City of Fallen Angels

“Camille Belcourt, you stand accused of the murder of humans,” Maryse intoned. “And of the murder of Shadowhunters. You will be taken to the Sanctuary, where you will be questioned. The sentence for the murder of Shadowhunters is death, but it is possible that if you cooperate with us, your life will be spared. Do you understand?” asked Maryse.

Camille tossed her head defiantly. “There is only one man I will answer to,” she said. “If you do not bring him to me, I will tell you nothing. You can kill me, but I will tell you nothing.”

“Very well,” said Maryse. “What man is that?”

Camille bared her teeth. “Magnus Bane.”

“Magnus Bane?” Maryse looked flabbergasted. “The High Warlock of Brooklyn? Why do you want to talk to him?”

“I will answer to him,” Camille said again. “Or I will answer to no one.”

And that was that. She said not another word. As she was dragged away by Shadowhunters, Simon watched her go. He did not feel, as he had thought he would, triumphant. He felt hollow, and strangely sick to his stomach. He looked down at the bodies of the slain servants; he hadn’t liked them much either, but they hadn’t asked to be what they were, not really. In a way, maybe neither had Camille. But she was a monster to Nephilim anyway. And maybe not just because she had killed Shadowhunters; maybe there was no way, really, for them to think of her as anything else.

Camille had been pushed through the Portal; Jace stood on the other side of it, gesturing impatiently for Simon to follow. “Are you coming or not?” he called.

Whatever else you might say, whatever lies you tell, you hate our kind.

“Coming,” Simon said, and moved reluctantly forward.





12

SANCTUARY


“What do you think Camille wants to see Magnus for?” Simon asked.

He and Jace were standing against the back wall of the Sanctuary, which was a massive room attached to the main body of the Institute through a narrow passageway. It wasn’t part of the Institute per se; it had been left deliberately unconsecrated in order that it might be used as a holding place for demons and vampires. Sanctuaries, Jace had informed Simon, had gone out of fashion somewhat since Projecting had been invented, but every once in a while they found a use for theirs. Apparently, this was one of those times.

It was a big room, stone-bound and pillared, with an equally stone-bound entryway beyond a wide set of double doors; the entryway led to the corridor connecting the room to the Institute. Huge gouges in the stone floor indicated that whatever had been caged here over the years had been pretty nasty—and big. Simon couldn’t help wondering how many enormous rooms full of pillars he was going to have to spend time in. Camille was standing against one of the pillars, her arms behind her, guarded on either side by Shadowhunter warriors. Maryse was pacing back and forth, occasionally conferring with Kadir, clearly trying to sort out some kind of plan. There were no windows in the room, for obvious reasons, but witchlight torches burned everywhere, giving the whole scene a peculiar whitish cast.

“I don’t know,” Jace said. “Maybe she wants fashion tips.”

“Ha,” Simon said. “Who’s that guy, with your mother? He looks familiar.”

“That’s Kadir,” said Jace. “You probably met his brother. Malik. He died in the attack on Valentine’s ship. Kadir’s the second most important person in the Conclave, after my mom. She relies on him a lot.”

As Simon watched, Kadir pulled Camille’s arms behind her back, so they circled the pillar, and chained them at her wrists. The vampire gave a little scream.

“Blessed metal,” said Jace without a flicker of emotion. “It burns them.”

Them, Simon thought. You mean “you.” I’m just like her. I’m not different just because you know me.

Camille was whimpering. Kadir stood back, his face impassive. Runes, dark against his dark skin, twined the entirety of his arms and throat. He turned to say something to Maryse; Simon caught the words “Magnus” and “fire-message.”

“Magnus again,” said Simon. “But isn’t he traveling?”

“Magnus and Camille are both really old,” said Jace. “I suppose it’s not that odd that they know each other.” He shrugged, seemingly uninterested in the topic. “Anyway, I’m pretty sure they’re going to wind up summoning Magnus back here. Maryse wants information, and she wants it bad. She knows Camille wasn’t killing those Shadowhunters just for blood. There are easier ways to get blood.”

Simon thought fleetingly of Maureen, and felt sick. “Well,” he said, trying to sound unconcerned. “I guess that means Alec will be back. So that’s good, right?”

“Sure.” Jace’s voice sounded lifeless. He didn’t look all that great either; the whitish light in the room cast the angles of his cheekbones into a new and sharper relief, showing that he’d lost weight. His fingernails were bitten down to bloody stumps, and there were dark shadows under his eyes.