a rush of blood to the head | isabelle lightwood

ONZE

CHAPTER ELEVEN.
( A RUSH OF BLOOD TO THE HEAD )

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THE quartet stood in an abandoned alleyway, the walls and doors alike marred with vibrant displays of graffiti. Trash cans were strewn throughout, rancid piles of garbage bulging out of the parted lids. Discarded piles of rubbish were scattered across the ground, and Athena had the overwhelming urge to set her hands to work and make the place look presentable.

Jace clutched whatever item he had grabbed off of the burned remains of Clary's desk tightly in his hands, as if it were his lifeline. His eyes were screwed shut in utter concentration, attempting to track the girl. Isabelle paced throughout the alleyway, phone placed in her hands in an attempt to contact the missing Shadowhunter.

"Are you alright?" Athena asked Isabelle, a hand placed on the girl's rune marked shoulder. Isabelle nodded her head, raven hair bouncing on her shoulders. Athena gave the girl a sympathetic smile, tossing one to Jace as well, before pacing nervously around the garbage cluttered alley.

"Dammit, she's not showing up," Jace exclaimed, out of breath from the extensive tracking that had taken place. He turned to Alec, who was also pacing around the alley, feeling that this situation was all his fault. "We need to parabatai track."

Athena clasped Isabelle's hand in hers as they continued to walk around the lot, phones grasped tightly in their vacant hands as they shot continuous calls and texts to any one who might have known what happened to the girl. Athena winced nervously, anxiety blooming between her rib cage like a flower trying to break free from its confines.

The two parabatai continued to attempt to track the red headed girl, but to no avail. Athena and Izzy made their way towards the two men. "Just like I thought, she wasn't arrested," Isabelle informed the group.

An expression of pure rage contorted onto Jace's otherwise passive face as he stormed towards Alec. "It was your job to look after her!" he exclaimed.

"Not another fight," Athena mumbled to the girl standing next to her. Isabelle sighed in response, watching the boys fight over the situation at hand as they had in the scorched remnants of Clary's bedroom.

"I did my best, Jace," Alec countered.

"Well maybe your mother was right, and your best just isn't good enough," Jace argued.

Athena felt that she was about to explode after such a rude counterattack executed by the blonde Shadowhunter. Parabatai were meant to help each other, not argue relentlessly.

Isabelle had grown tired of their fighting and stormed toward the men, the heels of her boots pounding against the concrete. "Jace! Hey!" Isabelle scolded.

Alec scoffed at his childish actions and continued to argue. "Are you so blinded by your feelings for Clary, you've lost sight of us?" Alec asked. The tension boiled in the humid air, and Athena was growing nervous every passing seconds. Her emerald hands quivered in fear of the girl that had gone missing, and anxiety roiled in her stomach. She was not courageous, and she would never be.

Jace looked as if he was about to pounce at his best friend, rage clouding his eyes. Alec's features turned to sympathy as he uttered his next response. "Clary snuck out. I went after her... to protect her. I did nothing you haven't done a thousand times before."