It had still been dark outside when Jace had barged into her room and woken her up. "Babe" he had whispered. Clary had simply groaned at him, not wanting to wake up. "No" she grunted. Jace laid down beside her and kissed her ear. "but I have a surprise for you" he whispered.
Clary sighed. She hadn't slept much last night. Just like every night she had had nightmares about everything that had happened. She had dreamt about her brother, Jonathan dying right before her eyes, his green eyes staring up at her. I will never know how it is to have a real sibling she thought.
Clary felt really tired. "Jace, can't it wait?" she grumbled. Jace smiled down at her, his eyes glistening with mischief "Nope". Sighing in defeat Clary got up to shower and get dressed.
After Clary got dressed she left a note for Luke and her mother and walked out the door. Without asking anything she climbed on Jace 's motorcycle. After a while however she got annoyed "Can you at least tell SOMETHING?" Clary complained. She felt Jace 's muscles tighten as he chuckled. "Then it wouldn't be a surprise Red" "all right then…" she mumbled into his back, tightening her arms around him.
They drove for an entire hour, making very little small talk. Just when Clary opened her mouth to complain again, Jace stopped the vehicle, and turned around. "Surprise" he said with a cheeky grin.
Clary tried to make a sound, but she couldn't. Jace had brought her to her favourite art gallery, and on the main banner stood her name. "coming soon: Clarissa Fairchild's 'Shadow world' " it read, and on it was a picture of one of her paintings. Clary made a second attempt at speaking, and managed to choke out a "you've got to be joking". She couldn't stop staring at the banner.
"I'm not" Jace said, while he went to stand behind her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and bent down, so his lips were touching her ear. "Happy birthday Red" he whispered. Clary only replied with a dry sob.
Quickly Jace turned her around. "Wat is it? Don't you like it? Oh Clary I'm so sorry!" he said really quickly. Clary laughed softly into his chest. "Jace, calm down. It's the best gift ever"
A few weeks later was the grand opening of Clary's first ever exposition. Of course everyone was there: Jace, Jocelyn, Luke, the Lightwoods and Magnus. The Lightwoods had even brought a cousin, Gideon, who would be living in the institute for the next couple of months. They had apparently managed to look mundane, for no one in the crowd looked at them funny. "Thank you everyone," Clary started, looking at the familiar and unfamiliar faces "for coming today." She took a shaky breath. "Today, as most of you know, will be my first exposition ever, and I couldn't be more proud to have it here, in this particular gallery, for the art in this gallery has been inspiring me for years. Therefore I want to thank the owner, Mister Hunt," she nodded in his direction "for this amazing opportunity. I also wanted to thank my dearest friends for sharing many adventures with me, and last of all I wanted to thank my fiancé, Jace Herondale, for the best birthday gift ever." Clary raised her glass and everyone took a gulp of their drinks. Then they started walking around, looking at the artwork.
The whole night Clary had been shaking hands and exemplifying her works of art to people. Gideon Lightwood had introduced himself properly, and asked her some questions. "I really like the painting of Alicante" he commented. Clary smiled, walking up to 'The city of glass' as she had called the painting. "Thank you!" she pointed at the building in the middle of the painting "I placed Amatis' house in the middle, because we lived there during the war. Of course the for Mundanes is that I was inspired by the skyline of New York." Gideon smiled. "Clever" he commented.
He left as soon as he saw Jace coming over. "You look beautiful Red" he told her, as soon as she had nestled in his embrace. "you don't think it's too much?" Clary blushed as she looked down at the long black evening gown. "No" he answered before kissing her sweetly. "You look perfect" he let go of her again. "The paintings are gorgeous too, although I wish you would have painted me" he smirked. Clary held in her laughter and pushed him away, seeing someone who wanted to talk to her.
After Jace had walked away, towards Magnus and Alec, the woman came towards her. She was quite tall, and had dark blonde hair, with white highlights. Not everyone could get away with that kind of highlights, but this woman pulled it off, Clary thought. The woman wore a black pencil skirt and a dark grey blouse, above some black stilettos. She also wore sunglasses, which got Clary thinking that she might be a Downworlder. "Hi." Clary smiled at her "Are you enjoying yourself?"
The woman smiled slightly, "I am thank you so much." The woman answered in a tone that was somehow familiar. "I love the way you painted 'The City of Glass', and 'The Silent City'" the woman complimented Clary. "You've really managed to catch the air that this kind of paintings is supposed to have" she went on "Just like your mother. Isn't it amazing how those things are inheritable?" Clary was a bit surprised at this. "You know my mother?" The woman smiled darkly. "of course I do."
Very late that evening, when Clary finally came home, she had almost forgotten about this. She plopped her bag on the dinner table and poured herself some wine. Just when she was about to take a sip, her phone rang. "Clary" demanded Maryse 's voice. "We have a new Nephilim at the institute. She claims to be your relative" Clary almost dropped her phone. "WHAT" she yelled into the phone, while looking for her stele. "Just get here as soon as you can, all right?"
Breathlessly Clary drew a portal, and within no time she stood in the library of the institute, in front of everybody. "Where?" Clary demanded, at which everyone moved aside, revealing the supposed Downworlder from yesterday. "Who are you?" Clary asked the blonde.
"I" said the woman, while taking of her sunglasses, revealing her pitch black eyes," am Valentina Morgenstern."
Hi everyone, i hoped you enjoyed that! Let me know what you think of the story, and if you want me to continue it!
Love, RAndomRedhead