Chapter 11

It was like turning into the consistency of smoke, or fog, Ayne thought as the world around them seemed to go black as the night. Everything around them was gone, and she felt as if she were flying through the air, so fast it almost hurt.

Just as it was becoming to much for her, her body was back, and she was no longer flying.

The scenery had changed, they were no longer standing beside the Deity, and instead were right in front of the Institute. Ayne smiled every so slightly at how easily the glamour peeled away and she saw the Church's true form.

"How on earth did we get here?" I asked, and looked to see Magnus smile mischeviously.

"Magic, my dear."

Ayne smiled in return, understanding immediately.

"So I guess I should go home." She said, and looked on either side of the street for a cav. Luckily this time she had money.

"But…Someone needs to go with her." A soft voice said, and Ayne looked around to see it was Max watching her with immense concern.

"I will be fine, its only a few minutes." Ayne lied. The cab ride sometimes took an hour if traffic was bad.

"After what happened last night, you need to be careful. Have someone with you all the time. We don't want t risk losing our princess now do we?"

Ayne gulped, "I really think I will be fine."

She looked around the little group, and Magnus and Alec both looked concerned. Eaden was watching Max curiously, as if his concern was fascinatingly out of character. And Fin, who she tried to glance past, was glaring at Max with hate. That glare made no sense to her…

"No, I agree, someone should go with you. You could be attacked." Alec said, and everyone looked to Fin expectantly.

When he refused to looked at her Max sighed and turned towards Ayne. "I will go with her."

Alec nodded, and smiled, "Come back tomorrow, we should probably discuss this situation with the rest of the Institute. And it would be wise to explain everything to your parents." Alec said, and turned to guide Eaden up the stairs. She waved sadly at Ayne, and they hurried inside. Magnus inclined his head and gracefully flitted up the stairs, blue sparkles sprinkling away from his suit jacket. Fin simply stood there, ignoring the three of them leaving to go inside. Max was watching Ayne, and turned to hail a cab.

She didn't mean to, but she couldn't help herself as her eyes flitted from Max to Fin. His broad shoulders were tense, and his neck taught as an iron wire. She could tell by the way his head was inclined to the Institute that he was trying not to look at her. Her stomach turned at how revolting it seemed to be for him, to look at her. Why wouldn't her look at her?

A soft warm her touched her wrist, "Ayne?" Max whispered, and she flinched, her eyes turning away from Fin, and landing on Max. He was so handsome, his eyes watching her with pity.

She imagined he had seen so many girls pine after Fin with desire, that he had learnt to pity them.

"Yeah." She sighed, and looked to the street. "We should go."

She saw Max nod and his warm hand disappeared around her wrist. The strangely cool air bit at her exposed skin, and Ayne founder herself wishing he still held it.

The sound of a car approaching sounded, and Max through up his arm, "Taxi!" He yelled, and the car screeched to a stop in front of them. He looked to her, and ushered her forward as he opened the door.

She muttered the address to the cab driver, and Max climbed in, the cab pulling back into the street.

The drive was silent at first, but after a quiet moment, Max broke it.

"Whatever he said to you, he didn't mean it." Max whispered, and the softness of his voice, made him turn to look at him. He was watching her, deeply staring into his eyes. She felt as if maybe he was really trying to get her to understand.

"What?" She whispered.

He sighed, "Fin has this way about him, when he cares about someone he…wishes he didn't. He has trouble letting people in, letting them see who he really is. He only rarely lets his guard down. When he does he is soft and he really does care. I promise you he does. I think that whatever he said to you, it was because he is scared of you."

Ayne gasped, "What—why would be scared of me?

"Because you are beautiful, brave and kind. He cares about you. I can see it when he looks at you." Max muttered, and his eyes looked sad, as if him caring about Ayne upset him.

"But he hardly knows me." Ayne argued.

"Time doesn't matter." Max shrugged. "He still cares about you none the less."

"But he must care about you, and Eaden, and even Madeleine. How come he doesn't treat you the way he treats me?"

"We are his family. It is different, he loves us because of family. I don't think he has ever cared for anyone but his family. I guess he inherited that trait from his father."

"I still don't understand."

Max smiled, he had such a pleasant smile. "My uncle Jace had a most corrupted upbringing. He still hasn't healed from some of the emotional wounds that were inflicted on him as a young boy, and as a teenager. When Fin was born he was still so hurt from the Dark Days, so Fin was raised by Jace while he was still bitter. Fin was taught not to care for people, for they would only hurt him. Luckily Clary eased some of the bitterness, but he still has that hard outer shell." Max laughed at the confused express on Ayne's face, "What I'm saying is, he doesn't know any better, he thinks it makes him weak to care. So when you come along with all your pleasantries, he…says things he doesn't mean, things that will hurt you, so you hate him. He would rather be hated then considered weak."

