"You can't avoid me forever."
Clary looked over her shoulder. Jace was crouching at the entrance to the tent, fixing her with a fierce gaze. She knew he was annoyed at her, but she couldn't say she had a problem with it. So what if he was annoyed? She was too. In fact, they were all annoyed. Simon was missing and Magnus had lied to everyone. If anyone wasn't frustrated, Clary would have probably punched them.
"Clary. I know you can hear me."
"No offence, Jace, but I really don't want to talk to you right now."
"Why?"
"Why? Why the hell do you need an explanation? Can't I just be pissed off and sulk on my own?"
Jace's expression shifted from annoyance to something dangerously close to pity. "You know, most people in your situation would have said 'I don't want to talk to you because my best friend is missing, and I'm worried about him.' But you didn't. You answered as vaguely as possible. I know you, Clary, and I know that means that there's something else bugging you, and as long as that something else is there, you're not going to be able to focus."
Clary wanted to snap back at him, but she didn't know what to say. How were you supposed to respond to someone who had just read you so perfectly? How was she supposed to say that the thing that was plaguing her was a secret worse than Magnus'?
Jace took her silence as an act of hostility, and, muttering under his breath, he left her alone in the tent. Good. She was glad that he had left her alone. She needed time to breathe, to think.
But before she could do any of that, Isabelle appeared at the tent's entrance, making herself at home amongst the clothes that were strewn around the tent. It was undeniable that Magnus' magic had worked - her cheeks had a healthy glow and her lips were back to their usual shade of pink. Clary could tell she was still drained of energy, but if she had so much as hinted that Isabelle would have decapitated her.
"So. How are we going to find Simon?"
"I don't care," Clary mumbled. Izzy looked at her quizzically. "I mean, I don't care how we find him, so long as we do."
Was that what she had meant? Or had she meant that her preoccupation with her own secret was too distracting for her to care? No - she couldn't have meant the latter. That would mean that Jace was right, and she couldn't have that.
"Okay. I think we should track him. Do you?" Clary didn't bother responding. "Well, considering I'm apparently not in the best of health, I think it would be best for you to do the honours. Maybe your friendship will make it work faster or something. I don't know."
"Sure. I'll do it. Let me just… get my stele…" She began absentmindedly rummaging through the bag nearest to her, hoping Izzy would leave so she could get her thoughts straight. Isabelle, however, did not leave, and instead watched with a raised eyebrow as Clary rifled through the contents of the bag. Refusing to be concerned over Izzy's apparent suspicion, Clary's search became more determined, until -
"Oh God."
"I was wondering how long it'd take you to figure out that wasn't your bag."
"Is… is this Jace's underwear?"
"I'd assume so."
"Ew ew ew." Clary didn't care how pathetic she sounded as she recoiled in disgust. Looking unimpressed, Izzy pulled the other bag in the tent towards her.
"Here. I'll help you out."
"No!" Clary couldn't help her frantic yell as she yanked the bag towards her. She regretted her outburst as soon as she saw Izzy's raised eyebrow.
"Why…" Izzy trailed off, a worryingly quick understanding distracting her. Clary didn't know what conclusion she had come to but decided to dismiss it by saying, "I hate it when people go through my stuff. I just… don't like thinking about other people touching my things, you know?"
With her eyebrow still arched, Izzy glanced pointedly at Clary's other hand, the one not grabbing her bag, which was still in Jace's bag. "Right. Of course."
Ignoring the burning creeping up her face, Clary tried to smile sweetly and fetched her stele from the pocket that she had known it was in all along. "Got it! Let's go!"
She'd just have to gather her thoughts later.
"Alec?"
He looked up from where he was sitting. Jace was watching him cautiously. "Are you okay?"
"Of course I'm okay. Why are you asking?"
Jace gestured to Alec's hands, where he was holding one of Simon's shirts so they could track him. No, holding was the wrong word. He was gripping it so tightly that his knuckles were white.
"Honestly - are you okay?"
