I stared at the symbol on the van Clary had just drawn in silence when Clary's voice pulled me from my thoughts.

"Hey, can you watch where you're going?" Clary asked this guy who'd bumped into her. I turned to see him look at her confused.

"You can see me?" Who knew four words could change my entire world.

EIGHT HOURS EARLIER

I waited with Simon after Clary's interview with the Academy of Art at the cafe we were all meeting at.

"How do you think she did?" Simon asked watching the door like a hawk.

"Calm down, lover boy," he threw me a look at the name I'd been calling him in private after I'd discovered his not so secret feeling for my baby sister. "She's a great artist like mom. I'm sure she did fine."

"You might want to tell that to her face." I turned to see her walking disappointedly to us with her portfolio under one arm and a paper in the opposite hand. "Give me the professors' names and I... I will end them."

"And how do you plan on doing that? By throwing a piece of paper at them?" He swatted my arm making me laugh. Simon was like a brother to me, always had. Teasing came with the job of the adoptive older sister.

"You know, with... with a scathing e-mail to the dean." he defended seeing my sisters look. She wasn't all that into fighting, unlike me. Something drew me to all sorts of martial arts styles, with and without weapons. It was the same with music for me and art for Clary. Mom said we each had our talents.

"Don't bother," Clary told him putting her things down and placing the paper on the table between them. He picked up the paper as she sat down and started reading it.

"What?" he smiled before looking at her. "Sad face? Really?" Clary laughed at him as I grabbed the paper from him. I laughed in happiness and hugged her to me, our matching red hair blending together. "Well played, well played." Clary backed away from me enough to get on of her arms back so she could fist bump her best friend.

"Thank you. You know, it's weird. They kinda liked my assigned work, but they flipped out over the drawings for our graphic novel." Clary told us.

"It's original and amazing. Who could turn it away?" I asked her.

"You're welcome." Simon chuckled.

"This day will go down in history as the greatest 18th birthday I ever had," she told us.

"Well, how many are you planning to have?" I joked making them laugh with me while she elbowed me lightly.

"Don't forget we are celebrating tonight," Simon reminded us. "Yes, with Maureen, after our show."

"Absolutely." Clary agreed while I nodded. Maureen and I hadn't ever really seen eye to eye on a lot of things so we'd never gotten along. But today wasn't about me, it was about Clary. "So... what's the deal with you and Maureen?" Clary asked as she placed her biscotti between us.

"What deal?" Simon asked her confused. "No deal. We sing together."

"You seriously don't know she's been crushing on you this whole time?" Clary asked him amazed by the fact.

"That could be because... ow!" I glared at Simon after he kicked me in the leg.

"No. No." Simon stammered glaring at me before turning back to the girl he'd been crushing on forever. I shook my head at them.

"Simon, how can someone as smart and perceptive as you not realize that the person sitting right there is in love with you?" she asked him and I covered my smile with my espresso.

"I guarantee you I'm not the only smart, perceptive person to make that mistake," Simon assured her.

"Everyone's done it at least once," I commented before noticing Clary's confused face on the table. I looked to see a perfectly drawn biscotti between us where a real one should have been. "That's a latte." Simon teased her, thinking she was looking at her drink.

"But I could have sworn I had a biscotti," she told him.

"I remember you putting it between us," I added, just as confused as she was.

"Maybe you ate it really fast and didn't even notice," Simon suggested. "Happens to me all the time. When I'm happy... when I'm sad." Clary and I laughed at him. "But I will replace your mythical biscotti with an actual one."

"Thank you."

"You know what?" Simon asked raising his drink. "Here's to you. L'chaim."

"L'chaim." we all clinked our cups together before taking a drink. I looked back at the drawn biscotti before shaking my head. Must have been our imaginations.

After lattes and espressos, Clary and I made our way back home to change before meeting with Maureen and Simon for their show and Clary's party. We walked into the antique shop to see Dot reading her Tarot cards mom had made for her.

"Hey Dot." we greeted.

"Hey." she smiled at us before looking at the card she'd just turned over.

"How's your future looking?" Clary asked.

"Not as good as yours. Either of yours." Dot sent a secret smile to me which I returned. "The Tarot Cards tell you got into the advanced program."

"And by "the Tarot Cards" you mean, "Simon's Twitter account"?" Clary asked her.

"Okay," she sighed. "I follow him."

"Don't we all?" I asked her.

"Turns out, predicting the future with Tarot Cards is very complicated." She turned over a card for us to see the large cup painted on the other side. "But, I do see a birthday present in your future." Dot placed the bag on the counter in front of Clary and walked to stand beside us.

"Dot!"

"Okay! Open it!" Dot said excitedly as Clary began to dig into the bag.

