Looking at the Clary's necklace which he held up in front of him, Jace turned to the red haired girl.
"And he spoke to you?" He asked, earning a nod as response from the clearly shaken girl.
"He said my name. He said 'Your mother for the Cup. '" Clary replied.
"Who said that?" A voice spoke out, startling Clary who turned around with Jace to find Alec enter the room.
"Valentine." The couple answered simultaneously.
"He's with my mother.." Clary added.
"And he can speak to you through your necklace?" The eldest Lightwood sibling walked in further. "Here in the Institute?"
"A portal shard." Jace spoke up while inspecting the necklace in his hands. "That's why your mother made sure you had it." He turned to Clary.
"All I know is what I saw and that is my mother. She's unconscious but she's alive." She said turning from the blonde male to the dark haired male.
"Where are they?" Alec question with no emotion.
"I don't know.." Clary shook her head with a frown etching onto her face.
"Yet you said that you saw them." Alec arched an eyebrow, beginning to interrogate her on what exactly she saw in her vision.
"I don't remember.." Clary responded as Jace stepped closer, looking at his parabatai.
"Alec, lighten up." He said.
Glancing from his parabatai, Alec looked down at the red haired girl again. "Clary, what exactly did you see?" He asked with a softer but still stern tone.
"I told you that I just saw Valentine with my mother!" The girl glared up at him.
"Emotions are nothing but a distraction." Alec stepped closer. "You're ruled by them. We are taught to control them." He continued.
"Yeah?" Clary scoffed. "How's that working out for you?" She rolled her eyes.
Jace sighed heavily, knowing that there was an argument between Alec and Clary waiting to happen.
"It's my job to protect the Institute. If Valentine can see into it, it's a door that I have to shut." Alec fired back which silenced the girl. "Now," He held his hand out to Jace. "Let me take a look at that thing."
Jace hesitated but dropped the necklace into Alec's hand. Alec, taking hold of it, glanced at the jewel before looking at both Jace and Clary. "Now it's in the proper hands." He said before walking out of the room.
"Hey!" Clary yelled and ran after Alec with Jace in tow.
Looking up from their positions at the monitors, Allison and Aaliyah watched their brothers and Clary walk past with Clary obviously arguing with the dark haired male.
"Why won't those idiots let me kill her?" Allison groaned.
Aaliyah smirked at her best friend in amusement although she silently agreed with her.
"Seriously, what good has ever happened since she got here?" The blonde asked.
"For one, Jace isn't interested in himself as much now that she's arrived." Aaliyah replied causing Allison to look at her best friend.
"But he's always around her now, stuck by her side and following her around like a little lost puppy." The younger Wayland twin rolled her eyes. "Doesn't that bother you in the slightest?" She sat down next to the dark haired girl.
Aaliyah stood silent for a moment, the night's events replaying in her head. She shook a head with a frown. "It doesn't matter what I think." She answered softly.
Allison frowned softly. "Liyah.." She sighed lightly. "I am so sorry, I didn't mean to upset you.." She apologised, knowing her best friend's situation with her twin.
"You didn't, I'm fine." A smile was now on Aaliyah's face but Allison saw right through it.
The following morning, all three girls - Allison, Isabelle and Aaliyah- walked through the halls and found Clary sitting by herself.
"There you are." Isabelle smiled lightly walking over, Allison and Aaliyah keeping their distance.
"I saw my Mom." Clary said looking up to the raven haired girl. "And then your brother--" Isabelle cut her off.
"I heard. Liyah told me." The raven haired woman said with a small smile.
Clary looked at the short girl before returning her gaze to Isabelle who took a seat next to her.
"Believe me, there were many times where I wanted to kill Alec." The older twin said with a roll of her eyes and smiled softly. "I know he can be a pain in the ass but he means well." She tried reasoning.
"I'll take the risk on my own." Clary responded.
"But you're not on your own. You are part of us now." Isabelle said softly.
"Yeah, right." Allison muttered under her breath.
