"'Ello?" Jordan answered playfully.
I was so relieved to hear his voice that if Jordan was standing next to me, I would've kissed him. I then reprimanded myself for the odd and wild thought because Maia.
"Jordan!" I shouted, still breathing heavy.
"Clary!" he shouted in response. "Are you okay? You left in such a hurry after I told you that kid's name…"
"Yeah," I told Jordan. "Simon is my best friend. I need to find him. Do you have any idea where he might be?" The amount of sheer hope in my voice was overwhelming, even for me.
Jordan was silent for a long amount of time, and that hope was steadily decreasing. "He was attacked at the Jade Wolf. I'll meet you there and maybe we can find some leads," he punctuated the sentence with a depressed groan.
"Why would vampires go there?" I asked. The Jade Wolf was just what it sounded like – werewolf headquarters. What vampire would want to set foot there?
"My guess? This is bigger than vampires and werewolves," Jordan said. His voice was still filled with dread. "I'll see you there in ten."
He clicked off. I took a deep breath, applied a speed rune, and started towards Chinatown.
0.o.O.o.0
When I arrived, Jordan was, as promised, pacing back and forth behind a dumpster in the back of the restaurant.
"Are you…hiding?" I asked him quizzically. There was a faint, joking smile playing out on my lips.
Jordan glared at me, his only response.
Realization surfaced. "Omigosh!" I yelled, after which Jordan harshly shushed me. "You're afraid Maia would be here? She has absolutely every right to brutally murder you if she wants to. And I'll help."
"I know," Jordan answered without missing a beat. "But I figured maybe we could find and possibly save Simon first. Then, I'll let you be the one to call her. Okay?"
I nodded. That was enough for me. Plus, I really did need to focus on Simon. "Okay. So…did you find anything?" I asked him.
Jordan shook his head. "Let's…let's go to the front…I guess," Jordan couldn't have sounded less happy about if Maia had already killed him.
I followed Jordan around to the front of the restaurant. It looked like no one was here, and the lights were off inside. Maybe –
That thought was very quickly silenced by the door of the Jade Wolf slamming open.
"What do you thing you're doing here?" Maia put extreme emphasis on the word "what."
"Umm –," but Jordan didn't get a chance to finish his explanation.
Maia was growling ferociously and her limbs were snapping in a gruesome way. I knew what that meant.
I watched as Jordan started stripping his leather jacket and tossed it to the side. "What are you doing?" I asked him.
Jordan answered while keeping his eyes glued to Maia's changing form. "I do not care if she tears me to shreds. I do, however, care about my jacket."
Typical boy.
When it became clear that Maia wouldn't be calming down at any point, I decided it was my turn to step in.
I drew the Seraph blade I'd "borrowed" from the Institute out of the clothes I'd "borrowed" as well. It flashed brilliant white when I spoke its name, momentarily drawing Maia's attention.
"You're a Shadowhunter?" Maia shrieked in disbelief.
It only delayed her for a moment, though. In seconds she was refocused on Jordan who'd closed his eyes to brace for impact.
That's when I stepped in. "Maia, listen to me," I told her.
"Why should I? It looks to me like you're protecting him. Don't you know what he did?" She questioned.
"Of course I do! And believe me, I cannot wait to help you torture him till he cries."
"Well, thanks," Jordan commented from behind me.
"Shut up!" Maia and I both shouted at the same time.
"Maia, listen. Simon's gone. Vampires attacked him and I have to find him before he gets hurt. Jordan is the only person who can help me. So please, just wait until after I know Simon is okay?"
"Simon?" She asked in shock. Maia relaxed from her fighting stance for a moment. Then she shook her head to clear it. "Why do you need him?" I couldn't help but notice that she wouldn't address Jordan by name. I didn't blame her.
"Jordan is Praetor Lupus," I explained.
"Praetor? Why?"
I regarded her with a duh look that help a touch of sympathy. "Why do you think, Maia?"
Maia's mouth pressed into a thin line. "Well – well isn't there Shadowhunters that can help you with that?"
My shoulders slumped and I let the blade fall from where it had been positioned defensively. "Maia, I'm sorry I never told you this, but I had some really, really bad experiences with those people long before I even knew they were Shadowhunters so I can't think of anything worse than asking them for help so please, Maia…"
I let the sentence trail off because my words were getting choked in my throat. "Worse than what I went through with him?" Maia demanded.
"Umm…kind of?" I responded. I didn't mean for it to come out as a question, but was what I went through really worse? We were both betrayed in the worst way possible and neither of us would ever be the same. "I guess it's kind of even."