Part of him wanted to repeat his previous answer, to say I'm fine, to lie to Jace like he himself had been lied to. But that felt pitiful and melodramatic. "Not really."
"Is this about Izzy, Simon, or Magnus?"
"Guess."
"Well, Izzy's fine and you care less about Simon than I do, so relationship struggles it is."
"No shit, Sherlock."
"Can I let you in on a secret?"
"Unless you have some sort of secret cure to all my troubles, I'd suggest finding Clary and getting this over with."
Ignoring him, Jace continued. "The truth is, I knew before I opened my mouth that you weren't okay."
"Congrats."
"And I knew that it was because of Magnus."
"Wow. If shadowhunting doesn't work out for you, you should become a psychic."
"And do you want to know how I knew?"
"You read my palm? My tea leaves were bad? My aura was off? The stars were aligned incorrectly? You talked to spirits, and they said: 'hey, Alec's pissed off. You should go and piss him off more'? You - "
"I knew because every time you get pissed off at Magnus, you clam up. I mean, you don't talk much in the first place, but when you're pissed off at me you make no effort to conceal who you're annoyed with. Izzy will say, 'wow, this coffee is bitter,' and you'll say, 'you know who else is bitter? Jace'."
"Do you have a point, or are you just trying to reach your daily quota of useless commentary?"
"My point is that when you're mad at Magnus, you don't tell anyone about it. It's like you don't want people to know that he's not perfect. Spoiler alert: he's not, and we know it. He lied to all of us, Alec, and we have just as much reason to be annoyed at him as you do. Don't take it personally."
"That's your advice? 'Magnus didn't just lie to you, but to everyone. Don't be mad at him'."
"I didn't say don't be mad. I said don't take it personally. I don't know what you two were talking about when Clary and I were running around and looking for Simon, but I'd bet you any money that he was apologising. Would I be right?"
"It doesn't matter."
"Ha. I was right."
"I mean, his apology doesn't matter. There are…" Alec paused, taking a breath. "There are more important things right now."
"More important than your happiness?"
Before Alec could say anything, Isabelle emerged from the tent with Clary close behind her. With her back to the other girl, Isabelle caught Alec's eye. Her face was calm, but there was something in her eyes - something cold and doubting. Whatever it was, it was enough to give Alec reason to be on edge. Jace straightened up beside him, his whole demeanour shifting. He must have caught her silent warning too.
"Is that Simon's… good, okay." Clary held a hand out for the shirt. There was something uneasy bugging Alec, a part of him that was screaming to heed Isabelle's warning and not to trust Clary. But that was ridiculous, wasn't it? He tentatively released the shirt and gave it to Clary, who smiled gratefully. He must have misinterpreted Isabelle's message, because the smile Clary gave him was genuine - she was just a girl who was worried about her closest friend. Nothing amiss there.
"Okay. Alright. Everything's going to be fine," Clary announced, as much to herself as to everyone else. Clenching Simon's shirt, she drew the tracking marks on her arm and closed her eyes. Out of the corner of his eye, Alec saw Magnus step closer to Clary. Where had he come from?
Had he heard what he and Jace were talking about?
Jace tensed, and Alec thought for a second that it was because of Magnus' arrival, but when he looked back at Clary he corrected himself. Clary's worried frown had deepened, her pretty little face scrunched up so tightly that she looked to be in pain. Magnus took another step towards her, and his concern was so plain that it made Alec feel… bad. He felt bad.
Alec was not the only one who noticed Magnus' worry. Jace stood up, his sharp gazed trained on Clary, who was now noticeably struggling.
"Are… are you okay?" When Clary didn't answer, her breathing getting more and more uneven, Jace ran to her. "Magnus! Is she okay?"
"How the hell would I know? I just got here!"
Okay, Alec thought. Maybe he hadn't heard what they had said.
A gasp shook him from his thoughts. Clary had just stumbled - as if she was trying to remain upright on a rocking boat but failing. In a heartbeat, Jace had caught her, and even once her eyes flicked open and her breathing steadied, he didn't let her go.
