Season 1 Episode 13: Morning Star
A deep sigh escaped past Khloe's red-stained lips as she released the tufts of hair she'd been spinning around in her fingers and pushed herself off the wall, favoring instead to anxiously pace the halls until Alec's return.
After the two exchanged some more words they'd decided to split apart in favor of work, Alec had reluctantly gone off to speak to his parents for the first time since the wedding and Khloe had to find her sister to organize the mission to recover the Book of the White.
Thankfully, her task wasn't a hard one, at least not as hard as what Alec was probably dealing with from his parents so she'd managed to quickly finish up and was now waiting.
Upon hearing footsteps approaching, Khloe spun around and smiled happily when she was met with the face of the man who had been consuming her thoughts.
He looked tired and stressed and it hurt Khloe knowing that it was partly her fault.
She grimaced lightly as the two met in the hall. "So I take it they're really mad?" Khloe guessed with a small pout on her lips as dread pooled in her stomach.
He chuckled tiredly and shook his head as he ran his hands over his face, sighing deeply too, letting his shoulders relax. "I've never seen them this mad before," Alec commented.
"I get the feeling that I keep getting you in trouble." Khloe half-heartedly joked as they began slowly making their way down the hall together.
Alec chuckled softly again and shook his head, this time a little more genuine when he laughed. "All jokes aside though, I hope it's nothing time can't fix," she added as she looked back up at him.
Alec looked down at her and smiled softly, stopping in the the middle of the hall which in turn caused Khloe to stop too and face him with a small frown etched into her brows. She didn't get a chance to question him before he was speaking again, reaching down to grab one of her hands. "I don't regret it, in case you were wondering," He said without hesitation.
It hadn't been a thought on her mind but somehow hearing the words help put Khloe's mind and heart at ease. She smiled and stepped closer to him, closing the space between them, placing the hand he had been holding on his chest before she stood up on her tippy toes to press a shy, soft kiss to his lips. "Good." She murmured softly before giving the boy some space again.
He smiled at her before looking both ways down the hall, seeing that it was clear before he placed a hand on Khloe's waist, pulling her as close as he could then leaning down to give her a proper kiss.
Khloe didn't hesitate for a moment to kiss him back, this time without the eyes of everyone in the institute.
Alec's lips were soft against Khloe's red-stained ones and she found herself wanting to do this all day. She wrapped her arms around Alec's neck, holding him close.
Eventually, the two pulled apart for air and Khloe's cheeks flushed pink as she looked down and avoided his eyes upon realizing how close he actually was.
She gently chewed her lower lip and tried to hide her smile. Alec chuckled and gently pushed a strand of her strawberry blond hair back out of her face and behind her ear. "Do you have any idea how long I've wanted to do that for?" He asked her amused.
"Probably just as long as me." She replied as she finally managed to muster up the strength to look up at him and into his eyes.
Alec smiled sheepishly and shrugged. "This isn't how I expected today to go, but i'm definitely glad that it did." He said after a moment.
Khloe nodded in agreement, allowing herself to enjoy the moment for a second longer before she was speaking again. "Yeah, me too." She said as she glanced down the hall, a small crease forming between her brows.
"What are you thinking about?" Alec asked softly as he leaned down a little to catch her gaze again.
"I think I'm finally ready to meet Lydia." She joked lightly, causing Alec to chuckle and shake his head.
"You know, that's entirely fair." He said as he stepped away and grabbed her hand. "I last saw her going toward her office, we might be able to catch her?" Alec suggested since they didn't have anything they needed to be doing right now.
Khloe was silent for a moment as she looked down the hall. Just a few hours ago she swore that she'd never even want to look at the woman and now here she was wanting to go and apologise and thank her. She felt like her head was such a messy whirlwind of emotions right now.
She was finally in a really good place with Alec and Grace but she hadn't even had time to think about her mother and how she felt about her possibly being woken very soon.
With an inward sigh Khloe nodded and they began walking toward the office. One step at a time.
"Can I ask, why the sudden change of heart?" Alec asked as they walked. It was obvious to Khloe that he was still trying to tread carefully on the topic of Lydia and Khloe greatly appreciated it, even though she was okay talking about her.
