Asteriel | Alec Lightwood

Chapter 16

We found Simon waiting at what Clary told us is the entrance of a shortcut to her loft. He looks a little haggard, but told us it's just a cold. He lead us towards a fire escape ladder in a wall full of vines and graffiti. Simon knows the way like the back of his hand, so he climbs it effortlessly, and Clary follows. "Have you been doing parkour or something?" Clary asks him amazed.

Alec gestures to me climb before him, scanning our surroundings and keep a hand raised behind me, probably ready if I slip.

"You've gotten a lot better at this." Simon tells her proudly. "I was just gonna say the same thing about you." She replies excitedly after climbing. Aw, they're cute. This makes me miss Steph, but I asked Simon about her a few minutes ago and he told me she wanted to digest everything she learned this past few days, and that's probably why she didn't call or message me yet.

"Climbing a fire escape excites mundanes. I'll never understand these people." Alec remarks more to himself while climbing the fire escape after I was done. We just choose to ignore him, keeping walking ahead.

We stop in front of what I assume is the back of Clary's loft. There's runes scattered across the length of the walls.

"Ow. I don't remember it like this." Clary tells astonished while she studies the walls.

"These are runes and wards of protection cast by a warlock." Alec states, getting closer to the walls. "Dot." Clary points out.

"Some of these have been here for years." Alec notices with knitted brows. I get closer to one of the runes, lining it with my fingers.

"Yo, Clary. What are all these tags?" Simon asks her, and we all jerk our heads at his direction.

"You can see the runes?" Alec queries him.

"Yeah, kind of hard to miss." He replies like it's obvious.

"For Shadowhunters. They should be invisible to most mundanes. When did you get the sight?" Alec narrow his eyes, and Simon frowns.

"I don't know." He chuckles, and Clary goes to the back door trying to pull it open, but it's stuck. "There's only one flaw in your plan here, Simon." She tells him, playfully.

"Here, let me try." He offers, taking her place. He places his hand at the door knob and with only one effortless pull, the door breaks open. I flinch with the sudden action, not expecting for it to be so easy. I look at Alec and he is frowning, we exchange confused glances.

"After you." Simon tells us, and me and Clary enter the loft, but he prevents Alec from doing so as well, "Oooh. After me." He tells him, cheeky. I chuckle.

Once inside Clary's loft, everything is looking burned, and she walks directly to one of the rooms, we all follow her.

"Holy Crap Clary, who torched your loft?" Simon asks her. I notice she is looking around with lost eyes and because of that I get closer to her.

"You okay?" I ask her softly, placing a hand on her arm, feeling instant helplessness, but I maintain my hand on her, trying to get control over this. Alec takes a step forward attentive, probably guessing by Clary's estate, I'd feel everything, but he doesn't do anything yet.

"There's nothing left of me here." She sadly tells me. I take in a deep breath, and think that I'd like to comfort her somehow, and wish she could feel she is not lost. Her posture starts to relax and her expression starts to soften. And suddenly she looks me in the eyes, astonished.

"What's wrong?" I query her, worried. "You made me feel better." She says amazed but I frown.

"As is good at this, she knows how to comfort people. That's what I hear all the time, especially from Steph." Simon chimes in, smiling, and I try to smile back, but I'm still confused about Clary's tone.