"What happened?" Her voice was small and unsure. "Why couldn't I… see or hear anything? Why can't I track him?"
"You were distracted," Isabelle said, without a hint of uncertainty. "You were trying very hard to do something, but you couldn't focus on what it was you had to do."
"So what… I try again?"
"We don't have enough time to waste on fruitless attempts. Let Jace do it."
Everyone, including Isabelle, was taken aback by how brusque that had sounded, but nobody argued with her. Clary looked betrayed, and a part of Isabelle knew that she had every right to feel that way, but had meant what she said. They needed to find Simon, and whatever Clary was hiding wasn't worth jeopardising his safety. Once she had made it perfectly clear she wasn't going to take back what she had said, Jace turned to Clary, whom he was still holding, and gently pried the shirt from her hands. Without a word, Clary stormed off. Jace shot a bitter glance at Isabelle and began tracking Simon.
"He's… he's on the floor."
"Like… sleeping?"
"Maybe. He feels… sick. The track is weak. He's probably just resting," he clarified when he heard Isabelle's panic-stricken gasp. "He'll be okay, so long as we get to him soon."
"But where is he?"
"I don't know, Iz. It all looks like forest to me. It feels like… it feels like he's less than a mile away. To the east."
"Okay. Let's go," Isabelle decided, already striding in the direction Jace had nominated. Jace left to go find Clary and let her know the news. This left Magnus and Alec alone once more. But before Alec could stomp off after Izzy, Magnus beat him to it. As if he could sense Alec's shock, Magnus turned on his heel to face him, a scowl on his face.
"Were you waiting for something?"
Alec couldn't think of anything to say, so he kept his mouth shut.
"I could apologise for what happened again, if you'd like, but I thought my apology doesn't matter to you."
Shit. So he had heard them, then. Alec opened his mouth to respond.
"Don't say anything, Alexander. I know exactly what you'll say. You'll say, not now. Because that's your response to everything now, isn't it? You're just going to keep pretending you care about something far more important than us until our problem goes away. You're not an idiot, Alec. Don't bullshit me."
"Magnus - "
"I hate to say it, but not right now. There are far more important things right now."
And with that, he left.
Breathe in, breathe out. That was all he could manage. His skin was burning so intensely that it hurt. He had done everything that he could to get colder - his shirt was long gone, and as of a few minutes ago, his sweat-soaked jeans lay on the ground next to him. His vision was faltering, but that was okay - there was nothing to see but green. Green, green, green. Green like Clary's eyes. Huh. Clary. He wondered what she would do if she were here. She'd probably hug him. Hmm. And she'd say -
"Simon! What the fuck?"
No, she would definitely not say that. She was nowhere near that blunt and apathetic. And besides - the voice he had heard that in wasn't hers. It was -
"Isabelle?"
"Simon!"
His vision returned in sporadic bursts, but he could tell there was someone else there - someone amongst the green. Someone with pale skin and raven-black hair.
"Wait - Isabelle?"
"Where… where are your pants?"
"Right - right here…" Simon reached out to where he had set them, but he couldn't find them. "They were… here…"
"Fine. It doesn't matter. You're sick - we need Magnus."
"But… Magnus can't help me yet."
"He can. He has his magic back," Isabelle stated as she shrugged off her sweater and handed it to him.
"Since when?"
"Don't get me started on this," she muttered. Simon frowned. "What's wrong?"
"Hello."
"Hello?"
"You didn't say hello to me. You said 'what the fuck', which isn't exactly… friendly. Sorry to nitpick, but… you know. I have been kinda alone for a few hours."
"A few hours? Simon, you've been gone for almost the whole day!"
"Is… is that not a few hours?"
Isabelle placed the back of her hand on Simon's forehead, checking his temperature. "You're so hot, Simon."
"Thanks."
"No, you're… you're burning. Where the hell is Magnus?"
"I'm here," Magnus announced from a few paces away. He quickened his pace, settling down next to them. "Sorry for the… delay."
Isabelle rolled her eyes but gestured to Simon. "Can you fix him like you fixed me?"
