Chapter 5 : Clave and Covenant part 2
As they were walking Church was curled up in front of the arch-shaped wooden doors leading to where Hodge was.
"Hello Church." muttered Clary, only realising her mistake when Jace glanced cooly at her.
"How do you know his name?" He asked, incredulously.
"Izzy..was...mentioning him as I woke up, or I heard the name whilst I was asleep." Clary faltered, mentally kicking herself for not only screwing up about the cat but calling Isabelle Izzy.
"Isabelle said that?" replied Jace with particular emphasis on her full name, and a tone to match that implied he was not buying that story one bit.
"Hodge will be waiting don't you think?" Clary went for a haughty tone, hoping it would conceal her nervousness. Pushing the doors open she marched in ahead of Jace, mentally willing herself to not muck up anymore.
"Why hello there." came a voice from behind the large desk in the centre of the room. Hodge stood up to greet Clary and continued. "This here is Hugo, a raven, and as such, he knows many things. I, meanwhile, am Hodge Starkweather, a professor of history, and, as such, I do not know nearly enough."
Clary replied with a shake of her hand and her name.
"Jace tells me you killed the majority of a Ravener demon with your bare hands, I'm impressed."
"Well," began Clary just waiting for Alec's entrance, "The use of Jace's sensor didn't go amiss.."
"I can't believe you buy that story, Hodge," Alec began his dig at Clary, "She didn't kill that demon, she's just a mundie, and Jace finished it off with his stele - you know, an actual weapon designed to fight in combat? She just got in the way, and almost died at that."
Clary breathed slowly through her mouth, knowing she didn't trust herself to speak.
"Mundies aren't allowed to be in the Institute, you know that more than anyone, so I suggest she gets out of here before the Clave catches word of this whole mess."
"I'm not." Clary annunciated her words especially clearly "A. Mundane."
At Alec and Hodge's blank faces Clary continued before Jace had a chance to explain any further.
"See there were some Du'sien demons dressed like police officers and I wasn't exactly leaping around as fit as a fiddle, so Jace placed a mendelin rune on the inside of my arm."
All three of the males were looking blankly at Clary as she took a deep breath, knowing after this sentence she would know if she could trust Jace or not.
"If you don't believe me you can ask Jace, he was the one who explained to me what the demon and runes were called."
Jace cocked his eyebrows and curled his lip up slightly in the corner, an expression that told Clary he would be quiet for now, but would expect a full explanation as to how she knew the information later. Clary inclined her head in his direction to appease him.
Jace nodded his confirmation. "Go on Clary, what else did I say, I'm sure they're dying to know.." his voice was dripping with an undercurrent of sarcasm, which Clary noted immediately.
"He said.." she began carefully, imploring Jace to understand with her eyes, "that my mother might be a shadowhunter in exile, or even my father. Meaning I would have Clave blood, therefore I'm a shadowhunter too, however lacking in ability."
At this declaration Jace coughed as if masking his surprise, knowing that Hodge and Alec were shooting daggers at him for revealing that information to Clary and insinuating certain things. Alec began shouting angrily with Jace retaliating before Hodge intervened.
"Okay, okay." Hodge said with a wave of his hand. "I've heard enough from both of you boys. I'd like to speak to Clary now if you don't mind." They both stared at him. "ALONE." he added with a sharp glare.
"Could.." Clary began, casting a brief glance at Jace. "Could Jace stay? He was the one who was there and could help clarify any details.."
Alec just grunted and flounced off whilst Jace did his best to look blasé and indifferent about the whole thing. Clary could've sworn she had seen the hint of a smile pass across his features, though that may have been a hopeful observation. The door closed behind them with a definitive click.
Groaning with frustration, Clary felt all of the anger, loneliness and confusion crash over her like a wave as angry tears leaked out of her eyes. "Sit down," Hodge said. "Here, on the couch."
Clary sunk into the plush cushions gratefully, realising with a gasp of horror that the sobbing sounds were coming from her own body.
"I just want someone to tell me what to do, and to help me through this whole mess. I just-" she broke off with another sob, realising all efforts were futile as she could hardly explain the predicament to them.
Feeling an arm round her Clary turned her head and nuzzled her face into the familiar neck, stiffening when she realised what she was doing. A horrible feeling of dread was coursing through her veins at the thought of Hodge knowing any further information right now, she needed to stay ahead of the game. She rehashed the tale as briefly as possible, grateful for Jace allowing her to take the lead. The conversation ended with the Silent Brothers being called. Standing to leave, Jace took her hand and practically dragged Clary out of the room.
She thought he would've confronted her there and then but instead he continued pacing towards his own room and once they were in he slammed the door, hastily marking a silent rune on the door.
"You'd better explain to me what the hell is going on because by the angel if you don't I'll-"
Without warning, Clary pushed Jace against the doorframe and silenced his words with a kiss. He quickly reciprocated after getting over his initial shock, grasping Clary's waist as he hoisted her up, allowing her to wrap her legs around his body. Groaning slightly Jace pulled back, looking as stunned as Clary felt. But she couldn't do it alone, Clary reasoned to herself, even if this was selfish she needed an ally. More importantly she needed someone she could trust. She needed her boyfriend.
"Look I'll explain everything, though you might want to sit down. This'll take a while."
