Chapter 18: Here The Silence Is Most Deep

Jem had lost track of how long he'd been sitting in the cell. It was cold and damp and the combination made his swollen joints ache more than usual. He had woke laying on the stone floor, dressed in a new set of the fake Shadowhunter gear and had been sitting there ever since. An invisible barrier was spelled across the door, allowing him to see out into the dimly lit stone passage. He could only just make out the dark lump that he suspected was Tessa in the cell across from his, but if it was her, she was still unconscious.

At first he'd banged on barrier and shouted, but his voice had just bounced back at him, making his ears ring. Whatever the boundary spell was, it was designed to keep things in, including sounds. He'd given up on trying to wake her and opted instead to conserve his energy instead. He propped himself up against the wall opposite the door and watched the lump for any sign of movement.

If the lump was Tessa, she hadn't moved since Jem had woke. He told himself it was because he'd been Marked with more than a dozen runes before the Dark Sister's spell had hit him, that it was the Angel's magic that had woke him before her. He could still feel the energy coursing through him, although it was beginning to ebb as time went on. Adding to his energy was the rather large does of yin fen he'd taken before Mrs. Dark had arrived. It more than he would have taken over the course of a month before he'd been kidnapped. But he was still recovering and his body needed more to just function normally these days. Not that it mattered anymore.

He was going to die. He'd always known he was going to die early, but waiting for his death like this was unnerving. He stared hard at the dark lump across the hall, willing himself to be strong. He was going to die and Tessa was going to die and, given that he'd woke in this cell and in a new costume, he suspected there was very little anyone could do to stop it now. No good dwelling on it. He closed his eyes and forced himself to think of the last moments he'd shared with Tessa.

They'd eventually decided to get dressed, to be as prepared to face the Dark Sisters as possible. His gear had been a shredded mess, but he still prefered it to the too-slick faux gear that Mortmain had provided. Half of the buckles and clasps had been torn off in other fights so that the jacket no longer closed properly and one leg of his pants had been torn to his knee. Even so, he felt better once he was wearing his gear, prepared for what was to come.

Tessa had been struggling with the buttons on her blouse when he'd finished pulling on his boots. He sat and watched her for a long moment before he realized that her fingers were shaking so hard that she couldn't properly button up her blouse. It had caught him off-guard to see her fear and he'd been slow to react. She'd been nothing but strong until last night, when she'd wept in his arms. Fear wasn't an emotion he knew how to recognize in her eyes.

Once he'd understood what was going on, he'd closed the distance between them in three steps and closed his hands over hers. She leaned her forehead against his and her hands fell to her sides as he took over the task. His fingers had been just as clumsy as he tried to dress her as they had been when he had undressed her the night before. He wasn't sure if he'd helped speed the process at all, but somehow, he'd managed to get her decent again.

Once she was dressed, he pulled her into his arms. She clung to him and hid her face in the crook of his neck. He whispered things that his mother had once said to sooth him into the top of her head. The words were a mishmash of Mandarin and English that was as much to comfort him as it was her. She didn't cry this time and, after a while, she'd even stopped shaking. After that, they'd just held onto each other.

That was how Mrs. Dark found them, Jem's body curled around her as he whispered nonsense into her hair and Tessa's fingers fisted in the rough material of his jacket.

When the Dark Sister saw them wrapped around each other, she'd burst into laughter. It was a grating sound that made Jem cringe. Without thinking, he twisted around so that his body was between Tessa and the warlock woman. Tessa made a sound of surprise as he pushed her behind him that only made the warlock laugh more loudly.

"What an interesting turn of events," Mrs. Dark said through her cackling. "What a shame that one of you will die this afternoon. I have always been such a fan of doomed romance."

Tessa transformed into the strong woman he'd first met before his eyes. She straightened her shoulders, her face growing cold and hard as she stepped out from behind him and took his hand, presenting Mrs. Dark with a united front. "Then you will be pleased to know that neither of us plan to die today."

That had stopped Mrs. Dark's laughter mid-cackle. "Oh?"

"I will not fight her," Jem said evenly, squeezing Tessa's hand. "And she will not fight me. We cannot die if we refuse to fight."

