"What the - "
Clary woke to the startled yelp, followed by the soft thud, of Magnus Bane. She groggily opened her eyes and began to sit up, when she was swiftly reminded of last night's fall. Her body ached all over, and she felt stiff, cold and wet.
Magnus had fallen out of the tree that he had been tied in and landed in a puddle. He got up, groaning with the same pain Clary felt. He was as undignified as she had ever seen him, and yet he still maintained an air of authority. His recently purple-tinged hair was matted and wet, and his eyeliner was smudged from the rain. His clothes, a dark grey button-up shirt and silver jeans paired with a leather jacket, were dirtied from his night in the tree. He stooped to pick up the bag he had used as a pillow from the mud. There was something regal about him, Clary thought, as he ran a hand through his knotted hair. He still seemed shaken, and not entirely alright, but at least he was standing. He frowned in confusion as he examined his surroundings, putting together the pieces of what had happened.
"Hey."
His attention snapped to her. She managed a small smile. "Good morning, sunshine."
"Clarissa? What the hell happened? Why was I in a tree? And why do I feel like I've been attacked by a pack of werewolves?"
She shrugged, not entirely sure of last night's events herself. "The road you took ended in a cliff. Do you remember that? It was really wet so the car slipped and you hit your head and… um… ended up unconscious. And then we kinda… fell off the road. And now we're here."
"The tree?"
"We didn't want animals to get to you. We're all glamoured."
"Let me get this straight - I was knocked out, thrown down a hill, and tied to a tree all in one night?"
"Yep."
Magnus began to reply, but he was interrupted by Jace waking up.
"Oh good. You're alive."
Magnus looked appalled. "No thanks to you! Let me guess. It was your recklessness that ended up with us all down here."
Jace blinked blearily. "What? No. Didn't Clary tell you? Isabelle tripped carrying you and we followed her down here. If anything, it's your fault."
Magnus' gaze shifted to Clary. She nodded - she had no idea why she had omitted that. It was almost as if she hadn't wanted Magnus to know that Izzy had fallen first. There was something in her that felt like she was betraying her friend.
"And besides," Jace continued, picking up momentum as he became more awake, "it was you who took a wrong turn onto this dodgy road, and you who got distracted and didn't notice that the road had ended! Really, it's your fault!"
"Let's not get too overexcited, okay blondie? It could have happened to anyone." Magnus took off his jacket and wrung it out. "Well, serves me for wearing leather on a camping trip."
Clary found herself staring at Jace. He had a few cuts from the fall, though she assumed they all did, and a magnificent purple bruise spanning the left side of his face.
"Is anyone else awake?" Clary asked, looking around.
Jace stood up, moaning as he did so. From the sounds of it, nobody was going to be going anywhere anytime soon - the fall had taken its toll on all of them. He inspected the others, and, upon seeing Isabelle shift slightly, kicked her.
"Jace," Clary scolded, standing up as well.
"Nah, she's used to it. Izzy. Get up. Izzy. Izzy. Iz. Iz. Iz."
"Shut up," Isabelle said, rolling onto her back and glaring at him. She still looked stunning, despite the mud and grime. "I'm awake."
She yawned, stretching her arms. "Magnus! You're alive!"
"Why does that surprise you people? It'd take more than a bump to kill me," Magnus muttered, walking around slowly as he scouted their surroundings. "So we have no idea where we are?"
"Well, that slope-y thing over there is where we fell down," Jace said, pointing in that direction. "We just need to get back onto the road, then onto the highway, then maybe ask someone for directions."
"And how do you propose we get up there, Tarzan? Are you just going to scale the steep rock slope, or do you suggest we fly?"
"I was hoping you would help a little, seeing as you are magic and all," Jace snapped, helping Isabelle up onto her good ankle.
Magnus shook his head. "I hate to tell you this, but I'm not up to performing magic."
"Oh come on. You're alive. You said so yourself. You can do magic."
"It's not as simple as that. I'm not… well. I can't just perform complex magic with the snap of a finger, especially not when I'm ill."
"But you can walk," Isabelle commented, wiping her eyes blearily. "If you're well enough to walk, you should be able to get at least one of us up to the road."
"Right, because putting feet in front of each other is the same as harnessing demonic magic," Magnus grumbled, sitting down on the root of the tree. "I need coffee."
"I can get you an apple," Isabelle said, heading over to the bags. "Or a marshmallow."
"Are you sure you don't have anything caffeinated?"
"Nope."
"Alcoholic, then?"
