City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments Fan-fic)

Chapter 10: A Trap

"So, let me get this straight," said Luke, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Jace and Simon are being held captive half a mile underground?" He stood by the couch in the library, arms crossed. "Is it just me or does this sound a bit fantastical?"

Magnus shook his head, his eyes sharp. "I'm positive, werewolf. The tracking doesn't lie. And since it was such an important object of Jace's," he said, gesturing with a nod of his head to the silver box Clary had brought just minutes earlier, "there is no mistake."

Maryse stepped forward, taking care to avoid the cloth-covered spot where the angel wings once lay, darkened with golden blood. "I can believe that Sebastian somehow made an underground hideout, after all, it is Valentine's son we're talking about here. In fact, I could even expect him to do something like this. But what bothers me is that the hideout's right here in Manhattan." She looked around, daring anyone to object. "I mean, it's been right under our noses all this time! How did we not even find them until now, any-"

Magnus cut her off, looking imperious. "The answer to your question is, of course, that they're under tons of rock and soil. All that material disrupted the tracking, it's that simple."

Maryse raised an eyebrow, beginning to speak. Instead, Jocelyn jumped in. "I think what Maryse means is... this is all too easy." She hesitated for a milisecond before speaking his name. "If Sebastian truly did not want us to find Jace and Simon, he could have moved them to another country, continent even. But he stayed here. We can all assume this means he wants us to find him."

There was a silence so thick and long, it weighed on Clary's heart. Clary, who had been standing silently in the shadows with Isabelle and Alec, felt the need to break it after several still moments. "In other words, this is all a trap."

The adults turned to look at her, as if they had forgotten the others were in the room. As Magnus opened his mouth again, Jordan and Maia chose that moment to burst into the room, banging open the door.

"Ah," said Maia hesitantly, wincing at the resounding crash of the heavy doors, "sorry... But none of you people decided to wake us up!"

Jordan pulled Maia away towards Clary and the others, smiling apolegetically. "Seems we've come in at a rather tense moment," he said, coming to a stop beside Alec, his hair rumpled from sleep. He slipped his hand into Maia's, and she leaned her head on his shoulder with a smile.

Despite the situation, Clary found herself wishing she was in their place, her hand wrapped in Jace's, laughing, sleeping together. Not in the way most people thought. Just sleeping, curled around each other like they used to. She found herself daydreaming, of Simon's contagious laugh and goofy smile that cracked her up, of watching Jace's long eyelashes catch the rays of the afternoon sun.

"Clary. Are you even listening?" hissed Isabelle, tapping her shoulder. Clary's head snapped upwards so fast, it hurt her neck. "This is probably important, you know," she said, giving her a pointed look.

"-and really, it's up to you whether you want to tell the Clave or go on yourself. But if you ask me, it's a very tricky operation, there's a guarantee of danger, maybe it would be wise to notify the Clave," Magnus was saying.

"No!" Clary shouted, making everyone turn to her again. "You absolutely cannot tell the Clave about this," she said, her tone leaving no room for question. She stared right at Maryse, who was biting her lip indecisively.

"I know where you're going with this, Clary, but it may be the best thing to-" Jocelyn started, her eyes sad.

Isabelle cut her off abruptly, crossing her arms in defiance. "I agree with Clary. There's no way the Clave would let us go and try to rescue them. They would think it's all a trap, that it's too dangerous. But we have to! It's their only chance!"

"Isabelle, it's not that simple. We can't hide this from the Clave, they'll find out no matter what! All those Shadowhunters who came to the police station to help out will tell them about what happened. The Clave may not know about Jace and Simon's kidnap right away, but they're bound to start asking questions." Maryse wrung her hands, slumping against the huge wooden desk. "And... and we have no idea what we would be going up against if we went underground to find them. Maybe the Clave would be right to stop us going."

A frigid moment of silence numbed Clary's mind and heart. She felt piercing icicles forming inside of her, puncturing her from the inside-out.

"So basically what you're saying is... you want them to die." Clary looked to her right, startled to see Alec stepping forward, darkness clouding his eyes. "I don't know about you, mother, but I actually care about these people. And I intend to bring them back."

