"This old tale? I never thought this could be important at one point in my life…", Alec mumbled and looked at Magnus. The guys and Sue sat in Magnus' and Alec's living room. Magnus on Sue's left, Alec to her right on the sofa. Jace deliberately had chosen the armchair. Sue had just told them about the book they found and how it had talked to her in some way.
"And then Sue had the wonderful idea to steal my stele and try this rune on herself.", Jace said calmly. Sue looked at him annoyingly. Alec and Magnus reacted as suspected. Magnus immediately scanned her body for a dark rune, while Alec just looked at her in disbelief. As if any moment she could turn into a Forsaken. While she still stared angrily at Jace, she held her hand out to Magnus and Alec, showing them the white rune on her hand.
"This cured my ankle…and Magnus, you won't believe this. It cured my runes. I think it's some kind of Iratze."
Magnus looked stunned, when she showed the flawless skin on her tummy. Then he took her hand and examined the rune.
"Never in my old life, I have seen something like this!", he said surprised.
"Magnus, it just felt right! This whole book, it feels like I belong…"
She tried to explain herself and looked over to Jace again. He looked sadly at her. She hadn't told him this before. This strong sense of belonging coming from the book. Magnus thought for a moment, stroking over her rune.
"Think about it. The best way to hide something, is to place it in plain sight – unrecognized.", Magnus argued.
"What do you mean? What to hide?", Sue asked Magnus. He just shrugged and looked at the rune again.
"The fact that this rune exists on your skin, is the prove that there IS a secret behind this."
This seemed logical. Magnus stood up and began to pace the floor in front of the big windows to the left of them. With each step, a few blue sparkles came out of his fingertips. Sue wondered if this relaxed him.
"I know that Mom used to read it to us. But her book was bigger than this one.", Alec remembered and took the book from Sue's lap. He opened it and looked at the man on the first page.
"Yes, this guy. I've always wondered what his story might be. He isn't in the book."
Sue sighed as Alec browsed through the book.
"Yes, Jace told me. But what about this book your mother had? Was the story longer? Another story?"
"I don't know. Maybe more images? Do you remember this Jace? Did Mom read this to you, too? Or have we been too old at that time?"
Jace looked up from where he was sitting opposite of the table.
"Yes, I remember it distantly. There was -", and he halted and then came over to sit next to Sue. He bent over her to have a look at the book in Alec's hands. Suddenly, he was so close, that Sue could smell his cologne on him. There was still some scent of him left in her hair, because he had buried his face in it last night. She needed to lean back to bear it. In this moment Magnus' catlike eyes met hers and an eyebrow shot up. Before Sue could say anything or act in any way, Jace spoke.
"It's not in this edition. At the end of our family's cover, there is a quote. I cannot remember what kind of quote, but I'm sure there was something on the last page."
"Printed or written?", Sue asked after finding her voice again. He looked her in the eyes.
"Printed.", he answered, while his gaze still held hers. Sue cleared her throat and broke the moment between them.
"Alec, is there any chance that your Mom still has this book?"
"My mother is the kind of person, who never throws away anything. When Isabelle got little Stella, she got all the baby clothes from Mum. She hated it."
Sue giggled and couldn't imagine the famous Isabelle Lightwood, known for her strong mind, faking a smile at her mother and taking old baby clothes from her. Jace laid an arm around the backrest of the couch. He was so fucking obvious. She couldn't stand it and got up to look out of the window. She had underestimated him. After taking a deep breath, she turned around.
"Ok, guys. If you still want to help me, then I would suggest that you try to find this book at your mother's house. I need to get to work tomorrow morning, but I will see what I can find in the vast and infinitive widths of the internet until then."
Alec came up to her and to her surprise he gave her a brief hug.
"I am so happy that you feel better. And of course, we are still helping you. I would really like to find some more runes that protect you."
Sue felt a warmth in her heart, she hasn't felt in a long time. She smiled at Alec.
"Thank you so much, Alec. That's…", she couldn't find the words and trailed off. She only took his hand and squeezed it tightly. Over the last couple of weeks, she had grown fond of him.
After Jace and Alec had left – Jace had just stared at her a long time before he left – she was getting her stuff together. At one point, she was very well aware of Magnus eyeballing her. She sighed and turned to him.
"Yes. Let's get it over with. What do you want to say?", she finally threw at him. He just chuckled.
"You do know, that the poor little boy fell for you, right?", he asked with a soft tone in his voice.
"He didn't! He is an arrogant little shadowhunter, just like the rest of them –", she spat out not too softly, but then she quickly added: "Sorry, no offence to Alec."
"None taken. But you're wrong. As always when it comes to men."
"Oh, thanks for your honest words. Really builds me up. As if I'm not aware that I fucked up, the last time I thought I could trust my gut."
"What's your problem? He likes you, you obviously like him-"
"The problem is, that this will lead to nothing. Just as it always does. That's the thing. I simply cannot trust my instincts when it comes to men. We've discussed this, Magnus."
"Jace is not him. He is more sensible than he shows to the outside world. Be careful not to break his heart, just as your heart has been broken."
"Bullshit. His heart cannot be broken. I've never put high hopes in it. He's an adult man. Let him decide on his own. I've told him, that this was just a night and nothing more."
"Oh, there was a night then."
Sue bit her lip and looked away. Fuck.
"Yes, there was.", she admitted quietly.
"And?"
"You are very nosy; do you know that?"
"Heard it before, doesn't answer my question though."
"It was incredibly good, ok? Satisfied? That doesn't change anything."
"Oh, it does. Tonight, you will lay in your bed and think about this night – maybe even dream about it. And you start to think-"
"Stop it! You are being very rude to my nerves!"
Magnus came near and she felt his hands on her shoulders. He turned her towards him, and she surrendered and looked up into his catlike eyes.
"You start to think that maybe this little broken heart of yours can still be mended."
Sue groaned, but deep inside her, something – a thought, a feeling - stirred. She tried to push it down.
"For being this old, you have an awful lot of romance left in you, do you know that?", she countered, because she couldn't think of something else.
"For someone this young, you have awfully little romance left in you.", Magnus laughed and gave her a firm hug. Then he looked at her again.
"Just one more thing and then I'm out of your face with this: Please know, that you are not the only one with a broken heart."
She looked at him surprised. She didn't understand. Magnus elaborated.
"In the past, Jace had someone special as well. Clary. She is Valentines daughter."
"Jace was with Clary Fairchild? THE Clary Fairchild?"
Magnus just nodded at her.
"But what happened?"
"Ask Jace himself if you want to know it. Maybe you will be surprised that your story is not that uncommon."
Sue just let out an impatient grunt.
