Wild Warriors: A Shadowhunters Fanfic

15. Trouble

It was nightfall by the time Luke and Simon had finished interrogating Maia. As soon as she had shifted and changed into her clothes, Luke grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and dragged her into Simon's storage unit. She had been there all day, handcuffed to the wall, and trying to defend herself.
Jace stayed with Clary and I as we waited outside the storage unit while Luke did what he had to with his pack member. I leant against the metal side of the container and tried to call Isabelle over and over again. She never answered.

Eventually I slid down to sit next to Clary on the dirt. I cradled my burnt hand and tried to convince myself I was just imagining the progress it had made up my arm.
"Are you okay?"
I looked up at Jace when he slid down to sit next to me. He was looking at my hand.
"I can feel it spreading," was all I said. "But Magnus did a good job of not making it hurt."
Clary turned to glance over at Jace and I.
"Do you know why Maia attacked you?" She asked curiously. I shook my head, this time with nothing to say. I had been racking my brain for the past few hours trying to come up with the smallest possibility of what made Maia go after me like that. She had risked everything, including her own life, and for what? I came up empty every time.

The three of us looked up when Luke and Simon emerged from the storage unit, Luke sliding the door closed with a loud bang.
"Maia wasn't after Cara," Luke explained. "She was after Clary."
I pushed myself to my feet, still cradling my burnt hand. "Clary?" I repeated. "Why?"
The girl in question looked just as confused as I did. Luke made eye contact with her for a second and then looked back at me.
"She was willing to kill Clary in order to prevent her from activating the Soul Sword. She knows about Clary's blood and was trying to put an end to the trouble before it even started."
I was left somewhat speechless. Apparently I had misjudged Maia the first time I had met her. What kind of person would try to do something like that instead of trying to resolve the problem?

Clary looked like she was about to say something to Luke but hesitated when I hissed in discomfort from my arm. When I looked down, I could see the burnt area creeping up ever so slightly.
"You need to find Madzie," Luke told me seriously. "And fast."
"No problem," Simon said. "We can take the van."
For the first time, I was thankful Simon's bright yellow van was so close by. Jace put a hand on the small of my back and gently pushed me towards the car. I looked over my shoulder for Clary but saw her still standing by Luke. She was hesitant to leave him.

"Go," he was telling her. "I have to stay here and make sure Maia didn't tell the other wolves what she told me."
"Luke-"
"I'll be fine. I'll catch up with you once I've stopped the whole Downworld from coming after you."
Clary smiled somewhat remorsefully and moved to wrap Luke in a hug. Luke returned it and kissed the top of her head.
"I'll see you soon, kiddo," he whispered to her.

Clary broke away from Luke and came to join me by the van. But before either Jace or Simon could join us, Luke stopped them with a "Hey!"
They turned to face him.
"If anything happens to either one of those girls-"
"It won't," Jace promised before Luke could finish his sentence. "I'll protect them."
"We'll protect them," Simon corrected. Jace met Simon's eye and purposefully allowed a smirk to rise on his face.
"Just try to keep up," Jace said. Simon scoffed as Jace turned away from him and began walking towards Clary and I. As Clary pulled open the door to the van and climbed inside, I could hear Simon ask Luke, "Who does he think is driving?"
I smiled and pushed Clary into the car before climbing in myself. If we weren't killed by demons or Valentine in this crazy, dangerous mission, these boys would definitely annoy me to death, that much was for sure.

As Simon was driving, I made another call. But rather than trying Isabelle again, I tried Alec. Even if he didn't know where she was, he could at least ask around the Institute. And my guess was that he had noticed her absence as well.
Alec picked up on the third ring.
"Cara, what is it?" He sounded concerned.
"Isabelle," I said simply.
"Isabelle? Do you know where she is?"
"No, which is why I'm calling you in hopes that maybe you did. You haven't seen her either I'm guessing."
"No, not for a while. I just spoke to Aldertree and he wasn't giving anything up. I'm getting a bad feeling about him, Cara."
I sighed and went to rub my eyes but stopped when I remembered my burnt fingers. "Join the club," I said softly. "I think you should go looking for her. I don't know where she might be but...I don't know, Alec, but I think she's in trouble. I've been trying to call her all day and she hasn't responded once, she never does that."