Jane turned crestfallen.

"Don't misunderstand, please, it's not because I don't want you. I am just physically unable to lie. I develop hives and occasionally suffer vasovagal episodes." Maura explained. "But there may be something I can sway to get you what you desire without having to fabricate anything." She smiled reassuringly at the hopeful brunette. "I'll see what I can do."

"It's 'swing', Maur. Something you can swing, not sway," Jane said with a large smile on her face.

Maura looked at her, perplexed. "That doesn't make any more sense than 'sway' but I'll take your word for it."

They spent the next couple of hours chatting, Jane answering Maura's questions readily and more than happily.

"How do you even know about all of this?" Jane asked at one point, after answering a rather intense inquiry about the Accords.

"Oh, Tessa gave me the Shadowhunters Codex and told me that if I wanted to learn about your world, that it was the best resource she'd ever come across." Maura had replied.

"That would make sense," Jane conceded. "Tessa's probably read more books in her lifetime than all of the Shadowhunters put together." At Maura's quizzical stare, she added, "As a warlock, Tessa doesn't age. She has more time than most."

"So she's immortal?"

Jane shook her head. "Not quite. She can still be killed, but she won't be dying of old age anytime soon."

Maura has pondered that for a few moments before firing another at Jane and off they went.

Finally, Maura stood up from her spot and moved toward the door.

"Where are you going?"

Maura turned. "Well, it's almost the hour when you guys generally consume your evening meal, I was going to explain your absence and bring you some food. Is that alright?"

Jane coloured. "Oh, yeah, no that'd be great thanks."

Maura smiled tightly and closed the door behind her, wandering down to the kitchen.

The voices hit her before she made it to the door.

"-not telling her, not in any way, I don't care what you think, Sean! She's safely in the dark and-"

"Angela! How long do you think she'll be able to stay in the dark? You heard his mad ravings when he was here, you know he wants her and will stop at nothing to achieve his ends. She needs to know so that she can prepare and not be ignorant about it. If she thinks we're holding her here simply for the sake of holding her, she is damned well not going to stay put. I wouldn't either." Sean interrupted loudly.

Maura pressed against the wall.

"How am I supposed to tell her, Sean? How am I supposed to explain this to her? She's gonna want to get right out of that bed and go hunting for the bastard herself!"

Maura swore she felt her heart stop beating in her chest when those last words registered in her brain. It couldn't be. She pressed her back against the wall, using the support.

A pause. "Maybe that's not such a bad thing, Ange."

"HOW CAN YOU EVEN SAY THAT?!"

"If you weren't her mother and all you and all you had to go on, all you knew of her were the stories you'd heard on the street, is she someone you'd want hunting you down like a rabid dog?"

"I don't care, Sean, she's still my baby girl and I am not going to put her through that. I am not going to tell her that the people she trusted most fucked up, okay? How am I supposed to tell her that he escaped? How am I supposed to tell her that we let her down?"

Sniffles.

"I've already let her down so often, Sean, how am I supposed to do it again, but this time for something so much more important?"

"It's what being a parent is all about. The good, the bad, and the ugly. You've known that for ages."

She fled. She flew back up the stairs, but stopped short of the infirmary doors. How was she supposed to explain? Was she even supposed to explain? Someone had to tell her, someone had to warn her.

She paced outside the door fretfully until her salvation arrived in the form of Sean, agedly climbing the stairs.

He took one look at her and knew. He nodded at her knowingly and patted her on the shoulder as he passed. Placing a hand on the door handle, he took a deep breath before he stepped into the line of fire.

Jane looked up as he walked in. "Where's Maura?" She asked, peering around him to try and catch a glimpse of the blonde.

"She's outside. There's something I need to discuss with you. And you're not going to like it." He stopped several feet away from her bed, refusing to meet her gaze.

Dreaded dead weight filled her stomach. "What?" She asked, voice low and clearly expecting the worst.

"Hoyt's gone."

Jane's blood stopped cold in her veins. "How?" was the only thing she managed to get out between her painfully gritted teeth.

