Chapter 12 Friends and Foes part 3
"I'm not actually going to attack you, you know? I'm not Raphael." Jacob said, he did not look very interested in Clary, he looked bored, but it seemed most vampires tended to look 'bored'.
"Oh, well that's good." Clary had had one brief meeting with this vampire before. He was the one who stole Simon out of her backpack. So naturally, he was already on her bad side. "Has Raphael returned?"
"Not that I know of. I was kind of hoping he would be gone long enough for Camille to return. But if he's back in town already, I doubt that'll ever happen." Jacob shrugged; apparently he was not Raphael's biggest fan.
"Okay. Well are you at all interested in hearing a plan to take down Valentine?" Clary asked, this would have been so much easier if Raphael was here and he could just order the vampires to follow her plan.
"Sure, what the hell." Clary swore she was him role his eyes.
"Well," Clary started out awkwardly, "me and the other downworlders have decided that the fey and maybe as many warlocks we can round up would go fight in Idris, while the vampires and werewolves handle at least New York City, divide Valentine's forces and everything. That leaves me and a few others to get the mortal instruments and get to the lake and reverse Valentine's wish." The plan did not sound near as good as it had when she had been discussing it with the werewolves.
"You are aware that vampires and werewolves don't exactly get along, right?"
"Yes, but I think that's fixable."
"If you knew the problem, you would understand that it will never be 'fixable'." Jacob said, he did not sound harsh like Raphael would have during this conversation, he just sounded bored. Clary could guess that being in charge of the vampires was not Jacob's thing.
"If you want, I could put you with Magnus. Although I'll warn you, he swings both ways." Clary said; Jacob made a face.
"I'll discuss it with Lily." He walked away. Clary called after him.
"Are you sure you haven't heard anything about Raphael?" Clary could hear the concern in her voice and Jacob did not miss it either.
"I swear on my undead life, I've heard nothing." He smiled as he spoke the words. "You're not actually starting to have some feelings for the head vampire are you?" Clary did not answer, if she did she was not positive her answer would be the truth. Although it seemed Jacob took her answer as a 'no'. "For your sake, you better not have feelings for him. It will only end with you lying in a grave." He walked away, not up the stairs but off into the room that had once been the lobby for the hotel.
Clary returned to Maia and the others, "They said they will think about it." Clary's voice was dull; her eyes told the rest of the story: Raphael was not at the hotel.
"Then we go get the sword on our own." Clary looked up, searching for who the voice belonged to. It was one of the older werewolves; he was mid-forties maybe, average build with light brown hair and dark eyes. Clary's face must have looked confused because the man began to clarify, "We were discussing how it might be better if we attack Sebastian now. He would not be expecting us to regroup so quickly so we'd catch him off guard. We get in, get the sword, and get out. Simple as that."
"Don't you think we've had enough causalities lately?" Clary asked, her tone sounded dark; perhaps Raphael's personality had rubbed off on her, as much as she hated to admit.
"There will be more if we don't get that sword. Sebastian is a bit of a sadist." Clary did not bother arguing, what he said was true, her brother, Sebastian, was a sadist; and the best way to take out her pain and anger would be to take out the person who caused it all, or at least his son.
Sebastian and his men had set up something along the lines of a military camp; how the mundanes missed it Clary did not know. Even with the glamour they should have suspected something was up. Sebastian's camp was set up down at the docks, the controls for the wards were on a large boat, much like the one Valentine had had before, but this one was reinforced with more guards. Perhaps Valentine had learned his lesson?
"There is no way we can get on that thing without being seen." Clary whispered, they were well out of ear shot of the Nephilim, but it seemed like whispering was the right thing to do.
"Yes for us 'werewolves' there isn't, but there's a way for you." Maia said, apparently somehow Clary's special ability had gotten out. Did she know about how Clary had gotten into the Hotel Dumort? Clary thought; she frowned, Clary had no desire to experiment with her power right now.
"Fine." Clary said. "I'll get in and figure out the interior, then locate the sword, if I run into trouble, I'll make sure I'm a big enough problem to get the guards outside to come inside so you all can get in." the others nodded in agreement, Clary drew the rune, and walked up towards the guards.
