NOTE: ALMOST ALL OF THESE CHARACTERS BELONG TO CASSANDRA CLARE. THE SETTINGS (IDRIS, ALICANTE, ETC.) ALSO BELONG TO CASSANDRA CLARE. I AM JUST BORROWING THEM.

CHAPTER NINE

Jonah collapsed onto his couch as soon as he entered his apartment, sprawling out over the checkered cloth and stretching his long, lanky arms above his head. He gazed up at the dim lightbulb, trying desperately to light the small space. A small grin unfurled over his mouth as he thought about the Seelie Queen and her words.

It all made sense to him now. Of course the fey were trying to take over the power from the Nephilim. Why wouldn't they? The Shadowhunters had always gotten the glory. A bitter taste curled in Jonah's mouth, like a copper tablet at the back of his throat. Why should the Shadowhunters always be the ones who were known as brave warriors and strong fighters?

Jonah swung his legs off of the couch and touched the intricate ring on his fourth finger. The Seelie Queen had given it to him. He could recall her words, the brush of scarlet hair across his cheek as she leaned forwards to slip the ring onto his finger- "The time will come. I will tell you through this ring. When you hear it, come quickly. We can defeat the Nephilim." She had had an almost manic gleam in her eye as she straightened up. "We can defeat them. All of the Downworlders, working together, and we can take over the world."

Jonah's stomach rumbled- he banged open his small, cruddy fridge, taking out a juice box, just as the door opened.

A tall, dazzling figure stood in the doorway- a woman with long, wind-swept black hair and pale, pale skin, her eyes as dark as the night. She grinned at Jonah, kicking the door shut with one bejeweled heel. "I'm home," she announced, throwing her handbag across the room, where it landed perfectly on the couch.

Jonah grinned back at her. "Victoria," he said, bowing, the juice box still in his hand.

Victoria waltzed over. "Why weren't you at the deli at four? I thought that we were going to meet there."

Crud. Jonah set his juice box onto the counter. "Important meeting."

"Like what?" Victoria sat at one of the spindly chairs at the counter, tossing back her hair. Jonah studied his fingernails. He wasn't exactly comfortable with telling Victoria about the Seelie Queen. After all, Victoria was a vampire- the head of the New York clan- even though she was his girlfriend. He hesitated.

"Come on." Victoria rolled her inky eyes impressively- they were elaborated with mascara and eyeshadow, even though she didn't really need it. Victoria was already striking enough.

The Seelie Queen did say that all the Downworlders should be in on this... Jonah sighed. "Fine. The Seelie Queen sent me a message."

Victoria's back stiffened. "What?" Her voice was careful, soft, but deadly- Jonah winced.

"Well, she was talking..." Jonah cleared his throat. "It's about the Nephilim."

"Killing them?" Victoria sniffed derisively. "Like the fey could ever kill a Shadowhunter. Vampires are the ones for that." She smiled at him- her fangs had slid out, sharp and gleaming.

"Well, yeah, three Nephilim plus Elaine Penhallow and some more have been slaughtered by the fey."

"I know." Victoria scowled at him. "Can you tell me something that's actually interesting?"

"Fine." Jonah crumpled his juice box and chucked it into the trash can. "The Seelie Queen wants to ally with all of the Downworlders to overthrow the Nephilim." He didn't look up at Victoria- she was silent.

Jonah finally looked up, meeting her eyes, and she was grinning again.

"Now you're talking interesting," she said in satisfaction.

Lucy entered the Hunter's Moon, expecting lots of werewolves to be there.

There were only two.

Kat was standing behind the counter, polishing a glass, and Will was sitting at the counter, staring at a cup of dark liquid in front of him.

"Kat? Will?" Lucy dropped into a chair beside Will, completely confused. "What's going on?" She peeled off her jacket and hung it on the back of her chair- no one responded.

"Where's everyone else?" Lucy pressed.

Kat rubbed the glass harder. "They disappeared," she stated flatly.

"What do you mean?" Lucy was getting impatient. She leaned forwards, panic starting to prickle in her fingertips. "Why would they disappear? Will?" She looked frantically at the forlorn person sitting beside her- he traced his fingertip in the dew on the side of his glass and sighed deeply, scratching the corners of his thin mustache.

"Kat and I don't know," he said, finally looking up at her. Lucy always had the impression that Will tried to seem as ratty and ragged as he could- his jeans were scuffed, there were holes in the toes of his sneakers, and his T-shirt was faded and bleached. His dirty blond hair was flat, as though it was unwashed, and hung in strands around his crookedly placed face. "We got here- to the Hunter's Moon- just around five, and they were all gone." He raised his shoulders in a shrug. "I don't know. We don't know."

Lucy's mind raced. The werewolves are gone. The pack has disappeared. What is HAPPENING?

She tried to calm her breathing. "Around five? Did they leave anything?"

Kat and Will exchanged a look, and Kat ducked briefly under the counter. When she emerged, she held out her palm, showing a small, silver bell on a chain.

"We found this," Kat stated. "It's a bell. It was by the doorway." She shook her head. "Do you know what it is?"

Lucy couldn't speak. She could feel fear contracting in her throat.

Kat's eyes pressed into hers, persistant. "It's a faerie bell, Lucy," she said. "It's a summoning, and they all went."