She tossed him an apple.
They waited, making small talk and trying to occupy themselves whilst Simon and Alec slept. When Simon woke up, the first thing he did was flip Magnus off, "for getting us in this situation."
"I'm under-appreciated," he replied with a scowl. "Why is the only person who is not prepared to stab me still asleep?"
They turned to look at Alec. "Oh shit. He looks awful."
It was true - there were circles under his eyes, dark and purple, and his skin was sallow. He was at an unusual angle, with his arms crossed tightly. His head rested on a root, not a cushiony bag, almost directly under the branch Magnus had been sleeping on.
As they stared, Alec's eyes fluttered open. They were bloodshot.
"Why are you guys staring at me like that?"
"Good morning, princess," Jace said, as he went through their bags. "Looks like you didn't get much beauty sleep."
"Oh… I was, um… I had trouble sleeping. That's all," he replied, sitting up.
Magnus' warm smile slowly turned into a smirk. "Hey, Alec - is that a seraph blade in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?"
Alec smiled unenthusiastically. "Hate to disappoint you, but it's the former."
The grin dropped from Magnus' face. "Really?"
Alec pulled the blade from his pocket. "Yup."
"Why did you bring a seraph blade on a strictly mundane camping trip?" Simon asked.
"Just in case," answered Alec, as he stood up and brushed the dirt from his clothes. "By the Angel, we all look shit, don't we?"
"Speak for yourself," Jace replied, standing up with a bottle of water in his hand. "I look fantastic. I think the rugged vibes really suit me."
Alec nodded. "And the purple of that bruise really brings out your eyes."
"What bruise?" Jace asked, putting his free hand up to his face. "Why did no one tell me I had a bruise on my face?"
Simon shrugged. "We thought it'd be funnier to let you suffer through the week with a hideous purple blotch on your face. It'd give the rest of us a chance to be the best looking."
"I'm surprised you can see at all out of those things," Jace said, motioning towards Simon's blurred glasses. "Or do you like not being able to see? I suppose it would make it easier walking past mirrors - or at least, it would in your case."
"I know I said it before, but we really have to get along, okay? Because we will literally die alone in the wilderness if we do not," Magnus said, "therefore, I will personally kill and eat anyone who causes a fight. Okay?"
Alec winced. "I'd hold off on resorting to cannibalistic vigilantism. You'd probably wind up alone by the end of tomorrow."
"Come on, Alexander, you have to agree with me - petty bickering will get us nowhere."
"If we're good at anything, Magnus, it's at going nowhere."
"Alright," Clary said, clapping her hands together, "I'll be the mature one then. I'm taking charge. No complaints."
"Biscuit, you're half my height and a fraction of my age. Let me handle this," Magnus said.
Clary shook her head and handed him a tent in its bag. "Sorry - you had your chance, and you did nothing. Besides, if I recall correctly, you're indisposed at this point in time. So make yourself useful by helping set up tents."
"What? You're not suggesting we sleep here again?" Simon's concerned expression deepened.
And once again, she saw it - the plain fear in his eyes. She remembered telling him to trust her that they'd be able to get back onto the road, but looking at the steep slope, she doubted it. It was only twenty metres high, but it was still enough to intimidate even the most fearless amongst them.
"We have to, Simon. We'll keep looking for a way to find help, but for now, we set up camp, okay? I mean - I think we have a pretty good spot here. We're on the edge of the forest, so there'll be fewer animals, we're close to the road, so if people come looking, we can hear them, and we're protected from rain."
"What about water? Food?"
"We have food," Isabelle said.
"Edible food?"
"Quit it," she said, barely concealing her smile, "or else you'll be the next thing on the menu."
"Why does everyone keep threatening to kill each other?" Clary asked. "We've only been here for a night. What is this, Lord of the Flies?"
Simon gulped. "I hope not. I'm not going down the same path as that Simon."
"How the hell do you do this?" Magnus asked, struggling with the tent. "Are you sure this isn't magical?"
"I am at least 80 percent sure, my friend," Clary said, smiling smugly as she watched him struggle. He shot her a dirty look.
The group waited a little longer, almost enjoying seeing Magnus struggle with such a simple task, before Isabelle said, "I'll do it," and took it off him.
As she began assembling the poles, Alec watched her closely. The grogginess of lost sleep had not yet worn off, but his blue eyes followed her every move intently. The conversation they had had yesterday, before they had fallen, echoed around his mind.
"Iz, I can do this."
"You don't have to."
