Chapter 24 – The Rune's Impact

A few minutes later, the wooden door to the office opened and the Inquisitor stepped out into the hallway. Her expression was unreadable as she studied me for a split second. Her eyes wandered to Jace and a tiny bit of her tension seemed to release from her. Then she invited us in.

Jace let me go first and followed me with feathery steps. It wasn't a polite gesture, the fierce look in his eyes let me know. He just wanted me in his sight in case I tried something stupid. He should have known better though. Escape was not an option, I was in the heart of Alicante. I might have caught Jace off guard for a few seconds, but not with the Inquisitor still in the room. What good would it do me? After all, I was here to clean up the lies.

Imogen invited me to sit in the chair in front of her gigantic table. I did as she said, not realizing that she wasn't telling Jace to do anything of the sort. A tiny detail and yet I didn't like this disparity. Jace positioned himself to my left, a meter away. He looked like a bodyguard who was supposed to watch over me. I felt like a prisoner.

But I didn't give him a look as I sat down in front of the Inquisitor with a loud thud and gave her the same emotionless stare she'd given me before. She drew her eyebrows together. "Just as rebellious as her father," she then remarked with disapproval in her voice.

"I'm not like my father," I hissed back, more angrily than I intended. "My whole life was withheld from me, so I'd rather not let my worldview be dictated to me by others any longer. I follow my own principles."

"Your defiance makes you short-sighted," Imogen replied promptly, staring at me almost bored. "The rule of law sets the principles and the residents have to abide by them. What is right and what is wrong was decided a long time ago."

I didn't answer her. I didn't want to get caught up in a never-ending discussion. She wouldn't change her mind, any more than I would. We both would have to accept this. But the Inquisitor took my failure to answer as a sign of her own triumph. She began by summarizing yesterday's interrogation in her own words.

Imogen was not kind to me, but that was nothing new. It didn't seem like she was obsessed with any deeper negative feelings towards me. I gave Jace an almost questioning look while his grandmother finished her report. He hadn't told her anything about last night. Yesterday he had stood so confident in front of me, so convinced of my supposed betrayal. How come? I tried to reach him with my gaze, but he ignored me. He stared at the desk and his eyes didn't move a bit, as if frozen solid.

"Well then." Imogen's voice made me flinch. I turned my head in her direction. Her blue eyes sparkled warily. "Do you think you're ready to tell the truth yourself or do you need the rune for truth again?"

A cold shudder ran through my body. For a moment I felt the burning on my skin again. I felt her cold looks on me and I wanted to burst into tears. I couldn't help where I came from. And that was the only thing that seemed to matter to the Shadowhunters. My blood. They defined everyone by their blood, not just themselves, but the Downworlders too.

I couldn't believe the Inquisitor had always been such a hostile person. I wondered if circumstances had molded her into this person, if she radiated such bitterness because of all that had happened to her family. I stayed silent.

"I need to know more about those ... angelic powers," the Inquisitor continued after a moment of silence. She didn't need to define it, I knew what she meant and Jace did too. "It can't be that we don't know about such things. This ignorance ... it is dangerous."

And to my own surprise, I nodded. She was right. What had happened to my rune during the interrogation yesterday hadn't been controlled by my consciousness. Whatever this was, I couldn't control it. And then there were those dreams only Jace knew about. So far, they had only been glimpses of the angelic blood's abilities, but no one knew what it could actually do. Nobody knew the actual dimensions. I looked at Jace. The disbelief from the library was written all over his face. It would probably take the archangel personally to convince him of the truth.

Imogen wanted to hear my mother's story again. Every detail and shreds I could remember. Valentine's experiments. Jocelyn's depression during pregnancy. Her feelings of euphoria and zest for life after eating my father's food. The truth that it had been angelic blood. The revelation that he had also given it to Céline Herondale. Valentine's plan of angelic warriors, more powerful than regular Nephilim. The extent of his anger after Jace had been out of his reach. I also told her about the superhuman outbursts I had as a child that had worried my mother and how they had vanished over the years.

After I finished, it was quiet for a long time. The Inquisitor's eyes were watered with pain. I had never seen her like this before and it saddened me. Jace looked away. I felt that they were both pursuing their own personal thoughts. I almost felt sorry for them. I knew what it was like to find out the truth about one's family years later. However, I didn't know how to deal with the pain the truth was causing me.

