Silence | Simon Lewis

chapter thirteen

chapter thirteen: crawl inside your veins

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ALEC STARED DOWN at his parabatai, his heart slightly sunken at his act of stupidity. This was all of his fault, all because of his thoughts that he knew he couldn't have. "Get up, Jace." Alec muttered, a hand on the Lightwood's unmoving arm, "Jace."

Pushing himself upwards promptly, he began coughing and gasping for air, sitting upright and clutching his stomach intensely. His face was a deep red, and his eyes widened as he began choking on something that wasn't in his throat. "I'm all right. I'm all right." He spoke weakly, his fingers grasping at his shirt impatiently.

"Thank God, you're okay." Clary muttered to him, her fingers grazing along the material of his leather jacket, "For a second there, I thought we lost you."

"Remind me again, what's the um... What's the count of the amount of time's I've saved your life?" Jace asked her jokingly, still groaning as his fingertips were almost breaking through his shirt, his eyes glancing up at hers as he noticed her lips turn up into a smile.

Clary giggled slightly, even in the awkward moment, "I... I think we're even."

"I don't think so." He chuckled, his trademark smirk on his lips before he began coughing again, using one of his hands to cover his mouth. Jace blinked a few times, his eyes clearly adjusting to his surroundings before his eyes widened, "Clary, where's Venus?"

"Magnus's living room, Alec took her there just before you woke up." She replied, glancing towards the door where Izzy and Alec stood, speaking in low hushed voices as Jace ran a hand through his hair and stood up, rubbing the dust of chalk off of his jeans before making his way through the doorway, barging past his brother and sister.

There laid Venus, her hair tangled together and covered in blood, as well as her hands which were stained with her own blood which made her seem even worse. "From knowing Valak, he normally doesn't act out." Magnus murmured, his hands above Venus's chest as he casted a spell. "But yet again, we never gave him what he wanted." The warlock finished, moving his hand drastically across her body.

"Is her healing rune not working?" Jace asked, his voice quivering slightly.

"Healing a wound this great would take a tonne of energy and time that Venus doesn't have. She hit her head pretty bad, but with my magic, she will make a smooth recovery." He answered, his fingertips sucking back in the magic he was casting as he turned to face Jace, "She's welcome to stay here overnight, for her sake, and I'll update you all on anything you need to know."

Staring at his sister now, he suddenly realised how pale she was. Her skin had always been naturally untanned, but the sight of her eyelids closed and a cut still bleeding on her forehead made him nauseous. But his mind still couldn't shake the fact that the most important thing in her life right now was Simon, not even any of her family, as much as he had helped her last New Year's.

Before he could think of anything else to say to Magnus, he felt a hand glide across his shoulder, and as he looked to his right, he noticed Alec waiting for him by the door, and Izzy beside him - definitely unconcerned by their nonbiological sister's health. Maybe he should tell Simon, maybe he shouldn't. In that moment, Jace could feel his skin grow cold, and then as he drew a breath, he tore his gaze from Venus and held his chin up as he strode out.

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Clary's mind kept wandering, her thoughts trailing to something she absolutely did not want to be thinking about at that point in time. The charcoal between her fingertips felt rather foreign once she had returned from Magnus's and raced to her room to remember that the chances of getting her mother back were slim. But she couldn't help it, she knew she had to tell her best friend.