Mrs. Dark rolled her eyes and flicked her fingers at them in a motion so quick he barely registered it. He didn't realized that magic was heading their way until it was too late. Tessa made a sound of shock and Jem didn't understand why until he lost the feeling in his legs. The last thing he saw was Tessa reaching for him as she slumped to the ground, and then, he too was unconscious.

Will was halfway across the room when Gabriel tackled him to the ground. He landed on the cold stone with a muffled curse and immediately started kicking in an attempt to free himself. There were muted cries of alarm from the others, but somehow Henry managed to trip Gideon in the rush to get to where Will and Gabriel struggled on the floor and they fell into a tangle of limbs too. Will was almost free when Magnus snapped his fingers and a wave of magic struck him in the chest, immobilizing him. Will swore again, but loudly this time, earning him a glare from Gabriel.

"Don't be an idiot, Will," was all Magnus said, his attention on the runes he was applying to the Portal in order to close it. The glowing circle disappeared with a quiet whoosh and the room was only lit by the witchlights. "And don't run away or I'll let Gordon pummel you."

An instant later, Will's magical bonds were released and Gabriel was grumbling something about have the situation well in hand, thank you very much, but no one was listening to him. Gideon untangled himself from Henry and pushed himself to his feet. With a dismal glance about the dark room, he asked, "What do we do now?"

"We need to check the caves," Will said immediately. "Make sure they haven't been moved."

"Magnus and I need time to construct a new Portal," Henry said, running his hand through his ginger hair so that it stood up on end. And then, in a voice that was more authoritative than Will had ever heard him use. "You have fifteen minutes. Use them wisely."

Tessa woke slowly, her body stiff and her head aching from the after effects of Mrs. Dark's magic. She blinked away the remnants of unconsciousness and then she swore when she realized that she wasn't alone.

"Such language," Mortmain murmured in his most congenial voice. He knelt just above Tessa so his form was the only thing that she could see. "But then you were never much of a lady, were you, Miss Gray?"

Tessa didn't answer, all her energy went into not launching herself away from him. She took in her surroundings and suppressed a grimace. She was in one of the cells that held fighters before they were magicked to the ring. A sick feeling that had nothing to do with the sleeping spell filled her stomach when she realized that she was dressed in a too-large version of the faux Shadowhunter gear.

"Where's Jem?" she asked, fighting to keep her voice even. "What have you done?"

"Not much," the Magister said, and then with a tsk of his tongue. "At least not yet."

Tessa's stomach clenched. Now she did push herself away from him so that she could sit up and force herself to look him in the eye. She tried to ease her face into its old mask of imperturbable apathy. It was difficult. She hadn't had to use such tactics during her time with the boys and now her expression felt foreign. "What exactly do you want?"

Mortmain smiled lazily and sat back on his heels. He brushed his hands together as if to rid them of nonexistent dirt. "Mrs. Dark tells me that you are no longer interested in our arrangement."

"I will not fight him. I will not kill him," she said, and this time, her voice was steady. She ignored the rising nausea and reached deep for the girl she used to be, the one who had been able to manipulate Mortmain months ago. She leaned against the wall and crossed her arms across the tops of her knees. "But I am willing to bargain for his life."

"I thought you might," he said with a delighted smile. "I've come up with quite an ingenious plan, if I do say so myself."

"I'm listening."

"I'm shocked that it didn't occur to me earlier," Mortmain began, his pale eyes sparking with pleasure. "Picture this: you will Change into the other Shadowhunter, the naughty lad who ran away?" When she didn't reply, he nodded and smiled again. "And then the two of you will run a….gauntlet of sorts." He threw his head back and laughed heartily. "Don't you think that our audience would just love seeing Shadowhunters injured again and again and again? Even more than they would want to see them die, I should think."

"That hardly seems a bargain, Magister," she demurred.

"Ah!" Mortmain said, clapping his hands together. "I thought you might see it that way. The bargain is, if you live through my gauntlet, you both shall be set free."

"Both of us?" she asked, unable to keep the confusion off of her face. "What aren't you telling me?"

He stood so that his body filled the doorway. He shook his head and smiled down at her. "That you don't stand a chance of surviving."