55Hey there! This is my first fanfiction for The Mortal Instruments, so I hope you all enjoy!
The wonderful Cassandra Clare owns these characters; I do not.
"So are you coming to our practice today?"
"Yeah, sure," Clary Fray said into her phone, which was pressed between her ear and her shoulder as she looked through her closet for a jacket. "I wouldn't dare miss it. What are you guys calling yourself now, 'Sidewalk Road-kill?'" She snickered into the phone.
"Har, har, har, have you ever thought about becoming a standup comedian," her best friend, Simon muttered back sarcastically.
"I'll meet you at Eric's, then."
"Okay, see you soon," he said, and Clary hit the end call button on her phone. Clary walked down the stairs to find her mother in the kitchen.
"Hey mom, I'm going to Simon's band practice."
"Okay, don't stay out to late," Jocelyn said, giving her a stern look as to say, I'm-not-kidding.
"I won't," Clary shot her mom a smile before closing the front door behind her.
Ever since Clary stabbed Jace with Glorious, her mother had become even more paranoid than usual about knowing where Clary was. To be fair, Clary had gotten Sebastian on the run when she destroyed the bond between Jace and her brother, which meant that he could be anywhere. For all they knew, he could even be hiding in New York, right under their noses.
This, however, was highly unlikely. It had been a month since they last saw him, and Sebastian wouldn't hide so close to them if he didn't plan on doing something involving herself or Jace soon. He would be caught, and he was smart enough to know that.
The walk to Eric's wasn't very long; it took Clary fifteen minutes tops to get there. She slipped her fingers under the garage door and pulled it up to find that Simon and the other band members were already there.
"What's up, guys? She asked before taking a seat on one of the broken speakers.
Jordan shrugged his shoulders. Simon mumbled something before going back to tuning his bass.
The band was only about twenty minutes into their practice when Clary's phone went off alerting her that she had a new text message. Clary pulled her phone out and saw that it was from Isabelle, asking her to meet her at the Institute. The band had just finished a song as Clary grabbed her messenger bag and jumped up from where she'd been sitting.
"Where are you going?" Simon asked her.
"I have to meet Izzy and do something," She said quickly, before dashing out the garage door. "I'll talk to you later," Clary yelled over her shoulder to him, before dashing down the driveway and running to the subway station.
Magnus Bane sat in his apartment stroking Chairman Meow's fur. The cat lay resting the warlock's lap. He had found that he had less and less to do ever since he had broken up with Alec. He definitely missed the company of the tall awkward Shadowhunter, but trying to shorten his life? That had crossed the line. Even if he thought it was best for him. Nobody deceived the High Warlock of Brooklyn.
A knock sounded from Magnus's door. He took the cat from his lap and set him on the floor before going to answer it. Nobody had buzzed at the gate, so admittedly, Magnus was curious who was able to get in. He unlatched the door to find a girl, no older than fifteen standing outside his door.
"Are you Magnus Bane?" She asked him.
"That would be me. Who are you, and pray tell me how were you able to get up here without myself knowing that you were coming?" He asked her suspiciously.
"My name is Lauren, and I am a Warlock in training. As for how I got up here, such a simple unlocking spell could be used to open that gate. With all due respect, Mr. Bane, if you are trying to keep people out, I'd suggest you improve your security system."
Magnus stared down at the girl-Lauren- for a moment before swinging his door open allowing her to step inside. He gestured to the couch allowing her to sit, and took a seat in the armchair across from her. "Not to imply that you aren't a lovely person to have a conversation with, but I'm assuming that you came here with a reason; seeing that you went through all that trouble to make sure I couldn't so easily turn you away."
Lauren straightened up. "Yes, I came here looking for a new magic tutor. My old one just wasn't able to teach me all I wanted to learn. Besides, if I want to be a powerful warlock, I need to learn from the best," she shot him a smile.
"As much as I appreciate the flattery, I don't normally offer my services as a teacher."
Lauren didn't miss a beat. She pulled about five hundred dollars out of the pocket of her jacket and held it in front of him. "I'll pay you," she said.
