Magnus' Apartment – Balcony
Alec was standing on the balcony, leaning against the ledge with his hands on top of it, looking over the city. Magnus walked out and stood beside him.
"How many Downworlders do you think live in New York?" Alec asked.
"I don't know, but they're not all your responsibility." Magnus answered.
"But you are." As they stood talking, neither noticed nor heard Alyssa drop down from the roof and lean against the wall with a smirk on her lips.
"I can take care of myself." Magnus said.
"Maybe...but this is different. You may have lived through the fall of Rome but even the Dark Ages couldn't have been this dark." Alec said. Magnus went to say something but he was cut off by Alyssa who couldn't help but make a remark.
"You know, Alec, if you brood anymore, you're gonna start getting wrinkles early." Both men turned in surprise to see her smirking at them. She pushed off from the wall and walked towards them. "And I'm sure you wouldn't want your handsome face marred by wrinkles." Alec let out a mix between a scoff and a sigh of relief and went to hug her.
"Where the hell have you been? Jace said he hasn't seen you since the night of Max's party." Alec asked.
"I've been around."
"Alyssa..."
"Chill, Alec. I've been fine. I just didn't feel like seeing Jace or going back to the apartment."
"So where have you been sleeping if you haven't been going back to the apartment?"
"I've been here," Alyssa replied, gesturing towards Magnus' apartment. Alec turned to look at the warlock, who lifted his hands in surrender.
"This is the first I've seen her since that night." Magnus said. "I haven't seen her here."
"That's because I have been using the secret passage in my room." Alyssa said.
"Secret passage?"
"Excuse me?" Alec and Magnus asked.
"Yeah. I've been using it ever since I was a teenager whenever I wanted to leave without Magnus or sometimes my dad knowing."
"How did you create a passageway in your room without my knowledge?" Magnus asked.
"Now why would I tell you that, Mags? A magician never reveals his secrets." Alyssa said with a smirk playing on her lips. Magnus let out a sigh of frustration.
"We're not done with this conversation." Magnus said, to which Alyssa just smiled innocently.
"Okay, now what's going on between you and Jace?" Alec asked. Alyssa's smile fell as her expression became blank.
"We had a fight, concerning where his priorities lie. But if you want more details, you should ask him; I am in no mood to get into that right now."
Just then the front door opened. A glance in that direction had Magnus rolling his eyes as he saw Jace and Clary enter. The three of them entered the apartment to meet the new arrivals.
"Don't you people have phones?" Magnus said, snarkily. Alyssa was the first to see Clary's hand, which looked charred and blackened.
"Magnus." Alyssa said, nodding towards Clary's hand. It was then that Jace and Clary noticed her presence. Magnus' expression turned serious when he saw Clary's hand.
"We need your help." Jace said.
Magnus led Clary to the couch and had her sit down, Jace sitting beside her while Alec and Alyssa stood, Alec pacing while Magnus used his magic to scan Clary's hand.
"La Chair Brûlée." Magnus said, looking up in alarm. Alyssa cursed softly under her breath.
"I'm guessing that's not a dessert," Clary joked.
"It means 'the burnt flesh', Clarissa," Alyssa said, drawing all eyes to her. "It's an old blood oath spell." Magnus nodded to confirm what she had said.
"Then it must be Iris. She said you owed her a favor." Alec said.
"At Max's party, she said I have to find Madzie." Clary said, making Jace look at her.
"Then we better start looking. I can get rid of the pain, but that's about it. I'm afraid once the magic reaches your heart..." Magnus trailed off, shaking his head with a frown.
"So if I don't find Madzie...I'm dead." Clary said, scared.
"No...no. Magnus, there has to be a cure." Jace said, getting up to stand by Alec. "There has to be something we can do to stop this."
"Can't we force Iris to undo it?" Alec asked.
"I wish it were that easy." Magnus said, sadly.
"Blood oath spells are completely binding, Alec. There's no off-switch once they're activated, which Iris did the night of Max's party." Alyssa said.
"She's right. Even Iris herself can't reverse it now." Magnus added.
"Think of it like a work contract that you can't cancel until its terms have been fulfilled. It's why you don't go into them or take them lightly." Alyssa said. Clary looked up, feeling like she was being chastised by her sister and went to protest but Alyssa cut her off. "But unfortunately, Clary didn't know that and Iris took advantage of that, which is quite typical of her. Anyway, if you're gonna do this before Clary dies, I suggest you get started, immediately because unless I'm mistaken, Iris said that Madzie was with Valentine. And as we all know that son of a b*h is very, very, hard to find." Alyssa smiled slightly then went to walk away.
"W-w-wait. You're not going to help?" Clary asked, looking at her sister.
"Of course I'm helping. Can't have you dying or Dad would find another excuse to blame me for a death in the family." Alyssa said with a smirk, turning around. "I'm just going to use a different approach than the obvious. Also, I'd prefer not to be wherever he is, if I can help it." She said, pointing to Jace who looked hurt by her words.
