War of Hearts

Chapter 6

Val's POV

"Hey. Izzy's been cleared for a mission and she wants us to go." Lucy said as she walked into the training room. I looked over at her before I went back to hitting the punching bag.

"Where to?" I asked.

"The Adamant Citadel." I froze in the middle of a roundhouse kick.

"I can't go." She looked at me.

"Before the Sisters let anyone enter the Citadel there's a purity trial or whatever. I won't pass the test even with a little bit of Angel blood coursing through my veins. I still have demon blood, Luce." I finally go through with the kick and nearly knock the bag to the ground with the force behind it.

"We're parabatai. Not once have you given into the demonic blood." She says.

"That's because every time I feel like I'm slipping I come and train. It doesn't matter though. They won't let me into the Citadel." I pull the sweater -that I had gotten from Alec's room- on top of my sports bra. "You and Izzy go. Take Clary in my place." I tell her before I leave the room and go look for Alec. I finally found him standing outside my bedroom. "I was in the training room." I told him and shook my head when he jumped a little. I open the door and we both walk inside.

"How are you?" He asked me.

I thought about my answer for a moment. "I'm not okay... because you're not okay." I tell him. "Alec, you've been to hell and back. And you haven't stopped for a second, taken a moment for yourself."

"Val, we're in the middle of a war."

"There will always be a war. A mission. A problem to solve and another demon to kill." I tell him. "If you fail to grant time for the things you care about, you'll forget why you're even fighting at all."

"What do you have in mind?" He asked. I smiled.

"Well first off, I still have to get ready since I'm still in training clothes. I'll meet you in the Ops room in..." I think of how long it'll take me to get ready. "20 minutes."

He nods and walks out of the room, shutting the door behind him. I walk over to my closet and grab an outfit before laying it out on my bed. I grabbed a towel and walked into the bathroom for a quick shower. Afterwards I got dressed in a cream colored tank top with a lace overlay, a pair of black jeans and knee high boots. I pulled on one of my leather jackets and let my hair air dry into the usual curls and quickly did my makeup before I pulled on a pair of my fingerless gloves and left my room. I led Alec out of the Institute to Hunter's Moon.

"Figured it was time for that first date that we always seem to be rain checking." I tell him as we walk over to the bar. "Can I get my usual?" I asked the wolf behind the bar. I look at Alec. "And a beer for the newbie." I add with a smirk. The bartender nods and slides me a cocktail and Alec a beer.

"You know I'm not much of a drinker."

"I know. But you only live once." I tell him with a smirk. "Cheers." We clink the glasses together and Alec takes a sip before he pulls a very questionable face. "You hate it." I tell him.

"No, it's, um... it's great." He says. We eventually made our way over to the pool table and started shooting. We each score a few points with Alec scoring the most. "You see that?" Alec asked. "It's just like archery. It's all about the---"

"Aim." I finish for him. "Or did you forget I'm pretty good at archery too, Alec?"

He shoots another ball but misses. "Can't win them all." He says before he takes another sip of his beer. I roll my eyes but nevertheless smirk as I start hitting the rest of my balls. "Wait, did you---"