Tainted Soul • Lightwood. [ON HOLD]

T W E N T Y

The next morning, much to Justin's dismay, he was stuck with Clary and Jace for the mission. He really had no interest whatsoever to basically third wheel them.

After arriving to the precinct, Luke turned to the three younger adults. "Alright, cards are on my desk. It shouldn't take long," he said.

"Alright," Jace said, going to take a step, only to be stopped by Luke. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. It'll be easier to avoid unnecessary attention if I do this alone."

"We'll wait here," Clary reassured. "It sounded boring anyway," Jace said bitterly. Justin rolled his eyes, and turned away, going to stand a few feet away from the couple.

Last night events clouded his thoughts, Magnus' words ringing in his head. "He cares about you, and you care about him."

He wasn't ready to accept that there was someone out there that cared about him, besides Magnus, obviously. He was afraid of erring to attached and only be disappointed at the end.

The ginger boy was really stressed out, with everything going on in the Shadow World, his mother disappearing and his sleeping schedule being all messed up.

That another thing to add to his plate, he wasn't having a good rest, nightmares always being the center of his dreams, events that he didn't understand.

The boy fixed his gaze on the building in front of him, noticing something. Panic ran through him as he approached his sister and Jace.

"We have a problem," Justin said, catching Jace's attention. The blond Shadowhunter followed his gaze and saw Luke being escorted by two men.

"Juts so I'm clear, he did mention something about trying to avoid attention, right? From the looks of it, he's doing a terrible job."

"Circle members?" Clary asked him. "No, mundanea. Internal affair officers," Jace answered after staring at the officers for a minute. "You can tell all that just by looking at them?"

"I can tell all that by reading their badges," Jace told her. Clary furrowed her eyebrows, not catching on on what he was saying.

"Let me put it simple for you. There's this thing called a rune that can help you see better," Justin said, gaining a small chuckle from Jace.

"Luke had his chance. Let's go," Jace ordered. "You know what, you two go, I'll stay here in case something happens," Justin voiced.

He had no interest to be alone with them, knowing their history.

➰

"Justin!"

Te redhead stopped pacing and turned to look at the Lightwood siblings arriving to the scene. "Hey, what are you guys doing here?" He asked.

"Jace called."

In that moment the dynamic duo exited the precinct, a small discussion taking place. "Someone call for backup?"

"Yeah. What took you guys so long?" Jace asked them. "Funny, I was gonna ask you the same thing," Alec responded. "It's complicated."

"We found the Cup," Clary started. "The Cup?" Izzy questioned her, not believing her ears. "Yeah, but then we lost it. We have to sneak back in the precinct to get it."