"I want to thank her." She replied simply and shrugged. "I mean, what's in the past is in the past, she has made up for anything she did in my eyes."
Alec only really seemed to be a little surprised by Khloe's response. She smiled a little to herself before shaking her head and rolling her eyes as they stopped in front of the office door. "What? I don't always bite." She joked lightly before reaching for the handle and swinging the door open, expecting to see Lydia by her desk on the other side.
Instead, she was on the floor passed out and Khloe didn't have to think twice before rushing to her side with Alec close beside her. "Lydia!" She called as she fell to the floor and gently shook her shoulder to try and wake her up.
It wasn't a question as to what her attacker was after and upon looking up to the small, usually hidden, compartment that was now empty her thoughts were confirmed. The cup was gone.
She groaned loudly and her eyes slowly began opening, before they could even open fully she was murmuring a name, one that neither Khloe nor Alec expected to hear.
"Hodge..."
***
"How's Lydia?" Khloe asked Alec as he joined her, Clary, and Jace who were crowded around Izzy as she typed away on the computer in front of her. They were all watching and waiting for her to pull up the surveillance footage for Lydias office.
"Better. Magnus is doing what he can to help her, but it's bad. The cup is missing." He said, a hint of exhaustion in his voice.
Khloe smiled sympathetically and gently placed a hand on his arm to help comfort him.
Jace inhaled deeply and looked to the computer screen, face void of expression. "So is Hodge." He mumbled, almost sounding spiteful.
"Maybe he was attacked too?" Izzy suggested as she selected the right time stamp and the right camera before playing the footage. Khloe bit down on the inside of her cheek, praying that Hodge wasn't the one to attack Lydia, she knew it would kill the three.
"Maybe he was the one who attacked her?" Clary replied as she leaned forward to watch the video closely and as much as Khloe hated to admit it, she agreed with her sister.
"Hodge? No way. We've known him our entire lives." Izzy defended. "He would never do that to us."
Khloe gave Izzy a small sad smile. She'd known the other her entire life and yet there was so much that he'd managed to hide, but for now, she decided to give Hodge the benefit of the doubt, innocent until proven guilty.
The footage was doubled in speed and showed Lydia packing all her things, tidying the office, and finally, right as she was finished, she walked over to where the mortal cup was hidden, opened the compartment, and as she reached in to grab the cup and walk away, she was attacked by Hodge.
He hit her from behind, easily knocking her out before he took the cup for himself and fiddled around with his finger.
"We led him right to the cup," Jace said as he watched the screen.
"We treated him like family, How could he do this to us?" Alec asked in disbelief.
Izzy followed him through the cameras until he stopped right beside Jocelyn's floating body which caused Clary to visibly lose color from her face and her spine to stiffen. Khloe, noticing this leaned closer to her sister and whispered, "She's okay, I already checked."
Clary nodded, the words seemingly calming her a little, enough for her to relax again and turn her attention back to the screen.
Khloe watched him as he anxiously looked around before slipping a ring onto his finger. "Whatever that ring is, it obviously has something to do with it." She mumbled.
"It looks like he's talking to someone," Izzy commented as she watched him.
"And I can bet who it is." Jace practically hissed as he glared at the pixelated form of Hodge.
"Valentine," Clary said as she shook her head in what seemed like disappointment.
The footage showed him presenting the cup out to someone, before he put it back away, hiding it. He spoke for a few seconds longer before he started to pull at the tight collar of his suit that he wore to the wedding, then they watched his punishment rune sizzle off, and just like that, he was free.
"Well, that explains how he deactivated the punishment rune, but it doesn't explain where he got the ring," Alec said, thinking out loud.
"You think someone smuggled it past the wards?" Clary asked as she looked to Jace for an answer.
"Maybe," Jace growled angrily, still glaring at the screen. "Hodge wasn't the only ex-circle member around here." He said as he glanced over at Alec for a moment.
"Watch it, that was completely uncalled for. I understand that you're angry but there is no need to start pointing fingers at the people who raised you." Khloe snapped at Jace.
"Exactly, I know we don't always see eye to eye with our parents but we know they're not traitors," Izzy said as she spun around in her chair enough to look at Jace.