"Wow." Clary and I looked at the black shirt that definitely needed a top underneath unless you were looking for a certain kind of... activity to occur. Yeah, you know what kind I'm talking about.

"Yeah, you might wanna keep that on the DL 'cause your mom's my boss and I don't want her to flip out." Dot told us.

"Call it our secret," I assured her.

"And that's how I know it's cool," Clary said and we all laughed. "You know, you're way better at gift-giving than magically predicting the future."

"Nothing magical about it. I just buy the things I wanna wear." Clary put the top back in the bag while turning to Dot. "Happy birthday."

"Thank you." the two hugged.

"I love you girls."

"We love you too." I scored my hug from Dot and she sighed staring at us.

"You okay?" Clary asked her when we noticed her face go serious.

"Yeah," she chuckled. "Yeah, happy birthday. Go up and see your mom." Clary grabbed her things before we linked arms and we made our way upstairs.

"Mom!" Clary called out to her as she was going through the laundry in the living room.

"You did it! Yay!" Mom laughed walking to us.

"You also follow Simon?" Clary asked.

"He only has 92 followers." Mom pointed out.

"Which isn't good when you're in a band and trying to go beyond coffee shops," I added as we had a small group hug.

"Exactly why he needs the retweets. Congratulations."

"Thank you. Hashtag, stalker mom." Clary joked putting her things down. Mom pulled out two presents and presented one to Clary and one to me.

"Happy birthday."

"Mom, I don't know if you'd noticed, but we aren't 5. You don't have to give me a gift just because you give her one anymore." What can I say, I was a jealous kid.

"I know. I just wanted to give you this." she smiled at us as we took the gifts from her. Clary sat down to open her box while I stayed standing. I opened the box and inside was this metal stick with symbols on it and a clear end. The metal twisted as it went from the clear end to the squared off top. "It's called a Stele." I looked to see Clary with the same thing.

"What is it, like, a paperweight?" Clary asked her.

"No, it's much more than that." Mom told us and I looked at her confused.

"It doesn't look like much," I commented sitting on the arm of the couch.

"It's very ancient," Mom told us. "I want you to have them. It's a family heirloom." I chuckled at the word.

"We Frays have heirlooms?" Clary laughed.

"A few." Mom nodded.

"You know, it's weird. I doodled something that looked like this this morning." Clary said.

"And these symbols. I know I've seen them before." Neither of us noticed Mom's hazel eyes look at us in worry.

"We must have seen them around the house somewhere."

"Must have." I agreed distantly. I know I'd seen this somewhere before, but where...

"Honey, I need to..." Clary's phone went off pulling me from my confused brain and stopping Mom's words.

"Simon, he's on his way over," Clary said, rising from her seat. I stood and we went towards our respective room.

"But we need to talk." Mom insisted.

"I can't right now. I gotta change."

"Yeah, can't go to a show with day clothes on." I agreed.

"Especially when you see Champagne Enema." Clary agreed.

"What," Mom asked confused.

"Yeah, I know," Clary told her gathering her dropped things. "It's the new band name."

"That band changes names like a kid does clothes," I complained.

"Simon and Maureen are taking us out after." Clary finished saying pretending I hadn't spoken.

"But it's... It's your 18th birthday, and, uh..." Mom inhaled sharply before looking at the ground. "Everything's going to change for you now."

"You do know you told me the same thing, but my life is still very much the same was it was the 17 before." But had it really? I thought to myself. Things had changed, I'd just wanted to ignore them.

"Mom, we've had the talk. I'm good." Clary tried leaving but Mom had us by the hands.

"We need to have a much different and more important talk. All three of us." Mom threw us both looks.

"And we will." Clary tried assuring her as I studied Mom's worried face. "But can it be over breakfast, all right?" Clary kissed Mom's forehead and gave her a small hug. "I love you." Clary turned and went to her room to get ready for tonight. "Thank you for the heirloom. Love you."

I checked my makeup in the mirror. My purple eyeshadow made my green eyes pop and was outlined with black liner. The black crop top ensured I had to wear my black jacket zipped enough to hide the skin mom would flip out over. My black pants hugged my but and legs and tucked into my black knee-high heeled boots. My red hair was pulled half up then the part that was pulled back was braided. It was pretty, simple, and out of my face. Maybe it was the years of fighting, but something was telling me to be ready for one tonight. I looked down at the Stele and picked it up. I gently rubbed my fingers along the symbols before pocketing it. I walked out of my room to see Clary right in front of me walking back towards mom.

"Hey birthday girl," she turned and gave me a small look making me laugh. We did the small talk thing until we saw Luke and mom talking in the kitchen.

"Hey, Luke, what up?" Clary asked him.

"Hey girls! Incredible drawings," Luke complimented.

"Oh, thanks."

"And I got you these." Luke pulled out a six-pack of paints and gave them to her. "Spray paint."

