A/N: I wanted to be able to say that my Face Claims are Karen Gillan for Kalavati and Rudi Dollmayer for Kyler. Do look him up! He's beautiful!
Anyway! Moving on! I'm not really changing anything about the profile for either but do let me know what you think about this and let me know how I'm doing! I always love to hear from everyone, and it helps motivated me to keep going. Be careful out there and stay safe!
Chapter 5: Moo Shu to Go
I woke up slowly, surrounded by warmth. Opening my eyes, I found myself wrapped in Jace's arms and incredibly warm. I sat up on my elbow to look at him while he was sleeping. I went to get up to stretch, but an arm around my waist stopped me. "Where do you think you're going?" a groggy voice asked.
Looking over, I found Jace looking at me through sleepy eyes. I smiled at his sleepy smile and leaned over to give him a small peck on the lips. Just as I was leaning back, Jace's other hand came up to the back of my neck and pulled me into a deep kiss. When we pulled back, Jace looked more awake. "I could get used to waking up next to you," he whispered with a smirk.
I smirked back to him. "I bet you could."
Jace moved to sit up and lean against the headboard. He gave me a concerned look. "How are you feeling?"
"Rested," I told him as I sat up next to him. "I definitely feel recharged and better than I have these past four days."
"Well, that's always good," he agreed. "You haven't been you're self recently. It's nice to see that relaxed smile on your face again."
"I'm sorry if I worried you," I apologized sheepishly. "That wasn't my intention."
"Hey, it's okay," he reassured me, reaching out to take my hand and lacing our fingers together. "You've had a stressful few days. From thinking that your sister was lost and finding her to Simon being kidnapped then to Magnus and that your mother is still missing. You needed the rest if you were going to continue to search for her."
I smiled at him as I squeezed his hand in thanks. Leaning over, I laid my head on his shoulder. "It was much easier to sleep with you next to me," I admitted quietly, and I could feel Jace chuckle. I lightly slapped his arm with my other hand. "Don't let that go to your head."
"I'll try," he whispered with amusement in his tone. There was a moment that we just sat in comfortable silence, just enjoying each other's company. Then Jace decided to break it. "So, you said that we need to talk about somethings. What all were you talking about? Is there more to you about which I don't know?"
Before I could answer, there was a hard knock on the door and then it flew open. Kyler and Clary rushed into the room but then paused when they saw Jace sitting in my bed. Clary decided to speak before we could ask them anything and she looked startled and shaken. "Mom's alive."
I quickly separated from Jace and got out of bed quickly to meet her in the middle of the room. "What?"
"The necklace showed her Valentine and your mother," Kyler told us as he held up the purple stone necklace. "He spoke to her about the cup."
Jace came over next and held his hand out for the necklace. Kyler put it in his hand and Jace turned to hold it up to the lamp light. "How did you see him?" I asked her. "There had to be a reason that you could see him."
"When mom gave me the necklace, she told me to think of her when I wear it," Clary explained to me, looking thoughtful. "I touched the necklace when I was getting ready to lay down and I thought about mom as I did it. Suddenly, I could see mom. She was unconscious with a green translucent mist around her, and Valentine was leaning over her."
"And he spoke to you?" Jace asked, looking for confirmation.
Clary looked completely freaked out as she thought about it. "He said my name," she confirmed. "He said, 'Your mother for the Cup.'"
"Who said that?" Alec asked as he came into the room.
Jace, Kyler and Clary all turned to look at him, but it was Kyler and Clary that answered him together. "Valentine."
"He's with my mother," Clary continued.
"And he can speak to you through that necklace?" Alec questioned in slight anger. "Here, in the Institute?"
"It's like when I saw Dot," Clary told us. "I was able to see what was going on with Dot, but no one had called out to me then."
"But it didn't work the whole time," Kyler pointed out. "How were you able to see your mother when you weren't able to follow Dot?"
"It could be their connection," I answered, looking at the necklace and holding it loosely in my palm from where Jace was dangling it. "It could be like some potions and spells that require a blood connection. While her feelings towards Dot are strong, it has its limits while the blood connection she has to our mother is stronger. It would allow for a more solid connection."
"What about with Valentine?" Alec asked, or more like demanded. "How was he able to speak to her here?"
"It could work the same way," I contemplated with a tilt of my head, kind of thinking out loud. "He is her father, so they share blood. Just because they've never met, it doesn't mean that the blood bond is any less weak."
"It's a portal shard," Jace concluded, looking towards Clary. "That's why your mother made sure you had it."
"All I know is what I saw…" she said before letting out a small, relieved laugh with a small smile. Clary looked over at me. "Our mother's alive. She's unconscious, but alive."
"Where are they?" Alec demanded with narrowed eyes.
Clary's smile dropped and she stammered her answer. "I don't know."
"But you said you saw them," Alec reminded her. "Were there any identifying characteristics? Equipment, weapons, photographs?"
"I don't remember," Clary told him, shivering a little bit. "It was awful."
"Alec, lighten up," Kyler tried to intervene and placed a hand on Clary's back. "She's not trained like us."
"Regardless of that, I'm trying to get something we can use out of this," Alec practically growled at Kyler before turning back to Clary. "Clary, what did you see, exactly?"
"Valentine has my mother," she snapped at him. "That's what I saw."
"Emotions are nothing but a distraction," Alec explained to her. "You're ruled by them. We're taught to control them."
"And how is that working out for ya?" Clary shot back, looking him up and down.
"It is my job to protect the Institute," Alec told her. "If Valentine can see in, that's a door I have to shut. Now, let me take a look at that thing." He held out his hand for the necklace, and while Jace looked reluctant, he held out the necklace. Alec took it and looked at it for a moment before looking up at Clary like he won. "Now, it's in the proper hands."
With that, he turned and walked out of my bedroom. Clary called out to him while following him out into the hallway. I shared a look with Kyler and Jace before following after my sister. We went all the way to the training room in the Ops center before Clary asked where he was going.
"To put this somewhere safe," Alec answered. "Where no one could be tempted to use it."
Clary scoffed while Jace went up to Alec to grab his arm. "We should use it," he suggested. "Alec, we should use it to get to Valentine."
"If I were Valentine, I'd make you think that you could rescue Jocelyn," Alec said while opening one of the safes with his stele. "And then I'd lure Clary to me and leverage her life for the Cup."
"I like Jace's idea," Clary declared. "We saved Simon from the vampires that way."
"Yeah, vampires," Alec agreed with a look. "Bored, decadent, self-involved vampires." Alec put the necklace in the safe before standing up and closing it back. He walked up to get in Clary's face. "Valentine is a real threat. He can't be handled by five-and-a-half Shadowhunters."
"Six," Clary snapped quietly.
"Whatever," Alec shot back. "Leave it there."
Alec walked off and Clary turned back around to watch his back. She then turned to Jace, Kyler and I with a pleading look. I blew out a breath and shook my head at her. Both Jace and Kyler turned to me in surprise when I spoke. "I'm sorry Clary," I said with soft eyes. "I'm gonna have to agree with Alec."
"But we could use it to get to mom!" she raised her voice at me. "Or do you not want to find her?"
"Clary!" I snapped and my eyes flashed purple. She flinched when she realized what she said. "It's not that. I want to find her as much as you do. But with your blood connection to Valentine, we don't know what could happen if you tried to find them through the necklace. We don't know enough about Portal shards in order to know how they work." I sighed and rubbed the back of my head. "I'll reach out to Magnus and a few other warlocks to see if they know more."
Clary looked surprised and went to speak, but I raised my hand to stop her. "But in the meantime, you need to leave the shard there. We can't risk Valentine looking in and trying to find the Cup through the necklace." Clary sighed and I nodded back behind me. "You need to get some sleep. After everything, you need to recharge."
