Chapter Twenty-three: Last cards

Jonathan was fulminating. He underestimated Clary and her love for Jace. And because of that he was hiding in a warehouse like a rat. Valentine had been on the phone with Aldertree since his call had saved them from the attack on the apartment. He hadn't tried to understand what he was planning, too angry to focus on anything but his rage but whatever his father was planning, it was big.

Good, he thought. He needed some action.

Not exactly, he corrected himself. He needed somebody to kill.

And he knew just who. If he couldn't have Clary than no one would. Above all, not Jace Herondale.

xXx

Clary squinted, blinded by the sunlight pouring into the room through the open windows. She yawned and sat up, frowning at the sight of the old leather couch on which was sitting. The events of the night before gripped her so tightly that for a few seconds she couldn't breathe.

"Where am I?" She wondered. "Jace!" The place looked familiar though.

"Clary?"

Maia.

"How did I get here?" She asked as the young mother sat down next to her, little Killian in her lap. He was playing with a small wooden toy. "Where is Jace?"

"He left with Jordan about an hour ago," Maia said. "He carried you here last night. You don't remember?"

Clary shook her head. "Anyway, he didn't want to leave you alone so I offered to stay by your side until you wake up."

"Is he okay?" Clary asked.

"He is." She put the hand that wasn't holding her baby on Clary's. "Don't worry."

Clary nodded. "Okay. I need to see him."

"Like I said, they already left," Maia repeated. "Did you know?" She added after a short pause. "That they worked for the CIA?"

Clary looked up. "I did. Jace told me about three weeks ago. And I'm not sure that I really realized what it means."

"What the hell happened to you guys?" She wanted to know, covering Killian's ears with her hands. The little boy looked up at her with quizzical eyes and tried to shake her hands off, whining. She topped his head with a kiss and he went back to playing.

Clary inhaled deeply before spilling her guts to Maia. She thought that if someone in this city could understand her, it had to be her. After all, they were in the exact situation. Maia listened to the all story without interrupting her. When she was finished, Clary was standing in the middle of the living room, both her hands bracing herself. She looked at Maia, waiting for her to say something.

"Wow," she whispered. "I never thought it would actually make me feel better but it does."

"Of course it does!" Maia exclaimed. "No person could withhold that much and not explode!"

She stood up in turn and disappeared into her bedroom from which she emerged minutes later and threw Clary a dress.

"Go change," she ordered her.

"Why?"

"Because we're going to Alicante."

xXx

Alec's relief had not only spread through his face but through his whole body language. He was back to the way he used to be: calm and cold. Jace was back at his sides and the whole department felt a bit safer when he was around.

The search for Valentine had quickly turned into a manhunt. The CIA had joined forces with MI6, the French Secret Service and even the KGB to put him down and even if each of the agencies wanted the credit of his arrest –or his murder depending on which side of the Atlantic they were settled– they all worked toward the same goal.

Alec, Aline, Jules and Jace were standing in Hodge's office which had become the DPD's new headquarters for Valentine's case. The front stayed open as people rushed in and out of the room all day long.

Aline had been tasked with the decryption of Victoria –Valentine's ultimate weapon that was now in the CIA's possession– and Alec had noticed that dark purple lines had started to accumulate under Aline's brown eyes. She was exhausted.

Hodge was running point. He knew his team better than anyone else and he had assigned each of them with the task that would them best. And as usual, Jules was supervising everything. After the splendid failure of the attack on Valentine's apartment, she had no choice but re-encrypting every file so Archibald Aldertree couldn't access them and betray them again. She had been on the line with the director of the Agency earlier to share her suspicion about the DCS with him but until they got hard proof, nothing could be done about it so while Hodge and his team were charged with finding Valentine, she had assigned a small team, led by Jordan Kyle, to investigate Aldertree past.

"Did we try all of Pangborn's hideouts?" Jace asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Where are the Pangborns by the way?" Alec wondered aloud. "I mean, the last time we heard about them, they killed three parents and two children at Tabitha's birthday party to get Tatiana back."

"Sebastian's still on it," Hodge began. "Apparently Tatiana is warming up to the idea of giving us enough to lock her father away for good."

"Good, something less to worry about," Alec sighed.

"Sir," a man with a headset and a file in his hands entered the room.

"What is it?" Hodge asked annoyed.

"I have two ladies at the reception desk that are demanding access to the building," he explained.