Changing the subject, Isabelle's bright smile was back. "Tell me what's your Mom like."
Clary laughed slightly. "She's kind, fun, the kind of person you always want to be around." A smile came to the girl's face as she spoke about her mother. "My friends would always want to hang out at my house just to be around her."
The girls laughed. "She sounds more like a friend than a mom." Isabelle smiled.
"She's both." Clary answered.
Smiling, Isabelle took her hand, pulling her up. "Walk with us. Tell me everything about her." She said as they walked ahead of Allison and Aaliyah.
"Great, she's coming with us.." Allison muttered again as she followed them alongside Aaliyah.
Walking towards the elevators, the four girls paused when they saw the doors to the Institute open.
A woman walked in, wearing a black dress with a black jacket over, black heels and her dark black hair pulled back into a sleek ponytail. She had a stern look on her face as she walked closer to the four girls.
Clary noticed Isabelle has tensed up at the woman's presence, Aaliyah turned her gaze to the floor and Allison stayed quiet.
What she also noticed was the similarities that this woman shared with the dark haired twins.
"Isabelle." The woman greeted and looked the younger woman up and down. "Dressed to impress I see." She commented. "And playing with the family heirlooms."
Clary decided to break the obvious introduced herself. "Clary Fairchild, you look just like your mother." The woman noted, cutting the red head off before she could continue further with her introduction.
"How is Max? We all miss him?" Aaliyah spoke up for the first time.
"Little brother, cute but clingy." Isabelle grinned.
"Robert is picking him up at the Mumbai Institute." The woman answered. "Where is Jace? We have a situation that has to be handled now." She said pushing past Isabelle and Clary and walked past Allison and Aaliyah.
Clary watched the woman walk off in shock.
"That's my Mom." Isabelle said. She looked at Clary, giving a slight smile before following Allison and Aaliyah who were behind her mother to the training area.
Upon arrival the girls found the woman watching Jace as he practiced.
"Is your Mom always like that?" Clary whispered to Isabelle. "She didn't even hug you."
Isabelle gave the red head a small smile. "Shadowhunters aren't big huggers."
Jace, feeling presences in the room with him, turned and smiled seeing the familiar woman who he hadn't seen in a while. "Maryse."
He got up and walked to her as she opened her arms for a hug, a smile gracing her features. "It's good to see you." The blonde male said, hugging her.
Clary watched the two converse and looked at Isabelle and Aaliyah with sympathy.
"Mother." Alec stepped into the room. "Welcome back." He walked over, hugging Maryse.
"We weren't expecting you." He added, kissing her cheek.
"You should be prepared, whether you expect me or not." Maryse said sternly, stepping back after greeting her son.
"I am." Alec said. "We are." He looked at the other four.
"We will talk about the Institute later." Maryse said, watching the younger Shadowhunters stand in front of her. "Right now we have a bigger problem."
"The Seelies have stopped communicating with The Clave and won't explain why." The elder woman walked up and down, looking at each of them sternly. "My guess is that they are still upset that we asked them to send scouts to look for Valentine, but no one in the realm will talk."
"I have Seelie friends." Isabelle spoke up quietly.
"Yes, I know about your friends." Maryse answered her eldest daughter. "Isabelle." She stood in front of her. "We stay separate from the Downworld for good reasons. The wrong move, wrong word; do you think that there is such a thing called harmless rebellion?"
Isabelle looked at her mother and stayed silent, turning her gaze to the floor.
"Who knows what offends these creatures. Maybe you told him..." Maryse then corrected herself. "Them something that they shouldn't know." Maryse held a firm gaze with her second eldest, the rest looking at Isabelle silently with apologetic eyes.
"Wait." Jace interrupted. "I don't understand. You're laying this all on Izzy for having a friend in the Downworld?" He asked which caused Maryse to step closer to him.
"When someone upsets the natural order, everything falls apart." She answered.
"Natural order? What are you saying?" Clary looked at the elder dark haired woman.
"I can help." Isabelle said, causing Maryse to shift her gaze back to her daughter. "I know how to talk to Seelies." She finished.