Magnus, Clary and Alec were all surprised at this. "Oh and I suggest you get Simon to help out. He may be a newbie vampire but he's the only one who has a car and a license to help you get around. And if you see my dad, which I'm most definitely sure you will since it's Clary who's in danger of dying, tell him to stop blowing up my phone with texts and calls. If I was going to answer them, I would have the last 30 times he called and texted." With that, the older Fairchild left the apartment with the others staring after her.
Jade Wolf – Inside
Luke and Clary were talking, with Luke trying to apologize for not being there while Clary assured him that he was not at fault. Jace walked over to the two, a worried expression on his face.
"Did Magnus find anything?" Luke asked.
"No. Iris's brownstone was wiped clean, but Alec just got a report from the Clave. According to Iris, Madzie was abducted from Brady Park." Jace said.
"Alright, we'll start there. I'll round up some wolves and see if we can get a scent." Luke said. He noticed then that Alyssa wasn't there. "Wait, where's Alyssa?"
"We don't actually know," Clary said.
"We saw her at Magnus' place, but she left before we did." Jace said.
"Isn't she going to help with...?"
"She said she was but she was going to use a different approach, whatever that means." Clary provided. Luke nodded.
"I've been trying her cell for a while, but she's not picking up. I was getting worried. I thought she'd lost her phone or something." Luke said then caught Jace and Clary sharing a look. "What? What is it?"
"She didn't lose her phone, Luke." Jace said, looking at the man sadly.
"She just didn't want to answer your calls or texts." Clary continued hesitantly. Luke looked down sadly. "She'll come around, Luke. Just give her time."
"I hope so, Clary but right now, let's focus on you. We have very little time." The other two nodded. Neither of them noticed that Alyssa was in the restaurant listening in. She slipped out unnoticed just before Clary decided to go call Simon.
Millerton Café
Valentine was getting a drink for Madzie. He returned to the table to find Alyssa seated on the other side facing Madzie with a smirk on her face. Ignoring her for the moment, Valentine sat down at the table, beside Alyssa, and blew on the drink, giving it to Madzie.
"Careful, Madzie. Don't burn yourself, hmm?" Madzie smiled at him then used her magic to turn her drink into ice, then took it out of the cup and began to lick it. Alyssa smiled at her then turned towards Valentine.
"You know for a psychopath, you can be quite sweet." She noticed him going for his blade. "No need for that. I'm not here for a fight, especially not in this surprisingly quaint but beautiful café." Alyssa said. Valentine looked at her for a minute then released his grip on the hilt.
"Alyssa. I admit I wasn't expecting you to be the one to come for Madzie. I was expecting Jonathan though I do wonder where he is. I thought you two were be joined at the hip. Or is he with your sister?"
"As a matter of fact, he is, which brings us to why I'm here. You need to let Madzie go."
"I'm afraid young Madzie is quite happy where she is." Valentine said, leaning forward.
"I'm sure she is. And I'm sure she's fine where she is." Alyssa said, smiling at the young warlock. "The same however cannot be said for Clarissa. Iris made her take a blood oath and asked her to find Madzie in the next few hours or she kicks the bucket." Alyssa said, smirking at the man as his smile faded.
"I suppose you're here to save her life?" Valentine asked.
"Me? No, that's Jace's job. I'm just here to inform you of the status quo. Either you let the girl go so Clary doesn't...you know...join her dearly departed mother or you can decide to not do that and your little angel dies. Either way, what you do is up to you."
"So you don't care if your sister dies or not?"
"Allow me let you in on a little sad fact of life. Everybody dies, no one lives forever. Some die prematurely and some go when it's their time. If Clary dies now, it's just speeding up the process. But I'm sure you don't want your angel to die so quickly. I mean how would you ever activate your fancy sword if daddy's precious angel winds up dead? Then again, it's none of my business. I just came here to let you know what's going on with daddy's precious angel. I'm pretty sure Jace is well on his way to convince you to let this little cutie pie go with him so Clary lives or whatever." Alyssa said with a non-committal shrug. Valentine eyed her, wondering what she was up to.
"How do I know you and Jonathan didn't cook up some scheme to convince me to let Madzie go?"
"Believe what you want. Like I said, I just came to let you know the status quo. Besides, I haven't spoken to Jace ever since I took control of this body the night you sent that warlock to steal Magnus Bane's book of spells." Valentine looked confused at her words until he saw her eyes shift into a soulless black with her irises glowing green. "That's right, Valentine. I'm the demon side you injected into her 20 years ago when she was yet to be born. And before you decide to try and sway me to your side, save your breath. I'm not interested."
Alyssa then glanced at her phone. "Oh, it looks like my time's up. Jace should be here any minute now to convince you to let the girl go. My advice, let him take her so your precious daughter doesn't die. I'm sure you can use that psycho brain of yours to come up with a plan to still get both of them back." With that, Alyssa gave Madzie a smile and a little wave then got up and left the café, leaving Valentine to stare after her."
