Alyssa's Apartment
Jace woke up from his sleep to sunlight pouring into the room. He grumbled and turned over to face the other side to try and go back to sleep. He paused when he heard a chuckle from behind him. Turning slightly with narrowed eyes due to the sun, he saw the form of Alyssa standing by the bed.
"Time to get up, darling." She said, sitting down on the bed. Jace groaned and turned over fully to face her. He couldn't help but smile at her, at the sight of her with the sun shining behind her. "Morning, handsome." Alyssa asked with a smile, leaning down, with her forearms on his chest.
"Morning, gorgeous. Did you sleep well?"
"Mmm, yes, very well. I'd say it's the best sleep I've had in a long while." She said, grinning down at him.
"Really? Can't imagine why." Jace said, a smirk on his lips.
"Oh, I think you can." Alyssa said with a smile, leaning down to place a kiss on his lips. Jace returned the kiss, wrapping his arm around her waist and placing one at the back of her neck, pulling her closer and deepening the kiss. They pulled apart when the need for air became great. "We have to get ready and get to the Institute. Alec called thirty minutes ago."
She went to get up but let out a yelp of surprise. Jace rolled them over, trapping her underneath him.
"I think Alec and the Institute can wait a little while longer." Jace said with a smirk. Seeing the look in his eyes, Alyssa smirked back and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"Yeah, yeah, they can." She said, pulling him down to her.
Suffice to say, they didn't arrive at the Institute until much later.
The Institute – Alec's Office
Alec and Alyssa were in their office, waiting for Max. Alec eyed his pseudo-sister as she sat in front of him with a tablet in hand, humming softly as she scrolled through some of the latest reports.
"Well, someone seems to be in a really good mood. You're practically glowing." Alec commented, drawing a smile from the dark-skinned woman in front of him. "Does it have anything to do with why you and Jace arrived here an hour and a half after I called you?" He asked with a sly smile.
"Maybe, but I don't kiss and tell, big brother."
"And I'm glad you don't. The last thing I would want to know is what you and Jace get up to in that apartment of yours." Alec said, just as the door opened and Max stepped inside.
"Hey Alec, hey Lyssa." Max said. The two adults stood up as he walked into the room. Max did a double take of Alyssa's appearance. "Whoa, Lyssa. You look amazing." Alyssa smiled at him.
"Aww, thank you, Max." She said, then turned to Alec with a playful glare. "See, that's what you were supposed to say when you saw me instead of asking what I was wearing. Max has more manners and is clearly more of a gentleman than you." Alec rolled his eyes at her playfully.
"So, Alec, you wanted to see me?" Max said. Alec turned to him, remembering why he had called for Max.
"Yes. The Clave is very impressed with your progress. They think you're ready for your first mission." Alec said to his little brother.
"Bet Izzy will love that." Alyssa muttered sarcastically. Alec rolled his eyes, but he knew she was right. Izzy wouldn't be happy when she found out.
"What do you think, Max?" He asked his little brother.
"I've been ready since the day I got here." Max said confidently. Alyssa chuckled at his eagerness to go into the field.
"Well, then you better get your butt over to training. You know how much our sister hates tardiness." Alec said.
"Oh, she's gonna hate a lot more than that when Max tells her what you just told him." Alyssa said, as Max was leaving. Jace, Clary, and Antonio walked into the office just as Max walked out.
"Whoa, Allie, I don't think I've ever seen you in a dress for as long as I've known you." Antonio said, making Alyssa roll her eyes. Clary's eyes widened and she smiled as she took in the appearance of the shadowhunter hybrid.
"Yeah, he's right. I've only ever seen you in jeans and a leather jacket." Clary added. "You look great."
"Thank you, but how about we focus less on my choice of outfits and more on the matter at hand? Jonathan." Alyssa said. The atmosphere became serious at the mention of the demon Morgenstern.
"Any sign of him?" Alec asked. Clary shook her head.
"No. We tracked the box itself, but it was a dead end." Jace said.
"I'm not surprised since the box was never in his possession. Jocelyn's the one who had it, so any signature you tried tracking would lead back to her, and since she's no longer with us, I think you have your explanation as to why it was a dead end. No pun intended." Alyssa pointed out.
