~Magic, love and betrayal~
Lisa Cartwright's mundane life, as a demon-killing shadowhunter, was shaken at its foundations by a series of mysterious murders. As she starts her quest, determined to find the cause of these assassinations, she finds th...
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"Libraries were full of ideas-perhaps the most dangerous and powerful of all weapons." -Sarah J. Maas
Lisa wondered where the others were, even Marianne seemed to have disappeared. She couldn't blame her, Richard and Marianne had to work around the clock for the Clave. There had to be someone in the training room, right? She opened the door, the first thing she saw was Arthur practicing with a bow. He was talking to Maxim, who - clearly against his will - was throwing daggers. They were so busy talking they didn't see her come in. She was glad that Maxim and Arthur got along well. Behind her, she heard the sound of metal on wood. Jonathan was chopping in on a piece of wood with his sword. He had taken off his T-shirt and sweat was dripping from his forehead. "You know that's bad for your sword, don't you?" she said teasingly. He turned around abruptly. "It will make your sword blunt."
When he saw her, he let his sword clatter on the ground and ran to her enthusiastically. "How are you?" He took her all in, to make sure she was all right.
"I'm fine, I don't feel the pain anymore." Although that wasn't entirely true, she sometimes had stabbing pains in her back, but that would surely pass. And those green spots on her back also worried her, she would have to show them to Anna later. Jonathan smiled sadly as if he didn't believe her. "Do you have any news regarding the elves?" she said quickly, changing the subject.
He shook his head. "We don't even know what they were doing there with that Hydra," his frustration showed through his tone. "Sorry, Lis." Jonathan stared at the wall behind her. "I caught that Brownie- I saw him pull his dagger, but I was too late." Typical Jonathan, feeling guilty for everything that happened around him.
She couldn't resist giving him a hug. "It's not your fault." He put his arms around her waist so he wouldn't hit her painful back. He rested his head on hers for a moment. Jonathan didn't respond to what she said and let her go. "Go on with whatever you were doing, I've got some work to do." He looked at her with concern. "You're being careful, aren't you?"
She rolled her eyes and walked away. "Always am."
*
On her way to her study, she passed Anna's room. She slipped inside to get the book and the pocket watch. As she walked out of the room, she suddenly felt severe pain in her back. She leaned against the wall, trying to restore her balance. It looked like they shove the dagger back in her back. She slid down the wall and dropped to her knees. She coughed a little blood into her handkerchief. One moment her mind went blank. She considered telling Marianne, but she was already so worried about her. She felt better again and got up as if nothing had just happened.
Thrilled, she sat down in her desk chair, the first thing she noticed was the dagger that laid on her desk. The handle was much smaller than usual, to fit in the Brauwnie's hand. The blade was of a certain kind of fairy metal and decorated with silver leaves. It would have been a fine dagger, had it not been drenched in her dried blood. She didn't see anything irregular about it at first, and she didn't want to look at it any longer, as it made her nauseous. She put it in a drawer, she would look at it again tomorrow.
Lisa quickly repaired the pocket watch for Anna and took the book she had bought at the Shadow Market. It had a lock, but not the kind of lock that could be opened with a key. It seemed to have wrapped itself all the way around the book, with a flat plate in the middle. She tried to draw an opening rune with her stele, but the rune disappeared as soon as it touched the cover. Hopefully, the back of the book offered more explanation on how to open it. She took a dictionary of demonic languages and looked up most of the words in it. As she expected, the book was about mythological objects and where they are hidden. Now she understood why old Cassius had sold his book. The lock would only open if you dropped a drop of pure Nephilim blood on the lock. She took out her handkerchief, it was still wet with blood. Lisa rubbed the handkerchief over the lock, but nothing happened. She could have rubbed it all day long if she hadn't heard a scream in the hallway.