It was no harder than the last time. These Nephilim depended too much on their eyes. If they maybe stopped talking and listened for a moment they would have heard Clary walking by, she did not even bother to be quiet. This is pathetic, there's got to be some other kind of guard around here or else these wards would have been taken out ages ago, Clary thought.
Inside the ship was a maze of tiny halls, twisting this way and that, stairs going up and down in tin spirals, and rooms with the doors whose handles looked like the steering wheel of a pirate ship. It did not take long for Clary to admit she was lost. So she improvised, she waited; hiding in the corner behind one of the stair cases, waiting for anyone to come by, she figured she could follow them; eventually she had to end up somewhere important, right? What she got was some information that made her want to run down the halls, screaming.
"So have you heard Sebastian's plan for that vamp that one guy brought in the other day? I'll tell ya, Sebastian's crazy. I suggested we just leave him out in the sun; get it over with quick and easy, but no; Sebastian has got to torture him. He's got it in his mind that his little sister or whoever that Clary person is will come running for her bloodsucker any minute now. Please, as if that would happen." The man finished, Clary immediately followed, her mind slightly registered she was going off course, she was supposed to find the sword, but for some reason unbeknownst to her, she wanted to get Raphael out of here first. There was no other vampire they could be talking about.
She followed the men down the hall, looking through the little window of every door, but there was of sign of Raphael.
Finally, she reached the last door, and of course, that seemed to be the room the men were heading to as well. "Told ya he was in bad shape. Sebastian wants to keep him on the 'edge of his undead life' at least that's what he said."
"If the vamp doesn't get blood soon, he's going to be dead. Not living, not undead, just dead." The other replied. The men stood there talking for a few moments, glancing through the window of the room that had to contain Raphael; then they finally left. Clary waited about thirty seconds before she opened the door a crack, squeezed through and shut the door as silently as possible.
Clary looked around the room, yes, Raphael was there and yes, he really was in bad shape. Really bad shape. Clary knew her cover fell; it had to be emotion related she thought for a second, but Raphael did not open his eyes, he continued to lean against the wall, sitting on the ground. There was blood everywhere, not to mention the wounds on Raphael's body were not healing; he had lost too much blood.
Clary did not care about the blood or the wounds, she really did not think at all about what she was doing; she ran to him, falling on her hands and knees in front of him, embracing him in a hug, and burying her face against his chest. Clary did not need to look up at him, she could practically feel Raphael's surprise as he looked down at her and as he wrapped his arms around her, only slightly wincing at the pain it caused him.
"You're aware I'm not Jace, right?" Raphael asked; Clary could hear the pain in his voice, so she resisted the urge to hug him harder; instead she settled for softly kissing him along his jaw, then the corner of his mouth, and finally his lips. This is crazy! This is wrong! Clary pushed her conscious away; ignoring every indication that what she was doing was wrong; it felt right and that was good enough for her.
"Yes, I'm pretty sure I can tell the difference between you and Jace." Clary said between kisses, she vaguely registered how weak Raphael really was; how he did not bother to take control of the situation, how he did not bother putting up a fight or making some stupid remark about, well, anything really. They stayed like that for a few minutes, not talking or arguing just kissing, enfolded in each other's embrace; then Clary finally pulled away, her breathing was heavy as she laid her head against Raphael. She relaxed her arms, her eyes half closed as she whispered, "I was so worried about you," Clary realized the words were true as she spoke them, she did not regret it. So maybe she had some slight affectionate feelings for Raphael; it did not mean anything, if another girl was put in her place and had to go through the situations Clary had been put through with Raphael, that girl would have some feelings towards his as well.
"It's been a while since I've heard anything like that." Raphael's voice had its usual tone, a mix of arrogance, sarcasm, and humor; something Clary had been learning to enjoy.
"Well don't make me regret it." Clary mumbled, she brushed her fingers over the cross shaped scar at the base of Raphael's throat, the gold chain was still there and her fingers absentmindedly played with it as she said, "We're getting you out of here."
"Clary, although I appreciate the favor, I won't get very far."
"You need blood?" Clary looked up at him as she asked.
"Sí, hermosa. But I don't want your blood, not yet. I've been waiting for specific circumstances to come around for that." Raphael smiled down at her; his fangs just barely visible, teasing her.
