I sat on the edge of my bed, back to my door, looking out the window at the dark sky. Stars littered the vast span of midnight blue, but were dulled by the haze of the city lights. I felt a shift in the weight of my bed and looked to my left. Alec had sat down beside me.

"Hey," He greeted.

"Hey," I nodded in return.

"How are you doing?" He asked.

"I'm fine, you're the one that got thrown around by a demon," I pointed out.

He chuckled, "Yeah I guess, you know, that move you did - launching into the tornado, that was pretty impressive," he nudged my shoulder teasingly, "You must have one hell of an instructor."

"I didn't even know what I was doing. I just saw the panic, and everybody was yelling different things at me and... I just acted," I shrugged.

"Samara, you killed one of the Greater Demons. There's not a lot of Shadowhunters who can make that claim," He said more seriously, "Plus you saved Jace's life."

"Yeah, but in killing that demon, I lost Clary's memories forever. Now we're never going to find the Mortal Cup," I said, frustration flooding me.

"Hey, we will get the Cup - before Valentine," He assured me, "And, it will be a hell of a lot easier, with Jace alive, so there's that."

I smiled, "There's that," I repeated. I sighed and rested my head on Alec's shoulder, "I miss my mom."

Alec wrapped his arm around my shoulder, "I know, but we're gonna find her too, I promise."

***

Jace was walking so fast down the hall he nearly bowled me right over. He caught me just in time and up righted me.

"Woah there? In a hurry?" I asked, but I saw his jaw was set tightly and I tilted my head, "Everything okay?"

"Alec took Clary's necklace," He said angrily.

"What? Why?" I was confused.

"Because Valentine was talking to her through it," He replied through gritted teeth.

"Real, actual, my father, Valentine?" Jace nodded.

"I don't want to have this discussion again, I'm going to the training room, care to join?" He offered.

I agreed and followed him as he made his way to the training room - at a much slower pace.

"Jace can I ask you something?" I looked up at him as we made our way through the halls.

"Yeah anything, what is it?" He replied, glancing down at me.

"What happened when you tried to summon the demon to get Clary's memories back? How did it go so wrong?" I had been thinking about it since we'd gotten back.

Jace sighed, then started to explain. "The demon was more powerful than I think Clary had anticipated, and it was really difficult to hold on. Clary let go of Isabelle's hand for a split second, but that was all it took for her to break the bond. Everyone was thrown backwards but it drew Alec back in. I pushed him out of the way and it grabbed me instead. Then that's when you came running in," he looked at me and then nudged my shoulder, lightening the mood a little, "And sent it straight back to hell." I laughed just as we reached the training room.

"All right, weapon of choice?" Jace asked, as he jumped over a table to reach for a seraph blade. I reached for my belt, whipping it off in one fluid motion, and snapped it into the Bo staff. Jace looked back at me, "Okay then," he chuckled.

I could already feel some of his tension wearing off and I grinned, "Ready?"

Jace lunged forwards with his blade but I was expecting it, Alec doing the exact same thing the first time we had trained together. I blocked him and swiftly landed a hit on his exposed side with the blunt end of my staff. He continued attacking, pushing me backwards until he came forth with a particularly heavy blow that I barely managed to block. In blocking it, I used his own body weight that he threw behind it to push him to one side and stepped around him so I was behind him.

He whipped around with a proud grin on his face, nodding in approval. We took a few steps back towards the center of the room, spinning our respective weapons round, before I went to strike again. I landed a few blows on him, quickly picking up on his pattern before I switched from defence to offence. We grappled for power until he took a swing at my head and I ducked. Seeing my opportunity, I took out both of his legs from underneath him with one sweep, knocking him off his feet and holding the bladed end of my weapon to his throat.

Jace tapped the ground in defeat and I twirled my staff around like a baton before letting it slacken and coil itself back around my waist, and helping him up.

"Well," He laughed, "You're really good."