Clary nodded slowly before walking out of the room and back towards the living quarters. I looked at Kyler and nodded after her. 'She needs someone to reassure her,' I told him in his head. 'But after what I've said, she won't listen to me. Go after her.'
Kyler nodded and walked after her. I rubbed my right temple and then felt a hand between my shoulders. Turning, I found the worried blue eyes of Jace. I gave him a small reassuring smile and reached out my hand to him. He smiled back before taking my hand and letting my lead him back to my room. After closing the door behind him, Jace came to sit next to me on the bed.
"So, before we got interrupted, what were you going to talk about?" he asked, taking my hand again.
"I know that you have questions," I told him, turning towards him. "So, go ahead and ask them."
Jace thought for a moment. "There have been a couple of times that someone was talking about a connection to you, like Magnus and Kyler. What is that about? Kyler is your Parabatai, but when Magnus took you, he was talking about being able to sense you."
"Decent place to start," I muttered. "To the Dragons, Kyler and I are considered brethren. Brethren are able to sense and speak to each other telepathically. Being brethren is almost the same thing as Parabatai, but we are deeper than family and you can have more than one brethren. In terms of Magnus, we performed a ceremony when I was thirteen that is similar to brethren. It binds our magic like siblings and allows us to track each other as well."
"And when you couldn't find him, he cut off the connection from his side," Jace concluded. I nodded in confirmation and Jace narrowed his eyes at the carpet in what seemed to be consideration. I waited patiently for his next question. "You said that you have a different father than Clary, so who is it? I assume that your father is the Dragon."
"My father is on the on the Dragon Council," I explained bitterly. "His name is Igar, and because of him I have twelve older half-brothers. I'm his only girl." Jace looked at me in shock, and I only shrugged. "My father is quiet the player, but that is something that is normal."
"What does that mean?" he asked in confusion. "I thought that Dragons had mates or something like that."
"Mates are extremely rare," I explained while hitching a shoulder. "I know a few Dragons that have found their mates in other races, but they have been shunned as a result. But not everyone actually wants to find their mates." Jace's eyebrow rose in question, and I sighed. "If a mate dies, it could drive the other one into insanity. Kyler's mother was the mate of his Dragon father. After she died, he closed himself off to everyone, including his own son.
"My father never wanted to have a mate or get married in any way. Each of my half-brothers have a different mother. Of the twelve, the oldest two, Telguldur and Rumorn, are the only two that actually like me. The others don't really have an opinion of me. They aren't cruel but they aren't kind either. Besides the eldest two, the other ten don't really like me because of the fact that I'm only half dragon."
"Just because you're only half dragon doesn't mean that you should be shunned for it," Jace growled and squeezed my hand. "You still have Dragon blood regardless. It also shouldn't matter if someone's mate is of a different race either, it's not like it's up to them."
I smiled at the fact that he was getting angry over this. "It's only the ones that actually choose to pursue their mates are the ones that are shunned. It's not always the case, but most of the Dragons are like the Clave and other Shadowhunters. They all think of the Downworlders as lesser creatures than them. But Dragons are naturally egotistical."
"Does anyone in the Downworld besides Magnus know about you?" he asked next after a moment.
I tilted my head in thought. "Raphael, the vampire that we went against, he knows about me and besides Magnus, he's the one Downworlder that I trust the most. Whether it's a good thing or not, there are a few Seelies that know about me. But they're not really devoted to the Seelie Queen, which is the only reason that they know. There is only two werewolves that know about me and they have given their word that the pack wouldn't find out. There are only two warlocks besides Magnus that I trust enough to tell them about me. While warlocks are powerful, there aren't many that deserve my trust."
"Good to know that your trust issues haven't changed," Jace teased me with a smirk.
I let out a laugh in response to the tease. I had always had bad trust issues with a lot of people. If I met any new people, I wouldn't really talk much around them. It took a long time for me to trust anyone. When we were kids, Jace was constantly bothering me to train with him and the others. Kyler was the only one that I really talked to, but Jace was constantly trying to talk to me. I looked over at him to see a soft smile on his face. "What?"
Jace shrugged. "Just remembering when we were kids. Back then, I knew that there was something different about you, but that didn't deter me. I wanted to get to know you because you were different." He let out a light chuckle. "I actually had quiet the crush on you back then, and that just grew more as I got to know you."
I felt a blush crawl up on my cheeks. The knowledge that he wanted to know me despite being different made the fear that I had feel silly. "To be honest, I had thought that you were really annoying at first," I teased him, which he let out a chuckle as a response. "But you got your way in the end. We became friends."
"And now you're mine," Jace whispered as he leaned in closer to me. I looked up at him and smiled. He leaned closer to me and kissed me softly. I returned it before pulling back and letting out a light yawn. Jace smiled at me. "It's still late, and you're not fully recharged. Back into bed you go."
I laughed lightly at him as I climbed on the bed to get under the covers. "Only if you stay."
"You don't even have to ask," Jace joked as he followed me under the covers. He pulled me closer, and I snuggled into his chest. We both drifted back to sleep to get more rest before the morning.
*Roaring Fire*
NO ONE'S POV
That morning, Clary sat on a bench in one of the hallways thinking about her mother. Kalavati was training with Jace and Kyler had to speak with the Dragon Elder to let him know what was going on. She didn't know what she was going to do about getting her mom back. Clary needed something that could track him down, but figuring out what that something was going to be hard. Kalavati had told her that morning that she had reached out to a few of her Downworld contacts in order to get more information on the portal shard and that they would get back to her. However, Clary was rather impatient to get going.
"There you are," Isabelle's voice broke up Clary's thoughts and caused her to look up at the brunette as she walked up. "Are you okay?"
"I saw my mom," Clary sighed. "Then your brother…"
"I heard," Isabelle cut her off. "And believe me, there have been many times where I wanted to kill Alec." Clary sighed again and Isabelle sat down next to her with a soft sigh. "Look, I know my brother can be a real pain in the ass, but he means well. That necklace is very dangerous."
"I'll take the risk on my own," Clary snapped.
"The problem is, you're not on your own, Clary," Isabelle said patiently. "You're part of us now. Kalavati and Kyler would never let you go on your own, and you know it. Your sister knows that we all work as a team. Now, you need to learn that as well."
Clary looked down at the floor. "I just… I wish I knew what to do," she sighed before looking up at Isabelle. "All of this, it's so new to me. I just… I'll do anything to save her."
"I get it," Isabelle smiled at her. "You love her."
"Her and Kala both," Clary corrected. "More than anything."
"What's your mom like?" Isabelle asked, hoping to distract Clary a little bit.
"She's kind," Clary said with a small smile. "Fun. Uh, the kinda person you always want to be around. I have friends who used to always want to hang out at our house, just to hang out with her."
They both laughed a little at that. "She sounds more like a friend than a mom," Isabelle commented.
"She was both," Clary confirmed. "She's basically sacrificed her life for me, and I'm willing to do the same for her."
"Just because you can't have that necklace, doesn't mean you won't see her again," Isabelle reassured her. She then stood up and held her hand out to Clary. "Walk with me. Tell me everything about her."
Clary spoke about what her mother was like with Isabelle, everything up till what happened the night before. They made it to the elevators when Isabelle finally spoke. "So, Alec blew right by you and did what he wanted," she scoffed lightly. "I'd be angry too."
"He took the only way I had to see me mother," Clary complained, crossing her arms. "Plus, he kept asking what Valentine's room looked like."
"He was interested in Valentine's style?" Isabelle asked with a scoff. "Fascinating."
"No, he thought I might have seen something that could help us find him," Clary corrected her.
Isabelle gave her a worried look. "And did you?"
Shaking her head slightly, Clary got a determined look in her eyes. "I didn't see anything there, but I think I might know another way."