"I can try. His fever seems to be stronger than yours was, so it may take longer."
"I don't care. Just… do whatever it takes."
Magnus leant over Simon, slowly letting his magic do the work. He began to say something, but before he could, Clary burst out of the trees.
"Simon! Oh my God, Simon! Are you okay?" He shrugged in response.
"I've been better."
"Where… where are your clothes?"
"Honestly? No idea."
"Great… I'll look for them…"
"Clary!" Jace stumbled after her, taking no more than a heartbeat to catch his breath. "You can't just run off like that! I was trying to talk to you!"
"Not right now, Jace!"
Out of the corner of Izzy's eye, she saw Magnus shake his head.
"What do you mean, 'not right now'? Clary - something's wrong, okay? I can tell. But you just keep pushing me away. Let me help."
"Something's wrong? Is that really the conclusion you've come to? Yes, Jace, something's wrong. Simon's really sick and he needs our help. Can you blame me for being a bit absentminded?"
"Absentminded? You keep pushing me away! This isn't… neglect, it's you trying to hide something from me."
"Oh great - more secrets?" Alec strode into the clearing where they had gathered, his eyes downcast and his expression bitter. "Did you find Simon?"
"He's right here," Isabelle confirmed, shuffling aside so her brother could see. But just as soon as he had appeared, Alec spun on his heel and began to leave. "Where - where are you going?"
"Back to camp."
"What… why?"
He stopped. "We found him. That's what we needed to do, right? Magnus can handle the fever and shit. If I recall correctly, he's been able to for a while."
"Alec," Magnus chided, looking away from Simon. "I told you - "
"I don't care." Alec began walking again. Clary stepped into his path.
"You can't just leave, Alec. You need to help."
"Help? And do what? Distract Jace for you, so he doesn't notice how odd you're acting?"
Colour burned through Clary's cheeks and she fought to remain calm. "Just for once, Alec, think about someone other than yourself."
"Enough!" There was something about Isabelle's tone of voice that made everyone stop and listen. Even Simon, who looked even paler than he had as a vampire. "Can you all just shut up for one fucking second? By the Angel. You're all so… pathetic. God. Simon should be - is - our top priority right now, but none of you want to help. None. Clary, if you were really looking for Simon's jeans, you'd have noticed that they're just over there. And Magnus, if you were still using your magic to get rid of Simon's fever, there'd still be blue sparks everywhere. Don't think I didn't notice that they stopped the second Alec arrived. At least Alec and Jace don't bother pretending that they don't care. I can't believe that you're all so… so selfish that you've completely forgotten what being a shadowhunter means. What being a decent person means. What… what being a friend means. Simon needs our help, and all you can do is squabble over petty miscommunications. Just… just stop, okay?"
Silence, until Alec cleared his throat. She turned to him with a fire in her eyes more intense than all the demon realms combined. "With all due respect, Iz… you… you don't really know what's going on, okay?"
"Don't I?" The fierceness of those two words made Alec wish he had just kept quiet. "Why don't we start with you and Magnus. Magnus - you're incredibly powerful, and you know that. But the thing is, you're afraid of admitting when your power isn't strong. You've convinced yourself that we'll think you're less impressive, less important, if you can't do magic perfectly. That's bullshit, but whatever. And because of that, you would rather us - you would rather Alec - believe that you had no magic than some magic that could fail. I'm not saying I agree with you, but it makes sense.
"And Alec. You know this. You know Magnus only hid this from you because he was insecure. And you hate when he's insecure, because it's so unlike him. But most of all, you're angry at him because he didn't trust you enough to tell you this. You think that his confidence in you is more important than his confidence in himself. And I don't know much about what's been said between you two, but I know Magnus has apologised, and I know you've been a pathetic piece of shit and refused to acknowledge it, because you don't want to admit that you misjudged him. You're afraid of your perceptions of people being proved otherwise. Grow up.
