Chapter 10
Simon sat in the main area of Jordan's apartment, showing his friend Dungeons and Dragons, Simon's favorite video game, for the first time.
"Why do you enjoy this game?" asked Jordan through a mouthful of pizza. "There's no point to it at all."
"No point?" Simon was taken aback. "This game is pure genius. It's art. Not everything has to have a point to it."
Simon's avatar stabbed the boss for the final time, sending a shower of sparks and bonus points in its wake. Jordan's character lagged behind, even as Simon's moved to the next level.
Jordan put down his controller and leaned back on the couch. "I give up."
Simon's phone vibrated in his pocket. "Hello?" he said.
"Simon!" Clary's voice rang from the other end. "We've been invited to a party at Magnus's house."
"We were?" Simon found it hard to believe that Magnus would invite them to a party, since he'd clearly been avoiding them.
"Well, Alec was." Clary amended. "But we're all going."
"Wait a second," Simon thought for a moment. "What about the whole no-one-is-allowed-to-leave-the-institute-without-an-experienced-adult thing?"
"That's the problem. How are we going to get out of here without the rest of the people in the institute knowing?"
"Maybe we can ask Luke."
"What do you mean?" Clary sounded genuinely perplexed.
"Maybe he can distract Robert and Maryse. Meanwhile, we can sneak out."
Jordan shot him a confused look. I'll explain later, Simon mouthed.
"I don't know if he'll go for it, but it's worth a try." said Clary. "I'll see you later."
"Bye." Simon said, clicking off. He looked over at Jordan, who was now on his fifth piece of pizza. "We're going to a party."
"We are?" asked Jordan. "Where?"
"At Magnus Bane's house." said Simon. "Get ready to have some fun."
"Dude," Jordan said cautiously. "Have you even beento a real party? That didn't involve you turning into a rat?"
"Yeah!" Simon hoped he sounded more confident than he felt. "I've been to plenty of birthday parties, an engagement party, and other…. parties…" he trailed off. "But that's not the point. The point is we need to be ready to arrive at Magnus's apartment at midnight tonight."
Simon already knew all of the rules: 1. Stay away from sketchy downworlders (besides Magnus), 2. Don't consume weird drinks of any sort, and 3. Wear something nice (advice given by Isabelle).
"Whatever you say." said Jordan, popping open a can of coke and taking a swig. "I hope you know what you're doing."
"You want me to do what?" asked Luke.
"I want you to—" Clary started.
"I think I heard you the first time." Luke said. "You want me to distract the Lightwoods long enough for you and your under-aged Shadowhunter friends to sneak over to a sketchy warlock's party at midnight."
Clary knew this wouldn't go over well. "Well, when you put it that way…" she trailed off and started her sentence anew. "We aren't going to this party just to have fun. We think that Magnus is trying to tell us something, and we need you to help us bend the rules in order for us to find out what that is."
She heard Luke sigh over the phone. She could practically see him running a hand through his hair and pacing, mulling it over.
Finally, he spoke. "I don't think they'll listen to me. But I'll try to ask Jocelyn to arrange something on one condition."
"What is it?"
"That I meet you at the party."
As much as Clary didn't want a forty-year-old man attending Magnus's epic party with her, if Magnus really was trying to tell them something, or he had an idea about how to save Jace, she needed all of the help she could get.
"It's a deal." Clary agreed. "I'll see you there."
She hung up and looked over to see Alec and Isabelle staring at her, their faces almost identical despite the difference in gender.
"I think this might work." She said. Looking over at Alec, she asked. " Are you sure that your main motive in going to this party is not just to see Magnus?"
"What? No! I mean, yes. I'm sure that… it's not...just to see him." Alec stuttered.
Isabelle rolled her eyes and gave her brother a withering look. "Alec. You are and always will be the worst liar in all of history."
Clary snorted as Isabelle's eyes fixated on her. Isabelle smiled and Clary groaned.
"It's time to fix you up." Isabelle said with glee.
Jace wondered how long it had been since his disappearance. He'd only been to two rooms of this palace, none of which had had clocks, and was beginning to get a bit bored. He hadn't seen the sunlight since he'd been taken, and for all he knew, he could have been gone for two hours or two days.
