𝑶𝑭 𝑩𝑳𝑶𝑶𝑫 𝑨𝑵𝑫 𝑩𝑬𝑻𝑹𝑨𝒀𝑨𝑳

ᎠᏘᎽ ᎧF ᏘTᎧᏁᏋMᏋᏁT

"Actually, yeah." Antonio said. "I wouldn't let what the Seelie Queen pulled on your first visit there taint your view of the entire Court, Clary." Clary gave him a small smile though she was unconvinced.

"The Clave isn't going to let this go unpunished. The Inquisitor sent an envoy to assess the situation. Chances are, they'll be the ones replacing me as the Head of the Institute. Well, co-head, anyway."

"Not if we could recapture Valentine. Sebastian and all available personnel are searching." Izzy said. At the mention of Sebastian, Alyssa scowled. She still couldn't believe how willing the rest, besides Alec, were to trust him. "We already know Duncan managed to hijack the portal."

"If he was Luke's accomplice, he could have been orchestrating the secret transfer all along." Jace added. Alyssa narrowed her eyes at him upon mentioning her dad but kept silent.

"Listen, I appreciate the effort, but Valentine escaped on my watch. I deserve to take the heat for it." Alec said resolutely.

"This isn't your fault. It's mine." Izzy said to her brother. At this, Alyssa and Antonio shared a look and rolled their eyes. "I was the one in charge of the transfer team."

"Hey, we both were." Jace said, not wanting his siblings to take all the blame on themselves.

"You guys done with this 'blame myself' game you got going on?" Alyssa cut in with an unimpressed, bored look on her face. The three siblings turned their attention to her. "How is it any of your faults for a Shadowhunter going rogue and helping Valentine escape?

Did you encourage him or help him or suspect he was disloyal and still let him go on the mission? No. If that is your line of thinking, then I guess Lydia should also be blamed for Hodge betraying us and giving the Cup to Valentine while she was still the head of the institute.

But, it wasn't her fault. Neither is this incident any of your faults. If the Clave wasn't so self-righteous and smart, they'd see that."

"Well said, Allie." Antonio nodded his head at her. Jace sighed and turned to Alec.

"Lys is right. This isn't any of our fault, and blaming ourselves won't help. Look, Alec, you're a good leader. You can't just let Imogen fire you over something you didn't do." He said to his parabatai.

Just then, they all heard a voice speak from behind them.

"Alec will do as he's ordered." They all turned to see Robert Lightwood.

"Who's he?" Antonio asked Alyssa quietly.

"Dad?" Izzy said, confused by her father's presence. Alec and Alyssa regarded him with cold looks.

"What are you doing here?" Alec asked coldly.

"I'm the Clave's envoy. We need to talk, the three of us." Robert replied, gesturing to himself, Alec and Alyssa.

Alec's Office

Alec was sitting in his chair behind the desk with Alyssa standing on his left by the desk while Robert stood by the window.

"I never expected it to be you." Alec said.

"You're my son. I felt it was my responsibility to deliver your orders personally." Robert said. Alyssa scoffed at this. "Allowing Valentine's escape was a lapse in leadership, but..."

"Excuse me? Allowing Valentine's escape? What, you think Alec just handed him the keys to his restraints and then let him through a portal to wherever he wanted to go?" Alyssa said, irritated by his words.

"That's not what I'm saying."

"That's exactly what you're saying, Robert."

"Our top priority is tracking him down." Robert said, raising his voice and staring Alyssa down. Unfazed, Alyssa went to speak again but stopped when Alec placed a hand on her arm.