Eᴘɪsᴏᴅᴇ 17 ~ A Dᴀʀᴋ Rᴇғʟᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴ
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Alisha wakes up the next morning to an empty bed. She sighs and then looks at her new ring on her finger. The hybrid smiles brightly as she sits up, making sure the sheet covered her chest even though the room was empty. The Herondale walked over to the bathroom after picking up her outfit for the day. After changing and going to the toilet, she quickly did some light makeup and went off to find Alec. As suspected, he was in his office with his younger brother.
"Max!" Alisha smiles at the boy she mow sees as a younger brother. The youngest Lightwood turns around and sees the hyrbrid making him smile brightly.
"Allie!" He squeals and runs over to the girl, wrapping his arms around her waist. She smirks and wraps her arms around his body. Alec smiles when he sees the ring on her finger but also at the interaction between his brother and his girlfriend. He couldn't be happier that Max and Alisha clicked the first time they met. "Guess what Alec was just telling me!" Max jumps up and down excitedly.
"What?" Alisha asks as she bends down to kneel in front of Max.
"The Clave is sending me on my first mission!" He smiles.
"That's great!" Alisha says to the younger boy who hugs her once again.
"You sure your ready?" Alec asks his brother as Alisha stands up.
"I've been ready since the day I got here." Max states which makes both teens smile.
"Well, then you better get your butt over to training. You know how much our sister hates tardiness." Alec says and Max nods, quickly running out of the room just as Clary and Jace walk in.
"Any sign of Jonathan?" Alec asks the two who shake their heads.
"No, we tracked the box itself, but it was a dead end." Jace says. Max stands by the door and listens to the conversation. Alec gives him a look whilst Jace, Clary and Alisha just stare at the young boy who walks off for good this time.
"So Valentine sent Duncan to steal a pair of baby booties?" Alec questions.
"Someone did. Someone who wanted to circumvent us from tracking Jonathan." Jace says.
"And now we have no leads on either of them. We've got nothing." Clary says.
"Actually, we have less than nothing." Alec says making Alisha nudge him.
"But we'll find him Ree." Alisha says and Clary smiles at the girl.
Later on that day, Alisha walks into Alec's office with a knowing smile. She glances at him as he continues to work, not noticing the girl at all. She smiles slightly and knocks on the wall beside the door making her boyfriend look up quickly.
"Lost track of time?" She questions and she leans on the doorframe.
"I missed dinner, didn't I?" Alec says, remembering how he promised to take her to dinner tonight.
"Only by a few hours." The hybrid responds with a small shrug of her shoulders. Alec stands up and begins to apologise to his girlfriend.
"I'm, I'm so sorry, really. I know you needed this." He says and then kisses Alisha. "It's just... it's been so crazy here..."
"I understand." Alisha states. "And it's fine, truly. I ended up talking to Luke, mainly apologising about kicking and disobeying his direct orders.
"I can't believe I forgot." Alec says with a frown.
"It's okay, Alec. If we can't go to the Cape, I'll bring the Cape to us." Alisha says, referring to the restaurant Alec said he'd take them. She pushes in a table on wheels full of food and drinks. She smiles sheepishly.
"I asked Magnus and he was very happy to help." She states making Alec smile. "You deserve this for being such a good institute head." She says whilst passing Alec a glass of champagne. The pair sit opposite each other after taking a sip of their beverages.
"I was talking to Magnus about the downworld meeting in the Seelie court today." She says and Alec looks at her.
"It went well?" He questions and the girl shrugs.
"Relatively. Magnus said the Downworlders barely trust the Clave to begin with, and the Seelie Queen apparently went on and on about the Clave being nothing but a bunch of liars, which I kinda agree with." Alisha says, remembering the conversation she and Magnus had a few hours ago.
"That's harsh." Alec states.
"But Luke and Magnus assured them that now that you are the Head of this Institute, and implementing a policy of complete transparency, change was on the way." Alisha says Magnus' words exactly, becoming proud that she remembered them correctly.
"That's good to hear." Alec chuckles after seeing the proud look on his girlfriends face.
"It is, isn't it?" She smiles whilst taking a bite of her food. "You think Max is gonna do well on his first mission?" She asks as the couple make conversation for the rest of the night.
As soon as Alisha spots Dot, she embraces her in a tight hug to which Dot happily obliges too. Clary came to get both Alisha and Alec to tell them that Dot was here and that something was wrong. Now, the five of them are making their way to Alec's office. They quickly catch the group up with what's happened.
"After Elliot opened his own shop, we lost touch. But when I was little, Elliot was one of my mom's best friends." Clary states as she Dot and Alisha walk in front of the two boys who follow behind.
"Wait, Elliot Nourse?" Alisha questions, vividly remembering a warlock she met when she was younger going by that name. Dot nods at the young hybrid who frowns. Elliot was always kind to her, never caring that she was so different and more dangerous than anyone else. Alec and Jace watch the three as they walk ahead.
"He introduced me to Jocelyn." Dot says with a small smile.
"And now you're concerned he's in trouble?" Alec questions and they enter his office.
"The mark on Dot's arm is part of a protection spell." Clary states as she stops walking beside Dot whilst Alisha stands by Jace and Alec.
"It's a sigil. It only transfers to another warlock if something terrible has happened." Dot states.
"So Elliots in danger?" Alisha questions and Dot and Clary nod. Alec looks over at his girlfriend who nods to tell him she's okay.
"Whatever he's guarding must be pretty important." Alec says and Clary looks over at Dot, almost asking for permission to say something. The three others in the room watch them carefully, obviously knowing less than they do. Eventually, Dot nods at her so she turns back to the shadowhunters in the room.
"It's the Mortal Mirror." Clary says making Alisha, Alec and Jace's eyebrows shoot up in surprise, obviously not expecting that.
"Jocelyn had it?" Jace questions.
"So she hid two out of three mortal instruments from Valentine successfully?" Alisha asks and Clary and Dot nod. "Talk about girl power." She mutters.
"I know, it's crazy, the Mirror and the Cup." Clary states and Alec looks over at Dot suspiciously who just stares back at him. "I guess my mom knew Elliot would do anything to keep it safe. As a warlock, he could protect it better than anyone, right? So she entrusted him with its location."
"And Elliot entrusted it to me." Dot says, still having the institutes head studying her.
"So you know the current location of the Mortal Mirror?" Alec asks and Dot turns to Clary before answering.
"Sort of." She begins rolling up her sleeve, exposing a black thin circle with straight lines and a few small circles running all the way through. Alisha steps slightly closer to examine the mark. "These lines coordinate to specific ley lines in the city. I can figure it out, but it'll take some time."
"We have maps of all the ley lines. We can help you." Alec offers.
"And we can protect you from Jonathan and Valentine. With those marks on your wrist, it's only a matter of time before they come after you." Jace says and Alisha and Clary look at the warlock with worried looks.
"Jace, Alisha and I will go to Elliot's shop, see what happened." Clary says whilst taking Dot's hand whilst Alisha looks over at the two boys to see if that's okay. When they both nod, she turns back to the two girls she grew up with. "You'll be safe here." Clary smiles.
"Be careful." The warlock says to both Clary and Alisha, her head turning between the two of them.