"Really? Isn't that what you just said about Hodge?" He asked and it was clear that his words hurt both the Lightwoods as they now started considering their parents could be traitors. "It would have to be someone we trusted but if there was an intruder inside the institute by now we would have found them?"
Khloe glared at Jace and shook her head. She could tell just by the way that Alec's parents had treated her and Clary that they weren't traitors. She bit down hard on her lower lip as she tried to think of anything that could excuse Maryse and Robert.
"The forsaken attack. It was a perfect cover." Khloe suggested, looking to Alec in hopes to ease his mind.
He looked down at her too and shook his head. He could tell what she was doing and he was thankful for it. "No, we killed that thing and I didn't see the ring." He explained with a small sad smile.
"He didn't have one during the autopsy, but maybe there something in the footage," Izzy said as she switched cameras to the right time, date, and room of the attack.
They watched the attack in double speed and didn't really see anything aside from the forsaken attacking Hodge and Hodge fighting back. Khloe frowned lightly as she watched him hovering over his body for a moment.
"Try the other camera?" She suggested and Izzy nodded, switching cameras, revealing Hodge stealing a ring from the body of the forsaken as he hovered over him.
"So it wasn't just a random attack," Clary said as she looked over at Khloe who nodded in agreement.
"He was just the delivery boy," Jace replied and it was obvious that he was just getting angrier and angrier.
"If he gives that cup to Valentine, he'll create an army of Shadowhunters. with that kind of power behind him, he'll kill thousands."
"He'll kill thousands just trying to create an army," Izzy replied. "Most mundanes won't survive that."
Clary shook her head. " We won't let that happen."
"I'm going to make sure of it," Jace growled once more before storming off and Khloe couldn't help but roll her eyes.
The remaining four shadowhunters stood in their place for a moment as they allowed the information to simmer a little longer. "I'm going to go find Jace," Clary said as she walked out too.
Izzy slowly turned in her chair and sighed softly. "Thanks for defending us Khloe," Izzy said as she reached forward and grabbed her hand, expressing her appreciation.
"You don't need to thank me. Considering how much Jace preaches that we shouldn't let emotions cloud our judgment. it feels like that's exactly what he's doing, but I understand he's under a lot of stress right now." She replied with a shrug.
In all honesty, today had felt like a week and she knew that the day wasn't even half over yet. "I might go check on mom." She said as she gently chewed the inside of her cheek.
"I'll come with you," Alec suggested and Khloe smiled and happily nodded in agreement. "Of course." She said, turning to Izzy and nodded in acknowledgment, saying goodbye before she began to walk away with Alec, she definitely didn't miss the cheeky wink Izzy sent in her direction.
Once again, the two shadowhunters walked through the halls of the institute and toward where her mother was currently resting. "Today just keeps getting more and more exciting." Alec joked half-heartedly.
"I was thinking the same thing." She said with a small laugh. "Even still, with everything that's going on, there's only one thing on my mind."
"What's that?" He asked curiously as they approached the room her mom was in.
"When are you going to take me on a date? I feel like I definitely deserve it by now." She said, obviously joking to lighten the mood some more.
Alec laughed, a genuine laugh and it felt like it had been a while since she'd heard one of those."I promise you, I'll take you on the best date you've ever been on." He said confidently and Khloe laughed.
"I'll hold you to that." She said amusedly as they walked into the room and over to her mother's floating body. "You know, sometimes I think I know everything that there is to know. Then something opens my eyes and then I realize that I don't really know anything at all."
Alec nodded in understanding, reaching out and taking her small hand into his own. She smiled to herself and threaded their fingers together as she continued to talk, warmth blooming in her chest.
"I thought I knew everything about the world before I became a shadowhunter, id seen my world at its highest and lightest, seen it at its coldest and darkest, then the rest of the world opened up to me and I felt really lost again but somehow I felt better?" She said before chuckling at her own explanation. "I know it doesn't make sense but I think a part of me always knew I was a shadowhunter."
"No, that actually makes sense," Alec said with a nod, encouraging her to continue.
Khloe gently bit down on the inside of her cheek and sighed softly. "When I had Grace in my life it wasn't as noticeable. I was distracted and I was happy and as far as I was aware, I had everything I needed. Then I lost her and I lost myself too.
