1| Q҉U҉I҉E҉T҉U҉S҉ - J҉. H҉E҉R҉O҉N҉D҉L҉E҉

43

Cool hands on Davina's face is the first thing she registers as her eyes open. Above her is the concerned face of Alec, his hands placed gently upon her face.

"You doing okay?" Alec asks.

"How's Lydia?" Davina responds to Alec's question with a question as the image and sickening sound of Lydia's head hitting the table plays through her head.  

"Magnus has her, she hit her head quite hard," Alec says. "Do you remember what happened?"

"It was Hodge," Davina whispers. "Hodge did this to us"

"Are you sure?" Alec asks and Davina nods her head.

"When he attacked Lydia I managed to temporarily get the upper hand," Davina begins recounting the events of the attack in her head, trying to focus on the exact details. "He grabbed my leg which made me fall on the ground, I landed on my back so I got a direct look at his face. Then I got punched into unconsciousness"

Alec helps Davina walk over to where Jace, Izzy and Clary are intently watching the monitor. Their attention is drawn from the monitor to the redhead with an already purpling bruise on her face. Jace gently brushes the hair from her face to inspect the bruise, tilting her head to the side so he can get a clear view of the damage.

"Nothing an iratze can't fix," Jace says. "How Lydia doing?"

"Magnus is doing what he can for her," Alec says. "But the hit she took to the head did some internal damage so iratzes aren't going to be enough to deal with the extent of the injuries"

"The cup is definitely missing," Davina says. "So is Hodge which conveniently happens after he attacked me"

"Hodge?" Isabelle's voice was disbelieving, the denial clear in her voice. "No way, we've known him our entire lives. He would never do that to us"

"It's often the people closest to us who betray you the most," Davina states. "The betrayal hurts more because there is a different level of connection to the person"

Davina leans forward and begins to wind the footage forward, skipping past her and Lydia conversing before stopping it when Lydia takes the cup out of the safe it was stored in. The group watch as Hodge grabs Lydia, throwing her to the side, her head smacking the corner of the table. Davina winces as she remembers the sickening sound that Lydia's head connecting with the table made. The group watch as Davina manages to flip the assailant over her shoulder before he wraps his hands around her ankle, yanking her to the floor before flipping her over. There is a clear shock in Davina's face on the tape as she unmistakably identifies her assailant as Hodge Starkweather.

"We lead him straight to the cup," Davina says. "He must have been spying for Valentine for a while"

"We treated him like family. How could he do this to us?" Alec asks.

Davina leans over and presses a few buttons on the screen which then shows footage of Hodge in the infirmary, prior to Alec and Magnus' discovery of the two sisters in the study. He slides a ring on his finger before beginning to speak inaudibly. 

"Why is there no audio?" Davina asks. 

"There isn't in the infirmary for confidentiality reasons and Hodge knew that," Alec says, anger clear in his tone along with a hint of hurt. 

"The ring must be able to connect him to someone," Davina says.

"I think we can put bets on who it is," Jace adds. 

"My father," Clary sight defeatedly. 

"This explains how the punishment rune was deactivated, which meant he could exit the Institute," Alec begins but his eyebrows furrow in confusion. "However it doesn't explain where he got the ring from"