CHAPTER FOUR

Isabelle's phone buzzed just as she was making her way out of the door. Sighing, she doubled back, examining the caller ID. It was Alec. Isabelle's eyebrows shuffled together. What happened? She held the phone up to her ear. "Alec, this had better be good, I was just on my way to get a new electrum whip before we go to Idris-"

"Well, you won't have time." Alec's voice was tense, almost locked. Isabelle froze- alarm crept up her throat. When Alec spoke like that, it was never good.

"What happened, Alec?" Isabelle asked, as calmly as possible. "Is everyone okay?"

"Three more Nephilim have been slaughtered. Clary and Simon are down at the Silent City with the Silent Brothers. Magnus told me that the Brothers found a dagger- they think that a faerie might have been using it as a non-Clave-approved weapon." Alec's words were curt.

"Oh, my God." Isabelle had started pacing without even realizing it- she forced herself to stop. "Where is Nora?" Her mind flashed instantly to her daughter. "Is she okay? Where are you? What are you doing?" The questions poured like water from a tap out of Isabelle's mouth.

"Nora is okay. She and Benjamin and Bailey are at the Institute... Lucy's okay, too, she went with Maia to tell the pack," Alec reassured her.

Isabelle felt marginally better. "What's happening now?"

"Magnus is opening the Portal to Idris in fifteen minutes, and you, Clary, Simon, Jace, Bailey, Benjamin, and Nora are going through." There. Simple and easy facts. Isabelle could grasp those, even in the midst of this tension.

"Okay. I'll be down there." Isabelle hung up, tucking the phone into her pocket, and dashed to her and Simon's shared room in this tiny apartment. She rifled through her clothes, exchanging her fancy ones for more practical, more simple gear, winding her dark, long hair up out of her face and into a bun, jabbing a small dagger into the top to keep it from unraveling. Her electrum whip curled up around wrist, her seraph blade rested at her hip, and she had a witchlight stone and her stele tucked into her back pocket. Isabelle grabbed her stylish, mint green suitcase that she had packed specifically for Idris two nights before, and ducked quickly out of the apartment, pausing only to grab her daughters' suitcase and to lock the door.

She sprinted down the cramped New York sidewalk, trusting the mundanes passing to only see an overly-sweatered woman in her late forties, not a Shadowhunter with daggers of all sorts. As she ran, Isabelle traced a Voyance rune onto the back of her left hand and a Strength rune onto her right.

She was prepared. She was ready for whatever might come.

Nora paced up and down, chewing the skin around her thumb. The cold air whipped at her dark hair, sending it flying into her face, cutting her vision into strips. She checked her phone for the fifteenth time- the battery was dying quickly, and her mother, Isabelle Lightwood, still hadn't responded.

"Where is she?" Nora growled, half-impatient and half-worried. Nerves were tangling up in her stomach, and she felt tight everywhere, her stomach almost snapping with hunger. She hadn't had anything to eat since this morning, at breakfast, and that was just a banana and yogurt at Jace's orders. Nora still hadn't gotten used to her intense training schedule.

"You look pale." Simon set a hand on Nora's back- his glasses were slightly askew on the bridge of his narrow nose, and his brown hair was jumbled, his eyes bloodshot. He kept rubbing them under his glasses, signs that he was just as stressed and tired as Nora was.

Nora couldn't resist a snort. "Take a look in a mirror."

Simon managed a weary smile. "It will be okay, Nora," he said calmly. "The Silent Brothers will figure it out." While his voice was steady, he clenched his hands into fists, his knuckles turning white.

Nora checked her phone again. Zero messages. "Where is Mom?" she snapped impatiently.

Simon blinked unsteadily, taking a moment to process everything. "Your mother is probably on her way." He stifled a yawn.

"You need a cup of coffee," Nora told him.

"If you could conjure one out of thin air, that would be great." Simon gave her a half-hearted grin, which she couldn't manage to return. She tried to push the ever-growing knot of anxiety and hunger away, massaging her temples.

"It doesn't make sense," she murmured.

Simon's eyes softened. "It will," he said. "Just let the Clave do what they need to do."

"Like the Clave ever does anything right." Nora couldn't resist the sarcasm. Simon pursed his lips.

"Don't start arguing with me," Nora cut in before he could even begin. "What about you and Clary, when Jace was being brainwashed by Sebastian? Did you really listen to the Clave then?"

"No," Simon admitted. He pushed his glasses up and pressed his fingertips into his eyes. "But that was different. Faeries weren't slaughtering stuff all over the place."

"We don't even KNOW if it's really faeries doing all this!" Nora's voice cracked with strain. Simon's eyes were scrunched. He dug a protein bar out of his jacket pocket and handed it to her. "Here. You need some fuel," he said gently.

It was only slightly flattened. Nora took it with grudging gratefulness, unwrapping it and biting into it. It tasted stale, but whatever.

The sound of running footsteps made Nora, and all of the others gathered at the Institute, turn. It was Isabelle Lightwood. She was dressed in full gear, a seraph blade at her hip, a small dagger holding her bun in place, dark Marks twined up her arms, her electrum whip curled like a ladder of golden bracelets up her wrist. She approached them. "Sorry that I was late. I was busy-"

"Getting dressed?" Simon's mouth twisted wryly. "We're not going into battle, Izzy. We're just going to Idris to tell the Clave."

"Whatever," Isabelle snapped. "Facing the Clave is like going into battle."

"I agree," Jace said. He was leaning against the wall of the Institute, hands in his pockets. He looked relaxed, but there was something in the tense set of his jaw that alerted Nora that he was just as stressed as the rest of them. "We might as well be prepared for the Clave. Who knows what they'll do."

"Whatever it is, we're going into it together," Clary announced.

"Oh God. Spare me the cheesy pep talk," Benjamin muttered to himself, just loud enough for Nora to hear- she couldn't resist a grin.

"That's right." Jace leaned over and kissed Clary quickly- Benjamin shielded his eyes.

Magnus cleared his throat. "I hate to interrupt," he began, his voice thick with sarcasm, "but we kind of have limited time here. Can we get going?"

Clary stepped back from the kiss. "Here, let me do it." She slid her stele from her pocket, placing the tip against the wall of the Institute. Nora watched, fascinated. She had never seen Clary draw a Portal before, only heard about it from her father and mother and others at the Institute.

Thick black Marks spiraled from Clary's stele, and her face was set with concentration, her teeth snagging on her lips. Slowly, a door yawned open, facing a small, humble house. Amatis's house, Nora thought in awe. She had never thought that she was actually going to see it in person- she had only heard about Luke's sister from Benjamin, and small snippets of information from her parents.

"Who needs a warlock, anyways, to open a Portal?" Magnus muttered. Nora saw Alec take his hand, fingers lacing with Magnus's, and Magnus's face softening.

Clary and Jace stepped into the Portal, instantly disappearing. Benjamin and Bailey followed. Then Magnus and Alec and Izzy- and finally, Simon and Nora were left. Simon locked eyes with her, and she tilted up her chin, setting her jaw.

I'm not afraid.

I am ready.

And with that, Nora stepped into the Portal, allowing New York to disappear behind her and Idris to become reality.