Scars of her Blood • Shadowhunters

Chapter 54: Our own People

It did not take all that long to find an item that created a strong enough link to track Jonathan down. Alec stayed behind in the Institute, while the rest of them was lead through almost all of New York, until they stood in front of an apartment. Everyone already had their weapons out. Izzy kicked open the door and stepped in. The apartment was empty. A bit chaotic, but not a single person was there. Except for the lifeless body that was propped up on an office chair opposite of the entrance.

"Jonathan!", Izzy exclaimed.
"Turn around and face us.", Jace demanded.

"He is dead, guys.", Celia corrected, "has been for a while."

The smell in the air was subtle, but even without it, it was not hard to tell that they were talking to a corpse. Izzy took a couple steps forward and nudged the chair with her staff, making it turn around. Sebastian Verlac's face was certainly not a pretty sight to look at anymore.

"He was tortured...", Jace stated, "Hail and farewell."

Celia rolled her eyes at the sentiment. The way he was looking, he did not fare well at all in his last weeks. Only on the side, Celia noticed a small movement.

"Look out!", she managed to say, before the spine of the body contorted itself in an unhealthy way and the man that had been dead a moment ago was hanging upside down on the wall of the apartment.

"It's possessed by a demon."

Izzy lashed out with her whip and pulled the demon down from the wall. As it was withering on the floor, Jace stepped over it and stabbed his seraph blade right through its body.
"So again, we have nothing.", Clary sighed.

Celia looked around the apartment. Benicio had left the group pretty quickly after they had entered and there were not many possibilities of where he could have gone. Benni?

"Celia?", Benicio called out.

Celia turned around fully and scanned the room. There were two more doors, both opened. One lead into a bathroom and one into a bedroom. Benicio was crouching on the floor in the latter. When Celia walked in, she immediately saw what had his voice sounding so concerned. Ophelia was laying on the ground, her wrists tied together, her body covered in cuts and bruises. But at least compared to Sebastian, she was alive and breathing.

"If they would have cracked the seal, they would have taken her with them, right?", Benicio asked carefully. Celia shrugged:

"I don't know. But I don't think that is what matters at the moment. Let's take her back to the Institute, get her checked."

They had barely set foot in the Institute when Alec approached them:

"Thank the angel you are here. All the Downworld leaders rolled up together a few minutes ago."

"Benni, bring Ophelia into the infirmary, I'll go with Alec.", Celia stated and followed Alec into the meeting room. Everyone else was following behind as well, while Benicio carried Ophelia away.

The party awaiting them had about the same grim facial expressions as they did. At the table that had been set up, only the Seelie Queen and Raphael had taken a chair, Magnus and Luke were both standing.

"Your Highness", Clary said, "what an unpleasant surprise."

"I'm sure Clary didn't mean...", Alec immediately tried to keep the peace, but he was cut off by Jace:

"No offense, Alec, but I agree with Clary."

"Would you let the grown-ups speak!", hissed Celia. As much as she disliked the Queen, she understood any wrong move right now could mean the end of any existing order in the Downworld.