At the salon, Anna, Matthew, and Cordelia meet Malcom Fade, the High Warlock of London. (High Warlocks are powerful warlocks who often advise both Downworlders and Shadowhunters. London’s last High Warlock, Magnus Bane, is a great friend to the Shadowhunters.) Cordelia finds the gathering at the salon dangerous yet exciting, including a diverse array of vampires, faeries, and other Downworlders. Malcolm tells Anna, whom he already knows, that Hypatia Vex wishes to meet her; Hypatia is the keeper of Downworlder high culture and the organizer of the salon. The group head to a golden grotto concealed behind a cabinet. Hypatia lounges on an enormous bed in the middle of the grotto. Among other rich decorations in the bedchamber is a box bearing alchemical symbols.

Anna flirts with Arabella, a mermaid walking on land for the first time in 30 years, who is wobbling around and passing drinks. When Hypatia asks Anna why she brought Cordelia along, the straightforward Cordelia replies it is to seek the help of the Downworlders against the recent demon attacks. Hypatia and Malcolm initially refuse to help them. After a failed romance with a Shadowhunter who became an Iron Sister—the female equivalent of a Silent Monk—Malcolm does not ally with the Nephilim.