The Infernal Devices 01 - Clockwork Angel
someone who might recognize it. I offered areward for information. Eventually the name of the Dark Sisters came to my ears.”
    “Downworld?” Tessa echoed, puzzled. “Is that a place in London?”
    “Never mind that,” said Will. “I’m boasting of my investigative skills, and I would prefer to do it without interruption. Where was I?”
    “The dagger—” Tessa broke off as a voice echoed down the corridor, high and sweet and unmistakable.
    “Miss Gray.”
Mrs. Dark’s voice. It seemed to drift between the walls like coiling smoke.
“Oh, Miss Graaaay. Where are you?”
    Tessa froze. “Oh, God, they’ve caught up with—”
    Will seized her wrist again, and they were off running, the witchlight in his other hand throwing a wild pattern of shadows and light against the stone walls as they hurtled down the twisting corridor. The floor sloped down, the stones underfoot growing gradually more slick and damp as the air around them grew hotter and hotter. It was as if they were racing down into Hell itself as the voices of the Dark Sisters echoed off the walls.
“Miss Graaaaaay! We shan’t let you run, you know. We shan’t let you hide! We’ll find you, poppet. You know we will.”
    Will and Tessa careened around a corner, and came up short—the corridor ended at a pair of high metal doors. Releasing Tessa, Will flung himself against them. They burst open and he tumbled inside, followed by Tessa, who spun to slam them shut behind her. The weight of them was almost too much for her to manage, and she had to throw her back against them to force them, finally, closed.
    The only illumination in the room was Will’s glowing stone, its light sunk down now to an ember between his fingers. It lit him in the darkness, like limelight on a stage,as he reached around her to slam the bolt home on the door. The bolt was heavy and flaking with rust, and, standing as close to him as she was, she could feel the tension in his body as he dragged it home and let it fall into place.
    “Miss Gray?” He was leaning against her, her back against the closed doors. She could feel the driving rhythm of his heart—or was it her heart? The odd white illumination cast by the stone shimmered against the sharp angle of his cheeks, the faint sheen of sweat on his collarbones. There were marks there, too, she saw, rising from the unbuttoned collar of his shirt—like the mark on his hand, thick and black, as if someone had inked designs onto his skin.
    “Where are we?” she whispered. “Are we safe?”
    Without answering he drew away, raising his right hand. As he lifted it, the light blazed up higher, illuminating the room.
    They were in a sort of cell, though it was very large. The walls, floor, and ceiling were stone, sloping down to a large drain in the middle of the floor. There was only one window, very high up in the wall. There were no doors save the ones they had come through. But none of that was what made Tessa draw in her breath.
    The place was a slaughterhouse. There were long wooden tables running the length of the room. Bodies lay on one of them—human bodies, stripped and pale. Each had a black incision in the shape of a
Y
marking its chest, and each head dangled back over the edge of the table, the hair of the women sweeping the floor like brooms. On the center table were piles of bloodstained knives and machinery—copper cogs and brass gears and sharp-toothed silver hacksaws.
    Tessa crammed a hand into her mouth, stifling a scream. She tasted blood as she bit down on her own fingers. Will didn’t seem to notice; he was white-faced as he looked around, mouthing something under his breath that Tessa couldn’t make out.
    There was a crashing noise and the metal doors shuddered, as if something heavy had flung itself against them. Tessa lowered her bleeding hand and cried out, “Mr. Herondale!”
    He turned, as the doors shuddered again. A voice echoed from the other side of them: “Miss Gray! Come out now, and we

Similar Books

Let It Snow...

Jennifer LaBrecque, Leslie Kelly

Coletrane

Rie Warren

The Oracle Glass

Judith Merkle Riley

The Lost

Sarah Beth Durst

Sanctuary

Rowena Cory Daniells

Bet on Me

Alisha Rai

Where We Left Off

J. Alex Blane