Magnus looked down at the money, contemplating his decision for a bit. He found himself wondering how a girl her age had so much money, let alone why she carried it all with her. She also seemed unnervingly persistent in having him as her tutor.
Magnus quickly pushed these thoughts to the back of his brain, though and took the money from her. He was not the type of person to turn up a job, especially if the rate was quite good.
He stood up from his chair, and she did the same as he escorted her back to the front door. "Be here at two o'clock tomorrow. No later," he said to her as she held the door open. She stepped outside.
"That's perfect," she said, before bidding him goodbye, and leaving the way she came.
When Clary reached the Institute, she was surprised to see Isabelle outside waiting for her. Normally, she would escort herself inside and meet up with the others then. But here she stood, in six-inch high-heeled boots and a short dark purple dress that hugged her every curve, waiting for Clary.
When Clary reached the other girl, she was quick to grasp her arm and drag her inside the elevator.
"Jeez, Izzy. Could you loosen your grip a bit? What's so important?" Clary asked her. Isabelle dropped her arm.
"Sorry. I'll let my mom explain what's going on when we get down there. But I warn you, when I left it seemed like all hell was about to break loose." At that moment, the doors to the elevator opened, and Isabelle walked out and headed in the direction of the library. Clary was quick to follow, not even stopping to scratch Church behind the ears when she saw him sitting in the hallway.
As they neared the library, Clary was quick to notice that someone was shouting. She recognized the voice, too. Jace.
Isabelle opened the doors, and Clary's eyes fixed on the people in the room. Jace was there, along with Alec, Robert and Maryse Lightwood. Surprisingly, her mother and Luke were also there, but in the center of the room was a man that she did not recognize. Clary was pretty sure that he was just a projection.
"Clarissa, this is Inquisitor Stolman," Maryse told her. Clary assumed this was the man who replaced Inquisitor Aldertree.
"Hello, Inquisitor," she briefly acknowledged him, before turning her gaze to Jace. Upon her and Isabelle's arrival, he had turned his head so that he was looking at her. Studying his face now, Clary notice that it was somewhat red, and his eyes shone with anger. Clary looked down at his hands, which were clenched in tight fists at his sides, and glowing from the effects of the Heavenly Fire.
"Clarissa Morgenstern, we finally meet," Inquisitor Stolman said, causing Clary to snap her head back to look at him.
"I actually go by Fray. Clarissa Fray," she responded. Using Morgenstern just caused the terrible memories to resurface, reminding her of how she and Jace thought they were siblings, to how her father stabbed him through the heart, amongst many other things. It was also the name the wretched creature she refused to call her brother still went by.
"Very well. Clarissa Fray. I'm not going to bore you with small talk; rather I will get straight to the point. You are well aware that The Clave is still hunting Jonathan Morgenstern, your brother." Clary nodded her head, this time not bothering to correct him. They did have the same blood, but Sebastian acted nothing like a brother towards her.
"Well just yesterday we were informed of a sighting of Jonathan. The Clave has been looking to capture him for some time now, and we think that this is the perfect opportunity. He was spotted somewhat close by your area."
At this, Clary's breath caught in her throat. Sebastian was close by? Either he had been hiding quite well, and they hadn't noticed him, or he had just recently come back for something. Or someone.
"The Clave has spent some time plotting a way to capture Jonathan, if we were to cross paths and now we have an idea of how to do it. It is not unknown that Jonathan seeks his sister, and wishes to have you bye his side, Clarissa."
Clary stole a glance at Jace at this, but he did not return her gaze, instead staring straight ahead, glaring daggers through the back of the inquisitors head from where he stood. His fists were clenching and unclenching, and his skin seemed to be glowing even brighter now. She could tell that he was trying to hold himself back from jumping into the conversation.
"We have come up with a way," the Inquisitor continued, "that if we were to succeed, Jonathan would be at the mercy of the Clave. The only piece of our plan that we don't yet have, Clarissa, is you. We need you to be bait for Jonathan."