Scars of her Blood • Shadowhunters

Chapter 12: Siblings and Pancakes

Celia worked through the rest of the night, trying to find any proof of what – or rather who - she had seen. But there was no trace of Eileen anywhere. Not in Mexico or in the USA or any other of the countries in the territory for that matter. Celia leaned back in her chair and sighed. Álvaro had told her a few hours ago that she would have to bring bullet proof evidence for the danger she was in in order to get a mission approved. But for now, Celia had no such evidence. Álvaro had ensured Celia that he believed her, but he reminded her that most of the Council was not on her side and would probably see this situation as an opportunity to proof her incompetence. If I don't find anything soon, everyone will think I imagined it or that I fell for a glamour or something.

A commotion, which she could hear all the way to her office, led Celia into the command center. When she got there, Meliorn was pushed past her by two guards and Izzy and Lydia were arguing:

"Have you lost your mind?!", Izzy's voice was full of anger. Celia jumped down the stairs and moved to her side, putting one hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

"Lydia, why is a Seelie representative being arrested?", she asked.

"Because he has been forwarding information that he got from a Shadowhunter to Valentine."

"Do you have any proof for that?"

Lydia sighed:

"It is the Clave's understanding that Isabelle's long standing relationship with Meliorn may have let to the disclosure of state secrets."

"What are you talking about?", Izzy cut in, "Meliorn told me how we could get into the Hotel Dumort so we could save a Mundane!"

"And you told him nothing in return?", Lydia's tone was sharp. When Izzy did not answer she continued:

"You're lucky you were not arrested along with him. But believe me, nobody is blaming you for the forsaken attack. The Seelies were probably working with Valentine all along."

Izzy scoffed:

"Valentine has been murdering Downworlders and draining their bodies for months. He probably killed those Seelie scouts and used their blood..."

"Do you have proof?", Lydia interrupted her.

"Oh please, you have just as much proof as her, which is none, so don't try to shut her up with that argument.", Celia stepped in.

"I have orders", Lydia said quietly, "I never wanted any of this."

"I don't believe you for a second!", Izzy snarled back, freed herself of Celia's grip and left.

Celia gave Lydia a warning look:

"I relate to the thing about the orders, but Izzy is right."

Lydia sighed:

"I have to investigate this. The Law is hard, but it is the Law."

Celia hated that sentence. Your law is a piece of paper that is rotting in some archive. Celia decided to not get too deeply involved with this matter for now, as she had to keep a low profile herself. She would have to talk to Izzy about it later.

When Alec came into Celia's office not even half an hour later, she immediately realized that he was not doing well either:

"What is going on?"

"Can we talk? Like when we were younger?"

Celia smiled, even though she was feeling the urge to hug him, but she knew that neither of them would really enjoy it: