The Lost Book of the White (The Eldest Curses #2) - Cassandra Clare Page 0,88
to speak. “Why? You owe us that much, at least.” He looked at Sammael, barely keeping his fury in check. “He does.”
Sammael put up his hands. “No, no, go ahead, this part is quite enjoyable for me as well.”
Alec didn’t care. “Well?” he demanded of Tian.
Tian took a breath. “Do you know what it’s like,” he said, his voice ragged, “for your love to be illegal?”
Alec threw up his hands in exasperation. “Tian. Yes!”
“Obviously yes,” put in Jace. “Big-time.”
“No,” said Tian, “you can live with the Downworlder you love, Alec. And you,” he said to Jace, “well, things worked out for you, which is fine, I guess. Otherwise—look, that doesn’t matter.”
“Ha,” said Jace, with the air of one who had won an argument.
Tian turned back to Alec. “You can adopt a child with the Downworlder you love. I, on the other hand, am not allowed to see the Downworlder I love, without breaking the Law. And yes, I know, the Law is hard. It’s too hard. It’s become so hard and brittle that it has begun to break.”
“That’s no excuse—” began Alec.
“Have you looked at the Clave lately?” Tian said, bitterness in his voice. “We are a house divided. A house broken into pieces. There are the ones like you, like me, who would prefer peace, who would prefer to work with all of Downworld, to strengthen all of us. Who would put aside the superstitions and the bigotries of our ancestors.”
“Jem Carstairs is one of your ancestors,” said Magnus quietly. “A man of neither superstition nor bigotry.”
“And the others,” Tian went on. “The paranoid. The suspicious. The ones who want the Shadowhunters to dominate, to crush the rest of Downworld under our rule. And especially the ones who call themselves the Cohort.”
“The Cohort is just a small group of crazy people,” said Jace, incredulous.
“It may be only a few who will identify themselves as such, for now,” said Tian, “but there are far more than you might think who agree with them, when they think only friends are there to hear them speak.”
“So you ally with a Prince of Hell?” said Alec.
Every time someone spoke, Sammael would pull an exaggerated face of shock and amazement. He seemed riveted. Alec wished he would stop, but he didn’t think it would go well if he asked.
“The war is coming,” said Tian, “no matter what I do. The fight between Sammael and the world. And he will find the Shadowhunters divided, scattered, broken on the lies and secrets they keep from one another. They will either fall—and the world will fall—or they will succeed, and the world will be saved. But at least I will be safe, and Jinfeng with me.”
“That’s his girlfriend,” stage-whispered Sammael.
“We know,” Clary said.
“And if we win?” demanded Jace. “The Clave is just going to take you back? A traitor who supported their enemy?”
“I like to think of myself as more than just an enemy,” Sammael said thoughtfully. “An archenemy at the very least. Perhaps even a nemesis?”
Tian looked stubborn. “I would hope for the Clave’s mercy. I would never hope for Sammael’s.”
“My God,” Clary said. “I think that’s the most selfish thing I’ve heard in my life.”
“Please,” murmured Sammael, “not the G-word.” Clary rolled her eyes.
“I’ve known your family for many generations now,” Magnus said quietly. “The Ke family have always been among the most honorable, generous, noble Shadowhunters I have known. They would be very disappointed in you, Tian. Jem would be very disappointed in you.”
Tian looked up at Magnus, and for the first time Alec saw a glint of defiance in his eye. “But it’s noble to sacrifice for love, isn’t it? I’ve been taught my whole life that that is noble. To sacrifice everything.” He looked at Alec. “That is what I have done. Sacrificed everything for love.”
Alec didn’t know what to say. He didn’t have to speak, though, as Magnus said, loudly, “That… is bullshit, Ke Yi Tian.”
Tian looked taken aback. Even Sammael looked a little taken aback.
Magnus’s magic flared, red and roiling and furious, shining from his chest and from his hands. He didn’t cast any spell, though, just advanced on Tian, a chemical fire raging in his gold-green eyes.
“You are not just some mundane,” he said, his voice dangerously quiet. “You are a Shadowhunter. You have a duty. A responsibility. You have a high and holy purpose, do you understand me?”
He paused like he was waiting for an answer. Tian opened his mouth after a moment, and Magnus immediately spoke again.