A/N: First and foremost, I do not own any part of Mortal Instruments, and I have no rights or profit to them. They belong only and completely to the amazingly talented Cassandra Clare. I wasn't sure I was ready for another series when I opened City of Bones. I read all five in a span of 6 days. I then read the Infernal Devices in less than a week. I was hooked. I have read them a few times now. But I always wondered what was going through Jace's mind upon first meeting Clary. And while I know that Cassandra does go into the different perspectives of her amazingly lovable characters, I still found myself imagining their first meeting in Jace's POV. That is how this ended up being written. You will find that this is the first chapter of City of Bones, but it is not. This is not meant as any kind of copyright infringement, but as only the most sincerest form of flattery. It takes an amazing writer and an amazing mind to create characters that others fall in love with and want to use.
Please, if you enjoy it, let me know!
~Chapter One~
Nothing Is As It Seems
The music beat down on him in a way that annoyed him for some reason, and the swirling, swaying, and strobing multi-colored lights did nothing to improve his mood. Or maybe, perhaps, it wasn't the music, but the ridiculous mundanes who had no idea that they danced with downworlders. It wasn't their fault, he supposed. They couldn't all have the sight. And he really had nothing against downworlders, for the most part. In fact he knew a few quite intimately. It was just that here in a place like Pandemonium it seemed almost as if it were a fresh meat market and mundies were the special.
A slight movement caught the corner of his eye but he didn't turn, nor did he say anything to the boy who suddenly stood next to him. He had felt his approach. He always would for he was his parabatai. Jace remembered when he and Alec had decided to join as one, as their fathers had before them, and remembered how odd but determined he had been to tie himself to someone after so many years in solitude. Hell, even now . . . after the time spent with the Lightwoods; Isabelle, Alec, and Max, it still sometimes seemed strange to him, going from only child to adopted sibling.
He continued scanning the crowd, feeling unswayed by the music . . . though a part of him knew that he should be as it had just the slightest trace of a faerie tune hidden in its background. Next to him, Alec made a noise that sounded as if it could have been a snort of disgust or a sneeze. He decided it was probably the first, and did not say 'God bless you'. Bored but alert, Jace's eyes fell slowly on a couple who were dancing horribly. Whereas others flowed together in sinuous and graceful movements, the boy in his jeans and black shirt looked as if he were convulsing. Even from here, Jace could see that the boy's glasses were askew. He shook his head, unsure of whether to feel pity for the pretty mundane girl who was at least keeping with the rhythm of the music. She too wore jeans, and a blue tank top. How curious. Even if it hadn't been for their horrendous dancing, they still would have stood out like sore thumbs to the rest of the crowd and their skimpy outfits. Even Jace's black Shadowhunter gear was more appropriately fitting for this setting. The girl's red curls bounced around her face, and it was obvious that whatever it was that the boy was saying to her, it was not enough to capture her attention. In fact, he wasn't sure what it was that had, but for the most fleeting of moments, she almost seemed crestfallen. Following what he believed was her line of sight. . .
"Izzy." Jace whispered as he caught sight of her, the red haired girl forgotten. She was smiling and coaxing a blue haired demon in a red jacket and black jeans to follow her. The white dress she wore really had done well to cover her marks, and her ruby necklace was pulsing under the lights. Jace knew it would be pulsing against her skin as well—it was a demon sensor. Next to him, Alec stiffened as his eyes fell upon his sister. Without another word, the two of them set off together, silently thanking the angel for glamours.
While invisible to everyone else though, he still made sure to move carefully but swiftly through the throng of sweaty dancers. They were pacing Isabelle and the demon now, making sure to remain out of sight. Glamours didn't work on demons. He looked at the back of Izzy's dress, and cursed silently under his breath. He had thought her plan to dress as a mundane in order to hide her marks and lure a demon had been a stupid one, besides . . . mundanes didn't wear dresses that covered their skin in this day and age. And now that it was obvious that it had worked . . . he was already dreading the amount of gloating he would have to endure from her later. Up ahead, Isabelle and the demon had already disappeared into a utility room that stated No Admittance on the door. Alec and Jace stopped just outside it.
