«——— CHAPTER ONE———»
COLD BONES
HE DIDN'T REALLY KNOW WHO HE WAS LOOKING FOR but he knew he would know when he saw them.
She had told him so much... explained everything about them. He could envision them in his mind. He had no doubt, while he was storming into the New York Institute with nothing more than a slip of paper that they would believe him.
They had to.
By the Angel, he hoped they would.
He maneuvered through the busybodies, shoving past them like a football player.
His spastic shuffling around the institute grabbed the attention of a shadowhunter standing guard. The tower of a man walked over with purpose.
Cam tried stepping into the main room when he stopped him, placing a hand on his chest.
"Hey! You can't be here."
"I'm good man!" He held up his visitor's pass. Cameron Karlile printed over a picture of his mug-shot-like photo.
"Only authorized personnel."
"Mayla Stonehart is in danger! You have to let me in!" He snapped, trying to shove passed the guard in his way.
They were there. He could see them. Mayla may have never shown pictures of her friends in New York but the stories and the descriptions. He recognized the Lightwoods gathered in a meeting, looking over the waterways of the city.
Alec, stood up straight from his hunched position. The Shadowhunter's words caught his attention. His sister placed a hand on his arm before walking over with authority.
"Let him through, Raj."
Raj skeptically followed the demand, shoving the brunet away from him and walking back to his post.
"Thank you." Cameron thanked with a sigh, fixing his jacket with a flourish pump, and a glare sent in Raj's direction. He hopped up the stairs, stepping into the main center. "Thank you."
A warlock, the man standing the corner trying to track a pierce of clothing seemed to swivel at the sight of Cameron. "And who are you?"
"Good question." Alec muttered.
"I'm from the Chicago Insitute, I'm here to help you guys look for May before it's too late," Cameron explained.
Lydia raised a brow and he walked over, fishing out the mission report that supposedly had never been sent back, and placed it on the table. "I got this from her a couple of hours ago."
Izzy walked over with a click of her heels, snatching the paper. It was small, charred in the edges, with words inked on it.
Ms. Mayla Stonehart,
The investigative research team of the Chicago Insistute had requested an immediate response to a patrol command at specified coordinates.
40.7037° N, 73.9823° W
Reports of suspicious activity connected to Case #003876. Immediate reach expected. Update is mandatory by 16:00.
"This is May's mission command," Izzy muttered.
"How did you get this?" Alec snapped. He stomped over, swiping the note into his hands.
"She sent it to me."
"Why?"
Cameron blinked at him for a second. He was tall. May mentioned it many times before but having him loom over his figure like he was measly 5'4 or something made him fix his posture.
"Because she's my parabatai." He pulled up his sleeve, revealing a rune printed on his skin, on the inner flesh of his wrist. "And I think she's in danger."
Lydia looked the boy over. She knew of him. Heard about his connection with the Stoneharts, just as many others did. He was almost seen as a traitor himself after Aisling killed herself. If it wasn't for the fact he was a valuable Clave member, who didn't know any better. "Cameron Karlyle, Centurion of the Chicago Institute."
"That's right, Ma'am."
Alec shook his head. "May lost her runes. Yours should be gone too."
"It was gone... it came back."
Magnus hummed in curiosity, wanting to take a closer look at it. He took a step forward, meeting the man's eyes. With a gentle hand he look it over. "It's real. No doubt about that."
Cameron nodded, sending the warlock a curious grin before turning back to the group. "We send each other our mission command's in case something like this goes wrong. We only trust each other at the Chicago Institute."
Alec's eyes looked him over skeptically. "And you think she's in trouble?"
"It's been gone for hours and I haven't even gotten a sign that she's safe. No fire message, no call from a landline-- nothing, and this rune... it means she tried to use it. She's out there trying to contact me."
"Then why isn't the Chicago Institute sending out people?" Isabelle asked.
"Because they never sent May on a patrol mission. Actually, they haven't heard from Mayla in hours. Her stele is untrackable and I can't feel her through my rune." Cameron said with a shaky voice, the thought making his skin crawl. "She's officially been announced as a missing suspect."
"What?!" Alec asked, his shoulder squaring like a beast. His anger fuming like fire.
"Suspect?" Lydia asked. "Why wasn't I made aware of this?"
