"Let me get this straight. Jonathan is alive?" Jocelyn asked as Clary, Luke, and Simon nodded. "And Jonathan and Carly were taken by Valentine?"
"We've been trying to track them for the last two days, but it keeps failing," Clary explained as Jocelyn walked over to the monitor.
"So they're over water," Jocelyn muttered.
"That's what we think," Isabelle said, pulling up a hologram map of the area. "The closest water source is this river. Valentine will want to stay close to watch us scuttle like mice. We've already sent a team searching for a vessel that could hide Valentine and his men."
"Well, hopefully, they find something soon. I'd love to meet my son," Jocelyn said as Clary noticed Alec beating a punching bag in the room next door. She left the group and went to check on him.
Clary stopped beside him with genuine worry. "Are you okay?"
"My parabatai is missing, do I look okay?" Alec asked, punching the bag again as hard as he could.
"My brother and sister are missing too, Alec. You aren't the only one who's worried," Clary said, snapping back at his mean tone.
"Well, it isn't my fault they're gone," Alec said, giving Clary a look. "Jace was taken to protect you, and Carly was taken because she was related to you."
"This is not my fault. I'm not the reason they were taken, and just because they're related to me doesn't give you the right to blame me," Clary retorted.
Alec stopped punching the bag, turning his full attention to Clary. "This is all because of you. Everything that has ever caused problems is because of you. Simon becoming a vampire, Jace doing whatever you said, and Valentine taking your siblings is all on you."
He threw his gloves to the floor and stormed out of the room. Clary stood there speechless, trying to hold the tears back. Isabelle noticed her sad stature and ran to her side.
"Don't listen to him. He's just worried about Jace," Isabelle reassured her, giving Clary a hug.
"What if he's right?" Clary asked, moving back from the hug. "Ever since I came into the picture, everything has gone wrong. I pulled my sister and my best friend into this world and screwed over everyone else."
"This is not your fault, okay?" Isabelle said, giving Clary another hug.
After being taken back into the bowels of the ship, Jace and I had our hands tied with chains. Then we were put on a hook and lifted just high enough so our feet couldn't touch the ground. A man came into the room with the biggest muscles I had probably ever seen. He put on boxing gloves and turned toward us.
"You're gonna hit a girl?" I asked as he approached Jace and I.
"Valentine wants it, so I do as I am told," The man said, punching me in the stomach as hard as he could, "So yes, I'm prepared to hit a girl."
"Hey ugly!" Jace yelled, grabbing the goon's attention.
"Are you talking to me?"
Jace egged the man on with a smirk. "Yeah, I am. Only a piece of garbage would hit a girl. Someone who is ugly, smelly, and … wimpy."
"Oh yeah, pretty boy," The goon said, punching Jace straight in the nose. "I may be ugly and smelly, but I'm definitely not wimpy."
The goon backed up as I turned my head, finding blood streaming down Jace's face. Jace smiled, and the goon hit him a few more times in the stomach and face. He left bruises, cuts, and a broken nose.
"Even if you beat us, that doesn't mean we're going to join Valentine's side," I said, catching the goon's attention.
"Carly don't," Jace muttered, spitting up blood.
"Willingly, no, but you'll break. And if you don't, we have other ways to get you to join," The goon threatened, using all the strength he had to punch me in the face. At first, I saw stars, then everything went black.
A few hours later, I awoke to find myself still chained up. I felt like I had bruises all over my body, which was probably the case. I turned to Jace, and he looked just as bad, if not worse. I tried to loosen the chains so I could slide my hands through, but the chains were just too tight. I searched the floor for anything I could find to loosen or break the chains, but as I searched, someone came into the room.
"I'm guessing you're the other way to make us join," I asked as Jace opened his eyes.
"That I am. The name's Ethan, and you must be Carly and Jace," Ethan said, putting his hands on his waist.
"Lucky guess," Jace said sarcastically
"Isabelle told me so much about you two, well, everybody at the Institute," Ethan said as Jace and I both looked at one another with confusion.
"You know Isabelle? Isabelle Lightwood?" I asked, confused and hopeful.
Ethan nodded. "Yeah, we're friends."
"How come I've never met you?" Jace questioned.
"You don't need to know all of Izzy's friends, Jace." I retorted.
