Chapter 32


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    But Raphael wasughing. “You missed,” he said, and


    grinned for the first time, showing pointed white


    incisors. “You missed my heart.”


    Jace tightened his grip. “You moved at thest


    minute,” he said. “That was very inconsiderate.”


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    Raphael frowned and spit, red. ry stepped back,


    staring in dawning horror.


    “When did you figure it out?” he demanded. His


    ent had faded, his words more precise and clipped


    now.


    “I guessed in the alley,” Jace said. “But I figured you’d


    get us inside the hotel, then turn on us. Once we’d


    trespassed, we’d have been out of the protection of


    the Covenant. Fair game. When you didn’t, I thought I


    might have been wrong. Then I saw that scar on your


    throat.” He sat back a little, still holding the de at


    Raphael’s throat. “I thought when I first saw that chain


    that it looked like the sort you’d hang a cross from.


    And you did, didn’t you, when you went out to see


    your family? What’s the scar of a little burn when your


    kind heal so quickly?”


    Raphaelughed. “Was that all? My scar?”


    “When you left the foyer, your feet didn’t leave marks


    in the dust. Then I knew.”


    “It wasn’t your brother who went in here looking for


    monsters and never came out, was it?” ry said,


    realizing. “It was you.”


    “You are both very clever,” Raphael said. “Although


    not quite clever enough. Look up,” he said, and lifted


    a hand to point at the ceiling.


    Jace knocked the hand away without moving his


    nce from Raphael. “ry. What do you see?”


    She raised her head slowly, dread curdling in the pit of


    her stomach.


    You must imagine this staircase the way it was once,


    with the gasmps burning all up and down the steps,


    like fireflies in the dark, and the balconies full of


    people. They were filled with people now, row on row


    of vampires with their dead-white faces, their red


    stretched mouths, staring bemusedly downward.


    Jace was still looking at Raphael. “You called them.


    Didn’t you?”


    Raphael was still grinning. The blood had stopped


    spreading from the wound in his chest. “Does it


    matter? There are too many of them, even for you,


    Wand.”


    Jace said nothing. Though he hadn’t moved, he was


    breathing in short quick pants, and ry could almost


    feel the strength of his desire to kill the vampire boy,


    to shove the knife through his heart and wipe that grin


    off his face forever. “Jace,” she said warningly. “Don’t


    kill him.”


    “Why not?”


    “Maybe we can use him as a hostage.”


    Jace’s eyes widened. “A hostage?”


    She could see them, more of them, filling the arched


    doorway, moving as silently as the Brothers of the


    Bone City. But the Brothers had not had skin so white


    and colorless, nor hands that curled into ws at the


    tips ….


    ry licked her dry lips. “I know what I’m doing. Get


    him on his feet, Jace.”


    Jace looked at her, then shrugged. “All right.”


    Raphael snapped, “This isn’t funny.”


    “That’s why no one’sughing.” Jace stood, hauling


    Raphael upright, jamming the tip of his knife between


    Raphael’s shoulder des. “I can pierce your heart


    just as easily through your back,” he said. “I wouldn’t


    move if I were you.”


    ry turned away from them to face the oing


    dark shapes. She flung out a hand. “Stop right there,”


    she said. “Or he’ll put that de through Raphael’s


    heart.”


    A sort of murmur ran through the crowd that could


    have been whispering orughter. “Stop,” ry said


    again, and this time Jace did something, she didn’t


    see what, that made Raphael cry out in surprised


    pain.


    One of the vampires flung an arm out to hold back his


    companions. ry recognized him as the thin blond


    boy with the earring that she’d seen at Magnus’s


    party. “She means it,” he said. “They are


    Shadowhunters.”


    Another vampire pushed her way through the crowd


    to stand at his side—a pretty blue-haired Asian girl in


    a silver foil skirt. ry wondered if there were any


    ugly vampires, or maybe any fat ones. Maybe they


    didn’t make vampires out of ugly people. Or maybe


    ugly people just didn’t want to live forever.


    “Shadowhunters trespassing on our territory,” she


    said. “They are out of the protection of the Covenant. I


    say we kill them—they have killed enough of ours.”


    “Which of you is the master of this ce?” Jace said,


    his voice very t. “Let him step forward.”


    The girl bared her pointed teeth. “Do not use ve


    language on us, Shadowhunter. You have broken your


    precious Covenant,ing in here. The Law will not


    protect you.”


