The Other Wayland

Chapter 3: Vampires and Circle Members

Annabelle's P.O.V.
I was looking for Alec, hoping to get his help on some of the reports Maryse had given me to go over. I finally found him talking with Izzy near one of the monitors in what I like to call the Institute's 'War room.' Soon after I joined them, Jace and Clary entered the room and made their way towards us. I smiled at the sight of them together. It seemed that Clary was good for my brother. As they approached us, I heard Izzy whisper to Clary.
"Are the two of you ok now?"
Clary smiled and nodded. "Yeah, we're good." She whispered back.  I frowned, looking at my brother. He just shook his head, signaling that he would tell me later. I turned to Alec, beginning to ask him about the reports, but before I could, an alarm went off on one of the monitors. Something was outside the Institute, and it was headed straight towards us. I immediately sprang into action, grabbing a seraph blade in addition to the knives I always kept on me. Alec was right behind me, grabbing his bow. I threw my brother another seraph blade, and we all ran out the Institute doors. I immediately recognized that there was someone walking towards us, and they were carrying something large. As Alec commanded them to drop what they were carrying and put their hands up, I raised my seraph blade to get a better look. I gasped as I realized that the person was Raphael, a member of the Manhattan vampire clan, and second in command to Camille Belcourte, and what he was carrying wasn't something but someone. Clary dropped her sword.
"Simon!" She cried. As she began sobbing, I turned to Alec.
"So, let me guess, that's the mundie you had to save from the vamps?" Alec nodded. "Oh, mundie." I sighed. "What did you do?"
We took Simon and Raphael into the basement, and I immediately began questioning Raphael about the mundane's death. He wasn't incredibly happy about it either. He became more and more defensive as he insisted that it was Camille, not the rest of the vamps, who killed the mundane. I sighed, trying to calm him down.
"Raphael! I believe you. But it's not me you're going to have to convince. You're going to need proof."
"I have proof!" He demanded, gesturing to Simon's body.
"Simon is not a pawn in your politics!" Clary shot back. As Raphael tried to explain that's not what he meant, Izzy, Alec, and I conferred in the corner.
"They're going to want to know what we found." Izzy said. I nodded, knowing she was right.
"Alec and I will go. You try to keep things under control here."
"What are you going to tell them?" She asked.
"That we didn't find anything, that the three of you are checking the perimeter one last time, but whatever it is was probably scared off when we went outside." I told her. She just nodded, before turning back to Clary and Jace, and Alec and I turned to go up the stairs. When we returned to the main part of the Institute, Maryse immediately found us. We fed her the story, and she seemed satisfied with it. As we began to move on to other topics, Alec got a text on his phone.
"Hey, Bells, you should probably see this." He said, paging through the photos. 
"A Forsaken attack on the Jade Wolf. Where did you get these?" I asked curiously.
"Lucian Graymark." He replied.
"The leader of the New York pack. I didn't know we knew him."
"We didn't, until a couple days ago." As I considered this, Maryse jumped in. 
"Alec and Isabelle can go check it out. This may have to do with-"
"Valentine." I nodded, cutting her off. "No offense, Maryse, but this is something I should probably see myself. After all, I'm technically supposed to be in charge." She smiled, although I could tell it was strained.
"Of course."
I smiled back, before turning to see Alec already making his way to the door. I quickly followed suit.
At the Jade Wolf, Alec examined the body of the Forsaken while I talked to Luke about the attack. It was pretty clear that this was no ordinary Forsaken attack.
"It was more focused than a normal Forsaken, like it knew what it was doing." Luke explained.
"Like it had a target?" I questioned. Luke considered this for a moment.
"Maybe. You're thinking it could've been here for me?"
"It's entirely possible. I wouldn't put it past Valentine to target former Circle members. We'll put extra wards up on the Institute, just in case."
Alec nods. "Right, for Hodge." I gave him a puzzled look.
"And your-" I began, but stopped short when I saw the confused look on Alec's face. "Oh, you don't know. Never mind." I backtracked.
"Wait, what do I not know?" He asked quickly.
I hesitated. "I wish I could tell you, I really do. But it's not my place." I said eventually.
"Annie, please. Was someone else I know in the Circle?" He asked, grabbing my arm. I looked at Luke who shrugged sympathetically, before quickly leaving the room, sensing that this was a private moment. I sighed and turned back to Alec. I never really could resist him. I simply nodded. He sighed, letting go of my arm to run his hand through his hair.
"Who?" He asked tersely. I shook my head, turning to walk away.
"It's not my place to tell you, Lec. I've already said too much." He took my hand, turning me back to look at him.
"Hey, I'm gonna find out eventually, right? I'd rather hear it from you than some random person. Obviously whoever it is doesn't plan on telling me." I hesitated again, and Alec obviously noticed he was making headway, because he kept going. " Hey, I promise I won't get mad at you, ok?" I sighed again, knowing I would eventually give in.
"If I tell you, promise you won't tell where you heard it from?" I asked. He smiled.
"Of course. No one has to know but the two of us." He promised.
"Okay." I relented. He grabbed my other hand, forcing me to look at him. Despite myself, my heart skipped a beat.
"Who is it, Bells?"
I took a deep breath. "Your parents." I breathed out.
He froze. "What?" He asked.
"Your parents were in the Circle, Lec. I'm sorry." He paused for a long moment, taking this in.
"How do you know?" He finally asked.
"I found out when I was in Alicante. Now that Valentine's back..." I trailed off.
"They're under suspicion." He finished for me.
"I'm sorry." I repeated. He just shook his head, pulling me in for a hug.