Smoke and Mirrors ▹ Alec Lightwood [1]

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
WARLOCK TO THE RESCUE

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     Jace may not have had enough strength to stand by himself, but that didn't mean he didn't have enough strength to swat Adrian and Alec's concerned hands away. Clary and Isabelle were peering worriedly over their shoulders, but they both jumped back when Jace's hands started flying. Adrian was tempted to swat Jace right back, but he was hurt, so he decided to wrap his hand around his wrist instead, stopping him mid-swing before his hand could harmlessly hit Adrian's arm.

"Leave me alone," Jace commanded weakly, trying to push himself into a sitting position. He gave up halfway and let himself fall back against the ground again with a groan. "I'm fine." Adrian and Alec looked at each other then, both feeling a certain amount of exasperation. Alec's lips even started to curve upward before Jace repeated the sentence with a pained expression on his face.

"Jace, I just caught you before you could fall," Adrian said dryly, releasing Jace's wrist when Jace tugged at it weakly. "You are not fine." Jace grunted but didn't respond, eyes closing. Adrian leaned closer and pressed his hand on Jace's forehead. Grimacing, he pulled his hand away from the burning skin and looked at Jace's wrists. He wasn't surprised to see that the healing runes Alec had put there had already faded. He looked at Alec, stopping when he saw the grim look on his face. Alec knew what that meant as well as any Shadowhunter would. "He's burning up." Alec's lips pursed; he turned his gaze toward his mother.

"Something's wrong with him," Alec said, probably hoping Maryse would understand immediately and take charge over the situation. Imogen cut in before she could, and Maryse let her with a frown.

"He probably just needs a healing rune," Imogen dismissed with a casual wave of her hand. Adrian glared hard at her, trying to control the muscle suddenly twitching in his jaw as he clenched his teeth. "An iratze or—"

"We tried that," Alec snapped, cutting her off. Adrian reached out a hand to touch Alec's, trying to calm him, but Alec was too worried about his parabatai to notice it. Adrian didn't blame him. If Jace were to die, a part of Alec would die as well. "It's not working. I think there's something of demonic origin going on here." At that, Adrian reached into his back pocket and pulled out his cellphone. As Maryse responded to her son's concerns, he sent a quick text and hoped the reply would come soon, anxiety churning in his stomach.

"Like demon poison?" Maryse asked. Adrian was about to respond sarcastically to her—she seemed to be asking a lot of stupid questions today—but his phone vibrated before he could. When he read the reply, most of the anxiety in his stomach eased, and he let out a soft sigh in relief. All he had to do now was wait and watch Maryse play dumb in front of the Inquisitor.

"He's shamming," Imogen decided. Adrian didn't know whether to feel amused or angry. It seemed the woman had a personal vendetta again Jace, and Adrian could only assume it was because of his connection to Valentine. "He ought to be in the Silent City's cells right now."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Clary demanded, face flushing with anger. Isabelle placed a hand on Clary's arm to silence her, but since she was just as angry, it wasn't long before she was speaking up, as well.

"Look at him," Isabelle urged, waving an entire arm down at Jace, who was staring at the darkened sky. Alec was still crouched by Jace, and it didn't look like he would be getting up anytime soon, so Adrian slowly got to his feet. Jace would be fine with just Alec. "He can't even stand up! He needs doctors, he needs—"