His late wife?
The Inquisitor didn't dwell on this topic further, and Eva suspected she wouldn't answer any questions if anyone asked. She simply moved on as if the revelation of Eva looking like Hodge's dead wife was nothing worth noting. Nothing that didn't deserve any explanation. Eva was starting to believe this bitter old woman's only goal was to make everyone around her miserable.
The Inquisitor tracked Jace with the piece of a Portal in mirror form, reflecting the evergreen landscape of Idris and a countryside home.
"He went to see his despicable father on his pleasure boat in the middle of the East River," the Inquisitor said and eyed Eva pointedly. "He called the orphan and had her pet vampire give him his flying motorcycle to use."
Eva's skin crawled—she didn't know if being called orphan as if it were a disgusting word irked her more than Raphael being called her pet vampire. Eva saw Jace's head dip down, his golden hair covering his eyes. This is what he didn't want, and now he was dragging her along with him.
"You've been spying on me?" Jace's tone was razor-sharp. "Is this what the Clave does? Spy on their fellow Shadowhunters?"
"Be careful what you say to me. You're not the only one who's broken the Law," Inquisitor Herondale continued icily. "In freeing you from the Silent City and from the warlock's control, in letting you fly away on a demonic motorcycle so you could conspire with Valentine Morgenstern, all your friends are complicit."
"Jace is not our friend," Izzy spat bitterly. "He is our brother."
"And he is under arrest by the authority of the Clave," the Inquisitor said. "And so is the orphan."
"My name is Evangeline," Eva said, her headache pounding and making her ears hum. "Not orphan. Jace is my family, and so are the Lightwoods."
The old woman scoffed. "Even if they lied to you?"
Under normal circumstances, Eva would have minded her tongue, especially with Izzy squeezing her hand and the Lightwoods looking at her with wide eyes. But she couldn't bite her words back; her rage was fueling her adrenaline. "Hodge said it best: it wasn't worth mentioning."
The amusement that hit her came from Jace, but everyone was pulsing with dread. Inquisitor Herondale was irritated, but she always seemed to be that way.
"Show me your hands, both of you," the Inquisitor ordered. Izzy and Clary both protested simultaneously, but it was not the Inquisitor who refuted them. It was Alec.
"The Law is hard, but it is the Law," he said. "We have to let them go."
"Alec!" Izzy cried. "How can you say that?"
"The Inquisitor's right, Isabelle." Alec was speaking in an even tone, indifferent almost. Blind with rage and betrayal, Izzy bolted out of the house and Magnus followed suit. Even he didn't enjoy the dramatics unfolding before him.
"Two down," Jace joked bitterly. "Who's next?"
"Quiet, Jonathan," the Inquisitor roughly took his wrists to draw a binding rune over the. When she finished, she turned to Eva.
"Your hands, Evangeline." Even her name sounded disgusting from the Inquisitor. The old woman was drawing the binding rune on her wrists as well.
The only solace Eva found was the regret she felt oozing from Alec. It wasn't easy to detect it, especially under the bitterness and rage Izzy was projecting. Eva felt faint, her headache only worsening the closer they got to the Institute. She rested her head on Izzy's stiff shoulder, a mix of parabatai strength and avalanche of emotions both helping and suffocating her. She asked her to draw an iratze on her temple and the alleviated the headache immensely.
When they arrived, the Inquisitor ordered the Lightwoods to take Eva to the library while she handled Jace. Alec quickly departing into a corridor the moment he was able to leave. Izzy shot a darted glare at his back as he walked; he would have a knife in his shoulder blades if her looks could kill.
"Izzy, it's fine," Eva said softly. Wincing against the binding rune on her wrists, Eva took her parabatai's hands. He didn't mean what he said.
Izzy's head whipped up. Like Raphael, she was unused to Eva's mental intrusions; they were the only ones that knew of her strange ability to speak like the Silent Brothers. She could only do so via touch, however. Talk to Alec. He didn't mean—
"Let's go, Eva," Maryse urged her and her daughter apart, breaking their mental connection. "We have to take you to the library."
Robert and Maryse silently escorted her to the library and had her sit in one of the armchairs. Eva fondly remembered sitting here countless times with Hodge, reading Tolkien or some other fantasy novels. The memories created a pit in her stomach.
