Wild Warriors: A Shadowhunters Fanfic

17. By the Light of Dawn

Clary was freaking out. I had seen her go through many traumas before and still hold her own, but she was pacing and ranting about how we needed to get Simon back. As if we didn't know that we needed to go rescue Simon.

"Clary, we need to-"
"We need to go find Simon!" Clary turned and yelled at Jace. "You don't know what Valentine is capable of, he's a psychopath! The only reason he took Simon was because I cared about him!"
Before Jace could console his sister, Luke ran up from behind us. The three of us turned at the same time. Luke paused to catch his breath before saying, "All the prisoners are either dead or gone. There's no sign of Cleophis."
Clary exhaled a shaky breath and dropped her head into her hands. Jace moved closer to her and wrapped his arms around her.
"Okay, it's going to be alright," he whispered to her. Clary embraced her brother but they were interrupted by Clary's phone ringing. She pulled away from Jace and slowly pulled her phone out of her pocket.
It was Simon.

Clary looked over her shoulder at me.
"Answer it," I said after a few seconds of deliberations. Clary slowly slid her finger across the screen of her phone and we all watched as the screen became a live video.
Simon was seated on a chair, his arms bound behind his back with a strip of tape over his mouth.
Clary's hand flew to her mouth to stifle her gasp. "No," she murmured.
Valentine appeared on the screen, taking our eyes off of Simon.
"Hello, Clarissa." He smiled. "I wish we were talking on more...civilized terms, but unfortunately, one runs out of options."
"Let. Simon. Go," Clary spat the words at her father.
"Absolutely," was the reply. "As soon as you come back to the Institute. I need you to activate the Sword for me."

So Valentine had gotten into the Institute. A rush of panic flooded into my bloodstream and I found myself extremely grateful that Isabelle wasn't in the Institute. Even if she was on the streets, it was better than in there if that's where Valentine was.
But what had happened to Alec? Aldertree?
I didn't even begin to guess.

"That is never going to happen!" Clary yelled defensively.
"Oh, I think it is." Valentine looked over his shoulder at Simon, who was shaking his head and trying to communicate through the tape over his mouth. "You see," Valentine turned back to face us, "if you don't show up within the hour, your Vampire boyfriend here is going to die a death I wouldn't wish upon anyone."
The crazed man gave Clary a moment to think over his threat before hanging up.

Jace immediately pulled his own phone out and started dialing a number. But, instead of thinking, Clary took off down the field towards the street in the distance.
Luke thankfully caught her before she could get too far and held her so she would stop moving.
"What are you waiting for? We need to go!" She yelled at Luke.
"That's exactly what Valentine wants!" Luke told her. "He knows that if you touch the Sword, the entire Downworld is destroyed. Including Simon."
"No, he still needs an energy source. He needs lightning."
"He's got it, Clary," I spoke up from behind her. She turned around to face me, confusion clear on her face. I elaborated.
"Every Institute is powered by an Angelic power core. Valentine's planning on using that as his power source since he missed his chance with the last storm."

Before Clary could either start yelling or run off again, Jace came over to us.
"Alec isn't picking up," he said. "We need to move."
"Valentine is going to wish he never laid a hand on Simon!" Clary's threat was cut off when Luke grabbed her to prevent her from leaving again.
"Woah, woah, you're not going anywhere near that Institute!" Luke told her. "It's way too dangerous. We're taking you to Magnus. He can protect you."
Luke caught Jace's eye over Clary's shoulder and Jace nodded in agreement. Clary saw this, and made an angry noise at them. She smacked Luke's hand off her shoulder and said, "I don't need to be protected! I need to save Simon!"
"Clary, you need to think this through," I told her sternly. "The entire Downworld knows you are the key to that Sword. They all want you dead! Let Jace and I go save Simon."
"It doesn't work like that," Clary persisted. "If I'm not the one that shows up, Valentine will kill Simon. Trust me, I know how he works and he won't take no for an answer."