Pulling a seraph blade from his belt, he ran his thumb along it lightly. "Nephi," he whispered and then watched as it flared to life. He smiled at Alec, who was frowning in return.
"Think you can try to be careful this time? You do remember what happened last week—" Alec began.
Jace did his best to look affronted. "You want to bring that up now? That was a little different. How was I to know that the demon was going to grow into a six foot naked woman with four breasts?"
"Didn't stop you from standing there and staring like a moron." Alec quipped though his lips curved upwards lightly as he said it.
"Did you not hear the part about four breasts? And I did kill it." And then he added. "Eventually."
"Yep." Alec reached over to open the door, allowing Jace to enter first. "And you spent three days in the infirmary due to the poison."
Jace smiled wide now. "Completely worth it." and slipped inside with Alec on his heels. He could almost hear him shaking his head.
Jace heard them talking ahead, and took care to maneuver the electric cables that ran along the ground silently so as to not be discovered. He wrinkled his nose slightly as the sharp scent of old and new paint hit his nose. The moment Izzy came into view, he immediately put up a hand to stop Alec and pull him back against the wall and out of the way of the demon that was staggering backward. Obviously preoccupied, the demon failed to notice the two new additions to the room. A slight smirk lit Jace's face as he and Alec watched in silence as Isabelle used her electrum whip with the grace of a feline to bring the demon down on his back. Izzy laughed now, and Jace was forced to bite down on his own laughter in response. From his peripheral he saw that Alec was looking up at the ceiling, his mouth a grim thin line. Well, if there was one thing Jace definitely appreciated more about Izzy than his parabatai, it was that like him, she enjoyed what she did to the point of giddiness. It was then that Isabelle made eye contact with him, her lips turning up into a seductively wicked grin.
"He's all your's, boys." she practically sang, and Jace couldn't help but to laugh out loud now as Alec instantly flew forward and, taking ahold of the demon, threw him against a nearby concrete pillar. The demon hissed, but Jace merely smiled to himself as he used the moment of distraction Alec had made to slip over and around the pillar unseen. Before the blue-haired monster could collect himself, Jace captured his arms quickly around the pillars, binding them using silver wire. The demon tensed in surprise, but that was all he had time to do. Alec crossed his arms, a smug smile now playing on his lips, as he watched Jace come around to meet them. The demon's eyes were darting quickly between Alec and Isabelle. He was no doubt noticing the similarities between brother and sister. But it was Jace who would demand his attention.
"So." Jace smiled pleasantly, tucking his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "Are there anymore with you?"
The demon's eyes flashed dangerously at his words, his body rippling with anger. Isabelle suppressed a snicker. Standing as straight as he could, the demon met Jace's eyes. "Any other what?" his voice was calm. If anyone had come in, it may have seemed like old friends were in there catching up. This amused Jace.
"Come on now," Jace put up his hands as if to stop the demon from saying another word, and in doing so, his sleeves fell down to his elbow showing the runes that he had marked on his arm; some permanent and others that would fade. Another giggle escaped Izzy's lips. "You know what I am."
The demon, glaring at Jace's arms with absolute distaste, couldn't keep the anger out of his voice now as he hissed the word. "Shadowhunter."
At that, Jace grinned. "Got you."
"Think so?" The demon smiled.
At the same time that Jace saw the demon bring his leg up in what would have been a blindingly swift kick, Alec had already sped forward blocking it. Jace sighed overly loud with mock exasperation as he watched Isabelle and Alec bind the demons ankles together, Alec muttering murderously about just killing the thing already. When they moved away, Jace had put on his best distressed expression.
"And here I thought we were getting along so well!" He cried, clutching his chest in mock devastation. "It's the whole 'Shadowhunter' thing isn't it? I knew it! Every time I want to make a demon best friend . . . that damned "sworn to kill them" thing always gets in the way!"
"Or maybe you're just an asshole," the demon spit, while still looking wearily at Alec. He too had heard Alec's early statement.
