Chain of Thorns (The Last Hours, #3)

They all looked toward the abbey. So he hadn’t imagined it, Jesse thought: there were Will and Tessa, helping Eugenia and Gideon pry the cathedral doors open. A crowd was gathering: Jesse saw Gabriel Lightwood there, and Charlotte Fairchild. They’d probably been told James and all his friends were inside the abbey, and were desperate to get inside.

“James,” Lucie whispered, her eyes widening. A moment later, despite her exhaustion, she’d taken off running toward the cathedral, Jesse and Grace following in her wake.



* * *



Lilith.

She was tall and cool and pale as a marble pillar, her long black hair falling past her waist. She wore a dress made of the feathers of owls, that moved with her as she moved, in shades of cream and brown and dark orange.

“My paladin,” she said, her voice deep with exultation. “You have truly worked wonders here.”

Cordelia could hear footsteps, and past Lilith she could see Anna and Ari rushing into the nave, slowing as they reached the High Altar and staring at what must have been a truly bizarre tableau—Matthew kneeling with a bloody James, Thomas and Alastair at the foot of the steps staring up at Lilith and Cordelia.

This was it, Cordelia thought calmly. The end of it. She would rid herself of Lilith now, or die in the attempt.

“I am not your paladin,” she said.

Lilith waved a lace-white hand dismissively. “Of course you are. And you have performed beyond my expectations. Belial is slain, and Edom liberated from his control. It is mine again. Of course,” she added, “your work is not quite done yet. You see, surely with the death of Belial, Asmodeus will come to lay his claim to Edom next. But little does he know I am in possession of a slayer of Princes of Hell! You will face him as my finest warrior, and find victory again, I am sure.”

Cordelia glanced back over her shoulder. At Cortana, lying shining on the floor. At Matthew holding James’s shoulders, and at James, who was sitting up, his breath harsh, his eyes fixed on Lilith with cold hatred.

“You can keep them if you like,” Lilith said, gesturing at Matthew and James, “either one of them or both, as long as they do not distract you from necessary tasks. I am feeling generous.”

“I don’t think you heard me,” Cordelia said. “I am no longer your paladin, Lilith. Our deal is concluded, and I have fulfilled my end of our bargain.”

The Mother of Demons chuckled lightly. “Well, not quite. In the end, you did not kill Belial, did you? It was James Herondale who struck the killing blow.” Her lips curled into a grim smile. “What is it you Nephilim say? Something about how the Law is the Law, even if we might not wish it so?”

“Sed lex, dura lex. The Law is hard, but it is the Law,” said Cordelia, looking down at Lilith. “Indeed, the letter of the Law, or of any vow or contract, is important. Which is why I was so careful when I asked you to make a vow to me. Do you remember what I asked you to promise?” She looked steadily at Lilith. “?‘Swear that if Belial dies by my blade, you will free me from my paladin’s oath. Swear on Lucifer’s name.’?”

A dark red light had begun to burn in Lilith’s eyes.

Cordelia said, “I never vowed to strike the killing blow myself. Only that it would be struck by Cortana. Which it was.”

Lilith bared her teeth. “Listen to me, girl—”

Cordelia laughed, a sharp bright laugh like a knife’s edge. “You cannot order me to do anything,” she said. “Not even listen to you. Your hold on me is broken; you are not my liege, and I am not your knight. You know I am telling the truth and that your vow binds you: you cannot harm me, nor anyone I love.” She smiled at the look of rage on Lilith’s face. “I would not remain here much longer, demon, if I were you. Belial’s hold on this world is broken, and this once more shall become consecrated ground.”

Lilith hissed. It was not a human sound, but rather the hiss of a snake. Black serpents burst from her eyes and lashed back and forth like whips as she started up the steps toward Cordelia. “How dare you disobey me,” she snarled. “Perhaps I cannot harm you, but I shall return with you to Edom, immure you there, imprison you where you cannot escape; if you are not mine you shall belong to no one—”

“Sanvi.” A familiar voice rang out like a bell. Lilith halted where she was, her face twisting. “Sansanvi. Semangelaf.”

Cordelia looked behind her. James was on his feet, Matthew by his side. In James’s right hand was his pistol, gleaming silver, the inscription along its side standing out starkly: LUKE 12:49. I have come to bring a fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled.

James was swaying slightly, his clothes drenched in drying blood, but he was upright, his eyes blazing with fury.

“You recall this weapon,” he said to Lilith. “You recall the pain it causes you.” He grinned ferociously. “Take another step toward Cordelia, and I will riddle you with bullets. You may not die, but you will wish you had.”

Lilith hissed again, her dark hair lifting, twisting, each strand a slim, venomous serpent. “Belial is dead,” she said. “With him will go your power over shadow, your sister’s power over the dead. I doubt you can even fire that gun—”

James cocked the hammer of the gun with a decided click. “Try me,” he said.

Lilith hesitated. One moment, then another. James did not waver, his arm steady, the barrel of the gun pointed directly at the Mother of Demons.

And something shifted. Cordelia felt it as a change in the air, like the turning of a season. The stones on which Lilith stood began to glow a dark, molten red. Flames licked up suddenly, catching at the hem of Lilith’s dress, filling the air with the scent of burnt feathers.

Now Lilith screamed, a terrible wail that rose to become an unearthly shriek. Shadows swirled up around her body; great bronze wings beat the air. As she rose into the air, in the form of an owl, James pulled the trigger of the gun.

Nothing happened. There was a dry, metallic sound, and that was all. James lowered the pistol, his eyes on the owl, whose wings beat frantically as it sailed up and up, vanishing into the air.

Lilith had been right. James could no longer use the gun.

He exhaled and let it fall to the floor with a heavy thump; when he looked up at Cordelia, he was smiling. “Good riddance,” he said.

And Cordelia wanted nothing more than to go and throw her arms around him, to whisper to him that they were safe; that it was all finally, finally over. But as he smiled, great rays of illumination speared through the cathedral, turning the air to a shimmering cloud as dust motes sparkled in the sunlight—sunlight that poured through the doors of the cathedral, which had been thrown wide open.

And through the doors came Lucie, calling out Cordelia’s name, and then Jesse and Grace, and Will and Tessa, racing toward James. And a little way behind them, Eugenia, Flora, Gideon and Gabriel, Sophie and Charles, and even Charlotte, who gave a cry when she saw Matthew.