Jade Wolf – Storage Closet
Maia was inside after being locked inside by Luke for trying to attack Clary. She shouted for help, almost crying. She rattled the door, trying to get it to open. She turned towards the wall where a small opening with a fan is to let in air.
Her eyes glowed green and she shifted into her wolf then she began to destroy the things in the store room. She stopped when she heard someone walking towards the storeroom. She lowered herself on her haunches, preparing to pounce on whoever opened the door. The lock on the door was broken and the door swung open to reveal Alyssa on the other side with her eyes glowing green.
"Easy there, Maia." Alyssa said calmly, leaning against the doorframe, as if she wasn't standing in front of a wolf that was growling and looked ready to attack any minute. "Shift back and let's talk." She said, then tossed some clothes onto the floor.
The wolf regarded her for a moment, then began to shift back into Maia. Alyssa averted her eyes as the other woman began pulling on her clothes.
"What are you doing? What do you want?" Maia asked, once she was done dressing up.
"Is that your way of saying 'thank you for freeing me from the storage room my alpha locked me in even though he knew I was claustrophobic'?" Alyssa snarked. Maia looked down.
"I'm sorry. Thanks." Alyssa nodded for her to step outside then turned to face her, still leaning against the doorframe. "How did you know I was claustrophobic?"
"I read your file when my dad brought it home the day he handled your case. And as for how I knew you were in here, I saw your little stunt and my dad bringing you in here."
"I'm guessing you're also angry at me for trying to hurt your sister."
"I was but I get why you did what you did. You did what every other Downworlder is trying to do right now out of fear. Fear is a very powerful emotion that causes us to act in ways that we normally wouldn't even consider. And my dad should know that but annoyingly, he can't see past his protective streak and concern for Clary and her safety enough to try to understand some things." Maia looked up at her.
"I thought you'd side with him and the others." Maia said, confused.
"Unlike them, I can sometimes see past Clary to look at the bigger picture so I can make bigger decision. Now I'm not saying I would give her up to the Downworlders to be killed. She's my little sister whom I love and will always protect. What I'm saying is that I would at least try to see it from everyone's point of view before I make my judgment. I also try to not let my emotions cloud my judgment, something that every Downworlder is doing right now. They're letting their fear drive their decisions." Maia nodded.
"Hold on, I thought you'd be running around right now, trying to save Clary's life from that spell."
"As I've been saying of late, saving Clary's life is Jace's job not mine. He's her white knight. Like the rest of you, I'm just here to fill up the screen. Besides, I've done my part to help them."
"Trouble in paradise?" Maia said with a smirk.
"What would you say if I let you hit Jace in whatever way you want?" Alyssa said, returning the smile. "Assuming he provokes you, of course."
"I'd say you're my new best friend for that."
"Well then I'll even sweeten the pot. You can also get payback at my dad for being a crappy alpha and locking you up here even though he knows your issue with enclosed spaces." Alyssa said with a mischievous grin. Maia returned the grin with one of her own. "I'll take that as a yes. Come on, I'll help you track them down, and then you can help me save my sister from the Downworlders trying to kill her."
"For helping me out of here, I'll return the favor." The two women shared a smile and left the restaurant.
Streets – Luke's Car
Luke was driving while Jace sat in the passenger seat, en route to the Institute. Jace was agitated and worried.
"You're a cop. Can't you drive any faster?" Jace snapped.
"You wanna drive?" Luke snapped back. This made Jace back down.
"I'm sorry." He said, feeling where his parabatai rune resided. "I... I just... I have to get to Alec."
"I know what you're going through. I had a parabatai once." Jace glanced at him sympathetically.
"When Valentine turned on you, that must have been unbearable," Jace said.
"It was. I felt like my life was over. But over time, I got past it. Alec's gonna be okay." Luke assured.
"He has to be."
"So, do you want to tell me what's going on with you and Alyssa?" Jace sighed at the question.
"We had a fight after we got back from Max's rune party, and since then she hasn't been home and she's not talking to me."
"You two will work it out."
"I'm not so sure, Luke. She doesn't even want to be in the same place as me."
"What happened?'
"She lost control and almost attacked Clary at the party, but Magnus got to her and stopped her in time. When we got home I asked her why she tried to attack Clary and what made her lose control. She told me she didn't know."
"How can she not know?"
"I don't know. I lost my temper after that, and things got ugly from there. She left that night for a run and I didn't see her again until Clary and I went to Magnus' place today."
"Wait, what color were her eyes when she lost control?" Luke asked, a worried expression on his face.
"They were totally black, only her irises glowed green." Luke closed his eyes and cussed softly. "Why? What is it?"
"It wasn't Alyssa who attacked Clary. It was her demon." Luke revealed.
"What?" Jace asked, shocked.
"You're not the only one Valentine experimented on with demon blood, Jace. He did the same to Alyssa too. Her demon side must have taken over that night. It must have done the same thing the night Jocelyn died."