At that moment, there was a sound that came from the doors in front of them. The doors on one side then opened to reveal a woman that looked like Isabelle with a stern look on her face. She walked with her head held high and purpose in her steps. The woman noticed the two of them. "Isabelle," she greeted blandly, looking Isabelle over. "Dressed to impress, I see. And you've been playing with the family heirlooms."
Clary looked at Isabelle's downcast look and decided to intervene by holding her hand out. "Hi, I'm Clary Fray."
"Clary Fairchild," the woman corrected with a slight sneer, not taking her extended hand. "You look just like your mother. We know all about you in Idris."
"Idris?" Clary asked in confusion as she lowered her hand.
"The Shadowhunter homeland," Isabelle supplied. "If you think the Institute is well-hidden, wait until you see that place." She then turned back to the woman. "How's Max? We all miss him. Little brother. Cute but clingy. Kinda Simon-ish."
"Robert's picking him up at the Mumbai Institute," the woman snapped before looking past the both of them. "Where's Jace? We have a situation that has to be handled now."
She then shouldered her way through the two girls and walk off to Ops. They watched her walk away, and Clary looked absolutely appalled at the woman's behavior. Isabelle looked after her in sadness. "Well, that's my mom," she said.
Clary looked startled before following Isabelle as she went after her mom. They went to the training area, where Jace and Kalavati were sparing and exchanging playful banter. The girls stood behind Isabelle's mom who was watching Jace with a proud look on her face.
"Is your mom always like that?" Clary asked, still a little shaken. "She didn't even hug you."
Isabelle chuckled awkwardly. "Shadowhunters aren't big huggers."
Kalavati caught a glimpse of Isabelle's mom over Jace's shoulder and relaxed her stance. When Jace looked confused, she nodded behind him, making him turn around. When he saw the woman, a wide smile spread across his face. "Maryse," he panted. He walked up to her to give her a hug while laughing lightly while Kalavati walked up to them slowly. "Hey. It's great to see you. How's everyone in Idris? Where's uh… where's Max?"
"No Max," Isabelle cut her off walking around her mother to stand next to Kalavati. "Just Mom with her hair on fire."
"I love how Shadowhunters share," Clary said disgruntled as she walked up next to Isabelle. "A hidden brother, a secret country, and a private portal."
"Clary," Kalavati chided, and the younger redhead looked at her in confusion. "Not now."
"It's not any different than you being hidden from everyone," Maryse countered, causing Clary to look down sheepishly. Maryse then looked to the older redhead in the room and greeted her with barely hidden annoyance. "Kalavati."
"Maryse," the redhead greeted respectfully with a slight nod. Both Jace and Isabelle shared a look. Now that they knew about Kalavati, they could recognize the struggle and distaste between the two women.
Before anything else could be said, Alec approached the group with Kyler. "Mother," he greeted her with a hug and kiss on the cheek. "Welcome back. We didn't expect you."
"You should be prepared, whether you expect me or not," she lectured as she returned the hug and kiss.
"I am," Alec confirmed, glancing at the rest of the group. "We are."
"We'll talk about the Institute later," she moved on, looking around the group before her. She then started to circle around the group as she spoke. "Right now, we have a bigger problem. The Seelies have stopped communicating with the Clave and won't explain why. My guess is they're still upset we asked them to send scouts to look for Valentine, but no one in their realm will talk."
"I have Seelie friends," Isabelle said carefully.
"Yes, I know about your friends," Maryse told her with a small sardonic smile. She came around Kyler to stand in front of them again and took a small step towards Isabelle with a scolding looking. "Isabelle, we stay separate from the Downworld for good reason. The wrong move, the wrong word. Do you think there is such a thing as harmless rebellion? Who knows what offends these creatures. Maybe you told him… them… something they shouldn't know. Maybe you trod on one of their ridiculous customs."
"Then maybe you should consider your own words carefully," Kalavati retorted with a neutral face. Maryse's eyes snapped to her and narrowed at her words. "You demand things from them, then act as if you did no wrong when they don't respond. You may think that their customs are ridiculous, but they could say the same about ours. Try to think about that when you want to talk to them. On top of that, they are not 'creatures,' they are people with their own personalities and lives."
Maryse looked as if she was trying to keep her words in and Jace decided to jump in before a fight broke out. "Wait, wait, I don't understand," he cut it. "You're laying all this on Izzy for having a friend in the Downworld?"
"When someone upsets the natural order, everything falls apart," Maryse reminded him as her eyes flicked between Kalavati and Kyler.
"Natural order?" Clary questioned, not liking how she looked at her sister and crush. She knew what she was referring to and didn't like how she said it. "What are you saying?"
"I can help," Isabelle told her mother with a slightly shaky voice, trying to get her mother's attention off of Clary. "I know how to talk to Seelies."
"She's right," Alec said, backing up his sister. "She can visit with Meliorn and see what he knows. I could go with her if you want."
Maryse glanced at him before she put a hand on Jace's shoulder. "I'd rather Jace goes along this time," she instructed as she walked a few steps away. She inhaled deeply as she turned to look at the group sideways. "Kalavati, I would like to talk to you in my office later. Alec, you stay with the younger Fairchild. I want her under control. She's caused enough trouble already."
Not one to be disregarded, Clary stepped forward a little as she spoke. "Maybe that's because I wasn't even a Shadowhunter until a few days ago."
"And what an exciting few days it has been," Maryse responded sarcastically. She glanced at Kalavati to see if there was any reaction to what she said, but the older redhead had a neutral expression. She then faced them fully with a serious expression. "The Clave counts on us Lightwoods to maintain order here."
"You don't need to tell me that," Alec countered. "If the mission is important to the Clave, I would prefer to be the one who goes with Isabelle."
Maryse had a sarcastic smile on her face as she shook her head with a chuckle. "You're all so eager to do what you would prefer," she mocked. "It's time to face the truth. Life is not about what you want to do, it's about what must be done. I have given you your assignments, now carry them out." She then pointed to Jace, Kalavati and Isabelle. "You, you and you, with me, now."
With that, she stormed out of the training room. Jace shared a look with Alec as he went to follow her, and Isabelle followed after him. Kalavati shared a look with Kyler and had a small mental conversation. With a mutual nod, the redhead followed after the other two Shadowhunters. As they all disappeared, Clary walked over to Kyler and Alec, crossing her arms as she went.
"Well, that was a window into the weird," she commented, then looked up at the male brunette. "What did you do to piss off your mom?"
Alec looked down at her with some distain. "I'd guess, for a start, all the unsanctioned missions on your behalf didn't go over that big with the Clave."
He walked away and Kyler turned to Clary, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry too much about it Clary," he tried to reassure her. "Maryse Lightwood is like that with everyone."
"Even with her own children," Clary said. "This is all so different than the way that I was raised. It's just so hard to get used to this."
"You'll get there," he told her, squeezing her shoulder. "I gotta head back to meet with the Dragons but try to listen this time."
He then left Clary standing there to go back to the Dragons world. Clary watched him leave, wondering about all this and worried about her sister.
*Roaring Fire*
Kalavati's POV
After promising to come to her office later, Maryse let me go find Clary so I could talk to her. I was trying to find her in the hallways when a paper was thrown in front of me. Looking over the stairs, I found Clary sitting there clutching her sketch book and had a piece of charcoal in her hand. I bent down to pick the paper on the floor up and smoothed out the crinkles as I sat down next to her. Clary looked over at me in surprise and I gave her a small smile. I looked down at the drawing in my hands to see a man with a shaved head. "Is this who you saw?" I asked her.
"Yeah," she whispered simply. "He scared me with the intensity in his eyes."
"Valentine always did have an intense stare," I muttered, just kind of staring at the page in my hands.
"Is that him?" she asked quietly.
