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Things back at the New York Institute had been more stressed and chaotic. More Shadowhunters were pouring in by the day from all over, gearing up for patrols and hunting for Deviants.
The Downworlders had gone quite smug about it all, too. Talks of the Shadowhunters hunting themselves in a civil war and spreading rumors of this Venatori business. The Shadow World is coming apart at the seams more and more.
Every day, tensions grew higher with more patrols being assigned and more false leads of this person or that person being a possible deviant. People were being questioned day in and day out by the Envoy's of the Clave for answers.
It is all too fast-paced for a certain couple, whom had snuck away to get the peace they needed from everyone and their jobs.
Glamoured on the roof of a building, Lyra and Jace laid over a blanket while cuddled up together. Her smaller frame tucked into his side while using his shoulder as a pillow. Her eyes closed with bliss to doze off every now and then.
They had been gone for an hour, but even that is too risky for them without being accused of being a Deviant. They needed to hurry back before anyone of importance noticed they were gone.
Jace tore his eyes away from the starry night to look down at the girl in his arms. His expression shifted from hardened thought to soft fondness at her beauty. How she looked so beautiful and for the first time in days, at peace.
It isn't fair that he had to ruin it now because he wanted to keep holding her like this.
"We should hurry back. Izzy can only keep Maryse at bay for so long," He finally said in a low voice.
Lyra's eyes did not open and instead, she sighed and nuzzled deeper into his shoulder until her nose grazed his neck. Her arms tightened around him. "Can we stay here for five more minutes, please?" She frowned to herself, "It's so crazy down there. I need to stay like this for a little longer."
He could understand that much.
The two of them had hardly had a moment alone together, and in fact, they were always busy with patrols and still on their search for their missing friend. By the grace of the heavens, somehow the four of them had been assigned on the case to locate Henry and his brothers, much to the dismay of Shang. They now held the authority to look for Henry all they wanted without any interferences.
Jace turned and kissed the top of her head. His weakness in that her perfume filled his nostrils and made his heart beat faster, and now she was nuzzling into his neck like this. It is all so exciting despite the circumstances.
"Should I meet your mother or something?" He asked, his face heats up when the words leave his mouth.
Lyra laughed, which made him more embarrassed. "You want to meet my mom?" She questioned.
"Isn't that something..." He hesitated, "...people do when they are together? Mundane type things?"
Their eyes meet.
Her smile is enough to make him flustered.
"Nevermind." Jace immediately pulled it all back while sitting up. Turning his face away to hide his embarrassment. "It was a stupid question."
Lyra brought herself up while hugging one of his large arms, cuddling into him with bright eyes. "No, it's not, it's cute." She giggled when he grumbled and reached over, turning Jace's face towards her. She grinned at him before leaning in for a kiss.
He kissed her back without missing a beat. His mind going all fuzzy as he lost himself in her.
No girl has gotten his attention like this before, nor made him feel so weak with just a kiss. Lyra could do him in faster than any demon ever could. She really is just that beautiful and someone he cherished so.
When she pulled away, Jace tried to lean in for more but she blocked his lips with her thumb. Her forehead leaning against his while she laughed again at his reaction.
"You can't leave me like this. It's evil," Jace said, panting and eyes closed.
"How about tomorrow evening?" Lyra asked, her voice light yet serious, "Mom's been bugging me for a dinner, for some reason. She's been a little weird these days. But I think that's just because of...ya know..." Her voice drifted off as the smile left her face.
Jace's arms tightened around her waist. "Your father and your dad..." While she nodded, his features grew softer. "...and How are you doing with all of that exactly?" He wondered.
Because he knew what it was like to lose a parent. His dad may have been an abusive prick, but he was still his father. It hurt all the same.
He hated that Lyra had to go through it now, too.
Lyra looked up at the sky. Her eyes focusing on the two brightest stars that seemed to twinkle as she thought of them. The weight in her heart felt heavy.
She pointed to the two stars. "I think my father and Jack are up there. We used to make shapes out of the stars, remember, and a part of me believes that they joined them, too." Her eyes gleamed. "Is that naive of me?"
Jace shook his head, looking at the stars too. "They're watching over you," He agreed with her.
She thanked him silently by bringing their intertwined hands up to her lips and kissing the back of his palm. "Do you think your father is watching you?" She wondered.
Jace would have answered honestly to anyone else, but not her. Truth is, even as a nephilim, he didn't believe in heaven or hell. Only angels and demons. What happened after death, he didn't like to think about. Certainly, he hoped that his father was not watching him.
If his father ever saw how tame he grew around Lyra, he would have been livid.
"I don't know," Jace answered.
Lyra closed her eyes while leaning her mouth and nose on his shoulder. "We will get through this, together." She lifted her face when he lowered himself and began kissing her softly between her words. Her hands wrapped around his shoulders to pull him closer. "I really like you, so whatever happens, can we agree on that much?" She whispers.
Jace pressed her body down into the blanket as he kissed her gingerly. His careful hands roaming her sides only and loving how she shivered under his touch.
"I really like you, too, so I guess it's settled then," He mumbled against her lips.
