Chain of Thorns (The Last Hours, #3)

Cordelia felt as if she’d been walking down a flight of stairs and missed a step; the same flinch, the same drop in her stomach. Her eyes met Matthew’s; he, too, looked startled, but when she shook her head, he nodded. They were not going to say anything yet.

“But what does it mean?” Anna mused aloud. She turned to Jesse. “Did Belial ever say anything like that to you? ‘They wake’?”

Jesse spread his hands wide. “I don’t think my possession was like the possession of a living person. During the time Belial was inhabiting my body, I had no awareness of his presence, or any memory of my body having been away from Chiswick. Whenever you might have encountered him while he was in me… I was fully unconscious of any of it. And I’ve had no awareness or image of him or anything since.”

“Maybe this is good news?” Thomas offered. “Maybe he’s been set back on his heels for the moment, and we have some time?”

“Maybe,” James said doubtfully. “But I’m not saying things have been normal. I’m not dreaming about Belial, but I’m not dreaming of anything else at all. In recent nights, no dreams at all, just a blank white void where dreams should be.”

“There’s also the matter of Tatiana,” Lucie said. “Belial appeared before the Inquisitor to warn him off finding her.”

Christopher said, “James, do you think Belial is hiding from you on purpose?”

James shrugged. “It could be.”

Matthew gave a hollow laugh. “Very frustrating, what? All you want is for Belial to leave you alone and now he is, just when we want to see what he’s up to.”

“All of that considered,” Anna said, “we may have to pursue the questions of Lilith and Belial on parallel tracks. Let’s get back to Cordelia. Our best weapon against Belial, should he show up, is Cortana, and who wields Cortana? You do, darling. We need you.”

Cordelia glanced over at Alastair, worried, but Alastair was nodding. “It’s true,” he said. “Cortana chose Cordelia a long time ago. I didn’t become its wielder when Cordelia handed it to me. I used it, as one might use any sword, but it did not kindle in my hand as it does in my sister’s.”

“So,” Christopher said, “to sum up: Cortana is hidden. Cordelia remains bound to Lilith, though only us ten know that.”

“And Belial,” James said quietly. “He told Bridgestock we should keep our paladin away from him, though of course the Inquisitor didn’t know what he meant.” His eyes fixed briefly on Ariadne, then looked away.

Anna, however, caught his look. “Ariadne is no longer on speaking terms with the Inquisitor,” she said primly. “She is part of our group now.” She looked around as if to challenge anyone to deny this, but no one did.

“If Bridgestock pursues the question of what Belial meant,” said Cordelia, “it’ll only be a matter of time before it comes out.”

“Belial may know that you are a paladin of Lilith, but he cannot know you will not raise a weapon in her name,” said James. “If Belial is telling Bridgestock to keep you away from him, he likely fears Cortana more than ever.”

“Do you think Tatiana knows?” Thomas said. “About Cordelia being a paladin?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he hadn’t told her,” said James. “She is not his confidante, his partner. Belial doesn’t have those. He has dupes and minions—” He hesitated.

“Oh dear,” said Christopher. “I’m sorry, Jesse. Perhaps this is awkward for you.”

Jesse waved this off. “Not at all.”

“You could wait in the stairwell,” Christopher suggested magnanimously, “while we talk about how to defeat your mother and crush her plans. If you like.”

Thankfully, Jesse smiled at this. “I know it would be helpful if I had any idea where my mother was. She kept most of this from me while I was with her—both when I was fully alive, and after—though I did what I could to piece things together. I’m going to speak to Grace in the Silent City tomorrow, but I doubt she’ll have any better guess than I do where she—our mother—is.”

“Jesse,” Lucie said, nudging his shoulder with hers. “Tell them your idea.”

Jesse said, “I was going to suggest that while it remains empty, we should perform a thorough search of Chiswick House. I may not know where my mother is right now, but I do know many of her hiding places in the house.”

Matthew said wearily, “The Enclave has been over Chiswick House at this point. Many times. If they haven’t found anything—”

“Maybe it’s because there’s nothing to find,” Jesse said. “But maybe it’s because my mother hides things well. I saw her do it; she was often unaware of when I was watching.”

“All right,” said James, “then we’ll go tomorrow. There are enough of us to make a significant search party.” He hesitated. “After you see Grace, of course.”

Ariadne said, “We could go right now. I’m eager to do something. Aren’t all of you?”

“I can’t,” said James. “Nor Lucie, nor—more crucially—Jesse. We were only able to convince my parents to let us come here because it’s still daytime. If we aren’t back for dinner, they’ll send their own search party after us.”

“And while Chiswick won’t be the first place they look,” Lucie put in, “it’ll probably be the third or fourth. Searching Chiswick is a good idea,” she added. “But there must be something we can do to try to help Cordelia, too. I don’t expect to find anything about Lilith, or paladins, among Tatiana’s things.”

Cordelia took a deep breath. “She is still very much watching me. She sent demons to attack us, in Paris. So that I would fight back and summon her.”

“What?” said Alastair and James at the same time. They glared at each other for a moment, before Alastair demanded, “For what purpose? What did she want?”

“She assumed I’d still have Cortana,” she said. “Once she realized I didn’t, it was mostly taunting and threats.”

“Do we know of anything that can hurt Lilith?” Thomas said. “Cortana could, of course, but… it’s not an option.”

Lucie brightened. “Why, James’s revolver, of course. That’s how we sent her away last time.”

“It only seemed to damage her temporarily,” Cordelia pointed out. “She left, but she didn’t appear wounded at all when I saw her in Paris.”

Christopher said, “The revolver was blessed with the names of three angels—Sanvi, Sansanvi, and Semangelaf. They are enemies of Lilith. I mean, I suppose all angels are enemies of Lilith. But they are particularly her enemies. Perhaps we could make use of the power of those angels in some other fashion to dispatch her?”

To Cordelia’s surprise, Alastair spoke up. “Or what if we tried to find, or summon, the real Wayland the Smith? He must be one of the most powerful beings alive, if he’s still alive. Surely he’d be vexed to learn that a demon had impersonated him?”