"What do you mean?"
I sighed. "Look, you got Turned and I got thrown off a two-story building, even?" Maia's jaw dropped. "I'll tell you more later, but…Simon?!"
Maia nodded quickly and sharply. "Promise me one thing," I gave her a look that said go on. "When we're done with him, let's kill the guy that hurt you, 'kay?"
I sighed again. "I wish. But I'm afraid he's more talented both all of us, combined, times four. And he knows it."
0.o.O.o.0
Jordan picked up Simon's scent and set off following it. Maia and I hung a few safe paces behind; it was less to prevent his distraction, and more to prevent his death. Maia was silent, but somehow I could tell that she wasn't feeling scared or angry because of Jordan's presence. Her attitude was apprehensive, worried. I knew why.
"Should I start from the beginning?" I asked her.
Maia's gaze flicked to me as we walked. Her eyes were wide as she attempted to feign innocence, but both of us knew she'd been thinking the same thing. "Wherever you're comfortable," she muttered in response.
I nodded and drew in a breath. Who was the last person I'd told this story to? That's right, Simon. Over a year ago, when I'd first met him. Oh, geez.
"Umm, okay. Well, when I was in elementary school, I was kind of a…disliked kid. The other students would pick on me, call me names, throw stuff, the basics. Like most cases, though, it got worse as the years went on. By seventh grade, I went home with bruises from getting tripped in the halls nearly every week.
"But, umm, then there was Jace," I had no idea why I was fumbling for words so badly. It was just a hard story to tell, and one I told less than rarely, at that. "He was 5'11" by eighth grade, and only continuing to sprout up as he got older. His eyes looked like mental bronze. He had hair so golden I'm surprised no one's tried to get him to chop it off and sell it. Though maybe someone has, it's not like Jace would ever go for it. His hair is his most prized possession.
"There's this way that his hair is just long enough to kind of fall into his eyes without making him a weird biker with a pony tail," I laughed, and Maia sniggered along.
"I know some wolves in my pack that would take large offense to that," she chuckled.
"Okay, I'll get back to the important stuff then. Like I said, Jace was absolutely gorgeous, and he knew it. Jace happened to have – actually, he has - the biggest ego known to man. But when he walked into my life, he used that massive ego to knock all those kids to the sideline.
"He was my angel," I smiled at all the bittersweet memories passing by. I started to laugh as I told her one of the stories. "Once, I went out with this guy. He was sweet, but he dumbed be after two weeks because I was 'too independent,' plus a few other choice vocabulary words I'd rather not repeat. It took monstrous, ungodly amounts of food to get over that breakup.
"Now it seems silly, but Jace was so angry. The three of us had gym together, and it just happened to be a choice day. Jace knew there was no way he'd get away with beating him up in the middle of the gym, so Jace managed to hit him with every ball he could find in every imaginable place so that the guy left crying. It was…beautiful.
"Not even a month later, Jace and I were dating and he was everything. The perfect gift. I remember just constantly thinking he was too good to be true. And he was.
"We were at a Halloween party –," I was cut off when Maia made an "eesh" noise.
"Party? Clary? Oh, this is going to be bad," I hadn't known Maia for even half as long as Simon, and even she could tell that I wouldn't be caught dead at a party unless I had a very good reason.
"Well, yeah. It was…as good as it could've been…when everything went to hell. The lights were flashing and doors were slamming and…" I trailed off as my memory went slightly hazy. It wasn't necessarily that I was forgetting details; it was that I felt there were details I hadn't been able to process that night, but were now resurfacing.
"It was chaotic. I felt Jace dragging me up the stairs to the roof. He was just as hectic. He knew what was happening but he wouldn't tell me. Then he pulled me to the edge of the roof and said, 'jump, Clary.'
"I couldn't do it. I told him so. And then he just…snapped. It was like he got so desperate that a switch flipped in his brain that he just couldn't control. Suddenly he was saying such horrible things. He was saying how no one – especially him – cared if I lived or died.
Maia clasped my hand tightly in hers and I took as shaky breath, trying desperately not to cry. "I lost my balance, what with all the words, making me queasy. I fell. I was instantly knocked unconscious and when I woke up…" I had to take another breath and close my burning eyes to keep the tears from falling.
"He had written some satanic list. Of all the things that he hated about me, all the reasons why I didn't deserve to live. It was sick.
"And now he's back. Still acting like a total ass. The only thing that's changed is the fact that he got a lot hotter."
I was glad when Maia didn't try to hug me or do anything that would cause heavy sobbing. She just squeezed my hand and kept walking.
