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

{𝕋𝕙𝕖𝕣𝕖'𝕤 𝕥𝕙𝕖 ℝ𝕦𝕓}

"We know where the Cup is" I repeat for the seventeenth time to Magnus and Jace

"Come again?" Jace stutters, shocked

"The tarot cards" Clary explains, "Mom must have painted them years ago, but the Mortal Cup has to be hidden inside the Ace of Cups. The card looks exactly like it!"

Jace and Magnus exchange wary glances and I frown, gesturing between the two of them, "Why aren't you happy about this? You've been looking for the damn thing for nineteen years and now we tell you we know where it is and what...you've got cold feet?"

"Yeah, guys, all we have to do is find..." Clary trails off, realising the problem, "Dot."

"If Dot had the cards when she was taken, we don't have much time." Jace points out, master of the obvious, "If Valentine gets his hands on the Cup-"

"We get it, Buffy" I interrupt, crossing my arms over my chest

"If Valentine had started creating Shadowhunters or gaining control of other demons it would be like Beyoncé riding around Times Square on a dragon - people would notice" Magnus chimes in, snorting when I call Jace 'Buffy.'

"But he can control demons" Clary protests, "I've seen it."

"Mm, paying off a few demons is easy, especially since they rarely live long enough to collect" Magnus utters

"Still waiting on Valentine's thank-you card" Jace snarks

"Opening the gates of hell..." Magnus ponders, "That's a little more tricky."

"Valentine doesn't have the cards" Luke interjects triumphantly, "I do. They're in my desk back at the precinct. When Cami and Clary went missing, I went to the loft and cleared everything out, 'cause I didn't want the Circle to track her."

"That's great!" Clary beams, "This should be easy, then."

"Mm, that's what General Custer said" Magnus retorts

"Magnus is right" Luke agrees, "Valentine has spies everywhere, even in the NYPD. We have to be discreet."

"Discreet?" I scoff, "What makes you think Buffy could ever be discreet. Not to mention, you look like something out of the Mummy movie."

"Stop calling me Buffy!" Jace snaps, but even Clary laughs along with us

"We'll go in the morning" Luke chuckles, "Werewolf healing, remember? This is nothing a couple hours of beauty sleep can't fix."

"You're gonna need a lot more than a couple hours to make yourself a beauty Luke" I joke and Magnus titters silently from the couch

"You're not coming" Clary speaks up and I turn to look at her, wide-eyed

"Excuse me?" I scoff, "Yes I damn well I am!"

"No you're damn well not" Another voice chimes in...Alec, "You should still be resting after everything that happened tonight."

"You're still here?" I breathe, surprised, "I thought you'd left to go report to your mother or something"

"I done with that" Alec growls and something tells me there's more to that story, "And don't change the subject, you're not going in this state.

"I'm fine" I assert, resolving not to wobble or wince as I stand from my chair

Alec raises an eyebrow, walking towards me and lightly pushing my shoulder. I let out an involuntary gasp of pain and slump back into the chair, feeling winded and sore.

"Sorry, did you say you were fine?" Alec sasses and I glare at him

"Okay, maybe I'm a little sore" I concede, "But that doesn't mean I can't go. I need to be there. To protect Clary."