Something was moving across my face. It felt like a breeze, dragging my hair over my nose. It tickled. I must have fallen asleep outside and now it was nighttime. Susan was going to be angry; she always got mad whenever I fell asleep outside. Had I done all of my chores? I couldn't remember.
I moved my hand to bat away the annoying strand of hair and pain crashed on me like a wave. Everything hurt, but my hand seemed to be the center of it.
"Jaci," a voice murmured. "C'mon, Jaci."
I liked the voice, it was… nice. I tried to tell it that.
"Open your eyes, Jaci," the same voice said. It didn't sound as nice this time. "I swear to the Angel, if you do not open your eyes, I will make you."
My eyelids felt as though they weighed a thousand pounds each, but I did as the voice said.
"Jace," I breathed. There he was, dramatic shadows cast on his face as he held me. I could hear the pounding of his heart. "Jace."
"Is she okay?" asked Clary's voice. I looked and saw her standing just behind Jace.
"Clary? You're here too?" I was confused. The last thing I could remember was… "Valentine! He has the Mortal Sword!" I said urgently, trying to sit up.
Jace held me back. "Calm down. You're injured."
I glanced at my right hand and shuddered. The skin was pulled away completely in some spots and even from the oddly tinted light of the witchlight I could see it was bruised. "Ow."
"Did you hit your head?" Clary asked anxiously. She crouched beside Jace, bringing the witchlight closer.
"Look at her eyes," Isabelle said, appearing on the scene. "What do you think?" and then, turning to Clary, "You're going to blind her with that witchlight."
"We can't put it away." Alec ducked into the cell after his sister. "We need it to see. And if she's injured, we'd better draw an iratze."
"You're all here? Why are you all here?" Terrified, I turned to Jace. "Am I dead?" I flicked my gaze to Clary. "Did I die?"
"No," Clary said firmly. I noticed she had a stele clutched in her hand.
"Are you all right?" Alec asked professionally. "What happened? Can you remember?"
I groaned. My head hurt. I didn't want to think.
"No more questions," Jace snapped protectively. He rested his hand along my cheek and made me look at him. He seemed slightly out of focus as though he was behind a cloudy window. "I'm going to draw a healing rune now. This may hurt."
"I'll draw it," Clary cut in, brandishing her stele. Gently, she placed the tip of it to my skin. The rune burned but my hand felt better.
"Thanks," I muttered. "The Silent Brothers –"
"Are dead," Clary finished.
"I know." I struggled to sit up again and Jace helped me this time. "Valentine killed them. With a," my voice caught, "demon."
Clary looked around frantically. "It's not still here, is it?"
"No, Valentine took it with him. I think." I tried standing up and Jace insisted on helping me but I shook him off irritably. "I'm fine, Jace."
His expression was somber but he said nothing.
"We need to get out of here," Isabelle said, pointing out the obvious. "We need to alert-"
"Jaci!"
If Jace hadn't shouted, I wouldn't've even noticed that I'd somehow managed to fall back to a sitting position. I shook off Clary's frantic attempts at assistance.
"I'm fine, it's nothing. I can stand by myself."
"You just fell," Alec pointed out, "that's not exactly standing."
"And you have to walk," Clary stressed, grabbing my arm and hauling me to my feet as best she could.
"Enough," said Isabelle, ducking out of the ruined cell. Apparently they'd managed to smash the door off its hinges somehow. I couldn't even fathom. "There's no reason to wait around for whatever killed the Silent Brothers to come finish us off as a cool down."
"Agramon."
They all stared at me like I was insane.
"That's what'd be… coming back."
"All right, Jaci. Let's go." Jace pulled my left arm over his shoulder and Clary still clung to my right side. Like an awkward entry in a six-legged race, we began to move towards the door, giving Brother Jeremiah's body a wide berth.
It didn't help, the witchlight still illuminated him enough for me to see the torn skin, the blood, the look of terror.
"I've never seen a Silent Brother afraid, I didn't think it was possible for them to feel fear," Alec muttered.
Jace's voice was hard when he spoke. "Everyone feels fear."
I was staring at Brother Jeremiah. Killed because he was poisoned by fear. Shadowhunters usually died in battle, not for simply being where they were supposed to be safe from demons – and faeries. "Farewell," I murmured.