"I'm still not having sex with you." Clary stated, although even as she said the words she felt herself blush, so she pulled away from him and stood up. She rubbed her hands on her pants, only adding to the blood stains; and finally when she felt the blush was gone she looked back at Raphael. He still has that stupid, arrogant smile on his face, Clary thought. She held out her hand to help him out, like Clary had done before, he ignored the help and got up on his own. "I could have helped you."
"I don't need the help." Raphael paused, "Sound familiar, ángel? I guess we're more alike than you thought." Clary ignored him, he was trying to rile her up and Clary was determined it would not work. Not now, at least.
"If you can get up on your own, why did you not get out?"
Raphael nodded his head in the direction of the door, it took Clary a second or two to figure out what he meant at first but then she saw it. On the door handle was the drawling of a cross, nothing fancy or detailed, but it was enough to keep Raphael locked in.
"Do you know anything about the layout of this place?" Clary asked as she walked over to the door, stood on her tip toes and peeked out the window, looking for anyone headed their way.
"No, I was unconscious when they brought me here, I've been in this room ever since." Clary jumped at his voice she had not realized he was directly behind her.
"You don't understand the meaning of personal space do you?" Clary asked the irritation in her voice was as clear as crystal.
"Yes I do, and I prefer to be in yours. It's to help you get used to being so close to me, that way it will be a lot less uncomfortable for you when we're in my bed having sex." Clary jumped as Raphael set his hands on her hips, something between a scream and a whimper escaped through her lips.
"Let's just focus on getting out of here first." Clary said, although the words took some effort for to form on her lips. She silently cursed Maia for sending her in here alone. Clary opened the door and slipped through; Raphael followed behind her, he was still too close for Clary's liking, but at least he could keep up.
Without her cover Clary felt like she should be running through the halls, but she could not. She had to stay with Raphael; she also still had to find the sword.
"Do you have any idea where the sword is?" Clary whispered.
"Your brother has it, at all times I'm guessing." Raphael looked angry, Clary noted. She raised her eye brows questioningly and Raphael answered, "I've seen the sword a few too many times lately." Raphael held up his arm, there were gashed all along it. Clary got the message.
They continued on in silence, Clary looking through every door they passed, looking for a way out or the sword, whichever came first. Finally Clary found the sword; she also found Sebastian as Raphael had predicted.
Clary grabbed a knife from her belt, she had never thrown a knife before, she did not even know how but she had to try. She raised her arm above her head, ready to throw the knife, when Raphael caught her arm and stopped her.
"Do you even know how to use that?" Could he read my mind? Clary thought. She did not answer, she did not need to. Raphael rolled his eyes and took the knife from her hand. "I'm guessing the dogs are outside waiting for you. Perhaps now would be a good time to get their attention." Clary considered it; yeah he was right, again. She thought for a moment, the easiest way to get the werewolves' attention would be to rip the ship apart like she had the other one. But she did not want to drown herself and Raphael, so she thought of something else.
Next to her, at the bottom of the wall was a vent, Clary did not know where it went but she figured it would work. She reached down and removed the cover as quietly as she could; she took out her stele, and drew something on the inside of the vent. Clary was only slightly worried about the scratching sounds against the metal, but it seems her brother was as deaf as those his father had enlisted for Nephilim.
When Clary finished, a thick green smoke rose from the rune and spread throughout the ventilation system, hopefully it would reach the outside at some point.
"It's not poisonous is it?" Raphael asked, Clary noted the hint of concern in his voice, he did not breath, but she did.
"I don't think so." Clary said, but she heard the doubt in her voice. "I guess now we just wait for back up." Clary shrugged, she looked into the few rooms that surrounded them, they were empty but the doors were locked.
"You can wait here; I have to get blood before I pass out." Raphael walked off in the direction they had just come from, Clary watched him. She did not try and stop him that would have been pointless, because Raphael was right, he seems to be right about a lot of things, Clary's conscious reminded her non to kindly. He needed blood and honestly Clary did not want to be part of that hunting party.
Clary must have waited about ten minutes. Her knife in hand, prepared for anything. She had watched a few thin strips of green smoke leak through the vent, but for the most part it seemed to spread upwards.
