Adopted by Magnus Bane

Chapter 8

<Cecily's Point of View>

I wake up in my room. I get out from under the covers, then notice my wrists are wrapped up with white bandages. Then I remember everything that happened last night. I glance in my mirror that sits on my dresser and see that my hair is a complete mess. I quickly change out of my gross clothes and into a clean black t-shirt, jeans and black converse. You can never have too much black. I walk out of my room and into the living room where I see my Dad is sitting on one of the couches with a glass in his hand. He takes a sip from the glass, then turns and sees me. He quickly swallows, then sets the drink down.

"Hey Ceci." He says, worry laced into his voice. "How are you? How are you feeling?"

"My heads pounding and my wrists hurt a lot..." I trail off as I see the worry in his face. "But other then that I'm fine."

"Do you want some ibuprofen?" He kindly offers me, "I would offer to just magic away your pain....trust me I want to do that for you. But whoever had you must've been tracking you and I don't want to put you in anymore danger. Just using my magic would alert-"

"No that's okay I understand." I respond cooly as I sit down on the couch, "some ibuprofen would be nice thank you." He leaves the room and comes back with a glass full of water and ibuprofen.

"Here you go." He gives me the glass of water and medicine. I put the pills into my mouth, then take a sip of the water, swallowing the medicine.

"Thanks Dad." I say after I finish swallowing.

"Is it okay if I ask you some questions?" Dad kindly asks me, I gently nod my head.

"Go ahead."

"Who was keeping you there?" He begins, "did they show their face? Tell you what they wanted.....?"

"It was Valentine."

"But he's dead." He denies, "not to argue with you or anything..."

"He faked his death." I explain, "that's what he said. He wanted me to help him get into the Institute. I didn't agree, but he could tell what I was. It's all my fault. I was the one who got Clary and Simon into the Institute, I'm sorry. It's just Clary didn't know what do to and I really wanted to try it, just once. I know I should've just explained the process to her but-"

"It's okay Ceci." Dad says, comforting me. I realize my eyes have filled with tears, so I blink those away. "I understand. That's why I'm giving you this." He pulls out a stele from his pocket and hands it to me, "so you can protect yourself and at least do things other Nephilim can do."

"Thank you." I say, pulling him into a hug. "Thanks Dad." He smiles, then pulls away.

"And also, I found your necklace." He holds it up, and puts it into my open hand, "I was able to track you to the location where he grabbed you, thanks to you leaving this. From there I was able to pick up your aura and track you to that building. I may have placed a tracker into your necklace should this ever happen again."

"Thank you." I tell him again, "I won't ever take it off. Just to be safe." I clip the necklace around my neck, then smile. It's a comforting thought knowing someone cares about me. Suddenly I hear a knock on the door.

"Magnus Bane." A voice calls from outside the door. "We are here on official Clave business." Magnus silently nods to me, which is my queue to leave the room and go hide in mine. The Clave might not agree with me not wanting to stay at the Institute. I hide in my room, then press my ear against the wall so I can overhear what's happening in the other room.

"Hello." I hear Dad say, "what do you Nephilim want this time?" He says Nephilim as if it's a bad word, yet whenever he says it around me he says it like it's an amazing thing. "I don't remember anything being scheduled...."

"Where is she?" A male asks him, I really hope they aren't talking about me. But if they are....my heart rate speeds up.

"Who? Clary Fairchild?" He casually asks, "she is back in your Institute if I remember properly."

"Not her." Another voice asks, this one is female. "The other one. We know you didn't send Clary back to the Institute alone. We also know Clary wasn't the one to open the door to the Institute, and it wasn't one of ours either."

"No Shadowhunter can survive on their own without the protection of others." The male informs him, "so we figured it's only logical the girl is with you. We want to know where she is."

"I don't know who you are talking about." Dad sternly informs them. "Now if you'll escort yourselves out I have business to attend to."

"Mr. Bane we are not requesting you tell us where she is. We are demanding." The female voice says.

"What a shame Mrs. Herondale." He retorts, "but I have no clue who you are talking about. Why does this matter this much to you anyways?"

"We Shadowhunters look out for each other." The female voice, who is now identified as Mrs. Herondale, tells him. "Not that you warlocks would understand anything about family." I am so tempted to run out and defend him, but I don't, in fear of what might happen if I do.

"Perhaps you'd like to come before the Clave and be questioned about there?" The male voice offers.

"This whole ordeal is ridiculous." Dad tells them, "there is no way I would be keeping one of your people here in my apartment."

"Then you wouldn't mind us checking?" Mrs. Herondale asks him.

"Not at all Imogen." He responds using her apparent first name. "Be my guest." I scoot away from the way quietly. My head is no longer the only thing pounding, now my heart is pounding as well. I hear the footsteps travel throughout the house. I hear them stop outside my painting. I hold my breath, afraid they can hear me breathing.

"What a lovely painting Magnus." The man comments, "how long have you had this?"

"I just bought it at an art gallery a couple months ago." He partially lies, "and it is expensive, extremely expensive."

"Hmm well I guess your all clear." Imogene tells him, "you wouldn't mind coming in and having a hearing before the Clave would you?"

"That sounds like a waste of my time, no offense." Dad retorts, I take a quiet breath, they are still just outside.

"It is extremely important." She insists, "and if you wouldn't mind we would like your help in tracking this girl."

"Fine but it won't come cheaply." He tells her, "why don't you just have Clary tell you where she came from."

"She says she doesn't know." She informs her, I silently thank Clary for not giving us up to the Clave.

"Fine." He gives in, "let me just write a note to my maid. When do you think we'll be back?"

"I'm not exactly sure." She honestly explains, "just write the note so we can be on our way please."

"Alright alright." They walk away from the painting and I begin to breathe more relaxed again. A few minutes later, I hear a door open then close. I wait five more minutes, just to make sure it's safe, then walk out.