"After Grace was gone I never stopped feeling like something was missing and it always tore me apart, I used to think I was just sad because I missed grace and while I think that's true to some extent I think it was because I knew I was a Shadowhunter. What bothers me most is that I always cried to mom about it, always expressed how lost I felt and she always brushed it off when she knew exactly why I was feeling that way and how to fix it." Khloe explained further as she watched her mother's expressionless face.
"Point is, I understand why she felt like she had to hide all of this from us but when it was tearing me apart not knowing and when I needed her to tell me the most, she didn't. She even knew Grace was alive and was the reason she stayed away." Khloe was quiet for a moment. "How am I ever meant to forgive her for that?"
"I think that time heals most wounds. She's your mom and I think at the end of the day, in her own stupid way, she was doing what she thought was best. Honestly, who says you even need to forgive her straight away? Why not make her work for it?" Alec asked with a small shrug.
Khloe was silent again for a few moments while she thought before eventually nodding. "Yeah, I suppose that's true, I hadn't actually thought about it that way." She said as she turned to face him again.
"While we're on the topic of parents, I need to ask you something. I'm honestly worried that I'm letting emotion cloud my judgment, so do you really believe that my parents have nothing to do with this?" He asked as he looked down to the floor, avoiding her gaze.
Khloe's heart ached a bit as she watched him open up to her just a little. She took a step closer to him and gently squeezed his hand, looking into his eyes.
"Alec, your parents had nothing to do with this. You are not letting your emotion cloud your judgement, okay? You're right to stand by them." She said softly.
Alec smiled softly and let out a small exhale before leaning forward and pressing a gentle kiss to her forehead. "Thank you." He said softly as he looked into his eyes and Khloe could tell he meant it.
A light buzzing sounded and Khloe let go of Alec's hands, allowing him to reach into his pocket and pull out his phone. "I'm needed on a mission. Someone has to go after Jace."
Khloe nodded at his words. "Then let's go." She said with a small smile and her words seemed to bring enough joy to Alec'a face that Khloe noticed.
***
Not two hours later both Khloe and Alec were outside, tracking Jace. Khloe had contacted Luke the second they'd left the institute and he's informed the shadowhunters that they'd caught wind of Hodges scent down near some underground skatepark.
Khloe had thanked Luke and then that's exactly where Alec and Khloe headed. As the two approached the skatepark Khloe glanced over at Alec, even in the darkness she could still see his worry.
"He's going to be okay, we're going to find him." Khloe reassured, glancing at him for another moment before she looked ahead again.
"I know, I'm just—"
"Wait, do you hear that?" Khloe asked, promptly cutting off Alec and halting as she listened. Alec frowned for a moment before he began listening too.
In the distance, not too far, grunts and clashes could be heard and it didn't take a genius to know that it was a fight.
The two shadowhunters immediately sprung into action, running into the underground skatepark, spotting both Jace and Hodge in the middle of a fight.
Jace swung his blade and Hodge dodged before Jace kicked him square in the chest, pushing him back and swinging his blade again, this time with all of his strength and a loud yell.
Khloe heard it before she saw it, the sound of a blade slicing through skin and bone and then an ear piercing scream that nearly rivaled her own as Hodges severed hand fell to the ground.
Hodge looked up at Jace and Jace prepared for another swing, which surely would've been a final blow but before he could, Alec was tackling him to the ground. "It's over!" Alec yelled.
Khloe rushed over to Hodges side, pushing him down against the ground so he couldn't move. "I wouldn't try it." She warned him.
"He's a traitor, he deserves to pay!" Jace argued and Alec continued to hold him down.
"You nearly killed him!"
"Maybe I should have killed him! He sided with Valentine, Alec. We let him go once before and look where that got us." Jace argued as he struggled against Alec's hold.
"What are you gonna do? Are you going to kill every ex-circle member, even our parents?" Alec asked and Jace grabbed onto Alec's arm, looking him into the eyes as he hissed back, "Robert and Maryse aren't my parents."
Alec shook his head. "You said it yourself. They raised you. They are your parents! Just calm down." He said as he slowly let go of Jace and got up off the floor.