"I do, he's too big for you to carry."
"I can do it, Alec."
There was something there, lying beneath her refusal. He knew she was capable of many things, in fact, most things, but he still liked to ask how he could help. She knew that. Usually, she respected his offers enough to at least dignify him with an alternate use for his enthusiasm. But she had just straight-out refused to let him help. Did she think he was undermining her ability? He shook his head, trying to reject the idea, but also to clear his sleep-blurred vision. He was too tired to be worrying so much.
Izzy knew very well that Alec was watching her. She tried to be subtle about the way that her ankle was screaming with pain. The poles she held clicked together, and she began to assemble the tent itself, moving to thread the pole through the material. Hidden amongst the material, however, was a tree root that she wasn't aware of, and when she went to pick up a corner of the tent -
"Ah!"
"Iz!"
Alec stood up just as quickly as Isabelle fell down. The others, who had since preoccupied themselves with other duties, turned to see what had just happened.
"Are you okay, Iz?" Simon yelled from where the bags were.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," she said, waving away Alec's helping hand and standing back up. She ignored the ache of her freshly tormented ankle. Her eyes met her brother's, and she recognised his disapproving gaze instantly. "I'm fine. I swear."
"Your ankle is still sore. You should rest it."
"I just tripped on a root. It's no big deal."
"You 'just tripped'? You fell to the ground, Iz. That's the same ankle you hurt yesterday, isn't it? You could do some serious damage if you keep walking on it."
'I said it's no big deal."
And with that, she turned around, wincing as soon as her back was to him, and continued setting up the tent.
"If you're going to be so stubborn, at least let me help you with this, then," Alec said, picking up the opposite side of the tent and helping her set it up. In silence, they finished the job.
Clary had already set up another (albeit smaller) tent, so there was one left.
"I'll do it," Simon volunteered, looking at Isabelle as he did so.
"It's Instant, Simon, you don't have to do much. Just take off the ties," said Clary, throwing it to him. Simon looked somewhat disappointed, but opened it anyway, flinching only slightly when it automatically expanded to full size.
"Right. Sleeping arrangements. Who's with who?"
The plan had been for Jocelyn and Luke to share a smaller tent, and for Clary and Isabelle, the two girls, to share the other small one. The others could all fit within the largest tent. Now, however, there only needed to be two people per tent.
"We'll still share a tent," Izzy said, nodding at Clary.
"Alexander and I shall also sleep together," Magnus said triumphantly.
"He means sleep next to each other," Alec clarified.
"We'll see."
"Wait," Jace said, "I'm not sharing a tent with Little Miss Petrified over here."
"Little Miss?" Simon asked.
"You have to, Jace. Sorry. You can get the big tent if you want," Clary said with an apologetic shrug.
"Come on, Clary, this can only end badly," Jace said, lowering his voice and casting a worried, cursory glance at Simon, who was sitting on the floor, apple in hand, looking indignant.
Clary shook her head. "Sorry, Jace. You'll just have to soldier through it. I don't know how, considering how awful it will be, but you've battled demons. How hard can rooming with Simon be?"
"Hey!"
"Don't worry, I'm just joking," she laughed. "Get your bags, get in your tent, and get comfortable. Then, we'll make breakfast."
"You know what, Clarissa? I'll handle breakfast. I should be able to make something out of whatever we have here," Magnus said as he examined the contents of the bags.
Alec smiled and gave him thumbs up as he headed into their tent. "Thanks mate."
"I could cook," Isabelle offered, but Clary shook her head fervently.
"You need to rest, Iz. You'll never make it up that slope with only one functioning ankle."
"I'm not completely invalid, you know that, right? I can still do things," Isabelle said, slight agitation clear in her voice. "I'm not just going to sit and let you guys do everything for me."
"Of course not," Clary said, "but we're not going to let you do any more damage."
The morning passed in a haze of preparation. Clary had decided upon finding water, and Jace had insisted on accompanying her. He claimed it was because he didn't want her to get lost, but she knew that, in truth, it was because he hadn't adapted as well to the 'rugged' lifestyle as he let on. They'd only been out in the wild for less than twelve hours, and he was already over the dirt and the mud. It had stopped raining, which was good, but it also meant that they were left caked in filth.
"How does your face feel?" Clary asked, unable to stop looking at the hideous purple bruise. Jace put his hands to his face and thought for a second.
"Yep. Just as I thought. It feels as chiselled and handsome as always."
Clary didn't even crack a smile.
