The Light of Heaven

Chapter 9

A few weeks after Tori's arrival, Sophie gave Clary a letter that just had arrived. Clary opened it curiously. She and Jace rarely were sent letters, and if they were it was usually serious. This time this was the case again, which Clary noticed as soon as she started reading.

Dear Mr and Mrs Herondale,

As you may have noticed, there are some demon problems going on nowadays. Therefore, a meeting was planned not a very long time ago. It was decided then that it would not be a problem to the Clave. However, the days are passing by, and still progress is not seem. On the contrary, things only seem to get worse. Therefore, it is officially decided that a meeting will take place, only this time all shadowhunters from the age 16 or older should be present. This meeting will take place in Alicante. It is not sure yet how long all shadowhunters are obliged to stay: this depends on the progress, too.

Hope to see you there!
Your new counsellor,
Isabelle Lightwood

Clary had to reread the message a few times before she actually understood what it meant. She had to leave Imogen and Shawn alone with Sophie and Tori. She trusted Sophie enough to do this, but she barely knew Tori. Therefore, it was just a guess, and Clary hoped with whole of her heart that this guess would be a good guess. It was then that she noticed the name of the counsellor who had signed this letter. It was her best friend Izzy, whom she had not seen for years. The last time had been seven years ago, when Simon's and Isabelle's youngest daughter was born. Both Simon and Izzy hadn't been able to visit when Imogen was born, and Clary and Jace hadn't felt like telling anyone about Shawn yet. It was not because they didn't have time, but more because Clary had a bad feeling about telling. Like someone out there might want to take revenge on her, though she wouldn't know why. It just always seemed to be the case that she and Jace were the centre of problems, as if they were a magnet that attracted problems and demons. However, as they were going to see Izzy and Simon, Clary bet that in a few weeks everyone would know, because of Izzy's capability of keeping secrets a secret. Not that Clary really cared about everyone knowing, it was just that she wanted Shawn to be safe for the first three months of his life. Again, Clary read the letter. She looked over her shoulder, and saw Imogen bending over Shawn's bed. Clary couldn't help but smile.
"Jace!" she then called. "I think there's something you should see."

________

Exactly six days later, Clary and Jace stood in their so-called "Portal Room" just ready to draw a portal that would send them to Alicante. For the tenth time Clary kissed Imogen goodbye, and stroke Shawn's hair. Jace was too busy telling Sophie and Tori anything they needed to know about Imogen and Shawn to kiss his children goodbye. He would, though, but he just wanted to make sure all rules would be clear, and that Imogen and Shawn were good taken care of. Then, Jace turned around for the last time, only this time to kiss Shawn and Imogen goodbye.
"Take good care of your little brother. Okay, Ims?" he whispered in Imogen's ear.
"Yes, daddy," Imogen smiled.
With tears in their eyes, Clary and Jace waved to their children and maids.
"We'll see you soon!" they called before they disappeared into the portal, on their way to Alicante.