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"You stupid idiot!" Isabelle was suddenly hugging Jace's head, sitting in his lap. Tears were streaming down her face and Simon knew that later she would be pissed that she had cried. "Why didn't you tell us? Why? We're your family, Will is my nephew! We could have figured something out, we could—"
Jace gently pushed Izzy out of his lap and stood up, running a hand through his hair. "There's nothing that can be done, Izzy. Do you think I haven't tried? Since the Seelie Queen stole my son, I've been looking everywhere to find a cure. Without a cure I can't take William back, or he'll die. And I was afraid for Max. I couldn't risk his safety."
"But why didn't you tell us? Why act like you and Clary couldn't stand each other, even here in the Institute?"
"Because," Jace looked away, "we needed to make you believe the lie. If Kaelie or Jiliel ever asked you any questions… you needed to believe it, Iz. We couldn't risk the Queen suspecting we were breaking the deal. And it killed us to lie to you, but we had no choice. We had to protect Will and we also knew that learning the truth would have put you all in danger because you would have tried any way to help us."
"Alright." Magnus said. It looked like he was the only one still able to properly think right now. "Is our theory right? Are you trying to persuade Kaelie to cooperate? We thought you were dating and that Jiliel made you two meet on purpose, but apparently she's more of a jailer."
"Kaelie is a good girl." Jace said, surprising them all. "She actually has a soul, something her Queen is missing entirely. It started as you said, but the more I was with her, the more I understood her. She doesn't approve of what the Queen did to William, she's sorry for me. I'm slowly trying to get her to help me, but it takes time."
"Do we want to know exactly how are you trying to convince her? And does Clary know?" Isabelle asked, holding her breath.
Jace looked at her for a long time, before finally lowering his gaze. "No. No, you don't want to. And yes, Clary knows. I would never keep it a secret from her, I could never do this if she didn't allow it."
"Ok." She nodded without adding anything else.
"Jace," Alec asked quietly, "when was the last time you saw Will? Is he alright?"
He breathed deeply before answering, mostly to keep his voice steady. "Today was the day. I saw him this morning. He grew up a lot since the last time you all saw him... his hair is longer now as well. He was chasing the fairies and laughing. He looked happy, but Kaelie told me he never said a single word since the day we left him there. He's healthy but he won't talk."
Alec sighed and nodded. "Is there anything else you still didn't tell us? Anything we should know?"
"No," Jace shook his head. "That's all."
"Good, because we need to know everything to be able to help you." Alec began pacing, rubbing his chin. "So, we have a poison for which we don't know the cure. That's the first step, we need to find one out. Have you tried looking in the library in Alicante?"
Jace nodded. "Nothing."
"Alright, I wasn't expecting anything different. There are at least three other places we can look in: the Silent Brother's archives, the Praetor Lupus library and the Spiral Labyrinth's one. And I'll contact Lily and Maya right away."
"Alec, if we start looking around and asking questions, the fairies will know Jace told us everything." Isabelle pointed out.
"I actually doubt we would find anything in those archives anyway," Magnus said. "We're talking about the Fey. They are secretive and the few informations we have about them are because the fairies themselves leaked them out. That's actually one of the reasons I'm hopeful about this: we probably can't find anything in our books because they are written by humans. They don't say everything there is to know about the fairies, which makes Kaelie's help very valuable. I can bet a cure exists, we just don't know about it."
"Kaelie isn't our only option. There is another one." Simon, who had been silent until that moment, looked up at them. "The Unseelie Court."
Isabelle shook her head. "They don't involve themselves in Shadowhunters business. They don't involve themselves in outer world's business, actually. They just stay there by themselves."
"And yet maybe we can get them to help us, if we talk to them." Simon insisted. "They can be secluded but they must have heard about the Dark War and they must know their entire race is disgraced because of that. And according to everything I studied, the Seelie Queen and the Unseelie King don't talk, they actually despise each other."
"If you're wrong and they do talk, it will just get worse."
"I know Izzy. But seriously, what choice do we have? We have to get William out as soon as possible, because until we don't, we can't report this whole situation to the Clave. The Fair Folk is preparing for war and they are obviously using Clary's reports to know how and when to strike. And when they do, what do you think will happen? The Clave will attack, full force. If we win, William dies because we won't have the antidote. If we lose, we'll all be dead. We can't wait."
"Simon is right," Magnus nodded. "Also, consider this: the fairies are patient, so they could even decide not to attack in your lifetime. But then that means that William will live his whole life trapped down there. I don't think any of us wants this."
