Brothers by Blood (Alec Lightwood twin)

Chapter 30

*Later – At the Jade Wolf*

CLARY'S POV

We – Jace, Alec, Izzy, and I entered the Jade Wolf to see Luke and Cleophas waiting for us at the booth closest to the door. Luke was eyeing his sister with suspicion. I knew why. It was clear from the Circle rune on her neck. That wasn't there before was it? We walked over to them and stood next to the booth.
"Why are you here?" Izzy asked. I could see a hint of suspicion on her face and I could hear it in her tone.
"I needed a place to run to after I escaped from Valentine." She claimed. Lie.
"Why not the Institute?" I asked.
"Do you not see the rune on my neck?" She asked, indicating to a Circle rune on the base of her neck. "They would either kill me or arrest me on sight." She stated.
"What happened at the Citadel, and how did you escape from Valentine?" Jace asked. Good questions.
"Valentine's men infiltrated. We tried to fight them off. They...They killed Magdalena and took me." Cleophas told us. Lie.
"Only you? Why is that?" Alec asked, a hint of sass in his voice.
"I don't know. He brought me to New York, locked me up. I managed to get a jump on one of his guards and fight my way out." She explained. Convincing, but...Lie.
"You can't seriously expect us to believe that." Luke said.
"Luke, you're not helping." I said, rolling my eyes.
"It's okay, Clarissa. I know where Valentine's hiding. I can lead you to him." She offered. She called me Clarissa, now I know she's working with Valentine.
"Luke, we have to do this. It's our chance to find Valentine." I said to Luke. I had to get him and the others alone.
"No way." He said in a firm voice.
"If we could just discuss this." I begged.
"Not now, Clary." He said dismissively.
"Please." I asked. Please work...
"Keep an eye on her. You four, with me." Luke said, indicating to Jace, Alec, Izzy and I. We followed him to the back.
"Look, I know my sister's convincing, but you can't fall for her lies." Luke began.
"She's not that convincing. I wasn't sure until she called me Clarissa. Only Valentine calls me that. Plus, I introduced myself as Clary when we first met." I retorted. Everyone raised their eyebrows, impressed that I picked up on such a small detail.
"Well done. Now, what the hell are they planning?" Luke asked, looking out at her.
"That's what we have to figure out." I replied. "Valentine has the Soul-Sword, Luke. If she can lead us to him-" I began, but he immediately cut me off.
"Not happening." He replied before I could finish.
"Well, isn't that what cops do? Go undercover?" I asked, a hint of sass in my voice.
"I didn't realize you had a badge." He retorted.
"This is our chance to make Valentine pay for what he did to the Silent Brothers, to Jace, to Ben, and to stop him before he hurts anyone else." I said seriously.
"No. We're turning Cleo over to the Clave. They have more resources."
"We need to do something now. If he has the Sword, who knows what he'll do next." I exclaimed.
"As much as I agree with Luke, I am going on agree with Clary on this one." Alec said. Everyone turned to him in shock. Alec never agrees with Clary.
"No. We'll find another way. I'm gonna go talk to the pack. We're taking Cleo to the Institute."
"Luke-" I began, but I was cut off by him walking out of the room. I followed him out. We got over to Cleophas and Luke grabbed her by the arm. I was about to say something, but was immediately stopped when the sound started up again. However, this time, the cry sounded so full of pain and suffering, it was almost unbearable. I looked at Cleophas.
"What is that sound in my head? What is Valentine doing to me?" I demanded, my eyes beginning to water.
"What sound?" She asked, worry and confusion appearing on her features.
"Activate your hearing rune." Alec said, no emotion in his voice when addressing her. As soon as she did, her face morphed into pure disbelief.
"It's not possible." She whispered.
"What is it? Tell me! What is Valentine doing to me?" I asked in a demanding tone.
"It's not Valentine. It is an angel." She revealed. The entire room was silent.
"An angel?" Izzy asked.
"Here on earth. I think he's holding him captive. The angel is crying out for help." She told us. "Valentine how could you?" She asked, almost to herself, her voice filled with betrayal and sadness. The voice suddenly faded out and our heads were filled with silence once again. "His cry is so full of pain." She said, tears in her eyes.
"You said angels were rare, that almost no one had ever seen one." I said, repeating the words she said to me the day we first met.
"It's unheard of. Iron Sisters hear the angels whisper when we're forging our weapons, but even we've never seen one." She said seriously. "To communicate with one, you must be blessed by the angels. Clary you are blessed." She revealed. This angered me.
"No more lies, Cleophas. I know you're working with Valentine." I snapped. "You killed Magdalena, didn't you?" I said, more of a statement than a question. She closed her eyes in order to hold in tears and sniffled.
"I loved Magdalena. I thought Valentine I thought his way was the only way to make the world a better place, a safer place, no matter what sacrifices had to be made. But harming an angel, holding him captive, that goes against everything we believe in." She told me.
"What, and killing Downworlders doesn't?" I demanded.
"You don't understand. An angel is pure goodness. They're the embodiment of what Shadowhunters stand for. If Valentine's harming an angel, then everything we love will be destroyed." She said seriously.
"You know, Luke is right. You are not a Shadowhunter. You are a traitor. You're the Clave's problem now."
"No! Please. Let me take you to Valentine. We have to free the angel. Then I'll turn myself in."
"No, why? Why help us now?"
"Don't you see the storm coming? If Valentine has the angel and a bolt of lightning..."
"He can activate the Soul-Sword." I finished for her.
"Even if that's true, no one's seen an angel for hundreds of years." Izzy spoke up, breaking the silence.
"That might be true, but how do you explain this otherwise?" Alec asked his sister.
"Ok, for argument's sake, let's say that Cleophas is right. Even if we could free the Angel, we need to find it first." Izzy said.
"It has to be somewhere high, the rooftop of somewhere."
"I can take you to him and you can start there. We need to hurry though. The storm is coming and moving fast."
"If he activates the Soul Sword, then it would decimate the entire Downworld, not just demons. All demon-blooded creatures." Cleophas revealed. I looked at both Alec and Jace, who looked horrified. I knew why. For Alec, he'd lose both Magnus and Jace since Jace also had demon blood. I don't think he could survive the loss of both his parabatai and the person he was in love with. Although he may not admit it yet, I can tell Alec is in love with Magnus, and the feeling was mutual. Then a horrific thought came to mind. If the sword was activated, I would lose so many people – Luke, Simon, Magnus, and Jace being the main ones. I couldn't survive that. I mean, other Shadowhunters might not care about Downworlders, but we do.
"We need to stop it from happening. How do we do that?" I asked.
"We have to free the Angel." Cleophas stated. I looked at Luke, Jace, Alec, and Izzy, and then turned back to Cleophas.
"Lead us to it." I said definitively.
"Clary-" Luke began, but I cut him off.
"No Luke, if there's an Angel trapped, we have to free it." I said firmly.
"Fine, but you're not going alone." Luke stated.
"I never said that I was." I told him. I looked across at Jace, Alec, and Izzy. I knew the three of them would want to come with me regardless, and that didn't bother me. If Cleophas could lead us to Valentine and the Angel, I needed backup. Luke decided to join us as well to keep an eye on both his sister and I.
"Let's go." I said before we made our way out the door.