Hidden Memories

9. Preparing For Battle

Izzy's POV

"I...I don't understand," I said to Magnus. "Is that even possible?"

We had arrived at a cafe called Egging Me On. Apparently, it was a family-owned restaurant by mundanes from South Carolina. The seven of us were seated at a table that is surprisingly secluded from all the other tables so our conversation is as private as it could get.

"I suppose so, but it's rare," Magnus replied. "I've only heard that this could happen, but I never knew anyone who has done it before."

When Magnus woke up, he had distressing news. I mean, I felt like after all we had been through in the past twenty-four hours, especially me, there was no possible way that there could be something even more distressing.

I should have known that I would be wrong.

What Magnus was telling us was that he had a little chat with his father. In fact, he was the one who caused the accident in the first place. He then forced Magnus' subconscious to visit him in Edom, where he graciously gave the location of Simon's whereabouts.

That seemed too...generous.

In the end, we were all wondering that same thing. What's his game?

"But..why would your father give us that piece of information?" Luke asked. "That doesn't make any sense."

"It doesn't to me either," Magnus said. "It's not like him to be so generous. He always demands a price, but...he didn't this time."

"Should we trust this?" Alec asked.

Magnus shook his head. "A part of me doesn't want to trust it. My father has no reason for us to gain Simon back. He obviously took him for a specific thing he wanted, and as far as I know, he hasn't gotten what he wanted yet. However...the warehouse is real. The warehouse Simon is supposedly in is exactly where my father said it would be. And...it is abandoned."

"Do you think it's a good idea to completely disregard the information?" Jace asked.

"It seems very tempting. My father could be planning a trap for us," Magnus replied. "But I don't want to completely disregard it. I think we need to be cautious."

"Isabelle," Jocelyn said, "you've been awfully quiet for a while now. What do you think we should do?"

We should stop talking and get to Simon.

"I agree with Magnus," I said instead. "We need to be cautious; who knows what lies beyond that door?"

"I say we can't trust him," Clary said. "I know that might mean we're back to square one, but I don't know what would happen if the information was false and we're all seriously hurt. I don't trust Asmodeus." She then looked at Magnus. "No offense, of course."

"That's fine," he responded. "My father doesn't even know what the word 'trustworthy' is."

"Then what's our next move?" Luke asked.

"I think we should go for it," Jace said. "Real or fake, we're going to have to prepare for battle anyway."

"I don't think so," Clary responded.

"It's not a bad idea," Alec said. "I really want to kill Asmodeus for almost killing Magnus."

"Aw, thank you," Magnus replied.

"I agree with Jace," Luke said. "Whether we find his actual liar or we're breaking into the fake one, there's a fight waiting for us."

"Definitely," I said.