"Why didn't she tell me?" Jace asked, mostly to himself. Luke shrugged and turned around a corner. Just then someone walked onto the road in front of the oncoming car. Luke slammed the brakes and brought the car to a stop before it could hit the person. Both men looked up to see that it was Maia. "What the hell is she doing here?" Maia immediately grabbed onto Luke the minute they got down from the car, and shoved him against the car.
"You locked me up in the dark?" Maia seethed. Jace rounded the vehicle and held his blade between Maia and Luke.
"Where did you come from?" Luke asked.
"I was watching, waiting for my chance." Maia said, omitting the fact that Alyssa had helped her track them down and was currently hidden in the shadows.
"Jace, put the blade away. This is between Maia and me." Luke said.
"Are you sure? She's out of control." Jace said, casting a wary glance at the female wolf. Annoyed and seeing an opening, Maia turned to Jace.
"So true." She said then knocked his hand with his blade away and punched him in the face. Luke intervened and held her back she could do more. "Let go! Get off of me!" Maia said struggling against Luke.
"No, Maia. Put this in perspective. The fate of the entire Downworld is at stake."
"Who's lost perspective? Who protects Shadowhunters over their own pack?" Maia said before shaking Luke off of her. Her bones begun to crack, signaling that she's about to shift. Luke took out a stun gun but before he could push it against her, his hand with the stun gun was suddenly twisted behind his back as he was pushed against the car harshly.
"Easy there, dad. Can't have you stunning her just because she won't listen to you or agree with you." Luke heard Alyssa's voice say from behind him as the stun gun was taken from his hand. "That's enough, Maia." Alyssa ordered, walking away from Luke, stun gun in hand. Maia, whose eyes had only just began to glow, stopped mid shift and replaced her bones into normal position.
"Alyssa?" Luke questioned in surprise, turning to face his daughter who only looked back at him blankly. "Where..."
"Who do you think helped her track you boys down? I got her out of that storage closet before she could get out and hurt someone. You're welcome."
"You did what?"
"Seriously, dad? Whatever made you think that you could lock a claustrophobic werewolf in an enclosed space and she wouldn't lose control? She could have hurt someone in that state and it would have been your fault. I know you lose sight of things whenever Clary's in trouble but even this is extreme for you."
"Lys, you don't understand. Do you know what she tried to do that made Luke lock her up?" Jace asked softly, hesitantly approaching his wife but stopped when she directed her glare at him.
"You mean when she almost attacked Clary whilst she was looking for Simon? Yeah, I know and even still that doesn't give you the right to do that to her." Alyssa replied angrily then turned back to her dad. "I can't believe I'm about to say this, but if Clary had known you'd lock Maia up after she left, knowing Maia was claustrophobic, she'd have asked you to let her go. Maia's been loyal to you. She trusted you not to let her down like others did before. She had thought you'd be different but you proved her wrong today." Maia looked at her new friend with respect and gratitude for standing up for her.
"Alyssa..."
"You know what, we're wasting time. Clary's in danger and so is Alec. We need to get back to the Institute." Luke and Jace nodded and started for the car. "Maia will go with you two. I'll catch up." Luke turned to look at her.
"Alyssa, this isn't the time for..."
"I know what's at stake, Dad. But out of the three of you, Maia is the only one I can stand to be next to right now."
"And what are you going to do, run? Think you can get there in time?" Jace asked.
"I tracked both of you down and got here with Maia way before Dad even turned onto this street, didn't I?" Alyssa said.
"Let's go, Jace. She'll catch up." Luke said. Jace looked at Alyssa one last time and went to sit down. Alyssa and Maia nodded at each other before Maia sat down in the car. "Sweetheart, I..."
"You should go, Dad. Clary needs you." Alyssa said then took off running. Luke sighed and got into the car, started the car, and drove after her.
Institute – Outside
Alyssa got there in time before Luke to see Raphael standing with Magnus and Clary while two of his vampires held Magnus back.
She growled and rushed forward when she sees Raphael bare his teeth and lean to bite Clary. She quickly snapped the necks of the vampires holding Magnus, making them fall to the ground temporarily dead before pulling Raphael from Clary and tossing him on his back on the ground.
Before the vampire could even try to get back up, Alyssa placed her boot on his neck and forced him to stay down.
"Alyssa?" Clary exclaimed in shock, having not seen her sister since she saw her at Magnus' apartment.
"Hermana?" Raphael asked, also in shock.
"You're lucky, you're my brother, Raphael or I would have killed first and asked questions later. What the hell were you thinking?" Alyssa growled, her anger evident.
"You don't understand, hermana. She..."
"If I hear someone tell me, I don't understand, one more time, I am going to murder that person." Luke, Jace and Maia arrived at this time and rushed over to them. Jace whipped out his blade and went to move forward but Magnus stayed him, explaining to the three of them what happened before they arrived. "This idiocy ends now."
