Love & Arrows (Shadowhunter Series #1)

Chapter 19

EDITED - 03/18/19

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'You gain strength, courage, and confidence

by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.

You are able to say to yourself,

'I lived through this horror,

I can take the next thing that comes along.'

- Eleanor Roosevelt

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ALEC

  I walk towards Lydia at the training area as Yvanna heads to her room. "Lydia, can we talk?" I ask and she looks at me before stopping the punching bag. "Is this where you tell me that I should leave?" She asks and I look at her with slight shock, she's doing what's right to protect the Institute from threats. "What? No." I say before crossing my arms in front of me.

  She lets out a sigh before looking at me. "Why wouldn't you?" She asks and I let out a sigh. "Can we just talk off the record?" I ask. "Head of Institute hat off?" She asks and I nod before she lets out a sigh before heading to the bench. "Listen, I need to come clean about what happened at the City of Bones." I state before testing an arm on the top of the punching bag.

  "Isabelle was there, wasn't she?" She asks and I nod even though she has her back facing me. "Yeah, and Jace and Clary and some vampires and werewolves. They thought they were stopping a war with the Downworld." I explain before she turns around to look at me. "Did Yvanna know about their plan before we went?" She asks with her arms crossed.

  I look at her with a raised eyebrow. "She and her brother are not in speaking terms right now, she said they lied to her that they were going to help Clary's mundane turned vampire friend to adjust." I explain and she lets out a sigh. "Well, they weren't wrong about stopping a war, but I had orders." She explains and I nod in agreement.

  We were raised to follow orders but there will always be people who will try to not to. "Yeah, and Yvanna and I understand that better than anyone, but I can't let Izzy be exiled for this." I try to reason. Even though I don't approve of her actions, she is still my sister. "In the eyes of the Clave – she's guilty. I mean, how do you propose we get around that?" She asks and I try to come up with an idea, any idea.

  I suddenly remember the Cup. "I may have something that the Clave wants – I can give them the Mortal Cup." I explain and her eyes widen in shock. "Alec, you have it? Why didn't you tell me before?" She asks as she walks towards me. I run a hand through my hair, after everything's that happened, now is the right time to hand over the Cup.

  I don't care if Jace gets mad at me for this. "I promised Jace, and there's this thing with Clary-"

  "I get it, he's your parabatai." She states while looking down at her feet before looking back at me. "I'm gonna trade the Cup for Izzy's freedom. Do you think the Clave would go for it?" I ask and she nods. I'm bargaining the Mortal Cup for my sister's freedom. If Viv was here, she would have done the same thing.

  But as the second eldest child, I have to do this for the sake of our family. "To keep it out of Valentine's hands – they'll do anything. Where is it?" Lydia asks as I walk towards a tile with the rune that can only be unlocked by the stele of an authority of the Institute. I unlock it and wait for the tile to rise before looking at the empty rack in anger.