At this, Isabelle laughed. With a conceding grin and shoulder shrug, Jace tucked his hands back in his pockets and stepped closer to the blue haired demon. Whether he had meant to do it or not, Jace caught the look of fear that clouded the monsters face at his approach. It would be all too easy to kill him, he thought. To drive his seraph blade full hilt into his body and then watch as he disappeared back to his own dimension. He was pacing now. Crossing his arms across his chest, he tucked away his immediate urge to kill the demon. "So…" he began instead. "You still haven't told me if there are any other of your kind with you."
Jace watched as again the demons eyes flashed with both anger and pain as he was no doubt trying to get his hand free. A smug satisfaction set over Jace, knowing that the wires were knotted to get tighter with resistance.
Seeming to give up for the moment on his bid for freedom, the demon glared at Jace. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Alec sighed irritably. "He means other demons. You do know what a demon is, don't you?"
As if suddenly distracted, the demon looked away from Alec. And it was obvious that he was attempting to think up something to say that he thought the shadowhunters would be satisfied with without saying anything of importance, but Jace wasn't about to give him that chance. He stopped pacing and looked at the demon as if he were a child at school. A really stupid child.
"Demons," he said slowly, drawling out each syllable. And then for good measure used his finger to write the word in the air as if it were a piece of chalk and the space between them the chalkboard. "Religiously defined as hell's denizens, the servants of Satan, but understood here, for the purposes of the Clave, to be any malevolent spirit whose origin is outside our own home dimension—"
"That's enough, Jace," Isabelle cut him off with a roll of her dark eyes. This hardly surprised him. She hated Hodge droning on about this stuff during lessons, so he hardly figured she would want to hear it here, away from the Institute.
"Isabelle's right," Alec agreed, and this did surprise Jace. He had always known Alec to enjoy the lesson's. Before he could so much a lift a brow however, Alec went on. "Nobody here needs a lesson in semantics—or demonology."
Lifting his head challengingly, he smiled at the two people he loved like family. Who were his family. And he fought the urge to flip them both off. Turning back to the demon, his grin did not waver. "Isabelle and Alec think I talk too much." He leaned in, his voice a whisper now. "Do you think I talk too much?" And with lightning speed, he flashed the seraph blade that rested on his belt at the demon, He doubted that even Alec or Isabelle had seen what he had done. But he knew by the widened eyes and his sudden stillness, the demon had.
"I could give you information," the demon said suddenly, his eyes glancing to the spot on Jace where he knew the blade was hidden. "I know where Valentine is."
Isabelle rolled her eyes again as Jace glanced back at Alec, a brow raised. It was a simple look, but he knew that Alec would know its meaning: Give him hope and let him talk? or kill him now. In return, Alec shrugged. Your call. And really, Jace knew it was more like; You're going to do what you want anyway, so why bother even asking? But "your call" was much easier to say.
"Valentine's in the ground." Jace said finally. "The thing's just toying with us."
"Kill it, Jace." Isabelle tossed her ebony hair back and looked down at the demon with disgust. "It's not going to tell us anything."
Jace knew she was right. With a slight nod, he turned back toward the demon as he unsheathed his blade and raised it above his head.
"Valentine is back!" the thing gasped in fear as it pulled desperately on the wires that bit further and further into his skin as if his life depended on it. His life did depend on it. "All the Infernal Worlds know it—" he continued. "—I know it—I can tell you where he is—"
This was getting ridiculous! Jace couldn't hide, nor did he want to, the immense irritation and anger he felt now. "By the Angel, every time we capture one of you bastards, you claim you know where Valentine is. Well we know where he is too. He's in hell. And you—" Jace had his blade lifted once more, as a deadly calm enveloped him. "You can join him there."
"Stop!"
What the—?! Jace spun toward the voice in shock, barely registering the seraph blade flying from his hand, or the loud clanging sound it made as it struck the concrete.
"You can't do this!"
It was the girl. The red headed mundane girl he had watched earlier. And . . . she was looking right at him as she rushed forward. This couldn't be happening could it? No. Certainly not! He was glamoured against mundies. There was no way! And yet . . . there she was, still looking at him with both fear and something else . . . determination? Yes, it most certainly was determination. His mind was spinning with about a hundred different scenarios on which to handle this . . . but there were none, because he didn't think anything like this had ever happened! In the end, he just stared. Up close, he could see the green of her eyes and the fullness of her lips. She was very pretty . . . for a mundie. He frowned. Somewhere in the back of his head, Jace heard a small voice. Say something, stupid. Don't just stand there with your mouth hanging open. But it was Alec who finally spoke first.
