We walked down the streets in silence for awhile until my curiosity got the better of me. "Did you get that scar on your face as a human?" I asked him, peeking from underneath my long eyelashes. He scratched the scar in question and shook his head.
"No, back in my youth, I had attempted to woo a certain witch. As you can tell, it did not turn out too well." He said with a slight smile on his face. I giggled. "Well, I guess we know now not to play with witches, now don't we?" I teased. He rolled his eyes at me, a playful smile on his face.
"So, is it safe to assume we are simply just going to walk around and ask each other questions?" Larten asked me. I smiled. "Indeed it is." I replied. He nodded and seemed to be hesitant. I frowned. "What is it?" I asked warily. He looked at me.
"You and Magnus…are you…?" he trailed off, leaving it to me to piece it together. I laughed at this. "Dear god, no! Magnus is my older brother in a way." I answered in between giggles. He frowned. "In a way?" he asked. I nodded. "We don't have the same mothers—no, he was born decades before I was you see—but we were fathered by the same demon. I was the last child he'd ever father…" I trailed off, frowning. Larten looked at me.
"What do you mean by that?" he asked curiously. We stopped at a street corner, waiting for a few carriages to pass by. When we crossed the street, I carefully answered him. "The demon was killed by a Nephilim after my mother was impregnated." He stared at me and cocked his head to the side. 'Nephilim?" he repeated. I nodded.
"Yes, Nephilim, more commonly referred to as Shadow hunters." I explained. That seemed to ring a bell. "Ah, Shadow hunters. I have heard of their lot." He said. I nodded. "So, Larten…how old are you?" the corner of his lip twitched. "I am twenty-two years old." He answered. I rolled my eyes. "Oh, please, I asked for your age, not how old you look!" I complained. He laughed. It sounded like silver bells, tumbling to the ground.
He stared at me for a few moments before answering. "I am one hundred and forty-three." I blushed. Oh god, I fancy a man who is nearly nine times older than me! I thought. He chuckled. "Is there a problem, Annabeth?" he asked teasingly. I sniffed. "No, nothing at all. I just didn't expect you to be that old…then again, you are an acquaintance of Camille…" I trailed off thoughtfully. He smiled. 'And how old are you?" he inquired.
"Seventeen." I answered shyly. He smiled. "I remember when I was seventeen… Oh, watch out!" he warned. But it was too late; I had already tripped over the uneven brick. I cried out in surprised as I fell towards the ground. I never touched the ground though, for two cold, hard arms wrapped themselves around my waist, keeping me from falling.
Larten set me steady, but didn't loosen his grip. I blushed. "Are you okay?" he asked, sincerity ringing in his voice, his sweet breath rolling across my face, replacing the smell of the Thames river. I nodded. "Yes, thank you." I said as he slowly took his arms from my waist.
He looked around and frowned. "Where are we exactly?" he asked. I looked around and froze when a smell came to my sensitive nose. Lycanthropes. He seemed to sense my tenseness and looked at me. "Annabeth, what is wrong?" he seemed extremely confused, but then his eyes widened and were filled with hatred, his lip twitching up, revealing fangs.
I looked around and saw a figure sulking up to us. "Lycanthropes." I whispered to him as a young man, no older than myself, came sauntering up to us. He had bright blue eyes and fair hair and pale skin. His expensive clothing was covered in filth from the streets and caked with dried blood. He smiled at me.
"Ah, what have we here? A vampire and…" he trailed off, confused as he stared at me. He came a bit closer and sniffed me. I closed my eyes and tried to keep my breathing steady. I opened my eyes when I felt a cold arm wrap around my waist. Larten pulled me closer to him, glaring at the man.
The man stared at me confused. "You reek of Nephilim, yet you smell like a child of Lilith." He said, puzzled. He turned to Larten. "I didn't know your kind had stooped low enough to be involved with Shadow hunters." He spat. I glared at him. Then Larten growled at him. I stared at him startled as he glared at the lycanthrope.
"I think it is time to return to de Quincey's." he said. I nodded and took his hand, slowly walking away. I could feel my back itching under the weapon's weight, dying to be used. Larten never completely relaxed until we were a few blocks away from de Quincey's. He frowned at me. "Annabeth, what was he talking about? You reek of Nephilim and smell of a child of Lilith?" he asked, skeptical. I bit my lip. He glared at me. I flushed.
"Lilith's Children are what you and I call Warlock's…I swear, how can you not know any of this? Being a Downworlder for as long as you've been." I frowned at him, attempting to change the subject. "I isolated myself and traveled with a few friends of mine." He answered. I frowned. It didn't seem like the whole truth, but I never got to question him about it because he continued on his quest for truth.
"And the part about Nephilim?" he inquired. I stopped walking then and stared at him. He stopped too and turned so he was facing me. "Why do you need to know?" I asked cautiously. He frowned. "I do not know. I find that I would very much like to get to know you, Annabeth." He said slowly, honestly. He looked into my eyes. I stared for a moment, thinking before I sighed and came closer to him.
"Do you remember what I told you of my relation to Magnus?" I asked him. He nodded. "Yes, you had different mothers but you were fathered by the same demon." He said. I nodded. "I also said that after my mother was impregnated, the demon was killed by a Nephilim." I said. He nodded slowly. "Yes…I recall you mentioning this." He replied. I hesitated. "That Nephilim that killed the demon was a woman…that Nephilim was my mother." I said quietly. I looked into his eyes. He seemed astonished.
Silence.
"So…you are a Halfling?" he asked me. I stared at him. A Halfling? As if reading my thoughts, he explained. "A Halfling is half demon, half something else." He elaborated. I paused. "Yes, I guess I am a Halfling." I said, thinking about the word. I froze when I smelled smoke in the air.
