"He- what?" I asked.

Jace nodded, "Everyone saw, Isabelle, Magnus, Clary and I, but Alec made us swear not to tell you. He wanted to tell you that he liked you, not have one of us do it."

"Uh, liking and the one you love the most, are slightly different," I pointed out.

"I know, we were all really shocked, but I bet you anything it has something to do with this, like a natural parabatai or something. I'm not sure but I'll look into it for you," He promised. Then, switching topics, he handed me the Ace of Cups tarot card.

"Jace I don't know how-" I shook my head.

"Just have a go, nobody else is looking and there's no pressure. We have the card, so we have the Cup, whether it's two-dimensional or three," He assured me, nodding encouragingly.

I hesitantly flipped the card over in my hands a few times. I put my hand over the painted cup but nothing happened. I looked at Jace for suggestions. He went to shrug but stopped halfway, and I could see an idea forming behind his eyes.

"Try thinking of Alec," He said in a low voice, glancing around.

"Alec? What about him?" I exclaimed in a hushed shout.

"I don't know, anything!" He whispered back.

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I thought of when Alec took me down into the City of Bones, him taking my hand, keeping me safe; standing by me when Clary put me in danger, the panic in his voice when he was shouting at the Silent Brothers as I collapsed into his arms.

I pushed my hand forwards; ready to try again but my hand never hit the card. I opened my eyes to make sure I hadn't missed but saw my hand had disappeared through the card. I felt my fingers close around a cold stem and I gasped. I pulled my hand back, Mortal Cup in tow.

"You did it, you've done it!" Jace suddenly picked me up and spun me around laughing. He put me down and called Alec, Isabelle and Clary over. He pointed to me proudly and I awkwardly waved the cup around.

Everyone's jaws dropped and I handed it to Clary, not wanting to be in the center of attention. "Guys, is it even safe here? Shouldn't we put it somewhere more secure or something?" I asked as they inspected it.

Clary glared at me as Alec went back to check on the monitors, making sure the grounds remained secure, "No, we can get mom back with this. Put it back in the card." She gave me back the cup and I pushed it back through until it disappeared into the tarot card.

I sighed and my eyes followed Jace, who had turned to Alec, "Alec, what are you doing? You can stare at this monitor all you want, they need angel blood to get past the wards. You know that."

"No Downworlder can come into the Institute. Not without an invite by a Shadowhunter," Isabelle added.

Alec stared back at his siblings, "Last I checked, Valentine is a Shadowhunter. I agree with Samara, the Cup isn't safe here. We have to give it back to the Clave."

"No. Not after everything we went through to get it," Clary said stubbornly.

Isabelle shook her head, "My brother and your sister are right. The Cup is extremely important."

"This Cup is the one chance I have at getting my mom back," Clary protested, taking the card from my hands.

"Our mom Clary, and there has to be another way to get her back without risking something as huge as the Mortal Cup! Which by the way, you wouldn't even have, if it weren't for me," I shot back.

"I agree with Clary," I rolled my eyes at Jace who pretended not to notice and carried on, "We can't give the Cup to the Clave, not now. We need it. It's our only bargaining chip."

Alec sighed, squeezing his eyes shut before relenting, "Follow me." He led Clary up to the training room and traced a rune, lifting a cabinet from the floor. He held out his hand without a word and Clary handed him the Cup card. Jace had walked back to watch the monitor and Isabelle followed him, leaving me standing by myself. Neither of them realised but Alec and Clary's conversation floated down to my ears.

"Alec, I realize I couldn't have done any of this without your help. I wanna thank you," Clary said, like it was her that found it.

"Don't misread this as friendship," Alec replied with out looking at her and I smirked to myself.

"Why can't we be friends Alec? Especially now that you and my sister-" Clary started.

Alec stood up quickly to face her. "Maybe that's the reason huh? Maybe its because you don't care about anybody but yourself; you don't even care for your own sister. Well I do, Clary, and I'm not going to let you treat her like that and then assume I'm going to be friendly with you. I tolerate you, for her sake, but don't push my buttons Fray."