"And Clary. God, Clary, what the fuck is going on? We know you're hiding something, and I need you to realise that if I hadn't been preoccupied with finding Simon, I would have figured out what it was already. You can't hide things from us, not now. You need to trust us, but you so obviously don't, and that stings like a motherfucker, Clary, because we trust you. You've been so distracted by whatever secret you're keeping that you haven't been able to concentrate on finding Simon - Simon, Clary. Whatever you're hiding isn't worth more than what you're risking.
"And Jace… wow. For the first time ever, I'm the least pissed off at Jace. I mean, apart from following Clary around like a lost puppy and generally neglecting the whole Simon issue, you didn't fuck up that badly. Good job. Now - are we done here? Can we get back to helping Simon?"
No one objected. Despite their differences, in that moment they shared one thing - the feeling of being slapped across the face. Magnus' fingers sparked with blue, and he started healing Simon again. Clary picked up Simon's jeans and gave them to him, and Jace walked off in search of water. Isabelle stood, looking at Simon with gentleness that completely contradicted the fire of before. She didn't notice Alec until he was right behind her, but didn't object when he pulled her into a hug.
Alec wasn't much of a hugger. He never had been. But whenever Isabelle really needed a hug, he was there. She didn't have to say much - it was as if she could sense it. And the moment he wrapped his arms around her, she realised that he almost knew her better than herself. God, she needed a hug.
"Remind me never to tell you that you can't do something ever again."
"I thought I already had."
He laughed quietly. "You were right, though. Scarily right. How did you figure all that out?"
"Alec, I've lived with you for my entire life."
"I thought I was good at hiding feelings."
"You are - but not from me."
"Well, I'll have to change my approach then."
"You will, but not just in terms of showing feelings."
He sighed, and his breath was warm against her skin. "I know. But like you said - we need to focus on Simon right now."
"That's true, but… but maybe Simon's wellbeing isn't mutually exclusive with yours." "What do you mean?"
It was too late - she had already pulled away and sat down next to Simon, running her fingers through his hair. Even though Magnus was working on Simon, he felt the smallest of tugs in him. The same kind of tug that he had felt before, when Magnus had been tracking him. But this time, the feeling wasn't one of worry or panic. It was reassurance.
He knelt down next to Magnus. "Is there anything I can do to help?"
He could have sworn Magnus almost smiled. "Not right now."
Clary watched the three of them tend to Simon. Isabelle's words echoed around her head angrily, like a swarm of bees. It hurt her that Isabelle thought those things, but even more that she thought them too. Isabelle had been completely right. Of course she had. Clary had been afraid to trust the others with the GPS, afraid that the decision they came to would contradict her own. Did she have reason to be anxious about that? Possibly. But was that an excuse for mistrusting them all? Never. She'd tell them. She had to. Magnus' secret had come out, and yet he hadn't shared hers. God, that made her feel awful.
She took a deep breath, and followed her instinct. Her instinct that led her straight to the one person she had been avoiding.
After Magnus had declared Simon 'as good as he can be right now', Izzy and Simon had been left alone. Alec had left on an errand for Magnus, something about finding a suitable pillow, but Magnus had finished up just after he'd gone. Isabelle knew they wanted privacy to work things out, but she didn't care. Not now that Simon was okay.
Simon's eyes fluttered open. He had fallen asleep (or quite possibly passed out) during Magnus' procedure.
"Hello," he said quietly, his voice gravelly from sleep.
"Hello," she whispered back.
"That was… uh… some speech you gave."
"Ah. Right."
"Seriously. I mean - I know I've been missing for a bit, so I'm kinda out of the loop, but… damn."
"Damn indeed."
There was a silence, and then Simon mumbled something inaudible.
"What was that?"
"Did everyone really care that little?"
Those six words were enough to shatter Izzy. God, she had been so stupid - of course he was listening to what she said. Of course he'd hear that.
And what hurt most was that it was true.
"Your silence says a lot," he said with an unconvincing smile. "It's okay. I guess I didn't expect anything else."
"No… no, it's not like that."
"It is. That's okay."
