Angelic

Ev ~ 26

The weather was getting colder; I found myself regretting not bringing a jacket or changing into pants and a long sleeve shirt.

I was half-aware of Alec and Jace following behind me, but as long as they weren't trying to stop me I didn't care what they did. I needed to see Magnus. He was the only one who could fix this. Okay, well, not the only one, but the only other warlock I knew well enough to trust this with was across the sea in a tiny London apartment.

I was also faintly aware of the conversation the two Shadowhunters were having. Alec explained how Raphael and I knew each other in more depth, also including who Lizzie was and why I claimed to call her my sister. For all intents and purposes, she was. The Wershing's were the closest to a family that I had ever had.

But for the most part, I was wandering around inside my head, holding onto every good, mundane memory I had of her.

...

It was windy on Lizzie's twelfth birthday—windy and overcast and cold for winter. She didn't seem to mind, though. Not when her parents told her we were going to the carnival on the outskirts of Berlin. It had been the present she had gotten from Kai and me and she loved it as much as we hoped she would.

She held onto Kai's hand as we pushed through the thick of the crowd on the carnival grounds, pushing our way towards the rides. Their parents had gone to find food for us. Since we were both sixteen now, they believed us to be old enough to take care of her.

We stopped nearby a ferris wheel that rose to one hundred feet in the air, according to a sign near the entrance to the ride that had the statistics written out in bold, gold lettering.

"Do you want to go on that, Lizzie?" Kai asked his sister, looking down at her.

She looked up at it, and I stared as she tilted her head back, trying to see all the way to the top of the ride. She glanced back at Kai and shook her head, her eyes full of fear.

"Aww, come on Lizzie, it will be fun." I told her.

She looked at me. "It's big." She mumbled.

I squatted down so I was face-to-face with her. I grabbed her free hand, the one Kai wasn't holding, and held it between both of my own. "I thought you were Lizzie Wershing, the girl who wasn't afraid of anything."

She shook her head again, as if to keep me from trying to convince her.

I would, if I didn't know it was Kai's favorite carnival ride and we never go to the carnival. I wanted him to be able to ride it today and I wanted Lizzie's first time to be with him, too.

"If you go on the ferris wheel, you'll get to brag to all your friends at school that went on it and weren't even scared!" I told her.

She smiled, then frowned. "Wait. But I am scared."

I waved my hand to the side, pushing the thought away. "You're not scared. You're Lizzie, the girl who isn't afraid of anything." I assured her.

She smiled. "You're right. I'm not scared of anything."

I let go of her hand, standing back up. Smiling at Kai, we got in line and waited patiently to get on the ferris wheel. When we were next in line, ready for the next open cart, Lizzie tugged on my shirt.

I looked down at her. She motioned for me to come closer to her. I leaned down and she cupped her hands around my ear. "Will you still hold my hand?"

I smiled down at her. "Of course I will. That's not even a question."

Once the three of us got into the cart, I grabbed Lizzie's hand and gave it an assuring squeeze. Kai noticed, and Lizzie noticed him noticing. Her eyes grew wide with embarrassment.