Light Shadows • Alec Lightwood

Fourteen

The Lightwoods stayed silent as Clary once again stepped forward, "Look, I know how powerful this Cup is, it has the power to create new Shadowhunters, control demons and even kill a mundane if they drank from it. But I promise you, I will not let that monster get his hands on it."

Jace nodded slightly, his blue and brown eyes not straying from her, "There you go, you have her word."

Alec sighed, defeated as he looked at Izzy and Talia's faces, as she had now propped her chin on her hands that lay flat on the table. Both of them also showing signs of defeat in the conversation that Jace would not let them win.

"Follow me."

Clary followed Alec out of the room as Jace turned back to the screen and Izzy walked off somewhere. Talia sighed, pushing the long strands of hair out of her face and picked up one of the tablets on the table. She began scrolling on the map to find some source of demon activity so she'd have something to do.

Suddenly, a loud beeping sound came from one of the screens across from where Jace and Talia were sat. They shared a look as Talia rose to her feet, just as Alec came back from wherever he had taken Clary.

"What the -"

Then an alarm went off as the red ring on the screen closed in on the Institute causing Jace to bolt up from his seat and stand beside Talia with Izzy joining them soon after.

"There's something outside the perimeter," Jace confirmed.

Talia raised an eyebrow at him then indicated to the monitor, "No shit Sherlock, it's on the screen."

Izzy stepped towards the monitor, watching the movements of the red ring as Alec started speaking, "I told you-"

"Don't say it."

Clary turned to the group, her light brown eyes growing wide, "What's happening?"

Isabelle sighs as she answers, "Looks like someone's trying to break in."

"Could be the Circle," Jace assumes as the four began walking towards the doors.

"Told you so."

Jace sighed at Alec's response, "Too soon."

Talia pulled out her seraph blade as the others did so behind her. The fog was rolling in and was flowing in waves on the ground. As they walked further, Talia spotted someone with their back towards them.

"Don't move."

"Drop what you're holding, put your hands up," Alec asserted as he stood beside Talia with his bow raised.

When they turned, Talia recognised him as the vampire Raphael. And in his arms he held an unconscious Simon. She lowered her blade slowly as her eyes widened in shock. Talia turned and saw Clarys' sporting a look of horror, "Oh my God, Simon!"

~~~•~~~

"People will be wondering what we found outside the perimeter."

Jace looked to Izzy, Alec and Talia as they came down the stairs and into the bunker-like area. Simon had been laid down on the wooden table in the centre of the room with a book placed under his head. Clary sat by his side, clutching onto his hand as Raphael sat beside one of the statues in the room.

"I'll go," Alec said from behind Talia, "I'll tell them we didn't find anything, nobody will come down here."

He turned and went back up the stairs as Talia's eyes followed him before he was out of sight. She followed Izzy further into the room, nearing Simon's near lifeless body.