Closing my eyes, I allowed Jace and Clary to lead me out of the Silent City, now the silent grave of the Silent Brothers.
They were waiting for us. The other Shadowhunters, about twenty in all, I think. Their images swam in the witchlight before me. I heard their words but they bounced off, leaving no impression. All I knew was that the Inquisitor was there and she hated me and Jace and Clary were obviously helping me and that was bad. For them. I tried to move away but they held on tighter, it almost hurt.
Someone – Maryse – was talking. Alec answered her. His voice came and went like a bad signal on a radio. Sometimes he was clear, sometimes he was white noise. That was odd, that someone's voice could sound like static. How did he do that?
"Dead?" Maryse's voice said, coming in clearly. "What do you mean they're dead?"
They must've been talking about the Silent Brothers. I wanted to point out dead meant no longer living, but I didn't.
"I think it's quite clear what he means."
That voice.
I shivered and pulled away from Clary and Jace determinedly, no longer struggling to comprehend. The lioness was back and I was angry.
"They are all dead?" she asked Alec. "You found no one alive in the City?"
"Aside from me?" I asked quietly. I wasn't sure if anyone heard me except for Jace, who hissed at me to be quiet.
"Not that we saw, Inquisitor," Alec answered politely.
"That you saw." She placed stress on the last word, both insulting Alec's ability to know the difference between dead and alive and giving slight hope to everyone else. It was pointless, I knew. "There may yet be survivors. I would send your people into the City for a thorough check."
The assembled Shadowhunters moved past us and into the gaping entrance of the City. I thought wildly of a giant, swallowing them all whole.
The signal of the conversation became faulty again. I caught words occasionally that meant nothing to me. My head hurt. Everything hurt. I didn't like it and I wanted it to stop.
"Jaci said Valentine took the sword, and that he used a demon," Clary's voice cut into my wandering thoughts.
The Inquisitor grinned at me. She looked like a skeleton robed in grey.
"He's used demons to aid him before." She sounded almost triumphant. "And with the protection of the Cup on him, he could summon some very dangerous creatures. More dangerous than Raveners, or the pathetic Forsaken."
"I personally think that Raveners and Forsaken are plenty super, duper awful," I rambled. "I mean, alligators are creepy enough but why would they need more legs? Four are okay. And eyes. Lots and lots and lots of eyes. If they had pinchers," I put my fingers up by my mouth and made clicking noises, "they'd be really… gross."
Clary was staring at me.
"He had a thingummy, though," I said in my most helpful voice. "It was all dark and… cold. Well, I was cold. It was cold. Everything was cold. Like winter. But worse. Not freezing but freezing." I needed them to understand how cold I was down in the dungeon, as though that would help them understand what Valentine had with him. "It called me names."
"Does she usually-?" Maryse began to ask.
"The sword! He wanted the sword! He had the sword!"
The Inquisitor's eyes looked funny when her eyebrows moved like that. She should put them down…
"So you're saying that Valentine killed the Silent Brothers because he wanted the Angel's Sword?" she asked. "The night before you were supposed to stand trial by it? How very convenient."
I blinked.
"Valentine wouldn't take the sword for Jaci," Jace cut in. "And she's obviously not okay right now!"
Steely grey versus brilliant gold.
"Do not think I have forgotten about you, Jonathan Morgenstern."
"Look at her!" Jace shouted, pointing towards me. Except I didn't realize he was pointing towards me and I turned to look over my shoulder, lost my balance, and sat down solidly on the grass, completely surprised.
Clary dropped in front of me and stared into my eyes. She was so close.
"Something's wrong with her," she said in a shaking voice. "Something serious."
"She probably needs a healing rune." The Inquisitor sounded irate. "An iratze or-"
"We tried that," Isabelle spat. "It obviously isn't working! She said something about Agramon. She may be poisoned!"
"She's shamming. She ought to be in the Silent City's cells right now and you can all join her if you wish."
Alec stepped into my line of vision. "You can't say that-"
Suddenly the grass had grown enough to touch my face. How odd.
"Look at her!" Alec sounded so angry. Silly, silly, angry Alec. "She can't even stand up. She needs doctors, she needs-"
Black is such a pretty color… Silence such a pretty sound…
