Smoke and Mirrors ▹ Alec Lightwood [1]

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
TOY SOLDIERS

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     As soon as Adrian and Alec arrived back at the New York Institute, Adrian went straight to Maryse Lightwood's office, barging in without bothering to knock. She was sitting behind her desk, head bowed over a bunch of papers strewn out in front of her. She raised her head and arched an eyebrow at his rude entrance, but he didn't let that deter him. He kept seeing the body of that werewolf child in the alley, kept seeing Oliver disappearing in the sea of bodies, kept seeing Alec's heartbroken expression. He wanted to help somehow; he needed to help. If he had to disrespect Maryse Lightwood to do it, then he would.

"A werewolf child was murdered," he said, stopping a safe distance from the desk. Maryse slowly stood from her chair, calculating eyes watching him, face unreadable. "His body is in the alley beside the Hunter's Moon." Maryse pressed her lips together and drummed the tips of her fingers on her desk. When she responded after a few tense moments of silence, she didn't sound nearly as angry as Adrian thought she would.

"How did you come by this information?" she asked, even though Adrian knew that she knew how. Adrian was in his hunting gear. It was quite obvious he had ignored her orders to stay inside the Institute.

"How do you think?" Adrian sighed, nothing bothering to come up with a lie. Maryse sighed as well, the fingers that had been drumming on the desk coming up to pinch the bridge of her nose. Part of Adrian was delighted that he made her so exasperated. Another part kept seeing the werewolf child.

"Adrian, I told you to stay inside the Institute—"

"God, are you serious?" Adrian asked, trying to keep himself from just shouting at her in his frustration. "A child just died and that's the first thing you—"

"I am well aware of the killings, Adrian," Maryse said calmly, making Adrian snap his mouth shut. For a moment, he found himself completely speechless. Of all the things he had expected Maryse to tell him, that wasn't it. Maryse, seeing that he wasn't going to say anything anytime soon, moved out from behind the desk and continued. "Why do you think I came back from the Glass City? It wasn't because Hodge was gone and you all needed someone to look after you. You're all more than capable of taking care of yourselves, and I trust Alec to keep you all under...moderate control. Though he seems to be slacking as of late." Adrian gave her a dirty look at that, but she ignored it. 

"You said killings," Adrian said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Plural." Maryse nodded, a grim look on her face. He wondered if she had that expression because innocent Downworlders were being killed, or because she had to put effort into finding the murderer, and that inconvenienced her. After all, Adrian assumed she would much rather be searching for Valentine like every other Shadowhunter in the world was doing.

"The werewolf child isn't the first murder." Adrian's eyebrows rose. Maryse turned toward her desk and picked up a file, turning back and holding it out to him. When he flipped it open, he immediately winced when he saw a photo of a body. Judging by the webbed black wings, Adrian deduced that he was a warlock. A young one, at that. Younger than Adrian. It made his heart hurt. "There was another one two days ago, that warlock in the file, drained of blood. Naturally, the Night Children are the first suspects. I was waiting for Raphael Santiago to arrive so that I could question him when you came in." Adrian blinked, surprised at that. He wished he had known this information when he had spoken to Oliver. Maybe then Oliver wouldn't have looked at him like he was a monster.