Maryse turned pale, her eyes widening. "Alec, you can't possibly think that... that I don't care about Jace! I-" She broke off, her mouth set in a thin line. "I want to save them too. Believe me, I do. It's our safety I'm concerned about."

Clary found her voice again, her tone hollow and blunt. "I don't care what any of you do, I'm going to where Simon and Jace are, and I'm going to save them."

"I'm with her," she heard Izzy say, "there's no way I'm not going."

Clary felt Alec step up beside her, his expression of fierce determination more powerful than any words he could have spoken.

Maia nodded in agreement.

"We've been through alot together, me and Simon. I owe this to him," Jordan added.

Luke, who had been looking on with troubled eyes, sighed heavily. "I know you all want to be heroes, save your friends, but to be honest, what can a bunch of teenagers do in this kind of situation? There are what, nine of us? And not all of us are completely trained for battle. Us, against who knows what army Sebastian has formed."

"You can't talk us out of this, you know that, right?" scoffed Isabelle, stamping her foot to add emphasis. "We are going whether you four come or not."

"And exactly where would you go without us?" asked Magnus, raising a thin eyebrow skeptically. "I don't believe I told you where they were being held."

Alec bristled beside Clary, his muscles taut. He didn't say anything though, so Clary spoke for him. "Magnus," she said as calmly as she could, "where are they then?"

Magnus shook his head, shrugging his thin shoulders slightly. "I'm afraid I can't tell you, Clary dear. You youngsters would just go running off, and end up dead. Not that I particularly care if you are dead, since I'm only here because the pack pays me to heal them, but-"

"Okay, that's enough," said a quiet voice from the corner of Clary's vision. A voice with flaming hair like hers. "We need to decide on something, right now. Either we inform the Clave and let thim take charge of this, in which case they may or may not send in people to help, putting Jace and Simon's lives in danger. Or, we go in ourselves. Maryse, ultimately, it's your decision."

Clary stared at her mother, surprised. She never got to see Jocelyn's Shadowhunter side, and whenever it showed, she couldn't help seeing her in a completely different light. Not as just a mom, but a soldier, a warrior.

Maryse closed her eyes for a full minute, her lips white. Finally, in a resigned voice, she said,"Fine. We will go ourselves."

Before Isabelle could say anything, she added, "But I'm only..." she said the next word with some difficulty, as if it stuck in her throat, "deceiving the Clave because they wouldn't think in the best interest of Jace and Simon. They wouldn't care if they lived or not, instead it would all be about capturing Sebastian."

Clary felt her heart lift a little at her words, no matter how grim they seemed to everyone else. There's hope. It's possible. But no one cheered. It was far too early to be celebrating.





Clary stared at herself for the second time in less than an hour. But now, her eyes weren't full of sorrow, but a hard resolve. She brushed her hair back in a messy ponytail, strapping on leg guards, then straightening her Shadowhunter gear. Clary's reflestion on the foggy mirror reminded her of someone. Her mother.

She stepped out of the cluttered bathroom into Isabelle's glittery gold-and-black walled room. Izzy was walking around in her gear, rummaging through in drawers and under her bed for weapons. She was already winding her golden whip around her wrist, clutching two seraph blades and a nearly foot long midnight black dagger.

"Here," she mumbled through a wicked sharp barret shaped like a butterfly she held between her teeth, tossing Clary a seraph blade. She took out the barret and expertly clipped it to her hair. When Clary raised an eyebrow, she shrugged. "They'll never see it coming," she said ominously with a wink.

Clary weighed the blade in her hand, it's familiar grip comforting. "What's it's name?"

"Sakel," Isabelle said, looking under her pillow for any more weapons. She found a medium-sized chakram under the sheets pierced though a blue sparkly dress. She threw the dress onto the floor and stuck the circular disk on her weapon belt.

Isabelle looked around her room one last time before turning to Clary. "You ready?"

"No," was all Clary could think of as a response. "You?"

Izzy shrugged. "You never feel prepared as you walk into a battle with virtually no idea what you're up against."

Clary nodded. She hadn't had much experience with battles, but she had been trained... somewhat. She went over some moves in her head, making tiny movements with her sheathed blade as she turned to exit the room.

"You're going to knock into the wall," Isabelle said breezily as she walked past her, through the door. Clary stopped herself from hitting her nose on the frame at the last second and walked out after her.