"Who was she?" Eva began. She didn't need to be sensitive to emotions to sense the Lightwoods' discomfort. "Hodge's wife."
Robert and Maryse exchanged glances, silently speaking to each other before Robert dropped his eyes and let Maryse begin, "Her name was Marigold."
The name sounded familiar, but Eva pushed the thought aside to listen to Maryse, "She was in the Academy with all of us—that's how Hodge met her. They married after they graduated."
"Am I related to her family?" Eva asked. "Is that why I look like her?"
"She wasn't from a Shadowhunter family. She was a mundane with the Sight discovered by the New Orleans Institute," Robert chimed in. "She Ascended as Marigold Brandybuck, but she married Hodge soon after, so such a ridiculous name didn't matter—I'm not even sure how it was approved."
Eva jaw dropped. Brandybuck like Merry Brandybuck from The Lord of the Rings? Hodge was the one who encouraged her to read the trilogy. He must've been pleased to see she loved it as much as his wife did. It must've also been so heartbreaking for him.
"But I don't remember seeing her in the picture of the Circle Hodge showed us." Eva recalled only seeing the Lightwoods, Valentine and Jocelyn Morgenstern, Robert's parabatai Michael Wayland, and Hodge himself. "Was she in the Circle?"
"No, she wasn't," Maryse shook her head. "To this day, I don't know how she managed to stay married to Hodge and not be part of the Circle. Valentine wanted everyone in his clutches—he would've..." Maryse trailed off, eyeing her husband nervously.
Robert shrugged his massive shoulders. "Say it. Imogen has caused us enough grief."
"Stephen Herondale was the Inquisitor's son and was in the Circle with us," Maryse said in a hushed voice. She looked up at the library doors occasionally. "He was married to Amatis Graymark—Lucian's sister. Valentine convinced Stephen to divorce her when Lucian became a werewolf and marry Celine, a woman that was completely under Valentine's control."
"He was more than capable of forcing Hodge to divorce Marigold for refusing to join the Circle, but he didn't," Robert said. "I suppose he didn't see Marigold as a threat, and Hodge was blindly loyal regardless—especially after she died."
Eva nodded slowly, drinking the story in. "How did she die?"
"There was a fire at the Starkweather manor," Maryse said grimly. "It was enormous—it shot up into the sky as if the angels were the ones responsible. Hodge was in Alicante at the time, and we had to hold him back as the manor burned. There was no saving it or anyone inside."
"She died with their son," Robert added, his shoulders stiff. "He was born not too long before Alec—they were both about to be three months old. The fire barely left any remains, only a few bones the Silent Brothers took with them and buried in the necropolis. Not even they could explain the fire."
"Valentine said it was all a conspiracy by the Clave," Maryse said. "That the fire started in James Johann's nursery, that they were trying to kill off the next generation of the Circle and that they'd come for his unborn son and for Alec..." she broke off with a sharp sigh. "At the time we believed him, but now we take everything he ever told us with a bucket of salt."
"What about Hodge?" Eva asked. She could still feel the wound his betrayal left in her, but she couldn't help but feel sympathy for him. He lost his wife and his son, and then was cursed by the Clave to stay stuck inside an Institute where he had to look at his dead wife's reincarnation over and over again. Was he so doting on her simply because she reminded him of Marigold? Was it all a lie? Did he give her the Tolkien series just so she could resemble his late wife? Is that why he wanted to have her run away with him? Eva felt sick to her stomach.
"He moved into his second house in the city and didn't come out for a long time," Maryse said. "We were ready for the day we'd walk inside and find he'd killed himself, but he didn't. He recovered and became insufferably loyal to Valentine after that. He truly believed the Clave had everything to do with the death of his wife and son."
Eva couldn't question them further; the Inquisitor walked into the library and made it feel fifty degrees colder. Robert and Maryse immediately stiffened, and with one harsh word from the old woman, they walked out of the room. The doors closed with an echoing clunk, leaving Eva in the room alone with this very bitter woman.
"Now, you are an accomplice to Jonathan Morgenstern's disregard for the Law," she began. "Do you deny it?"
Eva shook her head. "He doesn't—"
"I didn't ask for any explanations, child."
"What are you planning to do with him?" Eva asked. "Are you going to threaten him to get to Valentine?"
"It doesn't concern you," she snapped. "What does concern you is what I have planned for you."
