Tainted Soul • Lightwood. [ON HOLD]

F I V E

"In all the time I've known you, as much as you scare me, I'm so glad to say it's so good to see you."

That single phase was the first thing Justin heard as he made his way to the heart of the Institute. Clary was once again back inside but now with Simon at her side.

"If you dare to touch me, I'll break your arm," Justin threatened the boy, the brunette stopping in his tracks and mumbling an okay.

"What is going on? Why is there a mundane in the Institute?" Alec Lightwood approached the four, a scowl present on his face. "Is mundane your favourite word? You use it in almost every sentence," Justin asked him, staring at the man besides him.

The raven haired boy rolled his eyes, deciding to ignore him and turned to Jace. "A Circle member followed him to get to Clary,"

"And Justin."

"A Circe rune, just like the guys that took my mother,"

"Our mother."

"What exactly is a Circle member and why are they trying to kill us?" Simon asked, clearly confused by the whole situation.

"All we know is... a long time ago the Circle led a revolt. A lot of Shadowhunters got killed... including my father," Jace started. "And since the revolt we've been forbidden to even hear about the Circle," Alec finished.

"But, how is that even possible? It's your history?" Clary questioned them. "Says you, the girl who didn't know she was a Shadowhunter," Justin reminded her. Clary looked at her brother with disbelief written all over her face.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right. And now the only person who know the truth is missing, so I don't care about your rules or what's forbidden, I'm... there's got to be someone out there who can tell us why they've taken our mother," Clary said.

"There is. You coming?" The siblings started to walk after Jace, Simon following after them only to be stopped by the blond Shadowhunter. "No, no, no. Not you."

"Hey, we're a package deal," Clary argued. "There are runes all over the training room floor that would kill your mundie boyfriend," Jace explained. "He's not my-" "I'm not, like-"

"We're, uh, just friends," Simon stated. "Best friends." Clary smiled at Simon, receiving a grin back. "Best friendzoned," Justin muttered, amused by the exchange.

"Yeah, and I'm tough. I can handle the runes,"

"No you can't,"

"So, uh, bring on the runes. What exactly are runes?" Simon asked, rubbing his hand after slapping Jace on the arm.

From behind them, Izzy started speaking. When Simon turned around, he was speechless with the raven haired girl there. "They give Shadowhunters our demon-fighting powers." She ran her stele through her arm, revealing one of her runes.

"So hot." Jace cleared his throat, not liking how Simon was staring at Isabelle. "The rune," Simon corrected.

"Don't worry, Clary. I'll watch over the best friend. In fact, I was about to make breakfast," Isabelle said, chuckling and analysing the mundane.