The Institute was made of the same brick as most of the other temple buildings, with the same upturned eaves and hexagonal windows. In a tower off its central axis was a copper bell, the twin of the one in the mundane bell tower close by. The bells had been a set, created to ward off demons, and while the mundanes rang theirs only occasionally, the Shadowhunters welcomed the dusk by tolling theirs. Alec wondered if he’d get to hear it. He was already thinking about how to find an excuse to return here before they left.
Going up the stairs to the massive double doors, he hesitated. Leaving Magnus behind had been a hard choice, but his boyfriend needed a break. Magnus dealt with the stress of adding parenthood to his existing life simply by sleeping less and pushing himself more. It was the least Alec could do to let him sleep in today. It was true that Magnus knew the Ke family, who ran the Institute, and no doubt he would join them soon, but Alec was sure the rest of them could handle going to a friendly Institute without assistance. They were all in gear, and wearing runes, so they’d be immediately recognizable.
He started back up the stairs but froze as one of the giant doors creaked loudly on its hinges, then swung open fully.
Alec was somewhat surprised to discover that behind the door was a very young man—perhaps eighteen, a few years younger than Alec himself—tall and wiry, with straight-cut black hair and dramatic eyebrows. He was wearing gear in a dark, shiny burgundy—the famous oxblood lacquer of the Shadowhunters of China, which went in and out of fashion every few generations. He reminded Alec of someone, but he couldn’t think who it was.
Clary raised her hand in greeting and began to speak, but the young man was looking at Alec.
“Are you Alec Lightwood?” he asked, in accentless English.
Alec raised his eyebrows in surprise.
Isabelle said, “Oh no, Alec’s famous now.”
The man turned to look at her. “And you must be Isabelle, his sister. Come,” he said, waving them inside. “All of you are expected.”
* * *
THE INSTITUTE FELT SURPRISINGLY EMPTY. There were only, it turned out, four Shadowhunters at home, the man explained: the rest were out “investigating the Portal situation.”
“Forgive me,” he said when they had all filed in and he had closed the door after them. “I don’t mean to be mysterious. I am Ke Yi Tian—you should call me Tian—and I was told to expect you. Alec and Isabelle Lightwood, as well as Clary Fairchild, Jace Herondale, and Simon Lovelace.”
“So Alec isn’t famous?” Isabelle sounded disappointed.
“Told by whom?” Jace said. He sounded guarded; Alec didn’t blame him.
“A member of my family,” Tian said. “No longer a Shadowhunter, but he continues to… keep an eye on those he considers persons of interest.”
“That’s not ominous at all,” muttered Simon.
“It’s not,” said Clary. “He means Brother Zachariah.”
“Former Brother Zachariah,” said Tian. He looked around at them and gestured to a door. “Shall we walk and talk in the peach orchard?”
They all looked at each other. Alec said, “Yes. Yes, that seems like it would be very nice.”
The peach orchard was a fine and pleasant space, well-shaded and equipped with small wooden tables and stools placed here and there for sitting. Tian led them to one, and Simon and Clary sat down, while the rest of them remained standing. “So are you here about the Portals?”
“Sort of,” said Alec. “What’s going on with the Portals, exactly?”
Tian looked surprised. “Portals are misbehaving all over the world. It only started a few days ago, but it’s quickly become a real mess. I assumed you’d know—didn’t you travel to Shanghai by Portal?”
“Yes,” said Clary, “and they were definitely… misbehaving. We assumed it was just us.”
“Everyone thought it was just them,” said Tian. “But it’s everyone. Portals go to the wrong place, or don’t open at all, or they’re full of demons. Everyone is out looking into it.”
“We think our mission might be indirectly related to the Portals somehow,” Alec said carefully, “but actually we’re in Shanghai to look for a couple of warlocks, one man and one woman. They stole a powerful spell book from New York recently, and we think they’re too dangerous to be allowed to keep it.”
Tian tugged idly at a branch, his dark hair falling into his eyes. “Well, the good news—and the bad news—is that almost all the Downworlders in Shanghai live in the same neighborhood.”
“The Downworlder Concession,” Alec said.
“Exactly. But there are a lot of Downworlders in the city. A lot. I should know—that’s my patrol area.”
“They let you patrol there?” said Isabelle.
Tian nodded and said, with some pride, “Relations between Shadowhunters and Downworlders have always been very good in Shanghai.”