"Oh, they're perfect," Clary told him pulling them to her.

"If I catch any of that paint on city walls, I will arrest you," he jokingly warned her.

"Please, Saint Clary do something illegal? I'd have to pay to see that day," I joked making Clary dig her elbow into my gut lightly as I laughed.

"The paint is for Simon's can," Clary informed Luke. "I'm insisting they rename the band."

"Oh, yes, please," mom sighed.

"And for that, the world will thank us."

"Yeah."

"Did you mom talk to you about those?" Luke asked us and I followed his eyes to see him looking at the Stele sticking out of Clary's pocket.

"The heirlooms. Yeah, they're beautiful."

"Clary, you're 18 now, and-"

"What is with you guys?" Clary asked looking between the both of them.

"Wow, I'm having serious deja vu right now," I commented.

"I'm turning 18, it's not like I'm headed off on some epic journey."

"But you are!" Simon chimed in from behind us.

"Saved by the Simon!" I cheered as we turned to him.

"See, we are going to Lombardi's to celebrate your birthday after our gig," Simon told her and Clary giggled at him.

"You should come back here after." I threw mom a look at her obviousness. "The city's not that safe right now."

"Yeah, thanks but no thanks mom," I told her. "We're good." Clary grabbed her new paints and we went for the door.

"Yeah, we will take a rain check. Wait. Do I smell chicken cacciatore?" Simon asked mom. I turned and gave mom another look. What was with her today? She knew Simon loved her chicken cacciatore and that he'd want to come back for some.

"Simon, your gig," Clary reminded him.

"Oh, you're singing?" Luke asked him.

"Yes, big gig. And by big, I mean not so." the men shared a chuckle as mom pulled me and Clary in for a tight Fray hug.

"Losing circulations here," Clary choked.

"Breakfast, the three of us, tomorrow. Promise?" mom asked us.

"Yep."

"Yeah, mom, big Fray breakfast. Promise."

"Mom... uh, mom? Mom, you have to let us go."

"Yeah, we are legally adults. Besides, it's not like anything life changing will happen just cause we walk out of the door," I laughed.

"Yeah," Mom whispered. "That's what I'm afraid of." Clary turned to Simon with a small hop.

"Shall we?"

"Yes." Simon took Clary's paints and offered her his back. She jumped on and I laughed as the pair went to the door so we could party.

"My mom is so overprotective lately," Clary complained to Simon and Maureen as we waited for their gig to start.

"Yeah, remember when I wanted to go to that party when I was 17?" I asked Clary and she nodded her head laughing.

"What happened?" Maureen asked us.

"Well, it was almost my 18th birthday and mom completely flipped cause this guy I was dating at the time was throwing a party and I wanted to go. The city was a quiet as it could be, but to mom, it was just a sign that something big was about to happen. I had to sneak out the window."

"Only it didn't work," Clary added.

"Yeah, Mom busted me the minute I walked in the door." I winced at the memory. I'd never seen mom so angry at anyone before.

"So, do you remember in Aliens, when the alien queen was defending her eggs from Ripley?" Simon asked us.

"In this scenario, is my mom Ripley or the alien queen?" Clary asked him.

"Both."

"What?"

"How does that work?"

"A mother defending her young," Simon clarified.

"Defending us from what?" Clary asked him. "I spend all day in an art studio"

"I spend most of mine in some sort of fighting area."

"Valid reason to try and defend you from something, but for me?"

"Ah, yes. Saint Clary with the boring mundane life." I traced a fake tear down my cheek and she hit my arm making me laugh.

"We really don't know much about when she was young," Clary reminded them.

"Oh, just do what I do and get all the dirt from your relatives," Maureen told her playing with her bracelets.

"Well, we would if we could, but she doesn't have any," Clary scoffed.

"And our dad died before Clary was born," I added.

"So you have no one?" Maureen asked. "No uncles, no aunts, no third cousins, twice removed?"

"No, just me, Farah, and mom."

"That's why the Lewis clan has added four chairs to every seder since pre-school," Simon told her as Clary and I made a noise of confirmation while nodding slightly. "One for Clary, one for Farah, one for Jocelyn, and one for Elijah."

"Of course."

"Obviously."

"Yes, obviously."

"You guys don't think that's a little bit suspicious?" Maureen asked us. "You now knowing anything about our family? Your mom could be hiding some deep, dark secret."

"Maureen, it's not possible," Clary laughed.

"No, no, think about it."

"No, seriously," Clary insisted.

"Have you met Jocelyn Fray? She's incapable of concealing anything from us."

Forever young

I wanna be forever young

Do you really want to live forever

Forever young

Clary and I applauded with everyone else at the end of Simon and Maureen's gig before helping them clean up and go back to the van.

