I know it's been a hot minute since I updated this but, honestly, after writing imagines for so long it feels weird to write in first person again.

But.

I'm back with another chapter so, hopefully, you will enjoy this and continue to support this story as much as my imagines

ily

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

"What is this place?" Simon asks as Jace leads us through to the main room, adorned with huge, high tech monitors and a smattering of people clad in black swarming around the room like bees, "There's a lot of gear in here. What'd they do, rob a tech shop?"

Simon continues to ramble on to Clary as Jace comes to a sudden stop by a large screen, adjusting one of the monitors before clicking a bunch of buttons on it, then swiping up a live security footage of police officers roaming around outside the building.

"Won't they find us?" I ask Jace, cutting through Clary's explanation to Simon of demons and Shadowhunters

"No" Jace replies, "Our wards will deter them. And the NYPD will do their typical mundie thing for a few hours and then the area will be clear"

"What is going on?" A voice from behind me demands

I turn on the spot, instantly spotting Alec's looming figure behind me, disapproving expression and all.

"Why is there a mundane in the institute?" Alec continues, looking over at Simon, the dissatisfaction only becoming stronger in his tone

"A Circle member followed him here to get to Clary and Cami" Jace sighs, tone on par with Alec's

"What exactly is a Circle member and why are they trying to kill us?" Simon asks, not any less confused then when he'd found our home trashed and us missing.

"All we know is...a long time ago the Circle led a revolt" Jace explains, "A lot of Shadowhunters got killed...including my father"

My head snaps to Jace's face, a willing distraction, I'll admit, considering I had been staring at Alec the entire time.

His father had died in a Shadowhunter vs Shadowhunter war?

And I thought my life was tragic.

"And since the revolt we've been forbidden to even hear about the Circle" Alec continues to explain and my eyes draw back to his face a little too eagerly, as if magnetised. Alec's eyes are already on me when I turn to face him but he looks away quickly as I meet his eye.

Clary, more interested in backstory than in the cute guy, continued with her persistent questioning, "But, how is that even possible? It's your history."

"Says the girl who didn't know she was a Shadowhunter?" Jace scoffs, following Alec to another set of monitors where I notice Isabelle sitting, swivelling around in her chair, checking each monitor thoroughly.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right" Clary snaps, a hard edge to her voice, "And now the only person who knows the truth is missing, so I don't care about your rules or what's forbidden, I'm...There's gotta be someone out there who can tell me...tell us why they've taken our mother"

"There is" Jace prophesies, moving from Alec's side and past Clary and I "You coming?"

"Yeah" Clary agrees, taking my wrist and pulling her with me. As we move closer to the room Jace is leading us towards, a pain in my shoulder flares up and I feel myself getting light-headed and nauseous.

"No, no, no" Jace stops in tracks, raising his hand to Simon, who was following us, "Not you"

"Hey, the three of us are a package deal" Clary insists, earning a smug 'Yeah' from Simon

"There are runes all over the training room floor that would kill your mundie boyfriend" Jace points out, annoyed

Clary and Simon both protest their relationship status but Jace just stares Simon down.

"And I'm tough" Simon boasts, smacking at Jace's arm playfully before shaking his wrist out, evidently pained by the tense muscles he'd just thoughtlessly slapped, "I can handle runes. So, uh, bring on the runes...What exactly are runes?"

"They give Shadowhunters our demon fighting powers" Isabelle pipes up from behind us, igniting one of her runes with her stele and I watch in amusement as his gaze falls on her, his eyes glazing over, muttering, "So hot"

Jace clears his throat, unimpressed and Simon scrambles to cover his words.

"The rune" Simon justifies, clearing his throat

Isabelle offers a light, breezy laugh, one clearly meant to charm Simon as she pockets her stele and strides over to him confidently, "Don't worry, girls. I'll watch over the best friend. In fact I was about to make breakfast."

"On second thought" Jace counters, sucking in a harsh breath, "The runes might be less lethal"

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that" Izzy chuckles, keeping the charm on at full blast

"You know, Clary, I'll stay with him" I speak up for the first time in a while and everyone looks at me, confused

"What? No, Cami...don't you want to find mom?"

"Of course I do" I wince slightly as the pain in my shoulder flares up again, "But you go be detective and tell me what you find out. I'm...I'm not feeling too hot. So, just go figure out what this is and I'll make sure Simon's okay"

"Okay..." Clary's voice drifts, her tone unsure, "I don't want to leave you alone"

"I won't be alone" I comfort her, "I have Simon"

Clary looks back over to Simon, who seemed completely enwrapped in Isabelle's attention. She was like a freaking snake charmer.

Clary smiles tentatively at me before turning to Jace, "Where are we going?"

"Training room"

I watch as the two of them enter the training room, feeling more and more lightheaded with every second. I place a hand to my forehead, almost as if I were trying to trap my headache inside of my head.

The room was spinning and I could feel myself sweating and breathing harshly, the pain in my shoulder intensifying. I look down at it, at where the demon bite had been, pressing my hand to it before pulling it away...my hand was now sporting spots of blood on it.

"What the fuck?" I murmur to myself, swaying slightly on the spot

"Are you okay?" Alec says from beside me and I jump slightly

"Jesus, you never make a sound when you move"

"Shadowhunter" Alec says by way of explanation before frowning, his eyes on my hand, "Is that blood?"