"What's this?" his parabatai demanded. At that moment something clicked inside Jace, as he looked at the shellshocked faces of those around him. Even the demon could not hide his surprise. A mundane girl had caught them all off guard. Them! Three shadowhunters and a demon. He then silently cursed Alec's blatant question, proving that she had indeed snuck up on them. Jace took a steadying breath, smoothing his features.
"It's a girl. Surely you've seen girls before, Alec. Your sister is one." He could her the sharp intake of breath from both Isabelle and Alec, though they both had different meanings. Regardless, he did not look at either of them. It was this strange creature before him now that demanded his attention. She was short. Really short. He took a step toward her, his eyes narrowing as he raked her arms, desperate to prove that maybe he was wrong. Maybe she was more than what she seemed. But in the end— "A mundie girl," he whispered. "And she can see us."
"Of course I can see you," the mundie girl retorted. "I'm not blind, you know."
This amused Jace more than it probably should have. The fierce tension in her shoulders, the stubborn set of her jaw, her green eyes an emerald fire. Snap out of it! He could almost feel the blush wanting to rush up his cheeks. Noticing his blade on the ground, he used the time it took to pick it up to compose his features, saying as he went. "Oh, but you are." Sure that he was better, he straightened up and looked at the unsettling girl that had dealt a blow to his ego by sneaking up on him. At that thought, he was able to meet her eyes. "You'd better get out of here, if you know what's good for you."
"Im not going anywhere," she said with a stubbornness that nearly caused Jace to laugh. "If I do, you'll kill him." At that she pointed at the blue haired demon that still stood bound behind him.
Jace chewed on the inside of his cheek and he could feel the glaring stares that bore into the back of his head from his companions. But he couldn't help but to be intrigued by this mundie girl who somehow possessed the sight. Intrigued and unsettled. "That's true," he found himself admitting as he twirled the blade between his fingers. "What do you care if I kill him or not?"
This, he was truly curious about. If she could see them then she had to know what it was that they held bound. And yet . . .
"Be-because you cant just go around killing people." she stammered as if surprised he didn't know this already.
People? People?! It took effort to keep his face from looking shocked at her choice of description for the demon. Unless . . . could she really not know? This was absurd.
"You're right," Jace said, looking back at the demon. "You can't go around killing people. That's—" he pointed at the demon. "—not a person, little girl." He's not sure why he called her that in that moment, but he saw her instantly brittle at his words, her emerald fires igniting once again. He couldn't explain what it was about her, but he found he rather liked her anger. "It may look like a person," he continued. "and talk like a person, and maybe even bleed like a person. But it's a monster."
"Jace." Isabelle's tone was one of warning. "That's enough."
But it didn't matter, the girl was already shaking her head an backing away from him. "You're crazy." Her eyes, wide and fearful now glanced to his companions, and then to the demon with . . . are you kidding me? Jace thought irritably. Was that compassion in her eyes?! At that moment she met his gaze again. "I've called the police, you know. They'll be here any second."
"She's lying," Alec said immediately, but when Jace looked at him he could see the doubt on his face. Alec met his eyes. "Jace, do you—"
Whatever Alec had been about to say, he never got to finish it. The demon had somehow freed himself from his restraints. His cry was loud and piercing, and Jace had just turned to look at him before being knocked to the ground. Shit.
As Jace and the demon rolled on the ground, the demon trying to claw at him with his suddenly elongated metallic claws, a small part of him hoped that the infuriating mundie girl was seeing this. See this person that she so wanted to believe it to be, trying to rip his head off with metallic claws. His moment of distraction would cost him, however, as the demon raked his chest. Jace bit down hard as he felt the searing pain and saw the scarlet drops that followed the demons hand as he perched himself on top of him. It was Isabelle who cried out, though. Jace would not give the demon the pleasure of seeing pain on his face, or hearing it from his lips. He could hear the footfalls of his quickly approaching companions at the same time that the demon made to strike again. This time, Jace threw up his arm to block the incoming blow and felt as both fabric and skin were shredded. He kicked upward, momentarily dislodging the demon who instantly lunged again.
