CHAPTER EIGHT. MARY MILLIGAN

"FOR THE LAST TIME, DICK, MY NAME IS WREN."

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The five had gotten back to the Institute, Wren hoping that the three Shadowhunters were already coming up with a plan to help Simon. But in all honesty, the blonde wouldn't have been surprised if they just let him die. None of them really seemed to like him, except maybe Isabelle. And although they claimed that Shadowhunters help and protect humans, Wren couldn't really see either three wanting to help him.

"I still don't understand. How can Shadowhunters be better than than what you people call mundanes?" Clary asked the three Shadowhunters. "Because we protect humans," Isabelle replied, causing Wren to scoff. The brunette looked over at her. "You're right. Humans. You protect humans. You left Simon all alone in the van. Great job, guys. You rock," Clary continued.

"There is some truth to the idea that human beings should have a modicum of common sense," Alec said. "Unbelievable," Wren muttered in disbelief. Simon had just gotten kidnapped by a bunch of vampires and Alec was still being a dick. No surprise there.

"Alec, not now," Isabelle told her brother, giving him a look. "Look, they won't do anything to Simon. They just wanted to draw you out. They want the Cup, and they think you have it," Jace tried to reassure. "But why do they think that? Why does anyone think that? What, my mom lies to me my entire life except, 'Oh, by the way, there's this magic cup, I hid on, like, the planet Bongo, but don't tell anyone.' What am I supposed to do now?" The redhead said.

"We have to report to the Clave," Alec said as he began walking again. "Great," Jace muttered. "They have to know what we've learned about Valentine," Alec continued. "What, that he's my father? Great. Fine. Tell them. What good does that do Simon?" Clary asked.

"Clary, it's all connected. The vamps want the Cup," Jace said. "Yeah but why?" Wren asked. "It makes new Shadowhunters," Clary continued. "Nobody wants Valentine forming an army loyal to himself," Alec explained. "Plus, it controls demons," Isabelle said. "They'll propose a trade. Simon for the Cup," the blond boy continued.

"So, vampires will trade Simon for the Cup and Valentine will trade my mother for the Cup. Either way, I lose someone I love. What if I just toss it up in the air and let them fight it out among themselves?" Clary said, adding the last sentence as a joke. At least if you read it, it would seem like a joke. However the way Clary said it, she almost sounded serious.

"So this doesn't matter to you?" Alec asked. Wren rolled her eyes at him and at this point, she could see why Clary was so angry as she spoke her next words. "Yes, of course, it matters!" She exclaimed. It was silent among the five for a brief moment. "Listen when you saved my life I put my trust in you. Now, I need you to put your trust in me. I can't turn into what you are overnight," she said more calmly.

"It's true. She was raised as a mundane," Isabelle said. "What are you, her spokesman now?" Alec asked incredulously. "I don't need a spokesman, I need a plan," Clary retorted, a hint of determination in her tone as she continued on her way. The rest followed behind her with Wren feeling more out of place than before.

They walked to the area with all of the cool technology and Clary began speaking again. "Uh, look at all this stuff, these screens. I mean, can any of this help me find Simon? Where is he, anyway? Some kind of crypt in Transylvania?" She said. Seriously Clary now was not the time for jokes. "Actually, no.
That was Camille's outfit, right? They're locals," Jace said.

"They're at the Hotel DuMort, down in Gansevoort Street," Isabelle informed. "And we came back here? Why? We have to go there. Let's go, now. Come on," the redhead urged. "Whoa, Clary, slow down. We can't just go running in there," Wren told her. "We'd need a Clave resolution for that," Alec said. "The four of us can't declare war on the vamps all by ourselves," his sister added.

"And we can't react without considering our options. Downworlders are slaves to their impulses. We're not," the brunet boy went on to say. "Alec, you can't just jump on all the Downworlders," Isabelle said defensively. At this Alec put on a playful smile, shocking the blonde girl. "Oh, that's right. Seelies have their charms, apparently," he said. "Right?" Jace said, also smiling.

"Seelies?" Wren asked, her interest peaked. Despite being very reluctant and unsure about this whole Shadow World thing, she had to admit, it was interesting. "Like faeries. The Fair Folk. Add pixies, nixies, elves anybody half-angel, half-demon. It's pretty much a catch-all term," Jace explained and she nodded, playing with her crystal necklace. She wondered if all half-angel half-demon beings were okay with being called Seelies if they had their own more personal name like pixie or elf. She wasn't sure if she would be.