"She's right. She can visit with Meliorn and see what he knows." Alec looked at his sister then to their mother. "I can go with her if you want."
Maryse looked at her eldest before patting Jace's shoulder. "I'd rather Jace go with her this time."
"Alec, you stay with the Fairchild girl. I want her under control. She has caused enough trouble already." Maryse looked at him.
"Well maybe that's because I wasn't even a Shadowhunter until a few days ago." The red head looked at her.
Aaliyah looked between Clary and her mother nervously while Allison shook her head with a slight smirk.
"Bitch move." The blonde female muttered under her breath.
Maryse, unphased by Clary's comment, looked at her. "And what an exciting few days it has been." She answered sarcastically, silencing the girl immediately.
Turning her attention back to the group, Maryse spoke again. "The Clave counts on us Lightwoods to maintain order here."
"No need to tell me that." Alec said. "The mission is important to The Clave, I'd prefer being the one going with Isabelle." Maryse closed her eyes, giving an unamused smile at her son.
"You are all so eager to do what you would prefer." She replied sternly. "It's time to face the truth. Life is not about what you want to do, it's about what must be done." She raised her voice slightly. "I have given you your assignments, now carry them out!"
She pointed to Jace and Isabelle. "You and you with me now." And turned on her heels, walking off with Jace and Isabelle in tow.
The last four watched them follow Maryse. Allison sighed heavily.
"Maryse is definitely back." She said softly as she kept her eyes on her twin.
Clary looked at Alec. "That was a window into the weird." She frowned. "What did you do to piss off your Mom?" She asked him.
"Did she really?" Allison formed her fists with Aaliyah glaring.
Alec gave them a look before looking down at the red head. "If I had to guess, for a start, all those unsanctioned missions on your behalf that weren't reported to The Clave." He glared, leaving the room.
Allison frowned at his retreating figure and felt Aaliyah touch her shoulder. She looked at her best friend.
"Go." Aaliyah said with a small smile. The blonde girl smiled gratefully and followed the eldest Lightwood sibling.
Jace stepped out of the elevator only to be stopped by Aaliyah. "Hey... Do you mind if I speak with you for a minute?" She asked.
"Sure." The blonde male agreed, following Aaliyah as he adjusted his gloves.
They walked to the passage where they faced each other. Jace noticed that the youngest Lightwood twin wasn't trying to make eye contact with him. "Liyah?" He frowned. "Are you okay?"
"I..." She sighed heavily before looking up at him with nervous eyes. "You have every right to be mad at me." She said softly.
Jace frowned softly before smiling. "It can't be that bad unless you put my favourite leather jacket in the washing machine." He joked.
"Jace." Aaliyah closed her eyes and sighed again. "Back at Magnus'," She reopened her eyes, looking up at him again. "The demon, the image of you..." She trailed off.
"Is it about that?" Jace caught on to what she was trying to say. "What happened back there, is that what you want to talk about?" He asked with a soft smile.
Aaliyah bit her lip nervously and nodded her head.
"You love me. So? I love you too, Liyah." He smiled at her. The short, dark haired girl looked up at him with a glimmer of hope but his next words hurt her to the core, all hope gone. "You're my sister."
Tears threatened to fall from her eyes but she held them back.
"We've spent almost our whole lives together. How could we not love each other?" He continued. "Was that really bothering you?" He tried to make eye contact but Aaliyah looked anywhere but at him.
Finally looking at him, she forced her bright smile. "Yeah. I just thought that you'd think..." She trailed before shaking her head.
"Nevermind. Uh, Izzy is probably waiting for you..." She made a move to walk but Jace caught hold of her hand.
"Hey, we're okay right?" He asked.
Aaliyah, still hiding her emotions behind a smile, nodded. "Yeah. Never better."
Jace smiled at her and pulled her into a hug. "I'll see you guys later." He said before letting go and walking off.
Aaliyah stood in her spot, watching his retreating figure as silent tears fell down her face.