Alyssa lifted her boot off Raphael's neck and stood back. The vampire quickly stood up. "If anyone else, and I mean anyone, attempts to kill Clary, I will personally decapitate them and deposit their head on a pike for everyone else to see, regardless of who they are." Her eyes shone a bright green as she made this threat. Everyone present, including the other two vampires who'd just woken up, shuddered at the threat and the look in her eyes.
"Listen up." Luke said to the three vampires, breaking the silence that ensued after Alyssa made her threat. Everyone turned their attention to the new arrivals.
"Clary may be able to activate the Sword, but I can destroy it. The angel, Ithuriel, confirmed it in a vision." Jace said. Alyssa lifted an eyebrow at this as this bit of information was news to her.
"Angel? Impossible." Raphael denied.
"I saw it too. He's telling the truth." Clary said.
"You kill Clary, Valentine still has the damn sword. Over time, no doubt, he'll find a way to activate it. Now's the chance to destroy that Sword for good. Why not let Jace try?" Luke tried to persuade.
"Why would a Shadowhunter risk his life for us?" Maia asked.
"Because you and Raphael are gonna tell your Downworld buddies not to lay a hand on Clary. That's the deal." Jace said. Alyssa remained silent, not saying anything.
"And they'll listen to me?" Raphael asked incredulously.
"Maybe. You're the leader of the most powerful vampire clan in all of New York. They respect you." Jace said.
"And if they still refuse to co-operate, you can relay Alyssa's message to them. I'm sure that will provide enough persuasion. After all, most Downworlders know not to trifle with Alyssa Fairchild, especially now more than ever." Magnus said. Alyssa said nothing, only glowing her eyes in response when Raphael and the other vampires cast a look in her direction.
"What exactly is your plan?" Raphael asked, relenting.
After Jace told everyone the plan, they all split up but Magnus, Clary and Alyssa still remained, the latter having asked Magnus to remain. Clary stood on the side waiting.
"Magnus, what was Jace talking about? What did he mean when he said he can destroy the Sword? The vision showed us a demon." Alyssa asked.
"Clary and Jace showed me the vision. We deciphered that it wasn't talking about an actual demon. It was referring to a demonic Morgenstern."
"Even if it was, that still doesn't explain why Jace said he's the one to destroy it. He's not a Morgenstern. The actual demonic Morgenstern is Clary's brother, Jonathan and he's dead. So how could you say Jace...?"
"He might as well be, pumpkin. He may not be a Morgenstern in name but he was raised by Valentine, and in some ways that makes him a Morgenstern. I'm sorry but..."
"Magnus, I still think we're missing something. I honestly don't think Valentine told the truth when he told Jace he injected him with demon blood. I would have felt the blood in Jace all this time. Something isn't right."
"Unfortunately, we don't have time to figure it out. We have to move. Are you coming with us?" Magnus asked.
"No, I'm going to help Alec. He's on the roof with Aldertree." Magnus nodded and went to walk away with Clary who looked at her sister. "Be careful, all of you." Clary nodded and walked away with Magnus.
Rooftop
Alec and Aldertree were on the roof with Aldertree still trying to bypass the system to shut down the angelic core so Valentine couldn't use it but he was still being denied access.
"It's not working. The bypass must not apply to exterior access points." He said. Alec just gave him a blank look. Just then the door to the roof opened and four Circle members walked out, each drawing out their blades as Aldertree and Alec did same. "Four against two."
"Could be worse." Alec said, preparing himself for a fight. Suddenly two whips, gold and silver wrapped around the necks of two of the members from behind, choking them. The two members fell to their knees to reveal both Alyssa and Izzy standing there, Izzy having circles under her eyes.
"Izzy! Lyssa!" Alec said.
"Oh would you look at that? You were right, Izzy. They were about to have a party without us." Alyssa said before both women pulled on their whips, Alyssa's decapitating one member while Izzy just pulled hers away and transformed it into a bo staff. Izzy began to fight the other two Circle members while Alyssa pulled out her Seraph blade and tackled the one Izzy had choked who had gotten back up. The two of them swiftly killed the other three before relaxing. Izzy staggered back, almost about to faint.
"Izzy, are you okay?" Alec asked. Seeing her about to fall, he quickly rushed over and caught her before he could fall. Seeing that her friend was fine, Alyssa turned her glare on Aldertree who almost shrunk back from her gaze.
"I got you. You okay?" Alec asked his sister.
"I'm so sorry, Alec." Izzy apologized.
"For what, saving our lives?" With the siblings distracted, Alyssa advanced towards Aldertree and punched him hard, sending him to the ground.
"You bastard." She growled. Aldertree got back up and stood ready to defend himself as Alyssa walked towards him. Having dropped his blade, he swung his fist towards her but she blocked it and the other one coming for her.
Pushing his arms aside and holding them down, she head-butted him then wrapped her clawed hand around his throat, pushing him against the access hatch containing the power core.
