The Lost Book of the White (The Eldest Curses #2) - Cassandra Clare Page 0,105
us more, by the way,” Alec said to him. “Any more than we would have trusted you with all of our secrets after such a short time.” He sighed. “It’s just… it’s getting worse, among Shadowhunters. Less and less trust. More and more secrets. I don’t know how far the system can bend,” he added, almost to himself, “before it breaks.”
Jace turned up a surprisingly decent horn bow, with curved, double-bent ears, and a quiver of arrows. He offered it to Alec, who took it but said, “I’m going to give this to Simon. I’ve got Black Impermanence, after all.”
They headed back down the transept toward the nave, their feet echoing on the stone floor. Magnus broke the silence unexpectedly, his voice low and steady. “My father is a Prince of Hell, Asmodeus,” he said to Tian.
Tian stopped walking and blinked at him.
“It’s just something I think you should know,” Magnus said. “Before we go into battle with Sammael. He’s mentioned me being an eldest curse a few times. And Jem said Shinyun was after Tessa because she was an eldest curse. It makes me think it matters to them, who my father is.”
“Oh,” said Tian. He thought about this for a moment. “What does that mean for our plans?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” Magnus said. “Maybe nothing. Maybe Sammael thinks there’s some power he can extract from me. Or maybe he thinks he’s some kind of uncle to me. I just—like I said, I thought you should know.”
He started walking again, and after a brief hesitation, the rest of them did too. Alec saw Jace and Clary exchange troubled looks.
“That’s terrible,” said Tian. “I mean, for you.”
Magnus looked at him with surprise.
“You never asked to have a Prince of Hell as your father,” Tian said. “And now it probably means you’ll have Greater Demons and Princes of Hell bothering you… well, forever.”
“Regularly,” agreed Magnus.
“What can you do about it?” Tian said.
“Nothing,” said Magnus. “Live my life. Protect my family.”
“Be protected by your family,” Alec put in.
“And friends,” added Clary.
They walked in silence for another moment. “Thank you,” said Tian. “For deciding you trust me enough to tell me. I will tell no one.”
They turned toward the apse, where Simon was gazing out one of the windows at the nothingness outside. Isabelle was at the other end of the room.
“It’s up to you to decide if you need to tell anyone,” said Magnus. “To decide who you would trust. That’s how trust works.” He paused. “Also, Jem knows and would be happy to answer any questions about it. He’s got some experience in this area.”
As they approached the apse, it was obvious that Isabelle was not happy. She was watching Simon from across the room, her brow knitted in worry. Her arms were folded tightly over her chest.
“Izzy?” Clary called.
Alec wanted to go to Isabelle, his instincts for protecting his sister kicking in, but he was still awkwardly holding the bow and arrows he’d found, so he went to give them to Simon first. Jace went with him, for which Alec was grateful. Magnus and Tian hung back uncertainly.
“Simon,” Alec offered as they approached. “I found you a bow.”
“Great,” said Simon, without turning around. “A souvenir. Let’s go home.”
Alec and Jace traded looks. Jace spoke first. “What are you talking about, Simon?”
“I want to go home,” said Simon. “You should want to go home too.”
“Of course we want to go home,” said Alec cautiously. “But we can’t go yet. Sammael still has the Book of the White, and we need to—”
“We’re all back together,” Simon said dully. “We’re all safe, for the moment. There’s no reason to stay here.”
“We don’t have a way back,” said Alec. “We’ll need to find one.”
“So let’s find one,” said Simon in that same flat tone. “That should be the plan. Find a way to leave. Then leave.” He looked up at Jace hopefully. “Come back with reinforcements. You love reinforcements.”
“Magnus is still in danger,” Alec said. “We have to figure out how to deal with the Svefnthorn.”
“Well,” said Simon, “maybe it would be easier to find a solution somewhere other than literally in Hell.”
Clary was walking over with Isabelle. She looked wary. “Simon,” she said. “This isn’t like you.”
“This isn’t even your first trip to a hell dimension,” Jace pointed out.
Simon turned around now, and Alec had expected to see tears, given the tone of Simon’s voice. But there were no tears. Instead Simon’s face burned with barely contained rage.