brother Jeremiah.
"No. They didn't." Eliza whispered. She closed her eyes, an image of her father flashing. She opened them again, meeting Alec's eyes. "I don't know what it was exactly, but it was horrifying."
"It was with him. He could bring it back if he wanted." Jace said quietly. His face was sheet white. The remnants of fear mixed with too much damage to the body. Alec managed to grab him just as he began to fall.
"Okay, enough." Izzy decided. "It's time to go."
Clary grabbed her witchlight and got to her feet. Izzy knelt next to Brother Jeremiah's body and pulled his hood over to cover his face.
"It must have been something awful if the Silent Brothers were afraid of it." Alec said.
Eliza remarked that it definitely wasn't pleasant. She didn't want to say what she felt. Whatever that thing had been, it was evil. Pure evil. Maybe worse than her father.
They found their way up the narrow corridor of stairs. The pavilion of the Speaking Stars greeted them. Covered in blood. It coated the walls and the floors. Bodies of the Silent Brothers were strewn haplessly around.
Eliza turned to Izzy. "Give me a seraph blade." She held out her hand. Izzy didn't object, simply handing her a seraph blade.
"This doesn't feel right." Jace mumbled.
"Because it isn't." She told him.
The group made their way out of the Bone City. Eliza's eyes sought out every shadow, praying to the Angel that none of the shadows turned out to be the monster.
They reached the stairs that led up from the city. All Eliza wanted to do was go back to Magnus' and sleep in a proper bed. All she wanted to do was see Declan and make sure he was alright. If Valentine was in the city again, Declan was in danger.
Light shone through to the stairs. There was no way it was light outside…? Time had passed, but surely not almost an entire day.
"The sun shouldn't be up." Izzy protested.
"It's witchlight." Jace stated.
That bright? Izzy bound quickly up the stairs, Clary taking off after her. Eliza sneaked a glance back at Alec, struggling to carry Jace along with himself. "Boys." She grumbled, going down a few stairs. She slid her arm around Jace's back and heaved one of his own over her shoulders.
The three of them finished up the flight of stairs. Izzy had stopped just at the top, Clary halted behind her.
"Go see what's going on." Alec told her.
She left them, pushing forward in front of the other two girls. "Oh, God."
The garden of the entrance to the Bone City was full of Shadowhunters. No more than thirty, no less than twenty. They all wore the proper hunting gear and each held a witchlight stone.
Maryse Lightwood stood at the head of the group. Her cloak blew softly in the breeze. A man behind her spoke, stepping closer. "Maryse, there were already Shadowhunters in response to the attack."
Maryse set her lips into a fine line. "Malik, these are children. Some of them mine and the others…Morgenstern children."
Eliza passed the seraph blade back to Izzy. She didn't want to be seen as a potential threat. Not with the name Morgenstern hanging over her like the Sword of Damocles.
"What are you doing here?" Maryse asked, the question directed to her children.
Alec moved in front of Eliza, standing the closest to the group of grown Shadowhunters. "We answered the distress call that the Silent Brothers sent to the Institute. There was no one home so we came. We knew that Jace and Eliza were in the cells."
Maryse's face seemed to soften. "Alexander, none of you are required, let alone allowed, to answer such calls. You should have waited."
His face fell. "It doesn't matter. The Silent Brothers are dead. They're all dead."
Eliza watched the stoic energy of the crowd go numb. It was different, hearing that the Brothers were dead, instead of seeing them dead. Speaking it into existence was something else entirely. Words spoken couldn't be taken back.
"What do you mean that they're dead, Alexander?" Maryse asked. "They can't-."
Another Shadowhunter stepped forward. Eliza stiffened. The Inquisitor.
Imogen Herondale kept her eyes trained on Alec. "All of the Silent Brothers are dead? You found no one living?"
Alec shook his head. "No one that we saw, ma'am."
She nodded, turning back to Maryse. "Send some of your people down to the Silent City to check." Maryse immediately did what she was told.
The man she had called Malik led the group down the stairs, taking them down to the horror inside the Silent City. Once the Shadowhunters were gone, the garden was considerably empty.
The Inquisitor stood stock still. "This attack was not at random. This was planned. Whatever, whoever, did this came with the intention of having to kill the Silent Brothers to reach their goal. That's why we were called to Central Park to tend to that dead fey child."
A what? Another dead Downworlder?
