ꜰʀᴀʏᴇᴅ |ᴀ.ʟ.| ꜱʜᴀᴅᴏᴡʜᴜɴᴛᴇʀꜱ ꜰᴀɴꜰɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ {ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴀᴍɪʟʟᴇ ꜰᴀɪʀᴄʜɪʟᴅ ᴛʀɪʟᴏɢʏ #1}

{𝔽𝕒𝕚𝕣𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕝𝕕}

"What was that?" I gasp, the murmuring of voices catching my attention, setting off alarm bells

Clary whirls around, her long orange hair unfurling in a great spiral around her face as she looks back at me, "What was what?"

"That!" I urge, the mumbling reaching my ears again

"Cami...I-I can't hear anything" Clary whispers but I'm already ahead of her, following the source of the sound, the murmuring getting louder and louder before finally, we reach a short wall that stretches out to a giant staircase, a staircase that descended downwards...where the voices were strongest.

I slid slowly down the first couple of steps before hesitantly peering over the bannister wall. It was a massive, square room full of desks and chairs, like cubicles but without the separations between each one. Luke, sitting in a chair across from a woman in a striking orange and black dress, was glaring maliciously at a man in all black. Both of whom presented raw, red-looking markings on their necks in the shape of two circles, one inside the other, similar to the marking Mom had shown us earlier, and neither looked like a decent person.

"The minute we found out Jocelyn Fairchild was alive, you were easy to track" the man snarks, smugly

"Fairchild?" Clary whispers, "That's not-"

"Shh!"

"Turns out you and Jocelyn were never that far apart" the man continues, "The Circle has her now"

The Circle?

What Circle...

My mind flashes back to just minutes ago, when Mom had rushed us both out, Dot said that 'they' were coming and Mom had mentioned 'The Circle'...and now they had her?

"It's just a matter of time until we catch her daughters" the man continues angrily

"You can have them both if you give up the Mortal Cup" the woman purrs

Mortal Cup?

What the fuck is going on?

"I don't care about any of them" Luke growls and I hear Clary's soft, pained gasp from next to me, "They mean nothing to me. Kill them all if you like"

I glance behind me, watching as a single tear streams down Clary's cheek as Luke continues to demean us

"My people want the Cup" Luke snarls, "Why do you think I've been hanging around here all these years? Now, when I find the Cup..."

Luke stands from his chair and I watch intuitively as the man and woman stand also, matching his pace fluidly as if anticipating an attack, not wanting to be at a disadvantage

"I'm gonna keep it" Luke assures them, his voice low and threatening, "And you can tell Valentine and the circle that"

Valentine?

All the new names and phrases popping into my head are enough to make me feel like my head is splitting in two, but, still, I listen on, soaking up all the information I can about the world I've just stepped into.

"No one mentioned Valentine" the woman interjects, her voice raising

"You didn't have to"

"Listen to me!" the man shouts, pointing a finger at Luke

"No, you listen to me" Luke interrupts, smacking the man's hand away from him and pointing back towards the exit "Get out of my office"

The man scoffs, tightening his jacket around him before sauntering off, the woman following close behind.