"Alyssa, stop. Let him go. He's going to pay for his actions. Don't make him drag you down with him." Alec said. Alyssa glared at the dark-skinned man before letting him go.
As she was about to move away from him, she suddenly froze, her eyes going blank as her bond to Jace fully opened and let her see through his eyes. She saw him walking towards the Soul-Sword which was still lodged into the angelic core. Having the bond fully opened to her, she could tell what he was going to do.
"No, Jace don't." Aldertree, Alec and Izzy looked at her in confusion, wondering what she was on about. "No, Jace!" She screamed, seeing him reach for the sword. To the surprise and shock of the other three, her eyes rolled upwards as she fell unconscious.
"Alyssa!" Alec called as she began to fall but was caught by Aldertree before she could hit the ground. Alec and Izzy moved over to the two, concerned for Alyssa and tried to wake her up.
It was several minutes later that she regained consciousness. When everything came into focus, she bolted upright, saying Jace's name. Without a word, she got up and ran off the roof, leaving the other three to stare after her.
Ops Center
Alyssa ran into the main room looking for Jace only to stop short and stare in horror at the sight of multiple Downworlders lying dead on the floor. She looked round, recognizing some of the werewolves and vampires as well as a few of the Seelies and couldn't help but fear the worst.
"Lys..." Hearing her name, she looked up to see Jace standing there unharmed and well, though there was a look of pain in his eyes.
"Jace." She whispered then run toward him, hugging him tightly as if he would disappear if she let go.
"It's okay, baby. I'm okay. Everything's okay." Jace whispered to her, as she cried into him. Hearing this, Alyssa pulled back and angrily pushed at his chest, hitting him.
"What the hell were you thinking? You could have died if you had been demon-blooded. Did you think of what losing you would have done to me? Just because I was mad at you, didn't mean I wanted you to die." Jace pulled her back into his arms despite her slight struggling against him.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Alyssa stopped struggling and relaxed into him, hearing the broken tone in his voice. "I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought I was saving everyone."
"Everyone but yourself."
"But I was wrong. I ended being the catalyst of the very incident we were trying to prevent."
"It wasn't your fault, you didn't know, Jace." Clary said, breaking the couple from their moment.
"Valentine, he lied to you, to all of us, like he always does." Alyssa said, pulling away from Jace's embrace but not stepping far from him. "I had a feeling you didn't have demon blood, I just wasn't sure until now. You were his back-up in case he couldn't get his hands on Clary. He knew you. He knew you'd make a plan like this, to try and save everyone, even at the cost of your life. That's why he lied and told you that you had demon blood, making you think that your short temper and readiness to resort to violence was all due to the 'demon' blood he injected you with. Only it wasn't demon blood, it was angel blood, Ithuriel's blood."
Alyssa let out a bitter chuckle. "He must have known about Ithuriel's vision too, I mean he'd held him captive for probably more than 20 years. We were trying to outsmart him when he was already 10 steps ahead of us." Alec chose that moment to run in. He, like Alyssa did, stopped when he saw the carnage.
"No." He muttered, walking forward then turned to look at Clary. "You did this. You activated the Sword." Clary shook her head.
"Alec, it wasn't Clary." Alyssa said softly.
"I did it." Jace said making Alec look at him in surprise. "I thought I was destroying it, Alec but..."
"Where's Magnus? He wasn't here, was he?" Alec asked worried. Alyssa's eyes widened as she realized that in her worry for Jace, she'd forgotten about her father, Magnus, Maia and Raphael who were all Downworlders as well.
"I-I don't know." Jace answered.
"We portaled in upstairs. We split up..." Clary trailed off. Alyssa looked at her sister and noticed Simon's presence. She furrowed her brow wondering how he survived.
"Oh God." Alec said, now fully worried about Magnus. He left the room to go and find him.
"Alec." Jace called after him but he was already gone, making Jace feeling even more guilty. Feeling his emotions, Alyssa placed a hand on his arm. He almost flinched away from her but recognizing her touch, he relaxed and instead drew strength from it. "Go find your dad and Maia. Make sure they're okay." Jace said, kissing her forehead and moving to walk away.
"Where are you going?" Alyssa asked, not letting go of him.
"To find Valentine and make sure he doesn't escape or do anymore damage." He replied, then slipped out of her grasp and walked away.
Outside
Maia was just about to walk away from the institute when she heard someone call out for her. She turned around to see Alyssa coming out of the Institute. The brunette quickly descended the stairs and hugged the other woman, relieved to see that she was fine.
"You're okay." Alyssa whispered.
"Yeah. You too." Maia said, hugging her back, just as relieved to see that she was also fine. "Luke and I were outside with Meliorn so we didn't get affected." Alyssa pulled back at the mention of her father.
"Where is he? Where's my dad?"
"He went after Valentine. Alyssa, I have to know and you're the only I trust to tell the truth. Did Jace do this? Was this all a con? Did he lie to us?"
