Home > Every Exquisite Thing (Ghosts of the Shadow Market #3)(9)

Every Exquisite Thing (Ghosts of the Shadow Market #3)(9)
Author: Cassandra Clare, Sarah Rees Brennan

“Lean back,” Ariadne said, stroking Anna’s hair.

Anna put her head down on the pillow. Her boots were gone. Her hair had come down, and she pushed it back impatiently.

“I would like to kiss you,” Ariadne said. Her voice shook with a fear Anna understood all too well. Ariadne was afraid Anna was going to push her away, reject her, run screaming. But how could Ariadne not know how she felt? “Please, Anna, may I kiss you?”

Unable to speak, Anna nodded.

Ariadne leaned forward and pressed her lips to Anna’s.

Anna had lived this moment in her mind a hundred times or more. She did not know her body would grow so warm, that Ariadne would taste so sweet. She returned the kiss, then kissed Ariadne along her cheek, her chin, down her neck. Ariadne made a low sound of delight. She brought her lips up to Anna’s again, and they fell back against the pillows. They were tangled together, laughing and warm, intent only on each other. The pain was gone, replaced by rapture.

During the day, the streets and alleys of Soho could be hard to navigate. At night, they became a dangerous and confusing warren. Jem kept his staff aloft. At this late hour, the only people about were drunkards and ladies of the night. The alleys smelled of refuse, and there was broken glass and the assorted detritus of a London day.

Jem made his way to a storefront on Wardour Street. He knocked, and the door was opened by two young werewolves, neither of whom seemed surprised to see him.

Woolsey Scott is expecting me.

They nodded and guided him through a dark and empty shop that sold buttons and ribbons and through a door. On the other side was a dimly lit but tastefully furnished room. Woolsey Scott was stretched out on a low divan. Sitting opposite him was Leopolda Stain, surrounded by a half a dozen more werewolves. She seemed calm and composed, and was even sipping from a cup of tea.

“Ah, Carstairs,” Scott said. “Finally. I thought we’d be here all night.”

Thank you, said Jem, for looking after her for me.

“It was no trouble,” said Scott. He tipped his chin at Leopolda. “As you know, this one arrived a few weeks ago. We’ve been keeping an eye on her ever since. I didn’t think she would go as far as she did tonight. Can’t have her egging on idiot mundanes to raise demons. It’s the sort of thing that inspires anti-Downworlder sentiment.”

Leopolda seemed to take no offense at the way he spoke.

Woolsey rose to his feet. “You had said you wanted to speak with her,” he said. “Shall I leave the matter with you?”

Yes, Jem said.

“Good. I have an appointment with a rather staggering bottle of red. I’m sure she won’t cause any further fuss, will you, Leopolda?”

“Of course not,” Leopolda said.

Scott nodded, and the werewolves left the room as one. Leopolda looked up at Jem and smiled.

“It is good to see you again,” she said. “We were so rudely interrupted earlier.”

You will tell me what you know of Tessa.

Leopolda reached over to a teapot on a low table and refilled her cup.

“These terrible beasts,” she said, nodding at the door. “They handled me quite roughly. I would like to leave this place now.”

You will not be leaving until you tell me what I want to know.

“Oh, I will. Your Tessa . . . and she was yours, wasn’t she? I may not be able to see your eyes, but I can see it in your face.”

Jem stiffened. He was no longer that boy, the young man who had planned a wedding to Tessa, who had loved her as much as his heart could bear. He loved her still, but he survived it by having put that young man away, by putting away his human loves as he had put away the violin. Instruments for another time, another life.

Still, there was no joy in being so cruelly reminded.

“I imagine her powers are great,” Leopolda said, stirring her tea. “I envy her. Axel was . . . so very proud.”

There was nothing but the sound of the spoon hitting the sides of the china cup. In the depths of his mind, Jem heard the murmuring of the other Silent Brothers. He ignored it. This was his mission alone.

Tell me of Tessa’s father.

“The blood,” she said. “You will give me the blood first. It is a very small amount.”

That will never happen.

“No?” she said. “You know, I am merely the humble daughter of a Vetis demon, but your Tessa . . .”

She waited to see the effect on Jem.

“Yes,” she said. “I know all. You will put out your arm. I will take the blood, I will tell you what you so wish to know, and I will leave. We will both be satisfied. I assure you, what I give you is so much more than I ask. It is a bargain of the highest order.”

You do not have the advantages you think you have, Leopolda Stain, he said. I have known you were here since you set foot on these shores. I knew you were a friend of Mortmain’s. I know you want this blood to continue his works, and I will never allow that.

Her lip curled. “But you are kind,” she said. “You are famous for it. You will not hurt me.”

Jem took his staff, spinning it between his hands, and held it balanced lightly between himself and Leopolda. He knew a hundred different ways to kill her with it. He could break her neck.

That was my Shadowhunter self, he said. I have killed with this staff, though I prefer not to. Either you tell me what I wish to know, or you die. It is your choice.

He saw, from the look in her eyes, that she believed him.

Tell me what I want to know, and I will let you go with your life.

Leopolda swallowed. “First, swear upon your Angel that you will allow me to leave tonight.”

I swear upon the Angel.

Leopolda smiled a long, vulpine smile.

“The ritual that created your Tessa was magnificent,” she said. “Such glory. I never thought such a thing could be done, mating a Shadowhunter with a demon . . .”

Do not delay. Tell me.

“Your Tessa’s father was the greatest of Eidolon demons. The most beautiful creature in any hell, for he has a thousand shapes.”

A Greater Demon? Jem had feared it. No wonder James could turn himself to smoke and Tessa herself could take any form, even that of an angel. A line of Nephilim and Greater Demons. There was no history of such impossible beings. Even now, he could not think of them as new and strange creations with incredible powers. They were simply Tessa and James. People he loved beyond measure. You are saying Tessa’s father was a Greater Demon?

The Clave could never know. He could not tell them. His heart lurched. Could he tell Tessa? Would it be better for her to know, or not?

“I am saying,” Leopolda said, “that he was a Prince of Hell. What an honor to be born of him. Sooner or later, Jem Carstairs, blood will out, and such a beautiful power will blaze through this city.”

She rose to her feet.

The greatest of Eidolons? I need more than that. What was his name?

She shook her head. “The price for the name is blood, James Carstairs, and if you will not pay it, another will.”

She brought her hand out from behind her back and flung a handful of powder at Jem. Had his eyes not been protected by magic, it would likely have blinded him. As it was, he staggered back long enough for her to run past him to the door. She reached it in seconds and threw it open.

On the other side of it were two huge werewolves, flanking Woolsey Scott.

“As expected,” Woolsey said, looking at Leopolda with contempt. “Kill her, boys. Let her be an example to others who would freely spill blood in our city.”

Leopolda screamed and whirled on Jem, wide-eyed. “You said you would let me leave! You swore!”

Jem felt very weary. I am not the one who is stopping you.

She cried out as the werewolves, already half-transformed, flung themselves on her. Jem turned away while the sound of ripping flesh and shrieks tore through the room.

The summer dawn came early. Ariadne was sleeping gently, and Anna heard the maid stirring downstairs. She had not slept yet, even after Ariadne had dropped off. Anna did not want to move from this warm spot. She played with the lace edges of the pillow and watched Ariadne’s eyelashes flicker as if she were in the depths of a dream.

But the sky was turning from black to the soft peach color of sunrise. Soon there would be a maid at the door with a tray. Soon, life would intrude.

   
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