She then caught sight of an eavesdropper at the door. Alec noticed him too and refrained from speaking, giving him a look. The others looked where he was looking and also noticed the presence of the youngest Lightwood. "Max, what have I said about eavesdropping?" Alyssa said, making her way towards him. She grabbed him by the shoulders and led him away, closing the door behind her.
"I know you don't like it, but..."
"No buts, Max. You have a habit of wanting to know things that aren't meant for you. One day you might hear something that you might not like."
"Like what?"
"Oh trust me, darling. There's a lot of stuff that even without eavesdropping I wish I could have unheard."
Back in the office, Alec had just informed the remaining shadowhunters about the missing Soul-Sword and explained to Clary with the help of Antonio and Jace what it could be used for, leading to a horrifying revelation. They were about to leave the office when Alec called them back.
"One more thing. No one can know about this, not even our Downworlder friends. And more importantly, Alyssa can't know about this." This made Jace and Antonio uneasy.
"Whoa, Alec, that is not a good idea. Keeping this from Allie is not very wise." Antonio said.
"Listen, I know, but if she knows, then you can be sure Luke and Magnus will find out, and once they do, so does every Downworlder." Alec said.
"I don't think Luke would tell if..." Clary tried to say, but Alec cut her off.
"Maybe he would or maybe he wouldn't. Listen, if the Downworld finds out that the Clave's been lying this whole time about the Soul-Sword, we may have an uprising on our hands." Alec said. Clary nodded in understanding but Antonio still looked uneasy. "Look, I don't like lying to Lyssa either, but in this situation, I have to do this."
"I understand what you're saying, Alec, but I can't do that." Jace said.
"Jace, you have to understand what Alec is saying." Clary said.
"I'm sorry, but I can't keep this from her." Jace said.
"You can't or you won't?" Alec asked.
"Both, but more of the former. Did you forget that Alyssa and I are bonded, in soul and in mind?" Alec's face fell at this. He'd forgotten. "I can't keep this from her even if I wanted to, and I don't. We respect each other's privacy, but the bond won't allow any secrets between us. We can block each other all we want, all day, but at the end of the day, when we go to sleep, all shields and blocks go down."
"Wait, really? So when we found out about my sunlight rune and decided to keep it from everyone…" Clary asked.
"She knew about it and just didn't say anything." Jace said. "Look, Alec, I won't go running to tell her, but at the end of the day, I might not be the one to tell her, but she will know."
"That's if she doesn't already." Alec said with a sigh.
Roof
Alyssa led Max to the roof where Izzy was waiting for him beside a pigeon den. Max could already guess what his training was going to be and rolled his eyes.
"How's chasing pigeons going to help me with my training?" He asked. Izzy gave him an indulgent smile.
"You're not chasing them, you're tracking them. This lesson is about focus. Now activate your tracking rune." She said to him. Max did as she asked as she took a pigeon egg from a nest. "Now track this egg back to the bird who laid it." She said, giving him the egg. Max, though, had something to say about that.
"I'm already an expert tracker." Alyssa chuckled at his impatience and shared a smile with Izzy.
"Yeah, your sister thought the same thing too, until she hit a nest full of Kuri demons." Alyssa said, sending a teasing grin at Izzy.
"If it weren't for Alec, I wouldn't be standing here." Izzy added.
"But you only got better by being in the field. Now it's my turn." Max said. Izzy frowned at what he said in confusion.
"Oh boy." Alyssa muttered.
"What are you talking about?" Izzy asked her younger brother.
"The Clave has approved me for my first mission," Max said excitedly. Izzy looked at him, shocked. She looked at Alyssa, who nodded to confirm what he'd said.
"I tried to protest, but apparently my opinion wasn't asked for." She said to Izzy. "They're ready to send him into the field."
"That's not gonna happen." Izzy said firmly to Max's disappointment. "Find the bird, Max. That's the assignment. Lys, can you supervise?" Izzy walked away before Alyssa could respond, knowing she'd do so even without her asking.
"Good luck." Alyssa called out.
"Where are you going?" Max asked. He groaned when she didn't respond. Alyssa could understand his frustration.
"Ok, Max, you heard Izzy. Find the bird." She said.