"He looks older than I remember," I replied and motioned to the area around his eyes. "He's aged more around his eyes than anything else." I then turned to look at Clary. "You know that we will find her, right? You just need to be patient."
"Is that your way of telling me to behave?" Clary sassed with a pout.
"Clary, we need to be careful with everything now," I told her gently. "I have a feeling that the Seelies that were sent out were killed and that's why they aren't speaking to the Clave. My instincts are telling me that Valentine is going to be making some major moves soon, and we need to be ready. That means that you need to get to training."
"You taught me some self-defense when I was younger," she countered.
I frowned at her. Clary was being very argumentative lately. "Have you practiced any of that since then?" She looked down and I could tell that she hadn't. "You need more intense training in order to be ready to go against Valentine." I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pulled her against me. Clary leaned her head on my shoulder with a sigh. "We will find her Clary. Just remember that you're not alone at all."
"Isabelle was saying something similar this morning," she told me and turned to look at me. "I'll do my best to remember I'm not alone."
I smiled at her and squeezed her shoulder. "That's all that I ask."
Clary leaned away with a worried look at me. "Are you going to be in trouble? Because you didn't tell anyone about me and Mom?"
I sighed and squeezed her shoulder again. "Probably. But don't ever think that it's all your fault. I made the choice to protect you and I don't regret it. I'll probably get a lecture and they'll try to bench me, but it'll be okay." I smiled at Clary, and she gave me a small one back. "Come on. You need to get to training, and I need to go get yelled at."
*Roaring Fire*
NO ONE'S POV
The elevator bell dinged for Jace and Alec to walk out and go through the ops center. "You're the acting head of this Institute," Jace mentioned to Alec. "If there's a diplomatic mission, you should go. Let's switch assignments."
"Nope," Alec denied. "This time I'm actually gonna obey orders and babysit your girlfriend's little sister. Speaking of Kali, could you talk to her about how she talked to Mom?"
Jace scoffed a little bit. "Yeah, I don't think that would go over very well. Kali isn't one to be told what to do, no matter who it is. You know that. Besides, being an ambassador, she can kind of outrank Mom."
"I know better than you that she doesn't like being told what to do," Alec retorted with a smile at the memories. "But I don't want her to get into any more trouble than she is already in, with keeping her family from us. Ambassador or not, she's not immune to being punished."
"I think that she knows that Alec," Jace sighed. "Knowing about her now, I could see the struggle between her and Mom. However, I think that they need to use her experience. You have to remember that she spent all her life going between the us, the Downworld and the Mundane World. She has more experience when it comes to the Downworld than any Shadowhunter."
"I know, but that is just more reason to worry about her getting in trouble," Alec countered. "She needs to lay low, not get into a struggle between her and the Clave."
"She's been laying low all her life Alec," Jace told him and went to pull him to stop. When Alec pulled away and dodged his hand, Jace sighed in frustration. "What is wrong with you?"
Alec took a deep breath before stuttering a little. "I, uh… You have every right to be mad at me."
"What did you do?" Jace asked in confusion and tried to chuckle a little bit. "Throw my leather jacket in the washing machine again?"
"This isn't a joke," Alec snapped and Jace sobered up. Alec took a moment to get his thoughts together. "At Magnus's. The demon… image of you."
"That?" Jace asked with more confusion than before. "You love me… so? I love you, too, Alec." Alec looked a little startled and Jace slapped his arm. "Come on, man. We're Parabatai. We're brothers. We've spent almost our whole lives together. How could we not love each other?" Jace looked at him incredulously. "This is what's been bothering you? Seriously?"
"Yeah," Alec stuttered, then laughed shakily. "You're right. That's true. I just thought you'd think that…"
He trailed off and Jace looked curious. "What?"
"Never mind," Alec brushed off. "I'll look out for Kali as well. That way you don't worry about her."
Jace smiled at him. "I know that you won't let me down."
They both bro hugged, patting each other on the back. "Aw, isn't this cute," a familiar voice cooed. They broke apart to see Kalavati standing there with a smile on her face. Smiling at her, Jace walked up to her and wrapped his arm around her waist to pull her close. She wrapped an arm around his waist before turning to Alec. "Alec, I told Clary to go to the training room to start training. She's going to need more direction if she's going to be ready. Can you help her out? I'm sure that if you knock her on her ass, you'll feel better."
Alec smiled at her with a light laugh walking closer and placing a kiss to her head. "You always know what I need to cheer up," he told her gratefully.
Kalavati shrugged with a smile. "It's what I do."
Jace smiled as he squeezed her a little bit and he smiled when she turned to him. "You always know what everyone needs to hear," Jace told her. "That's why we all love you."
Kalavati frowned with a sigh. "Some people don't see it that way."
"What do you mean?" Alec inquired with furrowed brow. He never knew anyone to not go to Kalavati for something, except maybe his mother.
"Clary," she answered and blew out a breath. "She's been very argumentative lately, and it seems to be getting worse. I don't know how to help her."
"We'll find your mother," Jace promised with a kiss to her temple. "We'll help you both however you need. She'll just need some time to get used to this world and how it runs. You don't have to worry about it so much. We'll all look out for her."
Kalavati smiled. "Worrying about everyone is my job as one of the oldest." The two boys laughed at her comment, and she chuckled with them. "Now, I have to go see Maryse, so I will see you both later."
She kissed Jace softly and then kissed Alec's cheek. She then walked off down the hall towards Maryse's office. Jace patted Alec's shoulder and he nodded in return before they both went different directions to carry out their assignments.
*Roaring Fire*
Kalavati's POV
I knocked on the door of Maryse's office and entered when she answered. After entering, I closed the door behind me and moved to sit in front of Maryse, who sat behind her desk. We sat in silence as she read a report in front of her, and I waited patiently until she was done. The black-haired woman put down the paper before folding her hands in front of her and fixing me with a look. I leaned back in my chair and crossed my legs as she stayed silent, raising an eyebrow in daring.
"I assume that you know what I've called you in here for," Maryse started.
"It's never a good thing to assume Maryse," I countered, and she narrowed her eyes at my cheek. "I have done a lot of things recently, so you will have to be more specific."
"You deliberately hid not only Jocelyn Fairchild but her daughter, who is also the daughter of Valentine," she snapped at me. "Jocelyn Fairchild took the Mortal Cup from the Clave and hid from everyone. You have been protecting both of them for eighteen years." I stayed silent and kept a neutral face as she glared at me. "And by the looks of it, you aren't sorry that you hid them from the Shadow World."
"Because I'm not," I replied with a small shrug. "If it meant that my sister was protected, then I would do it all over again. I do not regret my decision of keeping them a secret. And to your point of my mother, she never told me why she was hiding and was only told a part of the story. I was in the dark as much as my sister."
"So, you don't know where the Mortal Cup is?" she asked as I was sure that she didn't believe me.
I shook my head at her. "I have no idea where she hid it. I never saw anything that even indicated that she had it."
Maryse practically glared at me, and we were quiet for a little bit. I knew that she would still be on this if I didn't try to get her off of it. "The others know now," I told her quietly.
Maryse's eyes widened as she figured out about what I was talking. "Why do they know about that?"
"Come on Maryse," I groaned, rolling my eyes at her. "They had to find out everything eventually. I figured I would let them find out for themselves and not be told by someone who is unfairly biased about everything." I knew that the jab at her was uncalled for, but I was annoyed at the fact that she didn't want anyone to know about this. "They've accepted Kyler and I despite what we are and that is not up to you."
Maryse looked like she had swallowed a lemon, but I knew that she couldn't say anything to me. I didn't break eye contact as I sat forward. "If we're done here, I need to help prepare my sister to fight in this war," I told her, and she took a minute before nodding. I nodded back before standing and leaving the room.
