Queen of Air and Darkness (The Dark Artifices #3)

“People used to say that the Mortal Sword could kill Sebastian,” said Diana, her gaze sharp. “But that’s not true, is it? I was at the last battle of Idris. I saw Isabelle Lightwood take up the Mortal Sword and deal Sebastian an incredible blow. He wasn’t even nicked. He struck her down instead.”

“Ave atque vale, Isabelle Lightwood.” Tessa closed her eyes. “You have to understand. By then the invulnerability granted to Sebastian by Lilith had grown so strong no warrior of this earth could slay him. But there is something most do not know. Even Sebastian does not know it.” She opened her eyes. “He is tied to Thule, and Thule to him. A warrior of this world cannot slay him with the Sword. But the Silent Brothers knew that did not hold true for a warrior who was not of Thule. They locked the Sword away, hoping for a day when a warrior would arrive from Heaven and end Sebastian’s reign.”

For a long moment, she gazed intently at Emma and Julian.

“We’re not from Heaven,” Emma said. “Despite what some bad pickup lines I’ve heard over the years might have you believe.”

“Seems like Heaven compared to here,” said Diana.

“We can’t wait forever to be rescued by angels,” Tessa said. “This is a gift, you being here.”

“Let’s be clear.” Julian took a bite of bread. His face was expressionless but Emma could read his eyes, knew the gears were whirling in his brain. “You’re asking us to kill Sebastian.”

“I have to ask,” Tessa said. “I have to make Jem’s sacrifice mean something.”

“In our world,” Julian said, “the bond between Jace and Sebastian meant that killing Jace would destroy Sebastian, and the other way around as well. If we—”

Tessa shook her head. “There was a point at which that was true here, when Sebastian believed it protected him from the Clave. There is no Clave now, nor does that aspect of their bond remain.”

“I get it,” said Emma. “But with how far gone this world is—would just killing Sebastian make that much of a difference?”

Tessa leaned back in her chair. “In your world, what happened when Sebastian died?”

“It was the end of the Endarkened,” Emma said, though she had a feeling Tessa already knew that.

“That would give us a fighting chance,” Tessa said. “Sebastian can’t do everything himself. He leaves most of the dirty work to the Endarkened and the Forsworn.” She glanced at Diana. “I know you agree.”

“Maybe,” Diana said. “But going after Sebastian seems like a suicide mission.”

“I wouldn’t ask if there were any other choices,” Tessa said quietly. She turned to Emma and Julian. “As you’ve requested, I will break the seal and open the Silent City for you. And I will do whatever I can to get you home. All I ask is that if you get a chance, an opening—you kill Sebastian.”

Emma looked across the table at Julian. In his clear blue-green eyes she could see both his desire to agree to what Tessa was asking and his fear that it would put her, Emma, in danger.

“I know Thule isn’t your world, but it’s only a breath away,” Tessa said. “If I could save the Jem who lives in your world, I would. And now you have a chance to save your sister here.”

In Tessa’s voice, Emma heard that she understood that the Livvy in their world was dead.

“She is safe in the Bradbury, but for how long? How safe are any of us? Any safety is temporary as long as Sebastian lives.”

Ignoring Church’s indignant meow, Emma reached across the table and put her hand over Julian’s. Don’t fear for me, parabatai, she thought. This is a chance for both of us. For you to save Livvy as you could not in our world, and for me to avenge my parents, as I could not either.

“We’ll do it,” she said, and Julian’s eyes blazed like tinder set alight. “Of course we will. Just tell us what we have to do.”

*

As they climbed onto the cycles, Diana warned them they’d be driving back on surface streets, not flying—the closer it got to nightfall, she said, the more full the skies were of demons. Even the vampires stayed out of the air after dark.

Emma was surprised to discover Diana had woken them up later in the day than she’d thought. The nuances of morning light, afternoon light, and evening light were lost here: There was only the dying sun and the blood moon. As their motorcycles raced along the Pacific Coast Highway, the moon rose sluggishly, barely illuminating the road ahead. Instead of sparkling on top of the waves, the moonlight turned the water an even more poisonous color—no longer Blackthorn blue-green, but ashy black.

Emma was glad for the warmth of Julian’s arms around her as they turned off the highway and onto Wilshire. To be this close to all that was ruined was painful. She knew these streets. She had been to this supermarket to pick up cereal for Tavvy: It was a ruin of smashed wood and broken beams now, where a few unsworn humans huddled around watch fires, their faces haggard with desperation and hunger. And there had been a candy store on this corner, where now a demon proprietor stood watch over rows of glass tanks in which drowned bodies floated. Every once in a while he would plunge a ladle into one of the tanks, pour some of the viscous water into a bowl, and sell it to a demonic passerby.

How long could Thule go on like this? Emma wondered as they rolled along the Miracle Mile. The tall office buildings here stood empty, their windows shattered. The streets were deserted. Humans were being hunted to extinction, and just like Raphael, she doubted Sebastian had another world full of fresh blood and meat up his sleeve. What happened when they were all gone? Did the demons turn on the Endarkened? On the vampires? Would they move on to another world, leaving Sebastian to rule over emptiness?

“Slow down,” Julian said in her ear, and she realized that while she’d been musing, they’d reached a crowded and well-lit section of street. “Checkpoint.”

She swore silently and pulled in behind Diana. The area was buzzing—Endarkened wandered up and down the street, and the bars and restaurants here were basically intact, some of them lit up blue and green and acid yellow. Emma could even hear atonal, wailing music.

There were black-and-white barriers up in front of them, blocking the road. A two-legged lizard demon with a circle of black spider’s eyes ringing its scaled head loped out of a small booth and over to Diana.

“I’m not letting some demon lick me,” muttered Emma. “It’s not happening.”

“I’m pretty sure it was just licking Cameron to make sure his tattoo was real.”

“Sure,” said Emma. “That’s its story.”

Diana turned around on her bike and gave them a tight, artificial grin. Emma’s heart started to beat faster. She didn’t like the look of that smile.

The lizard demon loped toward them. It was massive, at least nine feet tall and half again as wide. It seemed to be wearing a police uniform, though Emma had no idea where it had gotten one that would fit.

“The boss has been looking for you all day,” it slurred. Emma guessed its mouth wasn’t really shaped for human speech. “Where you been?”

“The boss?” Emma echoed.

Fortunately, the lizard was too stupid to be suspicious. “The Fallen Star,” it slurred. “Sebastian Morgenstern. He wants to talk to you both.”





20


THE HOURS ARE BREATHING


Sebastian wants to talk to us? Emma thought with horror, and then, with a duller pang of realization: It thinks we’re the Endarkened versions of ourselves. Well, that explained Diana’s expression.

Julian’s fingers gripped Emma’s arm tightly. He slid casually off the cycle. “Okay,” he said. “Where’s the boss at?”

The lizard demon drew a paper bag out of its breast pocket. The bag seemed to be full of wriggling spiders. It popped one into its mouth and chewed while Emma’s stomach lurched.

“In the old nightclub,” it said around a crunchy mouthful of spider, and pointed toward a black glass-and-steel low-slung building. A dull red carpet was spread out on the pavement in front of the entrance. “Go. I watch your motorcycle.”