"Isabelle, how can you be so calm?" Clary asked, running to catch up to her.

She shrugged, her long black ponytail whipping Clary in the face as she turned, "I'm not exactly sure. I suppose I'm sort of used to all the danger and battles that come with being a Shadowhunter."

"I don't think I'll ever get used to it," Clary replied so quietly she doubted the other girl heard her.

Clary skimmed her fingertips softly against the plain, slightly faded wallpaper of the hallway as she walked. Oddly enough, Clary didn't feel scared or nervous. Instead, an intense yet dull feeling took over her, filling her with an almost unbearable sense of apprehension and dread. She and Isabelle were silent as they walked, each immersed in their own thoughts.

Suddenly, the huge oak doors loomed up in front of them, daunting. Clary felt a trickle of sweat run down her neck.

"You're going to have to do some persuading," Isabelle mused, her hand unmoving on the door handle.

Clary groaned. "God, yeah, I almost forgot. My parents are going to be so stubborn!"

Isabelle tilted her head slightly, giving Clary a curious look. "Just like you? You can be pretty stubborn yourself, in case you hadn't noticed."

Clary rolled her eyes at Izzy's attempt to lighten the mood and pushed the doors open. Inside, Maryse stood in her gear, talking in grim tones on the phone. The only other person in the library was Magnus. He, of course, was at odds with everyone else's mood. He was sporting bright blue gear the colour of a clear, Hawaiian sky, with, of course, sparkles and sequins.

Isabelle came in after Clary and immediately raised a thin eyebrow. "Hey Magnus, where are the feathers and electric lights?" she asked. Her voice, though light, was coated with a layer cold ice. Obviously, she hadn't forgiven the warlock for breaking her brother's heart.

Magnus shrugged, keeping his gaze casual. "Sadly, they don't happen to make Shadowhunting gear like that. But if you like, I could make yours like mine."

Isabelle flipped her hair, about to whip out a retort when Maryse interrupted the two. "Okay, I've called Kadir and a few other Shadowhunters. They should be here any minute now," she said, hanging up the old-fashioned phone on the desk. "Where are the others?" she asked, slightly surprised to see there were only a few people in the room.

"We don't know, I thought they would all be here by now," Clary said. She drifted around the room aimlessly, too filled with a mixture of exitement and dread to sit down. Izzy, on the other hand, slid onto the arm of the couch and started toying with her sparkly butterfly barret.

Luke came into the room quickly after a few moments. He wasn't wearing any gear, but Clary could see the glint of several blades arranged along a belt he'd gotten from the weapon room. Jordan and Maia came in after him, faces set. Clary braced herself to face whatever argument Luke decided to put up against her, preparing a defiant look on her face as he walked near.

But instead of stopping by Clary, he barely glanced her way. Luke kept right on walking past her towards Maryse. Clary didn't even have time to breathe a sigh of relief before Jocelyn came in, walking briskly through the doors.

"Clarissa," Jocelyn began, with a stern look on her face. She bit her lip worriedly, while at the same time managing to look fierce.

Clary decided to speak up before her mother had a chance to argue. "Look, mom, I'm going. I have to save them. They mean so much to me, and I'm going no matter what you say or do." Her voice sounded harsh and cold to her own ears, but she knew it was the only way to get Jocelyn to comply.

"Clary, honey, I know that you want to go but it's too dangerous. This is not the time to play the hero. Your safety comes before anything else to me and you're father." She said the last two words so easily, though Clary was sure she had never said them to her before about Luke. She'd have time to think about her mother and the meaning of her words later, but right now her brain was focused on one goal.

"I'm not trying to be a hero, mom! I just want them back." Her voice softened, breaking off. She turned towards Jocelyn, setting her mouth in a thin frown. "You don't understand. You don't know what it's like to be me. You don't know how much it hurts!"

"I do know, Clary!" Jocelyn said heatedly, stepping forward so they were inches apart. "How do you think I felt when you disappeared to go off and search for Jace and Sebastian? How do you think I felt knowing you were alone. Alone and in danger. I understand exactly how you feel."

Clary shook her head, feeling her eyes burn. She took a deep breath, forcing the tears back. "Then you'll let me go, right?" she said this slowly and calmly, looking up at her mother from the several inches that seperated them in height. "This is my decision. You have no right to keep me here, I'm an adult now." She clenched her fingers when she saw Jocelyn's eyes spark dangerously.