Walking down the hallway, I was trying to keep my anger under control. Maryse was one of the few people that could get under my skin. I stopped when I saw Alec run down the hallway from my sisters room towards me. I opened my mouth to ask him what was going on, but he cut me off. "Clary snuck out of the Institute," he breathed out heavily.
"What?" I demanded as I moved past him. "Why?"
"She was talking about a box that your mother had and wanted to go get it from the loft," he explained to me as he followed me. "I got a call and turned away for a moment, but when I turned back around she was gone."
I pursed my lips as I thought about where she would go as I grabbed my jacket. It came to me as we were leaving the Institute after grabbing our weapons. "I know where she would go."
*Roaring Fire*
NO ONES POV
Clary stood outside the Brooklyn Academy of Art that had a sign that said orientation was that day. Clary was looking around at all the people that walked around her and the person that sat on the steps of the Academy, sketching in her book. Her sister had given her a book that had all of the runes that she could use in it and had gone over a few of them with her. She was able to find the one for invisibility and used it, surprising herself with how natural it felt to do it. Suddenly, her cell phone started to ring in her bag, startling her.
Both Alec and Kalavati walked up behind and beside Clary at that moment. "Why'd you run out?" Alec demanded. "And what's the point of an Invisibility run if you don't silence your phone?" Clary finally found her phone in her back pocket and pulled it out, turning around to face them both. "That was childish, sneaking out like that…"
"Simon hey," Clary greeted as she answered her cell, ignoring Alec. "I should have called you right back. I'm really sorry. Are you okay?"
Kalavati's hearing was able to pick up Simon's side of the conversation. "You know that thing when you think you're catching a cold, but you never actually get sick?"
"Yeah, I totally get it," Clary said quickly, trying to hurry things along. "Um, can we talk later? Things are kind of insane right now."
"Insane, how? Are you okay?"
"I-I kind of killed a demon and lost all my memories forever," Clary explained in a rush. "So…"
"You killed a what?" Simon asked, cutting her off. "Okay, Clary, where are you?"
"I'm at the Brooklyn Academy," she told him. "I'm on my way to…"
She trailed off when she looked at Alec's annoyed expression. "Hang up," he told her. "That's it, we have to go. Right now."
"No," she said definitely before speaking to Simon. "I'm on my way to the loft. There's something there that I think could help me find my mother."
Kalavati narrowed her eyes in confusion as to why their mother would keep something of Valentines as Simon began to scold Clary. "Are you crazy? That's way too dangerous. You think nobody's watching that place?"
"I'm fine," Clary reassured him. "I'm with Alec and Kala."
"And those words are supposed to make me feel better how?" Simon asked her sarcastically. "No offense to your sister. Yeah, I'm coming to help."
"No, Simon, you've been through enough already," Clary tried to deter him.
"So have you," he countered. "Meet me at the old shortcut. You know the one."
With that, they both hung up and Kalavati was watching her sister sigh about dragging Simon in again. Alec, on the other hand, was looking around at everyone as they passed by the three of them. "Mundanes," Alec complained. "Running around like ants. Let's go."
He walked past her but stopped when all Clary did was turn around and start speaking. "Why do you always look so miserable?"
"I don't," Alec tried to defend himself. Kalavati brought a hand up to her rub her temple for the oncoming headache.
"You do," Clary countered in an all-knowing tone. "It must be hard being in love with Jace and he's straight and everything. Not to mention, now with my sister."
Alec looked taken aback. "Excuse me? What?"
"What's the big deal?" Clary chuckled at him. "I was there when that memory came out. Busted, no?"
"We're Parabatai," Alec emphasized through gritted teeth.
"Alec, just say it, you'll feel better," Clary encouraged. "You're in love with Jace. I'm sure that Kala doesn't mind."
They both looked to the silent redhead that stood behind Clary. She shrugged a little bit. "Honestly, I've always known about it," she said, shocking Alec. "But that doesn't mean that I don't love you like a brother any less."
Alec looked conflicted for a moment before Clary turned back to him with an expectant expression. Alec then rolled his eyes. "Forget it," he backed down. "You know what? You're in love with Kyler."
Clary blushed heavily at being called out about that, but didn't let that deter her, even though she spoke in a shaky voice. "Oh, okay? The middle school comeback? Nice." She then sighed and shook her head. "Alec, we have a real problem to solve, okay?" She then bumped her hand against his arm before turning around to walk off. "Come with me."
Kalavati looked after her little sister before turning back to Alec with a shrug. Following after the younger redhead, Alec rolled his eyes before following. "This better be quick," he called.
*Roaring Fire*
The three Shadowhunters walked to the end of an alley to see Simon standing there. Clary immediately went up to him and gave him a tight hug, to which he returned. "Hey, you. Oh, thanks for being here."
"You don't need to do this alone," Simon reassured her. "It's not who we are." He then looked to Kalavati, who smiled at him, and gave her a nervous smile. "Hey Kala. I'm sorry for the way I acted in leaving. I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you. Can you forgive me?"
Kalavati's smile softened. "As long as that doesn't happen again, I suppose that I can do that." He smiled weakly at her, and she noticed that he looked rather pale. "Are you sure you're feeling up to this?"
"Yeah, it's just a cold," he reassured, waving away her concern. "Not the end of the world."
"The world's been ending for a thousand years," Alec corrected him, and waved away the confused looks that he got from the mundane and younger redhead. "Ah, you get used to it. Now, we need to move."
"Yeah, our mom's loft is just across the alley," Clary said as she pointed out the direction the needed to go in.
"All right, well, we have to be careful," Alec warned them. "There are eyes all over this place and everybody in the Shadow World's looking for you."
"I mean, I guarantee you, no one's gonna find this shortcut," Simon reassured him with crossed arms. "I used to take it back in middle school to see Clary. You might know the Shadow World but trust me…I know Brooklyn. Come on."
With that, he ran and jumped straight over one of the walls. Both Clary and Kalavati shared a surprised look with raised eyebrows before they all followed after him. Walking down the alley, they made it to a fire escape that was covered in ivy. Simon immediately jumped and started to climb up the first ladder.
"Have you been doing parkour or something?" Clary asked, impressed. They all climbed the fire escape and the younger redhead looked up at Simon. "You've gotten a lot better at this."
"I was just gonna say the same thing about you," Simon smiled at her.
Alec rolled his eyes at the two of them. "Climbing a fire escape excites mundanes," he muttered. "I'll never understand these people."
They all came up to the loft, and Clary paused in seeing all of the runes and markings all over the walls. "Whoa, I don't remember it like this," she whispered.
"These are runes and wards of protection cast by a warlock," Alec told her.
"Dot," Clary whispered.
"Some of these have been here for years," Alec said in disbelief before turning to Kalavati. "Did you do any of these?"
Kalavati nodded as she looked over the runes. "My mom wanted to test my knowledge when I was learning runes," she explained as she ran her hand over one that was for angelic power. "Magnus and Dot also wanted to test my powers with wards, so they had me do a few of them. That was years ago though."
"And the only difference now is that I can actually see them," Clary muttered to herself.
"Yo, Clary, what are all these tags," Simon asked, running his hands over the brick, and folding his arms.
"You can see the runes?" Alec asked in confusion.
"Yeah, kind of hard to miss," Simon replied.
"For a Shadowhunter," Alec corrected. "They should be invisible to most mundanes. When did you get the Sight?"
Kalavati looked concerned when Simon shrugged at the question. Simon shouldn't have been able to see the runes and protections. "I don't know," he chuckled. "But whoever drew these should take some lessons from Clary. Their uh, work is pretty sloppy."
"I'll keep that in mind," Kalavati told him, to his shock. "Most of these were mine when I was still learning."
"Oh, sorry," he apologized, gulping nervously.