"You're going to throw me into the cells of the Silent City?" Eva asked, not sarcastically. Perhaps it would be beneficial; she could ask one of the Brothers why she could speak like them.
"Well, of course. I've already called for them." The Inquisitor's smirk pricked Eva's skin like icicles. "But that's not all—with you in my possession, I can control the New York vampire clan."
"Why would you want control of the vampires in New York? What could they possibly offer you?"
"Just because one of them buys you flowers and calls you pretty doesn't mean they aren't committing atrocities in the shadows," the Inquisitor said. "Valentine may have committed those murders for his own reasons, but what's to say these vampires don't do the same and the rest of Downworld just turns a blind eye?"
"Raphael runs a tight ship. He wouldn't allow his clan to break the Law."
"Has he hypnotized you with his undead charm?"
Eva's blood was boiling just beneath her skin. She was hyper-aware of Raphael's grave dirt against her collarbones, the thought of how enraged he'd be to see her being used against him in such a manner, to see her chained up and used as blackmail because of his position as clan leader.
The doors of the library creaked open and when Eva looked over her shoulder, she saw Alec enter the room with a Silent Brother looming behind him. He quickly averted his eyes from Eva's, clearly still feeling ashamed of throwing her and Jace under the bus.
"He asked me to guide him to you, Inquisitor," Alec mumbled as they approached.
"Yes, thank you, Alexander," the Inquisitor nodded. "You may go."
Before he could turn and walk away, Eva reached out to him and grabbed his hand. She winced when the rune binding her wrists burned her skin.
Don't freak out, Alec, Eva said quickly. Alec's blue eyes widened, but otherwise he remained stoic. Eva felt the tendons in his hand stretch taut. I know you're on our side. I know you didn't betray Jace. Izzy's pissed, but she'll come around—
"Let go of him, child. He can't save you." the Inquisitor snapped. She didn't raise her voice, but she didn't have to; her voice carried into the room as if she did. "Leave the room, Alexander. This doesn't concern you."
Alec pulled his hand out of Eva's, giving her a slight nod in acknowledgement. Eva couldn't help but smile as she watched him turn, step through the doors of the library, and close the doors behind him. As soon as he did, the Inquisitor cleared her throat.
"I am aware you are low in numbers, but I need her placed in your custody until I am ready to interrogate her," she began, looking into the dark hood of the Silent Brother. "I doubt Valentine will come after her like—"
I am impressed you've learned so quickly.
Eva jumped at the sudden mental intrusion. She was aware the Inquisitor was still speaking, but it sounded very distant as the voice touched her mind again. Yes, I can hear you when you speak the Language of Thoughts even if we are not touching.
"—she won't be down there for more than a night." The Inquisitor finished. Eva tried not to smirk; it was quite humorous to have the Silent Brother blatantly ignoring the Inquisitor and she had no clue about it.
She will remain in the Silent City until ordered otherwise by you, Inquisitor, the Silent Brother responded and placed his hand on Eva's shoulder. Eva understood the gesture and stood from the armchair. He didn't remove his hand when she did.
"Excellent," the Inquisitor continued. "You are free to interrogate her yourselves if she—"
Can we go? Eva asked through the Brother's touch. I'd rather be in the Silent City than in here with her.
Let her finish, or else we will not hear the end of it.
Eva couldn't resist the smirk that plastered over her lips. The Inquisitor was quick to see it and glared down at her. "You think this is all a joke, don't you? Take her away."
The Silent Brother pressed his hand between Eva's shoulder blades to lead her towards the doors. As they walked, she asked, Which Silent Brother are you? You're not Brother Zachariah.
The cat that lives in this Institute was also disappointed to see I was not Zachariah, he said. The voice in her head was neutral, but she could feel his exasperation clearly. Silent Brothers did have emotions after all. She felt another headache knocking at her temple; Izzy's iratze must be wearing off. He added, You have seen me before, Evangeline Starkwood. I gave you your first rune, and presided over your parabatai ceremony.
Brother Enoch! Eva smiled to herself. The elevator door was visible to them at the end of the corridor. I thought you can only speak the Language of Thoughts if you're a Silent Brother. How can I—
He pulled his hand away from her, breaking their connection abruptly. She wasn't sure if he did this to avoid answering her, or to press the button for the elevator.
