Skin and Bones | Alec Lightwood

Chapter 02

Jace sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as Simon kept blabbering. I smiled, stepping up in front of him and holding his arm in comfort, "Thank you. I'm Amaris. And no, Alec and I are not twins."

"That would be disgusting," Jace muttered in a low voice.

Clary frowned, "Why?"

"We're married." Alec spoke up, glancing at me before giving Clary and Simon a flat look. I cleared my throat, clasping my hands and turned to Jace.

"So what is going on? Why is there a mundane in the Institute?" I asked again.

"I swear, they're like a psychic or some sort. I mean, he also said the exact same thing earlier!" I heard Simon muttered.

Jace sighed, "A Circle member followed him to get to Clary."

"A Circle rune, just like the guys that took my mother." Clary added.

"What exactly is a Circle member and why are they trying to kill us?" Simon asked to no one in particular, confused.

"All we know is... a long time ago the Circle led a revolt. A lot of Shadowhunters got killed..." Jace paused, his voice low, "Including my father."

Alec stepped beside me, "And since the revolt we've been forbidden to even hear about the Circle."

"But, how is that even possible?" Clary asked, stammering in confusion as she looked at the three of us, "I-It's your history."

"Says the girl who didn't know she was a Shadowhunter?" Jace scoffed, walking past her and towards the monitors where Isabelle was seated.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right." Clary calls out, following after us, "And now the only person who knows the truth is missing, so I don't care about your rules or what's forbidden, I'm – There's got to be someone out there who can tells us why they've taken my mother."

"There is." Jace stated, "You coming?"

"Yeah." Clary follow immediately with Simon right on her side.

"No, no, no." Jace placed a hand on Simon's chest, stopping him from moving further, "Not you."

Clary frowned, "Hey, we're a package deal."

I crossed my arms, watching the exchange with amusement, "Are we really seeing this?" I asked to no one in particular.

Alec looks down at me, his lips quirking up, shrugging as he replied, "It is quite entertaining."

"You know what is entertaining?" Isabelle quipped, a sly smile on her lips as she stared at her brother, "You smiling."

I laugh but quickly covered it up with a cough while Isabelle remained wearing an innocent look when Alec shot us both a look.

"There are runes all over the training room floor that would kill your mundie boyfriend." Jace explained, Clary and Simon instantly stuttering at the same time.

"He's not my –"

"I'm not, like –" Simon awkwardly glanced at Clary, "We're, uh, just friends."

"Did he just friend-zoned himself?" I wondered out loud, Alec's hand immediately covering my mouth, pulling me to him.

"Best friends." Clary corrected with a smile.

"Yeah, and I'm tough. I can handle runes," Simon said, his eyes widening after hitting Jace's shoulders' lightly, the latter just giving him an unamused look as Simon slightly winced in pain, "So, uh, bring on the runes." He nodded, smiling awkwardly as he glanced at us, "What exactly are runes?"