The Lost Book of the White (The Eldest Curses #2) - Cassandra Clare Page 0,80

of Yanluo. It’s at the very deepest point of Diyu, the lowest part of Hell.”

“Of course it is,” said Clary, sighing.

“Well, perhaps not the deepest. Below the Final Court is Avici.” Tian shuddered. “It is the one place in Diyu that terrifies me. Only the worst of sinners are brought there. Those who have committed one of the Great Offenses. Killing an angel, or a Buddha, or one’s own parent. They are judged and sent to Avici.”

It was probably Magnus’s imagination, but it seemed like Tian was looking straight at him. Alec was definitely looking straight at him, worry on his face. He knew well that Magnus had struck down his own stepfather—in self-defense, certainly, as he had been trying to kill Magnus, but Magnus didn’t know if Diyu cared about technicalities.

“How do we get there?” Magnus said. “The Final Court, I mean, not Avici.”

“Diyu is a maze of tens of thousands of hells,” said Tian. “If we try to find our way there through all those abandoned chambers, it could take the rest of our lives. But…” He trailed off, looking thoughtful.

“What?” said Alec.

“North of Shanghai,” said Tian, “south of Beijing, in Shandong Province, is Tai Shan—Mount Tai,” he clarified. “Thousands of years ago, it was a place of the dead. Now it’s a tourist attraction, but here in Diyu is its darkened mirror, a deep pit receding into shadow. I saw it on my return from the Bank of Sorrows. A road led down to it. I don’t know how far it would be, but perhaps deep enough to reach the shadow of Shanghai—”

“Well, it sounds better than wandering through a maze of torture chambers,” said Clary.

“Exactly,” said Tian with a smile.

They all looked at Magnus, who threw up his hands.

“I don’t have any better ideas,” he said. “I’m sorry you’ve all followed me into Hell again.”

Clary snorted. “It’s easier the second time.”

“It’s what we do,” said Jace. He went to retrieve his spear from where he’d left it leaning against the wall. “Lead the way.”

Alec didn’t look happy, but he nodded. “Let’s go.”

“I suggest we put on some Marks,” Tian said. “We will almost certainly be getting into some fights.”

“Marks work in Diyu?” Alec said, surprised.

“They do,” Tian confirmed, and Jace shrugged and took out his stele. Magnus had grown used to a lot of things about spending time with Shadowhunters, but the five solid minutes of drawing on one another that preceded every battle continued to be just a little bit funny to him every time.

“We leave by that side door,” Tian added, gesturing, and to Magnus he said, “Your friends are very casual about going where almost no living person has ever been.”

“Yeah,” said Magnus, “they’ve been through some stuff.”

* * *

THE PATH TOOK THEM OUT of the Second Court and into a walled passage. All of Magnus’s instincts had told him they were deep underground by this point, but the passage was lined at regular intervals with tall windows that looked out on a vast wasteland far below. The windows had once been elaborate carvings, with faces leering above them, but much of this had eroded away and crumbled.

As Tian, Jace, and Clary went ahead, Magnus hung back to join Alec. “You don’t like it,” he said. “The plan, I mean. Too vague?”

“No. I mean, it’s vague, but I agree we should get to where the action is. And where the Book of the White is. If we can get it away from Ragnor and the others, we can maybe wreck Sammael’s plan.”

“Or at least ruin his day. You think he’s using the Book to figure out how to break through from Diyu to Earth?” said Magnus. It was the same thought he’d had.

Alec nodded.

“Are you angry with me?” said Magnus.

“What?” Alec said sharply.

Magnus stopped walking. “It’s just—you’re all here because of me. If I hadn’t lost the Book of the White… if I hadn’t been caught by surprise by Ragnor…”

Alec snorted. “If I hadn’t been in the shower.”

“It’s not the same,” Magnus said. “I shouldn’t have kept the Book in Max’s room. I should’ve been more careful about the wards on the apartment.”

“Magnus,” Alec said, and he put his hand on Magnus’s cheek. He looked into Magnus’s eyes, and feeling the strange power of the thorn bubbling within him, Magnus wondered what he saw there. “Given that one of the minions of the Father of Demons was holding our kid, and that kid ended up safe in bed at the end of it,