Malia grumbled loudly, as she flopped onto the couch. "Big night?" Alec joked, as he walked past the younger Bane. "Shut up." Malia huffed, trying to sit up. She waved her hand around, as a glass of water appeared.

She took a long sip of the cold water before she noticed Alec heading towards the balcony. "Can you... close the curtains? The sun is too loud." The Bane grumbled. Alec tried not to laugh, as he nodded and closed the curtains.

With that, the Bane girl closed her eyes and tried to fall asleep, hoping by some miracle she would wake up hangover free.

☠︎︎

Malia's eyes shot open, as Clary and Jace rushed into the apartment. Magnus and Alec, who had been standing nearby, sighed as Magnus rolls his eyes when he saw it was them. "Don't you people have phones?" He asked.

"We need your help." Jace insisted, causing Malia to sit up now. Clary held out her hand, as Magnus examined it. The Fray's hand was black and itchy, and it seemed to keep spreading.

"Oh my god." Malia blurted, getting to her feet as she approached the group. Magnus tried using his magic on Clary's hand, but nothing seemed to work.

"La Chair Brûlée." Magnus suddenly said as Clary piped up, "I'm guessing that's not a dessert." Malia stifled a giggle, "No, love." She replied. "It means the burnt flesh. It's an old blood oath spell." Magnus explained.

Alec's eyes widened in realisation, "Then it must be Iris. She said you owed her a favor." Clary frowned, "At Max's party, she said I have to find Madzie." Sha admitted.

"Then we better start looking." Malia decided, crossing her arms. "We?" Clary asked, as Malia nodded, "Yeah... I am coming."

"I can get rid of the pain, but that's about it. I'm afraid once the magic reaches your heart..." Magnus trailed off, not even wanting to finish his sentence. Malia's eyes widened, "No." She blurted, noticing Clary's face fall, "So if I don't find Madzie... I'm dead."

"No... no. Magnus, there has to be a cure." Jace insisted as he stood up. "There has to be something we can do to stop this."

"Can't we force Iris to undo it?" Alec asked, as Malia pointed to the Shadowhunter in agreeance. "I wish it were that easy. But blood oath spells are completely binding. Even Iris herself can't reverse it now." Magnus explained, before he sighed.

Malia looked to Clary with sympathy, noticing how scared the Fray looked. "We'll find her, Clary." The Bane reassured her.

☠︎︎

Now in the Jade Wolf, Luke examined Clary's hand. Malia and Jace stood beside them, Malia feeling a bit awkward with all of the wolves eyes on them.

"I don't know what to say. I was so selfish, hiding in the woods like that. You would have never went to Iris if—" Luke was cut off as Clary piped up, "Luke, this has nothing to do with you. You always told me to read the fine print. Well, I guess, uh, now I know why."

"Did Magnus find anything?" Luke asked, turning to Malia. The warlock shook her head, "Nope. Crazy lady's brownstone was wiped clean." She explained. "Alec just got a report from the Clave. According to Iris, Madzie was abducted from Brady Park." Jace suddenly piped up, just getting the update.

"All right, we'll start there. I'll round up some wolves and see if we can get a scent." Luke declared as Clary started walking towards the Jade wolf's exit. "Where are you going?" Malia asked, before Clary spun around, "To get Simon. If we're gonna be searching all night, we can use his skills."

"What skills?" Jace asked, as Malia couldn't help but to laugh at that comment. "I don't know... night vision." The Fray replied.

"There's a rune for that."

"Too bad. He's coming. I need him."

Clary then exited the Jade wolf, leaving the trio alone. Malia had a look of worry on her face, which Jace noticed. "Your girlfriend is gonna be alright." Jace declared, reassuring himself more than anything. "Hold up... girl-what??" Luke asked suddenly, as this was the first he'd heard of this. Malia frowned, blushing slightly, "Clary and I aren't girlfriends, shut up."

