in the end ~ d. malfoy

Chapter Fifty-Eight

August 2016

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME—" Nandini growls, her voice shaking with rage.

"Nandini—" Maryse tries, stepping closer to her, but the Shadowhunter flinches away as though her touch burns her.

"Jace is gone." She seethes.

"He left willingly—" Maryse snaps.

"Jocelyn's recovery will take nine months—" Nandini snarls.

"She could have died if they hadn't—" Maryse struggles.

"If they hadn't what?" Nandini laughs, the sound cold and hollow as it sends a shiver down Maryse's spine, "If Magnus didn't lose his friends when he ran around doing the Fairchild's bidding? If the Silent Brothers had tortured an innocent seelie for information?" Nandini's sage orbs glare furiously into Maryse's dark brown ones, "If my daughter hadn't been ripped apart by a vampire because you couldn't find someone else to do your dirty work?"

"We both know that I had nothing to do with the attack." Maryse seethes, stepping closer to the taller woman. She lifts her chin up defiantly.

"Oh really?" Nandini scoffs.

"Every single one of these fruitless pursuits for Valentine has happened behind my back or without Clave authorization, " Maryse snaps, her voice brittle as she glares back at Nandini, "I had to take care of my family—"

"Is that why you haven't spoken to Alec after his wedding?" Nandini lifts a cool eyebrow, "Or how you didn't even think to contact Isabelle when she was on trial for high treason—"

"Oh spare me the fucking spite, Nandini." Maryse scoffs, snapping at her, "You haven't even been here for any of this—"

"I was doing my job, unlike you—"

"What job?" Maryse scoffs, "The one where you disappeared for months on end while the rest of us hung over the edge of death in New York? Where you got to tune out the news of Valentine's reappearance when your own kind were being savagely murdered all over the city?—"

"Does the word 'undercover' not mean anything to you, woman?" Nandini snaps, "You could have called me back if you wanted to."

"That is absurd—"

"Really? Is it?" Nandini steps closer to Maryse, backing her against the wall as her tall figure looms over the other Shadowhunter's smaller one, "You were the one who signed off on the Rio assignment. You were the one that read the contract. You were the one who had all the power to pull me out in case of an emergency. But you didn't. Why is that, Maryse?" Her voice drops, and she leans closer to Maryse in a way that's unnerving and enticing at once, "Was it because you were scared?"

"Scared of what?" Maryse spits, even as her voice shakes.

"Of the consequences of your actions." Nandini scoffs, looking directly into her eyes, "We both know you don't care about Valentine's threat to our world as long as your interests are in place."

"What are you even talking about?" Maryse sputters, her chest heaving in panic.

"Oh, don't play dumb with me." Nandini laughs, "The Circle rune on your neck may be faded, but I know that the effects are still there. You wanted the Cup as leverage with the Clave in case Valentine returned, no matter the consequences for everyone else around you. It was never about justice or honor — it hasn't been like that for you for years." She looks up at the ceiling, a cold chuckle escaping her lips before she looks back down, "And for a while, I admired you for it, you know? How ruthless you were, how you drove forward relentlessly despite everything else. But now it disgusts me. Because of your incompetence, Maya is lying sedated in a hospital bed—"