She heard the werewolves enter the ship, they must have been on the floor above her because she could hear them tramping along the metal halls; they were not really bothering to be quiet either. Clary glanced around the corner; she saw Sebastian and a few others run out of a room and up the stairs. To Clary's dismay, Sebastian had the sword with him as he left.
Clary followed them a few steps behind, far enough so no one would recognize her and sure enough, they led her right to the Maia and the others. The werewolves were not wolves. The sun was still up, barely, it had to be setting soon; it did not matter though, werewolves no matter what form they were in, seemed to cause as much trouble as they could in wolf form.
Clary tapped one Nephilim on the shoulder, he turned around and Clary drove the knife into his abdomen, the guy sucked in a breath in surprise before he fell over on his knees, gasping for breath. Clary did not stop. She pulled her knife out and quickly found Sebastian.
She rounded on him, trying to come up behind Sebastian as he focused on a few of the werewolves. Clary was maybe two steps from him, when he turned too sharply for her, knocking her over in the process. Sebastian looked down at her for a second; he looked confused as if to say, where'd you come from? But it was a second too long.
Someone rammed him in the side; Clary could not be sure but thought it was Bat. Sebastian lost his grip on the sword; Clary scrambled on the ground for it her hand grabbing the hilt. Clary could hear someone cry out as Sebastian kicked him or her away; Clary grabbed the hilt at the same time as Sebastian.
The two of them stared at each other for a moment, looking into each other's eyes trying to predict the other's moves. Clary struck first. She grabbed her knife and jammed it into Sebastian's hand, releasing his grip on the sword. Clary pulled it towards her as Sebastian was too busy trying to stop the bleeding. She got up and ran.
"Go straight down the hallway, you'll see your way out when you get there!" Maia called out to her; Clary did as she was told. She ran as fast as she could, but the sword was heavy and slowed her down quite a bit.
Sebastian was quick to recover; he shoved the werewolves out of the way, and headed towards Clary. She took and a chance and glanced back, damn he's fast!
Clary was maybe a few yards from the door when Sebastian dove and knocked Clary's legs out from under her. The sword clattered to the ground out in front of her, glinting in the falling sun. Clary tried to crawl forward, but Sebastian dragged her back.
Clary reached for another knife, but Sebastian was quicker and pinned her hands to the ground with one hand and raised a dagger with his other. Clary was ready; she closed her eyes and awaited death. Then something threw Sebastian off her, she opened her eyes to see Raphael sanding above her. He offered his hand to help her up and Clary quickly took it. She ran towards the sword and grabbed it, she would thank Raphael later.
Sebastian took a quick look from Clary to Raphael then back to the sword, he made a mad lunge towards Clary, but Raphael got in the way and knocked him back to the ground.
Clary looked outside, the sun was down, and the sky was a dark blue. "Raphael we have to go now!" She yelled out, he did not listen. So Clary ran up and grabbed his arm, pulling him towards the night. "You can get your revenge later!"
Raphael took a reluctant look back at Sebastian and followed Clary outside. Clary heard Maia screaming something unintelligible along with a few others as the werewolves sprinted to catch up with Clary and Raphael.
At the second they got out, the boat exploded. The explosion knocked Clary into Raphael and they fell to the ground, along with all the others who were scattered around them.
"What? What happened?" Clary gasped, the air was filled with dust and debris and Clary could barely see Raphael who had his arms tightly wrapped around her.
"Bat went gone crazy that's what." Maia called out somewhere from Clary's left. Maia seemed to be able to sense Clary's confusion because she responded with, "he had C4, don't ask me where it came from, I'm sure if Luke had known he would have confiscated it a long time ago."
"Oh," was Clary's only response. Yes, it made perfect sense that a werewolf would have bombing devices hidden somewhere just waiting to be used for this event. Clary thought.
"Well I was planning to use it on the vampire's hotel, but I figured this was a bigger problem." The dust was clearing and Clary could make out Bat's tall figure as he stood up, he no doubt had a huge smile on his face as he spoke the words because he was looking right at Raphael.
Okay, so that was really long and took forever to write. There's one last part to Chapter 4, I ended up having to divide the third part in two, and I'm sure you can see why. I'm sorry if there are a bunch of grammatic errors I was in a hurry to finish this part up.