Ayne nodded, but couldn't help the pain that was in her chest grip her. To stop herself from thinking about it, she said the first words that came to her mind, "You seem to know him so well."

"Yes, I have known him since we were kids. I'm only a few months younger then him, you see." Max said, smiling.

"You love him."

"Yes, he is like a brother, not just a cousin. We are parabotai, he and I." Max said.

"What's that?" Ayne asked, curiously.

"We are like fighting partners, comrades and brothers. We would die for one another in battle." Max explained.

"What about Eaden?"

Max laughed, "She doesn't need anyone to help her in a battle."

Ayne smiled, thinking of how fiercely she held herself.

"Eaden is so much like my mother, they almost could be mother and daughter." Max grinned.

"Is that what your mother is like?" Ayne wondered.

"She is taller, and she doesn't have Alec and Eaden's blue eyes. But they have much the same personality." He explained.

"Who are you most like?"

Max's grinned flashed bigger, "My father. He can be silly, which is what my mother needs but, still, he and I look quite a bit alike, and we think the same way."

Ayne remembered Fin's words that first night when he had said that Max's father was a vampire, "How did your mother and father have children? Fin told me about your father."

"Ah, yes I was waiting for you to bring that up." Max's voice lowered, and his eyes flashed toward the cab driving.

Ayne blushed, "You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"I don't mind." Max shrugged. "You heard what Magnus said, about how Eaden was made from the book of White?" When Ayne nodded, he went on, "Alec and my mother—Isabelle—they are brother and sister. But Alec still only looks around 20, though we are nearing twenty ourselves. You see when Magnus got the book of White, there were spells that know one knew were possible, one being able to produce a child from simply a potion and a spell, and then to make someone immortal. My father is" Max whispered the word vampire, looking to the cab driver again. "And he was once immortal, and he thought that he would never grow old, never have children, until Alec decided he wanted to be with Magnus forever. Magnus told him he knew the way to make sure that they could be together forever, but immortality cannot be ridden of once it has been created. It can merely be transferred from one being to another. To make Alec live forever they needed someone else to give up their immortality. Simon—my father—was new to immortal life, and only dreamed up returning to normal, and so they asked him if he would give up his immortality to Alec. He agreed and they made the transformation. My father still is a vampire, but he no longer is immortal, and ages at a normal rate. He is one of a kind, not only is mortal but he is called a Daylighter, because he can walk in the sun." Max smiled, "My mother and him were in love but up until he was changed into a mortal man, they thought they could never be together unless Alec was changed himself into a vampire. They married and had me in the same year he was changed. Luckily I didn't inherit his disease…" Max said, and looked over to Ayne with his soft eyes. They were gentle when they stopped on her.

"That's amazing." Ayne gasped out, shocked.

"Yes."

The cab pulled over and Ayne looked up in shock to see her house, the lights off, and looking completely normal. She felt like she had woken from a dreamlike stupor, like the world she had just left wasn't real. She opened her clutch to pull out some money, but Max's hand stopped her. "I got it."

Ayne smiled, and Max's eyes unfocused in admiration. "I'll walk you to the door." He said, almost as if he were hypnotized, and he half stumbled out of the cab door, muttering to the driver to wait a moment.

They walked in silence up the steps, as she pulled out her key and turned to him. His eyes were on her face, soft and generous. They weren't foggy like a moment ago, but strangely alive. Like he was a blind man seeing for first time.

"I promise, everything will be alright." Max whispered. Ayne was looking deeply into his eyes, and noticed that within them was a softness that only she remembered seeing in Ben's eyes, never before in anyone else. His next move shocked her as his warm hand brushed her cheekbone, a tingle rippling down her face and neck. A crooked smile lifted his face, and he leaned in, his full lips brushing her other cheek. Her face heated as a blush covered it. His lips went to her ear and his voice made her shiver in anticipation, "Sleep well Ayne Rosselin."

She gripped the doorknob for support as he turned away smiling, and walked back toward the cab. Within in moments she was alone, her heart pounding from Max's unexpected affection. She leaned against the door, twisting the knob slightly and was shocked when the door opened.

Her heart went into a frenzy when she realized that the door must not have been locked. Living in New York City was no place to leave the door to ones house in the Upper East Side open. She felt fear trickle through her body as she walked inside, the lights all off. It was midnight she assumed, so it was not uncharacteristic the house was entirely black, but she could help but feel that something was off. Something wrong.