"Sister." She whispered before wiping her tears and getting back to work.
"You okay?" Allison walked up to Alec after their sparring session. "It was kind of rough earlier with your Mom." She massaged his shoulders.
"I'm fine, Ally." He replied.
"Alec." Allison stepped around him and gave him a look. "You want to please your parents, I get that but--"
"But nothing." Alec cut her off. "I'm going to obey orders this time."
The blonde female sighed, opening her mouth to fire back at him but stopped hearing Clary enter the training area.
Alec looked at the red head and stepped away from Allison, grabbing a staff and tossed it at her.
Clary spun the staff around with a sigh. "Looks like we're stuck with each other. If what it's worth, I think your Mom was too tough on you out there." She looked at Alec as he took a staff for himself.
"Mothers are tough." He replied, standing in front of her.
"Mine's not." She frowned, causing Alec to look at her. "Knock me on my ass. It will make you feel better."
Alec smirked slightly. "I'd like to say that you're right about something."
Allison smirked and stepped out of the way, watching the two.
The two began sparring, Clary making blows and Alec deflecting them. She kicked Alec's staff from his hands and swung at him, causing Alec to fall to his knee, dodging her swing.
The red head swung again, this time, Alec swung himself around, grabbing her staff and got to his feet, flipping Clary over onto her back.
"That didn't take much." Allison commented.
Alec shot the blonde a smirk before helping Clary to her feet. "You need to work on your defense."
"You know, we can still find Valentine. I might know a way." Clary looked at him and continued. "My mother hid a lot from me but I did see something. There's a box. She didn't think I knew about it but she opened it once a year and cried."
Alec arched an eyebrow. "Because?"
"It belonged to my father. It had his initials, J. C." She said.
"Your father is Valentine. So why J. C?" Allison folded her arms walking over to them.
"Because for 18 years she told me that his name was Jonathan Clarke. It was a lie but whatever was in that box meant a lot to her. Maybe there is something inside that can help us track him." She looked at them.
"Where do we find the box?" Alec asked.
"I thinks it's still at the loft. Let's go get it." Clary smiled.
Alec looked at her and shook his head. "Absolutely not." He said as his phone began to ring.
He took his phone from his pocket and answered while Allison took the staffs and packed them away.
While the two were distracted, Clary took this as her chance and snuck away.
Standing on the sidewalk in the city, Clary heard her phone ring in her bag. She then heard two familiar voices behind her.
"What's the point of an invisibility rune if you can't silence your phone?" Alec asked.
"Seriously?" Allison rolled her eyes.
Clary proceeded to ignore them as she focused on finding her phone. Finding it, she answered. "Simon, hey." She stood further away from them as she spoke to her best friend.
Alec gritted his teeth and gave Allison a look before they both stood next to Clary. Alec beginning to get fed up, looked at Clary.
"Hang up." He said.
Once Clary got off the phone, she looked at Alec pointedly. "Why do you always look so miserable?" She asked him.
"I don't." He said.
"You do." She fired back. "Whatever, we have a box to find." She walked after patting his shoulder.
Alec looked at her, then to Allison. Sighing, they followed.
"This better be quick." He said.
Metting with Simon, he led them to the loft through his shortcut. After climbing a fire escape, Simon smiled at Clary.
"You're getting better at this." He commented.
"I could say the same about you." She smiled.
Alec rolled his eyes. "Climbing fire escapes excites mundanes." He scoffed. "I will never understand these people."
Allison rolled her eyes "You and I both." She walked beside Alec as they followed Simon and Clary.
Alec kept his eyes on their surroundings, watching out for any potential danger until he heard Clary struggle with the door.
He narrowed his eyes when Simon managed to break the lock.
"Mundanes shouldn't be able to do that." Allison whispered to him. Alec nodded and walked inside with her.
Immediately, both Allison and Alec began searching around the loft. Searching himself, Simon paused as he stepped on a certain part of the floor board.