"No, it's not. It's not okay. I was… I was angry, Simon. I didn't want to throw in the good things they'd done - that'd weaken my point. Clary cared. She cared so much. But she was so… caught up in whatever the hell she's hiding that she didn't do anything about it. I could see how much it hurt her that you were gone. She was almost in tears for the entire time. She just wasn't focussed enough to come up with a plan. And did you know that Jace was the one who tracked you here? Clary and I wanted to, but we couldn't, so he did it with no objection. He was worried about Clary, but he still took time to find you. And Alec… he has trouble with expressing himself. Magnus pissed him off and he curled up into a ball."
"Literally?"
"Figuratively. But he still volunteered to go find you." Perhaps that wasn't exactly true. She'd been unconscious when it happened. But Simon didn't need to know that. "And Magnus… he used his magic, as fickle as it is, to help you just now." She figured she wouldn't mention the failed tracking attempt. "The point is, Simon… they do care. We do care. It's just been a bit difficult, is all."
He sighed. She hoped he believed her. "Thank you."
"For coming to find you? Of course I - "
"No. For saying that. I would thank you for coming to find me, but I don't think there are words for how much I owe you guys."
"Simon, it wasn't… of course we'd come and find you. I don't think there's a universe in which we wouldn't."
"Not even in the multiverse?"
"Not even in the multiverse," she confirmed.
"Well, technically there is, but - "
"But not even then."
Alec was waiting for Magnus just out of earshot of the others. He knew Magnus' errand was just a plot to get the two of them somewhere more secluded. When Magnus approached, Alec took a deep breath, and said:
"Now."
"What?"
"No more 'not now'. Now."
Magnus nodded slowly. "Now," he whispered.
"I want to… I want to apologise. I know that how I acted was out of line, and what I said was too. I just… Izzy was right. I expected you to trust me entirely, even if it meant hurting you. I've only ever had three relationships that I care about this much, and the other two - Izzy and Jace - are built on absolute trust. They have to be. She's my sister and he's my parabatai. And we're shadowhunters. It's what we do."
"Alexander, I don't want you to think you can't trust me - "
"I can - I know I can - and I do, but it was selfish of me to just… just assume that you'd tell me everything unconditionally." He sighed. "You're allowed to not tell me everything. I just… didn't realise it yet."
"But I should have told you. I should have let you know as soon as it came back. Your sister is extraordinarily perceptive - what she said about me being insecure really hit home. I thought I was protecting you from disappointment by hiding my magic, but instead I was protecting myself from looking less capable than you think I am. And no matter how noble I thought my intentions were, at the end of the day I still kept something extremely important from you. I really am sorry."
Alec smiled. "I know. I knew before, too."
"So why did you say my apology didn't matter to Jace?"
"Because I'm a twat who doesn't want Jace to think I'm angry for no reason."
"Oh, Alec. I'm pretty sure Jace always thinks you're angry for no reason."
He laughed, and Magnus did too. This… this was good.
"But just in case you were wondering, I did briefly consider a more… well, ostentatious apology."
"Did you? And whatever made you change your mind?"
"I couldn't think of a good song to go with it. The best song I know called 'Sorry' is by Beyoncé, by it's hardly as apologetic as the title would have you believe."
"Who's Beyoncé?"
Magnus took a step back. "Alec, if I didn't love you so much, I'd probably hit you right now."
"Sorry?" He shrugged.
"Do you genuinely not know who Beyoncé is?"
"No… am I supposed to? Are they a warlock too?"
"Well, she doesn't age, so quite possibly, but I think I'd know if she was."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"As soon as we get back, we're going to amend that."
"And… are we going to get back soon?"
Magnus paused. "When I was healing Simon, I could feel the drain on my magic. It's like… like driving a car and seeing the fuel gauge slowly get lower. It'll recover soon enough, but it goes so quickly that I'm afraid of losing it mid-operation."
"Why is it taking so long to recover fully?" There was nothing accusing in the way he said it, only caring.
"I don't know… maybe it knows I'm in an unfamiliar environment."
"Have you been eating enough?"
"Of course."