He never made it. Shrieking as if struck with immense pain, he fell to the side. Jace would not give him time to recuperate. With blinding swiftness he rolled over, bringing his blade with him as he went and sunk the dagger deep into the the demons chest. The blood that bubbled forward was black. It was always black. The demon screeched and twisted, but Jace was unrelenting. Finally, he stood watching as the thing twitched. Reaching down, he pulled the blade from the creatures chest.
The demons bright green eyes suddenly blazed, locking on Jace's "So be it. The Forsaken will take you all."
Jace's lip curled in anger as his hand holding the blade twitched with the desire to stab the demon again. But he stayed his blade and watched as the demons eyes rolled and his body began to jerk. Somewhere in the back of his mind he was aware of the mundane. Knew she had seen it all. The demon twitched suddenly, and then folded in on himself. Something Jace had seen many times. Soon the demon had vanished altogether. He was aware, as he always was, of his parabatai at his side. Alec was immediately beginning to pull on the sleeve of his shirt, and Jace turned to look curiously at his arm. The claw marks looked worse than they were.
A surprised gasp suddenly caught his attention. Though he made no attempt to move away from the iratze that Alec was getting ready to draw, his head did snap to where the mundie girl was. The curiously amusing and frustrating mundie girl. Isabelle had her held in place with her electrum whip around her wrist.
"Stupid little mundie," she hissed at the frightened girl. "You could have gotten Jace killed."
"He's crazy," The girl gasped almost defiantly trying to pull her wrist back. Jace bit down on his cheek to keep from laughing at this. It wouldn't be the first time he had been called crazy. And yet, she had just witnessed a demon killed and still she was refusing to believe what she had seen. "You're all crazy," she continued. "What do you think you are, vigilante killers? The police—"
He would never understand how mundies can see something . . . witness it with their own two eyes . . . and then still deny it to themselves. Pulling away from Alec, he stepped toward her.
"The police usually aren't interested unless you can produce a body." he stated as if this should be obvious to her. He cradled his arm gingerly as he stepped over the cables on the floor—maybe it was worse than he had thought. It stung terribly. But he put that aside as she looked from him to the place where the demon had vanished and back to him again. He felt pity for her. Her brain attempting to comprehend what it had always been told was not true.
But she could see him. All of them!
Some part of her, some how must know about them.
"They return to their home dimensions when they die," he said not unkindly. He could see the dismay in her eyes as they met his. "Just in case you were wondering."
"Jace," he heard Alec hiss behind him. "Be careful."
He chewed on his cheek, keeping his face a blank mask as he turned to look at Isabelle and then Alec. Could they not see what he saw? That she had to be more than just a mundie? "She can see us, Alec. She already knows too much." But how much? She seemed truly shocked finding them there, and to truly believe the demon a human. Could she be acting?
"So what do you want me to do with her?" Isabelle demanded.
No. She wasn't acting. She was something though, and Jace intended to find out what. "Let her go," he whispered, ignoring the shock and angry glare from Isabelle.
He watched quietly as the golden whip released the girl's wrist who in turn rubbed the welted red skin. Jace could not take his eyes off her. She looked ready to run, to fight if she had to. He had to bite back on a smile. She had just witnessed him kill a demon, and yet . . . she looked ready to take on all three of them if she had to in order to get away. She must know, on some level that that would not be in her favor. Who was this girl?
"Maybe we should bring her back with us," Alec said slowly and not without irritation. "I bet Hodge would like to talk to her."
There was an idea.
"No way are we bringing her to the Institute," Isabelle snapped. "She's a mundie."
A mundie. The girl looked and acted like one. But . . . she could see them. She could . . . Jace couldn't explain what it was he was feeling, and it unsettled him. There was that word again. He had thought it before. Whatever this girl was or may seem, he was beginning to think that a mundie was not one of them.
