Smoke and Mirrors ▹ Alec Lightwood [1]

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
LAKE LYN DATE

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

     Adrian spent the next morning on the back porch with Alec, enjoying the morning sun and wondering where in the world everyone else had disappeared to. Sebastian had a habit of appearing out of nowhere, something Adrian had to admit was unsettling, and Aline was always escaping off to town, claiming to be meeting a friend. Max was always locked away inside his room, and Isabelle came and went as she pleased. Jace was still probably rescuing Simon, hiding him somewhere, so that left Alec, who was currently sitting beside him, reading over papers that Robert had given him to study. Alec was old enough to vote during Clave meetings, old enough to speak up and have his voice heard, so he had to learn as much as he could. Adrian put his chin in his hand and watched him, eyelids drooping.

"Do you have any idea where everyone is?" Adrian asked as he watched. Alec shifted the papers and glanced up at him. Adrian folded his arms on the patio table they were seated at, resting his cheek against his arms and continuing to stare.

"Izzy went into town to run some errands. She's the only one I bothered to ask," Alec said, flipping to another page and sighing loudly. "Why are you staring at me? It's creepy." Adrian smiled, then leaned up to press a kiss on Alec's shoulder. When he pulled away, he saw that Alec was fighting a smile. Adrian let out a small laugh and settled back into his previous position, half of his face now hidden behind his arms. Alec shook his head. "I'm not that fascinating, Dri."

"I beg to differ," Adrian argued. "I think you're very fascinating." Alec rolled his eyes at that, but he was still trying to fight back a smile. They descended into silence after that, Adrian simply watching Alec as he read through all of the papers. He didn't know what the papers said, what Alec was learning, and he didn't ask. They sat like that until they heard the backdoor open. Adrian turned his head, smiling in greeting when Isabelle and Jace walked through the door. They were talking in low voices about something, though they both smiled when they saw Adrian and Alec.

"Where have you two been?" Adrian demanded once they sat down at the table with them. "And where did you hide Simon?" At that question, Jace's smile dimmed, and his face twisted with discomfort and guilt. Adrian immediately straightened, eyebrows raising in alarm. Alec dropped the papers he was holding, and Isabelle looked at Jace sharply with a startled expression. All three of them stared at Jace until Jace eventually released a heavy sigh and slid down lower in his seat, as if to get rid of their stares.

"He didn't want to get out," Jace said in a mumble. All three of them spoke at the same time, in varying degrees of disbelief.

"What?"

"Why the hell not?"

"You've got to be kidding me."

"He said that they'd know it was me," Jace explained, raising his voice from the mumble it had been in before. "He said that's exactly what they want." Adrian frowned and leaned forward, folding his arms over the top of the table.

"Explain," he ordered. Alec and Isabelle leaned forward as well. Jace seemed to be leaning away from Isabelle slightly, who was staring at him with hard eyes, her jaw set.

"It's not just Simon that the Clave is after," Jace continued, shifting in his seat and shooting Isabelle a small scowl. "In fact, I don't think they care about Simon at all. They're plotting something about our family—about the Lightwoods." Adrian raised an eyebrow when Jace tried to correct himself, even though as far as the Clave was concerned, Jace and Adrian were both part of the Lightwood family. Any plot against the Lightwoods would affect them just as much as it would Isabelle, Alec, and Max. "They're trying to prove you're all connected to Valentine somehow. That Maryse and Robert never left the Circle. They'll probably accuse the rest of us of being Circle members, too."