My Queen

Chapter Six

"He's been gone for five days," Isabelle said, pacing around in the library, "Mom is going to find out that he's gone when she gets back and she's going to be furious."

"Will you stop worrying about what mom is going to think?" Alec responded incredulously. He let out a long sigh, "We should be worried about whether Jace is safe or not. I have a bad feeling..."

"Can't you feel him?" Isabelle asked, pulling her hair into a ponytail, "Through your parabatai rune?"

"I can feel that he's alive, yes." Alec murmured, raking a hand through his hair. He sat on the edge of his chair, his elbows on his knees. He had bags under his eyes, much like Isabelle. They hadn't gotten much sleep the past few nights, worried about Jace. Alec thought about when he leaved, "I'll be back," He'd promised, "With Clary."

But now, here they were two days later, no sign of Jace or Clary. And no way of getting to them either. Neither of them had seen the interior Sebastian's apartment, so they couldn't portal there. And even if they had seen it, they weren't sure if it would be possible.

"We can't lose him too..." Isabelle said, her voice quiet. She was on the verge of tears, "Not after Max-"

"We won't lose him." Alec stood up, pulling her into a hug. He tugged on her hair lightly, something that he'd done since they were little. He never knew exactly why. Doing it filled him with some sort of comfort, made him think about when they were young—when things were much more simple.

They both broke apart when they heard a loud sound. Alec and Isabelle's gazes locked on each other and they both said it at the same time, "Mom."

They rushed to the entrance of the Institute to see her walking in. She smiled at both of them until she saw their faces, her smile dropping, "What's wrong?" She looked between the two of them, her eyebrows furrowing into confusion, "Where is Jace?"

"Did the Clave say anything about their search for Clary?" Isabelle interrupted, hoping for some good news. If they found Clary, they'd find Jace. She was sure of it.

"They're doing everything they can," Maryse said, her voice low. She raised her head a little higher, "Isabelle, Alec, I'm going to give you five seconds to tell me where Jace is."

Both of them looked at each other, visibly gulping, "Well..." Alec started, "You might want to sit down for this one."

He'd given her a much simpler explanation than Isabelle would have given, getting straight to the point. By the end of it, their mother looked furious, just as they'd predicted, "You let him do what?" She asked, not bothering to hide her anger.

"We didn't let him do anything," Isabelle spoke up this time, her eyes sad, "It's Clary. You know that he'd do anything for her. We had no say."

"The Clave-"

"The Clave does nothing." Alec was the one who said this, and Isabelle and his mother looked at him in shock. He'd been the one who took the Law into consideration before doing anything, up until recently. His gaze shifted up to his mother, "They only do what benefits them. Jace and Clary will always be seen as 'Valentine's children'."

"They think she's in his apartment," Maryse said, her voice cold, "They were locating-"

"No, they weren't." Alec took a step towards his mother, "They couldn't locate it in the first place. Don't give us that crap."

She took a deep breath, looking at Alec. Her anger seemed to melt away, her eyes becoming sad, "Can you feel him?" She asked, her voice quiet now. He pursed his lips before giving a slow nod.

"He's alive," He murmured. But he didn't understand why that was important. He was alive, yes, but he could have been being tortured for all they knew. That didn't ease his worrying at all. He ran a hand through his hair, tears stinging his eyes.

"Come here." Their mother said, opening up her arms. She pulled them into a hug and they all cried together. For Jace, for Clary, and for everything in between.