"Thanks for being our roadie," Maureen said so we placed the last of the equipment in the van.

"Yeah, and thank you for being our artist in residence." Simon took off his shirt making both Maureen and Clary freeze a little.

"Of course."

"So, the two of you went on stage as Champagne Enema," I said not masking my dislike of the name and they both laughed.

"What were we thinking, right?" Maureen asked.

"But now, we're Rock Solid Panda."

"Yeah, we are!" Maureen agreed and I rolled my eyes at her. She agreed cause she liked Simon while he loved Clary.

"Rock Solid Panda, coming up. I'm feeling inspired." Clary took one of her paints and started shaking it as we followed her to the side of the van.

"Paint," Maureen reminded Simon.

"Paint."

We stood outside Pandemonium with its sign flashing between the name and demon as Clary finished her work on the side of the van. She stepped back and we stared at her work.

"What's that tag?" Simon asked her. The tag was a diamond but instead of connecting at the top they overlapped each other before curling back inwards. The symbol looked so familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on how.

"Weird, I didn't even mean to draw that," Clary told us. "Second time today."

"You know they have confirmed cases of people waking up in the morning speaking French, and they never even studied the language," Maureen told us.

"Do you think that's some kind of language?" Clary asked her.

"Sanskrit maybe." Maureen walked back to Simon as Clary and I stared at the symbol.

"Hey, can you watch where you're going?" Clary asked this guy who'd bumped into her. I turned to see him look at her confused.

"You can see me?"

"Yeah, that's kind of the point, but you obviously didn't see me,"

"Or he just assumed you'd just move over so he could just walk right on by," I suggested and he turned his confused expression to me.

"You two have the Sight." I shared a look with Clary.

"I'm sorry, the what?" I asked him.

"How can I not know who you are?" I laughed and grinned up at him.

"Wow, has that line ever worked, I mean seriously?" I asked him. He just stared at us before someone called for him.

"Jace!" he turned in the direction of the voice, then back to us before leaving. I just stared at him as he ran into the club before moving to the others.

"Do you guys believe that blonde dude?" Clary asked them.

"You mean the imaginary dude you were talking to?" Simon asked and I looked at him confused.

"No, the guy running into the club right now," Clary corrected him.

"Guys, there's nobody there," Maureen told us.

"Seriously? The guy covered in tats? Walked right into Clary," I told them.

"What guy are you two talking about?" Simon asked us.

"You guys seriously don't see him?" Clary asked them getting a little freaked.

"No."

"Okay, could you stop making me feel insane?" Clary asked them as they stared at us.

"Could you stop acting that way?" Maureen asked her.

"Could you stop making me want to hit you?" I asked her and she just moved back slightly. Okay, I shouldn't have jumped on her like that, but everyone has that line that no one crosses. She's crossed it a bit too much in the time we've known her. I'm honestly surprised I haven't gone at her before.

"Clary, Farah, what was in your lattes?" Simon asked us worriedly. Clary and I stared at the club entrance before I sighed.

"Screw it." I took off my jacket and placed it in the back of the van before going for the door. Clary followed me taking off her green jacket.

"Where are you two going?" Simon asked.

"To get some answers." Clary threw her jacket at him before catching up to me.

"Remember, you fake IDs suck," Simon called told us.

"You can get into a club at 18," I called back to him.

Inside the club was crowded. Some people were dancing while others stood around and were drinking and talking. I spotted the guy from earlier and nodded my head to him so Clary could see him.

"I'm gonna go fail at getting us some birthday drinks," Simon told us.

"I'm gonna go fail with you." Maureen grabbed Simon's hand and they stopped at the bar while Clary and I followed the guy from before.

"Do you want some... Clary! Farah!" We followed him until he entered what looked like a VIP room. the curtain closed behind him and I sighed before spotting a big guy. I linked my arm with his and Clary did the same on his other side.

"Somebody works out," she said and he looked down at the two of us, his eyes a right, almost glowing, blue. "Cool contacts." Once we were in we separated from our way in and started moving towards the guy. He was whispering something to a beautiful woman as a brunette danced seductively drawing men to her like kids at a candy store. My eyes widened at the sword the blonde guy just made magically appear. "Watch out!" Clary shrieked pushing the woman away from him. She fell into a black leather couch and when she turned to us her mouth had split into four parts as she roared at us.