Clary decided to get the attention off of him. She put her hand over a tag of a heart that had an arrow going through it and both of their initials in it with a plus sign. "This is when Simon and I were engaged to be married," she said wistfully.
"You were engaged?" Alec asked in disbelief. "I'm almost positive that I don't—"
Simon cut him off. "We were eight years old."
"That was a whole other world ago," Clary sighed. She then walked past Simon towards the door, placing a hand on his shoulder as she passed. Trying to open the door, it didn't budge, and she sighed. "There's only one flaw in your plan here Simon."
"Here, let me try," Simon suggested and traded spots with her. He tugged on the door and forced it open. The deadbolt broke the door frame and Alec traded a look with Kalavati in concern. Well, Kalavati was worried at least. Simon then motioned to the door while speaking to Clary. "After you."
Clary walked inside with Kalavati walking in after her. Alec went to walk inside, and Simon stopped him. "Oh, after me."
Alec rolled his eyes while Simon went inside and took a glance around the area to see if he could find anything. They all walked through the loft, making their way to Clary's room. Clary stopped just inside the doorway and looked around in shock.
"Whoa, Clary, who torched your room?" Simon asked in shock. Both Alec and Kalavati walked past him and into the room. Simon glanced at Alec. "Yeah, I can see this too."
Clary looked completely devastated as she looked around her burnt room. She picked up the photo that Jocelyn had given her that was supposed to be her father. Looking at the burnt picture in sadness, Kalavati and Alec were looking around the room for any sign that someone else had been there. Simon noticed Clary's expression and walked over, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Hey," he said softly to get her attention. "You okay?"
Clary looked at him before putting down the photo and looking around the room with a sigh. "There's nothing left of me here."
"Of course, there isn't," Alec told her. "Your mother was trying to erase any trace that you existed."
"That way you couldn't be tracked," Kalavati finished for Alec as she walked up next to her sister. She placed an arm around Clary's shoulders and squeezed to give her some comfort. "She was trying to protect you. Protect both of us. She torched my room too."
"Let's see how well that worked," Clary said cynically.
"You're alive, aren't you?" Alec countered.
There was a creaking noise that caught Kalavati's attention, so she turned around to see Simon stepping on one of the floorboards next to the bed. Clary and Alec turned around to see what she was looking at as Simon began to speak. "These floorboards," he started. "They sound different in these two spots." Alec and Clary looked at him confused, while Kalavati looked rather concerned. "Can't you hear it? There's something under here."
Simon then knelt down and began to lift the loose floorboard. He held it up with a smile on his face. "Another score for Brooklyn."
"Hey, out of the way," Alec instructed him when Simon went to reach in. Simon moved out of the way, muttering under his breath. Alec reached his hand in and felt around. "There's something down here." He then brought out a small wooden box and held it out to Clary. "Is this the box you remember?"
"Yeah," she confirmed as she ran her fingers over the JC on the top of the box.
Kalavati sucked in a quiet breath as she looked at the box in shock. 'Mom kept it?'
"She used to wait till she thought I was asleep and then take it out," Clary continued, not noticing her older sister's distress. Alec, who stood up, looked at Kalavati's frozen form and narrowed his eyes in concern.
"Well, let's open it," Simon urged.
Clary opened the top of the box to reveal a pair of baby shoes, a lock of hair, and a baby rattle. Kalavati felt tears come to her eyes as she looked at the items, but forced them down so no one would notice, but Alec did. "I don't know what any of this is," Clary confessed in confusion.
"You may not, but Kali seems to," Alec commented as he stared at the startled redhead. Clary and Simon looked from Alec to Kalavati. "Kali, do you know what this stuff is?"
When Kalavati was silent, Clary turned to face her with the box between them. "Sis, if you know what this is, you need to tell me," she begged. "It may be able to help us find mom."
Kalavati hesitated as she looked from her little sister to the opened box between them. She had just opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by the sound of something shattering. Alec went to the doorway before turning back to the other three. "There's someone here," he said. "Get what you need. Do not move until I get back. Kali, stay here with them."
He then left the room as Simon put the floorboard back and Clary put the box in her backpack. There was the sound of footsteps and Kalavati went to out of the room slowly as she got her seraph dagger out. Hearing the footsteps to the side, she spun around only to get hit in the back of the neck. Her world went black as someone caught her in their arms.
*Roaring Fire*
Jace, Isabelle, and Kyler walked into Clary's bedroom where Alec was waiting with a defeated and freaked out look on his face. "Where is she? Where's Clary?" Kyler questioned quickly.
"And where's Kali?" Jace jumped in.
"She, Kali and Simon got arrested when I was securing the fire escape," Alec explained and got embarrassed, stuttering a little bit. "I got distracted."
"The mundane was here?" Kyler growled.
"Simon?" Isabelle asked in worry. "He's gone too?"
"It was an unmarked car," Alec said with some panic. "I don't know where they took them."
"What did you do Alec?" Kyler growled again at him. When Alec didn't answer him and looked down, Kyler let out a deep growl in his throat, which startled everyone, and left the room, grabbing a burnt page of one of the sketch books. Alec gave a sigh as Isabelle grabbed Clary's bookbag, tossing it over her shoulder and left the room as well. Alec followed after her.
Outside in the alley, Kyler was trying to use the sketch page to track Clary. His face scrunched up as he tried to find her before letting it go with a heavy sigh. "Damn it," he whispered before turning back to the others. "She's not showing up."
"Can't you speak to Kali," Jace suggested. "You have that connection with her that you could use."
Kyler closed his eyes to try and find Kalavati but shook his head a moment later. Opening his eyes, he gave them a regretful look. "I can't feel her at all," he said. "She must be unconscious. It's the only other way that we can't feel us."
"Then Alec, let's Parabatai track," Jace decided. He took the paper from Kyler and held it out to Alec. Alec seemed to reluctant to take it. They tried to track before it was broken. "Alec, concentrate." They went again only to stop again. "Alec!"
"I'm doing it," Alec told him. "She's not showing up."
Jace turned away as Isabelle's phone chimed. "Just like I thought. They weren't arrested."
"It was your job to look after her," Kyler growled as he got in Alec's face, being around the same height.
"I did my best Kyler," Alec insisted.
"Then maybe your mother was right, and your best just isn't good enough," Kyler said raising his voice.
"Kyler!" Jace and Isabelle shouted.
"Hey!" Alec shouted with them. "Are you so blinded by your feelings for Clary that you've lost sight of us? Of this team?" Kyler took a deep breath to try and calm down. "Clary snuck out. Kali and I went after her… to protect her. I did nothing you haven't done a thousand times before."
"Yes, you did," Kyler countered angrily. "You lost her. You lost both of them."
"Enough, both of you," Isabelle cut in. "We all need to calm down to figure out a way to find them."
*Roaring Fire*
Kalavati's POV
I blinked awake as I was sat in a chair. My head hurt from the hit, and I looked around through bleary eyes at the Chinese restaurant that we were in. Trying to lift my hand to my aching head, I found my hands were handcuffed in front of me. I met the worried green eyes of my younger sister and smiled slightly. Looking around, I found Alaric and Theo sitting in front of us. "Hello boys," I greeted groggily.
"Well, well, look who's awake," Theo mocked, and I narrowed my eyes at him.
"Okay, what is going on?" Clary cut in, looking directly at Alaric. "Alaric, did you arrest us for trespassing or something, because, news flash, Kala and I were in our own apartment."
"I don't think that's what going on," Kalavati mentioned, and Clary looked over at her in confusion.
"She's right," Theo agreed. "We're just having a little conversation, that's all."
"Do you always handcuff people you wanna talk to?" Simon asked as he held up his hands. The then lowered his voice a little bit and turned to Kalavati and Clary. "I bet this guy has one of the scariest online profiles ever."
