CHAPTER SEVEN

"You're sure that Brother Jeremiah said that it was a faerie using a non-approved-Clave weapon?" Maia Roberts asked for the fifteenth time, biting down briefly on her thumbnail, her wild gold-and-brown curls bouncing nervously.

"Yes," Lucy responded for the fifteenth time from where she was perched on the arm of the couch in their small apartment. Maia wrung her hands together.

"Well, it doesn't surprise me- the fey have never been the most Lawful Downworlders," Maia said, almost to herself. She was walking in such a tight circle now that she must be getting dizzy, Lucy thought. It was starting to make her own stomach churn to watch her mother pace back and forth.

Maia spun towards her daughter so suddenly that Lucy startled, nearly tumbling off of the couch. She gripped the fabric tightly, holding herself on. "What is it?"

Maia pressed her lips together. "Where are Clary and Simon and Jace and Isabelle and- well, all of them that are going to Idris?"

"They already left." Lucy dug her phone out of her pocket. "They left yesterday, Mom." She scrolled briefly through her messages. "They're meeting the Clave today, to "discuss the matter.""

Maia was pacing even more tightly now. "And what about that boy at the Institute?"

Lucy was starting to get seasick just watching her mother. She tried to concentrate on the unmoving coffee table in front of her. "What boy?" she asked the glossy wood.

Maia shook her head. "That person- James? Jackson?"

"Jonah," Lucy corrected her. "I don't know- he kind of drifts in and out." She pressed her fingertips into her forehead.

"He's part faerie," Maia muttered, so softly that Lucy could barely hear her.

Lucy jerked her head up to look at Maia- and the pieces clicked together. A laugh, insane and wild, burst from her mouth. Maia frowned at her. "What is it?"

"You think Jonah is a threat?" The laugh was uncontrolled. Lucy nearly fell off of the couch again in the hilarity of the idea.

Maia frowned at her, the corners of her mouth turning down. "It's a possibility," she snapped defensively. Lucy saw the look on her mother's face and jammed her hand against her mouth to stop laughing.

"Yes, but... Jonah is a good person. I know it. Benjamin is even friends with him. Jace is okay with him, Mom," Lucy explained, trying to keep a serious expression on her face.

Maia frowned. "Lucy, I just... I don't think that we can completely trust him. Just hear me out-"

Lucy jumped up from the couch. She didn't want to have this conversation, a conversation that made her feel tight and squeezed, like she was being forced into a too-tight space for her body. Jonah is not a traitor! She felt like screaming. Instead, she grabbed the apartment keys from off of the table. "Whatever." She shrugged on her jacket. "I'm going to go down to the bar. The pack is probably there. I'll check out how things are going." She managed a fleeting smile to Maia and raced out of the apartment, not giving her mother a chance to object.

The smile disappeared from her face as soon as she was outside. Lucy clenched her fists, the key biting into her palm. "There are no traitors," she muttered. "The Clave will smooth everything out. It will all be fine."

Nora's eyes snapped open, so suddenly that it was almost as if someone had screamed next to her ear. For a second, she couldn't remember where she was, and she felt a panicky jump in her stomach, sitting straight up-

Then she recognized the small room, the narrow bed that she was sitting in, the buttery yellow walls. Amatis's house in Idris, her mind reminded her.

Nora glanced at her watch. 6:45 am. She jumped quickly out of bed, rummaging through her suitcase, just as she heard a knock on the door.

"Are you decent?" Benjamin's voice floated through the door to reach Nora's ears. She straightened up. "Yes."

Benjamin stepped through the door, leaning against the frame. He was dressed in fresh jeans and a pale gray T-shirt, his arms bare despite the cloudy, icy weather outside. His golden hair looked as though it had just been washed, straight but curling at the edges. His eyes glittered, and the corner of his mouth twitched up. He slid one hand into his pocket. "Teddy bears are in?" he said dryly.

Nora glanced down at her pajamas, blue with printed teddy bears. She felt a hot flush rise in her cheeks, then pushed it down. Why should I be blushing? Mentally berating herself, Nora gathered her dignity. "What do you want?"

"We're all having breakfast... we're going to be late to the Clave meeting if you keep stalling," Benjamin responded carelessly. "So you might want to come on down."

Nora resisted the urge to throw her seraph blade at him. "Fine," she grumbled. "I'll be down in a few minutes."

Benjamin disappeared, shutting the door behind him. Nora quickly exchanged her pajamas for a plain white T-shirt and jeans with a knitted brown cardigan, pulling her dark hair back up in a low ponytail. It wasn't fashionable- nothing about what she wore signified that she was a Shadowhunter. Carefully, she propped her clunky glasses up higher on the bridge of her nose- she had inherited the crummy eyesight from her dad- and went downstairs.

Everybody was gathered around the small wooden table that balanced precariously on three legs, wobbling dangerously when anyone touched it. Nora brought up a chair, gingerly sitting in a corner, squashed between Bailey and Jace. Jace jerked his chin at her, and Nora looked down at the table- she could never meet Jace's eye. He was too majestic, almost like a lion, like she wasn't high enough to meet his gaze.

"Toast? Cereal? Almond-flaxseed bar?" Simon offered her. He looked rested- no more shadows under his eyes, but his eyes were still squinted under his glasses, smudged with fingerprints.

Nora's stomach was churning- she didn't think that she could manage anything down in her nervousness. "Um, just the bar," she said.

Simon handed her another, slightly flattened bar. Nora unwrapped it and bit down. "Thanks, Dad."

He smiled briefly at her.

"Okay, everyone." Magnus stood up, making the table wobble- Nora grabbed tightly to the edge. "We need a plan for when we meet the Clave."

Alec arched one eyebrow. His bow and quiver of arrows were strapped across his back. "This isn't war, Magnus," he reminded his boyfriend.

"Said the one with the bow and arrow," Jace responded.

Alec frowned.

"Shut up, Jace," Magnus snapped, and Jace felt silent, but the corners of his mouth still twitched. "Jace is right," Magnus continued, casting a grudging look at Jace, "This is not war. But however... we have to have a plan. They might make one of us take up the Mortal Sword."

"I'll do it," Clary said immediately. Benjamin and Jace instantly turned to her. "Clary-" Jace started, wrinkles deepening into his forehead.

"No." Simon shook his head and pushed his glasses up higher. "I'll do it. I was there with Clary- and plus, if they decide to use the Mortal Sword on me, the worst it'll do to me is make me blow up or explode or something like that." He grinned weakly.

"Shut up, Simon, and don't even joke about that." Isabelle's voice was hard. "Let Clary do it. She's a Shadowhunter. And-" it obviously pained her to say this- "The Clave will probably believe her more than they would believe you."

"I'm a Shadowhunter-in-training," Simon offered.

Isabelle frowned deeply at him. "Can you stop?"

"Yes," Simon said meekly.

"I'll take the Mortal Sword." Clary's jaw was set- Nora could see the determination in her dark green eyes. "Let's go."