"No, Maia. Jace didn't lie to any of you. He didn't know he could activate the Sword. Up until now, he'd thought he had demon blood like me. Valentine lied to him and to all of us. He tricked him knowing Jace would try something like this. Jace is angel-blooded like Clary but he didn't know. He's innocent. He thought he was doing the right thing. He was willing to give up his life to destroy the sword. He had no idea he'd be activating it."
"So this was all Valentine. And you swear Jace had nothing to do with this."
"I swear on my life. He knew nothing of Valentine's plan."
"I believe you." Maia said with a nod. Alyssa's hearing then picked up sounds of a fight coming from the street ahead of them. "I have to go. I have to get the rest of the pack somewhere safe." Maia said. Alyssa nodded at the curly haired woman.
"Be careful." The two women parted ways there, Alyssa running towards where she heard the fighting coming from. Getting closer, she saw her father lying naked on the ground with a wound at his side and Jace and Valentine fighting not too far from him. Knowing Jace could handle Valentine himself, she ran to her father, taking little notice of his nude state. "Dad." She placed her hand on his wound, applying pressure to try and staunch the bleeding. "You're gonna be okay. Just hold on."
Hearing the sound of metal hitting the ground and Clary groan in pain, she looked up to see the redhead, looking down at the Soul-Sword which was probably what she had dropped to the ground. She then saw Jace finally kick Valentine to the ground then go for his Seraph blade. Realizing his intentions, she called out to him before he could kill Valentine.
"No, Jace. Don't!" She yelled out the same time as Clary who ran over to the blond man. Jace still held the blade over Valentine.
"The Mortal Cup is still out there. He's the only one who knows where it is." Clary said. Breathing heavily, Jace relaxed his stance and pointed the blade at Valentine.
"You're gonna wish you were dead after the Clave gets through with you." He told the man. While he said this, Clary and Alyssa noticed that the Soul-Sword was no longer where Clary had dropped it. Alyssa stood up from Luke's side and scanned the area.
"Jace, the Sword is gone." Clary said, alarmed. Jace looked away from Valentine and looked around to see that indeed, the sword was no longer lying on the ground.
Using the distraction, Valentine gathered enough strength and threw a dagger in Clary's direction but Alyssa noticed just in time and pushed the younger girl away, making the blade hit her instead.
"Alyssa!" Clary cried out, seeing the dagger embed itself into the older girl's stomach. Jace dropped his blade and immediately caught her before she could hit the ground.
"Lys! Lys, baby stay with me. You're gonna be okay." Jace said, taking out the dagger and applying pressure to the wound. Unable to stay awake for some reason, Alyssa began to slip into unconsciousness, barely hearing Jace and Clary's pleas for her to stay awake. Before she was completely consumed by darkness, Alyssa saw some Shadowhunters come towards them and arrest Valentine. Seeing this, she finally let go and slipped unconscious.
Hallway
Jace was seated on a small flight of stairs staring at his hands which were covered in blood, Alyssa's blood. Despite the fact that they had been able to finally apprehend Valentine, he felt no joy or satisfaction. Valentine's capture had almost cost Alyssa her life.
"Jace!" The sound of Alec's voice brought him out of his thoughts. "What's wrong? Are you alright? Why are your hands covered in blood?"
"It's not my blood. It's Lys'." Jace said lowly, almost too lowly that Alec almost didn't hear.
"What? What do you mean? Why..."
"Valentine. He took advantage of a distraction and threw a dagger at Clary but Alyssa pushed her away and instead got hit. She's in the infirmary right now."
"Oh my God. Is she ok?"
"She's fine. The blade was poisoned but we got her to a medic in time. She and Clary share a blood type so they were able to flush the poison out of her system before it could do any further damage." Alec nodded and sighed in relief, glad that Alyssa was going to be fine. He then paused and frowned when he finally processed the final words of Jace's statement.
"Wait, what do you mean by 'before it could do any further damage'?" Alec asked. Jace looked down and let out a shaky breath, before looking back up at Alec and telling him what the medic had told him.
Infirmary
Alyssa was lying on one of the med beds in the infirmary. The room was quiet, save for the beeping of the EKG machine monitoring her vitals. Her eyelids fluttered as she slowly regained consciousness.
She slowly opened her eyes, allowing them to adjust to the brightness of the light in the room before opening them fully. Now fully awake, she looked around to see where she was. Seeing the medical appliances around, she realized she was in the infirmary. She began to wonder what she was doing there. She looked to her right side to see Izzy seated in a chair beside her.
"Izzy." She said softly but clearly enough for the dark-haired woman to hear. Izzy looked up in surprise to see her best friend awake and looking at her.
"Lyssa! You're awake. Thank the angel."
"Iz? What happened? Why am I here?"
"Oh, you don't remember."
"I'm a little disoriented."
"You took a dagger to the gut that Valentine had thrown at Clary. You pushed her out of the way and got hit instead." As Izzy spoke, the memories flood back to Alyssa making her remember everything.