"But…" Max began to protest, but he went silent when she raised her finger to stop him.
"Complete the assignment and I'll talk to Izzy about getting you on the field experience and going on missions." Alyssa said.
Max's eyes lit up at the prospect of possibly going into the field. Alyssa smirked and stepped back from him as he began to track.
Ops Center
Alyssa was standing at one of the tables with three Shadowhunters, briefing them on their latest mission. Izzy walked over to her just as she was finishing up.
"So is everyone clear on what the mission is?" She asked and received nods from the shadowhunters. "Good, off you go. Dismissed."
"Hey." She turned to face Izzy, leaning against the table.
"Hey, Iz. What's up?"
"I need some advice on..."
"The whole 'Max being approved for missions' thing?" Alyssa asked with a knowing look.
"Yeah. I want to know what you think. All Alec is telling me is that he's a soldier and he needs to be treated like one, but he's also our little brother. Alec wasn't there the night that Kaelie had him, he wasn't there to see how close Max came to dying, but you were, and you love Max just as much as we do. So I want to know what your take on this is."
"Okay, can I be completely honest?" Izzy nodded, rolling her eyes.
"Your brutal honesty is the reason why I came to you, Lyssa."
"Okay, I kind of agree with Alec." Izzy went to say something but Alyssa held up a hand to stop her. "Let me finish, Izzy. You're right, Alec wasn't there the night Kaelie kidnapped Max. But Izzy, that's exactly why we need to start treating him like a soldier. We need to prepare him so he can be able to handle such situations in the future.
He's not a kid anymore, Iz. You can't coddle him forever or he'll never be ready for the world. He's one of the best amongst his age group, just like you, Jace, and Alec were when you were his age, though Jace is in a league of his own."
The last part made the two of them chuckle. "I've seen his simulation scores and I even took him to Tokyo institute today, after he finished his assignment, of course, for a simulation training. For a preteen, his scores were off the charts at the level it was set."
"That's what Alec said, but wait, why the Tokyo institute?" Izzy asked, a little curious.
"Because their sim program is the best, even better than what they use at the academy in Idris. They've added a new code to their program that simulates Circle members, due to recent events. I had Max try that one, and though it was challenging, he still did better than anyone his age had done in that institute, I checked. His only problem is his overconfidence, and he rushes into some things without fully thinking them through."
"And he thinks he's ready for everything, especially the big stuff."
"Yeah, well, we can blame Jace for his overconfidence." Alyssa joked.
"Blame me for whose overconfidence?" Jace asked, walking over to them with Clary.
"Max's." Alyssa said, looking up at him.
"How is it my fault? Izzy's the one training him." Jace said, though Izzy knew he was just joking.
"Uh, hello. Case in point." Alyssa replied, pointing to Clary, who looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
"Why are you pointing at me? What did I do?" Clary asked, amusement clear in her tone.
"Ok, let's take a trip down memory lane. The first time, when Alec took your portal shard necklace to put it somewhere for safe keeping, what was it that you said, trying to convince Alec not to put it away? Oh yes, 'Alec, I think we should use it. We should use it to get to Valentine.' That's what you said, making Clary think that one can just walk up to Valentine with a small group and grab him with little to no resistance."
"I didn't think…." Clary tried to say.
"Your words were, 'I like Jace's idea. We saved Simon from the vampires that way.' Izzy, what does that say to you?" Alyssa asked, looking at the female Lightwood.
"That she thought we could take on Valentine with just three trained Shadowhunters and one untrained one." Izzy replied, smirking.
"Okay, so yes that's what it would seem, but that was just one time." Jace said, making Alyssa raise an eyebrow.
"I can name another time; going through an alternate dimension to get to Chernobyl so you can find Valentine. Should I go on or has my point been made?"
"What other time could you..."
"One word, Renwick's."
"Okay, fine. I see your point, even if I don't agree with it." Jace said, wrapping an arm around her with a smile, placing a kiss to her temple.
"Well, I don't. I'm not overconfident." Clary said.
"Really? Should we talk about the time Cleophas came to Jade Wolf?" Alyssa asked.