"Careful!" the blonde pushed Clary back into a metal beam and I ran to her. By the time I looked back at them the guy had swung the blade and made the "girl" evaporate into red dust. The dancing brunette now had a whip and she lassoed the man who'd escorted us in somehow managing to electrocute him. Two others went after her but she just hit the first with the heel of her hand and kicked behind her to keep the second one back. I helped Clary up as the blonde made his way to us. "Are you hurt?" Before we could answer his question our former escort headbutted him in the back of his head making his sword fly to the black couch which made the blade disappear. The pair started fighting as Clary picked up the discarded hilt. The glowing blade appeared again in her hands and I just looked at it confused before taking it from her.. The blonde threw the guy at us and impaled him on the sword still in my hands making him turn into fiery dust just like the woman before. I stared at where he'd been in shock. The blonde looked at me before attempting to grab his sword, but one of the other guys wrapped his arm around his neck and we watched as they fought. The blonde even used the guy as a way to kick another of his friends away from him. One of the guys came at the two of us and I used my arms to block the punches thrown at me. I kicked him back but he just ran back to me so I stabbed him in the abdomen. I pulled out the sword as he turned to red dust before the blonde took the sword from me killing his own attacker. Clary ran away from the fight with me right behind her. Clary bumped into a guy as she ran out.

"Clary!" I looked up at the guy and stared at him for a moment. I knew I'd seen him before but couldn't place where.

"Sorry," she breathed out. We stared at him a few seconds longer before running out of the club and into a waiting taxi. "Drive!" We gave him the address before sitting back and going home in total silence.

When we got home we Clary immediately started ranting about what had happened while I sat staring at my hands with mom's arms wrapped around my shoulders.

"And then these creepy tentacles seemed to come out of the body builder's face, and... and then the just vaporized." Clary paced the room before turning to mom, trembling. "I mean, I was drugged, right?"

"What did the markings look like on the blonde boy you were talking about?" Mom asked her and I looked up at her confused.

"Is that really what you should focus on?" I asked her confused.

"Who cares, mom, okay? Are you even listening to me? I think Farah killed two guys."

"Girls!" we both looked at her as she pulled a Stele out of her back pocket. How many of those did she have?" "Did they look like this?" The tip of the Stele glowed as mom ran it along her arm revealing a symbol that was definitely not there before. I jumped out of my seat and stood next to Clary, staring at the mark in shock.

"Mom, what the..."

"Everything you saw tonight has a meaning and an explanation, and I've dreaded having this conversation with the two of you since the day you were born." Mom rose from her seat and moved towards us.

"Mom, please..." I almost begged her.

"What is going on?" Clary asked her. "A-Are we... Are we going insane?"

"No, you're not," Mom told us. "But the protections are wearing off, just like they did for Farah last year."

"Wait, what?" I asked her confused.

"Once you turned 18 I should have sat you down and told you the truth then so you'd be better prepared to protect yourself and your sister."

"Protections?" Clary asked.

"What does that even mean?" I asked getting more annoyed.

"Mom, you... Mom, you're scaring the hell out of me."

"I know, and that's why I've put this off until the last possible minute."

"Maybe you should have told us years ago so we wouldn't be so scared now." I countered.

"Jocelyn," we all turned to see Dot running to us. "Look out the window. Magnus called to warn us. They found you." Mom moved to the window and looked down on the street.

"Dot, it's time!" Mom told her before moving to us. "Okay, listen to me. You cannot be near me."

"What's happening?" Clary asked her.

"I got a very powerful person angry," Mom told us.

"What did you lie to them too?" I snapped." Mom explained before coming back us with a purple necklace in her hand.

"Followers?" Clary asked her.

"Why can't we just call the cops or something?" I asked her.

"The policeman you need to call is Luke." Mom spun Clary around before placing a necklace on her. "Keep this with you and think of me when you wear it."

"Mom, this is not the time for more birthday gifts," Clary told her holding the pendant before spinning to look at her. "What the hell is happening?!"

"Only if you need it," Dot told mom handing her a bottle with some sort of green liquid inside. Mom took the bottle before grabbing my arm.

"Trust your instincts. You're more powerful than you know," Mom instructed.

"Mom, I don't understand, what's..."

"Dot open it." I turned to see blue smoke in Dot's hand. Two of the doors that decorated our apartment opened on their own and a purple thing appeared between them. "Everything I've done, every mistake I've made was because I love the two of you more than words." Mom pulled us to the purple smoke.

"Mom, what are you doing?" Clary asked her.

"Luke will explain everything. He'll hide you."

"Hide us?" I asked her.

"From the Circle. He's the only one you can trust. Trust no one else," she instructed.

"Mom, I don't-"

"Where's Luke now?" Mom nearly screamed at us.

"At the police station!" Clary and I screamed back.

"Remember, I love you."

"Mom!" I felt something pulling me from behind and gasped at the feeling.

"Mom!" I reached for Mom the best I could.

"Farah! Clary!"

"Mom!" Suddenly, Clary and I were sitting in the station next to each other. Clary rubbed her arm from the pain of doing whatever it was we just did.

"Clary? Farah?" we turned to see the police chief walking up the steps to us.

"Captain Vargas." Clary and I rose from our spots on the floor.

