In the Eyes

Eleven

Eleven

*~*~*~*

"I know where the cup is." Clary said as she, Jace, and I stood around Magnus' living room while the warlock himself laid sprawled out on the clean couch.

"Come again?" Jace asked, making sure he'd heard her correctly.

"The tarot cards." Clary looked at me. Just those words brought me back to Dot, recalling the numerous times I'd seen her playing with the cards as she claimed to be telling someone's future. "My mom, she must have painted them years ago, but the Mortal Cup has to be hidden inside the Ace of Cups. The card looks exactly like it."

At her words Magnus, Jace, and I all shared a look, knowing what this news meant.

"Wait, why aren't you guys happy about this?" Clary looked around at all of us, confused by our lack of excitement at her news. "All we have to do is find-"

"Dot." I finished for her, frowning at the thought of my late friend.

"If Dot had the cards when she was taken, we don't have much time," Jace shook his head. "If Valentine gets his hands on the Cup..."

"We know." Magnus cut him off, rising to his feet. "If Valentine started creating Shadowhunters or gained control of demons, it'd be like Beyonce riding on a dinosaur through Times Square. People would notice."

"But he can control demons." Clary shook her head. "I've seen it."

"Paying off a few demons is easy, especially since they rarely survive long enough to collect." Magnus pointed out.

"Still waiting on Valentine's thank you card." Jace joked, referring to the demon he'd killed the night he found Clary and I at the loft.

"Opening the gates of hell... that's a little more tricky," Magnus finished.

"Valentine doesn't have the cards." We all looked over to see Luke walking into the room. "I do. They're in my desk back at the precinct. When Clary and Cici went missing, I went to the loft and I cleared everything out, 'cause I didn't want the Circle to track them."

"That's great. This should be easy," Clary smiled at the news.

"That's what General Custer said." Magnus hummed as he sat back down.

"Magnus is right," Luke agreed. "Valentine has spies everywhere, even in the NYPD. We have to be discreet."

"Discreet?" Clary scoffed as she looked of the bandages covering Luke's chest. "You look like something out of The Mummy movie."

"We'll go in the morning. Werewolf healing, remember?" Luke reminded her. "This is nothing a couple of hours of beauty sleep can't fix."

*~*~*~*

My lips were pressed into a thin line as I walked back into the Institute, having been sent back here by the others, assuring me that they'd be able to get the tarot cards without me. As I walked down the long main hall I kept my eye out for either of my parents, Isabelle having texted me when I didn't answer her call last night, informing me that our father had arrived with Max in tow. While Dad was in no way as bad as Mom, I didn't like the idea of having to face him right now. Not until things were more stable.

As I turned a corner though I found myself coming face to face with Isabelle, but she didn't look like herself. Rather than wearing her usual revealing outfits she was wearing a business-like dress, her hair pulled back in a ponytail. Nothing about the dress seemed like her. In fact, it screamed too much of our mother.