"This guy's funny," Theo smiled. "I like funny."
Alaric leaned forward towards Clary. "Look, I know you're scared of Luke. He's looking for you, and I can keep you safe. You just need to tell us where the Mortal Cup is."
Clary nearly scoffed. "Everyone think I can find this Cup, but I don't know where it is!"
"Think, Clary," Alaric encouraged. "I'm trying to give you a chance."
"I can't help you," Clary told him firmly. "I'm sorry. Now, will you please let us go?"
Theo suddenly slammed a fork down into the table where Clary's hands had been since she pulled her hands back quickly. "Playtime's over."
"Theo, just let me talk some sense into them," Alaric pleaded.
"No, we did it your way," Theo denied. He then motioned one of the other guys in the room to step forward. "Now, we're gonna try it my way."
"What?" Clary asked. The guy grabbed Simon out of his chair, even as Simon began to protest and struggle. "Hey, don't touch him!"
"Don't move," Theo said staring at me. I had just been about to defend Simon when Theo spoke. Narrowing my eyes, I slowly sat down in my chair, leaning against the back. Theo then turned to Clary. "Tell us where the Cup is, or your funny friend dies."
"Please, please," Clary gasped. "Please, don't hurt Simon, okay? I promise you, I swear to you, I do not where this Cup is."
"That's too bad," Theo said blandly. "Get rid of him."
The shouting between Clary and Simon continued until Simon was taken to the back. I continued to stare at Theo, even as he stood and went into the back as well. I could tell that my stare was causing him to be uncomfortable. Theo was the Alpha of the New York pack of werewolves, and he knew who I was. I had never met him in person, but I've heard a few things about him. He was more iron fisted than other werewolves and it made me worried about how this would end for us. Clary put her head down still in a panic, and I patted her shoulder in comfort.
Theo came back out of the back and Clary sighed heavily. "Please, tell me if Simon's okay."
"He's alive," Theo told her. "For now."
Clary sighed heavily. "Thank God."
"Thank whoever you want," Theo mocked her, and I rolled my eyes at his theatrics. He then sat on the edge of the table and slowly pointed to the side as he spoke. "But if you don't tell us where the Cup is… we're gonna introduce Gretel here to your friend."
Clary and I looked to where he was pointing and found a large white furred wolf that was slowly making her way towards Clary. The wolf was growling viciously, and I suddenly stood, making my way around Clary to stand between her and the wolf. Letting my eyes glow purple, I let a deep warning growl rumble through my chest. The wolf looked startled and backed up a few steps, looking nervously between me and Theo.
I turned around to Theo, who was giving me a shocked look, but that turned to a glare. The two of us stared at each other for a moment before Clary spoke, looking and sounding almost horrified. "You're werewolves."
Theo was still glaring at me before he turned the glare to Clary. "Obviously," he said sarcastically. "And your friend is dog meat if you don't give us the Cup."
"My sister already said that she doesn't know where it is Theo," I reminded him firmly. "Is hard of hearing coming in from older age?"
Theo stood suddenly before he was held back by Alaric stepping in front of him. "You know that we can't hurt her," he reminded him. "She's an ambassador."
Theo looked at me angrily before he pointed to Clary. "You called her your sister. How is that possible? Your name is Emberguard."
"It's Fairchild," I corrected him, narrowing my eyes at him. "Clary is my younger sister, and if you want to get to her, you'll have to get through me."
The wolf, Gretel, started to growl viciously again at the threat to her Alpha. Clary looked between her, me, and the door that they dragged Simon through. "Okay! Okay!" she said shakily. "You win."
"Clary," I reproached with a frown.
"Kala, I won't risk you or Simon with them," she told me before turning to Theo. "I'll tell you where the Cup is, just – just please, let Simon and my sister go."
"I'm listening," Theo said, his lips twitching with a smirk in my direction.
"It's, uh, it's in the loft where you found us," she stuttered in a soft voice. "There's a loose floorboard in the bedroom. Our mom didn't know I knew, but she hid it there."
Theo didn't respond to her but turned to the two men standing by the door. "Bring me the Cup." As they left, Theo stood up and bent over to get in Clary's face. "If you're lying, I'm not just gonna kill your friend and sister, I'm gonna make you watch as Gretel rips them to shreds."
I got in between them, pushing Theo back and got into his face with a deep growl. His eyes widened in surprise at the growl. "Try it."
"I will," Theo promised, despite his surprise. "But only if I don't get the Cup."
With that, he turned away from me and walked away. I looked down at Clary, who looked really shaken and nervous. Sitting back down next to her, I placed my hands on her shoulder for comfort. I knew that she was lying to Theo, as we had already found what was under the floorboard. But I was hoping what she was, that Alec had called in for help and they were still at the loft. If they were still there then they could follow them back and get us out of here.
Clary turned to me with a half-smile that seemed forced. I was worried that Clary was going to break with all of this pressure around her. It makes me scared that she wasn't going to make it in this world.
*Roaring Fire*
NO ONE'S POV
Jace, Kyler, Alec and Isabelle all stood around the alley trying to figure out where the sister and Simon could have been taken and by who. "Whoever took the girls and Simon must be holding them over a body of water," Jace told them, realizing what was going on. "That's why our Tracking rune won't work."
Everyone was in their own heads, thinking, when suddenly a phone started ringing. They all turned to look at Clary's backpack that was on the stairs, where the ringing was coming from. "Clary left her phone in her backpack," Isabelle realized.
Jace was the one to pick it up and dug through the back, finding the phone before dropping the bag. He answered the call after looking briefly at the number and put it on speaker. "Hello?"
"Oh, I thought I'd never utter these words, but thank God it's you," Simon's voice came through the speaker. "It's me, Simon."
"Where are you?" Jace asked immediately. "Where's Kali and Clary?"
"I don't know," Simon responded with panic in his voice. "Some Chinese restaurant, I think? This cop Alaric arrested us, but it was a total fake-out. Him and his buddy, they knocked out Kala before they took us…they took us to their hangout and then they told Clary that they'll kill her if they don't find the Cup."
"Just calm down, all right?" Kyler cut in, stepping closer to the phone. "Tell us what you see."
"Okay, uh…" Simon agreed in a shaky voice as he took a breath. "Uh, we're definitely on a pier. There's a ton of water. Uh… I see lockers and… Oh, my… I'm in some sort of torture chamber. There's claw marks all over the wall."
"Werewolves," Alec deduced.
"That's possible," Isabelle agreed.
"Okay, Simon, you need to get more specific," Kyler said with urgency in his voice. "Tell us what you see. Help us find you."
"There's nothing else that can help," Simon insisted before the heard shuffling in the background. "Wait, hold on! Hold on. We're at the Jade Wolf Chinese Restaurant on the pier at Greene Street. And they have really inexpensive cocktails. Just hurry, just hurry."
Kyler pulled out his phone to look up the restaurant while speaking to Simon. "You need to create a diversion. Stall them."
"How?" Simon questioned incredulously. "All I have are clothes and a lighter."
"Start a fire, Simon," Jace jumped in, a little frustrated.
"That never works!" Simon countered in a panic. "Have you ever seen an action movie?"
"We're on our way," Kyler said before Jace hung up on Simon. He began to walk away. "Let's go."
*Roaring Fire*
Kalavati's POV
I still sat next to Clary as Theo was pacing back and forth the length of the restaurant. The sun had set almost a while ago and the men that he had sent after the Cup hadn't returned. Theo kept looking at his watch and letting out heavy sighs. "What's taking them so long?" he grumbled.