Alec walked over to Khloe and nodded, silently telling her to let him go, which she did. He kneeled down and pulled out his Stele and began activating some of Hodges runes.
The skin sizzled and burned as it healed and Hodge yelled out in pain. She pulled out her phone and sent Luke a text to update him before she gently pushed her phone back into her pocket turning her attention back to Alec.
It didn't take long for Luke to arrive with some of his wolves, who didn't stay too long, leaving after their alpha had arrived.
The shadowhunters had explained the situation and updated the wolf so he could then step away to update the pack.
Khloe approached Luke as she spoke on the phone, catching the end of the conversation. "Yeah we're at the skatepark by the subway station near Bergen." He said before saying his goodbyes and hanging up.
Luke looked down at the strawberry blond and smiled at her. "Good catch." He joked lightly and she shook her head. "This wasn't a catch this was a find. But it was a pretty good find, i'll admit that. I did learn from the best after all." She teased back.
"You better be talking about me, not those damn shadowhunters." He joked around playfully and Khloe laughed and shook her head. "of course I'm talking about you."
Luke nodded, "Good," He said as he looked over at Alec as he finished healing Hodge as much as he could. "Speaking of those damn Shadowhunters, what's going on between you and Alec?" Luke asked with a small smirk on his face.
Khloe scoffed and walked his arm. "Stop it!" She hissed, suddenly mortified which seemed to only amuse Luke more. "Alright, fine, but just because it's the wrong time and wrong place to ask, doesn't mean i won't be asking later."
Khloe shook her head and rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms. Luke really was the best dad she never had.
Alec joined the two and Luke turned his attention to him instead. "How's Hodge doing?" He asked as he glanced over his shoulder behind them where Jace and Hodge were before looking back ahead of them.
"He'll live." Alec replied with a small shrug as he stood beside Khloe. She gently bumped their shoulders together and smiled to herself when Alec did it back. "It's Jace I'm worried about. Valentine really messed with his head."
Luke frowned a little. "What, at Renwick's?" he asked and Khloe nodded.
"He went through a lot recently. I thought we had settled it, but somethings killing him inside. i don't know what it is." He mumbled as he stuffed his hands into his pockets.
"This is all too familiar. I saw a similar thing with Valentine eighteen years ago." Luke began and Alec immediately shook his head.
"Jace isn't Valentine." Khloe had said before Alec even had the chance to.
Luke looked down at Khloe and shrugged. "Not yet, but we need to keep an eye on him." He said as he turned back to check on Hodge and Jace.
"Alright." Alec simply said and Khloe gave him a small sympathetic smile.
"Where'd they go?" Luke asked causing Alec and Khloe to frown. "What do you mean?" He asked as they all turned around to see both Jace and Hodge gone.
"Well shit." Khloe mumbled as Luke began searching around for them. "You could try calling him?" Khloe suggested as she scraped her mind for ideas on what to do next.
Alec shrugged and nodded as he pulled his phone out and began calling Jace. "Where the hell are you?" Alec asked as soon as Jace answered.
Khloe diverted her attention to give the two some time to talk and it didn't seem to last long. After a few moments Alec was walking back over to her. "He's convinced, he's not listening to me." Alec sighed deeply in frustration.
"Hey, we'll sort something out, just relax, okay?" Khloe said softly before her phone buzzed. She reached into her pocket and pulled it out, reading over the message from Izzy. "But for now, the Upper East side calls. We need to make a trip to Magnus'. Clary's getting closer to finding the Book of the White."
***
Alec, Izzy and Khloe all entered Magnus' apartment and entered the living room where Magnus, Camille and Grace all stood.
Magnus was off to the side leaning against a pillar as he sipped on some cocktail, looking like he'd rather be anywhere that wasn't right there and the two vampires looked just about ready to claw each other's eyes out.
The second Magnus' eyes landed on the three shadowhunters, relief immediately overtook his expression as he jumped forward and practically ran over to the three.
"You're here for the book!" He mused happily and the shadowhunters nodded. "Yeah, do you have it?" Khloe asked.
"I have it." Camille called from behind the warlock. Khloe looked back over at the vampires, smiling lightly at Grace before turning her attention back to Magnus.
