"Cami! Cami!" Alec's voice rings through my ears but it sounds muffled, suppressed, "Cami, please, please, get up!"

"Ow" I wince as I come to, a spot on the back of my head pounding incessantly, "What happened?"

"Someone knocked you out...and the police took Clary and Simon"

"What?" I exclaim, attempting to stand up but wobbling

"Woah, woah, careful. They hit you really hard, you've been out for almost an hour."

"An hour?" I gasp, "Why didn't you just leave me and go after her?!"

"I couldn't"

"Why?!"

"You know why" he whispers, looking at me meaningfully, "Besides, they took them in a car, I couldn't follow it. I've already called Jace and Izzy, they'll be here soon."

"Why didn't they take me?"

"Maybe they didn't need to arrest you?"

"But they needed to arrest Simon and knock me out? It doesn't make any sense...Unless they know what I am."

"What? How could they possibly know? They were just some random cops"

"I have no idea, but it's the only thing that makes sense! Valentine wants us both as far as I can tell, so why leave me behind but take Simon unless they know I'm too dangerous? Maybe Valentine just wants me dead..."

"If they'd been trying to kill you, that hit wasn't hard enough. Whoever did it, meant to incapacitate you, not kill you. And they weren't Circle members...they were just police, detectives maybe."

"But...the police? It makes no sense. What would they want with Simon and Clary?"

"I don't know. God damn it!" Alec groans, throwing something into the wall, "Jace is gonna kill me!"

"Where is she?" Jace's voice penetrates the silence and he storms over to Alec, "Where's Clary?"

Speak of the devil...

"She's gone" I sigh, "Simon, too. Police arrested them."

"It was an unmarked car" Alec sighs, "I don't know where they took them."

"What did you do, Alec?" Jace hisses

Alec breathes heavily and Jace huffs, snatching one of Clary's singed drawings that was still in somewhat good condition and hurrying out of the room, Izzy and I close behind him. I grab Clary's bag with the box on my way out.

This was so not good.

***

Back at the shortcut, Jace was holding onto Clary's drawing, attempting to track her.

"Damn it" Jace pants

"What? Did you find her?" I ask, it had been more than two hours now and I was starting to panic. I was trying to reign it in though, too much adrenaline and I could go all sleeper and taht's the last thing we need.

"She's not showing up" Jace sighs, turning to Alec, "We need to parabatai track."

Again, Jace draws the rune on Alec's palm and they collectively hold the drawing, staring into each other's eyes. Jace shakes his head minutely, exhaling frustratedly.

"Alec, concentrate" Jace pleads

Alec sighs and they try again. Jace breaks eye contact this time.

"Alec!"

"I'm doing it" Alec protests, "She's not showing up."

"Just like I thought" Izzy chimes in, her phone ringing, "They weren't arrested."

"Oh my God" I cry

That could mean only one thing...the Circle.

"It was your job to look after her!" Jace spits through gritted teeth

"I did my best, Jace!"

"Then maybe your mother was right and your best just isn't good enough!" Jace yells

"Hey!" I shout, stepping in between them, "I'm more upset then anybody, this is my sister we're talking about. It's my fault, not Alec's. I should've been more alert, I shouldn't have let someone sneak up behind me and..."

I feel the tears fall from my cheeks, unable to contain them.

"Hey" Alec whispers, pulling me into a hug, "It's not your fault. It's not anyone's fault. Jace, are you so blinded by your feelings for Clary that you've lost sight of us?"

I step out of Alec's arms and move to Izzy's side, knowing this kind of eruption was best to steer clear of.

"They snuck out, okay?" Alec sighs, "I went after them...to protect them. I did nothing you haven't done a thousand times before!"

"Yes, you did!" Jace contradicts, "You lost her."

"Enough, both of you!" Izzy interjects and they both fall silent

"Alec" I plead, walking over to him, "Is there anything significant you could tell me? Anything at all?"

"Well...a werewolf is what distracted me but that doesn't help anything, there are werewolves everywhere in New York. I heard a name."

"A name? Whose name?" I question

"It was faint, but it sounded like...Alaric?"

"Alaric?" I echo, "That doesn't make any sense"

"Do you know who that is? Do you know that name?" Jace questions

"It's the name of my sort-of step father Luke's partner's name, they're both cops...detectives, specifically."

"Do you know where they could be?"

"No idea. I just know that my mother said we could trust Luke...but something he said at the police station the night you found us, it sounded like he was working with the Circle...so anywhere they could possibly be, they wouldn't be there."

