Our Fate II ➰Shadowhunters➰ [Jace]

➰Chapter Forty-One➰

➰Chapter Forty-One➰

Isabelle hurried to the Institute's rooftop, followed closely by Leah. They activated their Silent runes and made sure no one saw them on their way up. Leah was mildly disappointed that there appeared to be no signs of Valentine. She was glad it was relatively easy to go upstairs, but she was worried that she had seen no signs of either her father or Simon, so she had no idea of how to know whether the vampire was okay or not.

When they finally reached the roof, they easily spotted both Alec and Aldertree, about to fend off Valentine's men while also trying to jam the Angelic power source of the Institute.

"Hey! Leave them alone!" Leah called, as Isabelle's whip straightened into her baton, while Leah unsheathed her blade. "Don't make me repeat myself."

"Izzy! Leah!" Alec cried, sounding oddly glad to see them both there.

Isabelle simply smirked before attacking all of the opponents, aided by her parabatai, who gracefully fended off the attackers while managing to dodge their slicing movements. Eventually, she managed to knock the very last one of them to the ground while Isabelle was finishing off with the only remaining grunt around.

Isabelle smiled. "May I?"

"Please, be my guest," Leah replied, while Isabelle stabbed the man in the chest with her baton and turned to Alec. Suddenly, Isabelle started panting heavily and just before she collapsed, Leah managed to catch her and keep her from falling onto the floor. "By the Angel! Iz!"

Izzy shook her head. "I'll be fine. I'm so sorry."

Alec frowned. "For what, saving our lives?"

Leah stuck one of Isabelle's loose strands of hair behind her hear and smiled. "You have nothing to be sorry about. We just want you to get better."

"I'm just glad you're okay," Alec admitted. "And Leah's right. We're not resting until you're cured from the ying fen."

Leah nodded, but then she remembered what they were in the middle of doing. "Aldertree, do you think you can jam the circuits?"

Aldertree sighed. "I may, but I don't think we'll have enough time to shut it down before it's too late."

"We'll figure something else out. Maybe if Jace—"

"No, Jace is not touching that Sword," Leah immediately snapped.

Just as the words left her mouth, they heard a loud thud coming from downstairs, as a bright gleam of light travelled throughout the entire Institute. Leah could feel a slight pain throughout her body, as if a part of her were being destroyed. She grunted, being aided by Alec, who widened his eyes at what had just happened.

"What the Hell?!"

Isabelle gasped. "The Sword. Valentine must have activated it! Leah had some demon blood in her system."

"It probably disintegrated," Aldertree widened his eyes, clearly surprised as well.

Leah groaned as she did the best she could to stand up, much to Alec and Isabelle's displeasure. "Guys, I'm going down. Take Isabelle somewhere safe."

Before Alec could interfere, she hurried downstairs, trying her best to ignore the throbbing pain travelling throughout her entire body. It felt as if someone had suddenly activated every nerve in her system. She didn't want to even consider what had happened to any Downworlders nearby, and she could only hope that the blow didn't leave the Institute's walls.

She was met with the most tragic view she'd ever seen. A full hoarde of Downworlders: Seelies, werewolves, vampires... Lying on the Institute's tiled floor, all dead. Somehow, still alive, she also met Clary and Simon's gaze, wearing the same look of terror as she wore.

"What. Happened. Here?"

Clary choked out the words. "Valentine. He did it. He activated the Sword... And killed all the Downworlders inside the Institute in the process."

"How is Simon still alive?"

"I have not the slightest idea," Simon admitted.

"Jace. Where is he?"

"He's outside—" Clary started, but Leah didn't allow her to finish before activating her Tracking rune and following Jace's trace.

He wasn't far from the Institute. Leah managed to divise both him and her father engaging in battle, while she heard Clary running towards her, witnessing the exact same events. However, Clary pointed towards something on the ground, which Leah managed to recognize almost immediately. "The Soul Sword."

Clary nodded, taking her stele out. "I have an idea. Do you trust me?"

Leah nodded, before watching Clary draw some new rune on the sword. Leah watched as the glow from the sword slowly dimmed, until it was completely deactivated. Clary gasped before dropping the sword, as they watched Jace almost stabbing Valentine with his blade.

Leah yelled at the top of her lungs, before rushing towards them. "JACE! STOP!"

Clary hurried close behind. "The Mortal Cup is still out there, and he's the only one that knows where it is."

"He lied. He always lies," Jace muttered, still unsure whether to stab Valentine or not.

Leah put her hand on his shoulder gently, feeling how tense he was. "Look, I understand why you want him to pay for everything he's done, but we still need him. Jocelyn died protecting that Cup. We can't let that be in vain."

"You're going to wish you were dead after the Clave gets through with you," Jace spat, the tip of his blade directed to Valentine's neck. However, Leah felt him relax a notch, so she was now certain that he wouldn't kill her father. Yet.

"Guys!" Clary cried. "The Sword is gone."

➰➰➰

Leah's body still ached, even with her activated iratze. All she wanted to do was sleep it out, hoping that whatever damage the Sword caused would pass. So she did the next best thing, and decided to go back to the rooftop, to watch the sunrise before she begun her busy Shadowhunting day. It was starting to grow on her, this whole new world she'd discovered. As much as she wanted to take a break, she realized that the people she'd met along the way were worth every single life-or-death situation they were in. Just a for a moment, though, she wanted to appreciate the sun's warmth, like back when she was still just a clueless Mundane.

She heard footsteps she could recognize anywhere approaching her. "Hey. Aldertree said you'd be here."

"Hey, Iz," Leah smiled. "How are you feeling?"

"Could be better. You?"

"Same," Leah smiled, as she returned her gaze to the city in the horizon.

"I... broke things off with Raphael. After the whole message thing... I don't think I can trust him again."

Leah sighed. "It's for the better. You deserve to be happy, Isabelle. Even if it'll take a while, you deserve to find someone good for you."

Their gazes briefly turned towards Simon and Clary a few stories down, while he was showcasing his new ability to walk under the sun. Isabelle looked hurt, but she still managed to smile. "I'm glad something good emerged from this situation."

"Who knows? I'm pretty sure this whole thing is far from over. Maybe things will start getting better, for once."

"Yeah. Maybe you'll find someone other than Jace," Isabelle nudged her shoulder playfully.

"I think I should," Leah smiled, for the first time in months, feeling as hopeful as she could.

As the two girls continued reflecting on their worries and fears, about their hopes and dreams, little did they know that someone had been listening to the entire conversation, hiding under the shadow of one of the columns.

The blue-eyed boy was stuck in an everlasting debate, on whether or not he should tell the person he cared the most about the truth about who he was. Would it push her away? Would things even change? And if so... Did he want them to?