Our Fate ?Shadowhunters? [Jace]

?Chapter Twenty?

"You defeated him?" I asked, impressed.

"Among other things." Clary said with a smile. "We can try to help you find my—your—our mother. But I think we should call Magnus to help us."

"I'll go do that," Alec, who I now realized, had ice blue eyes, said.

"And I should tell my fianceé I'll be late to our dinner." Izzy sighed.

"Fianceé?" I asked, looking to Clary. "Are you two—"

"Me and Izzy?! Of course not!" Clary laughed as if it was the most ridiculous thing she's ever heard. "Sorry, we're both into boys as far as I'm concerned."

"Oh. So you and Jace are a thing?" I asked, hoping it didn't sound as weird as it felt just asking.

"Yeah. We're not together in your dimmension?"

"Well... Let's just say, you're not each other's type." I quickly replied. "So where's Simon?"

As if I'd invoked him, the brunette boy stormed into the room in a hurry, a stele in his hand. I noticed he was carrying a seraph blade in his belt. "Babe! What's the emer—" he spotted me and cleared his throat awkwardly. "Oh."

"Si, this girl is our friend from an alternate dimmension." Isabelle explained, kissing his cheek affectionately.

"You and—wait—Simon's a Shadowhunter here?"

"He became one after—" Clary started, but Magnus cut her off as he waltzed into the room in a hurry.

"Clarissa! Careful! If you tell her anything about our history, you could seriously affect the outcome in her reality. Interdimmensional travel is a delicate matter." Magnus said, turning to look at me in astonishment. "Now tell me, Leah. Whereabout on the timeline do you come from? Have you defeated Valentine yet?"

I shook my head. "No. Apparently, you have."

"Interesting. Then we must not reveal anything we have accomplished before our encounters with Valentine Morgenstern."

"How come you don't know who I am at all?" I asked, genuinely surprised thar nobody seemed to recognize me. A terrifying realization hit me. "Oh my—You don't know me, because I don't exist here."

"I'm sure if you did, we'd get along incredibly well." Izzy commented. The blankness in her expression made me understand how horrible it would be for my friends never to have met me. But to think that their lives would still go on perfectly without me in the picture... That was the scariest thing of all.

"I—I... I need to find he Portal. Now."

➰➰➰

"This Portal shard... It radiates Angelic energy." Magnus said, examining Clary's necklace.

"Does that mean it will send me somewhere nice?" I asked, a little too hopefully.

Magnus shrugged. "Could be. Or it could mean it's a trap."

"Look, I promised Clary I would find her mother. If there's any chance this might lead me to her..."

"Give me half an hour, and I'll open your Portal. It will cost you, though."

"I didn't bring any money—"

Magnus chuckled. "No, biscuit. I mean to ask for something much more valuable than money. I want information."

"Shoot. Literally, up until a week and a half ago, I didn't even know the Shadow World existed."

Magnus smirked. "You know more than you think you do. Now, answer my question. Do you know the name Catarina Loss, by any chance?"