Light Shadows • Alec Lightwood

Fourteen

« 14—BISCUITS »
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Talia sat at a table between large screens that showed images of the city with Alec watching them intently with his arms crossed over his chest.

She watched as Jace walked over to him and began talking whilst Clary placed the Mortal Cup back into the Tarot card after taking it out earlier to fight back against the demons.

Izzy approached the table and flicked Talia's forehead when the dark haired girl caught her staring at her brothers back. The older girl rolled her eyes before resting her head on the table and allowing her light brown hair to cover her cheeks as they began to redden slightly. Izzy chuckled before tuning into the boys' conversation.

"No Downworlder can come into the Institute," Jace told the taller boy as he rested his forearm against the monitor.

"Not without an invite by a Shadowhunter," Izzy added as she looked across the smaller screens beside Talia.

Alec turned and looked at the other Shadowhunters as he spoke, "Last I checked, Valentine is a Shadowhunter, the Cup is not safe here, we have to give it back to the Clave."

Talia half-heartedly nodded her head against the table as she watched the mixture of reactions from her fellow Shadowhunters.

Clary's bright eyes narrowed, "Give it back to the Clave? No, not after everything we went through to get it."

"My brother is right," Izzy turned to her, standing straight up as Talia turned her head questioningly in her direction at her agreement, "The Cup is extremely important."

Clary sighed as Alec reflected the same surprise Talia did, a piece of his dark hair resting on his eyebrow making Talia itch to move it, "Are you agreeing with me?"

Izzy shrugged, "I'm full of surprises."

Isabelle looked flawless in her dark purple dress that covered her arms and neck, also having the bottom of the dress resting just below her knees which was a surprise to Talia as her usual outfits were a slight bit more, revealing.

The red haired girl shook her head in protest as she waved the card around in exasperation, "This Cup is the one chance I have at getting my mom back."

Alec's lips pulled into a tight line at the comment as Jace spoke up, "I agree with Clary."

Talia rolled her eyes whilst keeping her head on the table watching as the golden haired boy shared a look with his darker haired Parabatai.

"Of course you do," She murmured, tracing random patterns on the table with her fingers.

"We can't give the Cup to the Clave, not now, we need it. It's our only bargaining chip."