Cameron looked over at the blonde in a pants suit and blond ponytail. Man, did Mayla describe the people in her life accurately. "I'm not sure. But they've been keeping many people out of the loop since Mayla joined the Chicago Institute. They've been lying."
"The Clave? Lying? Never." Magnus muttered to himself.
Alec sent the warlock a look. "A suspect of what? What do they think she did?"
Cameron rested his hands on his hips exasperatedly at the thought. "Finally joined Valentine and his cause."
"What?"
Izzy sighed, leaning on the table. Of course, they would think that. Why would they trust an all-powerful being they can't control? That was never how the Clave worked.
Isabelle knew more than she led on, a lot more. And from the looks of it, May had only told her secret to very few.
She was a name in a famous prophecy. Mayla was made to be a powerful voice for Downworlders. The one to bring peace to a war between both worlds. And sure, that sounds great. But the Clave never liked not having control over someone like her.
They tried. Watching her, tracking her, keeping an eye on everything that she did. Now that she was MIA they marked her as an enemy.
Mayla, before she disappeared, told Izzy she could handle it on her own.
So much for that...
"So, what? Mayla missing and the Clave won't try to help because they think she's the enemy?" Alec snapped.
Cameron's jaw worked, clenching as he nodded his head. "Basically."
Alec slammed his fists on the table, making the blue hologram of the New York waterways flicker.
"Alec..."
"How do you know this? The Clave hasn't reached out to us at all."
"Mayla Stonehart and Jace Wayland are missing. Two children of the co-founders of the Circle and you think that their first priority is to contact the people they're closest to?" He asked. "We're all under investigation. It's just a matter of time before they start asking questions."
The group shared a look and Alec sunk deeper into the table in front of him, bending down to take a moment to breathe.
This can't be happening. First Jace and now Mayla? How was he supposed to handle this without them? How was he supposed to fix this without their help? He could see it now. Imagine the encouraging words from Jace that would have him focused.
May's caring hand on his arm, grounding him like a lightning rod. But he had neither and it felt like he was sinking.
The hologram changed to display bright red lettering, calling everyone to a meeting in the Heart of the Insitute. Alec huffed out a deep breath.
Lydia scowled, looking closer at the official command she didn't make.
The crowd shifted and all personnel headed out, meeting in the main room where non-other than Maryse Lightwood stood in front of them all. Her raven black hair was neatly behind her and her hands folded together gracefully.
At the sight, Lydia seethed. "What the hell?"
Izzy pulled out her phone, sending a text to Clary to meet her before she'd miss it. It only took a minute for her to join them and Maryse started to speak.
"We are at war. Valentine now has the Mortal Cup, with which he is, no doubt, raising a new army, and some of our own has joined him."
"Looks like the queen's taking back her kingdom," Izzy muttered.
"As a result, the Clave has declared a state of emergency at the Institute. Their first priority is to replace the current leadership, who they have deemed..." The woman's eyes landed on Lydia. "... wholly ineffectual."
Lydia shook her head at the blatant insult.
"It is an honor to introduce the newly appointed head of the New York Institute, Clave representative, Victor Aldertree."
A dark man with a beard and blue, clean suit stepped forward. His expression was menacing-- condescending and he seemed to look down at them with a glimmer in his eye that the group couldn't decipher.
Alec leaned over to whisper to his sister. "Did you know about this?"
"No. But maybe this is why dad went back to Idris."
Lydia shook her head once more. "Maryse went behind my back."
"My fellow Shadowhunters. It's an honor to be here with you all." Aldertree spoke, revealing a British accent with a posh flare in his tone. "We have to find Jace Wayland and Mayla Stonehart. They're Shadowhunter and we don't leave our people behind. The answer to their location may very well lie in this room."
"So, I wanna speak with everyone who went on a mission where Jace and Mayla disappeared." He said, looking to the group that stood front and center.
"Disappeared? May?" Clary asked, turning to the Lightwoods.
"One last thing. Effective immediately, the Institute is on lockdown. But it's only temporary. Let's turn this Institute around."
Aldertree walked away, leaving the crowd to chatter and murmur as they head back to work.
"Mayla's missing?" Clary asked.
"We just found out now."
"Wait, if we're on lockdown, who's out there looking for them?"
"We'll think of something. Don't worry. Jace and Mayla are tough. Valentine will never break them."