    “That’s enough, Lily,” said the blond boy sharply. “Our


    master is not here. She is in Idris.”


    “Someone must rule you in her stead,” Jace


    observed.


    There was a silence. The vampires up in the


    balconies were hanging off the railings, leaning down


    to hear what was being said. Finally, “Raphael leads


    us,” said the blond vampire.


    The blue-haired girl, Lily, let out a hiss of disapproval.


    “Jacob—”


    “I propose a trade,” ry said quickly, cutting off Lily’s


    tirade and Jacob’s retort. “By now you must know you


    took home too many people from the party tonight.


    One of them was my friend Simon.”


    Jacob raised his eyebrows. “You’re friends with a


    vampire?”


    “He’s not a vampire. And not a Shadowhunter, either,”


    she added, seeing Lily’s pale eyes narrow. “Just an


    ordinary human boy.”


    “We didn’t take any human boys home with us from


    Magnus’s party. That would have been a vition of


    the Covenant.”


    “He’d been transformed into a rat. A small brown rat,”


    said ry. “Someone might have thought he was a


    pet, or …”


    Her voice trailed off. They were staring at her as if she


    were insane. Cold despair seeped into her bones.


    “Let me get this straight,” Lily said. “You’re offering to


    trade Raphael’s life for a rat?”


    ry looked helplessly back at Jace. He gave her a


    look that said, This was your idea. You’re on your


    own.


    “Yes,” she said, turning back to the vampires. “That’s


    the trade we’re offering.”


    They stared at her, white faces nearly expressionless.


    In another context ry would have said that they


    looked baffled.


    She could feel Jace standing behind her, hear the


    rasp of his breathing. She wondered if he was racking


    his brain trying to figure out why he’d let her drag


    them both here in the first ce. She wondered if he


    was starting to hate her.


    “Do you mean this rat?”


    ry blinked. Another vampire, a thin ck boy with


    dreadlocks, had pushed his way to the front of the


    crowd. He was holding something in his hands,


    something brown that squirmed feebly. “Simon?” she


    whispered.


    The rat squeaked and started to thrash wildly in the


    boy’s grip. He looked down at the captive rodent with


    an expression of distaste. “Man, I thought he was


    Zeke. I wondered why he was copping such an


    attitude.” He shook his head, dreadlocks bouncing. “I


    say she can have him, dude. He’s already bitten me


    five times.”


    ry reached out for Simon, her hands aching to hold


    him. But Lily stepped in front of her before she could


    take more than a step in his direction. “Wait,” Lily said.


    “How do we know you won’t just take the rat and kill


    Raphael anyway?”


    “We’ll give our word,” ry said immediately, then


    tensed, waiting for them tough.


    Nobodyughed. Raphael swore softly in Spanish.


    Lily looked curiously at Jace.


    “ry,” he said. There was an undercurrent of


    exasperated desperation in his voice. “Is this really a


    —”


    “No oath, no trade,” said Lily immediately, seizing on


    his uncertain tone. “Elliott, hold on to that rat.”


    The dreadlocked boy tightened his grip on Simon,


    who sank his teeth savagely into Elliott’s hand. “Man,”


    he said glumly. “That hurt.”


    ry took the opportunity to whisper to Jace. “Just


    swear! What can it hurt?”


    “Swearing for us isn’t like it is for you mundanes,” he


    snapped back angrily. “I’ll be bound forever to any


    oath I make.”


    “Oh, yeah? What would happen if you broke it?”


    “I wouldn’t break it, that’s the point—”


    “Lily is right,” said Jacob. “An oath is required. Swear


    that you won’t hurt Raphael. Even if we give you the


    rat back.”


    “I won’t hurt Raphael,” ry said immediately. “No


    matter what.”


    Lily smiled at her tolerantly. “It isn’t you we’re worried


    about.” She shot a pointed look at Jace, who was


    holding Raphael so tightly that his knuckles were


    white. A patch of sweat darkened the cloth of his shirt,


    just between his shoulder des.


    He said, “All right. I swear it.”


    “Speak the oath,” Lily said swiftly. “Swear on the


    Angel. Say it all.”


    Jace shook his head. “You swear first.”


    His words fell into the silence like stones, sending a


    rippling murmur through the crowd. Jacob looked


    concerned, Lily furious. “Not a chance,


    Shadowhunter.”


    “We have your leader.” The tip of Jace’s knife dug


    farther into Raphael’s throat. “And what have you got


    there? A rat.”