"Clary," It was Jordan. He'd turned around, and was clenching and unclenching his fists. Maia tensed beside me. "I'm sorry. I had no idea it was that bad."
"I don't recall you being that sorry after you bit me," Maia snapped, with absolutely no prior warning or reason. But betrayal was like that.
Jordan stiffened even more than Maia had. "You have no idea," he said, chuckling humorlessly. And he turned away, obviously not into a continuation of this unpleasant conversation.
Maia's mouth dropped open, and I know for a fact she would've made some comment to make this even less pleasant for all of us if Jordan had not perked up and stiffened noticeably, both at the same time.
"It's stronger," he announced. "Fresh. He's here, Clary, I'm sure of it."
I surveyed the area. We were standing in front of my apartment. How had we gotten here so fast? Had my story really taken that long?
What's more important was the fact that Simon had come here. I'd checked earlier on my promenade, and I decided he wasn't there. But…
"By the Angel, that scraggly old duck!" I groaned, setting off towards the front door.
"What do you mean?" Maia asked. Jordan was even more confused.
"Do you remember Dorothea?" I asked.
Maia nodded. "Old lady, super creepy, kind of kooky?"
I mumbled an affirmative, and Maia seemed to understand. "Magnus would always look at her funny when he came over to teach me things. I'm starting to think…" I didn't really know what I was starting to think. I had some sort of idea, but in my Simon-induced-haze, I didn't wait to work out the fuzzy details.
"She's probably a witch," Jordan added. A mundane who'd come in contact with a warlock who'd taught them a few things about the Shadow world, including a few choice spells.
Now I was angrier. Simon could be in danger.
The old porch steps gave slightly under my pace and the way I let my feet fall down hard. I pushed open the door and knocked frantically, barely being able to wait for someone inside to open it.
"Dear, me!" Dorothea exclaimed when she flung the door open and I barely had time to stop knocking, causing my fist to halt only inches from Dorothea's nose. "What on earth is it?"
"Where is he?" I shrieked. "Where's Simon?"
"You mean the vampire? Where do you think? It's light. I put him in the dark room. He's quite -," Dorothea of course did not get a chance to finish. I stormed past her with no concern for politeness as I banged around the apartment searching for the witch's so-called "dark room."
Finally I found a room with a closed door and no light emanating from the cracks. I checked all around me to make sure he wasn't in danger of sunlight, and tentatively pushed it open.
"Who is it?" came Simon's familiar voice. I almost fell on to the ground with relief. But I still had to make sure he was okay.
I closed the door quietly behind me for privacy. Somehow, Simon seemed to recognize my spicy hair, even in the dark.
"Clare?" he asked hopefully.
"Si!" The two of us stormed toward each other and collided at a force that I was forced slightly backwards. We clung to each other tightly for a moment before Simon hastily backed away.
"Wait, get away from me," he said shamefully. "I'm a monster."
"Simon, no," I told him, grabbing Simon's hands and ignoring the way he tried to tear them from my grasp. "You're still you. You're just on a new diet."
Despite himself, Simon choked out a laugh. "Look, we can do this. I'll help you come to terms with this and I'll tell you all about the crap that I'm going through as well. And we'll both be fine. Because we're us." Simon seemed at least a little bit convinced, for now, and he let me pull him into another tight hug.
"I'm so glad you're okay," I told him gingerly.
"Please," Simon said, trying to sound confident and failing to cover his trembling undertone. "I can handle anything, Fray. You're stuck with me."
"Clary?" The voice was Jordan's, from the outside of the door. "We've vamp-proofed the house. You can come out now."
0.o.O.o.0
Twenty minutes later, I was sitting on a torn up sofa, squished into place with Simon cuddled into my side and Jordan and Maia leaning as far away from each other as possible as Dorothea asked for the fourth time if she can get anyone any tea.
Then there was a sickening bang and my heart sped up in my chest. That is, until I saw Jace, Alec, and Izzy storm over the door they'd knocked down, Seraph blades flashing. I choked out a laugh.
Jace looked over all of us, muttered a curse, and started jamming his Seraph blades back into their holsters. Then Magnus trailed in behind them, looking irritated.
"I told you all! And what do I get in response? Eye rolls. 'No, Magnus. We're the professionals. We'll find Simon before she does, Magnus.' And what did I say? 'Oh! But Clary actually knows this kid. She'll be able to -,"
"Shut. The hell up," Jace snapped grumpily.
Silence ensued for a few moments. And then Magnus mumbled, "Fools."