"Yes, she's graciously offered it in exchange for her freedom." Magnus explained before downing the rest of his drink.
"We don't negotiate with prisoners." Alec said as he glanced back over at Camille. Magnus spun his finger around his ear and subtly gestures toward Camille, calling her crazy as she spoke.
"I bet to disagree. You see, I'm your only chance at saving the world. You need me." She insisted.
Khloe shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Okay, we really don't have time for this, where's my sister?" Khloe asked.
"Through there." Grace said as she pointed to one of the doorways. Khloe nodded before she walked through the doorway and into a bedroom.
Clary and Simon were both sat on the edge of the bed talking and the second Khloe walked in with Alec trailing behind her, Clary jumped up.
"Khloe, Alec! Did you find Hodge?" She asked she she rushed over.
"Yeah, but Valentine had the cup." Alec informed them.
"What? We're too late. Where's Jace? Is he okay?" Clary asked as she looked between Simon and Alec and her sister.
"He went after Valentine by himself. It's like he's totally lost it. I tried to stop him but he wouldn't listen." Alec replied and Khloe frowned softly as she gently grabbed his hand, trying to help lighten his mood a little.
"We need to find Jace. He's in a dark place. We don't know what he'll do." Clary insisted as she began walking out.
Khloe grabbed on to her to stop her. "Luke is out looking for him. Jace wants us to stay on mission. That means we have to find the book." Khloe explained to her twin.
Simon nodded in agreement. "She's right. We have to wake up your mom."
Clary sighed and nodded as she looked at her twin. "It's the only way to stop Valentine."
Heels echoed down the hall before they entered the room and on walked Camille. She held a contract in front of Simon with a twisted smile on her face. "Ready to sign?" She said sickly sweet.
"Take us to the apartment, give us the book, then you can have your pardon." Simon demanded.
Camille rolled her eyes and look to everyone in the room before realizing she wasn't going to get her own way. "I wouldn't have it any other way." She replied.
"Good." Was all Simon said before everyone began walking out of the room again.
Eventually they all managed to pile into Simons van and then managed to pile into the elevator before finally reaching Camilles apartment.
"And I thought the underground parking was nice." Simon whispered to Clary as they walked in.
"Wow. You've got a lot of books." Alec commented as his eyes scanned over the tall shelves. "I've got a lot of time on my hands."
"Welcome home, Madame Belcourt." A man said as he approved Camille.
"This place creeps me out."Izzy mumbled to Khloe and Alec nodded. "Yeah, let's check the perimeter."
Magnus Immediately nodded in agreement, obviously wanting to get as far away from his ex as possible.
Khloe and Alec shared a look before giving a small nod to each other and splitting up. Khloe stayed to search for the book with Clary and Simon while Izzy, Magnus and Alec checked the perimeter.
Khloe immediately began scanning over all the books as Camille pricked Simons hand with a fountain pen, "Sign here," She hummed happily as she held out the contract to Simon.
He sighed deeply and shared a look with Clary before he signed the paper. Camille happily too the paper and handed it to her butler who hurried off with it.
"Okay now you've got what you want, now give us the Book of the White." Clary demanded.
"I'd love to." Camille said with a smirk as she walked over to her book shelves and ran her hands along the spines of the books and stopped once she reached the end. "But i can't. I have no idea where it is." She shrugged.
"Dot gave it to you." Khloe hissed as she took a step toward Camille and the vampire immediately took one back in succession.
"I'm sure it's here somewhere." She quickly added. "But if the idea was to hide it, telling me would defeat the purpose. Dot must've put it somewhere when I wasn't looking."
Clary looked back at Simon and Khloe in disbelief. "So we have to search the whole apartment?" She asked.
"See? That's the spirit. Although, I'd start now. I've got four more rooms just like this one." She replied smugly.
Khloe scoffed and rolled her eyes at the vampire before turning her attention back to all the books. She was hoping she would know what she was looking for once she found it.
Clary walked away to answered her phone and Camille took her leave. Simon sighed in exasperation before he turned his attention back to the books.
They searched two whole rooms and by the time they made their way to the third, Khloe had nearly given up. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and ran her hands over her face.