    Simon, pinned in Elliott’s hands, squeaked furiously.


    ry longed to snatch him up, but held herself back.


    “Jace—”


    Lily looked toward Raphael. “Master?”


    Raphael had his head down, his dark curls falling to


    hide his face. Blood stained the cor of his shirt,


    trickled down the bare brown skin underneath. “A


    pretty important rat,” he said, “for you toe all the


    way here for him. It is you, Shadowhunter, I think, who


    will swear first.”


    Jace’s grip on him tightened convulsively. ry saw


    the swell of the muscles under his skin, the whitening


    of his fingers and at the sides of his mouth as he


    fought his anger. “The rat’s a mundane,” he said


    sharply. “If you kill him, you’ll be subject to the Law—”


    “He is on our territory. Trespassers are not protected


    by the Covenant, you know that—”


    “You brought him here,” ry interjected. “He didn’t


    trespass.”


    “Technicalities,” said Raphael, grinning at her despite


    the knife at his throat. “Besides. You think we do not


    hear the rumors, the news that is running through


    Downworld like blood through veins? Valentine is


    back. There will be no ords and no Covenant soon


    enough.”


    Jace’s head jerked up. “Where did you hear that?”


    Raphael frowned scornfully. “All Downworld knows it.


    He paid a warlock to raise a pack of Raveners only a


    week ago. He has brought his Forsaken to seek the


    Mortal Cup. When he finds it, there will be no more


    false peace between us, only war. No Law will prevent


    me from tearing your heart out on the street,


    Shadowhunter—”


    That was enough for ry. She dove for Simon,


    shouldering Lily aside, and snatched the rat out of


    Elliott’s hands. Simon scrabbled up her arm, gripping


    her sleeve with frantic paws.


    “It’s okay,” she whispered, “it’s okay.” Though she


    knew it wasn’t. She turned to run, and felt hands catch


    at her jacket, holding her. She struggled, but her


    efforts to tear herself free of the hands that held her—


    Lily’s, narrow and bony with ck fingernails—were


    hampered by her fear of dislodging Simon, who clung


    to her jacket with paws and teeth. “Let go !” she


    screamed, kicking out at the vampire girl. Her booted


    toe connected, hard, and Lily shouted in pain and


    rage. She whipped her hand forward, striking ry’s


    cheek with enough force to rock her head back.


    ry staggered and nearly fell. She heard Jace shout


    her name, and turned to see that he had let go of


    Raphael and was racing toward her. ry tried to go


    to him, but her shoulders were gripped by Jacob, his


    fingers digging into her skin.


    ry cried out—and the noise was lost in arger


    shriek as Jace, snatching one of the ss vials from


    his jacket, flung its contents toward her. She felt cool


    wetness ssh her face, and heard Jacob scream as


    the water touched his skin. Smoke rose from his


    fingers and he released ry, howling a high animal


    howl. Lily darted toward him, crying out his name, and


    in the pandemonium, ry felt someone seize her


    wrist. She struggled to yank herself away.


    “Stop it—you idiot—it’s me,” Jace panted in her ear.


    “Oh!” She rxed momentarily, then tensed again,


    seeing a familiar shape loom up behind Jace. She


    cried out and Jace ducked and spun just as Raphael


    leaped at him, teeth bared, quick as a cat. His fangs


    caught Jace’s shirt near the shoulder and tore the


    fabric lengthwise as Jace staggered. Raphael clung


    on like a gripping spider, teeth snapping at Jace’s


    throat. ry fumbled in her pack for the dagger Jace


    had given her—


    A small brown shape streaked across the floor, shot


    between ry’s feet, andunched itself at Raphael.


    Raphael screamed. Simon hung grimly from his


    forearm, his sharp rat-teeth sunk deep into the flesh.


    Raphael let go of Jace, iling backward, blood


    spurting as a stream of Spanish obscenities poured


    from his mouth.


    Jace gaped, his mouth open. “Son of a—”


    Regaining his bnce, Raphael tore the rat free from


    his arm and flung him to the marble floor. Simon


    squeaked once in pain, then dashed over to ry.


    She bent down and snatched him up, holding him


    against her chest as tightly as she could without


    hurting him. She could feel the hammering beat of his


    tiny heart against her fingers. “Simon,” she whispered.


    “Simon—”


    “There’s no time for that. Hold on to him.” Jace had


    caught at her right arm, gripping with painful force. In


    the other hand he held a glowing seraph de.


    “Move.”


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