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“Do you know her?” said Ty, staring. “I mean, we knew Catarina…”

“Not even a little bit,” said Kit. “But she said ‘magical scavenger hunt’ so I guess she’s trustworthy?”

“Or just a very well-informed evildoer,” said Ty. “I’m not sure we can trust anyone.”

“I’m not sure we have a lot of choice.” Kit started toward the end of the bridge. After a moment of hesitation, Ty followed. As they neared the tower, Kit noticed two things: The faerie woman had disappeared from the window, and a small dark opening had appeared at the base of the tower.

Kit ducked through it, Ty behind him. They found themselves in a spiral stairwell so tight and narrow they had to ascend single file, shoulders brushing the walls. Kit wondered if he should reach for his witchlight—they seemed to be rising into deeper darkness—

Light flickered just above him. He sped up and quickly reached a landing that opened into a round chamber whose roof rose to a conical point. The top of the tower, clearly.

The only natural light was what filtered in through the narrow, arrow-slit windows. Crates marked Gevaar Explosief were stacked in the corners, and the faerie woman was sitting cross-legged on a rickety-looking table, a lantern beside her. It gave off enough light to make Kit blink as his eyes adjusted.

The faerie smiled at them. Up close, she was even more striking: Her black hair hung in two thick braids, wound through with gold ribbon. Her wings were delicate membranes, shot through with green, gold, and scarlet. Gilded designs patterned her skin, like serpentine Marks.

“I’m Jinfeng,” she said. “You”—she pointed at Kit—“you’re the Heir. And you…” She looked thoughtfully at Ty. “Are handsome. In a sort of fey manner. You could be one of the gentry.”

Ty looked slightly nonplussed. “I don’t have faerie blood,” he said. “I’m a Shadowhunter.”

“Well, yes. Obviously,” Jinfeng said. “Anyway, the whole inside of this tower is a Sanctuary. We have protected spaces for people to sleep and a Portal. You’re safe here.”

“Safe from whatever’s been attacking Shadowhunters, you mean?” Kit said. “And disappearing them?”

Jinfeng looked down at her gold-traced hands. “My fiancé, Ke Ye Tian, is a Shadowhunter,” she said softly. Kit knew who Tian was: He was Jem’s cousin, after all. “He is one of those who has vanished. I hope that he is alive. Each day, I hope.”

“People I love have disappeared, too,” said Kit. He didn’t want to say, I know what you’re going through. People had said that sort of thing to him in the past and it had never been true. In his experience, everyone coped with devastating events differently. “Has there been any word or advice from the Consul?”

Her features pinched together. “Alec Lightwood is gone. I fear he has vanished too. And I should not say more. Rumors are flying; it is possible my information could be wrong. People who seem to be missing may simply have found a safe hiding place.”

She didn’t sound like she thought that was very likely.

“Right,” Kit said, feeling a little sick. There’s nothing you and Ty can do, he reminded himself. You have a different mission to complete, a mission that will hopefully help solve all of this. Concentrate on that.

Kit looked over at Ty, who was pulling at the sleeves of his sweater. “We should do the test,” he said. “We want to collect these artifacts as fast as possible.”

Jinfeng hopped off the table, grabbing the lantern. “Come with me.”

She led them back to the narrow staircase, where it was much easier for her to maneuver than it was for Kit and Ty; she simply fluttered down, letting her wings do the work and avoiding the cracked and uneven steps. The lantern she held cast her winged shadow against the walls.

“It must be hard not being able to get into Faerie,” Kit said, as Jinfeng floated in front of him. He could see ripples in the air where her wings cut through the dust.

She didn’t seem fazed. “I was a member of the Seelie Court,” she said. “But once the Queen found out about Tian, all that changed. She banished me from Court for refusing to use my relationship with him to spy on the Nephilim. But I do not miss the Court. I am happier now, here in your world.”

“What did she want to know about us?” asked Ty. They’d reached the foot of the stairs, which dead-ended in an old-fashioned wooden door with a copper lock.

“She was looking for someone who knew Alec Lightwood,” Jinfeng said, feeling around her waist. “Where did I put the key—oh, bother—”

“Why Alec?” said Ty. “Because he’s the Consul?”

“I could pick the lock,” Kit suggested.

“Could you? Oh, wait—here it is.” Jinfeng held up a matching copper key, then went to work on the lock, which made a grinding sound. “And yes—she wanted to know if the Consul or any of the other higher-up Shadowhunters knew that her son, Ash, had returned to the Seelie Court.”

“Ash?” said Kit, so loudly that his voice boomeranged off the walls. “Sebastian’s son?”

Jinfeng pushed the door open, the rusty hinges flaking and complaining, then turned to look at them, an expression of faint surprise on her face. “Yes, the son of Sebastian Morgenstern and the Queen of Seelie,” she said, slowly, as if she were processing something as she spoke. “He appeared one day with a mortal man the Queen called the Huntsman, though I always thought he might once have been a Shadowhunter. He moved as Shadowhunters do, though most fey would not recognize it.”

Kit flicked his gaze to Ty, who wore a look of realization. “So when the other Jace came from Thule to our world,” Ty said, “he brought Ash with him?”