2
Darkness and Deception
"Clary, are you insane?" The reproachful voice on the other end of the phone was Isabelle's. "If I did that and Jace found out about it—"
"Who says Jace ever has to know?" Clary challenged.
Following Jace's outburst in the greenhouse, he had stormed away, leaving Clary alone in his wake. Numbly, she had made her way down the stairs and through the maze-like halls of the Institute, eventually ending up in her bedroom. She'd tried to think about what had just happened, but she was too exhausted. Training and fighting with Jace had drained all of her energy, and within a few minutes of lying down on her bed, Clary was asleep.
The next morning, when she woke up, there was a plan already forming in her mind. She had gone to Isabelle's room to explain it to her, only to find the room vacant. Upon checking the library, kitchen, and weapons room, Clary had finally returned to her own room and decided to just call Izzy. When she answered, Isabelle was out of breath and whispering, as if she didn't want to be overheard.
"Clary?" Isabelle breathed quickly.
"Isabelle?" Clary had asked in surprise. "Where are you?"
"Oh," she said, seemingly searching for something to say. "I went out hunting. I couldn't sleep." Clary heard a muffled voice in the background, recognizable but not immediately identifiable, and heard Izzy shush the person.
"Isabelle?" Clary asked cautiously. "Who are you with?"
"Um. . .No one you'd know. Just a. . . friend. Definitely not anyone you've ever met in your entire life. Ever." Isabelle hazarded unconvincingly.
"What? Iz. . ." Clary trailed off, wondering who Isabelle could be with that would make her so defensive. Unless. . . "Oh my God. Isabelle, you're not with. . ." Clary jumped up from her place on her bed in a surprised realization. "Are you with Simon?!" she exclaimed.
There had been a pause, and Isabelle had sighed.
"Clary, please don't be mad." Isabelle begged, but Clary wasn't angry. Instead, she was happy for Simon. From the first moment he had met Isabelle, Simon had had feelings for her, and after what had been going on between the two of them in recent months since they had been home from Idris, Clary had been worried they would never be okay again.
"No, Isabelle, I'm not mad. I'm just. . . Surprised, that's all. But I do really need to talk to you about something."
"Is something wrong?"
Clary heard Simon in the background ask "What's she saying? What's going on?" Both questions were, of course, ignored by Isabelle.
"Not particularly, but I need your help with a plan I'm working on."
"Uh oh," Isabelle replied uneasily. "Should I be worried Clary?"
Clary scoffed, and then eagerly laid her out plan for Izzy —a plan to get Jace away from the Institute long enough for her to slip out, unnoticed and unprevented. Isabelle, though, seemed slightly less enthused.
"Jace is obsessive about protecting you, Clary. He won't just leave you alone at the Institute unprotected for no good reason."
"What if Alec took him out hunting? He always trusts Alec. Plus, it will get Alec's mind off of Magnus for a little while. Jace never has to know. We can just tell him that you're going to keep an eye on me."
"And next week, when he asks you where you got whatever you're getting him for his birthday?"
"I'll tell him the truth. He'll be really mad, but he won't be able to undo it. And maybe he'll see that I didn't exactly die while I was out and he'll loosen the reins a little. What's the worst that could happen? Actually," Clary added hastily, "don't answer that. Look Isabelle, I am suffocating here, and Jace can't get much worse than he already is. What's the harm in trying?"
