Running in Circles- The Mortal Instruments Fanfiction

Chapter 7

Never open the door to a lesser evil, for other and greater ones invariably slink in after it.

___

Clary jolted awake, surprised. She threw a punch, stopping herself just in time when she saw who it was.

"Jace?" she breathed. "How are you here?"

She was about to ask more questions, but he cut her off with a kiss, full of love and passion, exactly what she had been missing.

He got into bed beside her, without breaking the kiss.

"Wait," she said, pushing him away. "Shouldn't we tell the others that you're here? They're all so worried about you."

"Can't it wait until morning?"

"I guess so," said she, relaxing into his warm embrace.

___

"I still don't understand how you managed to get out of there," said Izzy. Even though Jace was back, the tension in her shoulders still hadn't  fully subsided.

Jace had given a detailed, albeit brief explanation of how exactly he had escaped, and had explained that he had been held in an abandoned warehouse on 5th avenue. Even though he had given all this information, Izzy wasn't the only one who could see that something didn't quite line up. No one could quite put their finger on it, but it was there, slowly but surely spreading discomfort.

The group put this out of their mind, however, happy to have their friend back at last.

Later that day, during a break from training, Alec pulled Clary and Izzy aside. "Does something seem... off about Jace today?" he asked them in a low voice.

Clary and Izzy nodded their agreement. 

Before more could be said, Jace walked over, grinning as he tickled Clary, as natural as breathing. 

That's when she realised.

She rushed upstairs, mumbling something about using the washroom before reaching for her phone. She quickly created a group chat between Izzy, Alec, and herself.

'We need to talk ASAP -C'

She hoped Jace wouldn't get a chance to see her phone. 

The coast must have been clear because almost immediately, her phone chimed.

'OK. When? Where? -IL'

'Can you sneak out to my house tonight? -AL'

'When? -C'

'Midnight OK? -IL'

'Sure -AL'

'See you then -C'

Clary deleted the message and went back down, where they resumed training. None of them could focus, their thoughts were so preoccupied by their upcoming secret meeting. It was a wonder Jace didn't notice anything off about them.

___

That night, at 11:30, Clary sneaked out of her bedroom as quietly as she could, careful not to wake Jace up on her way out. By some miracle, she managed to make it out without disturbing him, and 11:40 saw her at the doors with an impatient Izzy.

"We're going to be late," she hissed, tightening her ponytail.

After 5 minutes of trying to hail a cab and 20 minutes of running, They were safely in the apartment, sitting down sith Alec. 

"So, what is it you needed to say so badly?" said Izzy once they had settled. 

"I noticed it when he was walking towards us in the training room," she began. "It's not him. I'm certain now, and I have proof.

"He has this little chip in his tooth--hardly noticeable unless you know it's there. I notice it all the time, just that one thing that stops his face from being too perfect. This Jace doesn't have that,' she said, triumphantly. 

"So what do we do now?" asked Alec, speaking for the first time. 

"We could kill him," suggested Clary quietly.

Izzy, ever the strategist, proposed torturing him for information.

They went over the specifics of their plan, and Clary and Izzy walked back to the institute.

Clary shuffled quietly back into her room, only to find Jace casually sittiing up in bed, waiting for her to return.

Clary stiffened as he asked her were she'd been for the past hour.

Lying on the spot had never been one of her strong suits, and now was no exeption. "Izzy asked me to- to go on a w-walk with her," she lied.

"At..." he checked his watch. "1:22 in the morning?"

"Well... l- lady problems, y-y-you know, well you don't know, but I guess that's why she didn't ask you, right? I mean, it doesn't exactly stop, and sometimes walking helps" (A/N Walking actually makes it worse so PLEASE DON'T DO THIS I mean do what you want... Its your choice). 

Jace mimed throwing up, and Clary forced a giggle and crawled back into bed next to him. Jace fell asleep almost immediately, but Clary lay awake until dawn, tossing and turning, thinking about what they had planned to do.

___
Later that day

Jace felt behind his back. When they had retied his hands, he had focused on tensing the muscles in his wrists, leaving just a little more room to wriggle his hands free...

At last! He quietly broght his hands forwards to inspect the damage. His long, slender piano player fingers were scraped, and at least two were broken. His wrists had fared no better. He stood up, regretting it as soon as he felt the first wave of pain reach him. He staggered forward, reminding himself that he was a shadowhunter, and that shadowhunters did not betray signs of pain. He resolved to pick up a stele on his way out and fix himself up with an iratze.

He noticed a small window and felt a ray of hope. Alas, bars covered the window, thicker and stronger than those at a mundane prison.

He looked down, this time inspecting the damage on his chest. He looked carefully, mindful of any broken bones or sprained joints. The second he looked down, he realised what was wrong, and why he had been feeling so… off all this time.

His parabatai rune was missing.

Just gone, not even a scar.

What had happened to Alec? He couldn’t have just up and died, could he? He wouldn’t leave him alone, without a brother. He needed him there, by his side, always ready to help and offer quiet encouragement.

But no scar.

His thoughts always came back to that point.

No scar.

Was that even possible? He’d seen where Robert’s rune used to be- a faded white scar, left behind just like any other rune. He’d always thought that to be cruel, lowering the memory of a parabatai to that of just any old rune scar. He’d always wished something more special could have happened. Something exciting to properly honour (A/N I’m Canadian stfu) the passing.

With that thought he teetered to the door, flinging it open with as much gusto as he could muster. None at all. The door wouldn’t even budge’ even though his strength and stamina runes should have easily—

No. Of course none of his runes were working. They had all disappeared.

___

Soooooo... sorry. I said I would update soon and then I go and wait like 2 weeks so I apoogise *nervous laugh*.

I'm just going to say that I probably will update about once a month (*whispers* reverse psychology!) 

Thank you so much for reading and PLEASE VOTE COMMENT AND ABOVE ALL ELSE HAVE A FANTASTIC DAY

Byeee!!

-Ev.