"It's 2 in the morning. What are you two doing here so late?" she asked us.

"Uh, um..." Clary froze when trying to lie to her.

"Luke said he'd drive us home if he was still here," I lied smiling at her.

"Still doesn't trust those cabbies, huh?" she asked with a smile of her own.

"You know Luke," I said.

"Well, he's in the middle of an interview. It could take a while," she warned.

"That's fine, we can wait in the cafeteria. Got the munchies." The two of us started walking away when she spoke again.

"Hey, uh... is there some sort of problem?" she asked and I felt Clary tense up next to me. "Guy trouble?"

"Hit the nail on the head, but let's just keep that between us? Luke would flip," I said.

"Of course." With that Clary and I made it look like we were going to the cafeteria while she turned and went to where ever she was going. Once she was out of sight, we went down the stairs and made our way to Luke.

"The minute we learned Jocelyn Fairchild was alive, you were easy to track," We heard a man say to Luke as we peered over a half-wall.

"Fairchild?" Clary looked at me confused but I just shrugged my shoulders at the name. I'd never heard of it.

"Turns out you and Jocelyn were never that far apart," the man told Luke. "The Circle has her now." Clary's hand found mine and I squeezed it for comfort. "It's just a matter of time until we catch the daughters."

"You can have all of them if you give up the Mortal Cup," the woman sitting on Luke's desk told him.

"I don't care about any of them. They mean nothing to me." I felt my heart ripping at Luke's words as Clary and I gasped. He was like the father we never had. If mom wasn't around we'd always had Luke to depend on. "Kill all of them of them you like. My people want the Cup. Why do you think I've been hanging around here all these years? Now, when I find the Cup..." Luke and the man rose from their seats as the woman got off the desk, "I'm gonna keep it. And you can tell Valentine and the Circle that."

"No one mentioned Valentine," the woman told him.

"You didn't have to."

"Listen to me." The man put his finger in Luke's face but Luke just slapped his hand away.

"No, you listen to me. Get out of my office," Luke ordered. Clary and I sat on the stairs and I leaned my head back closing my eyes to smother any emotions threatening to come out.

"Mom..." Clary whispered. "We have to go back to mom..." Clary and I got up before running out into the rain and back home.

When we got to the alley leading to home we called out for mom before stopping in front of a pool of blood. I grabbed Clary's hand and pulled her behind me into the house.

"Mom!" Clary and I looked around the shop under our apartment. The entire place was destroyed. Clary fell to her knees sobbing.

"Mom!" I called out while looking around. I saw an ax on the counter and grabbed it before going to the apartment.

"Farah..." I heard Clary rush to me as we slowly walked up the stairs. She followed me, crying as we walked. I didn't have the heart to try and stop her from making any noise. I took a deep, quiet breath before quickly turning the corner with the ax raised. Empty.

"Dot?" I turned to see Dot on the other side of the room. Clary moved to her happily and I kept up with her, not dropping the ax.

"They took Jocelyn," she told us.

"Who took her?" Clary asked frantically.

"Rogue Shadowhunters searching for the Mortal Cup," Dot said moving towards us. I lowered the ax finally and shook my head.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Clary asked her.

"Think, Clary, Farah. Did your mother ever talk to you about a cup?" she asked us. "A very important cup. It's-it's gold, almost like a chalice."

"No! No, we don't know anything about a cup, Dot."

"But you should know that," I reminded her.

"One of the antiquities downstairs?"

"No, no, not those," Dot told her. I moved Clary behind me slightly as Dot moved closer to us. "Think, girls. This could save Jocelyn."

"How could we think about some stupid cup when our mother was just kidnapped?!" I shouted at her.

"You know more than you think you do, Clary and Farah Fray." Suddenly, Her mouth was split into four like the woman from Pandemonium. I took the ax and shoved it into her gut before pushing her away from the two of us.

"Farah!"

"Stay back, Clary!" We watched as Dot's fingers elongated and turned black. Her teeth sharpened and changed just like the rest of her. Eventually, Dot changed into a strange, white looking thing. Clary and I screamed at it as it got up and jumped at us. I pushed Clary back and away from me and I rolled away from it just in time for the coffee table to be broken into pieces under it. I backed away from it as its mouth separated into four again. It got close enough to me to scratch me with its large tooth on the edge of the four parts of its mouth. I quickly stood up and Clary screamed while I felt for a weapon. Suddenly, a glowing white sword was pushed through its chest making me scream in shock. I took several deep breathes and tried to calm myself as the blonde boy from before stared down at me.

"What, no "thank you" for saving your life?" he asked me.

"Farah!" Clary was instantly at my side hugging me tightly.

"What and inflate your ego more?" I asked him. "Not a chance."

"Careful. That demon got a piece of you," he told me.

"Demons?" Clary asked.

