Brothers by Blood (Alec Lightwood twin)

Chapter 91

*Back at the Institute*

BEN'S POV

When Alec, Clary, Jace, and Izzy got back to the Institute, I was shocked to see them all covered in blood. They must have seen the look on my face because Alec immediately tried to reassure me.
"It's not our blood." He said. "Well, except for Jace, but the rest of us are ok." He said.
"I knew I should have gone with you." I said. I turned to Clary, who was standing next to Jace. "Clary, would you take Jace to the Infirmary please?" I asked. She nodded and grabbed Jace's hand, leading him towards the Infirmary. Alec and Izzy turned back to me. "Are you sure you're ok?" I asked.
"Yes, we're alright. We killed Jonathan so that's an up side." Izzy told me. I chuckled. "I mean, it would have been nice to have you there with us, but honestly, we were ok without you." She added.
"I am healed." I all but whined.
"Clary didn't seem to think so when she saw you training after the meeting earlier." Alec said.
"She told you about that?" I asked.
"Yeah." Alec replied. "I'm the Head of the Institute and your twin brother. I need to know these things." He added. I rolled my eyes.
"Ugh! I feel like a little kid who has been grounded by his parents." I complained impatiently. I could see Izzy smiling at me.
"Hey, if it makes you feel any better, it is good to have someone here while we are out in the field anyway, because that means if there are any updates or changes we should know about that we wouldn't already, we have someone to inform us and keep us updated on those changes." Alec said. I knew he was trying to make me feel better about being left behind, but honestly, it wasn't really working. I could tell that both Alec and Izzy knew that it was hurting me even more not even being able to train. "Ok. How about this. You can continue training, but you have to have checkups by the medics once every two days, and you can only go back into the field when the medics and I agree you are physically able to do so. Deal?" Alec offered. Well, it's better than nothing.
"Ok. Deal." I agreed.

CLARY'S POV

Jace was lying down on one of the Infirmary beds, shirtless, as I activated his Iratze rune, drew some extra healing runes on him, and stayed with him as he healed.
"You know, you don't have to heal them all at once." Jace said, looking up at me.
"Valentine is still out there." I replied, not looking away from what I was doing.
"Yeah, well at least we got Jonathan, right?" Jace said.
"If we would have been one second later, he would have...you would've been..." I said, trailing off, not wanting to say the words.
"People die in war, Clary." Jace said calmly.
"My Mum and then Dot, and I can't lose you, too." I said, feeling the tears coming to my eyes. I knew that my Mum was still alive, but she had been taken from me from the Clave nonetheless.
"You're mother is still alive Clary." Jace reminded me. I didn't say anything to this comment. "You're not the only person afraid of losing someone." Jace added softly. I shook my head slowly, my eyes filling with tears, some spilling over.
"I'm tired of being afraid." I said. Jace looked at me, his eyes full of empathy. Out of the blue, he sat up and pulled me into a kiss. I closed my eyes, my lips fit perfectly with his and it felt like we were in a world that was completely our own, no war, nothing, just us.

*Later – The Next Day*

BEN'S POV

I woke up with a very uneasy feeling. I know Jace, Alec, Izzy, and Clary told me that Jonathan is dead, but I had a very ominous feeling that we had not heard the last of him. I needed to tell Alec about this. I got up and got dressed, heading to the kitchen to get something when I bumped into Izzy.
"Oh! Hey Ben, you're up early." She greeted me.
"Yeah, I couldn't sleep." I replied. She must have seen the look on my face because she spoke again almost immediately.
"What's wrong? And don't say 'nothing' because we both know that is a lie." She asked.
"I just woke up with a very ominous feeling that, even though you told me that Jonathan is dead, we haven't heard or seen the last of him." I told her.
"To be honest, knowing Jonathan, you could be right." Izzy said. "I hope you're not, but you could be." She added. "You should tell Alec. I think he's in his office." I nodded at her suggestion and headed to said place.
Once I got to his office, the door was open. I looked in and saw him looking down at some papers he was reading. I knocked on the doorframe and he looked up.
"Ben! Hey. What's up?" He asked. He then frowned. "You look like something is bothering you." He added.
"Something is." I said, walking into his office and sitting down on one of the chairs. Alec turned to me completely, focusing all his attention on me, the paperwork he was doing forgotten.
"What is it?" He asked, concern written all over his face.
"I woke up this morning and I had a very ominous feeling that we haven't heard the last of Jonathan. I know you guys said he was dead, but I just have this feeling that we haven't seen the last of him." I told him. "I told Izzy, but I thought I should come and tell you as well, just as a warning. You know very well, probably better than anyone, that my feelings are rarely wrong." I added. Alec didn't say anything, but we both know that he didn't need to as we both knew that I was right.