"Yeah, but she never mentioned him once," Jace replied, looking toward Ethan. "How do you know Isabelle?"
"Isabelle and I are … "special friends"," Ethan admitted.
"Oh, now I get it," I said as Jace was still confused. The look on his face made me smile, and I hadn't done that in days.
"Special friends?" Jace asked as his facial expression made me smile even more at the fact he didn't understand.
"We're in a romantic relationship. She wanted to hide it from Maryse and Robert so they wouldn't disown her," Ethan explained.
"Why? What is so weird about you that they wouldn't understand?" Jace asked.
Ethan looked down at his feet. "My mom was fairy folk, and my dad was a warlock. I'm a hybrid, so I have both warlock and fairy abilities. Most people think I'm a freak, and shadowhunters think worse of me. She wanted to keep us a secret so I wouldn't get hurt."
"How did you end up here?" I asked, grabbing his attention.
"I was kidnapped a few weeks ago by Valentine. Since I have more abilities than the average warlock, he's been using me. I've tried to escape on multiple occasions, but I never succeed," Ethan explained.
"What about Dot? She was taken by Valentine when he first took my mom. Is she okay?" I asked, hoping nothing bad had happened. She was kind and always helped me escape my mom when she was being overprotective.
"Dot's alive and well. She's more dedicated to him than I am, but that's probably because she sees no way out," Ethan said.
"So why are you down here? Just to share life stories and hold hands?" Jace asked, going back to being sarcastic and annoyed.
"I'm supposed to come down here and make you guys loyal to Valentine through a spell. But..." Ethan said, taking a long pause.
"You're going to defy him?" Jace questioned, noticing the look on his face.
"Kind of … because if I don't perform the spell, I'll be executed, but there will be a loophole. If one of your friends gets on the ship to rescue you and you see them, the spell will break. So once they come for you, you'll be free," Ethan explained, stepping forward.
"Couldn't you just not hex us?" Jace asked with a raised brow.
"I could, but then he might suspect something, and dying is not on my to-do list," Ethan said, putting two fingers on my forehead and whispering something. Then he did the same to Jace.
"So what did that do?" I asked.
"It will make you loyal. You will follow his lead until you are rescued. I wish there was another way, but it's the best I can do," Ethan explained.
"Thanks for the loophole," Jace said, actually saying something nice for once.
"No problem. When you get rescued, and I know you will, let Izzy know I'm alright," Ethan said, turning to leave.
"You're going to come with us," I quickly replied.
"What?!" Ethan and Jace exclaimed at the exact same moment.
I shrugged. "Well, we can't just leave you here to be controlled by Valentine. We could even save Dot if we had the time. All of us could get to safety and out of his clutches."
Ethan slightly nodded as he left the room. Seconds later, Valentine strolled in with a smug grin on his face. "I see Ryan got his anger out."
"Yeah, real swell guy," Jace said sarcastically.
"He's dedicated," Valentine said, snapping his fingers. Once he did, Jace and I were lowered, and two goons took the chains from our hands.
I rubbed my wrists, which now had thick red marks. Jace, on the other hand, snapped his nose back in place. No doctor, painkillers, or help. He did gasp a bit once it was done, but still. If that were me, I'd let at least one tear fall.
"Why are you letting us down? Sick of us already?" Jace asked with a smug smile, crossing his arms over his chest.
Valentine smiled. "We're going on a mission."
"Mission?" I asked.
"Yes, Carly, a mission. You always get left behind when the action happens, so it's time you finally get to fight," Valentine said as Jace and I were each handed a shadow blade.
"Where are we going?" Jace asked.
"Maria's Pizza Palace on the corner of Jefferson and 3rd," Valentine said as a portal opened in front of us.
"Who are we fighting?" I asked, a little nervous and a little excited. I had never been able to fight a monster before. I've trained, and I've trained a lot, but I've never fought the real thing. Well, never fought the real thing and won.
"You'll see. Let's get going, the monsters won't wait around to be defeated." Valentine said as I started walking forward.
I didn't want to move my feet, but it was like I couldn't control them. I looked toward Jace, and I could tell it was the same for him. We gave each other a look as we followed Valentine through the blue watery entrance.
