ᴜɴʀᴀᴠᴇʟᴇᴅ |ᴀ.ʟ| ꜱʜᴀᴅᴏᴡʜᴜɴᴛᴇʀꜱ ꜰᴀɴꜰɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ {ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴀᴍɪʟʟᴇ ꜰᴀɪʀᴄʜɪʟᴅ ᴛʀɪʟᴏɢʏ #2}

{𝕳𝖔𝖒𝖊}

The bodies of the Downworlder's littered the floor of the room, the skin red, raw and burned as if they'd been in constant sun for over a week.

"Simon, you're okay" Clary voice breaks me from my thoughts and I glance over to them

Clary was hunched over Simon like a protective shield and Simon...was okay. He was alive, well, as alive as a vampire could be.

He hadn't died...but how? Why?

"How?" he echoed my thoughts, dried blood still encrusted along his neck and around his mouth, "Every other Downworlder in here, they're...they're all dead."

"I don't know" Clary sighs, shaking her head, "I just hope the adamas in the walls contained the blast."

"Where's Valentine?"

"Gone."

Jace woke with a sudden, choked gasp, raising to his feet with stunning speed for someone who'd just been unconscious. His eyes surveyed the room, the dead Downworlder's, his expression tortured.

"I don't understand...How did I activate the Sword?"

"Only someone with pure angel blood could have done it" Clary frowns, perplexed and, suddenly, I laugh, one short, hysterical sound.

Three pairs of eyes meet mine, both questioning and slightly concerned.

"He's smarter than we gave him credit for" I scoff, "He lied to you Jace, like he does to everyone. He didn't experiment on you with demon blood, but with angel blood, just like Clary and I but he had a contingency plan, in case he couldn't get his hands on Clary and I. He knew you'd try to save everyone, whether it killed you or not, so he planted the seed of doubt in your head, made you think you're tendencies to violence constituted a demonic connection, knowing you would try to destroy the Sword, only to activate it instead. I bet he kidnapped that Angel hoping it would show us that vision, too. Evil genius...is an understatement. You don't have demon blood, Jace. You have angel blood."

By the end of my reverie, all humour was gone, my tone dead and flat.

The soft sound of boots pounding along the floor interrupted our sorrowful thoughts and I felt the relief flood me instantly.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" I cry, the tears falling freely

"As am I" Magnus smiles softly, the usually happy gesture harshened as he glance around the room at all the bodies, "Did...you do this?"

He'd put the pieces together, knowing that the destruction around us would need to have been caused by the activation of the Soul Sword.

"No" I shake my head

"I did it" Jace announces, his eyes red-rimmed, tears brimming there - a currently permanent addition to his expression these days, "I thought I was destroying it, but..."

"Wait..." I began, suddenly confused, "Magnus how are you...alive?"

"I got out before the blast with Madzie and took her to my friend, Catarina, she'll be safe there for now." Magnus explains, "When I got back, the light coming from the Institute was blinding, reverberating through the windows. I waited for it to dissipate before I came to find you all."

You all...

"Oh my God" I choked back a sob as a sudden realisation hit me, "Where's Alec?"

We all glanced around fruitlessly, he'd never been with us to begin with, let alone been here when the blast went off.

"I have to find him" I whispered, releasing Magnus and setting off through the Institute.

I searched high and low for what must have been 2 hours. Business was beginning to return to the usual patterns as I ran around and, though I heard the mutterings about Valentine's capture and the disappearance of the Soul Sword, I couldn't bring myself to care.