"As much as I would love to hear that story, I have to get going for Max's training." Izzy said, nodding at Alyssa who gave her a knowing look and smile, then she walked away from them.
Later...
Alyssa and Alec were standing by a table in the ops center, looking over mission reports and memos from the Clave.
"So, why did I smell lobster tails and butter in the office earlier when I came in? Did you order takeout or something?" She asked. Alec looked up from his tablet, avoiding her eyes, fighting a blush from appearing on his face.
"I missed dinner with Magnus. We were supposed to go to the Cape, but I got caught up in work and forgot. So we had dinner there."
"Aww, that is so sweet and romantic. I remember the last time I tried lobster tails on one of my high school dates. It didn't go well."
"Why, what happened?"
Alyssa grimaced as the memory came to the surface. "We discovered that I'm allergic to seafood and something else the restaurant put in the food, some spice that I've forgotten the name of. It wasn't pretty."
"Ouch." Alec said as the two of them chuckled.
Hearing footsteps coming their way, the two of them lifted their heads and turned to see Clary and Jace walking over with a woman whom Alyssa recognized.
"Dot?"
"Hi, Alyssa," the woman said, smiling slightly, though Alyssa could see she was forcing it. Worry and fear were written all over Dot.
"What are you doing here? What's wrong?" Alyssa asked.
"There's a situation," Jace said. He and Alyssa shared a look, and she let out a sigh.
"And by the looks on your faces, it concerns Jonathan and his father, doesn't it? Looks like we can't catch a break these days. Let's take this to the office." She said.
As they walked, Clary began to explain the issue and why Dot was at the Institute. Antonio had joined them along the way.
"After Elliot opened his own shop, we lost touch. But when I was little, Elliot was one of my mom's best friends." Clary informed them.
"He introduced me to Jocelyn," Dot added.
"And now you're concerned that he's in trouble?" Alec asked as they entered the office.
"The mark on Dot's arm is part of a protection spell," Clary said.
"What mark?" Alyssa asked. Dot lifted her arm and showed them the mark on her wrist. Seeing it, Alyssa's eyes widened as she and Antonio shared a look. "Oh boy." Dot nodded, knowing what the dark-skinned shadowhunter hybrid was thinking.
"Yeah. It's a sigil. It only transfers to another warlock if something terrible has happened."
"That's a nice way of putting it." Antonio muttered.
"Whatever he's guarding must be pretty important." Alec said, which made Clary and Dot share a look, then Dot nodded. Alyssa saw this exchange.
"Hello, care to share with the rest of the class?" She said sarcastically.
"It's the Mortal Mirror." Clary said, making Alec, Antonio, and Jace's eyes widen in surprise.
"Jocelyn had it?" Jace asked.
"I know it's crazy, the Mirror and the Cup." Clary began to say.
"It's more than crazy, Clary. How did Jocelyn get her hands on the Mirror? The Cup I get, but how did she get the Mirror?" Alyssa asked.
"I don't know. Like I said, I know it's crazy. I guess my mom knew Elliot would do anything to keep it safe. As a warlock, he could protect it better than anyone, right? So she entrusted him with its location." Clary said, but Alyssa and Antonio weren't all that convinced.
"And Elliot entrusted it to me." Dot added.
"So do you know the current location of the Mortal Mirror?" Alec asked.
"It doesn't work that way. If it did, there'd be no point to the protection spell." Alyssa said, stepping towards Dot and taking her arm, exposing the mark again. "See these lines? They correspond to specific ley lines in the city. What we have is the map to the location. We just have to figure it out."
"I can do that. I can figure it out, but it'll take some time." Dot said.
"We have maps of all the ley lines. We can help you." Alec offered, earning a nod from the female warlock.
"And we can protect you from the daddy and son duo." Antonio added.
"With those marks on your wrist, it's only a matter of time before they come after you." Jace added.
"Meanwhile, Clary, Jace, and I will go to Elliot's shop and see if we can figure out what happened to him." Alyssa said.
"Why don't you let only Jace and Clary go and you stay here..." Alec was saying, but Alyssa interrupted him.
"Alec, I've been cooped up in the Institute all day, looking at reports and issuing missions. My skin has been itching for an opportunity to go out. I need to go out even if for a short while before I accidentally murder someone. So I'm going with them, end of story."
