Chain of Gold (The Last Hours #1) - Cassandra Clare Page 0,172

the grace of long habit. For the first time in Cordelia’s memory, Thomas picked one up and downed the contents.

James spun one of the chairs around and sat down, arms crossed across the chair back, his long legs hooked around the front. “Tom,” he said, his eyes flaring intently. “We need to make the antidote to the Mandikhor poison. I think you can do it.”

Thomas choked, coughed, and began spluttering as Matthew took the glass from him and set it back down on the table. “I can’t,” he said, when he caught his breath. “Not without Christopher.”

“Yes, you can,” said James. “You’ve done everything with him. You’ve been in the laboratory with him nearly every moment since Barbara died. You know how to do this.”

Thomas was silent for a long moment. James didn’t move. His gaze was fixed on his friend. It was a look Cordelia couldn’t describe—a quiet intensity mixed with immovable conviction. This was James at his best, she thought. His faith in his friends was unwavering: it was strength, and they shared that strength between them.

“Perhaps,” Thomas said at last, slowly. “But we’re still missing an ingredient. Without it, the antidote won’t work, and Kit said it was impossible to find—”

“Malos root,” said Matthew. “We know where it is, and where to get it. All we need to do is go to Chiswick House. To the greenhouse.”

“My grandfather’s house?” Thomas said incredulously. He ran his fingers distractedly through his light brown hair.

“Finally Benedict Lightwood will be responsible for something useful,” Matthew said. “If we leave now, we can be there in half an hour—”

“Wait,” said Thomas, rising to his feet. “James, I’d nearly forgotten. Neddy gave me this.”

He handed over a folded piece of thin vellum paper, with James’s name scrawled across the front in a careful hand. James unfolded the note and stood up with a violent swiftness, nearly knocking the chair over.

“What is it?” said Cordelia. “James?”

As he handed her the note, Cordelia saw Matthew’s thoughtful gaze flick between the two of them. She glanced down.

Come to the Silent City. I shall meet you in the infirmary. Do not reveal yourself to the other Brothers. I will explain when you arrive.

Please hurry.

—Jem

She handed it wordlessly to Lucie. James was pacing the floor, hands in his pockets.

“If Jem says I must go, then I must,” he said, as Matthew and Thomas both glanced at the note’s contents. “The rest of you go to Chiswick—”

“No,” Matthew said. He had reached for the flask in his pocket—a gesture of long-practiced habit—but quickly dropped his hand. His fingers were shaking slightly, but his voice was light. “Whither thou goest, I will go, James. Even unto the tedious suburb of Highgate.”

Jem, Cordelia thought. She had to talk to him about her father. There was no one else she could speak to about what Alastair had told her. There was no one else she could tell that she had changed her mind.

Cousin Jem, I have something to tell you about my father. I think he needs to be in the Basilias. I think he should not come back from Idris after all. I think I need your help.

She took a deep breath. “I will also go. I must see Jem. Unless—” She turned to Lucie. “If you’d rather I go with you to Chiswick—”

“Nonsense,” Lucie said, sympathy in her eyes. “All we’re doing is fetching a plant, and I’m familiar with the house and the grounds—not,” she added hastily as James looked dark, “because I’ve lurked about or spied on that property at all, because of course I haven’t.”

“You and Thomas can take my carriage,” said Matthew. “It is downstairs.”

“And the rest of us can take a hansom cab,” said Cordelia. “Where is the nearest entrance to the Silent City?”

“In Highgate Cemetery,” said James, reaching for his weapons belt as the others caught up gear jackets, belts, and blades. “It’s a good distance. We’ll have to hurry—there’s no time to waste.”

* * *

There was little to slow Cordelia and the others down until they reached Highgate, where the narrow streets were snarled up with evening traffic. The driver of the hansom cab, refusing to brave the bottleneck, deposited them in front of a pub on Salisbury Road.

James asked Cordelia and Matthew to wait while he went to search for the entrance to the Silent City. It often moved about within the cemetery, he had told Cordelia in the carriage, and could be found in various locations depending on the day.

Matthew gave