She pulled off her heels, hoping not to make any noise as she crept through the house, checking each room suspiciously. When she got to the kitchen she had still not found anything or anyone in a room, nothing looking in a disarray. She turned to the sliding door that led to the small back yard and froze.

She was beautiful the woman that stood at the back of the lawn, next to a little cherry tree her mother had attempted to grow. The woman had hair the colour of mahogany wood that hung down past the middle of her waist, it was softly curly, and stunning. She wore a soft blue dress that draped to the ground, revealing a thin and elegant figure that was the pinnacle example of a what a woman should look like. Her eyes were emerald green and the most lovely colour she had ever seen, nicer even then maybe Fin's. Ayne couldn't help but admire her, but still she made no move to approach. Her eyes flitted quickly to the sliding door, which was open, letting the air blow in to the kitchen she realized. When she looked back to where the woman was, she was smiling. It was not the smile that Max had given her, which was full of kindness, but instead was dark and the smile made her more fearful then she had ever been before. It was lovely, but ghastly.

As if sensing her fear she smiled wide, revealing bright white teeth. It was menacing….And with that the woman disappeared.

Ayne woke to the sound of a knock on the door, and she gasped sitting up quickly, gripping the sheets in fear.

"Ayne?" she heard her mother's voice as the door opened, revealing her familiar face.

"Yeah?" She whispered, trying to keep her voice from trembling. After the woman had disappeared she had ran to the door and slid it shut quickly locking it and turning to lock every window and door in the room before running up stairs to close her bedroom window which she always kept open.

"How are you feeling?" She said, and came to sit at the foot of her bed.

"Better." She said, touching her ribs in shock that there was no pain.

Her mother looked at her with concern, the look she had given her almost every day as she grew up. She knew that her mother, and even more her father, had lied to her and Vince and ever Cornellia. But as Sarah looked at her, as if no one else mattered to her, she knew her lies were irrelevant. Now she knew the truth about herself, and that was all that mattered.

Sarah frowned, "I am so sorry Ayne. I am so sorry I never told you."

Ayne sighed, she couldn't stay mad at her mother forever, it was too hard. "I know. I just wish I hadn't found out that way."

Sarah nodded fervently, "Me too."

She remembered what Zeus had told her he day before, and the new knowledge that the Silent Brothers had helped her acquire. "I met Zeus, last night."

Sarah mustn't have expected her words because she gasped, "Zeus, how?"

"We visited him at his nightclub, we knew he would know about me, so we asked him to explain more about what was happening. He knew my real mother didn't he? He knew about me?"

Sarah nodded "He knows more then even I do. I don't know who your father is…"

"I do." Ayne whispered, and Sarah's eyes went frantic.

"What?"

"While Madeleine was in the Unseelie Court she met the King Theus, and they fell in love. And then they had me. Madeleine hated my father and fled from him, never telling anyone but Zeus who I really was." She explained, and watched as her mother's eyes glistened with tears.

"That explains so much, that explains why you were attacked." Sarah whispered, she was piecing together what Ayne already knew.

"Yes. We think the Courts are both trying to find me, to either kill me or…or make me their ruler." Ayne said, her voice catching on the last word. "He used to visit me didn't he? Zeus?"

"Yes, he came once, to see you." Sarah agreed, her voice full of regret. "You were only a baby."

"The Silent Brother's showed me that memory." Sarah gasped, but Ayne went on, "They showed me other memories too, things I never remembered. My father came to see me once, and so did his guards. But—" She was about to say Dad, but she caught herself, still so hurt form his lies. She paused, not sure if she should tell her mother the truth. It would hurt her so much to know, and only put strain on the family when they hardly needed more complications.

"But what honey?" Sarah asked, laying a hand on Ayne's.

"Nothing, I was just going to say that I had been young, and so I couldn't remember it. That why the Silent Brother's uncovered it." She said, and Sarah frowned as if sensing she was keeping something from her.

"Very well." Sarah sighed, "I suspect you are going back?"

"To the Institute? Yes. I have to." Ayne admitted, though she wasn't sure if she so much had to but rather wanted to.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised, it probably comforts you being among people that can relate to who you really are." Sarah said and sighed again, this time very sadly.

Ayne thought for a moment about what her mother said, and found she couldn't help but agree. There at the Institute, they could help her deal with what she was, keep her safe, and even tell her the truth in discovering her heritage. It was much more comforting that being at home where her parents were, the people who had kept the truth from her.

"You should bring Vince with you." Sarah said, sensing that Ayne agreed with her words.

"Why?" Ayne asked, her face furrowing in confusion.