"Izzy can tell you all about them. She's got a thing," Alec went on. Okay, why is this conversation still going on? Wren wondered. "We've all got our things, don't we?" Isabelle said coyly. "Okay, I can't listen to this. Simon's been kidnapped by vampires. I guess I'll just take care of it myself," Clary said as she began walking away from the group.

"Clary, you're gonna get yourself killed," Jace said. The redhead continued walking. "Clary. Simon, too." This made her stop and turn back to them. She began making her way back over to the four. "Then help me. While we consider other options, our best friend is suffering. Is that something Shadowhunters understand or am I just being a mundane?" Clary said.

"Clary's right. They made the first move. We're gonna take care of this ourselves, right now," Jace finally said. "This is a bad idea," Alec quickly protested. "What, have you got a better one? Look, the vamps broke the Accords. They kidnapped a mundie. That's a big no-no. The Clave will give us a lecture and then they'll be glad we did it. Come on," Jace retorted.

"Hard to argue with that," Isabelle pointed out. "Even if we went ahead, I don't see how we get out of here without having to explain where we're going. We need weapons, and we can't let anyone see us get them," Alec continued. Another brief silence. "I know where to get what we need," Jace finally said.

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A churchyard. They had driven to a churchyard. Wren would have preferred to have stayed at the Institute or better yet, home. She just wanted to go home. But she couldn't leave Clary alone with these strangers and she had to make sure Simon was okay. So she texted her mom that she'd be staying at Clary's for the night.

They stepped out of Simon's van and Wren began looking around. "Whose grave is it?" Alec asked. "Mary Milligan, born January 10th, 1802. Died, January 10th, 1878," Isabelle answered, looking down at the phone in her hand with the information she had just read. "All right, Alec, let's go," Jace said. "Wait, what are we looking for?" Clary asked. "Cache of weapons," Isabelle answered.

"Stashed here with Mrs. Milligan," Jace added. "And why are there Shadowhunter weapons in a churchyard?" Wren asked, nearly tripping over a rock as she walked. Alec saw this and rolled his eyes, muttering something about mundanes being clumsy.

"Because all of the ancient religions recognized demons. Or at least they used to," Isabelle responded. "They forgot about the threat because we've been here to protect them. Typical mundane failure of imagination," Alec added. Isabelle let out an incredulous chuckle. "Are you saying we did too good a job? You just can't let up, can you?" She questioned, anger present in her tone.

"You know what? Alec, why don't you go check out by the angel?" Jace suggested. Alec said nothing as he walked past them and went to do what Jace had instructed. Wren stood awkwardly, looking around for a tombstone or something with the name Isabelle had told them. Jace was talking to Clary as Isabelle moved closer to Wren.

"You've been awfully quiet. You've barely even mentioned Simon. Aren't you guys, best friends?" The brunette began. Wren wanted to roll her eyes but didn't, instead she continued searching. "Just because I haven't said anything doesn't mean I don't care," she finally said. "You kinda don't act like you care," Isabelle pointed out.

Wren turned to her, eyes narrowed. "Well I do. Just because I'm not as outspoken and downright reckless as Clary doesn't mean I don't want to find Simon and have him safe and sound again. I just don't want to end up dead while we're rescuing him. You guys are the professionals, right? Maybe I wanted you three to formulate a plan because I don't know what the fuck to do and neither does Clary because in case you haven't realized, we didn't even know this world existed until like, a day ago so please spare me. You don't know me, Isabelle, so stop with your assumptions, okay?"

Wren took a deep breath to calm down whilst Isabelle just stared at her in surprise. "Damn, you're kinda scary when you're angry," Isabelle commented. Wren sighed and cracked a smile at this and the brunette smiled. "Good on you for sticking up for yourself," she continued before placing a hand on Wren's shoulder. "Don't ever let anyone walk all over you. You're too pretty to be someone else's chew toy, as you mundanes would say." She pulled her hand away with a smile. Wren's heart rate picked up and she blushed.

"Word of advice, you should make other people your bitch before they make you theirs." And with that, Isabelle pulled her phone from her back pocket and began tapping away. "Uh, thanks?" Wren wasn't really sure what to say to that.

