ꜰʀᴀʏᴇᴅ |ᴀ.ʟ.| ꜱʜᴀᴅᴏᴡʜᴜɴᴛᴇʀꜱ ꜰᴀɴꜰɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ {ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴀᴍɪʟʟᴇ ꜰᴀɪʀᴄʜɪʟᴅ ᴛʀɪʟᴏɢʏ #1}

{𝕌𝕟𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕘𝕚𝕧𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖}

"I can see why all the girls in Idris are clamouring to meet you" Lydia remarks as we weave our way through the maze of freight containers by the Redhook Docks surrounding the Jade Wolf

"What do you mean?" Alec inquires, seemingly oblivious to his own looks

"Rumour has it your looking to settle down...get married" Lydia announces and my jaw drops

"Damn it" Alec grumps

"Let me guess" Lydia suggests, "Not your idea?"

"Not even close" Alec confirms and I feel my chest lighten. Alec looks at me as he says the words and my heart soars.

"My parents tried to set me up, too" Lydia sighs

"And how'd that work out?" I question

"Not well for them" Lydia remarks and I smirk slightly. Seems rebellion runs in the family, "I made my own path. Married the love of my life...John Montaverde. Together, we were going to run the Lisbon Institute."

"Going to?" I echo, pondering whether or not I should have asked

"John was killed" Lydia murmurs, "Everything was ripped away. My love, my dream job..."

Yep.

Shouldn't have asked.

"I'm sorry" I apologise

"Piece of advice" Lydia sighs, "In this line of work, the only thing worth falling in love with is the work itself."

I look at Alec when she says this. This was basically what'd I'd been telling him to do, telling him I had to do. To keep my sister protected and allow him to live out his dream job...

It was a whole other thing to hear it said by someone else though.

It hurt a lot more.

Lydia nods singularly before heading inside the Jade Wolf restaurant leaving a staggered Alec and bewildered me in her smoke.

"It's got some characteristics of a Forsaken" Lydia muses, crouched down beside one of the bodies Alec had pictures of

A Forsaken?

I think back to when I'd been told about all of this, about how when mundanes were runed, they either died or went insane...became the Forsaken.

This is what I could have been, were I not a mundani.

Feeling self conscious, I check my arm for the rune Jace had drawn the night we went to save Simon and exhale in relief when I see it's completely faed.

Having just announced my mundane vulnerability to the Institute and Lydia, I didn't want to be accused of being Forsaken.

Though how anyone would even chalk up that conclusion was beyond me...these men were disfigured in incredibly noticeable ways. If I were one, everyone would know.

"It was human" Lydia continues, "It was runed."

"I don't know" Luke's voice penetrates the air and I turn to face him, "It was more focused, more determined. It attacked like it had a plan."

"Luke" I smile, stepping over the body of the Forsaken to embrace him, "Feeling better?"

"I'm fine, Cami" Luke assures me, "Are you doing okay?"

I nod slowly, giving him a 'the-bitch-doesn't-know' look. Thankfully, Luke catches on and stops there, addressing Lydia again.

"Plus, a normal Forsaken wouldn't have been so hard to kill. It took five werewolves to take that thing down. Never seen anything like it."