"No, it feels fine. I'll just be sleeping on my other side tonight, is all. Hey - speaking of, what the hell? Why am I rooming with Simon?"
Clary rolled her eyes. "He's not as bad as you keep saying he is. I thought he redeemed himself in your eyes."
"It's not just that I think he's being a paranoid twat… it's just that I'd rather share a tent with you."
"Very smooth," Clary said, walking under a branch. Jace had to duck to follow her.
"Seriously, though. If Alec gets to spend this week sleeping with his boyfriend, why can't I?"
"You want to sleep with your boyfriend? Be my guest."
"You know what I meant," Jace puffed as he dodged yet another low branch. Clary wasn't having nearly as much trouble as him.
"Look! Water!"
Jace emerged from the shrubs to see Clary standing knee-deep in a river. It was mostly clear, and Jace could see fish beneath the hazy surface.
"Careful you don't get washed away," he laughed, as he jumped in to join her. The current was quite strong, but it wasn't too deep, so they had no trouble standing. Jace watched Clary, her smile brilliant, as she splashed the cold water on her face. He hadn't noticed how hot the sun was until now. The mud washed away, revealing her pale skin, and her hair regained its vibrant red. He kept watching her, unable to stop, because she was so utterly happy. None of the worry from the previous night lingered; she was in complete bliss. She ventured further in until the water was waist-depth.
"Don't go in too far, Clary - the current will get stronger the further in you get."
"I know how rivers work, Jace."
"I know you do, it's just that I don't want to have to swim after you when you get whisked away by the river. I'm too tired."
"Well, I guess I had better wake you up then."
Jace raised an eyebrow, smirking, but before he could reply -
"Did you just splash me?"
"Good morning, sunshine! Was that refreshing?"
He laughed, wiping the water off his face (which was refreshing, though he'd never admit it), and splashed her back. She laughed in delight, splashing him again and again, until his clothes were soaked through. He retaliated until she was equally as drenched. They laughed, stumbling over the uneven riverbed until he had her in his arms. She looked up at him, her green eyes shining, her eyelashes wet. He looked back, not caring about the breeze that he felt now he was soaked. His thoughts were occupied by her.
"You're doing an excellent job as our leader, you know that right?" He murmured, lowering his voice despite the rushing of the river. "Don't let the general lack of enthusiasm put you off."
She smiled gently. "I haven't done much."
"You found water," Jace suggested, pulling her closer.
"Yeah," she replied, her eyes no longer locked with his but on his lips instead. He waited for her to kiss him, but she did nothing. Jace hardly ever felt self-conscious, but right now, he was worried that the purple monstrosity on the side of his face was stopping her. Before he could voice his thoughts, however, Clary leant in and kissed him.
Her mouth was wet, as was her skin, but Jace didn't care. They stood there, Clary up to her thighs in water, Jace up to his knees, embraced and alone and in love. She knew others would begin to worry about where they were, but Isabelle would cover for her. She had winked when Jace had gotten up to follow her.
Really, Clary reasoned, this isn't the worst thing we could be doing.
Magnus hadn't been having a great day. He had woken up tied to a tree and promptly fallen out of it. Whoever had tied the ropes had been too gentle. His leather jacket was ruined, the small ginger one was in charge, and he felt absolutely awful.
His day improved considerably, however, when he walked in on Alec shirtless.
"Making yourself at home, are you?" Magnus smirked, closing the flap of the tent.
Alec smiled in reply. "Thanks for getting me out of sharing a bed with Jace. He kicks in his sleep."
"No problem," Magnus said, about to reply when he saw something on Alec's shoulder.
"What's that?"
Alec glanced at where Magnus was looking but quickly shrugged it off. "Nothing."
"Really, Alexander? I can tell that it's not nothing. It looks worse than blondie's face, and that's saying something."
"It's fine," Alec said, moving to put his shirt back on. His cheeks were slowly turning red.
"Nonsense," replied Magnus, taking the shirt off him and turning him around. Alec winced as Magnus gasped.
The slight tinge of purple that Magnus had seen was just the beginning. Alec's shoulder was a complete mess. There were cuts and grazes all over his shoulder blade, to about halfway down his back. There was dirt and mud mixed in with dried blood, and a hideous red-raw undertone.
"Alexander," Magnus said breathily, still in shock. He had felt little guilt about not being able to do magic before - after all, they were warriors, they could figure out how to climb the slope themselves - but his absence of power stung him as he stared at Alec's wound. He would have given anything, even the chance to get back to where they were meant to be, to heal him.
