Entrusted [1]《SHADOWHUNTERS》

Chapter Twenty-Six

Andy had just changed out of her dress for the wedding and into much more comfortable gear when Jace ran into her bedroom, grabbing her arm and dragging her away before he even began to explain. "What is going on?" She complained.

"Lydia was knocked unconscious in her room. Alec said she said it was Hodge," her brother explained, winding their way through the hallways and multiple floors of the Institute until they ended up in the corner of mission control at their favorite computer.

"Lydia's lying," Andina replied quickly, completely sure of herself. There was no way Hodge would injure her unless she was putting them in danger.

When they arrived, Isabelle was typing on the keyboard with her eyes glued to the monitor and Alec was behind her, leaning on the back of the chair. Clary was sitting on the edge of the glass desk and lifted her head when the two approached.

"What happened to Lydia?" Andy asked Alec, expecting to get a less aggravatingly vague story than the one her brother gave her.

She was right. "I found her on the floor in Dad's office. The Cup was gone. And she said one thing when she woke up..."

"Hodge?" Andy guessed, mirroring Clary's position on the opposite side of Isabelle.

Alec nodded. Clary sighed, "How's Lydia?"

"Better. Magnus is doing what he can to help her, but... it's bad. And the Cup is definitely missing," he informed them.

Jace inhaled sharply. "So is Hodge."

Andy furrowed her brow. "How is Hodge... missing? He's got to be in the building somewhere, he can't go anywhere else."

"Maybe he was attacked, too," Isabelle reasoned, pulling up the security feed from Robert and Maryse's office. When she sped through it, it seemed like Hodge had come into the room behind Lydia.

"Maybe he's the one who attacked her," Clary said, analyzing the footage closely.

"Watch the accusations, Carrot Top," Andy told her sister. "Hodge has mentored us all since we were kids. He'd never do something like that."

Isabelle agreed with Andy, fast forwarding to the main event in the footage just before Lydia made contact with the ground. She played it back and it showed someone hitting Lydia across the face and flipping her into the coffee table, which shattered underneath her. Iz zoomed in on the footage and played it again, none of the Shadowhunters believing what they saw.

Clear as day, Hodge hit Lydia and knocked her out before stepping over her unconscious form carelessly. He rummaged around the room until he picked up the Mortal Cup in all of its glowing beauty.

"I led him right to the Cup," Jace muttered, fuming.

Alec was sneering. "We treated him like family. How could he do this to us?"

"I don't know, but he's dead," Andy promised coldly. Isabelle closed the footage and opened up the last security clip that Hodge could be seen in. It was in the Infirmary with Jocelyn. Luke said something to Hodge before walking out, and their mentor pulled a ring out of his pocket and slid it onto his finger.

"That's how," Clary said. "What's that ring?"

Isabelle narrowed her eyes. "It looks like he's talking to someone."

"And presenting them the Cup," Andy commentated.

Jace was livid. "And I can bet who it is."

Clary nodded. "Valentine," she spat.

Alec huffed. "Well, that explains how he deactivated the Punishment rune. But that doesn't explain how he got the ring."

"Maybe someone smuggled it past the wards?" Clary asked.