Suddenly the fire alarm went off and there were streams of some kind of discharge from the ceiling. It made me gag due to my strong senses. I was pulled out of my chair and stumbled as I was dragged out of the restaurant towards the pier. I was dragged one way while I could blearily see Clary, who was shouting for me and to let her go, pulled in another direction. Before I knew it, I was being shoved into a shipping container and turned to see Alaric standing there, giving me a sad look.
"I'm sorry about this Kala," he apologized. "I'm just following orders."
"This isn't going to end well for him," I told him with a frown. "You know that right? You threatened and kidnapped a mundane, using your mundane cover. That could be taken as violating the Accords. That could come down on all of you."
Alaric gave me a solum look. "I don't have a choice."
With that, he closed and locked the door. I frowned as my eyes adjusted to the dark around me. None of this would end well, and just because of the stupid damn Mortal Cup. Without any effort, I broke the handcuffs apart and pulled out my stele. After drawing the unlock rune on the door and getting it open, I made my way back towards the restaurant. Suddenly, I could feel Kyler close by.
'Kyler!' I called out to him.
'Kali!' he answered immediately. 'Finally, I've been calling you! Where are you? Are you okay?'
'I'm fine,' I assured him. 'Have you found Clary? Is she okay?'
'She's here and she's okay,' he told me and seemed a little bit distracted. 'She's asking to make sure that you're okay but wants to get to Simon. Jace, Alec and I came to find the two of you and Izzy went to get Simon. We found Luke trying to get Clary out of here. Where are you? We need to leave.'
'Keep going to the restaurant,' I instructed him. My eyes had narrowed at nothing in particular when he mentioned Luke, and I wondered what he was really doing here. There was a large part of me that believed that Clary had seen Luke speaking to Circle members, and that he was just trying to protect us. And the fact that Theo hadn't had Luke there just seemed to confirm my suspicions that they were keeping him out of the loop. I shook my head to clear it. I would worry about that later. 'I'll meet you there. Just be careful. The werewolves are bound and determined to find the Cup. Theo is very dangerous.'
'Got it,' he confirmed that he understood. 'Just be careful yourself.'
'I will,' I agreed before cutting the connection. Looking around me, I knew that I wasn't going to get to the restaurant fast enough, since I didn't know my way through the maze of containers.
Sighing, I closed my eyes and took off my jacket. I was suddenly glad that I was wearing a halter top. On my back was tattoo-like tribal markings of dragon wings that went from my shoulders to down to my waist. Kyler had the same thing and was the only outward sign that we were half dragon that we couldn't change. Whenever a dragon is human form, they would have their wings in markings on their backs and that was one way you could always tell.
Closing my eyes, I focused my energy into the markings and my large amber colored wings came to life. I didn't have a dragon form as my dragon side had yet to fully awaken. Most of my life is more or less trial and error as Kyler and I are the first half dragons in Shadowhunter history. While Dragons and Shadowhunters had always been close allies, over the years they drifted apart as Dragons became more egotistical. There were few that truly wanted to maintain the alliance in the Dragon Council.
My wings were about two inches taller than me and went all the way to the ground. The scales that covered them were amber colored while the webbing was a paler gold color. The amber scales stretched over my back and shoulders when my wings were out. I took a giant leap into the air and flapped my wings to get me into the air. I stopped as I looked around on the ground from the air. My eyes shifted into my dragon sight and zoomed in on Jace, Kyler, Alec, and Isabelle standing in a circle around Clary and Simon.
I watched as Theo, in his wolf form, stepped out of the restaurant. Taking a dive down, I opened my wings to slow my dissent a little bit before landing with a large wave of wind between him and my friends and sister. I heard a gasp and a whisper of my name, but I kept my glowing purple eyes on the large Alpha wolf in front of me. Theo looked at me in confusion before he started to growl again. He took a run before crouching to jump at me, when I heard Clary call out to me. "Kala, behind!"
I ducked as another dark colored wolf jumped in and pounced on Theo in midair. They fell behind some crates, growling and snarling at each other. I knew who that wolf was, and I slowly pulled my wings in again, the glowing of my eyes fading as well.
"He's challenging the Alpha," Alec declared, but I didn't take my eyes off what we could see of the fight.
"He's helping us!" Clary shouted as she put a hand on my left arm. My other hand immediately came up to squeeze hers on reflex, but also in worry.
"Or cutting in line to kill us," Simon countered in a panicked voice.
There was a whimpering sound before the body of the Alpha wolf fell to the ground and changed back into Theo. "The Alpha's dead," Isabelle stated in slight shock.
The black wolf from before came walking up before he changed back into Luke. His shirt was ripped to shreds and there were claw marks across his chest, but what worried me was the bite that was in his shoulder. Luke made eye contact with both Clary and I. "Oh, my God, Luke," Clary whispered.
The werewolves around us began to howl and I glanced around to see all of the werewolves turn back into their human forms. "What?" Clary whispered in confusion. She squeezed my hand to get my attention. "What is it? What's happening?"
"When a werewolf kills the Alpha leader, he becomes the new Alpha," Jace explained to her when I didn't answer. I just looked back to Luke with a concerned expression. "Your friend Luke is the leader of the pack now."
Luke sighed. "Kala…" he whispered. "Clary…"
I stepped forwards a little and Clary went to step next to me, but Kyler's voice stopped her. "No."
"It's okay," she said calmly before I could feel her take my hand again as she stood next to me.
"I promised your mother I'd always protect the two of you," he told us. "Even if you don't need it Kala."
Both Clary and I chuckled a little bit and Luke smiled at us before his practically fainted, using a large wooden box to keep him from falling over. Clary, Simon and I immediately ran to him. "Luke! Oh, my God!"
I could hear Alec, Jace and Kyler talking behind us, but at the moment I didn't care. Normally, Shadowhunters don't get involved in Downworlder business, but Luke had been a father figure for me since I was four and I wasn't about to leave him on his own. I turned to Simon while getting Luke's keys out of his pocket. "Simon, go and get his car," I instructed. "Hurry, we don't have a lot of time. You're gonna need to drive."
Simon ran off with a nod and taking the keys from my hand. Clary went to Luke's other side, looking at me in a panic. "What's going on? What's happening to him?"
"His wounds are deep, and an Alpha bite is poisonous," I explained to her quickly as Jace came over to hold up the side that I was on. I moved in front of Luke with a nod in thanks. Summoning my magic, I held my hands over the bite on his shoulder. I could feel the resistance to my magic and let out a sigh, dropping my hands.
"What is it?" Clary asked.
"The poison is resisting my magic," I told her, frustrated. "Only a warlock's magic will be able to cure the Alpha's bite. This is going to require a potion and I don't have enough training in order to do that."
"We have to get him to Magnus," Clary insisted, starting to panic.
"Hey, that's exactly what we're gonna do," Kyler reassured her as Simon pulled up in Luke's car.
Simon rolled down the windows as Jace and I helped Luke to get into the back after Clary go in first to help from that side. I turned before getting in as Kyler was handing his jacket to Jace and taking off his shirt. "Jace, you'll need to give Simon directions," I instructed. "I'm gonna try and use my magic to slow down the poison."
Jace nodded as Kyler moved away before his wings appeared on his back and his eyes glowed emerald green with a reptile pupil, like mine. The scales on his wings were ruby red with paler red for the webbing. His wings were a little a couple of inches taller than his 6'2" frame and, like mine, went down to the ground. Kyler bent his knees before leaping into the air and flying off.
I placed a hand on Jace, and he turned to me in surprise. "We need to go," I told him urgently. "Kyler will go ahead and let Magnus know that we're coming and what's going on."
Jace nodded before running around the car and getting into the passenger seat. I got into the back seat with Clary and Luke before closing the door. Simon drove off and I summoned my magic again and began to work on slowing down the poison in his system.
I was faintly aware of the fact that we were leaving the Lightwood siblings standing there at the pier with the New York werewolf pack.