The kiss deepened, until Jace's phone rang. The two of them pulled apart while he cursed under his breath, pulling out his phone to view the message.
Lyra watched his features instantly turn into a scowl, which made her alert. "What is it?" She asked him, both of them sitting up.
Jace looked up with disbelief and shock on his features. "The Seoul Institute," He revealed slowly, "It's been attacked."
song: the world we made -ruelle
Jace and Lyra stepped out of the elevator hand in hand, walking into total chaos and mayhem.
Nephilim were walking back and forth, people talking over one another. Some were barking orders while others were geared up and leaving to go out into the city. All of the screens had footage playing on repeat of a large explosion that was timed to have happened only three hours earlier.
Maryse and the other heads were arguing over one another about the situation, even Shang and Amelia were there.
So much chaos—it really is scary to watch.
"Stay close," Jace tells Lyra before he squeezed her hand tighter and pulled her along towards one of the monitors.
They pushed passed the crowd to head for the front. Soon, finding Alec and Isabelle already standing there.
"Where the hell have you two been?" Alec snapped once he saw them, as moody as ever since Henry had left.
"We were on patrol," Jace fired back.
"What were you patrolling? Each other?" Alec countered angrily.
"Stop it," Lyra ordered them both and surprisingly, the two men stopped arguing, while she neared Isabelle, "What's happening?"
Isabelle shook her head in disbelief. "An emergency signal came from the Seoul Institute two hours ago. There was a bomb that went off in the residential wing..." She lowered her voice while leaning towards Lyra with worried eyes, "...Where the Darkbloods supposedly live in," She explained.
"The Venatori?" Jace asked.
"No," Alec answered grimly.
They all watched as the screen rewinded again on its own.
The footage had to be a CCTV camera caught a few blocks away. There is a street view with simple traffic and some buildings, but nothing out of the ordinary. Then...in the distance, fire erupted and debris is flying everywhere. Some flew even onto the street, pieces of wood and metal.
The scariest thing is—most Institutes were well-fortified and hidden from mundane eyes. So it looked as though the explosion had come from out of thin air.
Cars stopped and people looked around in the street in confusion.
Lyra's eyes narrowed at the street. "Wait, did you see that?" She reached up to the screen and re-winded the footage. She zoomed in on the very corner of the screen, where only one motorcyclist is visible.
It looked as simple as a man passing through.
But, the man is not wearing a helmet and his face is clear for view of the CCTV camera.
The others squinted their eyes, unable to get a good look from the horrid camera.
"Does he look familiar, or is it just me?" Isabelle asked warily.
"I'll run a facial recognition in our database," Alec said quickly. He began swiping and tapping on the screen.
The footage zoomed in on the blurry face. It cleared the picture up a little more and scanned the features.
Many seconds went by in agonizing anticipation, until the loading bar turned green and the words MATCH FOUND appeared on the screen.
Alec opened the file.
Everyone froze in that moment. The four pairs of eyes as big as saucers and jaws to the floor.
A man, older than them, with familiar handsome features and short dark hair. Everything about him they have known in another.
Kai Darkblood—is what the file blatantly tells them.
Darkblood. Darkblood. Darkblood.
"Oh my god," Isabelle gasped.
Lyra's hand went over her mouth.
Jace scowled.
Meanwhile, Alec felt like he had the biggest epiphany of his life.
"He's not dead," He remembers Henry had told him, "Kai is a rogue."
He had been beating himself over it all this entire time. Trying to piece together the clue that were so obviously in front of him.
Kai is a rogue.
The Institute attacks all around.
The break-in a few weeks ago.
Henry's disappearance.
Alec should have grabbed his friends at that moment. He should have warned them, and they should have ran.
They weren't fast enough.
All of the screens held different camera angles—angles which showed more than just one rider—but seven motorcycles, seven culprits.
Six of them did not wear a helmet.
And the files were beginning to pop up as the database recognized those faces and began pulling up around the room.
Bae Darkblood.
Sam Darkblood.
Jaehwa Darkblood.
Lucas Darkblood.
Johnny Darkblood.
There is one motorcycle in the middle of them all, a helmet firmly on his head.
Only Alec, Jace, Lyra, and Isabelle could recognize that katana strapped on his back without thinking twice.
That one—without a doubt—is Henry.
And if they figured it out, it wouldn't be long until everyone else did, too.
All eyes in the room went to Shang as silence filled the room. The one man who looked about ready to explode.
"Go..." Alec ordered his friends, pushing them back, "...We need to go, now!" He hissed at them.
Jace grabbed Lyra and Isabelle, pushing them forward as they pushed through the crowd to hurry.
They needed to find Henry, now.
Alec looked back just as Shang stood up from his seat and un-glamoured the jagged sword on his back. His eyes already on them with a furious rage that had everyone parting the way for him.
"Bring me my sons!" He roared, making everyone shrink back.
Alec shut the door behind him, disappearing into the mundane world. An urgency like never before coming over him—not only for himself, but for the man his heart yearned for.
Henry, he thought to himself, what have you gotten yourself into?
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thoughts?