"Guys, the floor. It sounds different on these two parts." He stepped on them. "Can you hear it?" He crouched down and began tapping his fingers on the floor before taking a piece out.
Alec stepped forward, pushing Simon away slightly. "Out of the way."
"You're welcome." Simon said as he stood next to Clary and watched Alec inspect what was hidden underneath the floor boards.
"Anything?" Allison asked.
"There is definitely something down here." He answered before finally pulling out a box.
He handed it over to Clary. "Is this the box?"
Clary looked at it and nodded her head. "Yeah."
"Let's open it." Simon said. Clary looked at him and opened the box, revealing two items, one being a baby shoe.
"What?" The red head looked at the items with confusion.
Suddenly, rattling could be heard from within the loft.
"Someone's here." Alec said and turned to Clary. "Get what you need and do not move until I get back." He said and looked at Allison. "Stay with them."
"Are you insane? You must not know me at all, Alec." The blonde glared slightly. "I'm coming with you." She pushed past him. Alec gritted his teeth and followed her out.
Jumping down the fire escape, both Alec and Allison stood back to back, looking at their surroundings. Narrowing his eyes as he heard what sounded like growling, Alec decloaked his quiver and bow while Allison took out her sword.
Rustling caused the two to turn to the bushes. Alec pulled and arrow out of his quiver and drew it back through his bow. He moved towards the bushes slowly with Allison behind him. The two continued to hear growling and rustling of the bushes.
As he neared, Alec saw something black move past him, the growling still ongoing. The rustling was now coming from different directions.
"Where the hell is this thing? It's pissing me off." Allison gritted out as her eyes darted in the directions of the rustling.
"Keep your eyes open." Alec replied, gripping his bow.
Hearing a slight movement, Alec saw the same black figure and shot his arrow.
He missed, knocking over a pot plant. Gritting his teeth at the miss, he managed to see that the figure was in fact a wolf which had escaped both him and Allison.
"Alec, we have a problem." Allison called out.
Alec looked at her and saw what she was looking at which was both Simon and Clary being shoved into a car by two men. The two ran forward in order to stop them but the car had already sped off.
"Dammit!" Allison formed her fists while Alec gripped his hair out of frustration.
He promised Jace that he'd protect Clary. His best friend will be so pissed at him.
It had been almost a half an hour since Clary was taken and Alec paced the room. Grabbing the nearest thing next to him which was a drawer, he tossed it at the wall.
"Alec!" Aaliyah yelled at her brother. She has gotten there moments ago after Allison called her. "Throwing things around is not going to help." She said.
The eldest Lightwood continued to pace, ignoring his youngest sister.
"Alec, calm down." Allison grabbed his arm gently.
Suddenly, the door opened and Jace stormed in with Isabelle behind him. He looked around the room and walked up to Alec. "Where is she? Where is Clary?" He asked.
Alec looked at his parabatai, already feeling enough guilt as it is. "She's gone." He answered.
"What do you mean 'gone'?" Isabelle stepped forward looking at her brother.
"She and Simon got arrested when Allison and I were securing the fire escape--" Alec was cut off by Jace.
"The mundane was here?" He gritted his teeth.
"Simon was here too?" Isabelle asked.
"It was an unmarked car. I don't know where they took her." Alec replied.
Jace took a step closer, looking Alec in the eye. "What did you do, Alec?" He asked.
When he got no response, Jace stormed out of the room, Isabelle in tow grabbing the bag off the bed.
"That went better than I expected." Allison let out her breath that she had been holding since Jace entered.
She and Aaliyah followed Jace and Isabelle out, Alec gritting his teeth before catching up.
Standing outside, Jace tried tracking Clary alone but failed." Dammit! She's not showing." He turned to Alec. "We need to Parabatai Track."
After tracing a rune on Alec's hand with his stele, the two joined hands and tried tracking Clary once again. It failed.
"Alec, concentrate." Jace said before they tried once more. It failed again. "Alec!" The blonde male gritted.
"I'm doing it. She's not showing up." Alec replied.