"Okay, okay." Alec said, raising his hands in surrender. "Antonio and I will stay here and help her."
"You'll be safe here." Clary said, taking Dot's hand in hers and smiling reassuringly at her.
"Be careful." Dot said, returning the smile.
With that, Jace, Clary, and Alyssa left the office.
Ouroboros
Clary, Alyssa, and Jace entered the shop to find it in a mess, with bits of broken furniture and glass scattered on the floor. Looking ahead, they found a man lying against a cabinet of drawers, with bruises and cuts on his face and blood running down from his eyes.
Clary gasped as she rushed to him and knelt next to him. "Oh, Elliot." Jace and Alyssa looked around, taking in the scene. They noticed ichor on the floor near the entrance and near Elliot's body and shared a look.
"A demon was here." Alyssa informed, walking closer to the body and crouching down beside Clary.
"How do you know?" Clary asked, looking at her.
"Besides what I can smell and see with my other eyes, look." Alyssa replied, pointing to the ichor. "That's demon ichor." Clary turned bak to look at Elliot and closed his eyes with a sad look on her face. "He was beaten up badly before he died but this wasn't murder. He killed himself." She said, rising from her crouch and moving towards Jace, still looking around for any more clues.
"What? How can you tell?" Clary asked, confused. Jace was the one who answered her.
"Blood from his eyes. I've seen it before. It's a warlock incantation. It's basically their version of a cyanide capsule. I'm sorry."
Just then, they heard the glass crunching as someone entered the shop. Jace turned around quickly, his hand going for his blade while Alyssa threw a spike in the direction of the sound. The person quickly ducked as it embedded itself in the doorpost, then stood up, eyes wide in alarm. It was Sebastian.
"Whoa, hi." He said, with a sheepish smile. Alyssa glared at him and gestured for him to pull out the spike and give it back to her.
"Next time, use your brain and announce yourself. I could have killed you." She snapped, taking the spike from him and slipping it back into her thigh holster.
Clary stood up and walked over. "Sebastian? What are you doing here?" She asked.
"I, uh…I saw the alert at the Institute." Alyssa frowned in suspicion, knowing that neither she nor Alec had made any alert to the Institute. Jace and Clary didn't realize what she did and dropped their guards. "Is everything under control?" Alyssa noticed how his eyes went to Elliot's body and the look in them.
"We're still not 100% sure what happened. There was a demon presence here, but something doesn't add up." Jace informed the other blond. While he was talking, Clary's eyes were drawn to a vase of dead flowers.
"Oh my God." Jace, Alyssa, and Sebastian followed her gaze to the dead flowers. "It's Jonathan." Both Alyssa and Jace frowned, but for different reasons. Jace was confused, while Alyssa was saddened by the sight, which she could tell was coming from her Seelie side.
"How do you know that?" Jace asked.
"The flowers. My mom shared a memory from when Jonathan was a baby. He'd done the exact same thing." Clary replied, then looked down, finally paying attention to the ichor Alyssa had mentioned. "And the gray demon ichor, that's how Valentine described the aftermath of Jonathan's kills. Jonathan was here." She continued.
"Great. Just great. Just what we need." Alyssa muttered in annoyance.
"Uh, sorry, who's….Who's Jonathan?" Sebastian asked.
"My brother," Clary said, with an almost fond tone.
"He must be after the Mortal Mirror. If he comes after it again, I'm going to have to deal with him." Jace said, making Clary frown at his words.
"What does that mean?"
"It means exactly what you think it means, Clarissa. We're going to do whatever it takes to protect the Mirror, even if it means killing him." Alyssa said, a hard edge to her tone, and Jace nodding in agreement.
"We don't even know if Jonathan is doing this on his own. He could be under Valentine's influence." Clary said defensively.
"Yeah, Clary's got a point. I mean, what if Valentine is forcing him to do his bidding?" Sebastian added. There was a nervous tone to his voice that Jace and Clary missed, but Alyssa didn't.