"Yeah." He put his hands on the side of my head and stared at me before looking away. "What do you think that miserable, disgusting thing was?"

"Dot?" I asked when the room started spinning.

"No, Ravener demon, shapeshifter." his voice started echoing and I started getting extremely dizzy.

"Made up words your thing now?" I joked before shaking my head, trying to clear the dizzy spell, but it only got worse. "Why is the room spinning?"

"Demon venom," he said.

"I'm assuming that's a bad thing," I said before my world went black.

When I woke up I sat straight up into the forehead of another woman.

"Ow."

"Who the hell are you?" I asked her moving away from her while quickly making note of the shirt that barely covered my ass.

"I'm Isabelle," she introduced with a smile on her face. "I've never seen Jace so curious about a mundane or distracted. Like you saw earlier, distractions are dangerous in our line of work."

"Well, not only do I have no idea what you're talking about all this but I never intended to be a distraction for anyone," I told her. "Wait, who's Jace?"

"You really don't know much, do you?" she asked me.

"Listen, Isabelle, all I need to know is a crew of physhos took my mother and now you and yours have taken me and..." I froze and quickly got out of bed. "Where's my sister? What have you people done to her?"

"Don't worry, she's safe with the boys," she assured me. "And when you say "taken" I assume you mean "saved your life"?"

"Depends on what you plan on doing to us after," I told her and she simply smirked at me.

"A mundane shouldn't even be here," the brunette boy from before said.

"And here would be...?" I asked.

"They are not mundanes, Alec," the blonde boy from before told his friend.

"How do you know that?" Alec asked him.

"Because the seraph blade lit up when they touched it," the blonde boy explained. Or at least I think it was an explanation.

"Seraph blade?" I asked.

"Farah!" I turned and attempted to brace myself as she tackled me. I felt a body stop me from falling to the ground and looked up to see the blonde. "I was so scared you were going to leave me alone."

"I will never leave you alone, Clary. I promise," I told her, hugging her tightly.

"What's going on?" she asked me and I looked up at Jace.

"Isabelle, can you..." Isabelle moved so Jace could take her spot in front of me. "I'm Jace Wayland."

"I'm Far...

"Farah and Clary Fray, we know who you are," Jace told us.

"Am I the only one who finds this unusual?" Alec asked.

"You find everything unusual, Alec," Jace accused.

"I have to report this to the Clave," Alec told them.

"Who's the Clave?" I asked.

"The hightest order of Shadowhunters," Jace to me and Alec rolled his eyes. "You know what? Dial it down a notch."

"My brother doesn't have a dial," Isabelle said. "I love you, Alec, but you have a switch that's always on."

"I love you, too. But this-"

"Hey, you know what? Give me a minute," Jace told them, but neither of them moved. "Here's a word you never hear me say. Please?"

"What is with you?" Alec asked him. "No, really, what is with you?"

"Walk with me big brother," Isabelle told him and together they left the room. Jace pulled down the shoulder of my shirt and looked over the place I'd been scratched.

"Your wound, it's healed," he told me. Clary moved to the other side of me and inspected my shoulder.

"How is that even possible?" Clary asked him.

"So I'm miraculously healed and all of you people have magical powers or something?" I asked him.

"No," he scoffed with a smile on his face. "No, don't confuse me with a warlock."

"A what?" Clary asked.

"Warlocks are real too?" I asked him.

"They are one of the Downworlders," he told me.

"Okay, you two aren't making sense," Clary told us.

"Warlocks, according to the stories I read are male witches," I told her.

"Those stories are wrong," Jace told us. "Warlocks, vampires, Seelies..."

"Literally my brain is about to explode," Clary warned.

"Those are all real?" I asked him.

"I'll keep it simple for the two of you," Jace told us. "All the legends are true. We're Shadowhunters. We protect the human world from the demon world. So those people you saw murdered at the Pandemonium..."

"Demons," I guessed.

"Shapeshifters," he corrected.

"Like Dot."

"Look, we're not interested in being a part of you supernatural fight club. We just wanna find our mom," Clary told him. "The rest of it, whatever it is, all we care about is finding our mother. Please."

"Can you help us find her?" I asked him.

"I'm the best chance you've got," he told me.

"We don't even know you," I pointed out. We stared at each other before Clary's phone began to ring.

"Simon," she sighed before answering the phone. She got up and listened to her best friend worry about her.

"Looks like lover boy finally called her," I said quietly, smiling at her.

"Things are... all ripped apart," Clary told Simon.

"Lover boy?" Jace asked me.

"Simon's been in love with Clary for some years now, but she can't see it," I told him as she moved to the window.

"I see you," Clary told him. "Give us five minutes. Farah has to get dressed."

"That remindes me, where did my clothes go?"

"They were destroyed by the Demon Venom," Jace told me.