"Just like I thought. She wasn't arrested." Isabelle called out but this seemed to infuriate Jace even more than he already was.
He stepped towards Alec again. "It was your job to protect her!" He gritted, glaring at the dark haired male.
"I did my best, Jace." Alec said calmly.
"Maybe your mother was right. Maybe your best just isn't good enough." The blonde fired back.
"Jace!" Allison yelled and glared at her twin.
Alec looked at his best friend. "Are you serious? Are you so blind about your feelings for Clary that you've lost sight of us?" He asked and sighed. "Look, Clary snuck out and I went after her to protect her. I did nothing you haven't done a thousand times before."
"Yes, you did. You lost her." Jace answered with fire in his eyes.
"Enough! Both of you!" Isabelle yelled. "You really think fighting is going to get Clary back?" She looked between the two boys.
"Not that I want her back but what does it matter?" Allison added.
Jace gritted his teeth looking at the girls then back to his parabatai, who gave him one last glance before walking off.
After receiving a call from Simon, the five Shadowhunters headed towards the Jade Wolf restaurant at the docks.
Arriving, Jace and Alec saw Clary slung over a man's shoulder. Jace immediately knocked him off balance which allowed him to let go of Clary, who was caught by Alec. As the man was about to get back to his feet, Jace knocked him out.
He looked at the red head. "You okay?"
Clary nodded. "I will be after we find Simon."
Jace gave a short nod and left with them.
They met up with the girls who had Simon with them. "Yeah, hate to break up this lovely reunion but we've got werewolves on our asses." Allison called out.
"Wait, my backpack?" Clary asked.
"We got it." Aaliyah answered.
"Cool then let's go." Simon said, walking but was immediately stopped by Isabelle.
"Simon, whatever you do, don't make any sudden movements." She warned softly.
Growling was heard and through the thick mist, glowing green eyes could be seen. Surrounding both Clary and Simon, Jace and Allison took out their swords, Aaliyah disbanded her staff using it as twin swords, Isabelle flung her whip and Alec drew back an arrow.
"We're surrounded." The hazel eyed male noted.
They heard a door open, and saw a wolf slightly larger than the rest emerged.
"Everyone get back! That's the Alpha!" Jace instructed keeping his eyes on the Alpha.
The wolf charged towards the group but was stopped by another which tackled it down.
The group watched the two wolves, hearing the growls and yelps.
"He's challenging the Alpha." Alec said.
"He's helping us." Clary spoke from behind Jace.
"Or cutting in line to kill us!" Simon added.
"Shut it mundane before I cut in line and kill you." Allison snapped.
A humming was heard as crates fell over, which caused the group to walk over slowly. As they rounded, they saw a bloodied body on the ground.
"The Alpha's dead." Isabelle looked at the body.
A wolf appeared, next to the body just seconds after and transformed back into the man that Jace had knocked out.
Clary looked at him in shock. "What the hell, Luke?" She asked.
Howling pierced the night sky, causing the group to look at the remaining wolves as they all transformed back to their human forms, and got onto one knee, bowing down.
"What's happening?" Clary asked as she watched this happen.
"When a werewolf kills the Alpha, he becomes the new Alpha. Your friend Luke is the leader of the pack now."
Clary smiled slightly at Luke but ran forward, with Simon, as he lost balance. Jace moved forward to help but Alec grabbed his arm.
"We need to get Clary back to the Institute and stay out of Downwolder business." The eldest Lightwood sibling said.
"Why don't you stay out of it?" Jace fired back. "I'm going to help Clary.
Alec grabbed his shoulder. "We need to report back to our mother." Jace gritted his teeth.
"Well you, Allison and the twins can do that." He gave a look. "I will be fine on my own." With that, he walked over to Simon and Clary and helped them with Luke.
The remaining four watched their retreating figures. Allison frowning at her twin before turning to the eldest Lightwood sibling.
"Are you two okay?" She asked quietly causing the twins to look at their older brother and back to Jace.
Alec watched Jace's figure with an unreadable expression. "I don't know anymore."