Eᴘɪsᴏᴅᴇ 13 ~ Tʜᴏsᴇ ᴏғ Dᴇᴍᴏɴ Bʟᴏᴏᴅ
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Alisha gently knocks on her older brothers door and walks in his room after hearing a small 'come in'. She looks at Jason and Isaac who are both sitting on the bed.
"Hey..." she says softly and the boys look at her. "Do you know?" Jason looks down whereas Isaac maintains eye contact.
"That your a Herondale? Yeah." Isaac says gently as he watches the girl he grew up with. The girl stands frozen at the door as she looks at the two shadowhunters in front of her.
"I'm so sorry." She says whilst looking down. "I just..." she trails off not knowing what to say.
"It's okay." Jason speaks up for the first time in this interaction. "Your our sister, and you don't need our blood to prove it."
"Jason's right, you may be a Herondale but your still a Lotova." The shadowhunter smiles immediately making Alisha smile, but that smile disappears as soon as she hears commotion. The boys notice her distressed look and follow her out of the room as she leaves.
In the Ops centre Izzy turns around when she hears Jace's words. Jace and Clary approach Alec and Izzy whilst Alisha, Jason and Isaac rush in towards the group.
"Shadowhunter down!" The Herondale boy states making Alisha look up at him. Imogen walks towards them too.
"Milo Keytower." Clary says to the group, knowing that they were wondering who was killed.
"What happened?" Izzy asks as she stands beside her parabatai and brother.
"From what I understand, his runes were carved out. Is that true, Jace?" Imogen asks her grandson.
"Yes, after he was attacked by a wolf." Jace nods and Alisha looks at Jace.
"What?" She asks startled. The Lotova's step in front of the girl, thinking that she may be blamed for this.
"He had multiple bite and claw marks." Clary says mainly to Alisha.
"What kind of werewolf randomly attacks a Shadowhunter?" Isabelle asks.
"A cornered one." Alisha states making them all look to her as she pushes the Lotova shadowhunters back so everyone can see her again. "But that doesn't explain why they carved out his runes."
"Or one who's trying to send a message." Alec says and Alisha looks at him, wishing he wasn't right.
"And get the attention of the Clave." Imogen says and looks at her granddaughter with a reassuring smile, letting her know she doesn't blame her. The girl nods but can't help but feel worried for her pack.
"We need to find them before this happens again." Clary states and the group agree.
"Well, I think I have a pretty good idea who it is." Imogen states and Alisha looks at her former brothers worriedly.
Alisha stands with Alec and Jace as Imogen questions her alpha. The girls finger nails dig into her skin as she tries not to cause a scene or attack anyone. She knows Luke didn't do this, no one from our pack would do this, and the hybrids willing to protect them.
"Are you questioning me or are you accusing me?" Luke asks the inquisitor.
"A week ago, you demanded the destruction of the Soul Sword." Alisha winces and looks down at Imogen's words. "A demand which, of course, is impossible to even consider. Which leads me to wonder, was this killing an act of revenge on the Clave?"
"You think that I would murder a Shadowhunter?" Luke states. "One of my pack members is a shadowhunter did that not occur to you?" Imogen looks over at her granddaughter who stands between her brother and boyfriend.
"We all know about your temper, Lucian." Imogen states and Alisha growls lowly.
"Does she really think Luke did this?" Alec whisperers to his parabatai.
"Take my DNA. Test it against your evidence. I'm not your wolf. And if anyone in my pack did it, I'll kill them myself." Luke states and Alisha frowns.
"Take him down to the lab." Imogen states after a while and Luke stands up. He looks at Alisha and nods at the girl, telling her he's okay. Alec goes over to the alpha and walks him out of the room. The Herondale twins go to follow but Imogen calls the back. Now noticing the few drops of blood falling from Alisha's hand due to her nails digging into her skin, he grabs both her fists and unclenches them, holding one of them, not caring he's getting his sisters blood on his hands.
"A word, Jace, Alisha?" The inquisitor asks and the two look back at her.
"This wasn't Luke, I know it." Alisha says whilst Jace says:
"Luke didn't do this. I'm sure his DNA will prove it."
"That's the Herondale in you both." Imogen smiles. "We trust our gut and act accordingly. You know, when your father died, I thought the Herondale name would end with him. But by the grace of the Angel, I was wrong. I see so much of your father in you both. But those eyes... those eyes you got from your mother." She tells the twins making them smile slightly.
"What was she like? Our mom." Alisha asks hesatently making both shadowhunters in the room smile when she says 'our mom'.
"Céline was beautiful. Golden hair like the both of yours. She was so smart, so headstrong. You definitely got your stubbornness from her. If they could see you now, Jace, Alisha, they would be so proud of you." They all smile. "I will be heading back to Idris soon, and I will be appointing a new head of this Institute."
"It should be Alec. He's a born leader. There's no better man for the job." Jace states.
"Yes, mister Lightwood certainly is one of our best and brightest. But I'm appointing you two." Imogen says with a smile but Alisha shakes her head.
"I'm not a leader, but thank you." She says and pats Jace's back before walking out of the room.
Alisha stands beside Alec as they work on one of the computers in the Ops centre. Jace walks up to them and Alisha offers her brother a small smile. He nods at her.
"Congratulations." Alec says to Jace. The blonde looks at his sister and she shrugs, making it obvious that she told Alec.
"It should've been you. I told her that." Jace says and Alisha nods.
"He did." She says softly, linking her arm with his. He lets his girlfriend rest her head on his shoulder as he stands by the table in the middle of the room.
"The Clave was never gonna hand it to me. I'm friends with a few downworlders." Alec says.
"Yeah but your dating a Herondale." Jace adds. "Look, Alec, I didn't want this. I swear."
"You're a Herondale. Get used to the perks." Alec states and Alisha steps away from him slightly when the alarm starts blaring. Clary, Lindsay and some other Shadowhunters enter the Ops Center. Alisha steps forwards quickly after seeing a dead body being wheeled in on a stretcher.
"What happened?" Jace asks
"We found Rosegreen and Penmount dead in the Bowery. Runes carved out." Clary informs.
"Just like Keytower." Lindsay adds.
"Except Penmount's been drained by a vampire." Alisha says as she looks at Penmounts dead body, recognising the loss of blood signs. Alec stands beside his girlfriend, his hand on her lower back as some sort of comfort.
"And Rosegreen was lanced by a Seelie knight." Jace informs and looks up.
"It's not just a lone wolf. It's multiple Downworlders." Clary states.
"Luke was right all along. These Downworlders want revenge. This could be the start of an uprising." Jace informs and looks at Alisha. Jason and Isaac walk towards them and frown.