"Really? When was the last time you ate something?"
"God… I don't know."
"Right. We're going to go back to our camp right now, and we're going to get you something to eat. And then the rest of us are going to get something to eat. We need to reinforce a meal schedule, otherwise we'll all burn out."
"You're adorable when you're concerned."
"Well, then it's lucky I seem to be concerned about you quite often."
Magnus looked up at him, at his blue eyes, his earnest smile, his everything, and before he knew it he was kissing him.
"Jace."
He turned to see Clary looking at him. She was perfectly still, as if she'd been standing there a while. He stood up straight, container of water still in hand. "What's wrong?"
It hurt Clary that he said that. He didn't say 'hey', or even her name. He said 'what's wrong?'. As if she'd only talk to him if something was wrong. Even though her throat felt tight, she swallowed and continued.
"I have to tell you something."
He stayed silent, watching her intently. The words she needed to say didn't want to come, so she focussed on looking at him. He was observing her body language, her gaze, anything and everything that'd clue him in on what she was going to say. His body was so tense that to keep him waiting this long seemed sadistic. She exhaled slowly.
"I have something. In my bag. Something that could help us get out of here."
"What do you mean?"
She didn't want to say it. She didn't want to admit how easily they could have left, if only she had had the nerve to speak up. But she had to.
"A GPS. For navigating."
He paused, thinking through his next words carefully. "Does it work?"
"Yes."
"Is there… is there a risk to using it?"
"A slight one."
"What is it?"
"The moment it's turned on, it'll emit a signal that police trackers could pick up."
"What's the risk in that?"
"They could find us, and they'd want to know how we got there, and then they'd want to know how we survived. Yes, a lot of what we've done could have been done by mundanes, but… the glamours we use to keep animals away, the magic Magnus used to heal Izzy and Simon… no normal teenagers would have lasted this long with what we have. They'd get suspicious."
"And what, are mundane police immune to glamours? To magic?"
The accusation in his voice stung her, but she stood her ground. "I thought Magnus' magic would have recovered by now. We wouldn't have needed it at all."
"But we could have used that straight away, Clary. As soon as we ended up at the bottom of that godforsaken slope, we could have used it to find another way up."
"What if there was no other way up? What if the police saw a signal come from this part of the woods that suddenly stopped? My mum would think we're dead."
"She may already think that, Clary. We've been gone for several days, and there's only enough food for a week. Who knows how complex the lie would have to be to avoid the police's suspicion, but it's certainly better than hiding here until Magnus' magic changes."
"I knew you'd think that. You never think ahead."
"I am thinking ahead!"
"No, you're not. You're thinking that they'll send us on our way after minimal questioning. But they won't. They'll want interviews, photos, media - anything and everything that'll make them look good."
"They'll want that anyway. If we miraculously show up out of the blue, they'll be even more interested."
"But if we turn the GPS on now, they'll ask why we didn't turn it on before."
Jace frowned. "We'll tell them the truth. That we only remembered it was there just now."
Clary's hesitation said enough. When Jace spoke again, his voice was low. "How long have you known you had it?"
She felt tears rise to her eyes. She should never have said anything. "Since the second day we were here."
"And you didn't think of telling anyone?"
"I was afraid that the decision we would all come to would be the wrong one."
"So you took the decision into your own hands?"
"Jace, please."
He didn't listen - he stormed past her, back in the direction they came from, the water in his container sloshing over the sides. Clary wanted to run after him, to stop him from telling the others, but she knew it was no use.
Her secret was out.
Hey guys!
I just wanted to apologise for the delayed upload. I was busy with the whole holidays and new year thing. I hope this chapter makes up for it! After this, I should pretty much be on schedule (which, for me, is uploading any time on a Saturday in Australia time) so hopefully this won;t happen again!
Anyway, please review and let me know what you thought of this chapter, and where you think the fic should go next. I hope you all had a wonderful and safe holiday period, and that 2017 is nowhere near as torturous as 2016.
Have a wonderful day!
xx The Potterhead From Middle Earth