Nobody replied and after a while Simon softly asked "Where's Clary?"
"I guess she's at home," Jace replied. "Probably crying after seeing William this morning. I just hope she's alone."
"I'll go to her," Simon decided, "and I'll tell her we know. Clary is the only one who knows about what is going on at the Council meetings and we need her knowledge to try and find out the Seelie Queen plans."
"Are you sure that's the best course of action, Simon?"
"Alec, I'm done with the secrets." He replied. "They only bring pain. I'm done with her suffering alone, she needs to know she can confide in us. We can still act around Jiliel and Kaelie, but I'm not going to let Clary be in pain by herself. She's my best friend, and my parabatai. I'm going to protect her the best I can. Isn't this the reason you wanted so badly to talk to Jace?"
Alec nodded in understanding then looked at Jace. "The Institute is safe from the fairies, they can't enter and they can't spy on us in here. So we'll use this as our headquarter. Clary can open a portal to our apartment, so nobody sees me and Magnus coming here more often than usual. Is that ok?"
Everybody nodded and then silence fell on the room for some moments, while they were thinking about what they just learnt. William was alive. The little baby they all loved wasn't lost forever as they thought and they would do their best to have him back.
"Guys—" Jace called out in the end, his gaze on the ground now. "Thank you. I'm glad you know what's going on. I'm glad you're here to help. I was dying day after day constantly lying to you."
"Yeah, like I said, Jace," Simon unlocked the library door, ready to leave, "you're an idiot. Like it or not, we're family and we help each other. We all want William back and we all want to kick that bitch's ass."
Jace raised his eyebrow but Simon wasn't done yet. "And if you're asking yourself why I included myself in your family, well, that's because I'm marrying your sister soon. You better get used to the idea because you'll be my best man. And I swear on the Angel that William will be the stele bearer. If it is the last thing I do."
He opened the door and then left the library, followed by Isabelle's outraged cry.
"Simon!"
Hearing the doorbell, Clary's first instinct was to ignore it and just keep staying on her couch, curled up like a baby. When she heard Simon's voice pleading to let him in though, her body acted on its own and before knowing it she was opening the door. She was a mess and she knew it: her face was pale, streaked with tears, her hair was tangled and she was wearing the most horrible sweatsuit.
Simon walked in without a comment, just looking around. "Are you alone?" He softly asked.
When she nodded, he kindly took her in his arms, slowly caressing her hair. "I'm sorry Clary. I'm so sorry you had to face this all on your own. But I'm here now. You're not alone anymore."
She looked up in confusion but Simon just smiled, kissing her forehead. "Come sit down. We have a lot to talk about."
He guided her to the couch, gathered a blanket to wrap around her and then he simply leaned back, making her rest her head against his shoulder.
"Don't panic now Fray. I promise you there's no reason to." He kissed her forehead again before whispering "We know about William. Jace told us."
Clary's heart stopped and she started shaking, suddenly gasping for air. She tried to get up but Simon held her against him, raising a hand to caress her cheek. "Isabelle and me heard you and Jiliel yesterday evening. We were just out of the door and we heard everything. Then we connected the dots and this morning Jace confirmed it all."
"Oh God..." she whispered, feeling empty inside. They knew. They knew she was betraying them all, they knew she was selling her soul, their lives, to the enemy. They knew she'd been lying to them for months.
"We love you, Clary." He kept going, his voice soft and warm. "That hasn't changed. That can't change. You're my best friend, my pillar, my parabatai. I'm here for you, always and forever."
Her eyes filled with tears again, even though she thought she spent all of them crying for William. She was so tired, so utterly exhausted, tired of living a lie, tired of suffering, of crying, of having her heart broken in pieces every day. And so she cried. She sobbed, wailed, cried out loud, clutching Simon's shirt and burying her head in his chest. She cried so much that in the end she just had no more tears and all she could do was sob till her throat hurt, till her head began pounding so hard she could barely keep her eyes open.
Simon kept silent, just holding her, gently stroking her arms, her back, her face, until her shoulders stopped shaking and her regular breathing told him she had fallen asleep in his arms. Poor Clary, living in that kind of hell for months. He couldn't even begin to imagine being torn apart from Izzy that way, able to see her but not to hold her, knowing she was in pain but unable to do anything to help her. Seeing a loved one suffer was the worst of all and Clary had to bear it all alone, knowing that telling anyone would just endanger her son. Having William taken away from her must have been excruciating. He never had children, but he loved that baby, his bright golden eyes, his sweet laughter, his soft hair, the way he felt when he was holding him. And he was just his uncle. The love Jace and Clary had for him was so complete they were willing to sell their souls to protect him. But they wouldn't have to anymore. They would get William back and soon.