Jace sighs, "Well, wherever they are, they must be being held over a body of water. That's why our tracking rune won't work."

The sound of a phone ringing in Clary's bag startles me.

"It's Clary's!" I exclaim, wrenching her bag open and looking at the caller ID, quickly answering it when I see the name, "Simon! Oh my God, are you okay? Where are you? Where's Clary?!"

"Cami! Thank God! I...I don't know. Some kind of Chinese restaurant, I think? Alaric arrested us, but it was a total fake-out. Him and his buddy, they took us...they took us to their hangout and then they told Clary that they'll kill her if they don't get the Cup."

"This fucking cup, I swear to God!" I growl, "Okay, Simon. Just calm down and look around for anything noticeable. Symbols, addresses, phone numbers...menus? Anything that can help us find out where you are"

"We're definitely on a pier" Simon recites, panting, "There's a ton of water. Uh...I see lockers and...oh, god...I'm in some kind of torture chamber. There's claw marks all over the walls."

"Werewolves" I echo, "So werewolves did take them, it wasn't just a distraction."

"Okay, Simon, you need to get more specific" I urge him

"There's nothing else Cami, I-" Simon stops in his tracks and he goes silent

"Simon!?"

"Hold on! I found something!" Simon discovers, "I'm at the Jade Wolf Chinese Restaurant on the pier at Greene Street...and they have really inexpensive cocktails...just hurry. Hurry!"

"We're on it, Simon. Hang tight. Just try create a diversion till we get there, stall them or something."

"How? All I have are clothes and a lighter"

"Simon...process how dumb that statement was, reprocess and think..." I groan

"Oh, right, start a fire!"

"Good thinking, Si. Hang tight, we're coming!" I hang up quickly, turning to consult the others, "They're at the Jade Wolf on the pier at Greene Street, he found them."

***

By the time we get to the Jade Wolf, the fire alarm is ringing and there's smoke billowing from underground somewhere.

"Alec, come with me, we're gonna find Clary" Jace instrsucts, "Cami, go with Izzy and get Simon."

"No way, I'm coming with you! She's my sister, Jace!"

"All the more reason for you to be out of the way, just in case. Besides, it'll be easier to find her if we don't have to protect you as well" Jace reasons and I sigh, but nod

"Okay, okay. Izzy, let's go!"

We follow the trail of smoke along the floor before spotting a barred window.

"Izzy! It looks like some kind of basement. There's a lot of smoke. Maybe he's here?!"

"Move aside" Izzy instructs and I do, watching as her bracelet slithers from her wrist and turns into a whip. She lassos it onto the metal bars and pulls them off effortlessly, smoke gushing out of the now open window.

"I'm getting seriously tired of saving your life" Izzy jokes, smiling down at Simon in the basement below.

"I am not" Simon grins, relieved

"Simon!" I gasp, reaching through the window to take his hand, "Simon, I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Where's Clary? Is she okay?" Simon asks, taking my hand and allowing me to help him out through the window

"I don't know" I admit, "Jace and Alec have gone to find her. If she's not ok..."

"I know" Simon assures me, giving me a hug, "She'll be fine"

I nod and pull him up from the ground, following Izzy through the smoky alleyway and out towards the front of the restaurant, where I'd last seen Alec and Jace.

"Cami! Simon" Clary's voice echoes through the smoke and I take off in her direction, crashing into her arms

"Clary!" I cry, "Oh my God, I'm gonna kill you!"

"Kill me? You're the one that got clocked!" Clary laughs, hugging Simon tightly

"I hate to break up this little reunion"Jace snarks, "But we got a bunch of werewolves trying to kill us so maybe we should get going-"

"Wait, wait, the box. I think I left it at the loft!" Clary exclaims

I take the bag from my shoulder, holding it out in front of her, "Don't worry, at least I don't screw up and leave things behind"

Clary shakes her head at me and takes the bag back, smiling gratefully.

"Let's get out of here, then!" Simon encourages

"Wait!" Izzy cautions us, stopping Simon in his tracks, "Whatever you do, do not make any fast moves."

The sound of growling ripples through the smoke and, suddenly, huge, hulking wolves advance through the smoke, their lips pulled back behind their teeth, revealing all of the sharp, pointed weapons they were planning to use. It was an animalistic warning.

"This can't be good" Jace mutters, pushing Clary behind him

I feel a hand touch my shoulder and push it gently, moving my body behind theirs. I look up at Alec, smiling at him warmly. He returns the smile, though it's small and his eyes are laced with worry.