"I hardly think that these two events are connected, Inquisitor. The dead fey child in the park was exsanguinated, just as the other Downworlders have been." Maryse argued.
Drained of blood. Just like the warlock, just like the werewolf was supposed to be.
"A ploy, Maryse." The Inquisitor insisted. "It was all part of his plan, to ensure that the Institute would be empty when the Brothers called for our assistance." Her voice was as sharp as her cheekbones, like razorwire.
He. Eliza knew immediately.
"Valentine stole the Mortal Sword from the Silent Brothers. After he slaughtered them." Jace spoke up.
The Inquisitor gave him a pleased, but cold smile. Alec insisted that Valentine couldn't have done that to the Silent Brothers. They had been mauled, ripped apart.
The monster, the thing flashed in Eliza's head. It wasn't just a shadow, rippling through the darkness, not a figment of her overactive imagination.
"He had something with him." She said quietly. "A demon, I think. But not like anything I've ever seen before."
The Inquisitor actually agreed with her. "He has the Mortal Cup in his possession. He could have summoned anything to help him."
Eliza clenched her hands into fists. Whatever he had summoned, it was evil. Dark, from the deepest part of hell.
"We know for a fact it was him. He came down to the cells." Jace told the Inquisitor. "He told us what he'd done to the Brothers to get the Sword."
"Did he tell you anything else?" Maryse demanded. "What he planned to do with it? What he wanted the Mortal Instruments for?"
Eliza couldn't stop the laugh that escaped her. Everyone turned to look at her. Jace had an exasperated look on his face. "I'm sorry. I really shouldn't laugh, it's ill respect to the dead but to assume that Valentine said anything of important in front of me? He wouldn't make the mistake."
"And why is that?" The Inquisitor asked. "Does he like to play favorites with his children? Does he like Jonathan best?"
She had no idea. Jonathan, the real Jonathan, was everything he wanted in a child and more. "I'm not to be trusted. I've betrayed him once and I'm sure to do it again. I took up arms against him and threatened to shove the sword he gave me through his throat. I'm definitely not his favorite child." She took a deep breath, calming herself down. "Listen, all I'm saying is that my father would never say anything of importance in front of me. He knows better. He's smarter than that."
The Inquisitor drew closer to her, peering down into her eyes. "Somehow, I find it very hard to believe you."
Eliza shrugged it off. "Then don't. That can be your mistake."
Alec interjected. "Eliza wouldn't lie about something like this. She doesn't want him to succeed. Jace wouldn't lie either."
The Inquisitor was still glaring at Eliza as she addressed Alec. "Lay aside your blind devotion to these two friends, Alexander. Valentine Morgenstern doesn't have a paternal bone in his body. He didn't stop by the cells for a nice chat with his children."
"You're right." Eliza said. The Inquisitor's face lit up. "I'm sure all of his paternal bones burned in the fire he set when he murdered Michael Wayland and his son, and my grandparents."
The woman raised her hand, probably to smack her, but let it fall. Her face was hot with anger. "The convenience of this situation is not lost of me, Eliza Morgenstern. That your father would steal the Soul-Sword the night before you and your brother are to stand trial. To prevent you from telling us anything about him."
"I'll tell you whatever you want to know, free of charge." Eliza promised.
"Then why else would he take the Sword, if not to protect his children?" The Inquisitor demanded.
"It's powerful." Clary spoke. "It's a Mortal Instrument, just like the Cup. We all know how he feels about power." The Inquisitor said that the Sword had no immediate use, not like the Cup. It was only used for trials.
Eliza knew he wouldn't take it for wall decoration, not even to just say that he had stolen the Mortal Sword. He wanted it, needed it, for something.
She was going to find out what that was.
She didn't have the chance to expand more on her plan because Jace stumbled, falling to the ground. She made an natural little noise in her throat. "I'm fine. I'm fine." He insisted.
"No, you aren't." Clary told him.
Eliza knelt down and grabbed his wrist. She turned it up towards her. The iratze Alec had etched hadn't disappeared. It was still as fresh as it had been when first placed. "The healing rune isn't working. What is wrong with you?"
It wasn't lost on her that whatever had attacked them in the cell was the cause of his injury. Whatever demon it had been.
"He's faking it." The Inquisitor waved it off. "He should still be down in those cells. As should you." She told Eliza.
