𝑶𝑭 𝑩𝑳𝑶𝑶𝑫 𝑨𝑵𝑫 𝑩𝑬𝑻𝑹𝑨𝒀𝑨𝑳

ᎠᏘᎽ ᎧF ᏘTᎧᏁᏋMᏋᏁT

Robert let out a breath, calming down. "We still believe he may still be in New York. And I convinced Imogen that both of you know this city better than anyone in Idris. You'll both remain heads of this institute." Alyssa let out a scoff but remained silent.

"That's it?" Alec asked, wondering what the catch was.

"For now. But Imogen's keeping you on a tight leash. Don't give her a reason to give Aldertree his old job back." Robert cautioned.

"We appreciate the help..." Alec said, glancing at Alyssa, who was glaring at Robert. "... but don't think this makes up for what you did to mom."

"I guess this is my cue to leave." Alyssa said and went to leave, but Alec stopped her.

"No, stay. I've told you before that you're also family." Alec said to her. Alyssa stared at him and nodded, remaining where she was.

Robert let out a sigh and moved from the window, coming to sit down in front of Alec.

"Alec, your mother and I have always had a complicated relationship -"

"It's not complicated. You cheated on her. There's a reason she returned to Idris as soon as you got here." Alec said, getting angry.

"I made a mistake. I never meant to hurt you... but I fell in love." Alyssa and Alec let out scoffs at this. "Oh, you of all people should know what it's like to -"

"Let me stop you right there, Robert." Alyssa said, seeing that Alec was getting angrier. She herself was angry at Robert. "Yes, Alec knows what it feels like to fall in love unexpectedly, except his relationship isn't an affair.

You went behind Maryse's back to be with this woman. You hurt her and Alec, Izzy, and Max with your actions. Maryse didn't deserve what you did to her. She deserved better. Alec, Izzy, and Max deserved better." Robert hung his head in shame.

"I shouldn't have said anything. We can argue all about family drama once we find Valentine. But until then, we have an institute to run." Alec said, his expression and tone cold.

"Alec..." Robert tried to speak.

"You can go." Alec cut hm off coldly. Disappointed, Robert stood up and left the office, Alec and Alyssa shared a look as he did.

"You okay?" Alyssa asked.

Alec let out a sigh and sat back in his chair. "Yeah. It just pisses me off when I think of what he did to mom."

"You and me both." Alyssa said, sitting down in the seat that Robert had just vacated.

"Anyway, so how did your appointment with Tessa Gray go? Was she able to find something that could help?"

"Well, not really. But she was able to tell me what exactly was going on with me."

"Ok, so what's going on?"

"Basically, my entire being is out of balance. I have four sides of me that are kind of fighting inside, three of them for dominance and against the last one, hence my loss of control."

"Hold on, four?"

"Yeah, in addition to having werewolf, demon, and Seelie blood, I also have pure angel blood, like Jace and Clary. The wolf, demon, and the Seelie are all fighting the angel blood and against each other. So basically, like I said to Jace, I'm a ticking time bomb." Alyssa said, standing to pace. Alec was stunned.

"Wow, Valentine and your mother really did a number on you."

"Yeah, Tessa said the same thing. She said I'm the only one who can help me gain control, but we don't know how yet. She's looking into it and will get back to me."