The Lost Book of the White (The Eldest Curses #2) - Cassandra Clare Page 0,119
had reached Magnus and, to his surprise, Ragnor, who looked subdued and embarrassed at the sight of Alec. For a moment Alec had worried that perhaps Magnus had been struck a third time by the thorn, that he was with Ragnor because, like Ragnor, he had been lost. But then, as he approached, Magnus and Ragnor began talking at the same time, and it was clear that Ragnor was out from under Sammael’s control, somehow.
Magnus explained quickly about the swords, that they had saved Ragnor, that they were now gone. When he finished, he hesitated and said, “Are you angry?”
“Of course I’m not angry that you used the swords to save Ragnor,” Alec said. “I’m a little angry that you didn’t tell me you were leaving and didn’t take me with you.”
“I didn’t want to wake you,” Magnus began, but Ragnor stopped him with a hand on his arm.
“Domestic squabbles later,” he said sharply. “Look.” He tilted his chin toward the church.
Human figures, distant and small, were tumbling end over end upward in the wind of Sammael’s windstorm, becoming visible to Alec as they cleared the walls of the cathedral. Sammael was gathering the Shadowhunters to him, he realized, drawing them up to join him in the fire-tinged sky. Jace, Clary, Simon, Isabelle, Tian… all of them identifiable more by the silhouettes they made with their weapons than anything else.
“We have to get to them,” Alec said.
“We may not have a choice,” said Magnus. And indeed, Alec felt the unpleasant hot wind lick at his body as well, wrap itself around his legs, tugging at him like insistent hands. “Hang on,” said Magnus, “I’m going to—”
The wind carried Alec up into the air, the horizon whirling around him in a dizzying rush. He had always wanted to be able to fly, but this was not at all how he’d imagined it. The currents of air swirled around him, spinning him like a top. He tried to reach for his seraph blade—it was thrust through his belt—but he couldn’t get a grip on the hilt.
Then movement stopped, and while it took Alec a moment to reorient, he realized that he hung suspended in the air. The wind continued to whip around him, but he at least was no longer at its mercy.
He looked around and realized that Magnus and Ragnor were still with him, or at least nearby. They also floated in the air; Magnus’s hands were raised, his arms tensed, and crimson-white light poured from the centers of his palms. In the distance, the other Shadowhunters still tumbled around and around like clothes in a dryer; Alec could tell it was taking all Magnus’s strength to maintain his and Alec’s stability.
Shinyun hovered nearby, watching but not engaging. Alec wondered why. Surely they were helpless. Surely if Sammael wanted them eliminated, now would be the time.…
He turned again to look at Magnus. His worry must have shown, because Magnus made a series of head movements that Alec interpreted as conveying that he was doing his best but that he couldn’t reach the others with his magic from here.
Sammael was drifting over toward them, his hands folded in a mockery of prayer. He seemed totally unaffected by the wind, presumably because he was causing it.
Stupid, Alec was thinking. Our plan was so stupid. Baiting Sammael into fighting them would have been a terrible idea. He may have looked like a mild-mannered mundane, he may have talked like a game show host, but he was—of course—a supremely powerful demon. They were outmatched, Alec thought, and only Sammael’s lack of interest in killing them had kept them alive so far. It was a chilling thought.
“Hey!” Sammael said with a wave, as he got closer to them. “How’s everybody doing over here?”
Before anyone could answer—not that Alec had any idea how to answer—Sammael looked at Ragnor and jerked back in an exaggerated performance of surprise.
“Holy cats!” he exclaimed. “The thorn’s gone. How did you pull off that little trick?” he said to Magnus. “Ragnor,” he went on, “didn’t we have some good times? Weren’t you looking forward to ruling the world with me? At least a little? Come on, you wanted to a little bit.”
Ragnor looked unimpressed. “You kept me in a cage and stabbed me several times. I was hardly a willing recruit.”
“To be fair,” said Sammael, “Shinyun kept you in the cage.”
He turned back to Magnus. “I hope you aren’t planning to try to remove the thorn from Shinyun, too.”