There was a knock on her door. It jolted Clary awake. How long had she been asleep? She looked to the window; the sun had set a long time ago. Clary looked down; she was wearing the Shadowhunter gear Isabelle brought her. There was another knock, and a familiar voice.
"Clary, are you ready? Can I come in?" It was Alec.
"Yeah," Clary stuttered, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She sat up in bed, pulling the covers off.
The door opened and Alec walked in. Clary looked him up and down, and couldn't believe her eyes. She did a mock wolf-whistle, and Alec laughed.
He was wearing a black suit and bow tie, his hair slicked back and a small red flower in his breast pocket. A sword was sticking out of his back, fastened with a strap across his chest. When he saw what Clary was wearing though, he frowned.
"I thought you said you were ready!"
"I am!" said Clary incredulously, fingers pointing down at the boots in a See-what-I'm-wearing? gesture.
"Not the Shadowhunter gear, Clary. We're going to the opera, remember? As in, we've been formally invited."
"Wait, we're actually going?" asked Clary. "You mean we're gonna sit there and watch opera singers while demons close in all around us?"
Alec rolled his eyes, as if to say I can't believe I'm wasting my time explaining this to you. "The demons aren't going to attack out in the open. Which is why it will be best for us to stay close to the senator and his wife. We've got tickets and everything," he said, pulling them out from his inner pocket.
"Well," said Clary, taking the tickets from his hand and examining them. "I'm impressed."
"Did you listen to anything Mom said in the library?"
"Uh…yeah," said Clary, not sure what he was on about. There was an awkward moment; a silence, a beat — and then Alec broke out laughing.
"Clearly not," he said, still chuckling. "Okay, go find Isabelle ASAP. She'll help you out with this, and we can go."
Clary nodded, and turned to leave. She moved to open her bedroom door but Alec beat her to the doorknob, and their hands brushed. Clary moved hers back quickly, blushing, and let Alec open the door for her. They slipped out of the room and down the hall together
The Met Opera was one of the more formidable and impressive looking buildings in New York. The outer facade was entirely glass, every floor in all its decadence and opulence could be seen, an amalgamation of warm golds and stark reds. A circular fountain worked its magic near the entrance. As they walked past it, Clary remembered seeing it when she was younger, exploring Lincoln Square with Luke.
Once they were inside the main lobby, Clary had to crane her neck to see to the top. A massive starburst chandelier hung four floors directly above them, with smaller starbursts hanging here and there. They reminded Clary of sparklers on New Year's eve. The staircase in front of them split into curved, twin staircases, resembling the claws of a crab. At the top of the staircase was a bronze sculpture of a woman kneeling.
The lobby was abuzz with activity. Men and women, all dressed in suits, ties, and evening wear, were milling about. Clary understood now why they were dressed the way they were. Maryse looked absolutely stunning, Clary thought, her hair in a tight bun and wearing a loose black velvet dress. She herself wore a velvet floor-length emerald green dress, which dragged on the floor when she walked, but it was either that, or expose the Shadowhunter boots. Her hair had been done up in two braids and pinned, criss-crossed close to her head. Her eyes sparkled and she wore bronzer that made her freckles and cheeks glow — courtesy of Isabelle and her miraculous makeover powers. But Isabelle herself, of course, completely stole the show. Her hair was in a single, twisting braid down to her waist, her eyes sparkling, a black choker around her neck. She wore a white lace dress that unfurled in layers, and dragged on the floor with a beautiful train. Alec did say it was rather over the top, but that was when Isabelle revealed that the cloth was light and easy to rip, when the time came to do so. Even Maryse laughed, obviously proud of her pragmatic daughter. All three of them, Maryse, Isabelle, and Clary, wore long sleeves to hide the runes that they had just recently been marked with.
