My feet touched the familiar hardwood floor as we stepped through the portal to the New York Institute.
"Meow." I looked down to see our audience of one cleaning his paws, seemingly unfazed by the portal. Church.
"Where's Mom and Dad, Church?" Izzy asked the cat. He looked at her before meowing again, not moving from his spot.
"Right here!" I heard Maryse's voice calling from the hall as she lugged a suitcase behind her. "I didn't realize you would all be back so soon."
"Are you going somewhere?" My Parabatai eyed the suitcase.
"Max and your father are going to Idris," the Head of the Institute explained. I hadn't even thought of Max when Alec said Idris was being sealed off.
"Why is Dad going?" Izzy questioned.
"The Inquisitor requested that one of us go along."
"I made sure to tell the twins about Max," Luke said from behind us. "He at least won't be lonely."
"Lucian!" Maryse exclaimed as we stepped aside for her to embrace her old friend. "What are you doing here?" It was odd - the Lightwood was almost smiling. With everything that had happened smiles from Maryse were few and far between.
"Couldn't leave the New York Institute completely undefended could we? I came to offer my services, if you'll have me."
As Luke and Maryse made small talk Izzy nudged me in the ribs and I looked at her seeing her eyes cast across the hall at Alec and Magnus talking quickly in hushed voices.
"Lucian?" Robert's voice was heard down the hall before he appeared, Max trailing behind him. I wasn't able to focus on his and Luke's reunion as the small boy stalked up to me, holding a book out. I realized it was Sebastian's.
"Can you give this back for me?" He asked. I knelt down, shaking my head.
"No, you can when he gets better and you come home," I told him. "Until then, you can keep it. Sebastian would want that." His eyes shined.
"Max." Izzy was holding out a dagger. "This is for you. It will keep you safe." No one else would have noticed the concern in her voice, but I was her Parabatai. Idris may be the safest place in the world but Izzy was still worried for her little brother.
Max took the dagger, sliding it into the pocket of his backpack. If his parents had seen it they would have probably taken it away. Why would a child need a weapon in Idris?
"Magnus," Maryse's commanding voice broke the quiet conversation the totally-obvious-boyfriends were having. "They're ready to go. The Clave grants you specific permission to create a portal into Alicante."
For once the warlock didn't have a comeback as a portal flared to life. What exactly had him and Alec been talking about?
Max and Robert said their goodbyes quickly before stepping through the portal. I found Izzy's hand and squeezed it slightly trying telepathically to tell her that her little brother would be fine.
As the portal closed Maryse held out an envelope to Magnus. The warlock took it, almost somewhat reluctant, as if for once he wasn't happy to accept payment. "Thank you for the portals, Magnus," the Head said. "As the Clave has decreed this marks the termination of your services to us."
The warlock seemed all but ready to turn on his heel and walk from the Institute when Alec pushed himself off the wall he was leaning on and walked forward, saying one word with as much defiance as I had ever heard from the eldest Lightwood: "No."
"Alec you were personally at the Clave meeting, you know what was decreed-"
He cut his mother off. "What the Clave decreed is bullshit."
"Alexander!"
"The Clave has cast us aside, why should we bother to listen to them? The only people with any chance of stopping Jonathan are in this room and that includes Magnus." Glancing at my parabatai as her brother spoke I noticed Izzy grinning from ear to ear.
"Alexander-" his mother tried again.
"Don't try to silence me like a child," his voice dripped with lethal anger.
"You are my child, and you will do what I say." Maryse's eyes were blazing. "This is a family matter, Magnus, you need to go."
It was hard to ignore Alec reaching down and slipping his finger's into the warlock's. "Magnus is my family." He didn't waste any time as he kissed his boyfriend. I wasn't sure if Izzy squealed her joy aloud or I felt it through the bond. "I love him and if you weren't so blind to everything around you you would have seen that already."
The shock was plain to see on Maryse's face. It changed to rage in a millisecond. "What have you done to my son!" She would have attacked the warlock had Luke not held her back.
"I've done a lot of things to your son, just last week on the couch I-"
Alec cut Magnus off, obviously not wanting the entire Institute to know about his sex life. "He's let me be who I am, someone I was afraid to think you'd never accept. I don't know why I'm surprised to see that I was right."
"Get out," Maryse said quietly. "Get out!" She shouted louder.
"With pleasure." With their hands still intertwined Alec turned and lead his boyfriend from the Institute. The slamming of the front door was almost deafening in the quietness that befell the hall.
"Mother, I thought you should know I'm dating a vampire," Izzy added. "His name is Simon and I was thinking you could meet him later in the Sanctuary-"
Maryse's heels slammed on the floor and she turned and walked down the hall towards her study.
"I'm going to make sure she's okay," Luke announced as he ran after her.
"There's never a dull moment here is there?" Ashton asked. He had been keeping out of everything that had transpired, standing in the corner of the room.
"No, not really. When a crazed Shadowhunter isn't trying to kill us, leave it up to my mother to be a raging bitch." My Parabatai got a glint in her eyes.
"Izzy, no, Izzy," I begged her. I knew that look.
"I was exhausted but now I'm wide awake! I'm hungry, why won't you let me cook?" She asked.
"I don't even care how bad it tastes, I'm so hungry I could eat a horse," Ashton said. None of us had eaten since before the attack today.
"I know the perfect thing to make!" Izzy started to walk towards the kitchen, Ashton following her. I pulled the back of his shirt to stop him.
"Ash, you will be dead if she feeds you."
He stopped and turned, looking at me. I hastily released my grip on his shirt. "At least I won't be hungry."
"Clary, you wound me with your words," Izzy said in mock sadness.
"I'm sorry, Iz," I told her. "But we already nearly died once today. I don't want to make it a second time. Ash, come to Taki's instead with me, will you? Izzy, you can stay and succumb to your cooking if you want."
Izzy dragged me back before we could make it to the front door. "Did you just ask Ashton out?"
"I didn't-" I cut myself off, suddenly turning red. Because I had indeed just asked Ashton to go out with me.