"Stay out of this, Sebastian. Clary, do you remember what Alec and I said about you often letting your emotions cloud your judgment? You're doing it right now. Jace is not saying that we'll go looking for Jonathan to kill him. Only that if he comes after the Mirror and us, we will use whatever means necessary to subdue him, even if it means killing him." Alyssa said sternly. Clary wasn't ready to back down though.
"Valentine is known for his manipulations, Alyssa. He's done this to me and Jace before. Who knows, Jonathan might be his latest victim."
"For your sake, I hope that's the case." Alyssa said softly before continuing in a stern voice again. "Nonetheless, until that is proven, we will consider him as one of the threats and a dangerous one at that. Am I clear?"
"But we don't..."
"Am I clear, Clarissa?" Alyssa gave the redhead a hard look that left no room for arguments. Clary reluctantly nodded in agreement. "Good, now let's get back to the Institute."
Clary waited for Sebastian and Alyssa to step out before holding Jace back by the arm. "Jace, please talk to her. She has to..."
"I agree with her, Clary. She's right, Jonathan is a threat that we need to protect the Mirror from. You have to look at the bigger picture and focus. Finding the Mortal Mirror and keeping it safe are our top priorities. I'm sorry." Jace told her before walking out as well. Clary let out a sigh before following after them.
The Institute – Office
The four Shadowhunters entered the room just in time Dot thank Alec. Both of them looked up at the new entrants, while Antonio sat up from his place on the couch.
"It's Jonathan, my brother. He's the one who came after Elliot." Clary told them without preamble.
"He's after the Mirror, isn't he?" Antonio asked, gaining nods from them. Alyssa noticed Sebastian's sudden interest in Dot. She followed his gaze to see him looking at the mark on Dot's right.
"Sebastian, thanks, but we're good here. You're dismissed. Please leave." Alyssa said, drawing attention to the hostile tone she used.
"Uh, if I can be of any assistance, I'd be happy to help." Sebastian said, still eyeing the mark. Alyssa stepped in his line of sight with a hard look in her eyes, making him back up.
"Like she said, we're good. We've got it covered." Alec said, with the same look in his eyes as Alyssa.
"Now leave. Don't make me repeat myself." Alyssa added. Sebastian gave a brief fake smile and nodded.
"Sure." He left the room, seeing that his presence was no longer welcome.
"Alyssa, why are you always so hostile to him? He's just trying to help." Clary said.
"Even you, Alec. What's going on?" Jace added.
"Jace, can we talk?" Alyssa asked, instead of replying Clary. Jace had a look of confusion but he nodded and followed her out of the room.
"I don't know about you, Clary, but there's something about that guy that sets all my alarm bells ringing." Antonio said. "Something about him puts me on edge." Clary frowned at him, not understanding.
Jace and Alyssa's Room
The couple entered their room, and Alyssa closed the door. She drew the Soundless rune on it to prevent eavesdroppers.
"What did you want to talk about, babe?" Jace asked.
"It's about Sebastian." Alyssa answered.
"What about it? Why are you always hostile to him?"
"Do you trust me, Jace?"
"Of course. Why are you..."
"Then trust me when I say that Sebastian isn't to be trusted. I don't know how Alec, Tony, and I are the only ones who see it. There's something about him that sets my alarm bells ringing, something almost evil, if I should say."
"Why? He's been nothing but helpful to us."
"Yeah. A little too helpful. Neither you nor Izzy or Clary see it, but he's often eager to offer his help, and it has nothing to do with wanting to help."
"So what do you think he's hiding something or after something?"
"Both. Unfortunately, all Alec and I have are my suspicions."
"I don't know, baby."
"All I'm asking is that you remain cautious around him and if you can tell Clary to do the same, I'd appreciate it."
"Okay, I hear you."
"Good. Now, what are you trying to hide from me?" Jace was thrown by the complete 180 in the conversation.
"What?"
Alyssa folded her arms across her chest. "Your block has been up all day, and I can tell you're putting in extra effort to keep it up. Now, fess up." Jace opened and closed his mouth a few times, not knowing what to say. "Either you tell me now, or I find out later when the walls go down, which I guarantee you won't bode well for you."
Jace let out a sigh and sat on the bed. "Alec told me, Clary, and Antonio something this morning after you left with Max. It's something he doesn't want to get out to the Downworld in fear that there might be an uprising."