Jace and Alec were dressed identically, in suits and bow ties. Alec's hair was slicked back but Jace's was not, his golden hair falling down and framing his face in the glow of the starbursts. Clary thought how impeccable and put-together he looked when he tried, when he wasn't wearing another jumper or t-shirt with holes in it. But to be honest, I don't care what he wears, as long as I know what's underneath. Then Clary looked away, quickly, so Jace wouldn't catch her staring at him. He said she looked nice, when she and Isabelle had come out of Isabelle's room together, but Clary had pretended not to hear. They had shared a very silent and tense car ride to the Opera.
"Let's find our seats, shall we?" said Maryse, and beckoned her children to follow. They walked up the curving, red carpet draped steps, Clary very carefully trying not to step on her dress — or anyone else's. It seemed like she was in some kind of fairytale, like the time she dreamt of that beautiful white hall with its Mermaid fountain, and dancing with Jace, and Alec had been there too, and…
"Careful!" said Jace, grabbing her arm as Clary tripped and nearly fell flat on her face. An elderly couple at the top of the stairs observed her with mild curiosity. Clary blushed a beet red. Well, that definitely snapped her out of the fairytale reverie. After all, she knew what it was they were there for. And there would definitely be no dancing tonight.
Their seats were in a side balcony two floors up, on the Grand Tier. Isabelle, Clary and Maryse sat in the front, whilst Jace and Alec took the seats directly behind. Everyone else in the grand hall was taking their seats, there was a hubbub of noise and activity, although slightly quieter than the lobby had been.
"Where's the Senator?" Clary asked Maryse. She said nothing, only tilted her head in their direction, right across to the other side. Isabelle had been looking through a small pair of opera binoculars, and when Clary gestured she handed them over. Clary looked through, trying to be surreptitious so they wouldn't catch on. She saw a bulky, broad-shouldered and grey haired man with an air of importance that could only be the Senator. Next to him was a striking forty-something brunette, slim, and wearing a bright red lipstick. This must be the wife, Clary thought. There was a small, but brightly shining jewel on the tweed suit dress she wore, close to her collar. The emerald.
"Why are they so far away?" asked Isabelle.
"Yeah," chimed Jace. "Couldn't we get tickets any farther away? Like, say, in Brooklyn?"
"We can keep an eye on them like this," said Maryse. "Would be far too conspicuous if we had the balcony next to theirs and just kept our necks craned in their direction, wouldn't it?" She had a point, Clary thought.
"What? Keep an eye on them? I thought we were going to watch the opera!" said Jace, mock indignantly. "These tickets cost a pretty penny, didn't they? And Alec is just dying to see this, aren't you?" But Alec didn't say anything.
Clary looked back at Alec. He was looking down at his feet, and she could tell something was making him uneasy.
"Alec? Are you okay?"
"Yeah," he said, looking up at her. His piercing blue eyes seemed to water, but there were no tears. Clary turned to face the front. Weird, she thought.
The lights suddenly dimmed and the noise in the room fell to hushed whispers. People were still taking their seats, but it seemed like the show was about to begin. The massive gold damask curtain pulled back to darkness onstage. A spotlight illuminated the podium in the middle of the pit where the conductor was to stand. Applause broke out once the orchestra players came onstage, and one final wave of applause for the conductor, even some whistles and whoops. Once the applause died out, the music started to play, very faintly and slowly at first. Maryse leaned in to whisper to Isabelle and Clary.
"Remember girls," she said. "We're here to keep an eye on them."
The girls nodded. Clary snapped to her senses. She was getting so enchanted and carried away by it all. She must keep her eyes on the Senator and his wife.
But it was the person sitting next to them, who she hadn't noticed earlier, that stopped Clary's breath, and made her stomach churn violently. A cold sweat broke out on her forehead.
Sitting next to Senator Kelly and his wife, wearing a tuxedo and looking utterly relaxed and composed, was Valentine.
And it seemed he, too, had caught her eye in exactly that moment. Clary nearly screamed, but instead she jerked violently backwards, falling off her chair and hitting her head, the whole place going dark around her.