Bruce, I feel awful. Tessa and Jem only came in the first place to help us with the curse, and now this. It makes me sick to my stomach—maybe there’s something more deeply wrong with Chiswick House than even a broken curse can fix. Or maybe I’m just feeling morbid and worried.
Julian calling, back in a sec.
***
Back, and with news. The kidnapper sent a note! I mean, another note. And identified herself!
Your child will be returned to you if, and only if, I am granted a private audience with the one you call Christopher Herondale.
First of all, “the one you call”—I mean, come on. What does she call Kit, The Amazing Whizzo? Second, it was signed “Mother Hawthorn,” which didn’t mean anything to me or Julian, but Jem and Tessa gave each other A Look, and Kit got even more miserable. It turns out shewas the nursemaid for the First Heir. I mean the First First Heir, long ago. She’s also a wild fae, not affiliated with any faery court, and thus not under their authority. So this is about Kit, and faerie politics, and it’s a mess. I feel terrible for Kit, who is as pale and tense as I’ve ever seen him. (And I don’t need to remind you, Bruce, that I’ve seen Kit pretty darn pale and tense.)
Kit immediately said yes, he’d meet with her, anything to get Mina back. Julian said it might be a trap, and Kit exploded. “Of course it’s a trap! But I can’t let Mina get hurt on my behalf.”
Round Tom pointed out Mother Hawthorn is unpredictable but even she would hesitate to break the Accords to the extent of harming Mina. Kit retorted she already broke the Accords by kidnapping her in the first place.
Jem, I think realizing Kit was going to agree to the meeting no matter what anyone said, suggested that, at the very least, we should do it on our terms, in a location we pick, with plenty of precautions in place. Kit said, “Whatever you need. But I’m going to meet this Mother Hawthorn and get Mina back.” And I know they’re, like, sixth cousins or something, but he really sounded like Jace. I guess Herondale stubbornness is bred deep.
Julian was weirdly quiet after Kit yelled at him, and I thought he was hurt, but then I realized he had the look on his face that meant he had an idea but he wasn’t ready to share it yet. Everyone was talking about anti-faerie charmsand what runes to put on Kit, and Julian just sat in the back of it all, thinking—the way he thinks isn’t like the way anyone else does it. Completely consumed by thought.
I wonder what he’s got up his sleeve. I could bug him about it, but I’ve learned it’s better to let him tell me when he’s ready. Seeing that look on his face, though, gave me more hope than anything else in the conversation.
Emma
JACE
Kit,
I thought long and hard about what I wanted to say in response to your letter. I know I can’t help with the immediate situation—that’s being handled. I won’t put more into this message in case it falls into the wrong hands somehow.
I wanted to tell you that you were just upset— understandably, considering —and that you were wrong. That you are still a kid, and you have people around you to protect you. That you couldn’t be safer than you are with Tessa and Jem. That the King of the Unseelie Court himself is looking out for you. That none of this is your fault.
And all of that is true. None of thisisyour fault. You didn’t ask for it, you didn’t wish for it. You didn’t ask to be born a Shadowhunter. You didn’t even know youwerea Shadowhunter and if it weren’t for Nephilim meddling,maybe you never would. Just like I didn’t ask for Valentine to do what he did to my parents, or to raise me to be like him. Or for Sebastian to do what he did. I didn’t ask for any of it, but it still happened. I still had to deal with it.
You’re right about that much. But how I dealt with it—it’s more than just because Ihadto. It was because I had people in my life—Clary, Alec, Isabelle—who saw me for who I was, saw past “Valentine’s son” or even “the boy with angel blood.” You’re special, and that specialness makes you a target. But those who love you won’t see that. They’ll see the real, flawed human that you are, and they’ll reflect that back to you. Because the biggest danger you face isn’t being on the losing side. It’s losing who you are. So don’t push people away, Kit, not the people that really care. Because in the end, they’ll make all the difference.
Remember, if you want to talk, I’m always here.
Jace
EMMA
Dear Cristina,
I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! I realize the message I just sent you probably didn’t make a lick of sense, so after you’ve read it, toss it and read this. I was in kind of a hysterical state when I wrote it—I’ve been wanting to tell you all about what was going on with Mina being kidnapped for days, but I couldn’t. Then, when I could, it all kind of poured out. Again, sorry!
It was awful not being able to say anything to you about what was happening. I’ve always hated politics, as you know, but however unusual your (and Mark’s) position, the Seelie Court would certainly consider you part of Kieran’s retinue, and we were expressly forbidden from contacting either Court about the fact that Mina was kidnapped right out of her bedroom here at Blackthorn Hall. And we obeyed to the letter.
It turned out the kidnapper was Mother Hawthorn,the nursemaid to the First Heir, who chose to marry a Shadowhunter. (The First Heir, I mean, not Mother Hawthorn, whose marital status is unknown to me.) She’s had a complicated relationship with Shadowhunters, especially Herondales (who doesn’t have a complicated relationship with Herondales, I ask you) ever since. And she demanded to see Kit if we ever wanted to get Mina back.
Nobody wanted Kit to do it, even though everyone was desperately afraid for Mina. But he was determined. There was no stopping him. So arrangements were made through a bunch of faerie go-betweens. Mother Hawthorn demanded a rendezvous near a river, so we went down to the Promenade in Chiswick. There’s an itty bitty park there, and a little bandstand. We all—me and Julian, Tessa and Jem and Kit—walked down there, quiet and somber. Tessa kept stroking Kit’s back, and it was clear she was trying not to cry. Jem looked like he wanted to kill someone. Kit just seemed determined. And Jules… Well, I’ll get to Jules.
We stayed some distance away while Kit crossed the dry grass toward the bandstand. As he approached, Mother Hawthorn came out of the trees holding Mina and started walking toward him. I’m not sure what I expected, but she just looked like a kindly old woman. Her hair was a curling mass of dandelion seeds. She didnotlook like much of a threat. Based on Jem’s expression, she definitely was.
Speaking of which, Jules and I both tensed in case either Jem or Tessa made a break for the baby. We wouldn’thave blamed them, but we knew we’d have to stop them. Kit had to try to get Mina without violence. All I can say is, you can kind of see how much Jem and Tessa have been through and endured over all the time they’ve been alive. They clutched each other’s hands and neither of them moved, even though you could see how desperately they wanted to run to their children. It was an incredible display of control. Heartbreaking too.
Kit and Mother Hawthorn came together in front of the bandstand. We couldn’t hear anything of their conversation, but we could see Mina immediately put her arms out for Kit. Kit tried to reach for her, but Mother Hawthorn held up a hand. She clearly wouldn’t give her back, and I could tell how angry Kit was, even though he was trying to keep it together. He kept shaking his head no over and over, almost every time Mother Hawthorn spoke.
After a couple of minutes, Mother Hawthorn started to laugh. She looked over—she clearly saw us and didn’t care—and snapped her fingers. Kit was flung to the ground; he rolled over and came up on his feet, but by then black vines were whipping up out of the ground, slashing at him, winding around his legs. Mina was screaming so loudly we could hear her.