Clary followed another shadowhunter down a few corridors. They passed many doors along the way until they got to the one at the end of the hall. The shadowhunter opened the door to Mr. Aldertree's office as Clary took a seat. The shadowhunter left , and Aldertree turned to greet Clary. They shook hands as he took a seat behind his desk.
"How long is this going to take?" Clary asked, crossing her arms.
"Not long. As long as you answer my questions truthfully," Mr. Aldertree explained. "What happened when you were looking for the book?"
"Me, Alec, Izzy, Jace, Carly, Simon, and Camille…" Clary said as she began to speak.
"The vampire who has broken the Clave's rules countless times? A wanted woman?" Mr. Aldertree questioned as he interrupted Clary.
"She was our only lead to the Book Of The White. After we found the book, we were going to turn her in," Clary finished.
"Were you?" Mr. Aldertree questioned.
"We were," Clary said with annoyance. "As we searched for the book, Carly noticed another part of the library. She went inside to look as a portal opened up. Valentine and his men came running in, causing Camille to vanish and for knives to be at our throats."
"And where was Jace?" Mr. Aldertree asked.
"Out of the room," Clary replied.
"Don't you think it's odd Carly and Jace were absent as Valentine's men arrived? Isn't there a chance they knew that Valentine was coming and planned it?" Mr. Aldertree suggested.
"You think they're working with him?!" Clary exclaimed as her voice rose in tone.
"Don't you think it's possible?" Mr. Aldertree questioned.
"No, I don't. After Valentine arrived, Carly hid. Before she could find anything to help us, she was dragged out of the other room. Then Jace gave himself up so we could be free. But before we could save them, Carly and Jace were thrown into the portal as Valentine, and his goons followed," Clary spat.
"So Jace just gave himself up to Valentine?"
"No, he let Valentine take him so the rest of us could escape. He wanted us to be safe, and Carly was taken against her will," Clary explained.
"From what I've heard, it sounds more like she let herself get taken," Mr. Aldertree replied.
"You didn't see the anger and fear on her face when she saw Valentine. She would never go willingly," Clary explained. "Carly wasn't like that."
"If I was made to stay at the Institute and never trusted with missions, I might want to be taken also. She was always the one left behind, and this time, she is the one you have to save," Mr. Aldertree said.
"Are we done here?" Clary asked with anger in her tone.
"Yes, I think I have all the information I need," Mr. Aldertree said as Clary stormed out of the room. As she did, Clary passed Alec and Izzy.
"We need to find Jace," Alec muttered, pacing back and forth. Izzy tried to focus on Alec and finding Jace and Carly, but she was distracted. Alec looked up and noticed her distracted expression.
"What are you thinking about?" Alec asked, interested and concerned.
"Nothing important, just trying to come up with something to find Jace," Isabelle said, half-lying. She didn't want to tell Alec the real reason, and he must've bought her lie because he changed the conversation back to Jace.
"I need him, Izzy," Alec said, looking into Izzy's eyes with anger and frustration. Jace was his parabatai and Alec couldn't live without him.
"I might be able to help with that," Jocelyn said, walking over to the siblings.
"How?" Izzy and Alec asked at the same time.
"Before I drank that sleeping potion, I put something in my pocket so that Valentine wouldn't get his hands on it," Jocelyn explained, showing Izzy and Alec a shiny black rock.
"A rock?" Isabelle asked.
"It's not any rock. This is called a seeing stone. You hold it in your hands and think of the one person you're trying to find. It can work with anyone, but finding a parabatai is easier because you already have a connection with the other person," Jocelyn explained.
"Give it to me," Alec demanded, reaching for the stone as Jocelyn moved it away.
"There is a catch," Jocelyn admitted.
"What kind of catch?" Isabelle asked with worry.
"It's less painful than using your rune, and it's quicker than a tracking spell. The problem is you have to go into your mind and find the other person's mind. If you fall too deep, you could get lost, and there's a chance you don't come back," Jocelyn explained as Isabelle and Alec shared a look..
"I'm doing this," Alec said, taking the stone from Jocelyn.
"Alec, I don't think this is a good idea. What if something happens and you don't wake up?" Isabelle asked.
Alec shook his head. "I don't care what happens to me. We need to find Jace and Carly. This is the fastest way, and if we wait any longer, it could already be too late."