"Demon venom destroys clothes while killing people?" I asked him skeptically.

"Isabelle left you some clothes." I looked at the black leather clothes and raised my eyebrow at him.

"Those are clothes?" I stood up and picked them up and looked them over.

"She's very comfortable with her body," Jace told me.

"Right..." I took the clothes and went behind a screen and changed. The top was a severe V-cut that showed my breasts and the valley between. The skirt was short and showed off my long legs and the heeled knee-high boots only made them look longer. After I was dressed I looked over myself in the mirror before noticing a dark line on my neck. I moved my hair to the side to see a symbol that wasn't there before. "What's this?" I asked him

"I drew that," Jace told me.

"Okay listen. I still don't get everything that's going on here," Clary said motioning between the two of us. "But you do not tattoo my sister's neck. That's creepy."

"Duly noted," Jace told her before looking at me. "I guess next time I'll just let your sister die."

"What is it?" I asked him.

"Well, it's not a tattoo. It's a rune. They have enormous power. Good for Shadowhunters. Lethal for humans. But you two already know all about runes, don't you?" Jace asked picking up Clary's sketchbook and showed us the sketches. He looked at our confused faces and pulled one of his own. "Maybe you don't. Which is what makes the two of you so interesting, Farah and Clary Fray."

"I saw something behind your friend," Jace told us as we walked towards the front door.

"You're not going to kill Simon, are you?" Clary asked him worried.

"Protect the humans, kill the demons. You'll get it eventually," he told her.

"So, why can't Simon see you?" she asked him once we were walking towards him.

"This is a glamour, a rune that makes me invisible to mundanes," he explained lifting his shirt and showing the rune and his very toned abdomen. "It's a shame, really, cause, well, denying them all this."

"Cocky much?" I asked smirking at him which he just returned.

"What do you have on, Farah?" Simon asked taking off his jacket for me to put on. "Let me take you guys home?" I gave his jacket to Clary while shaking my head.

"Simon, we can't. It's not safe," I tried telling him.

"I don't think we have a home anymore," Clary told him.

"Why? What do you mean?" Simon asked confused. Clary put on his jacket and sighed.

"Well..."

"Farah and Clary Fairchild!" We turned to see the man from the police station that had been talking to Luke standing between us and the old church. Suddenly, Jace appeared behind him and kneed the sword out of his hand while wrapping his arm around his neck. Clary gasped at the shock as we watched Jace struggle the man.

"Clary? Farah? What's going on?" Simon asked us, still unable to see what we did. "What are you looking at?"

"If you give us the girl, I'll let you live," the man told Jace.

"You're in no position to be making rules," Jace told him. The man leaned forward then headbutted Jace making him grunt and us gasped in shock.

"Clary..." Clary's hand went to her mouth as Simon wrapped his hands around her in mock protection. She yelped as we watched the fight and I held her hand tightly in mine. The man pulled out a glowing sword and Jace jumped back in time to not get cut in two. Jace grabbed his hand and kept the sword away from him. The pair fought over the sword before Jace punched and pulled him in close.

"Jace!" I called out to him.

"We'll never stop hunting them." We heard the man say. Jace said something to him before we saw the glowing sword go through the man's back and I couldn't help but sigh in relief before running to him.

"You okay?" I asked him.

"Excuse me?" Simon asked following the two of us.

"Is he dead?" Clary asked, pointing at the man.

"Is who dead?" Simon asked. "What the..."

"You can see him?" I asked him.

"Yeah, but where did he come from?" he asked me.

"Could you deglamorize, or whatever, so my best friend doesn't think I'm losing my mind?" Clary asked him moving closer to Simon. We waited as Jace did something to the rune on his side so Simon could see him.

"Um... what is happening?" Simon asked him.

"Yeah, we don't have the luxury right now, kid. Everyone back inside," Jace ordered.

"Clary, Farah, who is this? Your meth dealer?" Simon asked us.

"Who said anything about meth?" I asked him.

"We've seen him before. At the police station," Clary told Jace.

"He's a member of the Circle. He was here for the two of you," Jace tried telling her.

"He's also with the people who took our mother," I told him.

"Right, you little best friend here led him right to you and your sister," Jace told us. "He's here to capture or kill you."

"There's a dead body there, we have to call Luke," Simon told us and Clary turned to him.

"We can't trust Luke, Simon. We can't," she tried telling him.

"Farah, I need to protect you and your sister," Jace told me grabbing my arm. "I promise you, I promise I am gonna help you two find your mother. But you're one of us. You're a Shadowhunter."

"What are you talking about?" Clary asked. "Clary, Farah... you don't know this guy, all right? Come with me. I can get us help.

"Farah, Clary, please."

"Clary, Farah, come on." I looked between the two boys then before looking at Clary.