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

{ℂ𝕠𝕟𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕦𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟𝕤}

It's my BIRTHDAY!!! Can't believe I'm 19 today wtf!!!

***

By the time I reach the doors of the Institute I'm numb with cold and shock, caked in dirt and completely immobile...like a zombie.

That is, until I spot Alec, sitting on a bed in the same place Clary and I'd been taken when we'd first arrived her. He had a huge, gaping wound on his arm and he was wincing in pain.

"Alec" I cry, bolting over and kneeling before him, "Oh my God, what happened?"

"A Forsaken attack" Izzy explains, "They were coming after Hodge."

"Like the one that tried to kill Luke?"

Izzy nods, giving me a questioning look. I shake my head, mouthing 'later,' noticing the presence of another man in the room, one I hadn't met before

"Who are you?" he asks, frowning

"Sorry...uh, Camille Fra-Fairchild" I correct, offering him my hand

"Robert Lightwood" he nods, shaking my hand and giving me a warm smile, "Nice to meet you."

"Uh, nice to meet you...too" I stammer, taken aback by his kindness, something I was not expecting after my conversations with Maryse

"Don't squirm" Robert scolds Alec as he spasms slightly

"I'm not" Alec defends and I roll my eyes - he so was, "it doesn't even hurt."

"Yeah, right" I scoff lowly, so low only Alec can hear

He glares at me playfully, but there's something in his eyes, something I saw the other night, when he took me to bed after saving Luke...he looked guilty.

Alec's phone begins to ring and he pulls it out but Izzy takes it before he can answer it, "No talking. Just healing."

Izzy takes the phone from him with no further protest from Alec and answers it herself, walking away from us. I take the opportunity to steal her spot beside Alec on the bed, clutching his hand in mine.

The last thing I expected was for him to pull away, but he did. I feel the hurt and rejection flood through me but attempt to push it down, instead pulling my hand back towards myself hastily, as if it had been burnt.

"How did that thing even get in here?" I ask, "I thought there were...wards to protect against this kind of thing."

"This one was different. It had Seelie blood with angel properties" Robert explains

"Something tells me that's not normal"

"Not just not normal" Robert corrects, "Impossible."

"Do you know what it was after?" I question

"No idea" Robert admits, "We assume, like the attack at the Jade Wolf, that it was after Hodge, considering he's an ex-Circle member"

As Robert explains, Alec catches my eye, giving me a heavy look.

Oh.

Of course.

It was after the Cup.

***

"Are the wards solid now?" Robert inquires as Magnus works his magic just before the training room doors, "Nothing will get through?"

"Even my magic has limits" Magnus sighs, "The wards won't hold off that Forsaken attack. But my protections will slow them down."

"Extra time is priceless" Robert grants and, again, I'm shocked by his kindness. If Maryse were here I'm sure she'd be demanding a full-on protection spell that would self-slice any Forsaken that dared try to enter.