A New Beginning

Chapter 12 Running

"Clarissa?" Sebastian said incredulously, a grin spread wide on his face. "Why are you in LA? What happened?" He seemed to care about me, but I knew it was mostly an act. He only cared about my rune powers and just wanted an alliance with me.

I stood at the top of the stairs, speechless. "I...uh...um," I stuttered out.

"Oh, come on, Clarissa. Surely you are far more articulate," Sebastian taunted. Amatis, turned by the Infernal Cup, stood behind him as his second in command. I saw Mark on his knees, being held by Katerina, who also looked turned. Mr. Blackthorn stood there, turned as well. I shifted my eyes back towards Sebastian.

"Would you like to join us, you and your... friends there?" Sebastian offered, gesturing to Emma, Dru, and Tavvy.

Emma whispered, "Dru, take Tavvy and run." Dru gripped her any brother tightly in her arms and sprinted to the office.

"I'll take that as a no, then," Sebastian continued, smirking.

Formulating an articulate sentence in my head and steadying my voice, I bravely announced, "I will fight you, Sebastian. And I will win."

He burst out laughing, his followers timidly joining in. Soon, the entire entry way was filled with maniacal laughter. "You? Beat me?" Sebastian said, wiping fake tears from his eyes. "No chance!"

I subtly fingered a knife behind my back. Straight in his heart, instant kill. Or it should have been.

Emma and I, thinking the same idea simultaneously, both whipped our knives into his chest, where his heart should have been. He simply pulled the knives out, still alive and only slightly harmed.

Emma gasped, but I knew he would pull some little trick like this. "Lilith has strengthened me beyond all measure," Sebastian explained. "Your knives, swords, seraph blades - USELESS!" he yelled.

He turned back to his followers, who were holding Mark captive. "Blood of the Fair Folk. I do not want him," Sebastian sneered. Mark spat in his face. Sebastian turned to Mr. Blackthorn, whose newly darkened eyes were shifting. "Deal with and control your half-breed son. Harm him if you wish, but we will not kill him yet."

Emma and I stood frozen in shock. "No," Emma mumbled, shocking me back to my senses.

"Sebastian, stop," I commanded. "Let Mark and Emma and the rest of the kids go."

"Or what?" Sebastian taunted. "You already tried your knives. And that didn't work very well, now did it?"

I ignored his condescending tone. "Why do you need to hurt them?" I reasoned. Sebastian, unfortunately, isn't reasonable.

"Because I feel like it," he answered. "Now unless you're planning to drink from the infernal cup..."

"Absolutely not!" I cut in.

"Then our business here is done." Sebastian turned his back to us and told his followers, "Kill the young girl and capture the older one alive, understood?"

"Go," I urged Emma. She ran off down the hall, her speed increased from training in the sand. I quickly evaluated my chances against the entire army of Endarkened. I decided to run.

I chased after Emma, the Endarkened rapidly gaining on me. I put on a burst of speed, narrowly avoiding evil outstretched hands.

I took a risk and paused to draw a rune on the floor. The first evil Shadowhunters were mere inches from me. But my created rune formed an invisible barrier, the Endarkened trapped opposite me. I knew it wouldn't last, so I sprinted to the office. I turned the last corner as the noise escalated again, signaling my broken barrier.

"Clary!" Emma yelled, her head poking out the office door. "C'mon! Portal is open!"

Out of breath, I slammed the office door shut and wordlessly followed Emma and Julian into the portal to Alicante.