Jace pulls out his sword, Isabelle follows with her whip, cracking it softly and Alec grabs an arrow from his now completely visible bow, keeping his body in front of mine whilst keeping his free hand around my wrist, making sure I'm still there.

"We're surrounded" Alec points out, letting go of my wrist and sheathing an arrow into his bow, "Everyone, stay together."

"Believe me, I'm not going anywhere" Simon assures him, clutching tight to Clary's hand

The sound of the door creaking open alerts Jace and he spins around, shouting a warning immediately when he spots the glowing green eyes echoing from the doorway, "Everyone, get back! That's the Alpha leader."

"Jace, behind-!" Clary screams but the howl of a wolf cuts through her words and a werewolf flies down from one of the freight containers, before being met mid-air by the Alpha. They disappear behind a couple stacks of wooden crates, the sound of tearing, whimpering and snarling ricocheting off the walls behind them.

"He's challenging the Alpha" Alec informs

"He's helping us" I mumble

"Or cutting in line to kill us" Simon whimpers

A sudden flash of light from behind the crate and the sound of a final whimper tells us the fight is over. As a group, we carefully walk over towards the crates to get a better look. A dead body rests just behind one of the crates and I gasp.

"The alpha's dead" Izzy says

The challenger emerges from behind the crates, walking slowly in front of the body before a flashing light blinds us again. When the light dims...Luke is standing there, his clothes ripped and bloody.

"Oh my God" I murmur, "Luke"

The surrounding werewolves howl all around us and each flash of light changes them back into men. They all bow down to Luke as he emerges in front of us.

"What? What's happening?" Clary asks

"If my movie knowledge serves me correctly" I sigh, "They're acknowledging their new alpha. Luke's the leader of the pack now."

"Clary..." Luke sighs heavily, "Cami..."

I move towards Luke but Alec's hand grabs mine, stopping me. I look into his eyes and see the warning behind them, the plea not to move away from him, from safety, from where he knows he can protect me.

"It's okay" I whisper, "I trust him."

Alec inhales deeply but nods and lets me go. I smile at him, making my way to Luke, Clary close behind me.

"I promised your mother I'd always protect you both" Luke speaks, smiling at us. Then his eyes slip closed and he crashes towards the floor

"Luke! Oh my God!" I gasp, sliding over to him and supporting his weight, Clary and Simon following suit

"Hey..." I hear Alec's voice behind me, "Jace, we need to get them back to the Institute and stay out of Downworlder business."

"Why don't you stay out of it?" Jace retorts, "I'm going to help Clary"

"We have to report back to our mother"

"You and Isabelle can do that" Jace explains, "I'll be fine on my own."

Jace turns to the two of us, "His wounds are deep. Only a warlock's magic can cure an Alpha bite."

"We need to get him to Magnus, then" I exclaim, pulling out my phone, "I'll text him right now."

"You have Magnus' number?" Jace frowns

"Course I do" I shrug, "I'm his finest project, I'm like the golden child of his most powerful magical conquest."

"Okay, good, text him" Jace nods

"Guys, we gotta go" Simon pipes up

"We have to get him to his car" Jace instructs, going to help Simon, Clary following with him as Simon offers to drive, running out to the car.

"Alec" I whisper, standing in front of him, "Come with us, please. Izzy can report to your mother."

"I can't" Alec responds robotically, his jaw locked, "I need to do what's right"

"And saving a good man's life isn't right?" I protest, "Alec, he's like a father to me. He's the only father I've ever really had...Please, I-I need you."

"I focus on head of Institute and you focus on you and Clary, right?" Alec spits, "That was the deal, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was" I sigh, "But we also agreed to be friends...and friends help each other"

"Well, it would be a real help to me if you didn't go and came back to the Institute with me, like we're supposed to" Alec snaps, "But you're not going to do that, are you?"

"No" I admit softly, "No, I'm not"

"Then we're at an impasse." Alec deadpans

"I guess we are" I scoff

"Cami, we gotta go, now! We're running out of time" Jace urges, "Are you coming or not?"

"I'm coming!" I call back, turning and bolting to the car, jumping in the backseat with Clary and a very injured Luke, casting one last glance out the window at Alec.

His face is stony and cold, no sign of emotion anywhere...all but a shiny patch of his skin just under his left cheek.

The sound of my phone ringing drags my eyes from Alec's face and I look down at Magnus' reply.

"It's Magnus...he said we need to bring him over...quickly!"

***************

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