Chapter 8
"Magnus Bane speaking," said Magnus.
He lay half-asleep on his living room couch. After leaving the institute, he'd finally willed himself to clean the place up. Chairman Meow could now sprawl happily on the futon, now that it wasn't covered with Chinese food boxes.
Although Magnus loved shopping, he hadn't felt up for trying on suits for Jocelyn's wedding. He just hadn't been ready to be in the same room with Alec for that long. Magnus felt kind of bad about that now, since he'd known Jocelyn since she'd been a little girl. He should have been there to support her big day, he thought.
"Why didn't you come to the dress shop with us?" Isabelle demanded. "And what's up with you and Alec? Alec's not telling me."
"Has anyone told you that it's impolite to be so nosy? Tisk tisk." Magnus chided mildly.
"Well, now Jace is gone because Sebastian ambushed us!" Isabelle gushed. "And we need everyone here to figure out how to get him back. So you need to get over here and fix this!"
Magnus knew that he should have been shocked, but he'd expected something like this to happen eventually. It had only been a matter of timeā¦
"I'm sorry to hear that," said Magnus. "Hopefully we can get Jace out of this predicament. But I'm afraid there's nothing I can do about Alec. He's just going to have to grin and bear it."
"You're impossible," Isabelle said before promptly hanging up.
Rebecca couldn't help but stare at the golden-haired boy who'd fainted shortly after Sebastian had left. She crawled tentatively toward him. From far away, she could see that his wounds hadn't been tended to. Closer now, she noticed that his wounds looked infected, thick fluid escaping from the tears in his skin. Small beads of sweat had formed on his brow. She wondered if he had a fever and put that back of her hand onto his for head.
"Augh!" she yelped.
He didn't just have a fever. It was like putting her hand onto an open flame. She hissed as tears ran down her cheek.
The boy blinked and squinted at her. "Who are you?" he said softly. "Wait, are you Rebecca?"
Rebecca just looked at him.
"You know, regardless of my stunning good looks, it's impolite to stare."
So this must be Jace, Rebecca thought. Simon had said that this boy could manage arrogance at almost any time.
"I'm Jace." he said.
"I know. I'm Rebecca."
"I know."
Jace raised his head and looked around, as if taking in his surroundings. The room was quite nice, actually, with a twin bed, fire place, and hard wood floors with an elaborate rug. He winced as he propped himself against the wall, painfully shrugging of his jacket.
"It's good to see the two of you getting acquainted." said the last voice that Rebecca wanted to hear.
Sebastian was propped up against the doorframe, examining his nails.
"Now, if you don't mind, I need to borrow Jace for a moment," Sebastian continued. "I'm going to ask him some questions."
Rebecca saw no fear in Jace's expression, just pure disgust. He sat unmoving, crossing his arms and setting his jaw.
Sebastian seemed unfazed by this blatant gesture of defiance. "Come on, big boy."
Jace grunted as he was yanked to his feet. Rebecca hated the twinkle in Sebastian's eyes as he did this. Sebastian pulled him out of the door, leaving Rebecca alone.
"Alec, if you don't come out of your room this instant, I swear I'm going to throttle you!" Clary yelled.
She had tried everything: coaxing, screaming, crying, insulting, but to no avail. The day was starting to turn to dusk, and Alec hadn't emerged.
"Stop acting like such a baby!" she said.
Clary waited. Alec didn't answer her. She tried a different method.
"Alec, if you come out, maybe you and your sister could talk about this," she said sweetly. "I know that you're having problems with your life right now, but if you might feel better if you just talk out your feelings."
"Will you leave me alone?" Alec sounded exasperated.
Clary sighed and gave up. Before she turned around, she felt a hand on her shoulder.
"Just give him time."
She whirled and glared at Luke.
"We'll just have to think of something without him." Luke continued. "Everyone's already here."
Clary followed Luke to the library. She took the remaining empty seat at the table and scowled.
"In light of recent events, we are going to need to put some new rules in place," announced Maryse.
Robert nodded in agreement, while other Clary shuddered inwardly.
"From now on, no Shadow hunter under the age of eighteen can leave the institute without adult supervision."
Isabelle stood up. "What? That's not fair! I have a life!"
Anger boiled up inside of Clary. It seemed like everyone had control of Clary's life except for herself. She glared at Jocelyn while fighting back tears. Surely she would be the voice of reason.
"I'm sorry honey, but it's for the best." said Jocelyn, sympathy in her eyes. "Now that Sebastian has taken one of our own, we can't afford to lose another."
Clary thought about all of the things she would miss: going to visit Simon in his apartment, heading out for pizza with Isabelle, making her own plans for a change.
"Sebastian is too strong." said Robert "And all of you are still in training. You still require an experienced Shadow hunter to protect you. And no, Alec does not count."
"Secondly," Robert continued, "No downworlders inside of the institute"
Now Clary was confused. Didn't the institute protect itself from downworlders anyway?
"That includes all downworlders," Maryse clarified. "Including Luke, Maia, Jordan, Simon and Magnus."
Now Clary was on her feet. "That's ridiculous!" she sputtered. "They've helped us more than anyone! Wh-why are you doing this? This doesn't make any sense."
The whole table was in uproar. "You've taken things too far," said Jocelyn.
"You can't keep me out!" yelled Luke. Clary had never seen him so rattled. "Clary's like a daughter to me; you need us!"
Maryse's voice was deathly calm. "Actually, we can keep you out. We need to protect ourselves in the highest degree possible. We don't know who we can trust."
No one said anything to that. Clary looked around, waiting for someone else to challenge Maryse. Everyone kept their eyes cast downward.
"This meeting is over." said Maryse. " I have said all that I needed to."
Simon followed Clary out of the door. She walked briskly, furiously wiping her eyes. Simon caught her shoulder.
"Hey," he said to Clary when she turned around. "Don't worry about me, okay? We'll have plenty of time to talk again once we get out of this."
"Out of what?" said Clary incredulously. "This war with Sebastian? You're acting like you know we will. But, the truth is, we might not win this one, Simon. Sebastian is more powerful than ever, and the odds are against us."
Simon was taken aback. Clary was a fighter; she wasn't one to take defeat lying down. But here she was, sighing in submission, acting as if all was lost. What was she missing?
Immediately, he knew the answer: Jace. Jace had been the one to instill hope in her, and now he was taken.
He tried to think of things to say to her, but nothing seemed quite right.
"You don't have to say anything," Clary told him, as if reading his thoughts. "There's nothing you can say to make things right. I'm going to miss you."
With that, she walked away.