«—————»
It smelled of rust and mildew and had her gagging at the taste it left when she opened her mouth to take a breath in.
Her shivering muscles ached from the tense ball she was curled up in. She was wet from the seawater she was pulled out of before she drowned. Cold from the metal cage she sat in and sore from the few beatings she was served for fighting back against some of the runed men that dragged her below deck.
Downworlders of all kinds howled and screamed from their hanging cages on the ceiling and no matter how tightly May clasped her hands over her ears, she couldn't drown out the pain-filled cries.
Though the cement floor of the ship swayed back and forth ever so slightly, she rocked back and forth to keep herself level, her knees to her chest. She needed silence to think. She needed a plan, her next move.
Her attempt at some peace and quiet was disturbed when she suddenly was trampled by the cheering and whooping that filled the room.
Her eyes shot open. She turned around to find the monsters in cages cheering. A couple of Downworlders, ones with a circle rune on their necks, dragged someone into the room. Burley, wide and squared, the men were flicking around the man at their feet.
His hair was long, blond, his arms and chest covered in runes. Mayla gasped, clambering to her feet. "Jace? Jace!"
The blond looked up, his hair falling in his eyes as he was thrown to the ground. "Mayla?"
"Jace! Oh, god. What happened? Where are the others?"
Jace watched the redhead grip the metal bars containing her. His face skewed in confusion.
Why was she here, on the boat? Did Valentine get to her? How did he get the hit on her?
Now that he thought about it, Mayla wasn't there at Camille's apartment with the others.
He didn't answer. He found his second wind, kicking his foot back to kick the monster in the stomach, getting to his feet. He ran over, hands bound together, closer to the cage.
"We need to get you out of here." He said to her, rounding the cage to find the lock. She watched him try to pry it off.
She shook her head. "There's no use, Jace. Where's Clary? Alec? Are they okay?"
He nodded his head, his focus on the lock, trying to rip it apart.
"Jace--!"
He was yanked back by his hair and tossed to the ground. The shadowhunter kicked Jace in the jaw, making the Downworlders in cages cheer.
"Leave him alone! Stop it!" Mayla demanded, the sting hitting her jaw bone.
She tried to take the lock off herself. Even tried a heat spell to melt the metal it was protected by some kind of magic, something that stopped her.
He was pulled up, his bound wrist hung up onto the meathook. The toes of his boots merely swept the floor as the boat tipped left to right. Now, he was nothing more than a punching bag.
With every hit, there was a grunt of pain. Every time Jace looked like he was going to pass out he was dumped with water. Every time the beast hit him took a second to catch his breath Jace screamed out in anger, not letting it break him.
And through it all, all Mayla could do was watch, his pain mirroring within her rib cage. His anger and frustration radiating off Jace soaked into her like venom.
She paced her small cage, feeling utterly useless. The deep ache radiating with her flesh.
The beast growled at Jace. He growled back.
He knew what was happening to the girl beside him. The pain she was feeling, hell-- he knew damn well what she was feeling and he was to tap out, maybe stop the pain for her, knowing that she didn't deserve it but he couldn't back down. She was strong she could handle it. He had to tell himself that so he can get her out of here.
"Enough!" A voice demanded. The rain of fists seized.
Jace panted as Valentine entered the room. "I killed you twice today. You want to go for another round, huh?"
Valentine, the bald sinister man stood close to his son. "You're a born fighter. I like it. Get dressed." The man ran a stele over Jace's healing rune, letting both her and Jace let out a deep breath of relief.
He heard it, turning to the girl's cage. "It's about time we let you out, little warrior."
Her head shot up. The chill in her bones set in her throat. She looked over her shoulder in horror.
"What did you just call me?"
He smirked, motioning for one of his men to open her cage. The metal clanked and the door swayed open. Mayla wondered how he was able to click the lock open so simply.
Clothes were tossed at her feet before the cage shut with a slam, making her jump back.
"You have someone very important waiting for you." Valentine said. "We don't want to keep him waiting for long."
A/n
Okay, wow it's been a minute since I've published.
Life has been kind of crazy for me recently so I'm so so sorry for not posting but I'm going to try to at least get something out every once and a while.
I'm still invested in this story an have so many ideas and all I have to do is write it out.
I hope you guys enjoy the story so far. I hope to publish again soon. <3