I caught three figures standing by the edge of the training room watching us. I identified the bright red hair before any of the faces and then also saw Isabelle, standing beside my sister, but I didn't recognise the third lady. Jace clearly did though - his face split into a wide smile and he hurried over to her.

"Maryse. Hey," He gave the lady, Maryse, a hug, "It's great to see you. How's everyone in Idris? Where's, uh where's Max?"

Isabelle walked up and stood next to Jace, "No Max. Just Mom with her hair on fire."

Alec joined us a second later, giving his mother a hug then moving to stand beside me. "Mother. Welcome back, we didn't expect you. This is-"

Maryse cut Alec off as he gestured to me, "I know who she is. Yes, Samara Fairchild, Valentine's daughter." I looked up at Alec, slightly taken aback at her apparent immediate dislike for me. He shook his head, offering a small smile that said don't worry about it, and placed a hand on my shoulder. Maryse raised and eyebrow at her son's gesture but didn't acknowledge it any further. "You should be prepared, whether you expect me or not."

Alec frowned, "I am. We are."

Maryse carried on as though he'd said nothing, "We'll talk about the Institute later. Right now, we have a bigger problem; the Seelies have stopped communicating with the Clave and won't explain why." She stopped and looked at us for a moment to make sure we were all listening, "My guess is they're still upset we asked them to send scouts to look for Valentine, but no one in their realm will talk."

"I have Seelie friends-" Isabelle said.

"Yes, I know about your friends," she wrinkled her nose in distaste before approaching her daughter, "Isabelle, we stay separate from the Downworld for good reasons. The wrong move, the wrong word, do you think there is such a thing as harmless rebellion? Who knows what offends these creatures? Maybe you told him- them something they shouldn't know. Maybe you trod on one of their ridiculous customs without knowing it."

"Wait, wait. I don't understand. You're laying all this on Izzy for having a friend in the Downworld?" Jace asked incredulously.

Maryse turned to him, "When someone upsets the natural order, everything falls apart."

"Natural order?" Clary looked confused, "What are you saying?"

"I can help," Isabelle said, stepping forwards, "I know how to talk to Seelies.

Alec agreed with his sister, "She's right. She can visit with Meliorn and see what he knows. I could go with her if you want."

"I'd rather Jace goes along this time," Maryse decided, and both Alec and Jace frowned, "Alec, you stay with the Fairchild girls. I want them under control - they've caused enough trouble already."

"Maybe that's because I wasn't even a Shadowhunter until a few days ago!" Clary protested.

Maryse turned to her with a raised eyebrow, "And what an exciting few days it has been. The Clave counts on us Lightwoods to maintain order here."

Alec shook his head, "You don't need to tell me that." He waved his hand around, "If the mission is important to the Clave, I would prefer to be the one who goes with Isabelle."

Maryse gave a smile that was anything but friendly, "Yes you're all so eager to do what you would prefer. It's time to face the truth," She said. Briefly glancing at Alec and I, where his hand still remained on my shoulder, and added, "Life is not about what you want to do, it's about what must be done." She rounded on the rest of the group, "I have given you your assignments, now carry them out. You and you," she pointed harshly at Jace and Isabelle, "with me, now."

After Maryse turned on her heel and walked away, followed by Jace and Isabelle - who exchanged almost fearful glances - Clary looked at Alec. "Well, that was a window into the weird. What did you do to piss off your mom?"

He closed his eyes and let out a breath, before glaring at Clary. "I'd guess, for a start, all the unsanctioned missions on your behalf didn't go over that big with the Clave." He turned from her and walked across to the other side of the training room, leaning against a table and rubbing a hand over his face.

"Why is he always like that? He just doesn't like me!" Clary threw her hands up in the air.

"Alec doesn't like anyone," I pointed out.

"He likes you," She waved her hand in my direction. I just shrugged.    

-

Hell yeah he does! Samara's becoming a little boss ass b*tch, I'm so proud 😅

Vote and comment and stuffs if you're enjoying - I don't even know if anybody likes this story?? But I guess if you've made it this far... 💖

NOS xx