~Prologue~

Distractions Are Fun

It hadn't been hard to get Alec to come. Ever since he had gotten rid of his crutches, he had been itching to do stuff. And ever since Jace had come back from the hospital, he'd been more than happy to supply him with stuff to do. Alec and Isabelle were both completely for anything Jace had wanted to do lately, even if was crazy and reckless. Jace suspected this was because they didn't want to see him revert back to hiding in the greenhouse. Ever since Renwicks and the hospital; ever since learning that he and Clary—his stomach twisted—were siblings, and that Valentine was their father; he had been doing everything he could to get his mind off of it. If that meant searching abandoned houses, empty forests, packed nightclubs, and deserted sewers, then that's what he would do. He was just happy that Alec and Isabelle were right there with them. And right now they were on the fourth floor of an abandoned warehouse looking for a demon that may or may not have been extinct. He didn't want to think about Clary and how he was in love with her. It was wrong and he wasn't supposed to be. He also didn't want to think about how it had been one week, three days, thirteen hours, fifteen minutes, and thirty four—thirty five—thirty six, seconds since he had last seen her. Since he had stormed out of the hospital after she had snapped at him for being unable to say anything to their unconscious mother. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to say to her. He didn't know her. All he knew about her now, was that Clary definitely looked like Jocelyn while he had gotten stuck looking like Valentine. He kicked a broken piece of wood and tried to focus on their surroundings. Alec was searching a nearby room while Isabelle kept an eye on the back entrance of the cavernous room. Jace had noticed that they had started taking the lead on things as of late. He tried to find interest in what they were doing—and he even succeeded when they were on the right trail and closing in—but when in a spot that the demon may not even remotely be? It made it a lot more difficult for Jace. Without the distraction of the fight, his mind was more likely to wander. And he hated when it wandered.

"Nothing!" Alec called suddenly, returning the main hall they stood in. "Guess it really is extinct—" Alec whirled around as a crash ripped through the building. Jace's lips ticked upward. Pulling his seraph blades from his belt and holding one in each hand, he whispered their names and watched them light up the dim warehouse. Alec had backed up to flank Jace's left, bow in hand, and Isabelle on his right. Jace lowered his blades to his sides, his body tense and ready.

"I love it when you say things like that," Jace grinned, watching the doorway. The crashing was getting louder. Closer. And then his eyes narrowed suspiciously to the floor. Kneeling, he cocked his head toward the ground. His brows furrowed. Was that a vibration he felt?

"And why on earth would you—"

Shit! Dropping his blades, Jace shoved Alec aside at the same moment that the boards exploded upward and a massively colorful and scaled beast forced it's way through. Somewhere behind him, he heard Isabelle scream and he whirled in time to see her golden whip flying out and snag the demon by the . . . whatever the hell that was. A claw? The demon was huge, and he could see where it got it's name. It had a certain dragon-esque quality about it. He looked down at Alec and grinned even wider, his brows wagging, before jumping to his feet and running toward the demon. He didn't lose momentum as he swooped down to pick up one of the seraph blades. He had thought Alec might be right—that the demon might be extinct—but here it was. It was definitely bigger than Jace had thought it would be. As he ran, he saw the arrows whiz past his head and strike the demon's back. The Dragonidae roared and Jace lunged, grabbing ahold of the arrows that were now lodged deep in the demon, and using them to climb.

"By the Angel, how the hell do you hide?" Jace panted, as he reached the monster's head. "Just between us, you might want to think about loosing some weight. You might blend in better." The Dragonade swung it's massive head just as he reached for his blade, and was sent flying into the wall. He didn't stay down long. He jumped quickly to his feet and bolted pellmell back for the demon. The three of them had it surrounded now, and Jace swung his blade in his hand, the adrenaline coursing through him like blood. Alec fired another round of shots, nocking the bow just as quickly as he fired the arrows, while Isabelle managed to lash out at the demon with her whip again. Jace felt his lips tick upward in anticipation and then had to dodge the large spiked tail as it came crashing to where he stood. Tucking his body in, he rolled under the deadly appendage smoothly and then spun.

"I's will not's be banished," came an otherworldly voice as the demon turned on Alec. Jace could hear the hissing in his words as his tongue flickered grotesquely between its jaws. "I's have been's here too's long, and I's have's caused you's no harm, children's of the Angel. Leave me's."

"Oh, sorry," Jace said with false sympathy, and the demon turned his large red reptilian eye to him. "But we can't do that. It's that whole 'sworn to protect and vanquish demons' thing we have to follow. I'm pretty sure there's a clause somewhere in the Shadowhunter manual that states we have to get rid of you. But I'm sure we could have been great chums."

"Then's you shall die's."

"I really hope not," Jace said with mock despair. "I don't think we'd live down being killed by a demon with a speech impediment."

The demon lunged at Jace, just as Jace ran at the demon. Dropping to his knees, he thrust the blade upward and felt it stick in the demon's abdomen. He also felt it rip out of his hands as the Dragonidae roared in pain. Scrambling to his feet, Jace saw the other seraph blade he had dropped and ran for it. Snatching it up, he turned just as another arrow took flight and embedded itself in the demon's eyes. The next thing Jace saw was the Dragonidae's tail strike out and send Alec flying. Biting the inside of his cheek, he looked at the demon's surroundings. Not far from it was the hole it had created in the floor. Bingo. Jace bolted forward just as the the demon turned toward him. He threw himself at the monster as hard as he could, and it wrapped Jace in it's deadly claws, stumbling backwards toward the hole. Oh . . . shit.

Time slowed down. Jace was still stuck in the demons grasp, and he could hear Isabelle and Alec both screaming as he struggled to get free. And then they were falling. It was the slowest descent ever. The demon was just as shocked as Jace and the surprise was enough for Jace to get loose and shove his seraph blade deep into the Dragonidae's skull. The demon screeched and batted at it, but Jace grabbed the hilt and twisted it—opening the wound further just as they crashed on, and then through, the third floor. Luckily, the demon took the majority of the brunt leaving Jace mostly unscathed. But now it was folding in on itself—Oh fucking brilliant—leaving him falling on his own. His back hit the rotted wood on the second floor, and Jace grunted painfully. And then he was falling through it. Thankfully he had reached the main floor now and this nightmarish free fall would be over. Ha ha, just kidding. Why would I be that lucky? He was crashing through the floorboards of the main floor, his arm catching on a broken plank and spinning him sideways at the same time that it jerked his arm away from him in an awkward angle. Jace had to bite down on the pain of the dislocation. Not that he had much time to do so before he was lying on his face.

"Ooouch!" he cried out indignantly. Of course this place had a basement! Rolling onto his back, he laid there and stared up at the broken floorboards that led up in a perfect line to the fourth floor. If this were a cartoon, each hole would be in Jace's shaped. Too bad this wasn't a cartoon. Would have made for a more entertaining fall. Maybe he could have tried to pose differently through each floor. That'd have been amusing. Suddenly Izzy was peaking over the side of the of the fourth floor hole. It was dark in the basement though, and she must not have seen him because she immediately shook her head and disappeared. Jace placed his one uninjured arm behind his head and waited.

Now that the Dragonidae was gone, what could he have them looking for tomorrow? He laid there and thought of the possibilities. He needed distractions. Without distractions, he started thinking. And when he started thinking—he thought of Clary and his father. And he didn't want to think of Clary and his father. It was a good thing that this city was chalk full of demons. Plenty of distractions.


AN: Alrighty, here it is. The start of the second book. Now I know this is a short, short, really really short chapter, but it's better than giving you just an excerpt (which I had almost done), right? Right? Anyhoo, I hope you like it! Please review!