Chain of Iron

Chapter Thirty

On instinct, Matthew jumped in front of Cordelia, shielding her from the demon. There were screams and sounds of distress echoing from all corners of the room. Matthew's next thought was to seek out James; his eyes searched the ballroom and found him standing with Tessa and Magnus Bane, who both looked shocked. James only locked gazes with Matthew and nodded his head and Matthew knew exactly what it meant; James had a weapon on him. The demon closest to Matthew then lunged and he felt Cordelia grab his arm from behind.

Within a split second, Matthew had his rapier out that he had tucked away, and slashed out at the demon. He thanked the Angel that he had been trained to always carry a weapon with him and he struck the demon who was snapping its jaws at him. James was at his side within a moment and Matthew felt himself gain James' energy through their Parabatai bond. He watched as one of James' throwing knives sailed through the air and landed itself in one of the eyes of the demon and Matthew shot him an amused look.

"Must you always show off?" He smirked.

James pushed his hair from face, seeming entertained, but did not take his eyes off of the demon. "This really is not the time, Math."

Matthew only chuckled and went back to fighting alongside James. They struck the demon over and over until it vanished, spraying its ichor all over Matthew to which he swore. He had been wearing his finest clothes and they were now ruined. He looked around the room to see that it had turned into complete chaos. He saw Anna slashing at one of the Khora demons with her electrum whip and Alastair Carstairs was not too far away from her, fighting with his spear. Uncle Will was battling a demon alongside Uncle Gabriel, a seraph blade in his hand, and Aunt Tessa was using her magic with Magnus Bane to shoot down the demons. It was the first time Matthew had ever seen her use her magic in battle.

"Matthew! Look out!" James yelled, looking in horror at something behind him.

Matthew spun around and watched in terror as a large demon loomed over him, just about to strike. A figure dressed in gold was then in front of him, slashing at the demon. Cordelia. Her golden wedding gown was still much in tact and she was fighting the demon, her sword Cortana in her hand. Matthew thought that she looked beautiful; she looked the sun with her golden dress and sword and her fiery red hair. He and James then jumped in alongside her and all three of them killed the demon together.

"How--how were they able to get in here?" Cordelia panted. "The demons. The Institute is the one place that they are unable to enter."

This was due to the fact that Institutes were always built on holy ground which made demons unable to pass through their walls. The fact that these Khora demons had been able to was very troubling. Neither James nor Matthew were able to reply as a scream cut through the air and pierced their ears. They all whirled around to see that it had come from Lucie. She was bent over an unconscious Jesse Blackthorn and Matthew felt dread wash through him.

"What happened to him, Lucie?" James asked, concern written all over his face as they approached her.

She had tears in her eyes. "I was fighting off one of the demons and when I turned back to Jesse, one of them had bit him." Lucie looked up at her brother, desperately. "He is already so weak as I only brought him back to life last week. Oh, Jamie, I cannot let him die."

"Nobody is dying, Lucie." Cordelia spoke forcefully, reassuring her. "We need to move him to the infirmary right now and call for Jem."

Matthew looked around the room; the battle was now over and many of the guests had fled from the ballroom. The room itself was a mess. There was demon ichor everywhere and broken glasses and plates scattered the floor. Matthew spotted Uncle Will and Uncle Gabriel walking up to their group, distress written on their faces.