"Who?" Alec asked.

The man looked down at the file. "A Maia Kyle and Clary Herondale?" He read out.

Jace spun on his heels. "What?"

"Why would Clary come here?" Alec frowned.

"Let them in," Hodge ordered.

"Yes, sir."

"Hodge!" Jace exclaimed.

"I don't have time to deal with that right now," he waved him off. "But the Alicante building is the safest place for them to be."

"He's right," Alec said.

"Fine," Jace said.

xXx

Clary and Maia were being led through a maze of corridors by a man with a sharp nose and small glassy green eyes. The rapid pace was hard to follow –especially if you were carrying a baby– and the throaty chuckle of his voice made them feel extremely ill-at-ease. The interior of the building was very different from what the girls had pictured. Clary had already been there, but the assistant who had led her to Jace's (fake) office had just sent her to the top levels of the tower. It felt like they were in some kind of underground basement or something. There were no windows, just a never-ending series of doors, each labeled with the name of a person or a department.

"Are you sure we're in the right place?" Maia asked.

"Yes," the man answered. He turned right and Clary started to hear voices coming from the far end of the corridor.

"Maia!" They turned around. Jordan was running toward them. "I'll take from here," he told the man who shrugged and after shooting the girls a last look of contempt, he vanished.

"Clary had an epiphany concerning this Valentine Morgenstern and I promised Jace I'd stay with her."

Jordan frowned and took Killian who was gently napping in his arms. He then took them to the last office, the only one whose door was open.

Jace was looking better, Clary immediately noticed, now that he was cleaned up and –she hoped– rested.

"Hey," she said feebly.

"You shouldn't be here," Jace said, and she rolled her eyes.

"I needed to see you," she whispered and taken aback, he smiled.

Alec crossed the room toward her and he hugged her tightly. Clary froze, stunned. In the years that she had known him, Alec had never hugged anyone but his sister or Magnus. He wasn't the hugging type. She wrapped her arms around him and smiled.

"I'm glad you're okay," he said, his head buried in her messy hair.

"Thanks Alec, you have no idea how much that means to me," she replied. He released her and blushed as he turned to Jace who had his eyes wide open.

"What?" Alec shrugged.

"I didn't say anything," Jace smirked. He took Clary's hand.

"So that's where you work?" She asked. "I mean really work?"

"No, this is Hodge office," he answered.

"I was thinking on the way here," Clary began.

"Thinking's good," Jace said.

"Listen!" Clary ordered. "Before you arrived in the apartment, I overheard Jonathan and Valentine talk about a plan B, if things ever went sideways."

"Which we can all say they have," Maia said.

"Can you remember what this plan B was?" Hodge asked.

"Yeah, they were talking about a warehouse in Williamsburg I think," Clary answered. "I thought they would leave the country but Valentine said he wasn't leaving until he had what he came for. Then they argued about someone named Reya, I think that was her name."

"Reyna," Jace said and before Clary had time to blink, he had grabbed a phone and was frenetically typing in a number.

xXx

"Protective custody?" Reyna repeated.

She was sitting in Central Park, a book in her lap, soaking in the sunlight. The sun was still high in the blue unclouded sky and the laughter of children always made her feel better. A ball rolled down to her feet and she kicked it back to the little boys that were playing soccer a few yards further.

"Are you sure this is necessary Jace?" She asked. "I'm fine. Valentine doesn't even know that I live in New–"

She stopped mid track. A long shadow was blocking her sun. She looked up and froze. Her heart began racing and she could barely breathe.

"Reyna, my dear Reyna." Valentine's voice sounded exactly as she remembered. It was soft and mellowing but at the same time menacing. It still made her pulse race and all the fears she had carried through the years came crashing down on her. She opened her mouth but nothing came out.

"Reyna!" Jace called out.

Valentine took the phone from her hand. "Jace? What a surprise!" He exclaimed. "The last time we spoke to each other, you were tied up to a chair."

"If you hurt her–"

"No need for threats," Valentine cut him. "But I guess we have a lot to talk about. But face to face, I don't like talking over the phone."

"Good, I want to see your face when I'll lodge a bullet through your brain."

"I'll text you the details," Valentine said, ignoring him. "Oh and say hello to your Clarissa from Jonathan. He's very excited at the prospect of seeing her again."

Read and review and continue to tell me what should happen next!

Love,

Lilly