Chain of Thorns (The Last Hours, #3)

Something lunged into Matthew, knocking him out of the way. The spear jammed into the wall just behind where he’d been standing, sending chips of stone flying as he and Alastair rolled across the abbey floor.

Alastair. Alastair had saved Matthew’s life. Thomas only had a moment to take that in before he spun to hiss at Cordelia, “Run—get to James—”

The knights who had torn free of their tombs were lurching toward them, their footsteps ringing through the cathedral. Thomas thought he heard distant laughter. Belial.

Cordelia stood very still for a moment. Her gaze swept over Thomas, over Matthew—rising now and lifting his sword once more—and finally over Alastair, who was back on his feet. It seemed as if she were trying to memorize all of them, as if she were praying she could hold this image in her head, and never forget it.

“Go,” Alastair rasped, his eyes fixed on his sister. He was bleeding from a cut at his temple. “Layla. Go.”

Cordelia ran.



* * *



Even though more Shadowhunters had arrived to join the battle in front of the abbey, Lucie could tell that the Nephilim were struggling against the Watchers.

She had not thought it would take so long to get to the gatehouse. She knew now how one could kill a Watcher, but she had no time to try. She had to reach Jesse. She used her small size as an advantage, slipping through the ranks of Nephilim, ducking low to scuttle across the courtyard. When she could, she slashed with her axe at the Watchers’ feet and legs, making them stumble; she upended one that was in the middle of battling with Eugenia, leaving Eugenia staring around in surprise.

Many of the Nephilim she passed were strangers, and she could not help but feel a pang at not seeing her parents. At the same time, wasn’t it better that they were somewhere else, out of danger? She knew they would hurry here as soon as they could. She hoped the battle would have ended by then. That she could help it end.

But to do that, she needed to reach Jesse.

At last, she burst out from the main clutch of the fighting, and found herself at the gatehouse. At first she saw neither Grace nor Jesse, just a swath of blackened pavement and a glimpse of the green Dean’s Yard through the main archway.

She felt a moment of fear—had something happened to Jesse, to Grace? Had they moved elsewhere in the battle, and now she would have to search for them, when there was so little time?

And then she heard Jesse’s voice. “Lucie, look out!” he called, and as she whirled, she realized he was behind her, and so was a Watcher, black staff in hand. She reached for her axe, but Jesse had his sword out and was harrying the Watcher back. Something tore past the Watcher and exploded behind it, sending up licks of flame that caught the hem of its robe.

Lucie glanced up to see Grace clinging to a cornice along the gatehouse wall. She was still holding her bag, and had something clutched in her other hand—another explosive, no doubt. Her gaze was fixed on Jesse, who had taken advantage of the Watcher’s distraction to slice away its hood; he spun, lashed out with the sword, and caught it across the back of the neck.

The Watcher fell forward like a tree uprooted in a storm, making no attempt to cushion its fall. As its body began to spasm, the Chimera demon wriggled free through an eye socket—Lucie shuddered—and rotated its head swiftly, seeking a hiding place.

Lucie brought her axe down, slicing it in half. It made a sound like bone crunching underfoot, and vanished.

“Lucie.” Jesse caught her with his free arm, swinging her hard against his body. She could feel the hammering beat of his heart. He was breathing hard; he smelled of sweat and blood and leather. Shadowhunter smells. She looked up at him—his face was cut and bruised, his green eyes stunned as he searched her face—

“Get under the gate,” Grace hissed from above. “You can’t just stand around ogling each other during a battle—”

Jesse blinked as if snapped out of a dream. “That’s good advice,” he noted.

Lucie could only agree. She took hold of Jesse’s arm and half dragged him into the shadows of the gateway: it was deep, almost a tunnel leading through to the Dean’s Yard on the other side.

“Lucie.” Jesse slammed his bloody sword into its scabbard and caught hold of her. He pulled her close, his back against the stone wall. She tossed her axe aside, taking hold of his gear jacket, clinging to him tightly. “I thought you were gone forever. I thought I’d lost you.”

It seemed so long ago now, the night she’d left him, placing the folded note under his pillow. “I know,” she whispered, wanting to lay her head against his chest. Wanting to touch his cheek, to tell him she hadn’t spent a moment since without thinking of him, of getting back to him. But there was no time. “I know, and I’m sorry. But Jesse—I need you to hold me.”

“I want to.” He brushed his lips against her hair. “I’m furious at you, and desperately glad to see you, and I want to hold you for hours, but it’s not safe—”

“Remember when I said I’d never seen the ghost of an Iron Sister or Silent Brother?” Lucie breathed. “That wherever they were voyaging, I’d never gone that far? Well, it was true I’ve never seen them. But I’ve heard them. I realize that now.”

“Heard them? What—?”

“Every time I was with you, every time I touched you and I saw that darkness and heard those cries—Malcolm was wrong, I think. I don’t believe being with you makes me closer to Belial, more vulnerable to him. I think because of what happened to you, it brings me closer to the other side. Where souls go, the ones who don’t linger here.”

Outside the archway, an explosive went off, scattering dirt and sending smoke drifting into their hiding space. Lucie’s stomach turned over; Grace could hold off the Watchers for only so long.

“Jesse. The sign I kept seeing—it wasn’t that it was Belial’s symbol; the symbol was holding them back, keeping them imprisoned—”

“Lucie,” he said quietly. “I don’t understand.”

“I know, and there’s no time to explain.” She pushed herself up on her toes, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Trust me, Jesse. Hold me. Please.”

He pulled her close. She gasped in relief, pressing herself against him. “Well,” he whispered against her hair, “if we’re going to do this—”

And then he was kissing her. She hadn’t expected it consciously, but it seemed her body had: she pushed up harder on her toes, her hand stroking the back of his neck, tasting dust and salt on his lips, and something sweet and hot beneath that. Her skin prickled with yearning, and then the surge of longing became a buzzing in her head. She felt the narrowing of her perception, darkness encroaching, tunneling her vision.