++++++ Seriously I am loving Shadowhunters right now :)

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Six

Luke got out of his seat and crossed over to the window. "I can't tell you about Valentine."

Gabriella's jaw dropped. "Uncle Luke!" she objected. "You can't-"

"You look so much like your father," Luke told her, "those eyes though…like your mother is looking back at me. But…you are Imogen's…her taking you away from Amatis like that-Jocelyn ran because of Valentine and the Clave…the Clave can't be trusted and Gabriella you are the Clave."

"So what then?" Gabriella demanded to know.

"I don't know where Valentine is," Luke spoke, "I don't know where Jocelyn is. Clary thinks she's safe in the Institute but no one can be trusted…Esme will you protect Clary? Even if it's from the Clave?"

Esme nodded. "Of course. You know I will."

"You're only sticking your neck out because you owe Jocelyn," Gabriella argued. "We're Shadowhunters-this is our honoured duty."

She rolled her eyes. "Oh yeah. Totally is your honoured duty…one thing I've learnt living like a mundane for two years is that Shadowhunter's are elite purists. They look down on anyone who isn't Shadowhunter. I don't even know why I went from having the best of everything to being hunted like a dog! Don't tell me of my crimes, instead just punish me. I was sixteen for fucks sake, what could I have done to warrant my name being stricken from the Clave books?"

Gabriella shook her head. "I don't either, I only know that you're wanted by the Clave still."

"I did nothing wrong," Esme warned her. "I still carry the marks and mark myself with runes to protect those who cannot protect themselves. I hunt down demons and downworlders who break the accords."

"I don't even know how this became a fight over you and me," Gabriella shrugged.

Esme pinched her nose, shaking her head as she sat down. "Luke…please? Tell us something that will lead us to the Mortal Cup."

"I don't know where it is," Luke confessed, "Jocelyn hid it well."

Gabriella sighed. "This whole trip was a waste of time."

Luke smirked. "I wouldn't call it a waste, you got to see Jess-it's the first time he's seen you since he came from London. He's fitting right in with the pack. Go spend some time with him."

Gabriella looked at Esme after she got to her feet. "I have to come up with something to tell the Clave."

"Tell them whatever you like," Esme shrugged. "Zero stuffs are given today," she told Gabriella, waving her hands in front of her.

She muttered under her breath as she stormed out of the office.

Luke sighed. "As much as I like having you here, Esme. I think it's best if you leave. I can't be dealing with Valentine and the issue with the Cup as the Accords are up to be resigned. Then there's also the fact of your mother."

Esme blinked. "I'm sorry-what about my mother?"

"She's hunting you," Luke told her. "Gwendoline managed to find me when I was looking at some of the damage to Jocelyn and Clary's place. Two days ago looking for you. Esme, something's wrong with her. She had two greater demons at her flanks and they were protecting her."

Esme cocked an eyebrow. "Luke…did you happen to get a look at the mark on her neck? I was too far away from her when I saw her the other day."

Luke took a piece of paper out of his pocket. "I drew it as best I could."

He handed it to her and on closer inspection she could see that it was in fact a rune but not like any she'd ever seen before. Shadowhunter runes were black and when faded, silvery in colour…not red. She narrowed her eyes. "I know this mark! It's like the rune a bride and groom draw on each other when they marry…except it's twisted…it says Owned."

"Valentine hunts the cup and Clary," Luke sighed, "Gwendoline hunts for you…I hope that they never meet. It won't be good for any of us."

Esme pocketed the paper and got up. "Thanks for nothing Luke," she winked. She headed out, sure that Gabriella was too busy with her lover to even notice that she was being ditched.

As she walked, Esme dug the paper from her pocket. Originally she had been heading back to Magnus' place but she changed directions and disappeared underground. This time of day, the subway was busy with people rushing about. Esme stood back in the crowd and drew the rune for concealment on her arm. She waited a few seconds for a train to clear the platform before she jumped onto the tracks.

Over the past few years, Luke had helped Esme collect her own store of shadowhunter knowledge, books filled to the brim with shadowhunter myths and lore, copies of the Grey Book and the Codex were there as well. They'd hidden it in a storage room underground protected with various spells and runes. This was where Esme would go before she went on a hunt.

For about an hour she scrambled around the room looking for a book that she'd put in the maybe pile. Eventually coming across it covered in dust and soot.

The Verbis Diablo.

Basically like the opposite of the Shadowhunter's codex they learnt from.

Esme picked the cursed book up and opened it. In the middle of the book was a section on bonding ceremonies-the mark on the paper and on her mother's neck was the very same one she wore.

"Oh mother what have you done?" Esme whispered, reading the passage over.

A proposed bond mate or match can only be successfully completed if the other party submits total control.

She tapped the page a little and got to her feet, she needed to brain storm and Magnus was the only one who would listen. Esme closed the door and shoved the book into her bag as she went.

"Hello Esme."

She froze.

Standing in the middle of the tracks right in her path stood her mother. Hair pulled back into a serious braid, dressed to the nines in combat gear and flanked by two greater demons just like Luke had said she was.

"Mother?" Esme gasped.

"It appears you and I need to talk," she smiled. "Your father wants to meet you."

Esme snorted. "My father is dead. You killed him."

Gwendoline laughed. "Angus Nighthallow was not your father," she told her. "As if I would let that filth touch me! Not when everything was so important. What happened after you is of no consequence."

Esme curled her fists. "As if you could say that. Stephanie and Oscar were children and you murdered them!" She suddenly found herself wishing that she had some kind of weapon on her.

Gwendoline crossed over to her. "Silly, silly, girl. We shall meet with your father and he will have the Mortal Cup by day's end." She took Esme's hands and held them with a smile on her face. "It's time to pick a side, Esme. Us or them?"

Esme pulled her hands away. "Are you Forsaken?" she asked her mother.

"I am free," Gwendoline grinned. "And you will be too. We just need to make one modification and your father will welcome you with open arms and a court to rule over in fear and power." She took and object out of boot that looked like a stele but really wasn't. "This will only hurt a little."

"So will this," Gabriella spoke, a seraph blade piercing the chest of a demon to Gwendoline's right. "Esme!" She tossed a second blade over to the girl and went for the second demon.

Gwendoline screamed.

"TRAIN!" Esme yelled. She and Gabriella flattened themselves against the wall and watched as Gwendoline and the demon disappeared. She counted the cars, from what she could see, Gabriella was doing it as well.

The two of them as one reached out and grabbed the rails at the end of the train. It yanked them off their feet and they were flying in mid-air as they struggled to get their feet on the ground.

Gabriella got there first, sparing no time in helping Esme.

"Thank you," Esme gasped.

"You looked like you needed the help," Gabriella breathed heavily as they got into the train. "What did your mother want anyway?"

"Nothing," she lied. "Nothing at all."