"The guards portaled in from Idris just fine, but on their way back through, when they were transporting him, one of them must have been working for Hoyt. On the other side of the portal, all the Inquisitor received was one dead guard and no Hoyt."

Jane remained eerily silent.

"We don't have all the facts, but what we've figured out is that they portaled someplace else, and then sent the body through to get rid of the connection between Idris and wherever they landed."

Still nothing.

"We've got all hands on deck for this, though Janie-" he stepped forward.

"Don't call me Janie."

Sean backed off. "He's the Clave's top priority right now, and even the Council has deigned it fit to send help from all the different groups."

Jane's tone turned deadly. "Who's coming?"

Sean almost did a double-take at the tone. "Well, there were volunteers within each group. Joe Grant and his pack from the werewolves, Gabriel Dean and a group of fellow, like-minded faerie knights, Tessa from the warlocks, of course, and finally, a vampire called Casey Jones put forth his coven."

Jane snorted. "Is this just a group of everyone who wants to see me dead?"

Thoroughly confused, Sean asked, "What? No. They're coming to help protect you.

"I don't know what he told you, but Casey Jones is not here to protect me, Cavanaugh," she sighed. "A few years back, we had a thing. I didn't know he was a vampire and he tried to kill me. I highly doubt that to him, those years have changed his feelings."

Visibly, he trembled as he processed this new information. "He won't be part of it then."

"Apparently he will," Frost said, strolling in unannounced. He nodded at Jane. "I'm her parabatai, she told me about them and then Angela just told us downstairs of the Clave's plan in conjunction with the Council. As soon as she said Casey, I demanded to speak with the Inquisitor."

He growled in frustration. "Somehow, Casey convinced them that all of that was behind the two of you, that it was simply a misunderstanding on both of your parts and wouldn't in any way influence his decision to protect your life. I, of course, called bullshit, but no one would listen to me. They insisted that a vampire of his standing would hold true to his word or suffer the full extent of cruelty the Clave has to offer."

Plunking himself heavily in one of the chairs, Frost continued, "But no worries. The rest of us plan to keep as much distance between the two of you as possible. You'll never be alone with him and from here on in, everyone's armed at all times. No way the little shit is going to get you. No way either of them all."

In spite of the situation, Jane felt the urge to smile. "Thanks, Frost."

He nodded. "I got your back, bud."

"So, what," Jane turned to Sean. "I just sit here and pretend he's not out there? Am I bait? What's the plan here?"

Cavanaugh sighed. "Your mother is clearly a fan of having you stay here and not worry. I told her that was bullshit, that you'd already be concerned."

Jane inclined her head in thanks.

"However, until you're healed, you're not really of use. We won't be using you as bait, but he is going to know that you're here. I don't think he'll come after you though. Not for a while at least. He'll want to get some playthings first, from what he said when he was in custody here. You should have enough time to recover and prepare yourself."

CHAPTER FOUR

Cavanaugh was right about one thing: Hoyt wasn't going after her immediately, a fact which was proven the next day. She received an unmarked box, and inside of it were the bloody extracted fangs of a vampire, together with an unsigned note:

Our playtime was interrupted last time, but no matter, Janie,

I'll ensure that doesn't happen again.

Have this token of my word.

A promise of our future together.

Until next time,

Your personal boogeyman.

Maura was in her room, paging through the Codex when Jane banged on the door. She let the brunette in and waited for her to speak.

"Do you think we could start today?" Jane nodded toward her hands. "I'm going stir-crazy. I can't leave unless I have a whole entourage watching my every move and I can't defend myself. I need to get better."

Maura pursed her lips. It would be best if she waited another day at least.

Jane noticed her hesitation and ploughed on, "Please, Maura, won't you help me?" Her voice was soft and pleading.

No one could've said no, least of all Maura Isles. "Alright." She acquiesced and took Jane through a couple of simple exercises.

The pain ricocheted up Jane's arms as she moved through the positions Maura showed her. But she ground her teeth together, furrowed her brow in stern concentration, and refused to back down.