He gently smiled when he felt Clary stirring in his arms after a while and kept caressing her until she opened her eyes again, pain still clouding them.
"Did I fall asleep?" she asked, her voice low and hoarse.
"Just half an hour," he answered, still holding her. "Do you want to sleep some more?"
"No," she shook her head, but didn't move. "I just want to stay like this. It feels good."
"Then stay. I'll be here for as long as you want me to."
Her breathing was slow and even now, her body relaxed in his arms as she allowed herself to rely on someone else's strength for once.
"Simon, I'm so sorry." She whispered after a while. "I feel so horrible for lying to you. For lying to everybody. For doing what I did."
"I just wish I knew it sooner Clary. What happened, what Jiliel is doing to you—I wish I knew." His voice wasn't judgemental, but heartfelt and it brought new tears to her eyes.
"I wanted to tell you. So many times. But I couldn't." She raised her gaze to him, pale and tired. "You can't understand how it feels, Simon, to watch your son waste away. I felt him moving in my body for nine months, then he was born and I thought the world couldn't be more perfect. Every time he smiled, every time he laughed, every time he fell asleep in my arms, I felt complete. And then I saw him suffer, I saw him cry and clutch my hand hoping I would make the pain go away. And I couldn't Simon, I couldn't do anything. Every time I thought about telling you, I pictured his face as he was suffering and I knew that I would just make it worse, because I couldn't really help him."
"I know," he whispered, "I know. But it's over now. We'll help you get him back, Clary. I promise you, William will be free and healthy. And this will be just an awful nightmare."
"I don't know how." She sighed, closing her eyes.
"Magnus said he's hopeful a cure exists, that we just don't know it because all our books are written by humans. I agree with him. I suggested going to the Unseelie Court to get help."
"But they are still fairies, why should they help us defeating other fairies?"
"Well, I still have to figure out that part of the plan," he told her while smiling, "but the books say the two Courts aren't in good relationships. Maybe we can persuade the Unseelie King somehow."
She didn't answer and Simon sighed, looking down at her. "Clary, we need to find out what their plans are. We know they are preparing for war, but when will they strike? How?"
"I don't know. They tried to make me believe they just wanted their place back in the Council but I always knew it was more than that. And there is something going on in the Downworld right now: we received reports about vampires fighting with werewolves, all over the world. The last one came from London, but we got them from everywhere really. At first we thought it was just the old feud between them, but the reports keep coming. We're on the verge of a full scale war right now."
Simon nodded. "Chaos. Confusion. Looks like the perfect distraction, isn't it? If the Nephilim are busy keeping the vampires on track, they won't notice if the fairies make a move."
"That's what I thought as well. That or the vampires allied with the Fair Folk. That would be a lot worse." She sighed, lowering her gaze. "I've been trying since months to find a way to warn the Clave without exposing myself, but I couldn't think of anything. Jiliel would know the warning came from me."
"We'll find a way. But for now I want you away from this place. Come back to the Institute, Clary."
She knew why he was asking her to come back: if he heard everything the previous day, then he knew Jiliel was about to rape her when they rang the doorbell. But it couldn't be avoided. Clary disentangled herself from his comforting arms and shook her head. "Simon, I can't."
He frowned. "I won't leave you here alone with Jiliel. I won't let him touch you again."
"You have to. He can't suspect anything."
"That's out of the question, Clary."
She sighed and took his hand in hers. "Simon, you have to understand. This is the reason I didn't want anybody to know. We can't act differently, we can't change our habits or he'll know there's something wrong. So we have to keep the act: this is my apartment, you all think I'm living here to avoid Jace and you all think Jiliel is my loving boyfriend."
Simon said nothing for a long moment, then he squeezed her hand. "You're asking me to let him hurt you. Do you have any idea how this makes me feel?"
"I do." She weakly smiled. "But I can bear it. I can endure everything to have William and Jace back. I'll go all the way to Hell if needed."
He sighed knowing there was no way he could persuade her. He knew Clary since they were children and her stubbornness was always a great part of her character. As much as he felt his heart break, he couldn't go against her; he gathered her in his arms once more and kept her close. "Then I'll open the door for you. And I'll be by your side every step of the journey."