"A lie that is half-truth is the darkest of all lies."
-Alfred Tennyson

It was just a soft chuckle, a faint laugh, but it made Lisa and Jonathan stiffen. In the battle, they had landed on top of each other and were still laying in the same position. Their eyes met and Lisa saw the same look in his eyes that she probably had. As if they had been caught.

"Sorry, am I interrupting something?" It was Olivia, still laughing. Suddenly, Lisa became very aware of Jonathan's hands on her wrists, his legs against hers. Jonathan's eyes widened, he let go of her hands and scrambled on his feet. Lisa felt her cheeks burning.

"Yes, our training." Jonathan's voice was flat and irritated, brushing the dust off his clothes.

"That's not what it looked like," Olivia joked, crossing her arms. Jonathan swallowed noticeably and glared at her. "But what exactly did you mean by half-blood?" Jonathan jerked his head to the left, facing her. Lisa's eyes widened, Olivia had heard that he had called her a half-blood. She broke into a cold sweat, trying to make up an excuse in her mind, but Jonathan was already ahead of her.

"It's none of your business," he snapped. Lisa knew it came out sharper than intended. She shook her head at him, he looked back in confusion.

"Come on, I'm part of the big happy family now, right?" Olivia stared at her, but her voice sounded mocking. Lisa took a deep breath and cursed her brain for finding no excuse.

"My father was not a shadowhunter." She almost had to push the words out of her throat. Olivia looked up in confusion, demanding more information with her black eyes. "He was a mundane and died a long time ago," Lisa rambled, keeping her head high, as if the words didn't bother her. Chills ran down her spine, she suddenly felt naked in her black top. Lisa walked to her jacket on the floor and put it back on.

"What's so awful about that? I mean, he's a mundane," said Olivia. "Why do you shadowhunters always have anything against us?" She felt the urge to remind Olivia she was a shadowhunter as well, not a mundane, but resisted. She threw a meaningful glance at Jonathan, wishing Anna were here, she would understand her unspoken message.

"It is forbidden to have any relationship with a mundane. If the Clave found out my mother had something - a child - with a human, her runes would be cut off and she would have been banished."

"And you? They wouldn't send away a baby, would they?"

"No, I could have stayed," Lisa sighed, "but it doesn't matter." She straightened her back again and pointed a threatening finger at Olivia. "You're not going to say a word about this. My father may be dead, but that doesn't exempt my mother from her guilt."

"Okay okay. Take it easy." Olivia folded her hands in front of her. "Typically the Clave, with their stupid rules." She walked away from the door. "And are you some kind of half-shadowhunter?"

Lisa shook her head, tired of her questions. "Shadowhunters' blood is dominant." She could do everything a normal shadowhunter could do, mundane blood had no effect on her.

Fortunately, Jonathan noticed her irritation and quickly changed the subject. "Why did you come here in the first place?"

"What?" Olivia turned around. "Oh sorry, I didn't know this was a forbidden area?" She began to climb the rafters agitated as if she had years of experience with it.

"Is your exam already done?" Lisa asked, not that she cared much. 

"Marianne decided to quit for the day after Arthur nearly killed her," she said with a crooked smile, the boots of her uniform dangling over the beam. "She also wants us to take our theory exams tomorrow." Lisa and Jonathan said nothing. "Are you going to continue with whatever you were doing?" she asked curiously as if she could grab popcorn any minute. Lisa glanced at Jonathan.

"No, we've trained enough for the day," he said. Olivia looked almost disappointed and started to climb further. Lisa threw her hands in the air and walked out with Jonathan.

*

"Why did you tell her that?" Jonathan said immediately after she had closed the door. Lisa shrugged.

"She would have found out anyway." Lisa wanted to blurt out that she didn't really like Olivia. But she knew from experience that it was best to keep your feelings to yourself, she'd only entrust Anna with such things. And she wasn't really sure if Jonathan didn't like her either. Jonathan ran his hands through his short hair.

"Are you okay?" He put his hand briefly on her shoulder, his blue eyes examining her with concern.

"Yes, I'm fine." She shook off his hand and heard her own voice crack. Hopefully, he hadn't noticed, although she saw him grimacing.

"We'll continue training tomorrow, okay?" Lisa nodded, feeling light-headed and nauseous. "By the Angel." Jonathan gave her an intense look.

"What is it?" He bit his lip, causing the wound she'd made to burst open again. He didn't seem to notice.

"I think you could use an iratze for your head." Lisa brought her fingers to her forehead, when she took them back there was blood on them.

"Great," she said sarcastically, Jonathan continued to walk down the hall to his room. When he tried to open the door, he changed his mind.

"Have you brought your stele? Mine is broken. Again." Lisa nodded and beckoned him. She sat down on her bed and took her stele from the nightstand. You could compare the wand to a long silver pencil covered with runes. It was made of pure adamas, the metal of the shadowhunters, which is also what the witch lights and the demon towers in Idris were made of. Jonathan stood awkwardly in the doorway, she handed him her stele and turned around.

"Preferably on my neck." She wouldn't really like runes on her face. With a sad look, she reminded herself that all the Silent Brothers had runes on their faces. Jonathan sat behind her and brushed her hair away. She felt the tip of the stele burning on her skin and at the same time, her headache got better. It felt like someone was brushing her skin with a hot poker, she had always felt like it hurt her more than anyone else. Or she was over-sensitive again, as always. "Thanks," she turned to Jonathan when he finished, "you need an iratze too."

"For this?" He pointed to his lip and smiled. "No, I don't."

"Not just for your lip, for your arm as well." Lisa had noticed he had fallen on it and had been moving it spasmodically ever since. Jonathan sighed, took off his jacket, his entire upper arm was blue, and reached out obediently. Lisa took his wrist and started drawing an iratze. Jonathan sucked in his breath as the tip touched his skin, black curly lines flowed out the stele. Anna entered the room and stopped abruptly, staring at Lisa and the sliding stele. "Come on Anna, this just was ought to become the most beautiful iratze ever, I felt it," she wailed.

"Did you guys fight?" Anna was startled, looking at Jonathan's injuries.

"No, I was training with Lisa," said Jonathan. Anna crossed her arms, but fortunately did not seem to want to dig any deeper.

"Lisa, do you know where my elastic bands are?" Lisa silently pointed at her desk as she finished the iratze. Anna made a quick braid and walked out, shaking her head.

"Okay, I'm going to do something too." Lisa got up.

"Yes, me too," said Jonathan. They walked out and each went in the opposite direction. "The question is, what?" she heard him say when she walked into the other corridor. Lisa strode purposefully to the only room in the Institute where no one would disturb her. She wanted to be alone because she needed some time to think.

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What did you think of this chapter? Be sure to let me know in the comments!

We'll learn more about Archie in the next chapter! Uh, Arthur! -->
Also remember: Don't trust anyone