3+ comments/votes for the next chapter guys! It's going to be a big one ;)
I just got done watching the season finale of Shadowhunters. I can't wait for season two! Thank you to those who commented and voted last chapter! Also, apparently 70% of you guys are from The United States (That's so cool!) so I apologise if some of my spelling annoys you! (mum, colour etc.)
'Clary!'
Clary stopped in her tracks at the sound of her name being called.
'Where are you going?' Jace looked confused. It was only early, not even nine a.m and Clary was dressed ready to leave for the day. She hadn't counted on Jace being an early riser. A sigh left her lips.
'I'm going to talk to Luke. Magnus said he's better so I'm going to get answers.'
'You were just going to leave without telling anyone?' Alec appeared beside Jace with his arms crossed.
'I was going to text Jace. Once I'd left.' Clary shrugged unapologetically.
'Clary don't be stupid. It's not safe. We'll come with you.' Jace offered.
Clary's phone rang, interrupting Jace's reply. 'Magnus?' She asked in confusion after seeing the caller ID.
'Hello biscuit, are you looking for Luke?' Something in his tone told Clary that he already knew the answer.
'Yeah... how did you know?' The suspicion in her tone caught Jace and Alec's attention.
She heard Magnus laugh. 'Call it intuition. Come by my lair.'
'Magnus, I can't. I need to see-'
'Luke, who coincidentally is sitting on my couch. So again, come by my lair biscuit.' He hung up.
'Change of plan. I'm going to see Magnus.'
'You can't leave the institute.' Alec's stern voice called.
'At least not without us.' Isabelle spoke from behind Clary causing her to jump slightly in surprise.
'Fine. But I need to see him so can we hurry please?'
'Looks like we're all ready to go.' Isabelle nodded at Jace's words while Alec shook his head.
'I can't go. Not yet. I have to report to the clave with Mum and Dad in half an hour.'
'Fine. Meet us there when you're done.' Alec nodded at Jace.
'Let's go.'
*****
Adelaide huffed in annoyance as the rune on her neck stung again.
'Why is this happening now.' She muttered angrily under her breath as she watched Magnus and Luke speak from her position on the counter.
'Something bothering you sunshine?' Magnus made his way to her, Luke trailing behind quietly, watching with cautious eyes.
'The parabatai rune, it's burning. It can't be Izzy because that means our bond has been restored, but it hasn't.'
Magnus' face was grim. 'I warned you when you asked me to help you break the parabatai bond that there would be consequences.'
'It's been over a year since that night Magnus, why now?' Adelaide winced as another bolt of pain shot through her.
'Could be because Isabelle Lightwood is coming towards this building as we speak. You broke the bond so you're being punished for being near her.' Luke suggested. At Adelaide's surprised look he added 'Clary told me everything.'
Adelaide nodded at Luke. She had decided she liked him. 'What the hell am I supposed to say to her Magnus?' She asked as she looked to her friend.
'I don't know Addy, that's up to you. Saying hello usually works.' Adelaide rolled her eyes at the cheeky response.
Adelaide groaned, peering at her rune in the front facing camera on her phone. The usually dull rune was angry and red and every few minutes it would throb painfully.
'They're here.' Luke commented, drawing Adelaide's attention.
Adelaide took that as her cue to make herself scarce, placing herself in the room connected to Magnus' living room that was situated closest to the front door, so she couldn't be seen by anyone entering the lair.
'Hi Magnus.' Clary smiled at the warlock as she entered his home.
'Hello shadowhunters. There seems to be one of you missing.' Magnus commented as he shut the door behind his guests.
'Alec was busy, he'll be here later.' Clary commented as she pulled away from Luke's hug.
'Alright, onto the first order of business then.' Magnus clapped his hands together.
'Wait, I just came to talk to Luke?' Clary questioned.
'I know, but before you do that within the privacy of my home, there is someone here who needs to be clued in on our little secret.' Magnus' tone was thick with implications.
Jace swallowed, trying not to meet Isabelle's confused eyes. Slowly, Clary, Luke and Magnus all turned to Isabelle, who had her back facing the front door.
'Okay, why is everyone staring at me? What did I do? If this is about Meliorn –'
'Izzy?'
Isabelle's words cut off in a gasp as she whirled to face the owner of the voice that had spoken behind her, her whip automatically unfurling at her side.
*****
Alec nodded to his parents one last time as he left the main office of the institute.
A sigh of relief left his lips as his rigid shoulders slumped. He was in a sour mood that he wasn't sure anything but training could bring him out of, and he still had to go and find Jace, Clary and Isabelle. The meeting had been less of a meeting and more of an interrogation. The clave and his own parents had questioned his knowledge of the whereabouts of the mortal cup. They seemed to think he was hiding something from them and it annoyed him to no end. They had little faith in him as a leader and a son, though as of late he really couldn't blame them.
Everything, everything he'd ever known had started to crumble in front of him after he'd lost Adelaide. Alec didn't see the fun side in anything anymore and he knew him putting his trust in the law annoyed both Isabelle and Jace. Even though Alec had changed, the two of them remained constants in his life and for that he was beyond grateful. Without her knowing it even Clary had become somewhat of a constant in his life, a constant pain in his ass sure, but a constant nonetheless.