I thought over the conversation Jace and I had just had. Alec truly meant every word he was throwing at Clary and I heard it, clear in his voice. I let my mind wander even further back and remembered the first time I saw Alec, and the strange pull I felt.

Their conversation and my thoughts were cut off by alarms sounding. Alec ran down and looked to the monitor where we saw a red dot moving quickly towards the Institute. "There's something outside the perimeter," Jace pointed at it.

Alec opened his mouth, "I told you-"

"Don't say it," Jace cut him off.

"What's happening?" Clary asked, also rejoining us.

Isabelle sighed, "Looks like someone's trying to break in."

"Could be the Circle," Jace suggested.

"Told you so," Alec said pointedly, causing Jace to grit his teeth.

With Isabelle taking the lead, we headed out into the darkness, weapons raised at the ready. We made our way round to the side of the church and saw a figure carrying what looked like a body. Alec immediately sidestepped so he was blocking me and called, "Don't move. Drop what you're holding and put your hands up."

The figure carefully tilted the body so we could see who it was. I gasped.

"Oh my God, Simon!" Clary screamed, running forwards. I identified the person carrying him as the vampire who had helped us escape with Simon back at the Hotel DuMort - or from what I could remember of it.

We let the vampire, Raphael, carry Simon down to the cellar through the trap doors hidden in the grass. He laid him down on a makeshift table and Jace was the first to break the silence.

"People will be wondering what we found outside the perimeter." His voice was quiet, not wanting to be disrespectful.

Alec replied with a nod, "I'll go. I'll tell 'em we didn't find anything. Nobody will come down here," and he disappeared up the steps.

Isabelle turned to Raphael, "The vampires breached the Accords. Killing Simon is grounds for war."

"The vampires were not behind this," He responded, shaking his head, "Just Camille. She attacked Simon on her own."

"And how do we know you're telling the truth?" Jace fired.

"I could have gotten rid of him, but instead I brought him here. I don't want trouble with the Shadowhunters," Raphael said, eyes sweeping over us all. I nodded a pulled a face saying fair enough at Jace.

"Smart decision," Isabelle sneered.

The vampire pointed back down at Simon, "I warned the mundane to stay away but Camille gave him a taste of her own blood, and like an addict he came back wanting more."

"The only reason Simon ever tasted Camille's blood is because of you. You kidnapped him! You dragged him to Hotel DuMort. You delivered him to Camille!" Clary sobbed, standing over Simon's motionless body.

Raphael shook his head in regret, "I never meant for this to happen."

Clary had tears streaming down her face, and even I, who was never that close with Simon, felt my own eyes stinging. "Simon, please come back, please!" She cried. I stood next to her, rubbing her back soothingly.

"There is a way," Raphael offered.

"A way what?" Jace asked in a hard tone.

"A way to bring Simon back, he's a fledgling. It's a state of transition - your friend can be resurrected," The vampire explained.

Jace shook his head, "No."

"Clary, no," Isabelle agreed with him.

Clary ignored them and stammered, "So I could have Simon back? Alive and breathing?"

By now I had caught on and said, "That's just it isn't it. He won't return alive or breathing. He'll be a vampire." I looked to Jace and Isabelle for confirmation and they both nodded.

"And not the sexed up, romantic kind," Jace added, "The ugly, bloodsucking, coffin-dwelling kind."

Raphael feigned hurt, "That's offensive. Coffin implies wooden box. We have caskets now - made of fourteen-karat gold." I tried to suppress my laugh but Raphael saw my grin. "It's almost sunrise," He continued, looking out the window, "Simon must be turned into a vampire tonight or staked through the heart."

"And if I do neither?" Clary asked.

"His soul will be trapped for eternity," Raphael said, as if it didn't bring a crushing weight down on the whole room. "You have till sunset to decide. The clock is ticking."    

-

Nooo Simon! My precious cinnamon roll D:

Here is your update - as promised! Sorry it's a little short, I had a hectic day at training and am hella tired... but I'm a woman of my word, so here is 1644 just for you.

Thank you for sticking by this book, I love you all so much 💖

NOS xx