Simon was sitting on the couch with Isabelle´s head on his shoulder. The last few weeks after the death of George and the Parabatai ceremony with Clary had been really busy, so that all of them had decided to spend some time alone with their partners. Jace and Clary had gone to Idris to visit the memorial stone of Amatis Luke had put in the garden of her house, the old townhouse of the Herondales, that now belonged to Jace, since he was the last of the family and to see if their country residence could be rebuilt. Alec and Magnus were currently somewhere in Europe and Simon and Isabelle had decided to keep Maryse company. She was alone now, since Robert had never come back from Alicante and they had been officially divorced a month ago. Jocelyn and Luke, who had moved to his farm and sold the bookshop and the flat, were sometimes coming for a visit, but they never stayed long.
Simon was so deep in his thoughts that he nearly jumped a metre in the air as someone sounded the doorbell of the Institute, causing Izzy to fall off the couch. He helped her up, apologized to her and while he did that, the bell chimed again. Whoever was outside had to be either a vampire or a werewolf in a hurry. Other Shadowhunters would already be inside now. When Simon and Isabelle were almost at the door, the bell was sounded a third time. While they cautiosly opened the door, Isabelle pulled her whip out of her pocket and held it in her hand, ready to use it. The sight before them was something they never would have expected. Maia was lying on the steps, covered in blood. Whoever had attacked her, was already gone, so they carried her inside and while Isabelle looked for any open wounds, Simon went to their room, collected his mobile phone and called the emergency number of the New Yorker werewolf pack. Bat, Maia´s second in command, was clearly shaken when he heard the news and told Simon that he would be there as soon as he could. When he returned, Isabelle was gone and Maia was still completely soaked in blood. His hands were shaking and he forced himself not to think about Izzy, while he carried out first aid on Maia. Luckily Bat came soon and took her back to the police station. When they were gone, Simon sat on the floor, buried his head on his knees and started to cry. Maryse found him five minutes later, pulled him up and led him to a chair. They were sitting there silently for about an hour until Simon finally felt strong enough to tell Izzy´s mother what had happened. When he was finished, she was crying as well.
Jace woke up while it was still dark outside. He was not really awake, but when he moved his hand over to Clary´s side of the bed and could not feel her lying next to him, he was out of bed faster than ever before. He raced downstairs, calling her name, but no one answered him. He searched for her the entire day but could not find any trace of the girl he loved more than his own life. When it became night again, he put everything they had brought in their bags and marched to the Garnison, ready to return to New York. When he stepped out the portal in front of the Institute he was greeted by Maryse and Simon and he was feeling as if he was looking into a mirror when he saw their faces. A few minutes later they were sitting around the table in the kitchen while they told each other what had happened on this day. When Jace had finished with his story, his mobile phone started ringing. All three of them looked at each other, expecting more bad news. Jace´s hands were shaking when he answered the phone. It was Alec and he sounded out of breath, as he said: "Jace, I need your help. We are in Paris, in front of the Louvre. Can you send Clary here to open a portal for us? Magnus is unconscious and I do not know what is wrong with him." Jace had to take a few breaths before he could answer: "Sorry Alec, I can not help you. Clary and Isabelle are gone. They disappeared without any trace. We do not know what happened to them." The silence on the other end seemed to last for an eternity and Jace began to wonder if Alec had fallen unconcious as well, when his Parabatai finally replied: "I understand. I will call Catarina. We will be home as soon as possible." Then he ended the call and Jace told the others what Alec had said. They all decided to wait until he was home. They could not do anything else anyway, they were much too worried.
