Chapter 4:
After showing Vincent and Valiant to two of the guest bedrooms, Jace and Clary went in search of their friends. They found them lounging in the library.
"There are two new Valentines," Jace announced walking into the room.
"What?!" Alec sat up in surprise.
"Apparently Valentine cloned himself. Twice. So now there are two teenage Valentine look alikes here," Clary elucidated.
"Aren't they evil?" Simon questioned.
"They claim they are not evil," Jace answered.
"Oh, so just because they claim they aren't evil, we're going to take their word for it," Isabelle remarked caustically.
"We aren't going to just take their word for it; we'll have to keep a close eye on them," Clary said.
"Like you two are doing right now," Simon's voice held a note of sarcasm.
"Right now they're locked in the guestrooms we put them in. Clary put a locking rune on the door," Jace explained upon seeing Alec's raised eyebrow.
"How are we supposed to know they aren't evil? The original Valentine was a pretty good actor. How are we supposed to know that the clones aren't acting like they aren't evil?" Alec pointed out the possibility.
"Valentine wasn't an actor; he was seriously misguided. The events in his life led him to his beliefs. The clones were raised in a different environment. If they are anything like the original Valentine, they will have developed their own conclusions; hopefully not evil ones," Jace explained.
"Are there any other clones?" Simon asked.
"Not that anybody knows," Clary replied.
"What do we tell everybody? That Valentine created clones of himself, but since they weren't raised by Valentine they aren't evil?" Isabelle questioned.
"Why don't we just tell them what happened, then introduce the clones," Clary suggested.
"That sounds like a reasonable plan," Jace agreed.
#
With V & S dead and gone
Shadowhunter lives are peaceful and long.
But that's just boring,
So to add some spice,
Let's bring villains back,
Cause they're rather nice!