"I'm listening."
"The Clave doesn't have the Soul Sword. They never retrieved it after Valentine's siege." Alyssa let out a short laugh after Jace said this.
"Is that it?" Jace looked up at her in surprise.
"Why aren't you surprised? Usually this is the part where you say something about the Clave being liars or whatever."
"Babe, hearing that the Clave doesn't have the Sword isn't news to me, and hearing that he lied about it isn't news either."
"What do you mean?"
"Oh honey, you have got to start paying attention to everything I say, especially to certain members of the Clave." Jace was confused by this. "Jace, I've suspected that the Clave didn't want the Sword since the Inquisitor took over the Institute, before you found out she was your family."
"What?"
"Remember when you asked her why she was torturing Valentine to get answers about the whereabouts of the Cup and why she wasn't using the Soul Sword? And then she gave some bogus excuse about sending it to the Iron Sisters for purification."
"Yeah."
"That's when I suspected they were lying. The rune Clary drew was to deactivate the Sword to make it unable to kill Downworlders. It didn't do any damage to the capabilities of the Sword. It can still reveal the truth."
"There's more, though. We pieced together that..."
"Valentine's gathering the mortal instruments to summon Raziel so he can use that one wish to, in his words 'wipe out the demon filth'. Yeah, I gathered that when we learned Valentine was after the Mortal Mirror." Alyssa said, rolling her eyes slightly. "Jace, you're only telling me things I know or suspected. But what I don't know is that Alec told you to keep this a secret from me."
"He's afraid of a Downworld uprising if it gets out, and so is the Clave."
"Okay, so? I'm co-head of the Institute, why wouldn't he want me to know? It's not like I would have gone around the city with a megaphone announcing the news about the Soul Sword to the Downworlders." Alyssa said with a little laugh. Then she saw the look on her husband's face. "Wait, is that what Alec thought I would do? He really thought…"
"No, but he did say that if you knew then so would Magnus and Luke, and if they knew then eventually so would the rest of the Downworld."
"So what? Magnus, my dad and I are now blabbermouths that can't keep our mouths shut. Wait, how long has he been keeping this a secret?" Jace was reluctant to speak. "Jace, how long?"
Jace sighed before answering. "Since the day we went to Idris. Apparently, Robert is the one who informed him of it and advised him to keep his mouth shut and not tell anyone."
"Are you kidding me? Jace, did either of them even consider the fact that the Seelie Queen might already know? That she would definitely tell the other Downworld leaders just to prove her point that the Clave are liars?"
"How would the Seelie Queen..."
"Dammit, Jace. Do you not remember what the Queen said to Simon when he commented on her already knowing he was a daylighter? Amara has eyes and ears everywhere, not just in the form of Seelies under disguise but also in the form of the natural world. If you remember, she told Simon that everything in the natural world, the trees, the animals, even the bugs are all in her service."
A look of realization formed on Jace's face as he understood what his wife was saying. "For heaven's sake, does Alec even realize he just gave her more ammunition to turn the Downworld against Shadowhunters and the Clave? When he formed the Downworld cabinet, he promised them bare honesty, no lies or sugar-coated words to hide the truth. He just went back on his own words by keeping the truth about the Soul Sword from them." Alyssa ran her hand through her hair in frustration. "I have to go talk to him."
"Wait, Lys, are we good?" Jace asked as he stood up from the bed, fearing he'd angered her yet again. Alyssa smiled, knowing what Jace was asking, knowing what he was fearing. "I didn't want to keep this from you, and I told Alec that. But I also couldn't…"
"Jace, baby, I'm not mad at you."
"You're not?" Jace asked, hopefully. Alyssa stepped towards him and kissed him.
"No, but Alec, on the other hand, that's another story. Speaking of which, you need to get back to work while I go talk to him."
Unable to help himself, Jace pulled her to him and claimed her lips in a passionate kiss, which turned into a heated make-out session. One thing led to another, and soon, they were on the bed, shedding their clothes.
The Office
Alyssa entered just as Alec sat down at his desk with a dejected look on his face. She closed the door behind her, causing Alec to look up at her.