"Or is she?" he said softly, voicing only the last part of his internal debate. He took another step forward, almost expecting the girl to cower back but somehow knowing she wouldn't. How she infuriated him. He always knew how to handle things. Kill demons, train, deal with rogue downworlders, train, bug Alec and Isabelle, train. But this—this was different. "Have you had dealings with demons, little girl?" And he smiled inwardly as her eyes blazed with their emerald fires once again at his words. He continued on pretending not to notice, "Walked with warlocks, talked with the Night Children? Have you—"
"My name is not 'little girl,'" she cut him off irritably, and Jace had a difficult time hiding his smile at her anger this time. "And I have no idea what you're talking about—" But even as she said it, her eyes grew wide and her full lips into a thin line. Bingo, Jace thought. But she shook her head lightly as if ridding herself of an unpleasant memory and continued on, "I don't believe in—in demons, or whatever you—"
"Clary?"
Jace, Isabelle, and Alec all froze like statues at the sound of the new voice. They were all still glamoured, but with the girl being able to see them, he was beginning to think anything was possible. And then he realized it was the convulsing dancer that she had been with earlier. His worried eyes on the girl only. Jace frowned as a sharp gnawing tightened his stomach. It was a feeling he was unfamiliar with, but it happened again when he looked at the boy, who in turn was looking at the girl with a tenderness now. Behind him, stood a large bouncer; the one that had been stamping hands earlier. The same one that Jace had made let them in on official shadowhunter business. A werewolf. The bouncer's eyes flashed to each of their faces, and Jace shook his head with a quick jerk. Understanding, the bouncer then rested his gaze on the girl.
"Are you okay?" The stupid boy asked her. Jace bit his cheek. He knew that was unfair. He didn't know this boy . . . nor did he care to. "Why are you in here by yourself?" the stu—the boy continued. "What happened to the guys—you know, the ones with knives?"
Isabelle and Alec both inhaled sharply, and Jace had to choke back on his surprise. Would this girl—Clary, she had been called—ever stop surprising him? The mundane boy—for there was no denying that this boy was definitely a mundane—knew why she was in here? No, he could tell from the look on his face that he had been just as surprised to find her in here as they had initially been. But the truth behind his words were there. She had seen them, him and Alec at least, before they had entered the utility room with their weapons. And she had decided to follow.
Clary suddenly looked back to him, taking in his bloody shirt and the blade in his hand. Her eyes narrowed and he felt almost bad for her. But she didn't seem surprised. Jace couldn't help it, the grin he had bit back so many times finally broke loose and he shrugged as if to say he was at least sorry that her friend now thought she was crazy. Well maybe only half sorry. But what would she do? Would she insist that they were indeed there? Drag her friend over to stand inches from himself and beg him to see something he never would? Clary sighed and turned back to her friend.
"I thought they went in here," she said lamely, gesturing to Jace who couldn't say how he knew that she had accepted without question that her friend could not see them. "But I guess they didn't. I'm sorry . . . it was a mistake."
Behind them, Isabelle let a small giggle escape and for some reason it annoyed Jace. This girl—Clary—was blatantly lying to her friend because of them. He had to bite back a retort. The werewolf bouncer, seeming to sense that this was a great time to get them all out of his fur, grunted and ushered Clary and her friend out. But not before she had managed to look back over her shoulder, capturing his attention with a gaze that sent shivers running through his body and heat rushing to his cheeks.
As the door shut behind them, Alec gave a low whistle and Isabelle a laugh.
"Well that was . . . different," Alec stated slowly.
"Yeah," Jace said still staring at the door that Clary had disappeared through.
"Guess we should head back to the Institute," Alec again.
"Yeah." That look. That simple but defiant look that she had given him. Jace continued to stare at the door. But she shouldn't have been able to give him a look of any kind at all! She should not have been able to see him!
"You're going to go after her, aren't you?" It was Isabelle this time. Her whispered word tickling his ear. "Or at least try to figure out who she is?"
"Yeah."
And he knew then it was true. Not now, of course. Now they had to return to the Institute and report what had happened to Hodge. But he would find this strangely infuriating and amusing mundane girl with the beautiful red curls and ability to see demons and shadowhunters.