"So… you can't do anything?"
Magnus shook his head, afraid to meet Alec's gaze. What sort of a warlock was he? He had tried this morning, when nobody was looking, to conjure up something, even if it was just a coffee, to no avail. His magic was as tired as he was.
"That's okay. I can get Jace to do an iratze."
"Why didn't you tell him sooner? If you had a stele on you to do runes last night, then surely he could have done it then."
"I didn't need it then."
"So you did this after everyone had fallen asleep?"
"No, I did it in the fall," Alec admitted. Now it was he who was avoiding Magnus' gaze. He didn't want Magnus to think that he had hurt himself to get to him.
"Then why didn't you ask Jace to heal you? Is it a matter of pride? Because I have to say, Isabelle is not handling having a wounded ankle very well, and if this is a Lightwood thing - "
"It's not that, Magnus - don't worry about it."
"You cannot seriously ask me not to care about my boyfriend's mangled shoulder. Tell me."
Alec finally looked at Magnus, and his heart softened seeing his sincere concern. Not may things phased the High Warlock of Brooklyn, and part of him secretly liked that he was one of them.
"It helped me stay awake."
"What?"
"It was kind of uncomfortable sleeping on it, so it kept me awake."
"And this is a good thing because…?"
Alec shrugged. "I know that I didn't tie you to the tree very tightly. It seemed inhumane. I wanted to make sure that if there was something dangerous, you wouldn't have to rely on my knots to keep you safe."
"Alexander… you stayed up all night to keep an eye on me?" Magnus recalled the stele blade, where Alec had slept, how tired he looked.
"But I wasn't very good at it, was I? I fell asleep around when the sun came up. I should have been able to - "
But Alec didn't get to finish his sentence, because Magnus was kissing him.
"Where is everyone?" Simon asked, stumbling out of his tent. Isabelle couldn't help but smirk at his clumsiness.
"Did you have a good sleep?"
Simon grimaced. "Was it obvious I was asleep? For how long?"
Izzy waved his concern away. "Only about twenty minutes."
"How could you tell?"
"Your hair."
His hands went immediately to his head, trying to smooth it down. "Do you have a mirror on you?"
"No, sorry. If only. I reckon Jace has found one, though - he's been gone for half an hour, and his reflection is the only thing that can keep him interested for that long."
Simon shrugged. "That, and Clary."
A smile crept onto Isabelle's face as she continued what she was doing - sharpening a stick with a pocket knife Luke had insisted on packing.
"Wait - he's been gone for half an hour? He left with Clary, didn't he?" Simon stretched his arms and yawned as he walked over to where she was sitting.
"Maybe," Isabelle said, unable to contain her smile.
"Do you think they're… you know…"
"I'm not sure."
From inside Magnus and Alec's tent, somebody slapped their hand to the side of the tent. "They might be, though."
Simon's face had gone bright red. Izzy kind of enjoyed seeing him so flustered. "So… uh… what have you got there?"
She looked down at the stick she had sharpened. "I don't know. I'm bored. I guess we can use it to kill things."
Simon's eyebrows arched higher than the frames of his glasses. "Woah, there! What do we need to kill?"
Izzy shrugged. "Food."
"So what, what you brought isn't enough?"
"I packed for a week. Who knows how long we'll be here."
Simon gulped, going considerably paler.
"Nah, I'm kidding," Isabelle said, playfully shoving him. "I'm just bored. This flimsy thing wouldn't even be able to pierce paper."
Simon sighed with relief. "Okay, because I was worried for a second there that we'd have to go all Bear Grylls and survive… um… well, you know what I mean."
Izzy put down her stick. "Simon, you do realise whose hands you're in, right? We're all trained warriors. We know how to survive."
"So you're all capable of murder? How's that supposed to make me feel any better?" Simon quipped, but he trailed off, staring into Izzy's eyes. There was genuine comfort there, genuine compassion, that, despite their current circumstance, made the world that little bit nicer.
"So… if everyone else is off somewhere else, do you think we should - "
Simon was interrupted by Magnus spilling out of their tent, his hair a mess and his grin taking up his entire face.
"Hello, you two. How are you? Lovely day, isn't it?"
Simon began to say something, but Magnus had already begun to stride away.
"Magnus!" Izzy yelled, her voice wrought with concern. "There's blood all over your shirt!"
Magnus paused, a frown on his face. "Where?"
"Your shoulder."
He pulled the fabric covering his shoulder to where he could see it.
