The pain of the water was even worse than he thought. It was like jumping through glass. The icy cold crackled all over his body, forcing all the air from his lungs. He reached for the boat but it drifted off, with Jace at the tail, waving. Simon’s clothes were pulling him under, but he had to fight. Hard as it was to move his arms, he stretched out to try to swim. His muscles contracted, unable to function at this temperature.
None of them could survive this. And this did not feel like a dream. Being in this water, which was pulling harder now, pulling him down—this was as good as being dead. But something crackled into his mind, some knowledge that had been well, well pushed away. He had known what it was like to be dead. He had had to claw his way out of the ground. He’d had soil in his eyes and in his mouth. The girl, Maureen, she was dead. Clary was not. He knew this because his own heart was still beating—erratically, but still beating.
Clary.
He reached out again and struggled with the water. One stroke.
Clary.
Two strokes. Two strokes were ridiculous. The water was faster and stronger and his limbs were shaking and so heavy. He started to feel sleepy.
“You can’t give up now,” said Jace. The boat had circled around and was now on Simon’s right side, just out of reach. “Tell me what you know.”
Simon was not in the mood to be quizzed. The river and the earth itself were pulling him down.
“Tell me what you know,” Jace insisted.
“I . . . I . . .”
Simon couldn’t make words.
“Tell me!”
“C . . . C . . . Clar . . .”
“Clary. And what do you know about her?”
Simon definitely couldn’t speak anymore. But he knew the answer. He would go to her. Alive. Dead. Fighting the river. Even if his dead body drifted alongside hers, that would somehow have to be enough. The knowledge caused his body to warm, just a bit. He kicked against the water.
“There you go!” said Jace. “Now you’re getting it. Now, you go.”
Simon’s entire body shuddered violently. His face dipped below the surface for a moment and he took on water, which burned him from the inside. He pushed out again, spat it out.
One stroke. Two. Three. It wasn’t as futile now. He was swimming. Four. Five. He counted them off. Six. Seven.
“I know the feeling,” Jace said, drifting alongside him. “It’s hard to explain. They don’t make greeting cards for it.”
Eight. Nine.
The city began to light up. Starting at the ground level, the lights appeared, reaching up toward the sky.
“When you realize it,” Jace said, “you know that you can do anything, because you have to. Because it’s you. You’re one.”
Ten. Eleven.
No need to count now. Jace and the swan were lagging behind, and now he was alone, swimming on, his body pumping with adrenaline. He turned to look for Maureen, but she was gone. Clary, however, was still clearly visible, floating just ahead. Not floating.
Swimming. Toward him. She was doing exactly what he was doing, forcing her body on, shuddering, pushing through the water.
Simon powered through the last strokes and felt the touch of her hand. He would go—he would go with her. And she was smiling, her lips blue.
And then he felt the ground under him—some surface under the water, something just a foot or two down. Clary reacted at the same moment, and they both grabbed at each other and struggled to their feet. They were standing in the Bethesda Fountain, the angel statue looking down on them, pouring water on their heads.
“Y—you—” Clary said.
Simon didn’t try to speak. He embraced her, and they shuddered together before stepping carefully out of the fountain and lying down on the bricks of the terrace, heaving for breath. The moon was wide—too wide and too close.
Mentally, Simon told the moon to stop being so close and bright and that it should just generally shut up with the mooniness. He reached out and took Clary’s hand, which was already extended, waiting for his.
When he opened his eyes, he was not outside. He was on something fairly comfortable and plush. Simon reached around and felt a velvety surface under him. He sat up and realized he was on a sofa in the reception room. The tea set was there, in front of him. Magnus and Catarina were standing against the wall, conferring, and Jem sat in the chair between them and watched them both.
“Sit up slowly,” he said. “Take a few deep breaths.”
“What the hell?” Simon said.
“You drank water from Lake Lyn,” Jem said quietly. “The waters produce hallucinations.”
“You had us drink water from Lake Lyn? Where’s Clary?”
“She is fine,” Jem said quietly. “Drink some water. You must be thirsty.”
A glass was already against Simon’s lips. Catarina was holding it.
“Are you joking?” Simon said. “You want me to drink that? After what just happened?”
“It’s fine,” Catarina said. She took a long sip from the glass and held it back in front of Simon’s mouth. He did have a crazy case of cottonmouth, actually. His tongue felt thick. He took the glass and drank it back in one go, then filled it again, and again from a pitcher on the table. Only after the third glass did he feel like he could speak again.
“Doesn’t that drive people insane?” he said, not bothering to disguise his anger in any way.
Jem sat calmly, his hands resting on his knees. Simon could see his age now, not in his face but behind his eyes. They were dark mirrors that reflected the passage of uncounted years.
“Had something gone wrong, you would have been with the Silent Brothers within the hour. I may not be a Silent Brother anymore, but I have previously treated those who have consumed the waters. Magnus prepared the tea because he has worked with both of your minds. Catarina, of course, is a nurse. You were always safe. I am sorry. None of us wanted to deceive you. This was done for your benefit.”
“Not an explanation,” Simon said. “I want to see Clary. I want to know what’s going on.”
“She’s fine,” Catarina said. “I’ll go check on how she’s doing. Don’t worry.”
She left, and Jem leaned forward in his chair.
“Before Clary comes in, I need to know: What did you see?”
“When you drugged me?”
“Simon, this is important. What did you see?”
“I was in New York. I . . . thought I was in New York. Did we go to New York? Did you open a Portal?”
Jem shook his head.
“You were in this room the entire time. Please. Tell me.”
“Clary and I were in Central Park, by the Bethesda Fountain. The angel in the fountain flew away and the fountain flooded, and Clary disappeared. Then some boat came and I was on a ‘tunnel of love’ ride with Jace, and he kept telling me to remember where we met, even though I didn’t see him.”
“Stop a moment,” Jem said. “What does that mean to you?”
“I have no idea. I just know he was saying that I had to remember.”
“Do you remember?”
“No,” Simon snapped. “I barely remember anything. I know I was probably with Clary. Clary could see him.”
“Go on,” Jem said. “What happened then?”
“I saw Maia, he said. “And I saw Jordan. He was covered in blood. Then this ride dumped me out on the East River, and some kid named Maureen said she died because of me and jumped in. Clary was floating on the water and I . . .”