Angels and Warriors // A.L

Chapter 5

A soft knock on my door twenty minutes later snapped me out of the daze I was in, staring out the window. I looked around to find Jace waiting for permission to come in. I jerked my head, letting him know he could, and he sat on the bed next to me.

"Hey, you know Alec doesn't really think-"

I cut Jace off. "Yes he does, don't apologise on his behalf."

Jace sighed, but dropped it. "Anyway, we're going to rescue Simon from the vampires at Hotel DuMort, you coming?"

"Sure," I shrugged and stood up, gesturing for him to lead the way.

"Oh," Jace stopped and turned back to face me, "We're just making a quick stop first."

Everyone piled into Simon's van again, and with Clary driving, and Jace upfront, I was left a space in the back. Luckily, Isabelle climbed into the middle, but I don't think she realised when she did that she would be literally right in the middle of the tension. I stared at my hands the whole way, not looking up once, even when I could feel Alec or Isabelle's gaze.

"All right, Mary Milligan, born January 10th, 1802. Died, January 10th, 1878," Isabelle read from a scrap of paper once we had all stepped out into the churchyard.

"Okay, Alec, let's go," Jace waved for the taller boy to follow him.

"Wait, what are we looking for?" Clary asked.

"Cache of weapons," Isabelle answered with a smile.

"Stashed here with Mrs. Milligan," Jace finished.

"Why are there Shadowhunter weapons in a churchyard?" She replied.

"Because all of the ancient religions recognised demons," Isabelle said, "Or at least they used to."

"They forgot about the threat because we've been here to protect them," was the first thing Alec said the whole way here. "Typical mundane failure of imagination."

"Are you saying we did too good a job?" Isabelle asked, in disbelief. "You just can't let up, can you?" She accused.

Jace broke them up before they started a full-blown argument. "You know what? Alec, why don't you go check out by the angel?"

I wandered off on my own, repeating the name Mary Milligan over in my head after I saw Isabelle leave to find us an in to the hotel, trying not to find the whole situation too creepy.

I saw Jace cross over, away from Clary towards Alec and before long, their conversation floated over. Rolling my eyes at their inability to whisper, I leaned against the headstone I had just found with Mary Milligan's name on it, and listened with a raised eyebrow.

"...That's the problem. You're not listening. Not to this or anything else I've said tonight. You don't even know this girl." Of course, Alec had something to say about all this again. "Why do you trust her?"

"Is this about her being Valentine's daughter? What about Sam? Haven't we been through this?" Jace was quick to respond while Alec's eyes scanned over Clary, not too far from us, "Alec, look at me. You can trust her, or not. I don't care, that's not my business, but if you don't trust me-"

"Found it!" I hollered, cutting off their conversation, "Jace, Clary, over here."

"Beloved servant? Who wants that on a headstone?" Clary asked, turning her nose up.

"Someone who was in service to a cause greater than themselves," Alec said.

"Well, at least she is now," I muttered, earning a grin from Jace.