"Ah. My bad. Must have grabbed the wrong shirt," he said, that besotted smile of his regaining control.
As if on cue, Alec stumbled out of the tent, shirtless, with Magnus' black shirt in his hand. "How the hell do you mix up a t-shirt and a button-up? Get changed quickly before - "
Magnus nodded towards Izzy and Simon. Alec, beaming carelessly, just shrugged. "Oh well. Too late."
His smile quickly faded, however, when he saw Isabelle's stern glare.
"Alec."
"Iz," he said, hurriedly putting Magnus' shirt on.
"You're hurt."
"I'm… no, I… you told her?"
Magnus shook his head, no longer smiling either. "Your shirt. It had blood on it."
"Alec, how could you not tell me? There was a lot of blood on that shirt. How bad is it?"
"Calm down, Iz, it's not that bad."
"Not that bad? Alec, if you're hurt, we can't do anything about it. We don't have adequate first aid."
"Jace can do an iratze…"
"Who knows when he'll be back. Let me."
"Iz, a parabatai's runes have stronger effects. You know that."
"It won't hurt if I do one now - "
"I'd rather leave it to Jace."
"Why don't you trust me enough to do this?" Izzy snapped, standing up despite Simon tugging at her arm.
"It's not that I don't think you can do it - "
"That's not what I asked, Alec. Why don't you trust me?"
"I do!"
"And I suppose you trusted me yesterday, too, which was why you insisted upon carrying Magnus."
"And look where your protests got us!" Alec said, throwing his hands up in the air. Simon busied himself cleaning his glasses, but Magnus couldn't look away from the argument.
"Don't you dare pin this on me. I didn't ask for this. And now you've hurt yourself somehow and your ego is too fragile to let me help you."
"It's not that my ego is fragile, it's that it doesn't hurt. It hasn't since last night."
"Oh shit," Simon said.
"What? Last night? This happened last night?"
"Iz - "
"Why didn't you tell me you were hurt?"
"It wasn't a top priority, okay? I was preoccupied with trying to figure out how we'd survive the night."
"It wasn't a top priority? What the hell did you think was going to happen? It would heal itself? No one would find out? I can't believe you'd do this to me - "
"Aha! There it is. To you. It's not all about you, Iz. I didn't want to tell you because I thought there were more important things. I have my priorities straight. You don't even care that I'm hurt, you just care that I didn't come to you before anyone else."
"Bullshit! I care that you're hurt! Of course I do!"
"No, Iz, you don't - and you didn't care about carrying Magnus last night, either. You just wanted to prove yourself."
"Alexander," Magnus warned, holding his arm to stop him from walking over to Isabelle. She was standing now, without the support of the tree, and her blue eyes were flashing with anger.
"Prove myself? Please. I know what I'm capable of - "
"Then what's your problem?"
"By the Angel, Alec, just listen!"
"I am listening."
"No, you're not! You never listen to me anymore. Ever since you and Magnus - "
"Don't you dare," Alec growled, breaking away from Magnus' grip and striding towards his sister, "bring Magnus into this."
"Alexander!"
"What the hell is going on?"
Jace and Clary jogged into the clearing, both soaking wet. Neither Isabelle nor Alec broke eye contact with each other.
"Oh look. Jace is here. Maybe you'll finally get the help you deserve."
And with that, Isabelle began to walk away, towards her and Clary's tent. She remained upright, not limping or showing any sign of discomfort. The ground was uneven, and though she fought to appear unfazed, her sharp intakes of breath gave her struggle away.
"Don't be ridiculous, Iz."
"Just stop, Alec," she said, pausing momentarily. "Please."
As she disappeared into the tent, Jace turned to Alec, annoyance clear on his face. "What did you do?"
"I did nothing," Alec muttered, shaking his head and turning away. "Nothing!"
"Alec," Jace said, but he had already stalked off into the trees. Clary turned to Magnus expectantly.
"Alec got hurt last night. In the fall."
Clary ran a hand through her wet hair. "God. I had thought it was lucky the worst injury anyone had was a bruise."
"Why didn't he tell me?" Jace asked, his furrowed brow deepening.
Magnus shrugged. "That's what Izzy asked, too. Look where that got us."
"I need to go talk to him," Jace said, running after his parabatai.
"I'll check on Izzy," Clary offered, and hurried over to their tent.
"Well, I guess that's what I get for thinking today wasn't going to be awful," Magnus sighed and slipped into his and Alec's tent.
And, just like that, Simon was left alone.
