A/N Thank you vhs for your review! I'm glad someone's reading! ^_^
He was bruised all over his body. On his little hands you could see faded scars that were not there before the attack. Jace was the only one to notice them. Maryse was the first to speak. "How're you feeling Max?" He was forcing his swollen eye open while trying to squint with his other eye, being that his glasses where shattered during the attack. "I'm okay", he said trying to smile through is split lips. Though he was awake and speaking everyone, except for Magnus who had left before anyone had time to acknowledge his last words, was sitting around the bad side staring with worried looks on their faces. "He's a fighter. None of you give him enough props." said Jace while winking at his little brother. "Thanks Jace" said Max just before he drifted into a deep sleep. "Someone must stay with him at all times. Understood?" said Robert as he looked at each and every one of the kid's faces, including Simon; who was confused as to why he'd allow a vampire to watch over his bloody son. Simon wouldn't hurt him, but still. "I'll watch him for now while one of you goes and packs a bag to stay the night. I want to go make sure that thing is gone and far away from here" said Luke. Isabella popped up from where she was sitting and said," I'll go." She kissed Max on the top of his head, which seemed to be the only place that wasn't bruised and headed out the bedroom door. "I'll come with you" hollered Clary. "Me too!" said Simon before casually clearing his throat, hoping no one noticed his desperation to be around Clary. "You can't step foot in the Institute, you'll combust where you stand" explained Robert. It was Jace who answered to the comment. "I let him drink my blood…" Maryse looked at him and sighed, "Why in the name of Raziel would you do that Jace?" Jace simply replied, "He was dead." Clary looked as if an invisible force pushed her back at the news that Simon was…. Dead. "Dead?! You were dead?! What happened? Why were you dead? How did you come back? Why didn't you tell me any of this?" "Relax Clary, no need to make a show" said an annoyed Jace. All she and everyone else could do was stare. Some stared at the wall, others at the floor, and two stared at each other. Clary and Jace. "You're so heartless" was all she said before she grabbed Izzy by the hand and continued down the hallway at Luke's house with Simon at her flank.
After a few hours Jace was starting to get hungry. "I'm going to get some pizza or something, want to join?" "Sure" said Alec. As they walked down the street looking for a restaurant, Jace figured it would be a good time to bring up the scars Max had on his hands. "So, have you noticed if Max has been getting himself into trouble?" he asked blankly. "Eh, no not really. Why?" After a small "h'm" Jace stayed quiet. Alec looked over at Jace and repeated the earlier asked question, "Why?" Jace hesitated and stopped in the middle of his tracks. "Didn't you notice the little cuts on his hand?" Jace said gesturing to his own hands giving Alec a visual. "There were cuts all over him Jace; they probably came from the attack just like the rest of the cuts and bruises." Remembering what happened to Max made Alec a little nauseated and he turned pale. "Do we have to talk about this now Jace?" "I know it's hard to think about what happened today, but I found something unusual about those cuts." "What is it Jace? Just say it." Now Alec was staring to look a bit annoyed at the fact that Jace wouldn't stop talking about it. Jace was now standing almost chest to chest with Alec, trying to whisper so no one could hear him. "I don't think the demon was alone." Alec's eyes shot up at Jace as he took a few steps back. "What do you mean it wasn't alone?" Jace sighed, not knowing what to say next. "They were healed. Healed by something other than magic. They looked like this" and he showed Alec some old scars he had before. Scars that were healed by the healing rune Iratze. "A Shadowhunter?" asked Alec. Jace stood thinking before answering to Alec's response. "I don't think a Shadowhunter would hurt Max, or let the attack happen in the first place" he said staring straight ahead. Alec tried following his gaze, but was just as lost as Jace looked. "Well, what should we do?" Now the boys had started walking again. Jace happened to look down an alley way just as they were walking by it. Hunter's Moon. "Investigate" was all Jace said as he turned into the alley way. The alley way where Max was attacked.
"Why does he have to be so mean?" said Clary while helping Isabelle pack her night bag. "He's not mean. He's Jace" replied Isabelle. "Well I think he's mean too" chimed in Simon. "Even though he saved your life?" said Clary as she stared right at him. Simon went to the window and stared at the sun; something he wouldn't be able to do had Jace not saved his life. Knowing what her next question would be he answered, "He asked me not to tell." "But I'm your best friend Simon" said Clary almost looking hurt. "He saved my life Clary…. The least I can do is keep his dumb secret" he said slouching down against the wall. "His 'dumb' secret can get him into a lot of trouble Simon." It was Isabelle, who was quiet the whole time, who spoke next whipping around creating a slight breeze. She swiftly walked over to Simon and got on one knee, leaned in to about 2 inches from his face and softly but fiercely said, "Any man who risks his freedom for my life will always and forever have my loyalty." All Simon could do was stare. Stare into those beautiful eyes of hers that shined and twinkled with every movement she made. "What do you mean risk his freedom?" said Clary wide-eyed and anxious for an answer. Isabelle, never removing her eyes from Simon's, simply stated, "proditorem." Clary looked at Simon then back at Isabelle. "What does that mean?"asked Clary. Simon answered using his newly found language. "Traitor."
"What are they doing in here?!" yelled a young boy from across the room. Jace and Alec's ears were flooded with all types of yelling and profanity. Suddenly there was a loud whistle from behind them. "They're here for me." It was Luke. "Come on back boys" he said in a low horse voice before he turned to walk to the back of the bar. Before either of the two could say anything to Luke, Luke said something that surprised them both. "I know why you're here, I saw the cuts too, and no… it wasn't a Shadowhunter" he rushed. Both Alec and Jace just looked at each other in astonishment and then fixated their gaze on Luke waiting for him to begin speaking again. "One of my guys went out there to see if they could sniff out a scent. Something… different than what we're used to." The boys leaned in as Luke spoke. "He picked up a little bit of everything. I've never smelled anything like his before." As he finished his sentence he pulled a small piece of cloth out of the drawer and tossed it across the desk to Alec and Jace. On the piece of cloth there was half a picture of a chess piece in black and red… blood. The dried up splotch of blood that came from Alec's little brother made his stomach churn. Luke turned to Jace, "This was left behind by whoever did this. They wanted to make sure someone found it." Jace picked it up and examined it, being careful not to damage the only evidence they had of the one who harmed Max. "I'll take this to Hodge and see what he thinks. Let's go Alec." Not moving, Alec sat with his hands folded in his lap and stared at the desk, brows furrowed. "Alec?" said Jace, getting impatient as always. Just then Alec stood up and pushed passed Jace. A look of shock plastered Jace's face. "Al…." "We should've just brought him with us" Alec whispered staring at the ground. "We didn't know this would happen, Alec" said Jace putting his hand on Alec's shoulder. Alec shoved his hand off, turned to face Jace and harshly said, "But it did, didn't it? And now we're going on a wild goose chase looking for who did it. He should've been with us" and stalked away without looking back.