Alec didn't like Clary much. He didn't hate her but he did find her remarkably annoying with her constant chatter and her inquisitive nature. Up until recently he'd thought himself in love with his parabatai, who in turn seemed to have strong affections for Clary who was Valentines daughter. At first he'd been jealous of her and the way Jace clearly felt about her but he was beginning to realise that while he loved Jace, he wasn't necessarily in love with him. Jace was safe and familiar and Alec could use someone like that in his life. No, his feelings for Jace were purely that of family, Atleast they were now anyway.
Clary being Valentine's daughter had unsettled him in the beginning. He had no trust for the girl in the first place and then suddenly everything seemed to be going wrong and he couldn't do much to stop it. In his eyes it was a little too convenient, the timing of it all. But Alec was also beginning to realise that Clary hated Valentine as much as any of them. He had ruined her mother's life and then taken her from Clary who at the time had no knowledge of the shadow world. She had adapted remarkably well, he admitted to himself grudgingly.
Alec reached his destination and pulled his leather jacket off the back of his bedroom door roughly, placing his stele in his pocket. He thought about texting Jace to let him know he was on his way but decided it wasn't really necessary.
They were only meeting Luke after all.
*****
Adelaide crept silently out of her hiding spot as Magnus spoke, eyeing the dark haired girl's back as she got closer. Adelaide thought for a fleeting moment that it was Maryse in front of her but quickly dismissed it after spotting the bracelet adoring the person's wrist. Maryse favoured seraph blade's over whips.
'Okay, why is everyone staring at me? What did I do? If this is about Meliorn –'
Adelaide almost laughed. Meliorn. A seelie name. Same old Isabelle, she thought.
'Izzy?' Adelaide swallowed the lump in her throat and ignored the horrible feeling coming from the parabatai bond as she spoke, her voice shaking slightly.
Isabelle turned around, choking on a gasp as he whip unfurled from her bracelet.
Adelaide took in the younger girl, noting the less showy clothing she was wearing. She'd grown taller and her hair was longer, hanging sleekly halfway down her back, now tied into a neat ponytail. She looked so different and yet so much the same. Adelaide's eyes were drawn to the parabatai rune, the guilt settling heavily in her stomach as she noticed how faded and broken it was.
Isabelle could hardly believe her eyes, she felt her throat close up and her whip dropped to the floor as her hands went slack. The other girl looked back at her with familiar dark eyes.
An uncharacteristic sob came out of Isabelle's mouth as her eyes misted over with tears. 'Adelaide, oh my god, Adelaide!'
Isabelle launched herself at the taller girl, clinging onto her tightly. She didn't know how it was possible that Adelaide was alive and in that very moment she just didn't care. She'd spent the last twelve months praying and wishing for a miracle and here it was in front of her. She wasn't going to turn away at the opportunity to hug her best friend again. The familiar scent of Adelaide's perfume and shampoo assaulted her senses as she clung onto her old friend, tears dripping down her cheeks gently.
'Isabelle.' Adelaide whispered as she hugged Izzy. Her reaction was more than she had hoped for, more than she had ever allowed herself to hope for and she was overcome with emotion because of it. The two girls weren't highly emotional people but in that moment they cried together as they gripped each other tightly.
Isabelle pulled away from the embrace. 'It's really you.' She said in an awed and slightly stunned tone.
Adelaide laughed, wiping the moisture off of her cheeks. 'It is. It's me, Iz.'
'I don't even know how it's possible, and I'm so angry at you for not showing up sooner but I'm so relieved you're alive that none of it matters right now.' Isabelle ranted, much to Adelaide's amusement, a smile playing on her lips.
Clary watched the two girls with a smile on her own face, happy for Adelaide that Izzy was taking the news much better than Jace had.
'You have to come back to the institute immediately! Wait until everyone finds out-'
'Izzy...' Adelaide started.
Isabelle ignored Adelaide, continuing her speech as if she hadn't heard her.
'Isabelle.' Adelaide tried again.
Isabelle stopped talking as a thought occurred to her. 'Oh my god, Alec.' Isabelle looked at the people in the room with wide eyes.
'How are we going to tell him?' Isabelle asked while Adelaide stayed silent. Though she was happy to see Isabelle the uneasy feeling that had settled onto her entire body when she'd woken up only seemed to deepen at the mention of the eldest lightwood child's name.
'We aren't going to tell him until he's in his right frame of mind, okay Izzy? He's been under a lot of pressure from the clave because of us; we can't drop a bomb this big on him right now.' Jace stated from in front of Adelaide who nodded at his words.
'Jace is right. We have to wait until we're not under so much suspicion from the clave.' Clary added as Isabelle nodded.
'So we're all agreed then?' Jace asked looking at everyone in the room. It didn't escape Adelaide's notice that he refused to meet her gaze.
'Agreed.' Isabelle spoke. 'What Alec doesn't know won't hurt him.' She added.
Adelaide nodded at Isabelle's words until she noticed the deer-in-headlights expression on her face and the guilty looks on everyone else's faces, except for Luke who was surveying the scene with bright green eyes and Magnus who looked mildly amused.
'I should have made popcorn' He mouthed to her.
Adelaide frowned in confusion, giving Magnus a weird look that clearly stated 'What are you on about?'
Before Adelaide could question Magnus a chill crept up her spine and she froze alongside the others.
'And just what are you all planning on keeping from me, Isabelle?' The familiar voice sounded from behind her, sounding angrier and colder than she'd ever heard it. She felt as if she'd been doused in ice water; trapped like an animal, frozen and afraid.
No one spoke.
Adelaide took a shaky breath, and closed her eyes. She couldn't hide behind the smokescreen she'd created any longer. This was it.
It's now or never.