Lord of Shadows (The Dark Artifices #2)(186)

They were clearly faeries, but nothing like the ones Kit had seen before in the Shadow Market. They were taller and bigger, and they were armed, despite the edicts of the Cold Peace. Each wore a massive sword at his waist.

"Nephilim," said one, in a voice that sounded like glaciers breaking apart. "I am Eochaid of the Seven Riders, and these are my brothers Etarlam and Karn. Where is the Black Volume?"

"The Black Volume?" Livvy echoed. The three of them had squeezed tighter against the wall of the path. Kit noticed people giving them odd glances as they passed by, and he knew they looked as if they were staring at nothing.

"Yes," said Etarlam. "Our King seeks it. You will give it up."

"We don't have it," said Ty. "And we don't know where it is."

Karn laughed. "You are but children, so we are inclined to be lenient," he said. "But understand this. The Riders of Mannan have done the bidding of the Unseelie King for a thousand years. In that time many have fallen to our blades, and we have spared none for any reason, not for age or weakness or infirmity of body. We will not spare you now." He leaned over the mane of his horse, and Kit saw for the first time that the horse had a shark's eyes, inky and flat and deadly. "Either you know where the Black Volume is, or you will make useful prisoners to tempt those who do. Which will it be, Shadowhunters?"





23


SKIES OF FIRE


"I win again." Jaime threw down his cards: all hearts. He grinned triumphantly at Dru. "Don't feel bad. Cristina used to say I had the devil's luck."

"Wouldn't the devil have bad luck?" Dru didn't mind losing to Jaime. He always seemed pleased, and she didn't care one way or the other.

He'd slept on the floor at the side of her bed the night before, and when she'd woken up, she'd rolled over and looked down at him, her chest full of happiness. Asleep, Jaime looked vulnerable, and more like his brother, though she thought now that he was better-looking than Diego.

Jaime was a secret, her secret. Something important she was doing, whether the others knew it or not. She knew he was on an important mission, something he couldn't talk much about; it was like having a spy in her room, or a superhero.

"I will miss you," he said frankly, linking his fingers together and stretching out his arms like a cat stretching in the sun. "This is the most fun, and the most rest, I have had in a long time." 

"We can stay friends after this, right?" she said. "I mean, when you're done with your mission."

"I don't know when I'll be done." A shadow crossed his face. Jaime was much quicker of mood than his brother: He could be happy, then sad, then thoughtful, then laughing in a five-minute period. "It could be a long time." He looked at her sideways. "You may come to resent me. I've made you keep secrets from your family."

"They keep secrets from me," she said. "They think I'm too young to know anything."

Jaime frowned. Dru felt a little pinch of worry-they'd never discussed how old she was; why would they have? Usually, though, people thought she was at least seventeen. Her curves were bigger than other girls' her age, and Dru was used to boys staring at them.

So far Jaime hadn't stared, at least not the way other boys did, as if they had a right to her body. As if she ought to be grateful for the attention. And she'd discovered she desperately didn't want him to know she was only thirteen.

"Well, Julian does," she went on. "And Julian's pretty much in charge of everything. The thing is, when we were all younger, we were all just 'the kids.' But after my parents died, and Julian basically brought us all up, we split into groups. I got labeled 'younger' and Julian was suddenly older, like a parent."

"I know what that is like," he said. "Diego and I used to play like puppies when we were children. Then he grew up and decided he had to save the world and started ordering me around."

"Exactly," she said. "That's exactly right."

He reached down to pull his duffel bag onto the bed. "I can't stay much longer," he said. "But before I go-I have something for you."

He pulled a laptop computer out of the bag. Dru stared at him-he wasn't going to give her a laptop, was he? He flipped it open, a grin spreading across his face. It was a Peter Pan sort of grin, one that said that he would never be done with mischief. "I downloaded The House That Dripped Blood," he said. "I thought we could watch it together."

Dru clapped her hands together and scrambled up onto the mattress beside him. He scooted over, giving her plenty of room. She watched him as he tilted the screen toward them so they could both see. She could read the words that curled up his arm, though she didn't know what they meant. La sangre sin fuego hierve.