Chain of Iron

Chapter Nineteen

Lucie huffed and fixed her dress as she exited the carriage. The dress she had picked to wear to the Hell Ruelle had proved to be a tiring one as it required adjusting every few minutes and she had no patience for it. In front of her, James and Matthew were standing together, their heads bent in a serious conversation and Cordelia was staring at the Hell Ruelle with and odd glint in her eyes. Lucie felt excited to be finally attending Anna and Matthew's favourite Downworld hangout; she was the only one out of all of them to not have attended before.

"Are we all ready?" James asked as he and Matthew approached Lucie and Cordelia.

Lucie nodded. "Finally, I get see the infamous Hell Ruelle."

Matthew chuckled. "Now you will finally understand why Anna and I love this place so much."

Cordelia only smiled at him and then they all began to follow Matthew into the large building. Before they even walked through the doors, Lucie could hear the music that was playing very loudly and she felt a tad of nervousness wash throughout her body. They then walked through the doors and her eyes widened; she had never seen so many Downworlders in one place before. There were vampires sitting at tables, drinking what looked like blood from crystal glasses, werewolves laughing and hitting each other playfully and the occasionally faerie walking by. Lucie realized that they had all turned and stared at Cordelia, and Cordelia blushed.

"Why are they staring at Daisy like that?" Lucie whispered to her brother.

A small knowing smile came to James mouth but there was something else that he held in his eyes. "She gave quite the performance when her, Matthew and I attended last time."

He seemed to be remembering something else while he spoke but then quickly shook it off. Matthew continued to move through the crowd and down a corridor, until he led them into a small room. Lucie walked in and saw that there were faeries and a few warlocks scattered about the room, but the one who caught her eye was a young woman sitting in the middle of it all. She had dark skin and long bronze coloured hair; Lucie thought that she was beautiful.

"Matthew Fairchild." She spoke as she laid eyes on him, mouth curling into a grin. "Back again so soon?"

Matthew gave the woman his signature smile that could melt ice. "You know that I cannot go long without coming back to this place, Miss Vex."

So this was the infamous Hypatia Vex. If Lucie looked close enough, she could see that Hypatia had star shaped pupils; her warlock mark. Hypatia observed their group.

"I see you have brought back the Herondale boy and Carstairs girl who gave the most interesting performance when she was here last." Hypatia grinned at Cordelia and she looked over at Lucie herself. "And who might this be?"

"This is my sister Lucie." James introduced.

Hypatia only eyed her and then turned back to Matthew. "You have not brought Anna Lightwood along; I must say that she is my favourite."

"She, unfortunately, could not make it." Matthew then smirked widely. "But I am sure that I could be of service to you tonight, Miss Vex, in place of Anna."

Oh. Lucie understood his meaning and felt a bit surprised; it was not in Matthew's nature to be so forthcoming but she supposed that was what one had to do when they needed a favour from a powerful warlock. Lucie sneaked a glance at Cordelia who was regarding Matthew, wide eyed. Lucie could not blame her.

Hypatia laughed but returned the smirk. "You are but a child, Matthew, and I do not consort with children."

"I can assure you, Hypatia." Matthew went on, his dark green eyes brewing with mischief. "That you will find that I am not much of a child when I am--"