"He wants to know more about the Shadow World." Sarah said simply and rose to her feet. "I need to go drop Cornellia at a friends, and then go grocery shopping, but I guess I will see you later. Call me if anything happens…"

Ayne nodded, her heart aching as her mother left the room. She wondered if her happy relationship she had always had with Sarah would ever return to the way it was, despite knowing the truth.

She hopped out of bed after a few moments of thinking, looking at the clock as she passed. It was only 9:14 in the morning.

She went straight into the kitchen, hearing as her sister and mother chatted outside the house, getting into a cab. The sliding door was still closed thankfully, no signs of the woman returning last night. She grabbed the coffee pot and poured herself a cup, adding copious amounts of sugar to the cup and then gulping it down, burning her tongue in the process.

She ate breakfast quickly, eager in an odd way to get to the Institute. She ran up the stairs, throwing Vince's door open only to find his half naked in his bedroom with a little blonde girl lying next to him, only wearing a bra and underwear.

"Ew." Ayne muttered, and went towards Vince's bed, grabbing a cup of water off his bedside table. There were male and female clothes strewn across the messy floor, the blankets of the bed crumpled and half off the bed. She sighed as she saw the girl curl up next to Vince, snoring softly. "Pour girl…." She whispered, and lifting the cup dumping it onto Vince's half naked body. He jumped up suddenly, making the girl fly off him and fall off the bed.

"What the hell Ayne!" Vince shouted, his voice groggy with sleep.

"Really Vince? Another one? Dude have some decency and if you sneak a girl in for a blow job in the middle of the night, lock the fucking door…" Ayne snapped, and shook the cup out on Vince's soaking wet head. The girl had reappeared on the other side of the bed, flushed and angry.

"You asshole, you told me I was the only one!" She shouted, grabbing her clothes off the floor and throwing them on. She was cute, but very much not Vince's type.

"Sweety, you are one of maybe 12 girls at the moment, don't be stupid." Ayne rolled her eyes, turning back to her brother, who was obviously about to punch her. "Close the door behind you." She muttered as the girl flew out the door, and tramped down the stairs.

"Ayne, why do you have to ruin everything? She was hot!" Vince complained, standing up to throw on a shirt.

Ayne rolled her eyes again and put the cup back down. "We're going to the Institute. Mom thought you should come. We are leaving in half an hour, so maybe you should wash up, you have sex hair."

Vince grimaced, but nodded.

Ayne left the room, feeling a little smug at embarrassing her brother, and went straight to the shower, standing in under the hot water until the water got too hot for her to bare. When she got out she couldn't help but look in the mirror and feel as if she was looking at a stranger. The eyes that were the mirror looked to hard, the bruising that hadn't quite healed despite the rune's help scattered her naked torso. Her body even seemed a little too skinny, as if she had lost weight over the last few days. That didn't surprise her since she didn't remember having eaten much since she had met Fin. Even her skin looked different, with its new mark scarred on her forearm. The only thing she thought that hadn't change was her hair, still long and silver.

The ache that accompanied her thoughts made her realize she wasn't doing herself any good, mulling over the changes that had occurred over a four day timeline. She was worrying herself about what she would look like if this new life she had discovered, kept changing her.

She brushed through her long hair, blow drying it but not bothering to make sure it was completely thorough. She went to her bedroom, digging through to find her most comfortable clothes and only coming up with a pair of flowered high-wasted shorts and an old Grateful Dead band shirt she wore when she felt like looking a little grungy. She had cut the back out o the shirt and sewed it too look a little more fashionable, so the tattoo she had gotten two years prior was noticeable on her back. Not bothering to look good she threw the two things on, grabbing her shabby old satchel off her desk chair.

She looked in the mirror and sighed contently that she looked a little more like herself. This was what she looked like in the summer, her silver hair parted down the middle and hanging low down her waist, her legs long and showing a little golden shimmer from being in the sun. She realized her little outfit made her resemble the new age hipsters she went to school with and laughed, leaving the room without a backwards glance.

She caught Vince just as he was also leaving his room, wearing a simple white shirt and beige khakis. It seemed they were both choosing not to care what they looked like too much today.

"Nice shirt. I was wondering when you were gonna start wearing that old thing again." Vince smiled, seeming to have regained some composure.

"Thanks. Are you still mad at me?" She smiled as they descended the stairs.

"Nah, I figured I was going to be seeing that girl Eaden today so I decided that Renee being pissed didn't matter." Vince shrugged. He opened the door for Ayne and turn to lock up after she had made her way down the steps. It was beautiful outside and the breeze was pleasant, warmer then last night had been.

"Good." She laughed, surprised she was in moderately high spirits.

They hailed a cab, both smiling and climbed in saying the address of the Institute and driving away.

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