𝑶𝑭 𝑩𝑳𝑶𝑶𝑫 𝑨𝑵𝑫 𝑩𝑬𝑻𝑹𝑨𝒀𝑨𝑳

Ꮨ ᎠᏘRK RᏋFLᏋᏨTIᎧᏁ

Just then, they heard the glass crunching as someone entered the shop. Jace turned around quickly, his hand going for his blade while Alyssa threw a spike in the direction of the sound. The person quickly ducked as it embedded itself in the doorpost, then stood up, eyes wide in alarm. It was Sebastian.

"Whoa, hi." He said, with a sheepish smile. Alyssa glared at him and gestured for him to pull out the spike and give it back to her.

"Next time, use your brain and announce yourself. I could have killed you." She snapped, taking the spike from him and slipping it back into her thigh holster.

Clary stood up and walked over. "Sebastian? What are you doing here?" She asked.

"I, uh...I saw the alert at the Institute." Alyssa frowned in suspicion, knowing that neither she nor Alec had made any alert to the Institute. Jace and Clary didn't realize what she did and dropped their guards. "Is everything under control?" Alyssa noticed how his eyes went to Elliot's body and the look in them.

"We're still not 100% sure what happened. There was a demon presence here, but something doesn't add up." Jace informed the other blond. While he was talking, Clary's eyes were drawn to a vase of dead flowers.

"Oh my God." Jace, Alyssa, and Sebastian followed her gaze to the dead flowers. "It's Jonathan."

Both Alyssa and Jace frowned, but for different reasons. Jace was confused, while Alyssa was saddened by the sight, which she could tell was coming from her Seelie side.

"How do you know that?" Jace asked.

"The flowers. My mom shared a memory from when Jonathan was a baby. He'd done the exact same thing." Clary replied, then looked down, finally paying attention to the ichor Alyssa had mentioned. "And the gray demon ichor, that's how Valentine described the aftermath of Jonathan's kills. Jonathan was here." She continued.

"Great. Just great. Just what we need." Alyssa muttered in annoyance.

"Uh, sorry, who's....Who's Jonathan?" Sebastian asked.

"My brother," Clary said, with an almost fond tone.

"He must be after the Mortal Mirror. If he comes after it again, I'm going to have to deal with him." Jace said, making Clary frown at his words.

"What does that mean?"

"It means exactly what you think it means, Clarissa. We're going to do whatever it takes to protect the Mirror, even if it means killing him." Alyssa said, a hard edge to her tone, and Jace nodding in agreement.

"We don't even know if Jonathan is doing this on his own. He could be under Valentine's influence." Clary said defensively.

"Yeah, Clary's got a point. I mean, what if Valentine is forcing him to do his bidding?" Sebastian added. There was a nervous tone to his voice that Jace and Clary missed, but Alyssa didn't.

"Stay out of this, Sebastian. Clary, do you remember what Alec and I said about you often letting your emotions cloud your judgment? You're doing it right now.

Jace is not saying that we'll go looking for Jonathan to kill him. Only that if he comes after the Mirror and us, we will use whatever means necessary to subdue him, even if it means killing him." Alyssa said sternly. Clary wasn't ready to back down though.

"Valentine is known for his manipulations, Alyssa. He's done this to me and Jace before. Who knows, Jonathan might be his latest victim."

"For your sake, I hope that's the case." Alyssa said softly before continuing in a stern voice again. "Nonetheless, until that is proven, we will consider him as one of the threats and a very dangerous one at that. Am I clear?"