Chain of Iron

Chapter Sixteen

Cordelia was hit the unpleasant smell of demons the moment she stepped outside of Matthew's flat and she tightened her grip on Cortana as she took in the scene in front of her. A pack of six Khora demons stood before her and Cordelia gulped. They were hissing and snapping their jaws at her but Cordelia was not afraid; she had fought these types of demons before. Shadowhunter children were not raised to fear demons - they were raised to fight them and to perform their Angel given duty. There was then a hand on Cordelia's arm. She turned to see James who was looking at her, anger apparent in his golden eyes.

"Are you mad? Why would you run out here alone?" James demanded, his eyes searching her face.

Had he been worried about her? Cordelia was about to reply when all at the once the Khora demons pounced on them. Matthew rushed forward, a seraph blade shimmering in his hand, and he struck through one of the demons. This sprung Cordelia into action and she threw herself in front of one of the demons, slashing at it with Cortana. She could see Lucie fighting one demon with a seraph blade and Cordelia thanked the Angel that they had all brought weapons with them. Lucie seemed to be struggling as another demon joined the one that was already attacking her.

Cordelia slayed the one in front of her and was about to run to Lucie when she suddenly slammed down onto the pavement, a weight on top of her. She groaned to see that James was on top of her and he had blocked her from a demon who meant to knock her down. He was looking down at her, an odd sense of recognition in his eyes, and Cordelia realized that the last time James had looked at her like this had been at The Whispering Room. His eyes flitted down to her lips and then back up to her eyes and then he moved off of her.

"Thank you." Cordelia told him as he helped her up.

James only gave her a quick smile and they both went back to slashing at the demons; Matthew and Lucie joining them as two more demons appeared. Then, she thought she heard the demon James was fighting speak to him and she looked over but James did not look startled as he fought so she brushed it off. Cordelia fought as hard as she could and then she felt a searing pain coming from her left ankle and she collapsed. Just as the Khora demon moved to bite her, Matthew jumped in front of her and killed it with one mighty slash of his seraph blade. He then turned around and was crouched down beside Cordelia within a moment.

"Are you alright?" He asked, his eyes searching her face.

"My ankle." Cordelia winced in pain as she looked down.

Her ankle had been cut right down to the bone and there was blood leaking all over the dress that Anna had bought for her. A demon must have cut her without her even noticing - that occurred sometimes. Within a moment, Matthew produced his Stele and gently held her calf still as he drew an iratze over her wound. His hands were slightly shaky as he drew the rune but Cordelia had not smelt any alcohol on him so she could not explain as to why he slightly trembled. Matthew finished his work just as James and Lucie slayed the last of the demons and joined Cordelia and Matthew.

"Are you okay, Daisy?" Lucie furrowed her brow in worry.

Cordelia nodded. "I am. Matthew already gave me a healing rune."

Matthew then held out his hand and helped Cordelia to her feet. Her companions looked tired and worn out; Lucie's dress looked just as tattered as her own and there was a bit of dirt on her face.

"We have to tell our parents about the attack." James looked at all of them. "The sooner they know about this, the better."

It was established that James and Lucie would hurry back to the Institute and for the second time in a week, Matthew began to walk Cordelia back to Kensington Gardens. They walked slowly as Cordelia's ankle was still healing and she stole a glance at Matthew. Even bruised and battered, he still looked very handsome and Cordelia thought it was simply unfair.