"Larten, do you smell smoke?" I asked. He nodded. We looked around and spotted smoke in the sky. I gasped, terror feeding on my heart. Larten stared at me, worried. "What is it? What is the matter?" he asked. "That's de Quincey's house…Magnus and Will are still there." I cried, breaking into a sprint.
I soon arrived to the place to find it being surrounded by Nephilim. I immediately spotted the silver hair of Jem Carstairs and started to make a bee line towards him when someone caught me by the arm. I turned and saw Larten staring at me.
"Annabeth, what are you doing!" he cried. I stared at him. "I have to figure out what's going on!" I shouted back over the crackling fire and screams of the vampires within. I looked around. "Larten, stay here, if you go anywhere near that building…well, you'll die from fire or Nephilim." I told him. He hesitated and then released my wrist. 'Be careful." He said quietly. I smiled and rushed off to find Jem.
"Jem, Jem!" I shouted, picking up my skirts and running toward him. He seemed surprised to see me. "Anna! What are you doing here! Shouldn't you be back at the Institute?" he shouted, ducking a blow from a rather large vampire. I shook my head. "I haven't been at the Institute all night, I've been at the park, remember?" Jem nodded and turned, stabbing a vampire in the chest.
I screamed as a vampire picked me up from behind. I hurriedly reached my hand down into the bodice of my dress and pulled out a seraph blade. "Raziel!" I cried as I sunk it into his shoulder he screeched and ripped it out, glaring at my. "You bitch!" he spat at me.
Quickly, I took out a pistol from my boot and shot him three times—once in the shoulder, once in the heart, and once in the middle of his forehead. He fell to the ground and I watched as his body disintegrated.
I looked up when I heard a cry of pain. Will had bitten Alexei. I gasped. "Will!" I shouted. Will and Alexei both looked at me, confusion written on their faces. Then Camille picked up a pistol and shot Alexei in the shoulder. He screeched and started yelling at the two of them and then sprung out the window.
I was gasping, even though I had only killed one vampire. It was tiring work. I looked around. Most of the fire had died, with a few curtains here and there burning, and all the vampires were dead. My throat tightened when I saw two Shadow hunters lying dead.
"de Quincey's escaped." A familiar voice said. I turned and saw Charlotte Branwell speaking quickly with Benedict Lightwood, and Henry Branwell. "Are all the vampires dead, at least? We can't go out and search for him at this moment. Now, we need to salvage as much information as possible." Benedict said. Then I heard his haughty, handsome son shout, "We've found another one!"
I turned and saw them leading in a certain tall, ginger who was not Henry. I gasped and rushed over as Charlotte, Henry, and Benedict came to question him. "Leave him alone!" I cried. Charlotte turned to me and stared, astounded.
"Anna! What on earth are you doing here?" she cried. I glared at the Nephilim. "Don't hurt him, he hasn't done anything!" I shouted, wriggling in between the Nephilim clad in gear until I was next to Larten. He was glaring at me. "I stayed put." He said angrily. I frowned. "Being captured to where I can help you is better than being burned." I snapped at him. He sighed in exasperation. By then, Will and Jem had joined us. "Anna, you know this guy?"Will asked. I nodded and turned to Charlotte.
"Charlotte, this is Larten Crepsley, he's a friend of Camille's." I explained. "Her cousin actually." He butted in. I stared at him. "You never said that." I frowned. He shrugged. "You never asked." He replied simply, scratching the scar that ran across his face. I glared at him.
He looked at Charlotte. "Camille asked me if I would come down and take a look at the situation with de Quincey. She said she feared he was corrupt and asked if I would be willing to step in as the head of the coven." He told her. My mouth dropped. Not only was it a vampire I fancied, but now he was the runner up of the head of the coven?
He frowned at me. "Annabeth, gaping is a bad habit. You will catch bugs in your mouth." He chided, giving my chin a tap. I flushed. Will grinned devilishly. "On a first name basis, I see." He snickered. I glared.
"Will, hush yourself or I will hit you with a mace." I hissed. Charlotte sighed. "Stop fighting you two." She turned to Larten. "Would you mind staying at the Institute for a few days? We need as much information as possible about what's been going on here." She pleaded. He nodded. "I do not see how it could be of harm to either of us." He said. I looked at Charlotte. 'Charlotte, Will bit a vampire again." I said matter-of-factly. She groaned. "Everyone to the Institute, now!" she snapped.
Will and Jem ended up using the borrowed carriage, driven by Thomas while Henry, Charlotte, Tessa, and her brother, Nathaniel, used the Institute's carriage. I smiled when I saw Magnus. "Magnus! Can you be a darling and summon me a carriage?" I asked. Larten—who was to be riding with me—stared at me, confused.
Magnus smiled and, with a wave of his hand, summoned a carriage, driver and all. I smiled. "Thanks, love." I said, giving him a hug. He smiled and kissed the top of my head. "Take care, darling." He said as Larten and I climbed into the carriage.
Larten frowned at me. "Why could you not summon a carriage yourself? I thought you were a Warlock." He asked, frustrated. I frowned. "The only Nephilim that know that I'm a Warlock are the Silent Brothers. The only people in the world who know are the Silent Brothers, Magnus, me, and now you. As far as Downworlders go, they know I am a Warlock, but they don't know that I'm Nephilim, only that I'm not a regular Warlock." I explained. He nodded and looked out the carriage window. I frowned.
"Why are you frustrated?" I asked him. He stared at me for a few moments and shook his head. "Do not worry about it, it is nothing too important." He said, flashing me a smile. I rolled my eyes. "Larten, you are a dirty liar." I yawned before falling asleep in the quiet carriage.