Author's Note: Thanks to all who tune in every week and leave kind words! It is very appreciated! Enjoy!


Upon arriving at the New York City Marble Cemetery, Enoch removed the rune binding her wrists and then drew an incredibly powerful iratze to heal the burn sores on her skin.

"I take it you aren't going to arrest me?" Eva asked as she followed him down the path of the cemetery. "I didn't think the Silent Brothers would disregard an order from the Inquisitor."

We will not disregard her orders, Enoch said. You will be placed in the cells until she orders us to release you.

"She's going to use me to start a war with the vampires!" Eva said and habitually reached for her pocket only to remember her phone had been confiscated. She should've told Alec to relay the message to Raphael. "Can you summon Raphael?"

No, Enoch said. And do not think of breaking the vial of grave dirt around your neck.

She needed to learn to read minds like they did too. Maybe they could teach her. "Did she really mean that? She'd really use me as blackmail against Raphael?"

She has no intention of doing so; she cares not for the vampires of this city. She cares to bring you to justice for aiding Jace Morgenstern. You still broke the Law and she has every intention of holding you accountable for disobeying her orders.

Eva grimaced but said nothing on the matter as they approached the angel statue guarding the entrance to the Silent City. As she watched Brother Ench produce a stele and carve a rune on the base of the statue, she asked, "Were you the one who found me?"

No, it was Zachariah.

The entrance to the Silent City yawned open like a dark and gaping grave and after tucking his stele into his belt, Enoch gestured for her to begin the descent into the city. Eva, like any other Shadowhunter, wasn't particularly fond of the Silent City with its smell of old ink and paper, with its looming towers made of Nephilim ashes and bones ranging from skulls to femurs used as contemporary decoration, but she pushed down her displeasure and started down into the pit.

On her fifth step down into the darkness, she stopped so abruptly, Enoch bumped into her back. She barely felt it, however. Her headache, previously just an irritating pang on her temple, engulfed her entire forehead and neck. She cried out and would've collapsed down the flight of stairs if Enoch hadn't grabbed her arm. The very vibration of her voice in her throat shot electrical currents into the back of her eyes, her ears bursting with pressure and filling with whispering voices, millions of them. They were scattered and she couldn't make sense of them; most of it wasn't even language. They were thoughts and memories and emotions and—

Eva's cheeks were wet with tears when Enoch sat her up against a marble arch. She hadn't even realized he'd carried her down the entire spiralling flight of stairs. Her vision was blurry and twirling around her in flickering ribbons. The voices continued, whispering louder and louder and she screamed, begging for it to stop. She knew the words didn't leave her throat. It didn't feel as if words were leaving her, only screams.

She felt the burn of a stele on her forearm and with every stroke, the voices echoing in her head like an enclosed chamber began to fade into the distance. Her headache receded, her vision cleared. She was suddenly aware of Enoch's very mutilated face in front of her, stele in one hand and the other holding her wrist. She could feel the rune digging into her arm, burning her skin. It was permanent. She hadn't glanced down to see it; she didn't need to. Its image was flickering behind her eyes like an old film projector. A beautiful swirl of lines, like careful brushstrokes on a masterpiece. It wasn't a rune from the Gray Book. It was pure angelic power.

Can you hear me, Evangeline?

Eva nodded slowly in response. Her hands were still trembling from the unknown force that took her breath away.

I did not think your mind had expanded enough to hear all of us at once, Enoch said. He gently took her arms and helped her up. Her knees nearly gave out on her; she clutched his robes for support. I apologize. I would have given you the rune earlier had I known.

"What happened to me?" Eva mumbled, grateful her own voice didn't split her head into pieces like it did before. She looked down at the very prominent rune on her forearm. It made a wave of uneasiness wash over her, the same wave she felt when she saw Clary's drawing of her and of the Fearless rune. "What is this rune?"

It is the rune of what we call the Language of Thoughts, Enoch explained. It is the final rune given to Silent Brothers so they may use the ability to its full extent.

"You didn't give me any other runes," Eva pointed out. She was standing on her own now.

The runes given to novice Silent Brothers open their minds and allows them to sense and project the emotions of those around them. When they learn to interpret them into cohesive speech, then they receive the rune I have given you.

Eva's eyes widened as it dawned on her. Almost nervously, she spoke in her mind, I didn't need the others.