Eliza dropped Jace's wrist tenderly and stood up. She walked over to the Inquisitor, staring her straight in the face. She had at first found the woman's steel grey eyes intimidating, but she no longer harbored that feeling. The Inquisitor was just Imogen Herondale, another Shadowhunter. "You weren't down there with us. You didn't see that thing that came from the shadows, whatever helped Valentine slaughter the Silent Brothers. It has done something to my brother and I will be damned if you ignore that. Something is wrong with him." Her voice was dripping with anger, her words burning.
"Tread carefully little girl or you will be thrown back into those cells."
She wanted to bite her tongue, but she couldn't. The anger was too much. It was consuming her. Her hands shook, her jaw set tightly. "Then throw me back!" Her eyes were no longer green, instead a dark black. "Nothing you can do to me will be worse than the hell my father put me through."
"Liz." Jace's voice was faint, barely audible.
She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She opened them, glaring at the Inquisitor. "My brother needs help. You cannot deny medical help to a Shadowhunter."
The Inquisitor's eyes sparked. "Where do you expect me to send him? Your father has slaughtered the Silent Brothers."
Alec spoke before she did. "Magnus. We can send him to Magnus." The Inquisitor turned her attention to him, demanding to know who Magnus was. "Magnus Bane, the High Warlock of Brooklyn. He healed me after we fought Abbadon, the Greater Demon."
Magnus? I'm alright but Jace…something is wrong with him. The Silent Brothers are all dead.
If you can bring him, I will help him. Are you sure you're alright? I got word that you'd been thrown in the dungeons. Even inside her head, Magnus' voice was coated in worry. I've notified Declan of what has happened. He's beside himself, as he's told me. He's with me now.
Declan. He was alright. She breathed a sigh of relief. She told Magnus she would keep him updated.
"Magnus will help him. He's just told me. We can take him to Magnus' apartment in Brooklyn." Eliza said.
Alec stood up from Jace's side. "We don't have to. He's here. Magnus!"
Eliza whipped around to look at Magnus. "What?" Magnus was there? How did she not know Magnus was there? She should have felt it.
Magnus strolled through the entrance of the garden, looking fabulous as usual in black leather pants and a bright blue military style jacket styled over a lace shirt. Walking right next to him was Declan. Dapper as always in a dark grey tweed suit, his brown hair tousled.
Declan stopped as Magnus kept walking. He waited as Magnus walked right past Maryse and the Inquisitor, stopping in front of Eliza. He put his hands on her cheeks, gently inspecting her. "Well, you don't look hurt. How do you feel?" He asked.
She smiled softly. "I'm fine. I promise. Please take care of Jace. He's not right." Magnus glided past her to the spot on the grass where Jace was laying.
Declan didn't bother introducing himself to anyone in his usual fashion. He walked straight to Eliza, engulfing her in a tight hug. His hand was firm against the back of her head, holding her there. She patted lightly on his back and he pulled away. "I'm glad to see you're alright, Eliza. I've been beside myself with worry since Magnus told me."
"Vampire." The Inquisitor stated. "What business do you have here?"
Declan's face turned to a confused frown. He turned to the Inquisitor, wrapping his arm around Eliza's waist. "Goodness, my apologies. You must be Inquisitor Herondale. Declan Kensley, head of the London vampire clan. I'm courting Miss Morgenstern."
The Inquisitor looked at him with an astonished expression.
"Well, now that we're all caught up on Eliza's love life," Magnus' voice was tired, "fixing Jace up will cost a pretty penny."
Maryse said she would pay whatever she needed to. "Jonathan will need somewhere to stay. He cannot remain at the Institute, but he's still considered a flight risk." The Inquisitor said.
Eliza felt better, just having Declan beside her. He was there, right next to her, safe and sound. Valentine hadn't gotten to him.
"Jace can stay with Eliza and I. I have the room in my apartment." Magnus offered. "I'll keep an eye on him."
"Alexander," The Inquisitor started, her voice thick, "is your warlock aware of how important Jonathan Morgenstern is to the Clave at this time?"
His warlock? Eliza took offense. If anything, he was hers! Alec's cheeks turned a furious red. Magnus said that he understood. The Inquisitor agreed to let him house Jace and Eliza and to let her know when they would both be well enough to answer questions.
Eliza rested her head against Declan's chest. "I was worried about you." She whispered. "He's here. He's in the city again."
He stepped back, looking down at her. His caramel eyes were wide with concern. "Who, Eliza?"
"My father." She murmured. "Valentine is here."
She was going to find him and figure out exactly what he was doing.