Angels and Warriors // A.L

Chapter 18

"Clary's out in the field, training," Alec said from beside me.

Lydia turned to look at him. "You're telling me she's just out and about in the streets of New York? Valentine's daughter?" I rolled my eyes discreetly, wondering why everybody just assumed we were terrible people because we had the genes of some guy we'd never even met until now.

"She's with Jace," Alec replied.

"The same Jace Wayland who decided to lead an unsanctioned raid against the vampires?" I saw Alec and Isabelle exchange a glance, "Yes, I've read reports."

Maryse stepped forwards, "Jace might be unconventional, but he's our best soldier. If he's with Clary, then she's in good hands."

Lydia raised an eyebrow, "I hope so. What about the other one?"

I raised my hand and sarcastically waved, "Present."

"You are the other Fairchild," She asked skeptically.

"Mmm, yeah last time I checked," I replied.

"You look nothing alike," She commented.

"Yeah I'm really devastated that I didn't inherit the orange hair," I snorted. Lydia looked me up and down before turning up her nose and walking away with Maryse. I turned to look up to Alec, "Is that really what I'm know as? The other one?"

Isabelle walked over to join us, eyes following Lydia and said, "I'm not a fan."

Alec smirked, "Jealous?"

"No - maybe. How the hell did she catch that arrow?" Isabelle asked amazed but annoyed.

Alec's phone chimed with a message and he looked alarmed, walking straight over to Maryse and Lydia. "I have something you need to see," He flicked the picture up onto the screen they were in front of. "Something attacked the Jade Wolf."

"The werewolves' headquarters, where did you-" Maryse realised.

However Lydia cut her off, "Where did you get these?"

"Leader of the New York wolf pack," Alec replied calmly.

"You're friends with Lucian Graymark?" Lydia pursed her lips, "An ex-Circle member?"

"How about we send Isabelle and Alec to investigate, I'm sure this is linked to-" Maryse went to suggest before being cut off again.

"Valentine. I need to see it for myself." Lydia started to walk away before realising she wasn't being followed. She looked back at Alec, and Alec only, and asked, "Are you coming or what?"

Alec grabbed my hand defiantly, and pulled me forwards with him, looking Lydia right in the eyes as we passed her, daring her to stop him, and heading straight for the exit. She looked a little taken aback at his action but didn't acknowledge it further.

As we walked up the docks to the Jade Wolf, Lydia, in between Alec and I, commented, "I can see why all the girls in Idris are clamouring to meet you."

Alec looked utterly confused, "What do you mean?"

"Rumour has it you're looking to settle down, get married," Lydia raised her eyebrow at him and I looked down at the floor with a frown.

"Damn it," Alec cursed.

"Let me guess. Not your idea?" Lydia asked, and I detected what could possibly have been a hint of sympathy in her voice.

"Not even close," He muttered.

"My parents tried to set me up, too," She offered.

"And how'd that work out?" Alec replied, not really interested.

"Not well for them - I made my own path. Married the love of my life John Monteverde. Together we were going to run the Lisbon Institute," She took a deep breath before her next words, "and then John was killed. Everything was ripped away. My love, my dream job. A piece of advice," She sighed, stopping for a moment, "In this line of work, the only thing worth falling in love with is the work itself."

"I'm really sorry," Alec was genuine about his apology, I could tell.

She gave a half shrug and continued on, opening the door and disappearing inside. Alec stopped me just as I went to follow, but, knowing what he was going to say about his apparent arranged marriage, I shook my head and whispered, "Later."

We walked in and came across the unseemly aftermath of the attack. A deformed person was lying on the floor in the middle of the restaurant. "It's got some characteristics of a Forsaken. It was human. It was runed..." Lydia was crouched beside it, scanning the body.

Luke was rubbing his bandaged wrist, "I don't know. It was more focused, more determined. It attacked like it had a plan. Plus, a normal Forsaken wouldn't have been so hard to kill - it took five wolves to take that thing down; never seen anything like it."

Lydia nodded and stood back up, "We'll take the body back to the Institute, do a full autopsy."

Luke held his hand up, "Oh, hold up. I get that I called you - actually, I called Alec. But what I didn't want is someone to come down here and just take over."

Alec sighed, "Yeah, that's kind of her thing."

"Look, I know I can come across abrasive," She rolled her eyes at the two boys, "But we're all on the same side here. Can we agree on that? The Institute has the resources to find out what this thing is."

"We have an expert forensic pathologist," Alec added, "Highly trained in all the creatures of the Shadow World."

Lydia looked around with a smirk, "Do you have one here? In this, uh, Chinese restaurant?"

Luke did not look happy about it, but he conceded, "Fine. You win. Just let me know what you find."

Alec bent down and examined the body before looking up at Luke, "You think Valentine was behind this?"

Luke scoffed, "No question. It's definitely his work."

"What do you think he's after?" I asked quietly.

"Honestly? Me." He replied.

"So you think Valentine's going after ex-Circle members?" Lydia questioned.

"I don't know, it might be kind of personal," He shrugged, "We have a complicated past. But of course, he could be going after the old crew; I'm sure Valentine has a grudge against anybody who turned against him."

Lydia took in the information before declaring, "We'll put extra wards on the Institute."

Alec nodded, "Right, for Hodge."

Lydia added, "And your parents," as though it was common knowledge, but quickly realised it wasn't when Alec stopped, his eyes going wide. He turned to look at Lydia, trying to see if she was telling the truth. "Did they conceal that from you?" She asked hesitantly.

Alec didn't offer a response; he just turned on his heel and stormed out of the werewolf headquarters.

-

Whoops, that was just a small bomb to drop there Lydia 😁