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"I'm really sorry," Si to wear off, thankfully He felt less dizzy with overwhels worse, histo Maureen, and what he'd done to her, and whether she was all right Please let her be all right "I should have told you guys It's just-I really like you both, and I didn't want to hurt either of your feelings"

The moment it was out of his mouth, he realized how stupid he sounded Just another jerkish guy ht of hiot overlooked, passed up for the sexy bad boy or the tortured artist type For the self-involved kind of guy ould think nothing of dating two girls at once while , but not telling the truth about it either

"Wow," he said, e asshole"

"That's probably the first true thing you've said since I got here," said Maia

"Ah if you ask me, it's too little, too late-"

The side door of the bar opened, and someone came out It was Kyle Simon felt a wave of relief Kyle looked serious, but not as serious as Si awful had happened to Maureen

He started down the steps toward them The rain was barely a drizzle now Maia and Isabelle had their backs to hie "I hope you don't expect either of us to speak to you again," Isabelle said "And I' to have a talk with Clary-a very, very serious talk about her choice of friends"

"Kyle," Simon said, unable to keep the relief out of his voice as Kyle came into earshot "Uh, Maureen-is she-"

He had no idea how to ask what he wanted to ask without letting Maia and Isabelle knohat had happened, but as it turned out, it didn't et the rest of the words out Maia and Isabelle turned; Isabelle looked annoyed and Maia surprised, clearly wondering who Kyle was

As soon as Maia really saw Kyle, her face changed; her eyes ide, the blood draining fro at her with the look of soht Hiswords, but no sound ca from one of them to the other "Do you two-know each other?"

Maia's lips parted She was still staring at Kyle Simon had time only to think that she had never looked at hi like that intensity, when she whispered "Jordan"-and lunged for Kyle, her claws out and sharp, and sank them into his throat

Chapter 10

Part Two

For Every Life

Nothing is free Everything has to be paid for For every profit in one thing, pay For every life, a death Even your music, of which we have heard so much, that had to be paid for Your as the payment for your hes, "The Tiger's Bones"

10

232 RIVERSIDE DRIVE

Si rooe on the TV screen in the corner of the roo with Jace, and the iround tunnel with a heap of collapsed bodies on the ground and so, but Siy or the inclination to bother to turn it off The iht orse

The light streathened fro, but Si Maureen's liround, her blond hair stained with blood His own staggering progress out into the night, her blood singing through his veins And then Maia lunging at Kyle, tearing into hi a hand to defend himself He probably would have let her kill hi Maia bodily off hi her there until her rage dissolved into tears Sio to her, but Isabelle had held hiirl, her hand up to ward him off

"Get out of here," she'd said "And take him with you I don't knohat he did to her, but it must have been pretty bad"

And it was Simon knew that name, Jordan It had come up before, when he'd asked her how she'd been turned into a olf Her ex-boyfriend had done it, she'd said He'd done it with a savage and vicious attack, and he'd run off afterward, leaving her to deal with the aftermath alone

His name had been Jordan

That hy Kyle had only one name next to his door buzzer Because it was his last name His full name must have been Jordan Kyle, Simon realized He'd been stupid, unbelievably stupid, not to have figured it out before Not that he needed another reason to hate hiht now

Kyle-or rather, Jordan-was a olf; he healed fast By the tiently, to his feet and had led him back over to his car, the deep slashes in his throat and under the torn rags of his shirt had healed to crusted-over scars Simon had taken his keys from him and driven the al down at his bloody hands

"Maureen's fine," he'd said finally as they drove over the Williaood at feeding off humans yet, so she hadn't lost tooShe thinks she fainted in front of you, and she's really eht to thank Jordan, but he couldn't bring himself to do it "You're Jordan," he said "Maia's old boyfriend The one who turned her into a olf"

They were on Ken up the Boith its flophouses and lighting stores "Yeah," Jordan said at last "Kyle's o by it when I joined the Praetor"

"She would've killed you if Isabelle had let her"

"She has a perfect right to kill me if she wants to," said Jordan, and fell silent He didn't say anything else as Sied up the stairs to the apart off his bloody jacket, and slas into his backpack and had been about to leave the apartment when he'd hesitated He wasn't sure why, even now, but instead of leaving he'd dropped his bag by the door and coht