The Lost Book of the White (The Eldest Curses #2) - Cassandra Clare Page 0,42
me,” said Magnus, but the deep sadness in Jem’s eyes plucked at his heart. “Look—I can think of a way I could help you hold a wedding, safely, with everyone you want there. When we make it out of this whole situation, I’ll show you.”
“Thank you,” said Jem. He caught at Magnus’s hand. “Thank you. I’ll do whatever I can to help you with the Shinyun problem. When we learned from the Labyrinth that she was in Shanghai, I came here to see if the Institute had seen anything. They hadn’t, but then you showed up. I’ve been here only a few more days than you.”
“Well,” said Magnus, “what have you found out?”
Jem sighed. “That Portals aren’t working.”
Magnus said, very quietly, “Shinyun is working on behalf of Sammael. Sammael Sammael,” he added significantly.
Jem’s eyebrows went up. “Well, that’s not a name you hear every day. Since Earth isn’t currently in an apocalyptic demon war, I assume he’s not actually here.”
“I assume that too, but I don’t know how Shinyun has been communicating with him, or where he is. Or what form he’s in, for that matter.” Magnus thought. “If it makes you feel any better, I don’t think Sammael has any interest in Tessa. Shinyun told me that she hasn’t even told Sammael about me being part of this.”
Jem considered this. “It doesn’t make me feel all that much better.” He sighed. “I guess it was inevitable. We both know Princes of Hell can’t really be killed. They just go away and then come back eventually. It’s been a thousand years; it’s surprising it took this long.”
Magnus laughed. “You know, the funny thing is, he just missed Lilith by a bit.”
Tian appeared from around the corner in the courtyard beyond, where the girl was practicing. He was in his distinctive burgundy gear, with the silver lines of his rope dart in loops around his body. He leaned down to talk with the girl.
“I should find Alec,” Magnus said. “Do you know where the others are?”
“The coach house, I should think,” said Jem. “They were freshening up—”
He stopped as an older woman with long gray hair in two braids appeared from the house and stared them down. She was holding a wooden spoon the size of a longsword and a bowl twice the size of Magnus’s head. On each of her upper arms was a gigantic Balance rune.
There were also runes on the spoon.
“Mother Yun,” said Jem mildly. “Tian’s grandmother.”
“Your friends are sitting at the table for dinner,” apparently-Mother-Yun snapped at Jem in Mandarin. “Which is more than I can say for you. Or her.” She waved the spoon at the training girl. “LIQIN!” she hollered at the top of her lungs. “Come and eat, girl! You too, xiao Tian.”
The girl literally stopped her leg in the air mid-kick and slowly lowered it. She turned and saw that Magnus and Jem had been watching her, and suddenly became self-conscious. “That’s another Ke cousin,” Jem said. “Liqin. Tian’s kind of an older brother to her, since he’s an only child.”
The girl, with the same serious-minded expression that Tian seemed to default to, nodded to Jem and hurried past to heed Mother Yun’s warning.
“Hi, Liqin,” Magnus said, waving.
The girl stopped and rolled her eyes. “It’s Laura, actually. I’m from Melbourne. Auntie Yun won’t call me anything but my Chinese name, even though she speaks English perfectly well.” These last two words were directed somewhat more pointedly in the direction of their target.
“Hi, Laura,” said Magnus, waving again.
She blushed and ducked her head, heading in for food.
“And you,” Yun said to Jem, still in Mandarin. “Jian. You come in at once too. With your friend.”
“Yun, mei mei,” Jem said, drawing himself up to his full height and bearing. Magnus smiled to hear Jem address Yun as little sister: technically, she was younger than Jem, though she looked decades older. “I am your great-great-uncle-cousin, or something like that, and I will not be spoken to in that manner. But yes, Magnus,” he added under his breath, “let’s go. You don’t want to see her get mad.”
* * *
IT HAD TAKEN ALL OF Alec’s willpower to not spend his whole time at Ke House watching Magnus sleep. Once they had found that Brother Zachariah—now just Jem Carstairs—was in residence, they had let him examine Magnus, and he proclaimed that, for the moment, what Magnus needed most was rest. So Alec had let him sleep.
He’d felt awkward, at first, in these strangers’ home, without Magnus to be