He looked over at Rebecca, who had been sleeping ever since he'd arrived back to the room, and realized something: he was lonely, and badly wanted someone to talk to. The realization hit him hard; he'd never felt so helpless in his life. As far as he was concerned, a helpless Jace wasn't any sort of Jace; it was someone he'd never met before.
The thing that angered him the most was the wide open door. It was left ajar as if Sebastian was daring him to try to escape, only to bump into a wall of solid air.
Jace accidentally-on-purpose nudged Rebecca with his elbow, and after a few moments, she stirred with a groan. "Hrmm…."
She sat up and looked sideways at Jace. "What?"
"What?" Jace responded.
"Why did you wake me up?" asked Rebecca.
"Wake you up?" Jace said with feigned incredulousness. "I did not intentionally do anything of the sort."
That was a flat out lie, of course. Looking into her chestnut-brown eyes, she reminded him of Simon, someone he respected and even thought of as a friend. After watching Rebecca sleep (an action that was, admittedly, kind of creepy), Jace had come to the conclusion that a girl version of his companion was better than no companion at all. Still, he hoped that Simon was taking good care of Clary, since he couldn't be there to do it himself.
Rebecca rolled her eyes. "So how's Simon doing? I mean, how was he the last time you saw him?"
"He was okay." Jace said. "I mean, he was really frazzled about your kidnapping, frantically searching for you and everything, but other than that, he was fine."
"Well, I'm sure that the Clave is doing everything in their power to find us." Rebecca replied.
This was not a reassuring statement. As far as Jace was concerned, the Clave was a joke.
"That's the name of the Shadowhunter group, right?" said Rebecca.
"Yes." said Jace. "I see you've done your homework. Remind me to give you a sticker when we get home."
"If we get home," Rebecca muttered.
Jace snorted. He could hear Sebastian's footsteps echoing down the hallway, along with the quicker ones of his pet warlock. He smiled grimly to himself. Once he was healed, and got Sebastian to trust him, he'd be able to divulge his whereabouts to his friends.
But then again, even if he found out the location of this prison, what good would that do if he couldn't even contact anyone to come and get him? It became apparent that if Jace were to make it out of here, he'd have to escape.
Quickly, before Sebastian could make it in time, he leaned over to Rebecca and whispered, "Listen closely. I need you to trust me, no matter what. No matter what."
When he pulled away, Rebecca gave him a puzzled look. He looked forward, and realized that Sebastian had materialized in front of them, with Garrick in tow. The warlock muttered something, and the air in the doorway shimmered. Jace nodded, stood up, and followed Sebastian down the hallway.
From the look of things, Jace had already gained Sebastian's trust. His hands weren't tied behind his back; his eyes remained free of a blindfold. The pain of his wounds had gotten neither worse or better, and constantly throbbed dully.
They made it to an abandoned-looking doctor's office, complete with tools hung on the wall and patient's bed that had seen some wear and tear. Like every other room Jace had seen, the walls were made of unevenly stacked grey stones.
Jace had heard about the healing process from Alec. Of course, while Magnus had done it out of the kindness of his heart, this warlock was strictly following orders.
Sebastian gestured to the patient's bed, and Jace lied down. Before Jace could move out of the way, silver manacles sprouted out of nowhere, fastening around his wrists and ankles. He struggled against them to no avail.
"What are these for?" he asked.
"So you won't move around too much." replied Sebastian "This might hurt a little bit."
Jace didn't remember pain being a part of Alec's description. He thought about Magnus Bane, kind and gentle, absolutely smitten with Alec. Then he thought of Garrick, his face hard and expressionless. Every warlock was different.
Regardless, Jace had never met anyone with a tolerance for pain as high as his. He braced himself, trying to envision lines of dancing girls as Garrick laid his clawed hands on his wounds.
At first he felt nothing. But then, the agony snuck up on him, barely noticeable at first but growing until it became excruciating. He clenched his teeth, arched his bath and grunted. He looked down and witnessed the demon toxins leaving his body, running through the veins of the warlock. He took quick shallow breaths and forbade himself to scream. Jace Lightwood did not cry in pain.
He didn't know how long it had been when it finally ended. His wounds, completely healed, no longer throbbed. He flexed his muscles, relieved that the action no longer required effort. The shackles disappeared from his limbs and he hopped off the bed, feeling rejuvenated.
"Better?" asked Sebastian.
"Yeah." said Jace.
"Then come on," Sebastian grinned. "We've got work to do."