You did not. Enoch turned to walk down a corridor. Eva followed him as he continued, Your mind had expanded enough to already interpret speech through emotions. Zachariah had told me as much, and I am sure you've already used your abilities unknowingly—or perhaps knowingly—on those around you.

"How can I do this?" Eva asked, jogging to step in front of him and halt his pace. "You avoided my question back in the Institute."

Upon entering the Silent City, all of our thoughts overwhelmed you at once—there may be few of us left, but our minds are always active, he continued, not-so-subtly evading her inquiry once again. Your mind has now opened to all who speak the Language of Thoughts and you may choose which mind you touch, and which mind you listen to. All with due practice. Physical contact is no longer needed.

"But how?"

Enoch was spared a response when a hooded figure turned into the corridor and approached them quietly. In the dim light, Eva could see his dark hair and fair, barely scarred skin. It was Brother Zachariah.

You have given her the rune, Enoch? Zachariah began. The Elders will not be pleased.

Our voices were overwhelming her, Enoch said. With proper training, I doubt she would've needed the rune in the first place.

Try explaining this to the Elders while omitting everything.

Unlike you, I am quite proficient in faerie untruths. And keeping my thoughts to myself.

"I can hear both of you," Eva frowned. Did they always speak of others in front of them like this? No one would know anyway, unless they wanted them to know. "Can someone please tell me why I can do this?"

We cannot. Enoch stated firmly.

"Why not?"

We are under oath. It was Brother Zachariah. When Eva whipped her head around to look at him, he added, We cannot speak of anything pertaining to how you came to be.

How I came to be? Eva felt a chill run down her spine. Oath?

You've said too much, Zachariah, Brother Enoch spat. His voice was neutral, but it was clear he was incredibly irritated. Be quiet.

"Does this have anything to do with Marigold Starkweather?" Eva said on a whim. "Or why I look like her? Is she alive somewhere and you both are hiding her? Is that it?"

Marigold Starkweather is dead, Enoch said.

"Am I related to her?"

I can neither confirm nor deny that.

The fey would be impressed with your use of their speech, Enoch, Zachariah baited. The Seelie Queen would be thrilled to have you as her advisor.

Eva thought the Silent Brothers would be much more mature than this. No one would respect them or even fear them if they knew they squabbled like chickens in this manner. If Eva wasn't so occupied with thoughts of this unknown oath barring them from telling her why she has this ability or evading her question about Marigold Starkweather, she would've loved to just sit back and hear them argue.

The Inquisitor has ordered for her incarceration until she says otherwise, Enoch said. I trust you will escort her to her cell?

I can neither confirm nor deny that.

Eva bit her lip, trying hard not to laugh, as Enoch straightened his back but said nothing. He merely brushed past them and disappeared into an adjacent corridor. Eva watched him leave and whispered, "Isn't it rude to speak to your superior like that?"

Enoch has grown humorless in the past fifty years or so—it's his age, unfortunately, Zachariah said. But he is very wise and has been very kind and patient as my teacher. We are very close despite his denials.

"Is he still a gossip queen?"

Much more so than the Seelie Queen.

Eva let out a soft laugh but it quickly died in her throat. "What can you tell me about this oath?"

Not much can be said—that is what the oath is in place for. But I can say it is meant to protect you, and to protect those who watch over you.

"I have guardian angels?"

Be careful with your words, Evangeline.

Zachariah was surprisingly easy to talk to. "Can you tell me if Marigold Starkweather is involved somehow?"

I cannot say.

"How about Hodge?"

Please stop asking questions. I cannot answer any of them.

"Can the oath be lifted?"

By the individual who placed it.

Eva didn't even bother to ask further questions. This oath, if it was indeed real, was going to bar him from answering them anyway. Oaths were sacred magic, placed upon others by warlocks or fey or the magically-adept, and while Eva has never been under one herself, she's read they make it impossible to speak about whatever the oath is binding you against. It's almost like the rune of silence the Silent Brothers mutilate themselves with or a geas of the fey.

Zachariah suddenly stopped and said to her, You have much to learn, Evangeline. Had your mind been open to listening to the Brothers, you would have heard we have a visitor.

Eva didn't know how to open her mind like he was encouraging her to do, and he seemed to realize this ability was still beyond her. He opted to just tell her.

Raphael Santiago is knocking on our door, he said. I can only imagine he is looking for you.