The Mortal Instruments: City of Tainted Blood (Book 2) (ON HOLD)

Chapter 2: Where There Is Peace

"Darkness cannot drive out the dark: only light can do that,

Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that,"

-Martin Luther King Jr.

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"I have nothing to wear!" Isabelle groaned for the umpteenth time as she rummaged through her once neat and tightly stocked closet, occasionally flinging out clothing. It now rather resembled a monster which had vomited items of clothing, scattering them everywhere.

Someone on the outside might have thought that the Lightwood was having a life or death problem by the looks and frantic actions to everything she did and it probably looked the same way to Isabelle too but Clary found it hilarious.

Clary watched her from her bed in Isabelle's room, an amused smile playing on her lips. "Well, it's your fault. I've been reminding you for the whole of last week to get a dress but you were too busy making out with Simon."

Maia, who was perched on the chest by the foot of Isabelle's bed laughed, lightly shaking her head as she watched Isabelle.

The werewolf girl had been spending more time with them in the past week, ever since she and several other werewolves had gone to Ireland to save her, Jace, Alec, Isabelle, Simon and Magnus from impending doom. Maryse had managed to get Maia to momentarily abandon her position in the Praetor and help to save them as the threat that they were facing was too big for the just the New York Conclave to handle. She claimed she needed some time away from the Praetor Lupus though Clary suspected it was something else entirely.

Isabelle ignored them and continued to study each of her remaining dresses.

Clary folded her legs on each other and picked up one of the rejected dresses that was lying on her bed. It was a nice white dress with see through sleeves that would have trailed to Isabelle's mid calf. The back of the dress was lace in a rose pattern design. "This one is beautiful. You should wear it."

Isabelle turned to look at it and immediately grimaced. Her dark eyeshadow and mascara framed eyes hardened slightly. "That's a nun outfit. We're going to a wedding, Clary. Not church."

"Well, technically, weddings take place in churches so I don't see what's wrong with it."

"If you think that's appropriate, I shudder at the thought of your dress. Besides, that dress isn't for weddings."

Clary looked at the dress once again and realization dawned on her like the top layer of water being frozen into ice.

Shadowhunters didn't wear white to weddings because white was the colour for mourning. On a closer inspection, she saw the runes of mourning and grief on the sleeves of the dress in silver. She put the dress down immediately before turning her attention back to Isabelle.

Isabelle rolled her eyes before turning back to her almost bare rack of clothes. She picked one out, looking at it with considering look. It was a sleeve knee length satin fuchsia pink dress that ended in lace ruffles. A thin silver belt that looked attached to the dress hung from the waist. For a moment, Clary mistook it for Izzy's whip.

"That looks very promising. You--" Isabelle flung it away, in the direction of the bed. Maia casually leaned to a side, as if she had seen it coming as Clary cut off and ducked. The hanger barely missed her face as it flew overhead. It landed in a heap behind her with all the other rejected dresses. Most of Isabelle's dresses were strewn all over her room--on the bed, on the floor, on the nightstand-some of them wedding worthy.

Clary leaned back onto her elbows as she watched Isabelle fret.

For a Shadowhunter, Isabelle had much more dresses than anticipated (most of them had been used to seduce and trick demons like the first time Clary had seen her at the club). When Isabelle had dragged Clary and Maia (though Maia had preferred the term kidnap) into her room to help her choose a dress, Clary had expected it to take no longer than twenty minutes but they had been going through her closet for almost an hour now.