„You're sure you got something?" Alec scanned the room full of dancing people suspiciously, his voice raised so Isabelle could hear him over the thumpa thumpa of the music.
The black haired girl whipped her head back impatiently to give her brother an annoyed look. "The pendant started glowing just now, there has to be something around here. Probably not the most potent demon, but still, one less in the world is always improvement, if you ask me. " She sounded nearly disappointed when she said it, as if she had hoped to face something more dangerous tonight. Alec made a noncommittal noise. It wasn't like he hadn't expected some kind of demon to show up, in Pandemonium, there always somehow did. The dark atmosphere and the shrill people seemed to draw dark creatures as a light would draw insects.
He himself was everything but shrill. Clad nearly completely in black, the only color coming from his blue eyes, Alec felt like he didn't belong. Not that he felt like he belonged anywhere, really. The only time he really felt comfortable was when he and Jace fought together. When he felt that Jace needed him as much as Alec needed Jace most of the time. Not now, when he had vanished in the throng of people to 'check out the prey'. Sometimes Alec wondered if he was the only one who could do without the constant fear of being killed by demons. More so, the constant fear of his family killed by demons, Jace-
He slumped lower on the wall, snapping out of his moody thoughts and looked around. Focusing on the club's happenings once more he wasn't really surprised to find Isabelle gone. Always impatient when it came to getting a job finished. Alec only needed one quick look over the crowd to make her out in the middle of the dance floor, having just folded a piece of paper in her hand that she quickly tucked away in her silk corset. A tall boy, maybe a little older than Alec, with tanned skin and spiky black hair strolled away from her, winking at Isabelle as he did. Alec immediately went into protective brother mode (even though with Isabelle as a sister, it was an exhausting job), but just as he was glaring in the boy's direction, said boy turned, locking eyes with him across the dance floor. His eyes shone in the dark, reflecting light with a great intensity like a cat's that left Alec a little disconcerted. There was a moment where the boy's eyebrows raised a fraction in surprise and his grin dimmed slightly, probably because he hadn't expected being watched, before the smirk returned- full force – once more, making Alec feel extremely self conscious.
He looked behind himself, even when he knew there was only wall there. Surely he had looked at someone in his vicinity, he couldn't have noticed him, all in black; nearly fading in with the wall he was leaning onto…- Alec whirled around again to come face to face with Jace, elbow propped to the wall while he studied his nails in a bored way.
"Found something interesting?" he drawled, not looking up from his hand.
"No!"Alec started, feeling like he had been caught durning something he shouldn't be doing, but when Jace, surprised, raised his head at his breathless tone, Alec tried again, "I mean, yes, I mean, not me but Izzy, she did, I haven't though, nothing interesting at all." Well, that had worked quite well, hadn't it? Involuntarily his eyes went over Jace's shoulder to seek out the spot the boy had stood just a few seconds before but there was no black spikes anywhere he looked. He focused his attention back t the blond boy in front of him, who was giving him a bewildered look.
"So… what did your sister find?" Jace's tone suggested that he found Alec's behavior highly suspicious but he seemed to drop it for the moment.
"Her pendant caught something, but we're not sure what exactly. No Greater Demon in any case. I think Izzy went on a reconnaissance mission but…" he trailed off lamely, not wanting to admit that he hadn't paid attention to where his sister went. Also, his concentration seemed to drop. Despite trying to not notice how close he and Jace were standing, he could feel Jace's breath on his collarbone and see tawny eyes darken to nearly black at the words, adventurous. He breathed in deeply, just as Jace stepped back, giving the room a quick look-over.
Alec's heartbeat had sped up noticeably and he willed himself to exhale slowly, calming his nerves. Against his will he considered the irony: He faced and fought demons on a regular basis, never as much as a nervous feeling of anticipation in the pit of his stomach- and here he was, felling dizzy just from standing close to his best friend.
'Eah, right. Best friend. Because that's all you want him to be,' A little voice in his head whispered annoyingly.
"There she is," Jace suddenly exclaimed, heading off into the crowd with so much as a backward glance. Alec stood rooted to the spot for nearly two seconds, trying to drown out the rushing of blood in his ears before he followed Jace, hand automatically wandering to his belt to make sure he was properly equipped. The seraph blade dangled securely from the leather strip. Alec pulled his too big sweater down again, shielding the blade and the daggers he wore additionally from view even when it wasn't really necessary as he had glamoured himself as soon as he had taken off after Jace. He had walked into the club glamoured as well, mostly to avoid explaining himself to the bouncer when he would have searched him. Inside, Jace, Isabelle and he had dropped the glamour instantly. It cost some energy and wasn't required in the club as long as nothing of interest showed up. The usual visitors of Pandemonium had a soft spot for odd accessories, ranging from fake vampire teeth to contact lenses in the most dubious colors to finger nails filed so sharp they looked more like claws. A dagger was not unseen in those scenes, even though Alec's was probably the only real ones and didn't consist of rubber but metal.
Jace stopped when he was nearly on the other side of the room, Alec coming to a halt right behind him, following his gaze to a door nearly completely defaced by graffiti. In front of it, approximately 30 feet away, stood Isabelle, her dress standing out against the dark wall.
His sister had obviously found what the pendant had already known. She was eying a blue-eyed youth as she disappeared through the door. Not before her eyes had wandered lazily over the crowd, stopping minutely at Jace and Alec's direction, though, to make sure they saw her before she vanished.
Jace looked over his shoulder, flashing Alec a mischievous grin that made his breath hitch in the back of his throat, before the blond boy turned around again, following the demon and Isabelle.
The sparkle in the other boy's eyes made Alec's stomach turn. He knew Jace could be reckless, especially when there was a demon involved and he reminded himself to keep an extra eye out for Jace. Not that he didn't look after him anyway. He didn't enjoy those missions, but he would be even more concerned if Jace and Isabelle went alone. They were both in their element, so much that they sometimes did forget how dangerous their job actually was.
Better get this over with quickly, Alec thought as he kept his eyes warily on Jace, making his way through the crowd.