I pulled away. I stared at Jace, wide-eyed. My heart seemed to be beating its way out of my chest. Jace's face turned worried. I got up and ran out of the weaponry. I ran down the stairs that led to the first floor and into the room that Jace had pointed out as mine. The door closed behind me with a bang.
Why did I feel so anxious? I mean, girls kissed boys all the time. That's normal. Except for the tiny little fact that I didn't. I mean, for the past seven years I had barely even talked to any boys (or girls for that mattered), let alone kiss them. But my inexperience on the boy-kissing front was not the main reason for my freaking out. More so, it was what I felt underneath that kiss. Even before that happened. Being around Jace made me feel…. Things. And I wasn't sure if I liked them. I remembered always looking up to him when we were little. He was smart, funny and very good at sports. But never in this way, never in a romantic kind of way. And it wasn't like he could really like me anyway. My dad killed his dad. That must be a killer for any kind of love affair, right?
Jace hadn't come after me and that made me feel both sad and happy at the same time.
The next morning it took me about 15 minutes to find the Institute's kitchen. I dreaded seeing Jace, but I knew I couldn't stay in the room forever so I decided to pull the band aid of quickly. Once in the kitchen, I avoided Jace's gaze. Jace seemed to have the same idea. As soon as I saw Ty on the other end of the kitchen, I pulled him away by his arm. "We need to talk" I said, pulling him to the hallway. "What's up with you and Ty?" He asked. I grimaced. "Shut up." I told him. "You knew about dad way before he left. Don't try to deny it, I know you did." I waited a few moments before continuing "I mean, he stabbed you for Gods sake. What happened after he took you?"
"How do you know about that?" He demanded. "Nobody-" I cut him off. "Doesn't matter how I know. I do know. Tell me what happened. What REALLY happened." He started to sputter again, but I gave him a death stare "I don't need protection, brother" The word came out as if it were a curse word. "I need the truth. So speak up". He started to speak then.
"I was unconscious when dad took me. He used a few iratzes and I was as good as new. When I woke up, dad was sitting next to my bed and he was telling me how nearly killing me was all for a greater good. When I was fully back on my feet, I started spying on dad whilst pretending I was on his side. He did bad things, Eva. I saw him call on demons, and he found ways to control them. He would torture Shadowhunters who refused to stand by him, or threaten to kill their families. And then one night, I was eavesdropping on him while he was in the library, I heard him talking to a demon. A demon!" His face filled up with pain, but he continued to talk. "I heard the demon tell him that they had successfully taken care of you and mom. That's when I couldn't do it anymore. I could not pretend to be okay with all of it any longer. I overheard dad saying that the Lightwoods were now running the NYC Institute. He did not manage to convert them to his side. I packed up whatever I could manage and went there. I've been here ever since." He smiled at me, a wry smile that didn't really touched his eyes. "When dad found out I was gone of course, he was furious. He tried to take down the Institute at some point. Fortunately, we were prepared. We made a pact with the Downwolders and of course he didn't see that one coming. In the middle of the battlefield, I was suddenly right in front of him. I wanted to kill him, for what he had done to you and mom, for what he did to all of us. I really did want to. But I just couldn't. He laughed at me, called me a sad excuse for a Shadowhunter. And then he just disappeared." Ty shrugged. "The battle was suddenly over. When he disappeared, the remaining demons disappeared as well. That was a few years ago and we didn't really hear anything from or about him since then" He looked at me "That is, of course, not until I found out you were still alive and followed by his demons." I nodded. My mind wandered back to what was only a few days ago, but felt like weeks or months. I had learned so much in those few days. It had completely turned my life around. In a good way, I thought. Then I remembered what I discovered last night. I had completely forgotten about it because of what had happened afterwards.
"Horace Lynott is dead" I said to Ty. His eyes squinted, but he didn't appear to be very much shocked by the words. "I figured as much. Dad would have never let him live after he helped mom." I was taken aback by that. Regardless of all the horrible things I had heard about him, in my memories, my dad loved our family. 'No' I told myself. I had to stop thinking about him in that way. Maybe those memories weren't even real.
"We'll figure it out. You'll get your memories back one way or another. In the meantime, would you like me to teach you some real Shadowhunters fighting techniques?"
I jumped up and down. "Yes! Can you teach me the jumpyslide thing you did? And are you going to give me Marks too?" Ty hesitated before he answered "Let's just do some basic training for now, okay? You don't need marks anyway: There's no danger here in the Institute" My shoulders dropped in disappointment, but I didn't complain. "If you really want to learn to jump properly though, you should ask Jace to train you. He's way better at those things than I am." Ty said. I turned to face him quickly. "Basic fighting is fine. Let's go!" Ty lifted an eyebrow and looked at me for a while, but then nodded and led me downstairs to the training rooms.