WARRIORS | Alec Lightwood¹

NINE

"They'll purpose a trade. Simon for the Cup." Jace said.

"So, vampires will trade Simon for the Cup and Valentine will trade my mother for the Cup. Either way, I lose someone I love. What if I just toss it up in the air and let them fight it out among themselves?" Clary sighed, done with the situation.

May rolled her eyes, annoyed with the fact that the girl was not taking any of it seriously.

"So, this doesn't matter to you?" Alec asked.

"Yes, of course, it matters!" Clary snapped. "Listen... when you saved my life, I put my trust in you. Now, I need you to put your trust in me. I can't turn into what you are overnight."

"It's true. She was raised as a mundane." Isabelle sighed. May closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

May kept telling herself that. She knew that Clary wasn't trained to think right in a pressured situation and she doesn't know how the Clave worked. Keep telling yourself that, May...

"What are you, her spokesman now?" Alec asked Isabelle.

"I don't need a spokesman, I need a plan," Clary said before heading into the ops center. "Uh, look at all this stuff, these screens. I mean, can any of this help me find Simon? Where is he, anyway? Some kind of crypt in Transylvania?" She questioned as she led the group to a table that sat in the middle of the room.

May took a seat in one of the chairs, being the only one out of the group to need a break.

"Actually, no. That was Camille's outfit, right? They're locals." Jace corrected.

May's mind raced a mile a minute just worrying about Simon. She knew that they wouldn't do anything, they couldn't because of the Accords. But also at the fact that they didn't know it yet, but if that sweet boy had even one scratch on him she will rip every one of those vampires apart. With her bare hand if she must.

Isabelle pulled out a chair, resting her heeled foot on it as she took a seat on the table. "They're at the Hotel DuMort, down in Gansevoort Street."

"And we came back here? Why? We have to go there. Let's go, now. Come on." Clary demanded.

May closed her eyes and held her hands to her head. "Clary, that's not how it works. We-" "We need a Clave resolution for that." Alec finished the sentence as he saw she was too busy fighting off a simple headache.

"The four of us can't declare war on the vamps all by ourselves." Isabelle reasoned.

"And we can't react without considering our options. Downworlders are slaves to their impulses. We're not." Alec explained calmly.

May kept her head down and her fingers on her temples. "I really hate to say it but, Alec's right. Downworlders are fun that way." She joked.

Isabelle smirked. "You can't stomp on all the Downworlders."

"Oh, that's right. Seelies have their charms, apparently." Alec smiled, giving his sister a knowing look.

May dropped her hands on the table with an impressed smiled on her lips. "Wow, Izzy, a Seelie?" She asked. The raven-haired girl gave her a proud nod and May laughed. "I'm impressed, Lightwood."

"Seelies?" Clary asked with a furrowed brow.

"Think faeries. The Fair Folk. Add pixies, nixies, elves anybody half-angel, half-demon to the list." May motioned.

"It's pretty much a catch-all term." Jace nodded.

Alec turned to his sister with a teasing smile. "Izzy can tell you all about them. She's got a thing."