Detained [2] 《SHADOWHUNTERS》

Chapter Twenty-One

Andina liked the way water moved. She liked how it dripped down the stone walls of the Institute during the days of rain that the Northeast often got plastered with. She liked how it stuck to glass as it accumulated, clinging to the droplets around it until it grew too heavy to stay up. She liked watching it swirl in cups and run in rivulets from fountains and faucets. 

No one could ever tell water where to go. Force it down a drain, a few drops would bounce up into the air. Put it in a container, and one accidental slip would send it rushing everywhere. It flowed like each molecule was a part of an eternity-long dance, slipping out of grasp when it was needed and sticking to surfaces like glue when someone tried to take it away. It was free.

She wanted to be more like water.

The trickling fountain on the desk in front of her sparkled under the witch lights. Maryse was peering at Andina from behind it, watching the young woman lose herself in the water's movements. Crystal eyes darted between drops as she followed them to the bottom, just to have her attention pulled back up by another.

Andy wasn't sure why Maryse had called her into the small office, but she wasn't daring enough to decline the invitation. They sat there in silence long enough to let the minute hand on the grandfather clock slip past two roman numerals. Both were lost in busy, swirling thoughts.

Maybe they were more like water than they realized.

"I'm sorry," Maryse let the words slip, her voice low. Her jaw was as tight as her ponytail.

Andy knew what Maryse was sorry for. She was sorry for telling Jace that he and Andy weren't really her children. She was sorry that she hadn't stopped Valentine from deceiving them all, that she hadn't stopped Aldertree from kicking them out onto the streets. She was sorry for thinking that all Andy needed over the summer was a trip to Idris, a chance to go on a mission of her own and enjoy the fresh Alicante air. 

But there was no way to change those things. There was no way that Maryse could have known. There was no use blaming the woman, or trying to tell her that she didn't blame her. So Andy kept her eyes on the fountain and mumbled, "for what?"

The pair didn't utter another word, letting the ticking of the clock and the trickling water fill the space between them.

°◊°◊°◊°

Andy's phone buzzed against her thigh as she left Maryse in the silence of her office. She loved that woman, but she almost missed getting scolded. She didn't like realizing that her maternal figure was as weak and fallible as everyone else.

She pulled the device from her pocket and furrowed her brow when Alec's name graced her screen. "Hey," she answered it, moving past a few other Nephilim that were cluttering the halls.

"Hey. You still at home?" He sounded worried.

"Yeah," she trailed off, silently questioning him as she turned the corner. "You know if you wanted to keep tabs on me all day you could like, stay around me?" She suggested. He had texted her a few times that morning, which she ignored other than to tell him that she was all right. It didn't bother her, but she wished he had been there when his mother dragged her into her office just to stare forward blankly.

"Something came up." He dismissed her, causing her to roll her eyes. "Are you busy?"

She sighed as she strolled through mission control, trying to get away from the bright lights. "No one's willing to risk sending me out on patrol, so not exactly. Unless you count silently getting torn apart by Mom as 'busy'."

Her comment distracted him from whatever he was about to lay on her. "What? What'd you do?"

She let out a short chuckle, but her smile left her quickly. "Nothing, if you can believe that. It was weird..." She dodged a few younger Shadowhunters that were racing past her and headed towards the quiet hallway that led back to the stairs. "I'll tell you about it later. What'd you need?"