Before anymore banter could continue, Clary could be heard yelling outside. "Clary?!" Malia asked, before racing outside.

The trio were now standing outside, watching Clary fight off a werewolf. Malia used her magic to throw the wolf behind some trash bins, before she dusted her hands off. "Show yourself, mutt." The Bane hissed. If Luke wasn't worried for his step daughter, he would have been offended by her comment.

The wolf transformed back into a person, revealing to be Maia. Luke and Simon walked into the container, where Maia followed them, to talk.

Still outside the container, Malia took Clary's hand in her own, examining it. "It's spreading..." The warlock sighed stressfully. Luke exited the container, followed by Simon. "You need to find Madzie." Before Simon piped up, "No problem. We'll take the van."

☠︎︎

Alec and Madi walked into Aldertree's office, both looking concerned. "Do you know where Izzy is?" Madi demanded, catching Aldertree's attention. "I was told you spoke with her this morning. She hasn't been in the Institute since." Alec added. Aldertree went back to reading his book, before he said, "I didn't realize I was the keeper of your sister's calendar."

"Something's wrong. She's been acting weird ever since you sent her to the Iron Sisters." Alec stated, as Madi placed her hands on her hips and gave Victor a frown. Aldertree looked up, "I think you're being paranoid. After what happened at your brother's party, perhaps I should recommend you for a psych evaluation. What reason would I have to lie?" He insisted as Madi scowled, "How dare you."

"Nothing's going on. I'm just trying to help. Now, I would ask yourself... is making insinuations about me really the road you wanna go down? Isabelle's more than capable of handling herself." Aldertree said, standing to his feet.

☠︎︎

After visiting a park and finding a scarf of Madzie's, Jace was now tracking her. Simon drove hastily, trying not to break many laws. Malia sat with Clary in the back of the van, trying to comfort her.

"Keep heading north. The signal's faint, but we can still track her." Jace spoke up. "Don't sound too excited." Simon said, catching his underwhelming tone. "It's too easy." The Herondale replied. "Valentine's too smart to have not thought about blocking the signal. If we can track Madzie, it's because he wants us to. We'll be walking into a trap."

"What are you suggesting? That we don't find Madzie?" Malia asked, as Clary gave her a confused look. "That's not what I'm saying." Jace huffed.

Clary sighed, "The scarf is our only option. I can't let Valentine activate the Soul-Sword, either. So whatever happens, you can't let him take me alive." She insisted, as Malia's face fell. "Clary..." She trailed off.

"Uh... Clary, you're kind of freaking me out." Simon admitted. "Trust me, I've thought about it and... Maia was right." Clary admitted as Malia scoffed, "What are– What are you talking about?"

Clary turned to Malia, looking into her worried eyes. "I would rather die than let Valentine destroy the Downworld. I need you to promise me. If Valentine ever gets to me..."

"No. Absolutely not." Simon spoke from the driver seat. "I promise." Jace then said. "If it ever comes to that, I won't let him take you alive."

☠︎︎

They got to the site, and stopped the van. While the trio discussed a plan, Malia's phone rang. The Bane stepped away from the group, to take it. "Hello?"

"Hey it's Alec." Alec's voice could be heard, as he sounded upset about something. "Hey Lightwood.. everything okay?" Malia asked. "Madi and I... we found Izzy with Raphael. She's been drinking his blood." Alec began to explain. Malia's eyes widened, "Oh my god. She's addicted to Yin fen...." She confessed, only just realising for sure in that moment.

"Yeah. So i've learnt." Alec sassed the Bane. "She's at Raphael's apartment and I tried to get her away from there, but she refused to leave." He added. "Could you... please try? I think right now she needs a friend. She doesn't want mine or Madi's help." Alec said, sounding really upset as he had said the last part.

"And... she really admires you." Alec added. Malia nodded, "Of course, Alec. I'll get her as soon as I can." The warlock declared, before the phone call ended.