"Judging by the look on your face and the fact that I just met Magnus storming out of the institute before he questioned me about whether I knew about the sword, I assume my lecture on you keeping such a secret is not needed." She said, walking towards him and leaning forward, placing her hands on the desk.
"Look, if you're here to tell me how I screwed up then you can save your breath. I already got the message from Magnus."
"Okay, fine. I won't tell you that you screwed up, but I will tell you that you messed up big time." Alec shot her a look. "I'm sorry, were you expecting me to be soft and sweet? I thought you trusted me, Alec."
"I do trust you."
"Oh really? Is that why you told Jace, Clary and Tony to not tell me about the Sword being missing?" Alec let out a sigh. "Maybe if you'd talked to me as your sister and your co-head of institute, you'd have know that I already had my suspicions about the Sword when the Inquisitor was resorting to torture to get the information about the Cup's whereabouts from Valentine. Maybe if you had talked to me, I would have let you know that keeping it a secret from the Downworld Cabinet is not a good idea since the Seelie Queen has eyes and ears everywhere. We're supposed to be a team, Alec."
"I know that, Lyssa."
"Then why would you do this? Amara was already looking for something to use to get the downworlders against you and the Clave, and you just handed her that on a silver platter. You also just royally messed up things with Magnus. He's never opened himself up to anyone the way he did with you."
"I know, Lyssa, I know. And I know you're also mad at me for not telling you about the Sword."
"I'm not mad, Alec. I'm just sad and disappointed that you couldn't trust me enough to talk to me about this."
"But I do trust you."
"But not enough to tell me the truth. Because if you did, you wouldn't have told Jace and Tony to try and keep the secret from me, especially when you know how I feel about secrets. Does Izzy even know about this?"
Alec let out a sigh as he avoided her eyes. "Yes, she does." Alyssa let out a humorless chuckle. "She was the first person I told when you guys returned from Idris." Alyssa nodded as if she understood something.
"So basically everyone knew except me, and I wasn't going to know if I hadn't asked Jace. Good to know." She said, then left the office before Alec could say anything. Alec sighed in frustration and sat back in his chair, thinking about everything that had transpired during the day.
Kitchen
Izzy entered the kitchen to get something to eat and found Alyssa sitting at the table with a mug of coffee in her hands, but she wasn't drinking.
"Hey." She said. Alyssa looked up at her slightly, then looked back down.
"Hey. How did training with Max go?"
"It went well. I asked Simon to help me out." Izzy said, taking a bottle of water from the fridge and sitting down next to Alyssa.
"I guess that's a start."
"You and Alec were right. Max is ready, and it's time I stopped coddling him. I had Alec speak to the Clave to have Max's first mission ready tomorrow."
"That's great." Alyssa said, though her tone wasn't an excited one. Izzy bit her lip and decided to broach the subject that she knew was responsible for the other woman's current mood.
Alec briefed me on everything that happened today.
"Oh, did he?" Alyssa finally looked at Izzy, with a blank expression.
"Yeah. He also told me that you know about the Sword now."
"Yes. And it turns out I'm the last to know. My only comfort is that Sebastian, whom you all, except Alec, have decided to trust, didn't find out before me."
"Lyssa…"
"I don't care that I'm the last to know. What bothers me is that he wasn't even going to tell me until I forced it out of Jace. That you weren't going to tell me."
"It wasn't my secret to tell, Lyssa."
"Izzy, this wasn't some kind of personal secret that if you'd told me it would be a betrayal to Alec. This was something that not only concerns me but the entire Downworld, of which my father, my brother, the person who raised me, my friends are all a part of. Izzy, you are my best friend, my sister. You're not supposed to keep things like this from me. You of all people know how I feel about things of this nature being kept from me. You and Alec saw how I reacted to last time and how it almost drove me insane. I thought you said I was a part of your family."
"You are."
"Last I checked, family doesn't keep secrets from each other, especially knowing the damage it can do. It's because of secrets like this that my relationship with my dad is not what it used to be. I thought you both cared enough to know that. Guess I was wrong." Alyssa got up and walked out of the kitchen.
"Lyssa, come on. Alyssa. Alyssa, please." Izzy pleaded, but the hybrid was already gone. Izzy could only stare in the direction she left, feeling sadness.