ANGEL WINGS - SHADOWHUNTERS

[15] threats and traitors

Rowena stood in the middle of the Ops Centre, watching Shadowhunters move back and forth before Simon came up and stood next to her, "This is terrible, right?" He said, causing Rowena to jump out of her skin.

"Jesus, Simon. You scared the hell out of me." She said, holding a hand to her heart while chuckling to herself, "Sorry, yeah it is terrible. I've been here for days, all I want is to go home and watch some Netflix."

Simon chuckled, "Yeah that sounds good. Have you had your interview with that Aldertree guy, yet?"

Rowena shook her head, "No. But I bet you, that guy's a prick. I can just tell." Simon laughed at Rowena's pure hatred for a man she hadn't even properly met. "I mean lockdown? I want to get out and help find Jace. I should be flying over the Hudson River by now."

"You sure?" Simon asked, his eyebrows raised. Rowena nodded her head, her eyebrows furrowing together. "You've been in the Infirmary for days. You almost died, are you sure you should be flying?"

Rowena was about to reply before a Shadowhunter came up to her beckoning her for an interview with Aldertree. Rowena smiled at Simon before leaving with the man and entering Aldertree's office.

"Rowena Cohen, welcome. It's nice to finally meet you." Aldertree said, holding out a hand for her to shake. Rowena ignored his hand and sat down on the sofa. Aldertree coughed and continued speaking, "Sorry about the camera, it's official business so I have to be official... You were on the mission with Jace, correct."

"Uh-huh." Rowena replied, looking around the room.

Aldertree perched on the edge of his desk, "How well do you know him?"

Rowena looked over at Aldertree, a fake smile on her face, "Not well, only met him a few weeks ago."

"Jace saved your lives leaving with Valentine, right?" He asked, looking quizzically at Rowena.

"Look, Jace is a good guy. I was almost dead, if Jace hadn't have made the deal to go with him, I wouldn't have survived. It takes a lot to kill me and Valentine was almost there." She said, standing up and moving towards Aldertree, "If all of your questions are about Jace, why am I even here?"

Aldertree smiled at Rowena, standing up from his desk and moving around the room, "Because you are powerful. You have demon blood. Demon blood presents a threat to us. You present a threat to us, if you don't do as we tell you. I don't like threats, so I like to try and neutralise them as soon as I can. If you are not with us, then you're against us. Just like Jace. And we will have to do something about that." He finished, shrugging his shoulders and standing above Rowena.

Rowena smirked, "You think you can threaten me. I am not a threat to the Shadowhunters. I chose not to be, but if you continue to threaten me because of my blood, then I will become a threat to you. And I don't think you want to make an enemy out of a four thousand year old angel-demon." She said, smiling another fake smile in his direction and waving, "Good talk."

Rowena left the room and took a deep breath, leaning against a wall in the corridor. She took a few more deep breaths. Rowena knew that if she'd gotten any angrier, the other thing would come out again and she'd have gone berserk so she tried to calm herself down. Once she felt a bit calmer, she lifted herself off of the wall and headed back towards the ops centre.

"Hey, Roe." Izzy said, when Rowena walked to stand next to her. Rowena smiled at the nickname. "Had your interview?"

Rowena scoffed, "Yeah. He was as big of a prick as I thought he would be." Izzy turned to face her a bit more, nodding for her to elaborate, "He pointed out my demon blood and said that it made me a threat. He threatened to 'neutralise' me if I ever went against him." Rowena ranted, making air quotes around the word 'neutralise'.

"Yeah, he's such a-" Izzy started but she was cut off by a loud alarm and red lights flashing. The two girls moved from their spot in the hall and ran towards the ops centre.

"Who sounded the alarm?" A very annoyed Alec yelled as shadowhunters started to gather around a table in the middle of the room.

Izzy and Rowena moved to stand next to Clary, who was looking up at a huge sign, "What's going on?" Izzy asked.

"Oh, no, Jace." Clary said, all of them looking up towards the sign that said; 'Wanted: Dead or Alive' with a picture of Jace. Clary gasped, "Aldertree said he wanted to rescue Jace." She complained.

"Actually, Clary, I said I wanted to find him. And you gave me the clue I needed to do just that." Aldertree said, coming over to stand in front of us.

Alec looked disapprovingly down at Clary, "What did you tell him?" He asked.

"Alec, I-" Clary started.

Aldertree raised his voice slightly, "Is this everyone? Fantastic. First up, all Downworlders are forbidden from entering the Institute without my prior approval. For those still present, good day. Mr. Graymark..." He said, turning towards Luke.

A frustrated look made its way onto Luke's face as he grabbed Jocelyn's hand, "I'm not leaving Jocelyn. Besides, my badge gives access to resources that you don't have. I can help you find Jace."

Aldertree smiled a fake smile that made Rowena want to rip his teeth out. "That's generous of you, but I'm going to have to insist." He remarked.

Luke sighed, giving in, knowing that there was nothing he could do, "Call me when you can." He said to Jocelyn before leaving to the other side of the room.

"Yeah." Jocelyn responded, giving Luke a sad look.

Aldertree watched Luke move away and then turned to Simon, "You, too... Simon. Simon, right?" He questioned.

"It's almost dawn." Rowena interjected, "He could die."

Simon continued, "I don't have anywhere to go."

Aldertree continued fake smiling, as he out a hand on Simon's shoulder, "Hey, you're a smart guy. I'm sure you'll figure something out." He said, looking towards Rowena, "You can help him when you leave too, Rowena."

"Guys, come on." Luke said.

"I'll be okay." Simon said to Clary before he moved towards Luke.

Rowena started to follow him before turning back to Aldertree, "All that talk about threats and my demon blood. Well, congratulations, you've just made me a threat and you don't know what I'm capable of. I'm sure you'll find out one way or another. Have a nice day." Rowena threatened, her eyes starting to glow orange before they turned back to normal and she left with a fake smile and a wave. 

A/N: Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you so much for 675 reads! It means so much to me! I hope you're all enjoying the book as much as I am! :)

Luv u xxx