CHAPTER SIX. OPERATION: FIND DOT

"I'M NOT GOING ON SOME QUEST TO NARNIA WITH YOU."

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She had finally managed to find the room with all of the screens and computers and let out a sigh of relief. After wandering around for what felt like hours, but was really twenty minutes, she was happy to see some sort of familiarity. This place was bigger than she had anticipated.

"There you are!" A voice called. Wren turned her head to see Clary coming her way, Jace and Simon on her heels with Isabelle and Alec straying a little ways behind them. "Where have you been? We've been looking everywhere for you," the redhead continued. "Didn't think you or anyone realized I was gone. You never really do," she said to herself. "What?" Clary asked as she stopped in front of her.

"I was looking for you guys. Simon and Isabelle ditched me, thanks for that," Wren began, shooting Simon a heated glare. He looked away, avoiding her eyes.

"I thought you'd be with Alec," Isabelle defended, though she had a smirk on her face. Wren's glare turned to her. "He ditched me too, faster than you two," she said. "You left her alone?" Jace asked Alec. "She was annoying me," Alec replied nonchalantly, his arms crossed over his chest. "Wha— I didn't even do anything," Wren defended.

"You existing did enough," Alec muttered, though she heard it and huffed. "Where's the exit, I'm leaving," the blonde said. "What? No! I need you here," Clary protested. "To do what, Clary?" She asked. "We have a plan to find Dot. That way, she can lead me to the cup and help me find my mom," Clary answered. "Cup? What cup? And what the hell does Dot have to do with anything?" Wren was thoroughly confused.

"Dot's a warlock," Clary informed. The blonde's mouth fell open and she shook her head. "I can't deal with this right now. None of this makes any sense, no one has told me anything, and honestly, I'm cool with that. The less I know, the better. I'm officially done with the Shadow Land or whatever it's called," she said, preparing herself to leave. "You've barely been in the Shadow World," Jace pointed out, correcting her on its name.

"That tells you something, doesn't it?" Wren snapped. She took a breath and released it before turning back to him. "Sorry for snapping at you. I'm just frustrated. Now where's the exit?" She said more calmly. "Wait! Let me just fill you in and you come with us to find Dot. After we find her, you can go home," Clary tried to reason but Wren was already shaking her head.

"No, no, no. Nope. Uh uh. I'm not going on some quest to Narnia with you. No," Wren said. "What's a Narnia?" Isabelle asked. "You don't know what Narnia is?" Wren question and she shook her head. "So what, you Shadowhunters are too cool to read books or watch movies now?" Wren asked.

"We read books, just not mundane ones," Alec said, rolling his eyes. "Oh, so you read the boring ones," Wren said, narrowing her eyes at him. "Listen mundane—" Isabelle stuck her arm out as Alec began to walk forward and Wren took a step back. Clary grabbed the blonde by her shoulders and turned her to face her. "Please, Renny. I need some familiarity with me. You, Simon, and I are the Three Musketeers remember?" She said.

"There were four Musketeers," Simon said and Wren pointed at him, nodding her head. "Not helping, Simon," the redhead said before turning back to Wren with puppy dog eyes. "What are you, seven?" Wren asked. Clary continued and the blonde gave in, sighing. "Fine fine. But only until we find Dot," said and Clary smiled widely, grabbing Wren's hand.

"Come on, I'll fill you in as we get ready," she said, pulling her friend after her. Isabelle was already walking ahead of them. "Ready for what?" Wren questioned.

The blonde stood awkwardly in Isabelle's room whilst Clary changed into one of Isabelle's outfits. The brunette had tried to get Wren to wear something more "presentable" but Wren politely declined. She didn't know Isabelle and didn't feel comfortable borrowing a stranger's clothes. Besides, Isabelle had clothes that were a little too revealing for Wren's liking. They were not things she'd ever wear and began feeling uncomfortable with just the thought of putting on one of the brunette's dresses.

"Just wear this one," Isabelle tried again. Wren shook her head. "I'm good," she said, crossing her arms over her chest and hugging her self. "We'll have to work on your self-esteem issues," Isabelle said, placing the dress down. Wren pursed her lips, "Just because I don't like your clothes, doesn't mean I have self-esteem issues. My self esteem is pretty great thank you very much." She knew Isabelle was right, she sort of did have self-esteem issues. But she wouldn't admit that to Isabelle.

"Someone's defensive," Isabelle said with a laugh. Wren's arms tightened around her body. She didn't reply, she didn't have the courage. Isabelle was looking at her in that intimidating way, almost daring her to reply. Like she wanted a witty comeback. But Wren wasn't one for witty comebacks or comebacks in general. Unless it was with Clary or Simon. Other people made her feel uncomfortable at times. Or intimidated or scared.

She hated that about herself. That she was too scared to speak up or defend herself or her friends. When she was younger, she used to be so courageous. She said anything and everything to anyone. She was fearless and spoke her mind. No one made her feel afraid or intimidated. But as she got older, that confidence and courage was just whisked away. She wasn't sure what had happened to make her lose that in herself. All she knew was that she hated it and hated feeling this way.

But for some reason, it seemed that these Shadowhunters were bringing out that side of her again. The girl who was never afraid to speak her mind. And though it was a fleeting feeling and she wasn't back to her old self, Wren felt a little grateful. And maybe even a little hopeful. She was probably just being stupid.