Suddenly her eyes fell on a book and the title was almost immediately familiar. She frowned deeply and her stomach rumbled as she read over the title of the cook book.
It seemed that Clary had followed Khloes eyes and found the book too. The twins shared a look as Khloe grabbed the book. "Chicken cacciatore." the said in unison.
Khloe walked over to the table behind her, Simon and Clary following after. She opened the book and flipped through the pages, stopping when the bookmarked page was showing.
The title of the page read 'Chicken Cacciatore' and the bookmark was half torn off, the other end to the piece that Clary pulled out of her pocket and handed Khloe.
Khloe placed the bookmark on the page and in a burst of yellow light the bookmark reattached itself then the book began to glow white and the pages changed, no longer showing cooking recipes, but it was the book of the white.
"This is it!" Khloe laughed. "We did it!" Clary added happily.
Izzy stepped into the room and smiled a little before speaking. "He's here, let's go."
Khloe grabbed the book and followed the Shadowhunters and the vampire out of the room, rushing to make their way out before they had to face Valentine.
Just as they were about to enter the hall so they could leave through the elevator the doorway filled with a purple mist. The mist turned into a portal and out jumped Valentine and two circle members.
"Khloe, Clarissa. So good to see you both again. Where's your brother?" She asked with a small smirk as he slowly made his way toward them.
Khloe glared at him and clutched the book close to her chest as she pulled Clary behind her. "You think we'd tell you?" She spat.
"You won't have to." He said as he continued to smirk. A small frown passed over Khloe's face but she quickly returned back to glaring.
"Don't touch them!" Simon yelled before running at Valentine. The shadowhunters reacted quickly and grabbed the vampire by the collar before throwing him across the room with ease.
"Simon!" Izzy called out in panic before wrapping her whip around Valentine's arm, tugging on it to stop him from swinging at Simon and hurting him.
"Stop!" Jace yelled before running into the room, pointing his blade at Valentine. "This time you're not getting away."
One of the circle members grabbed Simon from the floor and held the blade against his throat and the other grabbed Izzy and did the same.
Khloe stood rooted still, keeping Clary behind her as best she could.
"Finally ready to kill your own father?" Valentine asked as he turned his attention back to Jace.
"You abandoned me." Jace accused as he glared at the man in front of him.
"I was protecting you. You weren't ready then, but you've grown. You've become the warrior I've trained you to be." Valentine reasoned as he lowered his sword while he spoke to Jace.
"You trained me well." Jace commented.
"And yet, I still have so much to teach you. I bought you here for a reason. Look, fight me and watch your friends die." He said just as two more circle members walked in, one holding Magnus and the other holding Alec.
Khloe's throat dried and her heart skipped a beat. She gritted her teeth and glared harder at Valentine. "You mother fucker." She growled.
He ignored her and continued attempting to crack Jace. "See, you're strong, but they make you weak."
"Let us go. You can have the book. We won't be able to stop you without it." Clary reasoned as best she could.
"Ah, Clarissa." Valentine said as he clicked his tongue and stepped toward the girls. "So like your mother."
"Stop." Khloe warned him not to take another step closer and surprisingly, he listens, stopping as he continued to speak.
"Willing to do anything for those that you love. I'm touched, but... the book was never part of my plan. I want you to wake up your mother. I know that you'll all join me eventually. It's fated." He said with a shrug, sending a sweet smile to Khloe before turning around to face Jace again.
"You ready?" He asked Jace and the shadowhunter spent one more tearful moment looking around the room at the friends he loved before lowering his sword.
"If i go with you, promise me you won't hurt them." Jace asked after a moment of silence and Khloe felt her chest ache. "No," she whispered in defeat.
"You have my word." Valentine promised.
"This is insane." Clary said in disbelief.
"I'm sorry, Clary." Jace whispered softly and Clary shook her head as she stepped out from behind Khloe.
"Jace, what are you doing? You can't be serious! Valentine is wrong!" She insisted, her voice breaking with each word. "You're not like him. I'm not! You're not!"
He shook his head tried to hide his emotion. "You don't know that, Clary. You don't know that."