"No matter how old you are, you are my daughter. And I know what's best for you," she said, louder. Clary felt the eyes of the others in the room boring down on her back, watching to see what she would do.

She opened her mouth, preparing a scathing response, when Luke walked in before she could respond, pulling Jocelyn away toward the couches. Clary heard him whisper intently, gesturing towards her. Jocelyn shook her head violently, her mouth open incredulously. Clary walked forwards, straining to hear their words.

"I'm still here, you know!" She said, annoyance clear in her voice.

Luke nodded. "We know, we know. It's just... you've had so little training we're not sure if you're ready."

"Of course she's not ready," exploded Jocelyn, "she's had 2 weeks of training! And now she wants to go up against an entire army of demons, vampires and who knows what else? I don't think so."

Clary had an argument ready for that one. "I have had training! I'm ready, mom! Isabelle, Alec, Maia and Jordan are all going. And Maia and Jordan haven't gotten any training."

Luke shook his head tiredly, as if the conversation was draining the energy out of him. Clary could swear she saw his hair turning grayer by the second. "You can't compare yourself to them. They're Downworlders. They have abilities you don't have."

"It doesn't matter. I'm going. And if you don't let me go, I'll just follow you all. And if that doesn't work, I'll go looking for them alone. You can't keep me from danger forever. I want to fight. I'm a Shadowhunter, just like you, mom. And I don't believe for a second that if you were in my place, you wouldn't want to fight too." Clary turned abruptly on her heel, leaving her parents no time to argue further. She practically sprinted towards Isabelle and Maia, who were both standing next to the doors, mouths slightly open.

"Wow, you want to go that badly, huh?" Isabelle asked, nodding appreciatively.

Clary raised her eyebrows questioningly. "Of course, don't you?" The expression on Izzy's face was enough to answer the question.

"Hey, what's your mom doing?"

Maryse had started talking to Jocelyn and Luke, glancing in her direction. She felt her stomach churn. What if she made it worse?

Maia nodded with her head, looking a bit nervous. "They're coming," she said quietly. Jocelyn led the way slowly, silent in her gear and boots, as Luke trailed behind, his face unreadable.

"Can we have some privacy?" her mother asked, her tone flat. Maia and Isabelle shrugged, moving away a few feet. Jocelyn took a breath. "Okay. Fine."

"What? Do you mean..." Clary felt her heart quicken.

"Yes, we're allowing you to go on this... mission, should we say, to rescue your friends." Luke said from behind, his eyes unsmiling.

Clary nearly bounced on the balls of her feet. But, she thought that would probably be childish so instead she simply nodded.

Jocelyn observed her daughter with careful eyes. "I'm glad your not celebrating right now," she said. "This is just the beginning."

Clary tilted her head slightly, brushing back her hair to give her restless hands something to do. "What do you mean? The beginning of what?"

"The beginning of a new chapter. A very... dangerous chapter."





Sebastian leaned back on his chair, rocking a wineglass gently between his fingertips. Waiting. It was all he had done for a while now. His hands itched to feel a weapon, to feel the blood of an enemy run down his palm. But he had to wait, just a while longer, before it was time.

A knock at his door sounded, echoing deeply. He smiled, hunger glinting in his eyes. Looks like the waiting's over, Sebastian relished as he opened the door smoothly. Maureen stood in the doorway, hair tousled. Her face shone with excitement.

"Are they coming?" He asked, already assuming the answer.

"Yes. They found us," Maureen said breathlessly, allowing her fangs to slide out of their sheaths. She licked a few droplets of blood from her cut lip. "They're almost here. Good timing, too. I was about to get really hungry."

Sebastian smirked, walking past her into the hallway and through a set of doors. Maureen followed closely behind him.

"Do you want me to get the clan?" she asked impatiently. Her hands clawed at the walls as they walked by, ripping clumps of dirt from them.

He shook his head. "Let's have a little fun with them first," he said thoughtfully. "Let them find the prisoners. Then we can release the others. I think I'll join in, too," Sebastian said casually, while taking a huge black sword the colour of obsidian out of his belt. He grinned, running his hand along the blade. "This is going to be fun."