Sometimes I felt like Jace and I weren't all that different. My father had taught me to always keep a cool head. But ever since the truth about him had come out, I've felt a raging fury in my chest. It came out of nowhere and drove me mad. Like Jace, I needed someone to blame for all of this. Only the real culprit was miles away.

As I watched the Inquisitor, I realized that I hadn't been entirely fair to her either. I'd been so fixated on her rejection of me that I'd been just as open about my rejection of her.

"We need to find out what the angelic blood is capable of. What you're capable of," Imogen said after what felt like an eternity. Her voice was firm and determined, the sadness in her eyes gone. "You will train together. I will provide you with our best tutor and a silent brother. They will compare your results and subject you to all conceivable scenarios."

Before I could react, Jace had lunged forward, leaning on the dark table. "But grandmother, that's not necessary. You know me. You know I've evolved just like any other Shadowhunter." There was contempt in his voice.

Imogen nodded and cocked her head to the side. "You did, Jace. But after Clary's report, I have to admit that you behaved similarly in your childhood. There were moments when I hardly recognized you because of anger or joy. It is for your own good to know your true abilities."

Jace looked like he was having a hard time swallowing his answer. He clenched his jaws and then nodded, more for the sake of his grandmother than for real. "Whatever you say." I was surprised that he didn't react at all to Imogen's really important statement.

"In order to compare your results with a regular Shadowhunter, I would suggest that a third Nephilim participates in the training. It would clarify the differences, if there are any," she added, then frowned in a thoughtful gesture.

I could think of a dozen other ways to measure our strength, but I didn't say so. The Inquisitor wouldn't listen to me anyway, no matter what I suggested. Training with Jace was going to be torture and judging by the way he looked, he thought the same. But there was a way to play this situation to my advantage if they would grant me that advantage.

"Would it be possible for Adam Demonhunter to take on this task?" I asked in a sweet voice and gave Imogen a shy smile. "He's one of the few Nephilim I know, and one of the few who don't judge me." Maybe I didn't need to say that last part, but I couldn't help it.

The Inquisitor hesitated and thought about it for a moment. Her blue eyes wandered to Jace, who shrugged. Jace knew Adam, so it wasn't a trap on my part. Adam wasn't someone I could manipulate. Finally she nodded and shrugged herself. "I have no objections." Then she got up and supported herself with the palms of her hands on the tabletop. "I'll arrange everything and let Demonhunter know. You will then hear from me." With these words she dismissed us.

oOo

The first training took place in the morning of the next day. Kadir had stopped by the Lightwoods' estate late in the evening and brought the news to us. The first rays of sun had barely broken through the clouds when Adam was already on the doorstep to pick me up. He was early, practice wouldn't start for a few hours, but we hadn't had much time to talk privately over the past few days. So I left the house with him without informing Jace that I was already on my way. Because actually he should accompany me to training.

"How are you?" Adam asked after a moment of silence. The last time we were alone had been in New York. A lot had happened since then. Valentine's attack on the Institute. My mother's death at the hands of Jonathan. My interrogation before the Council.

Adam's voice sounded cautious, as if he wasn't sure he even wanted to know the answer to the question. His brown hair was blowing in the biting wind and his face was wrapped in the loose hood of his black cloak so I couldn't read the look in his eyes. The snow creaked under our feet. It had snowed again during the night and meanwhile it formed a centimeter-high layer on the streets of the city.

I shook my head. "As good as can be expected under the circumstances," I said, trying to keep any emotion out of my words. I hated to talk about feelings, but I didn't have to hide them from Adam. Even if it was sometimes difficult for me to jump over my shadow. Actually saying the words made it a reality. "In some moments I just forget what happened. I turn around expecting my mother to show up any second. And then eventually, I remember."

"I'm here if you need someone to talk to," Adam said after a few minutes. He didn't know what to say. I couldn't blame him. "Even if you don't need anyone to talk to if you just don't want to be alone." Warmth had crept into his voice. Maybe he did know, and it was exactly what he wanted to convey to me: that he was there for me.

I nodded my thanks but couldn't bring myself to make a sound. I was afraid the lump in my throat would make me cry. So I gave his cold hand a quick squeeze to let him know my feelings. Adam turned to me and for a moment a soft smile touched his lips. Then his eyes hardened and he furrowed his brows almost angrily.

