Eᴘɪsᴏᴅᴇ 3 ~ Pᴀʀᴀʙᴀᴛᴀɪ Lᴏsᴛ
★ ★ ★
Jace walks into The Hunters Moon, where the Lotova brothers and Maia are, to avoid the cops. Maia is cleaning glasses behind the counter whilst Jason and Isaac at at the bar talking. After a while, Maia notices Jace lurking back from everyone. She smirks to herself.
"Well, you look like you could use a drink. And a towel." She states making the brothers look up at him, shocked he's here.
"Just, um... Just your phone?" Jace says, still not noticing Jason or Isaac.
"I'd ask what happened to yours, but I'm guessing it got wet." Maia says, still wiping the tables.
"It's a long story." Jace begins slowly, trying to change the subject.
"Well, I'm stuck here all night, and besides, I hear Shadowhunters love to hear themselves talk." Maia says and Jace looks at her shocked. "What, you didn't think I would recognize those runes on the back of your neck?" He looks at Maia and notices the scratches on her neck. Realisation kicks in.
"You're a werewolf." He states and Maia smirks.
"Typically, the phone is for paying customers, but I'm feeling generous, so..."Maia says and puts down the phone and a pint of beer. "on the house."
"Thank you..." Jace trails off, expecting her name.
"Maia. It's nice to meet you." Jace sits down at the bar, finally noticing the Lotova brothers.
"Jason? Isaac?" He says slowly, not knowing how to act around them. They both see his saddened expression and automatically know it's about Alisha.
"She's safe." Isaac states with a small smile.
"She's with Luke on the beach." Jason finishes and Jace sighs in relief and brings the beer to his lips.
Alisha sits on the pier, her legs over the edge as she looks out at the sea. The hybrid activated her hearing room so she can hear everything going by. She listens to people's footsteps, figuring out what mood they're in by how the walk. The Lotova girl figured that out from Valentine, concentrating on if he was mad so she would speak carefully. Boats float past her and she listens to all the noises, effectively calming her down. Memories of her and Gretel fill her mind, making tears flow down her face. Alaric finds the girl sitting with her head in her hands. He hears her small sniffles and sighs to himself. He walks up to her slowly and sits beside her, not saying a word, just being there for her was enough. She looks up at him and it breaks his heart seeing her broken features.
"It's all my fault." Her voice breaks and Alaric studies her face. "It should've been me..." his features soften and he brings the girl into his side, hugging her tightly. She just sobs into his side, soaking his shirt in tears.
"It's not your fault." He whispers and the girl lets out a croaked scoff. "It's not. Look, she was protecting you and I'm sure she'd do it again. You two were inseparable and no one blames you, okay? It's going to get better, I promise." She smiles slightly, it's only small, but he can tell she means it.
Clary and Izzy stand beside each other in one of the Institutes hallways. The Fairchild turns to Izzy with a confident look on her face. "We need to find something of Jace's." She states but Izzy shakes her head, looking down.
"Don't bother. Aldertree already has people tracking him 24/7." Izzy says and looks back up at the ginger in front of her. "Jace must be using a rune to block it, otherwise somebody would've found him by now." The pair open the door to Alec's bedroom. They both see Alec is still unconscious and Magnus is sitting by his side, grinding an herb.
"Has he been in there with Alec the whole time?" Clary asks, looking at the warlock. Izzy nods.
"He's the only reason Alec still has a chance. He says he's doing it for Alisha. But his magic can't last forever. Sooner or later, he's gonna burn out." Isabelle's phone suddenly rings as she finishes speaking. She looks at see it's an unknown number so she answers it and puts it to her ear.
"Hello?" She asks confused. She hears a sigh of relief from the other end of the line.
"Izzy, it's me." Jace's voice comes through.
"Jace." Clary perks her head up at the sound of her brothers name. "Are you okay?" She asks.
"I'm a little soggy, but I'll live. Look, is Clary..." he trails off, not wanting to say the word. Izzy understand what he wants to say and quickly answers it.
"She's here. She's safe." She says and passes the phone to Clary.
"Jace, it's me. We need to get you to Alec." She says quickly.
"What do you mean? Why?" Jace questions frantically, worried about his parabatai.
"He tried tracking you with his parabatai rune, but now, it's like he's stuck in some kind of nightmare and can't wake up. He was looking for you, so you're the only one who can help him." Clary informs and Jace sighs deeply.
"Okay. I'll get there." He says and Clary shakes her head even though he can't see her.
"But you can't. The Clave still wants you dead." She states and Jace lets out a humourless laugh.
"Yeah, well, who doesn't? They can get in line." He says and Izzy gestures for the phone. Clary quickly gives it to her.
"Meet us at Magnus'. We'll figure out how to get Alec there." She says.
"Okay. I'll get there as soon as I can." Jace says and is about to hang up but Izzy quickly stops him.
"Is Alisha with you? Is she okay?" She asks quickly.
"She's alive and with Luke. Don't worry. Look I need to go." Jace says and quickly ends the call. Izzy looks up at Clary with a smile on her face.
"Alishas alive." Izzy states and Clary matches the Lightwoods expression.
In the Hunters Moon, Jace pulls the phone away from his ear and presses the end button. Maia looks at him with a raised eyebrow as she drys a glass. "All good?" She asks and Jace nods quickly.
"Yeah. Thank you." Jace replies.
"Didn't seem good." Jason states as Jace hands Maia the phone back.
"It's nothing you need to worry about." Jace says with a small nod.
"Cool, 'cause we could use your help. Shadowhunter help. You see Taito back there? The Circle took his goddaughter."Jace looks at a man in the corner and then turns to Isaac seeing that he's looking down sadly. "Right in front of him. So I was hoping maybe you could help him out."
"I—I wish I could." Jace stutters making Maia frown.
"You have something better to do?" She asks sarcastically.
"It's not like that." Jace tries but the werewolf in front of him doesn't seem convinced.
"I'm still waiting for an explanation." She states but Jace looks down.
"I can't." He states. Jason and Isaac frowns at him, not knowing that he was the one who took Gretel. Alisha withheld that information from them, worried as to what they'll do.
"You need to do your job, Shadowhunter. You're supposed to protect us." Maia spits, becoming aggressive.
"My brother needs me. I just... I just need to go." Jace turns around as he tries to leave but gets held up by Taito.
"I think he's the one that needs protecting." Tatio turns to Jason, Isaac and Maia. "This is the guy who kidnapped Gretel." Isaac immediately stands up, worried for his girlfriend. Jason stands beside him, ready to protect his brother.
"Look, I don't wanna hurt anyone, okay?" Jace says, seeing everyone get into defensive positions. He mainly talks to the Lotova brothers, since they have a better relationship.
"That's too bad. 'Cause we do." Maia states as her eyes light up green and Taito growls.
"Look..." Jace tries but Tatio hits Jace harshly. "Really?" More werewolves attack Jace, including Isaac. Jason stands by his brother but doesn't fight Jace. Something tells him that this isn't his fault. Jace fights back, giving a few punches to the werewolves. Taito manages to pull Jace's head over the bar, crushing the glasses. Jace grabs a bottle of liquor and smashes it into Taito's head but it does nothing. "Damn it." Jace complains and Taito gets some more punches in and then throws Jace through the window. The shadowhunter groans loudly but quickly runs away when he sees the werewolves get ready to attack again.