"Let them go." Valentine ordered his men and after a moment they all did. The purple mist covered the doorway again, creating a portal which the circle member all began hopping through until only Jace and Valentine remained.
Simon ran over to Clary's side and Alec grabbed onto Izzy. "Get back, get back. Alec, i mean it." Jace insisted as Alec made a step toward him.
Khloe stood in her place, clutching the Book of the White. She didn't know what to do. She didn't want to give up her brother but how could she go against what he was asking.
She looked into his eyes and smiled weakly, giving him a small nod in acknowledgement before he spun around and began walking through the portal.
Clary cried out and tried to chase after him, Khloe didn't think twice, pushing the Book of the White into Simons arms and grabbing her sister, pulling her into her hold.
"Jace, no! Why did you stop me!" Clary cried out as she tried to struggle against her twins hold as the portal dispersed.
Clary sobbed as she leaned her weight against her sister. Khloe held into her tight as her own heart ached as she twin cried out for Jace.
She knew what it was like to lose someone you loved and she hated that her sister had to go through that in any way.
She would get Jace back, for her sisters sake.
***
Later that night once they were back at the institute, Khloe was hidden in her room. Silence filled the room aside from the faint pouring of a water fountain which could be hear somewhere in the garden that was outside her window.
The room was all dark aside from a few salt lamps that were around the room.
She sat curled up at the headboard of her bed with a blanket while her thoughts ran wild.
Right about now, they would be waking Jocelyn and yet Khloe still felt like she didn't want to see the woman.
They no longer had the cup and they no longer had Jace so were they really any closer to achieving their goal or were they further?
Something was bubbling up in Khloe chest and she couldn't quite put her finger on it, something was off though, she knew that much.
A knock on her door drew her away from her thoughts. "Come in." She called and Izzy poked her head in a second later.
She gave the strawberry blond a stunning red smile before speaking. "They're waking your mother up, I was just wondering if you were coming?" She asked, trying her best to act casual.
"You were wondering, or Alec was wondering?" Khloe asked in amusement. Izzys face immediately dropped.
"What? No fair! How did you know?" She asked, shocked that Khloe had seen through her act.
Khloe laughed softly and shook her head before she remember back to Alec's words. "Yeah, I'm coming." She said.
Izzy nodded and happily jumped over the the edge of her bed to help her up. "Come on, they already started and you've already decided you're coming so we can't be late!"
The strawberry blond laughed as izzy dragged her through the institute and the closer and closer they got to Khloe mother, the more nervous she became.
She didn't know what her mother was going to think when she saw her and she herself didn't know what she was going to think or feel when she saw her mother.
With a deep exhale, Izzy and Khloe walked in just as Magnus was finishing up and Jocelyn was waking. Khloe swallowed thickly as she stopped beside Alec and looked up at him nervously.
Alec gave her a small reassuring smile and wrapped his arm around her waist. Khloe immediately leaned against him and chewed on her lower lip.
The magic burst in purples from Magnus' hands and the green cloud around Jocelyn dissipated as she carefully fell into Luke's arms with a gasp.
Her eyes shot open and she immediately hugged Luke as everyone watched on.
Luke placed her down on the ground Clary immediately pulled her into a hug, tears running down her face. "I've missed you so much." She said happily.
Now for the part Khloe was dreading the most. She swallowed thickly as Jocelyn turned to face her. Her mom smiled happily as she looked over at Khloe.
But all Khloe felt was cold. She hasn't forgiven her mother yet, that much was clear.
Khloe eyes her mother for a moment before she shook her head and pulled away from Alec, waking out of the room, ignoring her mother and her sisters call of her name.
***
THE END!!
wow oh wow. finally, am i right?
i'm so sorry that it took so long to finally complete and to all those who are still reading, thank you! to all those who left the lovely comments, encouraging, funny and constructive, thank you! to everyone who voted and to everyone who support me, thank you!
there will be a second! hopefully this one will not take as long as the first book! i have to think of a title though, that's my only issue haha. of anyone has any opinions on the story, or would like to see anything in the next one let me know because i'd love to hear from you!
while i don't respond to all comments, i promise o do my best to read every single one. see you soon 💕
word count: 7103
unedited
-sparklyaura