"What...No" I ball my hand into a fist and pull it from his sight, trying my best to stay on my feet

"Cami, I know what blood looks like...where are you bleeding?" Alec asks, concern laced in his voice

"Oh like...you even...care" I pant, my breathing laboured and struggling, "I...feel like...I can't breathe"

Finally, my legs give out and my feet slip. If it weren't for Izzy's stupid fucking loaned heels, I could have steadied myself...or at least that's what I tell myself as Alec catches me in his arms, moving me back onto my feet, his hands on my arms, steadying me.

"You really don't look good" Alec frowns before calling Izzy over

"She's bleeding!" Simon exclaims and I turn my head to my shoulder, where blood was now seeping incredibly obviously through the shirt

"Alec, what's wrong with her?" Isabelle asks her brother, the charming, seductive tone void from her voice

"I don't know" Alec admits, "But she can barely stand"

"Get her to my bedroom" Isabelle instructs and Alec moves to scoop me into his arms but I awkwardly sidestep his arm

"Don't" I snap, before backtracking when I see the hurt and slightly angry look on his face, "I'm sorry. I just...I'm not an invalid, okay? Just...just help me walk"

Alec frowns but nods, lopping an arm around my waist as I hook my arm over his shoulders...well, more like his upper back, as I hobble through the Institute, letting Alec guide me.

I try to ignore the pounding of my heart, trying to dismiss it as this weird sickness that had come over me...and trying to avoid the fact that my heart had raced just a little faster when Alec touched me.

***********

By the time we got to Isabelle's room, she was gone and Simon was sitting on her bed. He stood abruptly as Alec half-carried me in and unnecessarily helped Alec sit me on the bed next to him.

"Are you okay?" Simon asks, concerned

"Yeah" I utter, surprised. I wasn't lying either, almost as soon as we'd left the general common area, I'd begun to feel better. Now, I was just slightly weak and dehydrated and, as far as I could tell, the bleeding had stopped.

"Where's Izzy?" Alec asks, mask of stone steadily re-applied

"She went to get breakfast" Simon murmurs, not looking at Alec as he studied me, trying to decipher if I had been lying about feeling better

"Jace is right, you know" Alec teases, a cynical smirk on his face, "I wouldn't eat her food if I were you"

And with that, he was gone.

I didn't even get to thank him.

I slid back on the bed, propping myself up on the bed head just as the tell tale sound of Isabelle's heels clicking along the floor told me she was nearby. In seconds, she rounded the corner with a tray laden with abysmal-looking breakfast food and a miniature first aid kit.

"For you" Izzy gestures, handing me the first aid kit, the charm back in full force

"Thanks" I smile politely and she nods, sitting where I'd previously been and starting on her bowl of runny oatmeal

"So, um...what happens to humans, if they're..." Simon trails off, pointing at his neck, "...Runed?

"They usually die" Isabelle informs him, sipping her water, "Sometimes they go crazy. When that happens we call them the Forsaken. Then we kill them."

"Right" Simon breathes nervously, having only just now realised that she was, in fact, incredibly dangerous and could probably kill him, "So...the rune on Clary's neck and Cami's shoulder..."

"A healing rune" Isabelle adds, "Alec and Jace used them to save their lives"

"So they knew we were Shadowhunters?" I ask, using an antibacterial wipe to clean the blood off my shoulder and the shirt

"They were almost certain"

Something dawns on Simon and he stands to go for the door but before he can completely turn, Isabelle is suddenly in front of him, a hand on his chest as she pushes him back to the bed, "Where could you possibly be going?"

"To get Clary, to protect her from Jace" Simon exclaims and I suppress the urge to roll my eyes.

He was so jealous.

"And why would she need protection from Jace?" Isabelle defends, an insulted tone in her voice, "He's the ultimate protector"

"What makes Jace so special?" Simon spits

"Fastest, strongest, fiercest" Isabelle lists, "And hello, have you seen the guy?"

"Yeah, well, uh...sorry I asked" Simon huffs

"Simon" I speak up and he turns to me, a dejected look on his face, "I trust him. Clary is safe with him, if you can't trust him or even Isabelle, trust me"

"Izzy" Isabelle corrects but I ignore her, making a mental note but keeping my attention on Simon

"Okay" Simon sighs, "I trust you. I trust Clary. So, if you say she's safe...she's safe."

Izzy had since returned to her runny oatmeal and was scooping it up with...something burnt and crunchy, "Mmm. There's plenty more where that came from"

"Good to know" Simon chuckles half-heartedly, pushing the spoon through the substance and grimacing over at me. I shrug, an amused smile on my face.

"So the Circle..." I begin, sitting up straighter in the bed and throwing the pink tinged wipe on the bedside table, "If they're as bad as they say they are...it's not good for Clary and I, is it?"

"It's not good for any of us" Izzy deadpans, the charm in her voice, again, vanishing. Suddenly, Izzy stiffens as she looks over at me, her eyes narrowed to the spot on my shoulder where I'd been bleeding

"What?' I ask, looking at my shoulder and then back to Izzy, "Did I miss some?"

"No...but where's the wound?" Izzy inquired, standing from the bed and moving over to get a closer look, "Blood doesn't usually just disappear"

"Maybe it was some left over?" I shrug, deciding not to mention the pain I'd felt when it had started bleeding again.

It had felt like stitches had popped out, like the wound had been reopened, but now it was gone...

I was already this Shadowhunter freak, I didn't want to admit to being a broken Shadowhunter that didn't work right as well.

"Yeah...maybe"