Clary came out from behind the changing screen, revealing the dress she was wearing to the other two girls. The top she was wearing wasn't too revealing but it was enough to make Clary slightly uncomfortable. Wren thought she looked great. "Is this is the least revealing thing you have?" The redhead asked the brunette. "What? All the naughty bits are covered. A little too much in my opinion," Isabelle replied, looking Clary over.

Clary crossed her arms over her chest, growing annoyed. "Where's Simon?" She asked. "Who?" Isabelle replied in a serious matter. Wren looked over at the brunette with raised eyebrows and Isabelle smiled. "Kidding. He's in good hands with the boys," she answered with a chuckle. Wren rolled her eyes. "I don't see how that's funny," she muttered quietly so that Isabelle wouldn't hear.

Isabelle walked over to her bed and sat down. "So, um you, Alec, and Jace are what, like, family?" Clary asked as she followed Isabelle and stood in front of her. Wren's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Why does she care? "Translation, you want to know if Jace and I are a thing," Isabelle corrected. Does Clary have a thing for Jace? She barely even knows him. Clary scoffed, "Why would I care?"

Isabelle smiled. "Because you do. Don't worry. In every way, he's like my brother. Our parents took Jace in when he was ten. We trained together. Learned to fight side by side." Wren pursed her lips as she awkwardly looked around the room. She felt like a third wheel all of a sudden. But she was used to that.

"A few days ago, all I had to worry about was getting into art school. And now—" Isabelle cut Clary off. "Is this the part where I give you the pep talk about harnessing your inner Shadowhunter and accepting your true destiny?" Isabelle asked. "Was that the pep talk?" Clary questioned. "Basically," Isabelle replied with a smile.

"That was a horrible pep talk," Wren muttered, though this time, Isabelle heard. She briefly looked at the blonde before returning her attention to Clary, standing up and walking over to the girl. "Clary. Remember, you were born to do this. No matter what has happened this is who you are," the brunette said.

"Not exactly feeling that," Clary replied. "Yet," Isabelle said. "Okay, but now we just have to find Dot," the redhead said. "And track down and kill the most dangerous rogue Shadowhunter in history before he kills us all," Isabelle said. "Is it too late for me to leave?" Wren questioned. Isabelle turned to her with a smile. "Yes." She then turned back to Clary. "Come on, let's go."

She started for the door before stopping to look at the redhead. "Oh, and Simon is kind of nerd-hot," Isabelle said, her smile never leaving. Wren's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as Isabelle walked out of the door.

Wren walked beside Clary and out of Isabelle's room. She pulled the redhead closer to her and whispered into her ear. "What does that even mean?" Clary made a face and shrugged. The two walked back out to the main area of the Institute and spotted Simon who quickly made his way over to them.

The boy began pulling on his jacket. "Let's get out of here, just us three. We can get Dot ourselves," Simon said. "Or, and I'm just spit balling here, we could just go home and find someone who can actually find your mom like the FBI or something," Wren said. Simon and Clary looked at her and she smiled awkwardly.

"Okay, a) we can't do that Wren and you know it," Clary began before turning to Simon. "And b) there are demons out there, okay? Actual demons with tentacles that wanna murder us. Do you know how to kill a demon?" The redhead continued. Isabelle walked between the three friends. Simon followed her with his eyes and waited until she was out of earshot before continuing.

"I'm an Internet search away," he retorted and Wren shook her head. "Simon, I really don't think it's that simple," Clary replied. "I bet you it's not that hard," Simon responded. "I bet you it is that hard," Wren told him. "I thought you were on my side with the whole leaving thing," he said. "I am, I was just making an observation," Wren answered.

Isabelle pushed a button and a vertical drawer opened up, an array of weapons on it. "Whoa," Clary muttered. Isabelle reached for a blade and Jace, who had just made an appearance, smacked her hand away from it. "No, Izzy," he chastised. "Fifty bucks says he doesn't approve this mission," Isabelle said. Alec walked in then. "I don't approve of this mission," he began, "I spoke with the Clave. They're sending Seelie scouts to search for Valentine, but they made it clear, the little girl does not leave the premises."

"Hey, my name is not "little girl", okay? I don't care what that Clave thing or you want, I'm going to find Dot," Clary retorted, her eyes narrowed at him in a glare. "Alec, this warlock could have the answers we need. With Valentine's people out there searching for Clary, she's not safe outside alone," Jace said.

"Jace has a point," Isabelle agreed. "Et tu, Izzy?" Alec asked his sister who said nothing. "All right, since you have all the answers, where do you suggest we search?" Alec asked, looking at Clary. "We should start at Dot's apartment in Greenpoint, and there's this thrift store that she—" Clary cut herself off, gasping loudly as her hand wrapped around the necklace she was wearing.

"What's wrong? What is it?" Jace asked. "I, um. Weirdly, I think I know where Dot is," Clary replied. Wren's eyebrows raised in question but she said nothing. "Great. I'll drive," Simon said, pulling out his keys. The three Shadowhunters looked at him. "What? Unless you have, like, a Shadowhunter-mobile or something," he said.

They continued to look at him. "You were kidding about the runes on the floor killing me right?" He then asked Jace. "Possibly," the blond replied, patting Simon's face before walking past him. They began to walk with Wren reluctantly following.

"Wait am I gonna die?" Simon inquired. Nobody answered his question.

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I know I haven't updated in a while but I genuinely had no motivation or inspiration to write and update this book. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. DO NOT COMMENT FOR ME TO UPDATE!