A notification went off on the brunette's phone. "Excellent. He's home. I'm outta here," Isabelle said. "Wait, aren't you coming with us?" Clary asked. "Oh, I wouldn't miss it for the world, but I gotta find out how to get into the vampires' lair," she responded before walking away, swaying her hips as she did so. Wren watched her walk away with confidence rolling off of her in waves. She bit her lip.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Jace called out to her. "Jace over here," Alec called. "Yeah, coming," the blond said back. He and Clary exchanged a few more words before he was walking over to Alec. Wren looked around the area before walking over to her friend. "You okay?" She asked. Clary sighed, shaking her head no. "You?" She then asked. Wren shook her head.

"I know I'm supposed to be the optimist but I just can't help but feel like... I don't know. Like we won't find him in time," Wren said. The two had begun walking and searching for the grave when Clary stopped at her friend's words. "You can't think like that, okay? We're gonna find him and he's gonna be okay," Clary said affirmatively. Wren just nodded, keeping her next reply to herself.

"So, Isabelle's cute huh?" Clary said in an attempt to break the tension. Wren looked over at her. "Seriously, Fray? You wanna talk about girls right now?" She asked. "Do you?" Clary asked, wiggling her eyebrows. The blonde rolled her eyes. "I'm just trying to keep my mind off of the potential that our best friend could be a vampire's snack," Clary replied.

It was silent for a moment. "Well if you don't want to talk about girls, we can talk about boys. Alec is decent looking," she continued. "Pretty sure he hates my guts and I doubt humans are his type. But since we're on the topic, Jace is cute, don't you think?" Wren said.

Clary bashfully looked away, a blush coming to her cheeks. She remained quiet and Wren smirked. "That's what I thought." She looked at Clary who was biting her lip. "Anyway, I wouldn't go for either Lightwood. Something tells me that dating someone that's apart of the supernatural world is a bad idea," the blonde said. Clary looked over at her sadly and nodded. "You're probably right," she said. It was silent for a moment. "Besides, I don't think either of them are your type anyway," the redhead added with a small smile.

"I agree," Wren responded with a chuckle. The two continued searching before Clary stopped in front of a grave. She crouched down to get a better look. "Is that it?" The blonde asked. Clary nodded, "I think so." She stood up straight and called out to the other two Shadowhunters. "Jace! Alec! I think we found it! Mary Milligan!" It didn't take long for the two to appear as Clary and Wren cleaned away some of the dirt on the tombstone to get a better look at the name.

"Beloved servant?" Clary read, "Who wants that on a headstone?" Alec walked around to the front of the tombstone. "Someone who is in service to a cause greater than themselves," he replied. Jace moved dirt and leaves off of the large coffin like thing. "At least she is now. Abracadabra," Jace said.

"Wait, you people actually say that?" Clary asked, leaning in. "No, Clary, we don't," Jace replied causing her face to fall slightly and Wren to snicker. Jace looked over at the other blonde with a smirk before pulling out his stele. He began running over a symbol on the top of it. The same symbol that Clary had spray painted onto Simon's van. A rune, Jace had called it.

He moved over to a different end and he and Alec pushed the top off of the box, revealing weapons but no Mrs. Milligan. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. She and Clary glanced at each other before looking back at the weapons. "Whoa! Where's Mrs. Milligan?" The redhead asked before reaching in and grabbing one of the sword looking weapons.

Alec grew annoyed, "Don't touch that. You don't know how to use it." Clary was having none of it though. "What, like at Pandemonium when I killed that demon?" She asked. "Wait, you killed a demon?" Wren asked. This is news to her. "You didn't kill—"

"Alec. I'm gonna show her the right way to use it. Do you see what you need in here?" Jace interjected. Alec looked inside the box. "No. There's no bow here. I need one. I have to rune some arrows. That's back at the Institute. I gotta go," he answered.

"Well, how are you gonna get back in the Institute?" Jace asked. "Go in the back. Won't bother me if I'm alone," he responded. "You have to take Wren with you," Jace informed. "Why?" She and Alec asked at the same time. "You're coming with right?" Jace asked, turning to look at Wren and she nodded reluctantly.

"Well, none of the weapons here will be of use to you because you're not a Shadowhunter. The Institute will have something," Jace explained. "I'll just bring her something—" Jace gave him a look and Alec rolled his eyes. "Fine, whatever. Come on mundane," he said. "For the last time, dick, my name is Wren," she sneered. Nobody's chew toy. The look he gave her made her take a step back in intimidation. Well, damn.

Alec and Jace looked at each other and had a brief conversation before the brunet began walking. Wren looked back at Clary who nodded before she followed after Alec.

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As always, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please vote if you did. I'm excited for the rest of this book and hope you are too. DO NOT COMMENT FOR ME TO UPDATE!