“Even now?” said Alec.
Tian grimaced. “We do our best. It’s about knowing the people, building relationships with them, trusting them, so when it matters, they’ll trust you.”
Alec found he liked this guy. “Do you have any suggestions?”
Tian nodded. “If you can wait, you should go to the Shadow Market tomorrow. There are a few people you could talk to… but really the best place to start would be with Peng Fang. He’s a vampire blood merchant—”
“We’ve met,” Alec said glumly. Isabelle and Simon exchanged puzzled looks.
“And there are others.” Tian hesitated. “Would you be offended if I escorted you? Things are better in Shanghai than elsewhere, but many Downworlders would still be wary of Nephilim strangers. Especially obviously foreign Nephilim strangers.”
“Hey,” said Simon defensively, “Alec here is the founder of the Downworlder-Shadowhunter Alliance. He’s got a Downworlder pass.”
“I don’t,” said Alec, “have a ‘Downworlder pass.’ ”
“If any Shadowhunter does, you do,” Simon insisted.
“I’ll take you and make introductions,” Tian said. “They know me. And you’ll want to split up when you walk around. Six Shadowhunters together in a Shadow Market looks like something’s about to go down.” He smiled at them. “Come to my family home tomorrow. We can have breakfast and then go to the Market.”
“But the Market is at night,” said Simon.
Tian smiled more broadly. “Welcome to Shanghai, home of the one and only Sunlit Market.”
“What do—” began Simon.
“Vampires have a blacked-out section of the Market that’s been enclosed for their use,” said Tian.
Simon nodded, satisfied.
“I heard something about a bookstore,” Alec said. “The Celestial Palace.”
Tian’s eyebrows went up. “It’s nearby. We can stop there as well. It is…” He hesitated. “It is faerie-owned and staffed. You’ll attract attention. The whole concession will know in minutes that a gang of foreign Shadowhunters has come to the Palace.”
“Will it cause trouble?” Jace asked.
Tian shrugged. “Probably not. Just gossip. If you don’t want faerie monarchs or vampire clans or the Spiral Labyrinth to know you’re in Shanghai, that’ll be blown the moment you walk in.”
“Why wouldn’t we want them to know we’re in Shanghai?” said Alec.
Tian hesitated. “May I speak frankly?” he said. When they nodded, he went on. “One of the ways things stay friendly between all of us here in Shanghai is that we Shadowhunters try to take situations as they come, and find solutions where we can.”
“I’m not sure what you’re getting at,” said Clary.
Tian cleared his throat. “Our goal is the overall stability of the Shadow side of the city. That means sometimes allowing some Downworlder activity that might not normally be considered acceptable. Always because of important extenuating circumstances, you understand.”
“Oh, I get it,” said Jace. “You’re saying, if we go to the concession together, we might see some illegal stuff, and you want to know if we can let it slide.”
“Is that what you’re saying?” Alec said.
“I wouldn’t put it in quite those terms, but—yes,” said Tian.
They exchanged looks. Carefully, Jace said, “While all of us are known primarily for our strict adherence to the letter and spirit of the Law…”
“Obviously,” agreed Isabelle.
“… we are also visitors here, and we understand that circumstances are often complicated and have a lot of history. Also, we are from the New York Institute, and we are past masters of letting it slide.”
Jace winked. Tian looked puzzled.
“We’re not here to interfere with the way you do your Shadowhunting,” Alec clarified, by way of reassurance.
Tian’s brow furrowed. “Do you say that in English? ‘Shadowhunting’?”
“No,” said Isabelle. “No one says that.”
“Well, maybe we should start,” returned Alec. Isabelle stuck out her tongue at him.
“So what’s the demon situation like here?” Clary asked.
“Not great. Getting worse.” Tian straightened up. He seemed uneasy. “Let’s go back inside. I’d like to see if my father has returned from his rounds.”
As they walked, he elaborated. “For one thing, in a city this big, there are always going to be idiots who summon new demons, and old demons that showed up centuries ago and are still hanging around. In fact, we’ve been getting a lot of the latter lately. Strange demons, things that haven’t been seen in Shanghai for a hundred years. Things you have to look up in a book when you get back from fighting them.”
“Any idea why?”
“A bunch of theories. Nothing really solid. It’s funny: for decades Shanghai was known as this very safe city, very few demons, safe for Downworlders. In the time after Yanluo—”