Brothers by Blood (Alec Lightwood twin)

Chapter 70

*Ben Training*

BEN'S POV

I was training when I heard another presence in the room. I stopped when at was doing and turned to see Max standing in the doorway looking like a kicked puppy.
"Max!" I exclaimed, dropping the staff I was holding and rushing over to him. I knelt down to his height and looked at him. "What's wrong buddy?" I asked softly.
"I'm sorry." He said. I frowned.
"What for?" I asked.
"If I hadn't snuck out, you wouldn't have gotten hurt and nearly killed. It's my fault that you got hurt." He said. I took him in my arms in a tight embrace.
"No Max, it is not your fault that I got hurt. Shadowhunters get hurt on missions all the time. Even though this was a special case, it was not your fault. It was no one's fault but Kaelie's." I said seriously. I then pulled away and made sure he was looking at me. "I don't blame you, and you shouldn't blame yourself. Ok?" I said seriously. He nodded.
"Ok." He replied timidly.
I hugged him tightly. I knew he probably still did blame himself for Kaelie's attack, but I certainly would never do so. Honestly, there is a silver lining to this dark event; if Max & I hadn't got caught, we probably would never have found Kaelie and many more Shadowhunters would be dead by now. Despite me being injured from this, I count myself more than lucky that I actually did survive when others who were attacked did not.
"Do you want to train with me?" I asked. His expression brightened at my proposition.
"Yes please." He replied, his tone livelier than before.
"Do you need me to train with you or do you want to show me what you can do and then I can teach you?" I asked.
"The second one please." He responded confidently.
"So you want to show me what you can do?" I asked. We both made our way over to the weapons table and grabbed a staff each. With that, we walked over to the middle of the room and began sparring. Of course, I was going easy on him, but I would still challenge him to see how he was developing his skills. As we sparred, I could see that training with Izzy had really helped him. Even though he had only been here just over a week, he was doing very well for his age.

After a while, we stopped sparring.
"How did I go?" Max asked, obviously hoping that he did well and impressed me with his skills.
"Really well. You still need training, but you are progressing well." I said. Max grinned at the praised that I had just given him.

*Later – Valentine's cell*

JACE'S POV

I, along with several other armed guards, were finally in Valentine's cell with him strapped to a chair about to remove his Circle rune.
"Is that tight enough?" I asked, tightening them a bit more. "That's better." I said, before rounding the chair to be able to access his Circle rune. He looked up to me.
"Go ahead, Jace. It's not gonna stop me. It's not some rune that makes us who we are. It's our blood. And yours, my boy, is exceptional." Valentine said.
"Because you experimented on me. On my mother. Why? Why her?" I demanded.
"Sweet Celine. She wanted a child so desperately. When she and Stephen learned that she was pregnant again, with you, she was terrified that she was gonna lose her baby. So she came to me, asking for help." He revealed.
"And I'm sure you were so happy to oblige." I sneered.
"The injections I gave your mother, laced with Ithuriel's pure angel blood made you strong. After her tragic death, after I pulled you from her womb, barely alive, I raised you to use that blood. I taught you-" He explained, but I cut him off before he could finish.
"You taught me not to feel. You taught me that "to love is to destroy, and to be loved is to be the one destroyed."" I stated.
"And you've proven how right I've been all along. Look at you. Your love for Clary, it will be your downfall." He said, leaning closer to me.
"Don't you dare bring her into this!" I growled.
"She is as much a part of this as you are." He said. I had had enough. I looked up at one of the other Shadowhunters, turning on the rune removal device on as he held back Valentine's head with what looked like a belt. As I turned on the device, it began crackling with electricity. I pointed it at his Circle rune and it slowly began to disappear. I could tell that it hurt him, but I honestly didn't care if it did or not.