"I still can't believe how carelessly the Inquisitor treated you. You are a Nephilim, too," he remarked indignantly, I could see his hand clenching into a fist. "She treated you like a Downworlder."

My eyes darted up to his face, amazed at the instant change in mood, but he had disappeared back into the shadows of the hood. "It was bad," I admitted reluctantly, not sure if I meant to anger him further. "I think the Inquisitor is very close to the case. My father took everything from her."

Judging by Adam's radiance, we could have talked about it forever. There were subjects that angered him. Part of me was glad he cared. Because he was the only one who cared about me. Another, quieter part didn't know what to do with it. I should be the one who was angry. He shouldn't have to be angry for me. It was almost weird.

We reached the Gard where our training room was located. It looked similar to that in the Institute. They were probably all built on the same pattern. Adam and I sat on a blue exercise mat and stared at each other. His lips were pressed together. I knew he was waiting for me. He waited for me to finally spit out the thoughts that were running through my head. He was good at reading my facial expressions. He knew I was thinking about something.

"Can you do me a favor?" I finally asked into the silence between us. My voice didn't sound nearly as confident as I'd planned.

Adam's lips turned into a smirk. His dark green eyes twinkled. "Of course." Adam had trusted me in New York without really knowing me. Why shouldn't he trust me now?

I then told him about my dreams with Ithuriel. How I first had become aware of his presence at the New York Institute. How my father had snatched him from the sky and held him captive in a cave surrounded by other Shadowworlder experiments. How Ithuriel had showed me the rune. I even told him about my nightly research in the Alicante library and also that Jace had caught me doing it. Adam listened to my story calmly without interrupting me once. His expression was not giving him away, in some places he nodded.

When I was done I looked at him for a few seconds and then took a deep breath. "Would you lend me your stele?"

I knew Adam believed me. His eyes radiated a reassuring confidence. If he had any negative thoughts or part of him feared that I might betray him, he didn't show it. He nodded and without hesitation handed me his stele. A small smile crept onto his lips. "Friends help each other, don't forget that."

I jumped to my feet and gave him a grateful smile. My fingers gripped the stele and I felt the surge of energy suddenly race through my body as I touched the adamant. I gasped, out of breath, and recalled the rune. The urgent feeling had returned the moment I had touched the stele. I only saw out of the corner of my eye how Adam got up from the mat and watched me curiously.

At that moment the door creaked. Adam and I looked up and spotted Jace. His expression was closed and he looked at us with visible reluctance. He was about to shed his dark coat when his eyes traveled from Adam to me. I felt pressure in my stomach. My instincts started screaming. When Jace saw the stele in my hands, his eyes widened. The rejection had left his face, replaced by a mixture of uproar and undisguised anger.

Jace didn't hesitate a second and rushed towards me. He yelled something at Adam that sounded like a curse. But Adam didn't move. Our eyes met in a flash and he nodded. Friends help each other. My head swung back in Jace's direction and I gritted my teeth. The room was big, but Jace was fast. I threw my arm up and closed my eyes. I could feel myself losing control of my body and going into a kind of trance state. The rune in my mind's eye was the only thing I saw.

My hand moved of its own accord. A glowing heat seemed to emanate from the stele and spread throughout my body. My mouth opened and a painful groan left my lips. I widened my eyes and wanted to take a step back. Jace was only a few feet away from me and a determined expression burned in his eyes. But he came too late. The rune was complete. I lowered my hand. For a moment the world seemed to stand still. Jace's golden eyes were fixed on me and I met his gaze defiantly.

Then the air around us exploded. At the point where the glowing rune had been hovering a second ago, the atmosphere seemed to tear in two. A blue vortex appeared out of nowhere, growing larger and larger, sparks flying from its edges. They sank my skin. But I couldn't worry about it anymore, because the next moment an iron grip closed around my legs. An invisible force yanked me off my feet and pulled me into the blue whirl.

-

Sooo ... another round of Imogen's and Clary's hostility. But looking towards the end of the chapter, is Adam a good friend? Do you like him as a character? Now at least, Jace seems close to finding out the truth about Clary's runes.

See you next week

Skyllen :)