It had been three months, three long months with no sign of Clary. Everyone had given up on her. Said she had to be dead somewhere and we would find her one day. I was out on mission with Issabelle who was trying to distract me by tracking down some downworlder that was causing havoc but my heart really wasn't into it and eventually Izzy gave up and let me go back to my house. I had moved out, had Magnus magic me an apartment magically kept within what would appear to any mundane eye or even a shadow hunter eye as a small one person tent. However when you would walk in you were transported to a loft similar to Magnus' just simpler. It's where I spent most of my time these days, reading over old books Magnus let me borrow to see if there was something we missed. We found a way to undo the love potion that we suspected may have been used on Jace and we found a way to send Lilith back to Edom, but the problem was they had both disappeared without a trace. So outside of the occasional house call which involved Magnus portaling in to take me somewhere half against my will such as hunting a down worlder tonight with my sister, I was left alone with books and my thoughts. Izzy had been my second in command and mostly was running the institute only occasionally checking in with me for advice so I had a lot of down time to myself.
I looked down to her bracelet that I had ever since on my right wrist. It was a simple charm bracelet with a single heart dangling from the chain. Clary's sixteenth birthday present from her mother. Entwined around it and through the loops of the chain was the few strands of hair I had of her. Magnus had seen them gripped tightly in my hand when we got back to the loft that fateful night and as he clicked his fingers to change me into my pajamas again, those few strands, the last of Clary Fairchild's hair, were entwined through the chain of the bracelet.
"I enchanted them as well as the bracelet, no matter what situation you find yourself in, they will be protected from breaking" he had called from his room as he came out with arms full of books. I had placed our pizza order and noticed then the new addition to my wrist.
Since that night I often found myself fiddling with the heart, wondering how she was holding up after all this time, if her spirit had been broken yet. It's what got me through, what got me up in the morning, was that thought alone. If her spirit wasn't broken yet then I couldn't let mine. I couldn't let mine be broken in case she was still fighting, in case she was still alive hoping against hope someone would find her.
Isabelle had asked me tonight why I still cared, it wasn't like I cared for her before. I quickly responded that Clary was captured under my watch, she was in the institute, I'm the head of the institute therefore it is my responsibility to find her. Isabelle fell quiet after that, whether she believed my lie, I wasn't sure. Clary was vulnerable, and defenseless when she was taken and I had let her walk past me in a blur. I had thrown Clary behind me to protect her, then I had the brains to close my door and enchant a strength rune into the enchanted wood, protecting her in a box of my room but leaving me exposed to Jace. He glared at me before he punched me hard in the gut and disappeared in a fae portal which I had never seen before. I got up, groaned in pain and headed to the main dock where I had access to all the security cameras through the institute. A quick glance in my room and Clary was there, sitting on the floor, back against my bed, in shock. I changed cameras quickly not wanting the entire institute to know about what just happened yet. There was no sign of Jace or the fae girls so after a few minutes I headed back to my room after checking no one was following me. As far as the institute was concerned, it was a normal Wednesday, completely oblivious to what just went on in Clary and Jace's room. I got to my door and rested my forehead for a moment against the wall just breathing, processing before removing the rune of protection. I never liked Clary much, she always seemed like more trouble than what she was worth but no one deserved that. I opened my door and knelt down next to her and rested a hand on her shoulder, she was ice cold so I grabbed my hoodie from my chair and draped it around her shoulders. Her eyes were vacant, and I realized she wasn't really there so I waited patiently resting a hand on hers. It felt like forever had passed before she got up, without a word or a glance, and went to her room. Before I could get up, she grabbed whatever she was looking for and left. My hoodie long forgotten on the floor, she headed to the main doors and I tried to stop her. I caught her hand gently in mine just outside of the institute and whispered so no one would listen in. I tried to convince her to come back inside, think it through. She just looked at me with her piercing green eyes full of so much pain, she lost her mom, her home, her life, her art dream, Jace was the last rock in her life holding her together. I couldn't hold her back so I let her go. I thought about following her but she was once a mundane, how much trouble could she get into in one day? I'd give her that, then I would track her around dinner time and bring her back. That at least was the plan, the plan that I regret every single day.
I found myself laying on my bed in nothing but my long pajama pants and a hoodie fiddling with the heart again hanging from her bracelet. All I knew about the whereabouts of Clary were hunches, that she might in a moving demonic dimension which meant if I hadn't felt her presence, the only supplies they had were what were already in that dimension. Regardless I had a to go bag with clothes, money, spare stele's and a few weapons in case I ever felt her presence again and somehow got into whatever hellhole dimension she was trapped in. I tried tracking her one more time before blowing out the candle I had for light in my room when I felt a magic signature. She was here, in Alicante, and she was close! I peeked out of my tent's flaps and saw the house. The house I suspected she was taken back to that fateful night in the storm before transporting away. I quickly sent a fire message to Magnus, grabbed my bag and started running. I wasn't sure how long it would stay there, but if I missed this opportunity I would never forgive myself. I made it to the door in no time after activating my stealth rune while running. I thought about the best way in, and decided I would try one of the windows so I activated some more runes and began climbing till I found one that was opened. It was no longer winter time in Alicante thankfully so it was an easy climb in the warm spring night air. I climbed in and thought I had succeeded at being stealthy till I was met with the eyes of my parabatai. I quickly pulled out a stele sword from my belt that I had quickly slipped on while running up to the house. I was about to slash towards Jace when someone clicked their fingers somewhere and my blade disappeared as well as half the weight in my backpack.
"Tsk tsk, no weapons are allowed shadowhunter, I'm glad you finally joined us" said a chilling voice that belonged to some guy who looked a little older than Clary with the same eyes and hair. "Hand me Clary and we will leave" I tried realizing that without my weapons, I was in alot of trouble unless Magnus was close by. I should have waited for him. "Lets see if you can get past us then we will show you to Clary" the boy said with humor in his eyes before clicking his fingers again just as Jace charged me. I could feel the house moving through space as I deflected Jace's attacks and soon it was two on one. They landed tripple as many blows as I had and unfortunately I was out of breath within minutes kneeling to my knees with blood pouring down the side of my face. Piecing together the utter strength coming from the blows of the red head boy, it had to be Johnathan, his demonic blood made him ten times as strong and fast.