"Oh right, now I remember. So Clary's okay? She didn't get hurt?"
"No. Valentine was pretty much apprehended right after you got hit. They got you here just in time. Any longer and we would have lost you." At her confused look, Izzy explained her statement. "The blade was poisoned. We don't know the kind of poison but they were able to flush it out with a blood transfusion." Alyssa nodded in understanding. A thought suddenly occurred to her as she remembered something.
"Wait, what about my dad? Valentine stabbed him with a similar dagger. Was it poisoned too?"
"No, thankfully it was not. He's already healed and going up and about. It's you we've been mostly worried about." Izzy said. Alyssa wondered how long she'd been out of it.
"How long have I been out? And where's Jace?"
"Lyssa, you've been out for almost two days." This shocked the Fairchild girl. "And Jace is..."
"Right here." The man in question said from the doorway, as he entered the room. "Thanks, Izzy. I'll take it from here." Jace said to Izzy. Izzy smiled at him and Alyssa then got up and left. Alyssa took notice of Izzy's trembling hands as she left. She could tell Izzy was still dealing with her withdrawal from the yin fen and could only hope the Lightwood girl would get better and not relapse.
"Hey." Jace said, smiling softly at her, bringing her back to the present. He took her hand as he took the seat Izzy had vacated. He placed a kiss at the back of her hand and held it between both of his.
"Hi." Alyssa smiled back. "Are you okay?"
"Me? I'm supposed to be the one asking you that question. You're the one that took a knife to the gut."
"Yeah, but we both know why I'm asking."
"Let's just focus on you right now. You had me worried."
"Sorry." Jace shook his head and kissed her hand again.
"Don't be. I'm just glad you're alright." Alyssa nodded and tried to sit upright. A sharp pain in her abdomen had her wincing and wondering why she hadn't healed yet. Jace stood and helped her sit up. "You should take it easy. The poison that was on the dagger did a number on you and slowed down your healing. How that's possible we don't know but then again, it's Valentine we're talking about so..."
"Yeah. So when did they say I'll be getting out of here?"
"Soon. They want to keep you for a bit longer to monitor and make sure everything is alright before they let you go."
"Why? The poison should be out of my system with the blood transfusion out of my system and I'm pretty sure given about a few hours to a day, my wound will be healed up so what else they have to monitor?"
"You're a terrible patient, you know that?" Jace said with a light chuckle.
"That's because I'm rarely ever a patient. And you're one to talk"
"They just want to make sure they haven't missed anything. That the poison didn't affect anything else that could affect your health."
"Anything else?" Alyssa asked in confusion. Jace closed his eyes at his slip up. "What are you talking about? Izzy said they got to me in time before the poison could do any damage."
Jace looked down to avoid her eyes. "Jace, what is going on? What happened to me? What did the dagger do to me?" Jace remained silent only rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand. "Jace, talk to me. What are you trying to keep from me? What did the dagger do to me?"
Jace finally looked up at her with sadness in his eyes. "Please tell me. I need to know. What is it?" Alyssa began to panic as thoughts of what the poison could have possibly done to her system formed in her mind. Jace saw this and took her hands in hers.
"Hey, hey, calm down, baby. Calm down."
"Jace..."
"Lys, you have to calm down."
"Then tell me what's wrong." Jace looked into her eyes with sadness, wondering how to say what he had to say.
"Baby listen. First, you need to calm down then I'll tell you, okay? Just relax and calm down, ok. We don't know if there's still some of the poison in your system. If there is, your heart rate going fast is going to cause it to pump to your heart." Seeing the logic in his words, Alyssa nodded and began to take calming deep breaths, closing her eyes while doing so. After a few moments, her heart rate slowed to normal. "Good."
"Now please tell me, Jace." A lump appeared in Jace's throat at the thought of what he had to tell his wife.
"Lys, baby, I don't even know how to tell you." Despite fearing the worst, she gave Jace a nod to continue. "Lys, you were pregnant. About three almost four weeks along." Noticing his use of the past tense, Alyssa's heart dropped.
"Were?"
"When the dagger hit you, the poison entered your bloodstream and unfortunately, because of the point of injury, your womb was the first place the poison entered. It killed the baby before they could get to it in time. They said pulling the dagger out was the only thing that saved you and prevented your whole womb from being infected and damaged. But it was too late for the baby. They had to cut you open and take it out so no further damage was caused." Alyssa was numb with shock. She could barely process anything.
"I was pregnant? And now the baby is dead?" She asked softly. With a solemn and sad look, Jace nodded his head. Still numb with shock, Alyssa could say no more as she processed all that Jace had said. Tears welled in her eyes but only one fell down her face as she was too numb to process her emotions.
Jace got up and sat on the bed, bring her into an embrace. Alyssa didn't return the embrace. She just stared blankly into space. Eventually, after a time, she brought her arms up and hugged Jace back, another tear falling from the same eye. The couple sat there for a long time, not leaving each other's arms and coming to terms what had happened.