(A/N: Thank you guys so much for 100,000 reads! That's unreal! Hope you enjoy the chapter. XxD)
******************************************************************
Inside the Citadel, Serena and Clary had learned why Valentine wanted the Soul Sword. The Sword didn't just compel the truth, if activated with angelic energy, it would release heavenly light that would destroy every creature with demon blood in its path, including Downworlders.
Clary then asked Sister Cleophas about a rune she drew, a rune Serena learned could create sunlight. And when she asked if her mother could've sent it to her as an Angel, she was not happy with the answer.
Serena had been the one to tell her that Shadowhunters may have angel blood, but that does not make them an angel and it was impossible for Jocelyn to have sent that message.
As for the rune she drew, that was another problem they'd have to solve later.
But when they returned, Serena was far from happy.
Aldertree had been deliberately making her brother look bad in front of the other Shadowhunters so they wouldn't trust him, because Aldertree didn't trust him and it was going to keep happening unless he left.
Magnus had already offered Jace a place to stay after Serena called to tell Alec what happened, the Shadowhunter then leaving the warlock as he returned to the Institute and his wife.
And after Jace had talked her out of killing Aldertree, and not moving out of the Institute with him, he'd left and Alec walked into their room to find her pacing.
"You do realise at that pace you'll burn a hole into the floor?" he asked with a small smile as he leaned against the doorframe.
"Good. Anything to put even the tiniest of kinks in Aldertree's day."
"Baby, breathe," Alec said as he held her arms gently as stopped her pacing and she took a deep breath that seemed to flush out most of her anger.
"Jace saved his life and he publicly shames him before kicking him out?! He deserved to die."
"I agree," Alec said as he rubbed her arms, his mental state becoming much better now that Serena was back, but he was still putting broken pieces back together. "But I almost lost my brother to the Silent City, I am not about to lose my wife too, not again," he said before Serena pulled him in for a hug, calm and comfort washing over them both at the contact.
"How was the Iron Sisters?" Alec asked, trying to get her mind off Aldertree.
"Well, asides from Valentine wanting the Soul Sword to kill all Downworlders, a couple of strange things happened."
"It can kill all Downworlders?" he asked as he pulled away and Serena nodded.
"If it's activated with lightning and angelic energy it can kill anything and everything with demon blood."
Alec's eyes widened. "You and Jace."
"But that's the thing," she said as she broke away from his grasp, taking a few steps towards their bed before turning back to face him. "I'm not so sure we have demon blood."
"What do you mean?"
"First of all, Jocelyn showed Clary the memory where Jonathan killed a flower and his eyes turned black. And that he kept doing things like that in the time she knew him. I've known my brother since birth and he's never done anything close to that. We may both be a little dark and twisted from having Valentine raise us, but demon level evil is something else."
Alec considered her words as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Fair point. And second?"
"To enter the Citadel, we had to undergo a purity test. Nothing demonically tainted could enter the Citadel and their test was fool-proof. Alec, I passed. I had no demonic impurities because if I did, I wouldn't be standing here."
His eyes widened. "You did that trial knowing it could kill you?!"
Serena grimaced. "Ok, maybe not the best thing to say but you're missing the point. I have no demon blood in me. And if Jace and I are twins and we were injected with demon blood before we were born, how does Jace have it but I don't?"
"You think Valentine lied about doing experiments on you and Jace?"
"I wonder if Valentine lied about us being his children at all. Adopted maybe, I mean he pretended to raise us for 10 years, but Jocelyn didn't remember giving birth to twins. And she remembers Jonathan but not me. Why? "
"I wouldn't put it past him to lie, I mean this is Valentine we're talking about here. But you said a couple of strange things happened. What else happened?"
Serena smiled as she pressed both her hands to his chest and said, "Have I ever told you how much I adore the fact that you listen and remember even the tiniest details of our conversations?"
Alec couldn't help the smile before he kissed her. "Yes."
"No harm in telling you twice."
Alec rolled his eyes at her before asking, "So, what else happened?" and Serena's smile fell.
"I told you I passed the purity trial to enter the Citadel?"
Alec nodded.
"Izzy failed."
"What do you mean Izzy failed?"
"I mean the water turned black and tried to destroy the demonic impurities inside her. She failed."
"What kind of demonic impurities? What from her wound? Wouldn't you be able to feel it through your bond if she wasn't healed?" Alec questioned and Serena wished she could give him the answers he wanted; he was fiercely protective of Izzy.
"I don't know. I mean our bond has felt, different lately. I get these moments where I feel this wave of peace, pleasure and calm wrapped in one and then I drop, and I feel, it's like an itch, a craving I think, it makes me weaker. But if she was cleared for the mission, then that would mean that her wound would be completely healed and there should be no demonic traces in her."
"Who cleared her for mission?"
"Aldertree did," Serena answered and the second she did, she knew he was responsible for it, that he'd done something to Isabelle.
"You don't think- "
"He tried to turn Simon into an informant, he tortured Raphael and he tried to kill Jace before kicking him out of the home he grew up in, I'd say so."
"He's a Clave Envoy, we'd need concrete evidence to prove something like that. And we don't even know what he's done to her," Alec pointed out.
"I know. But as the Head of the Institute, he has access to everything. He turned off the security cameras in his office when he tortured Raphael and the Clave will never trust the word of a Downworlder over someone like him."
Alec cupped her face.
"Look, we'll figure out how to get rid of him later. For now, let's check on Izzy and worry about our brother."
Serena kissed him. "I love you."
"I love you too."