Scars of her Blood • Shadowhunters

Chapter 43: Sebastian Verlac

"Okay, let's make a deal.", Celia sat down at the kitchen table the next morning, "you are coming with me to New York. You can stay in my apartment, come to work with me if you want."

Ophelia raised her eyebrow:
"I thought nobody goes into your apartment?"

Celia just gave her an annoyed look:
"Nobody that could be a threat to me or my work. And I think you are the last person I have to worry about when it comes to selling information to the Circle. So, what do you say?"

Ophelia nodded slowly, now back to being quiet:

"I think that would really help me right now... thanks."

The three of them left shortly after having breakfast. Ophelia had packed a bag with some necessities and Benicio was only coming to New York with them to take the portal in Celia's apartment back to Mexico. The atmosphere between all of them was still a little tense. Celia and Ophelia barely spoke to each other, mainly remembering the conversation from last night. Benicio felt that Celia was walking on egg shells around him because of what happened with Eileen. But he also had his own discussion with Ophelia lingering in his mind. So there was no way of getting around the awkward silence on their way to the hidden portal that would bring them back to New York City.

Only when Benicio said good-bye to the two girls, Celia walked up to him and hugged him:

"I'm really sorry...", she whispered. Benicio nodded:
"And I'm not mad at you."

When Celia let go of him, he smiled:

"Forget about it, okay?"

Celia nodded too and Benicio disappeared through the portal.

"Are you two alright?", Ophelia asked.

"Yeah...", Celia replied. She was not in the mood of telling anyone what had happened, "I am going to the Institute now. Do you want to come with me or do you want to stay here?"

Ophelia thought about it for a moment. Then she bit her lip.

"Would it be okay if I were to come with you?"

Celia nodded:
"I wouldn't have offered otherwise."

When they walked into the Institute, Celia immediately spotted her friends – and the new person that was with them.

"Celia!", Izzy waved her towards them, "where were you? We -", she stopped and pointed at Ophelia, "who is she?"

"A friend.", Celia answered. She had just now decided that it would be easier to keep Ophelia safe if no one knew who exactly she was.

"Who is the blonde guy with the stupid smile?", Celia asked back, before anyone could follow up on her answer. They all seemed to be a bit startled by Celia's harsh response for a moment. But then the blonde man approached Celia and stretched out his hand:

"I am Sebastian Verlac. It's nice to meet you.", Celia did not shake his hand, but his smile only wavered for a second, "you must be the infamous Celia Velázquez."

"Where did you find him?", Celia asked. Who did he think he was to call her infamous. He was the stranger in her home.

"I got attacked by a demon and he helped me!", Izzy answered, "what is with you, Celia?"

"And where are you from?", Celia asked Sebastian directly, instead of answering Izzy. There was nothing wrong with her. Just the general suspicion her life had made her develop and a gut feeling. Both together were enough for Celia to not trust this young man in front of her at all.