Chain of Thorns (The Last Hours, #3)

“You only know this because you have associated with low and resentful sorts of people like Augustus Pounceby,” Cordelia pointed out.

“True,” Alastair said, “but if not for my vile friends of yesteryear, I would not have the keen and penetrating insights into their thoughts that I do now. The point is, never underestimate people’s desire to make trouble if they think they might get something out of it.”

Cordelia sighed, brushing crumbs from her lap. “Well, I do hope you’re wrong.”

Alastair was not wrong. By twenty minutes into the meeting, with Bridgestock and Charlotte glaring at one another and the whole Enclave in an uproar, Cordelia had to admit that he might have downplayed things.

The meeting was held in the chapel, which already made Cordelia feel grim. Up on the altar stood Bridgestock, Charlotte, and Will. The Enclave filled the pews: Cordelia had scanned the room for her friends the moment they arrived, and cast as reassuring a glance as she could at Lucie and James, who sat in the front pew with Tessa and Jesse. Everyone else was there was well, even Anna, looking stern and furious between her father and Ari. (Cecily, it was to be presumed, was in the infirmary with Alexander.)

“The events in Cornwall have obviously disturbed me greatly,” Bridgestock declaimed, “and in combination with the claims of Tatiana Blackthorn, I must say that the failure to protect us from Belial has greatly shaken my trust in the Herondales’ leadership.” He cast a dark glance at Will. “Now, I am not necessarily saying that you are in league with demons,” said Bridgestock.

“What a compliment,” said Will coldly.

“But,” the Inquisitor went on smoothly, “Tatiana Blackthorn certainly told one truth—that Belial is Tessa’s father. A truth that has been concealed from all of us, all these years. Well,” he added with a sarcastic nod at Charlotte, “from most of us.”

“This was all settled years ago,” Charlotte said. “Tessa is a Shadowhunter in good standing, in addition to being a warlock. It is a situation unique to her, caused by a mundane with a specific ill intent, unlikely to ever be repeated. The identity of the demon who fathered her was not known to anyone, even to Tessa, until recently. And regardless, we do not believe warlocks to be in league with their demon parents.”

“With all due respect,” said Bridgestock, “most warlocks’ demon parent is an anonymous, minor demon, not one of the Nine Princes. Most Shadowhunters have never faced a Prince of Hell. But I have,” he thundered, which made Cordelia feel cross. He hadn’t so much faced Belial, had he, as passed out in his presence. “I cannot tell you of the depth of his vile evil. To think he is the parent of Tessa Herondale makes me shudder.”

“I remember these discussions,” said Charlotte. “Twenty-five years ago. I was there. So were you, Maurice. The ravings of Tatiana Blackthorn, who is by her own admission an ally of Belial, should not disinter this debate from its long-ago burial.”

After a moment of silence, Eunice Pounceby piped up, the flowers on her hat trembling with her agitation. “Perhaps they shouldn’t, Charlotte. But… they do.”

“What are you saying, Eunice?” Tessa asked. Though Cordelia knew her real age, Tessa still looked only about twenty. She was dressed plainly, her hands folded in front of her. Cordelia felt the sort of desperate pity for her she would have felt for a girl her own age, staring down the barrel of the Enclave’s anger.

“What Eunice is saying,” said Martin Wentworth, “is that while it may be true that we have all known Mrs. Herondale to be a warlock, for many years now, the fact that her demon parent is a Prince of Hell, and that you have all known and concealed it—well, it might be within the letter of the Law, but it does not inspire trust.”

A murmur went through the crowd. Bridgestock said, “It seems the London Enclave has lost faith in the Herondales to run our Institute. Indeed, had they but spoken earlier, I might not bear now the terrible branded sigil upon my arm.” He scowled.

“You do not speak for the Enclave,” said Esme Hardcastle unexpectedly. “Perhaps Tessa did know that her father was Belial. Why would she tell anyone, when the result would be this—this tribunal?”

To Cordelia’s surprise, Charles rose to his feet. “This is not a tribunal,” he said. His face looked strained, as if some unseen force were pulling his skin too tight. “This is a meeting we are holding to decide what our next steps will be.”

“We?” said Will. He was looking at Charles with a sort of hurt bewilderment—was Charles trying to be helpful? Cordelia wondered herself.… But the look on Charles’s face was so awful.

And he had not stopped speaking. He turned to look around the room, his mouth a hard line. “I’m the only one of my family who will have the courage to say it,” he said. “But the Inquisitor is right.”

Cordelia’s gaze shot to Matthew. His eyes were squeezed tight, as though he were trying to shut out everything around him. Henry, beside him, looked as if he were going to be sick. Charlotte stood motionless, but the effort it took her was clear.

“I have known the Herondales all my life,” Charles said. “But the revelation of this terrible secret has shaken us all. I wish to assure you all, I was not made aware of it, even if my mother knew. I believe the Herondales had a duty to share it, and that my mother had the same duty. My loyalty to family cannot account for this unconscionable omission.”

There was a terrible silence. Cordelia stared at Charles. What was he doing? Was he truly so loathsome that he would betray his own family? She glanced over at Alastair, who she expected to be glowing with rage, but he wasn’t even looking at Charles. He was looking across the room at Thomas, who sat with his fists clenched at his sides, as if he were barely holding himself back from lunging at Charles.

“Charles,” Gideon said wearily. “You speak to protect your own ambition, though the Angel knows what has so corrupted your heart. There is no evidence whatsoever to indicate any alliance between the Herondales and Belial, though you are trying to imply otherwise—”

“I am not saying that,” Charles snapped.

“But you are implying it,” Gideon said. “It is a cynical ploy. At a time when the Enclave must come together, to defeat the threat Belial still poses, you are trying to divide us.”

“He speaks for those who did not know until yesterday,” Bridgestock cried, “that the Institute was inhabited by the offspring of a Prince of Hell! Has he truly never made an overture, never reached out to his blood—”

James shot to his feet. He looked as he did when he held his pistol in his hand, an avenging angel, with eyes like chips of gold. “If he were to reach out,” he snarled, “we would refuse him.”