Sebastian's Return

Chapter 4

"Thanks for having her Elaine," said Jocelyn with a grateful smile.

"It was my pleasure," replied Elaine, beaming as Clary and Simon exchanged quick goodbyes before they parted.

Clary automatically slipped her hand into Jocelyn's as they crossed the road. "Mummy, is the strange man still at our house?"

Jocelyn chuckled. "His name is Luke, Clary."

"Oh," said Clary, digesting the information. "But what is he doing in our house? Does he not have his own house?"

Jocelyn suppressed a sigh. She had no idea how she was going to explain this to Clary. There was no way she was going to introduce Clary to the Shadow World, but she would need to come up with a really far-fetched lie to get over this one.

"He used to be my best friend. And he came to visit us... and stay for a while," Jocelyn explained, although she wasn't actually sure how long he would be staying. They hadn't quite got around to discussing that slightly precarious topic.

Clary listened attentively and merely nodded before turning her attention to admiring birds in the sky.

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Jocelyn's paintbrush danced across the canvas, leaving behind streaks of orange paint. She had, in the end, decided to paint the sunset she had witnessed the other day. Luke was sitting on the couch behind her and watching, sipping a cup of coffee.

"I'm bored," proclaimed Clary to nobody in particular. She was lying on the sofa opposite Luke, her red hair spread around her small face. Luke couldn't help smiling at her; she reminded him so much of Jocelyn.

Jocelyn still seemed to be engrossed in her painting. She had put her hair up in a quick bun, held together with a paintbrush.

"Mummy, I'm bored," repeated Clary, louder this time.

Jocelyn finished blending together the shades of red and orange until she was satisfied before she turned around with a sigh.

"Why don't you have a go at painting?" she suggested.

Clary's eyes brightened and she sat up immediately. "Really?"

Jocelyn nodded although she didn't look particulary keen at the idea. She pointed her paintbrush at the table in the corner of the room. "The paper is on there and the paintbrushes are in the drawer."

Eagerly, Clary skipped over and collected her equipment before sitting down next to Luke.

"Don't you need some paint, sweetie?" Jocelyn said with a laugh, pointing with her paintbrush at the selection of paints in the cabinet.

"Oh yeah," remembered Clary as she slid back off the sofa and snatched the black pot out of the cabinet. Jocelyn winced at her choice whilst Luke grinned.

She sat herself back down beside Luke and dipped her paintbrush into the pot. As she brought it to the paper, a large blob of black paint dripped onto the coffee table. Jocelyn just shook her head, exasperated and turned around to continue with her own painting.

Clary's paintbrush scraped across the paper, creating a pattern of interlocking black lines. Luke felt a pang of affection as he observed her, her little pink tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth in immense concentration.

"What're you drawing, Clary?" he asked out of curiosity. But she was engrossed, her hand moving quickly across the white sheet of paper as if she knew what she was doing.

Once satisfied, she put the paintbrush down onto the coffee table and sat back looking proud of herself.

"There," she said, facing Luke. "I'm done."

Luke choked on his coffee. When he recovered after a few seconds, he said quietly, "Jocelyn. You'd better take a look at this."

"What?" snapped Jocelyn, annoyed at being interrupted. But then she saw Luke's expression and came over, looking concerned.

"Don't you like it mummy?" Clary asked, disappointment evident in her voice.

Jocelyn looked at her daughter's painting and felt the colour drain from her face. How could this have happened? She had been so careful; she had kept Clary away from the dark Shadow world and yet, before her, lay, without a doubt, a rune. She could hardly believe her eyes.

"What is that, Clary?" Jocelyn asked, struggling to keep her voice calm.

"I'm not really sure what it is to be honest," Clary said, looking at her painting with a sort of intrigue. "I just thought of it and so I drew it."

She then glanced up to see her mother's expression and her own face fell.

"You don't like it, do you?" she realised, crestfallen.

"No, no, of course I do, it's wonderful-" Jocelyn began quickly, struggling to keep the shock out of her voice. She was still finding it hard to process the fact that her daughter who had never even seen a rune had managed to draw one

"No you don't! You're lying!" said Clary, suddenly standing up, upsetting the pot of black paint which spilt over the coffee table and dripped onto the white rug below, staining it.

Before anyone could say anything else,  she scrunched up her painting with a ferocity Jocelyn didn't even know she possessed before throwing it into the bin and marching into her bedroom.

She slammed the door behind  her. This was followed by a long silence.

"She may be small but she sure has a big temper," he remarked, trying to break the tension. "Like someone else I know".  Here he looked at Jocelyn with a sly grin. He knew how protective Jocelyn was of her daughter but he also knew just how rash she could be.

Jocelyn didn't smile. She couldn't  smile.

"That's it, I'm taking her to Magnus," she decided, striding over to the coat rack and throwing on her coat.

Luke followed her, knowing that she would be hard to persuade.

"You are lying to her though Jocelyn," he pointed out softly. "You realise that?"

He knew he had no right over Clary. She wasn't his daughter, she was Valentine's, so he knew that it was not his place to tell Jocelyn how to bring up her daughter. But he did feel that getting Magnus Bane to erase her memories was definitely not going to solve the problem permanently.

But it was too late, Jocelyn was already pulling on her boots.

Luke sighed, giving up. Once Jocelyn got an idea, she wouldn't let it go. He knew that. "Magnus would want to see the painting, wouldn't he?"

Jocelyn looked thoughtful and then nodded, retrieving the painting from the bin where Clary had dumped it.

Luke knew he couldn't stop her now.

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hello!

Sorry for not updating in a while, stupid Wattpad deleted our chapter :/

Anyway, hope you are enjoying the book!

Thanks for reading.

Holly & Rachel
xx