Jace and his siblings walked into Taki's with Simon and Magnus to wait for the new shadowhunters that they were supposed to meet and show around. Maryse had told them that they would be staying in New York- close to the Institute, and they had been waiting anxiously for their arrival. Their parents had died demon-hunting two weeks ago, and they were still in mourning.
There were three of them. Clarissa, Sebastian, and Jonathan Morgenstern. Their parents, Luke and Jocelyn were famous in the shadowhunter world for taking down Valentine, the siblings evil biological father (as cliche as it sounds). There were rumours about them having special powers, because their dad experimented on them when they were little. Jace had all kinds of questions, but now was definitely not the right time.
They sat at the booth in the corner, leaving the opposite side empty for the newcomers, while they talked with each other. Simon knew Clarissa from childhood, before he turned into a vampire. She moved away with her father before they reached the age of twelve. He was excited, and apparently so was Isabelle. She couldn't wait for a girl to finally move into the institute so they could be best friends. Alec was indifferent, as usual, as he sat with his boyfriend, talking.
It wasn't for about fifteen minutes that they heard the bell ring on the door, that they looked up. Two shadowhunters, obviously identical twins, looked around the restaurant, before their eyes landed on them and they headed over.
They stopped in front of them, smirking. They were completely identical except one had white-blonde hair and the other had pitch black. The length was the same though, falling into their eyes. They had angular faces with a strong jawline and green eyes with curly eyelashes. They were tall and lean, rippled with muscle, covered in runes. They had tanned skin that stood out against their straight, white teeth.
The black-haired one smiled. "You guys are the Lightwoods, right?"
Alec nodded, standing up. "I'm Alec, and these are my siblings Jace and Isabelle, my boyfriend, Magnus Bane, and Izzys boyfriend, Simon Lewis."
"I'm Sebastian, and this is my brother Jonathan. But I'm sure your mom's told you all about us." They sat across from them, looking them over.
Izzy looked at them, disappointed. "Where's Clarissa? I thought she would be with you guys."
They both laughed, before Jonathan answered. "Oh she'll be here. She ran off as soon as she opened the cab door opened to go and look at the city. This is the first time we've ever been in a mundane city, and she's been so excited."
Izzy frowned. "Aren't you worried she'll get lost. This is a really big city, and it's full of people."
He shrugged. "She'll make her way back. She always does."
Now Jace frowned. "What do you mean?"
They both laughed again. "Clary's a bit of a free spirit. You can't tell her what to do, and you can't control her. She's always wandering off to look at anything that catches her eye. She has a bit of a triple-track mind, most of the time. But she's extremely sweet, so there's nothing to worry about. Although, she is also extremely stubborn. She also has a really bad temper… but none of that was what you asked. Sorry-."
He got cut off when the bell rang and a girl came in, running straight to their table. Jace's breath caught. She was beautiful. She was tiny with bright red hair that flowed down to her thighs in thick, glossy ringlets. She had porcelain white skin with freckles that surrounded her small button nose. Runes covered her skin from the shoulder blades down. She wore a long, tight, strapless green sundress with aviator sandals, and a black sunhat. She had a nikon D600 camera around her neck and a bag of gummy worms in her hand. Her eyes were bright with excitement as she leaned against Sebastian, still standing.
"Oh My Angel, guys! New York is so cool! Everythings all big and lit up. Kind-of like the demon towers at night, but brighter and a lot more colorful! And the people here are so strange! Half of them were dressed in costumes and the others were half-naked! And there are so many people here! And there are so many scents everywhere! We have to go sight-seeing!"
They both laughed. "We haven't even been here twenty minutes, Clare. Maybe we should settle down before we do anything else."
She pouted, her bottom lip pushing out slightly. Jace thought he hadn't ever seen anything so cute. "But it's New York! The city is calling to me! Can't you hear it!? Clary, clary, clary… come to me Clary!"
They laughed again, before Sebastian pointedly glanced over at them. She turned towards them, smacking her forehead. "Sorry! I got so caught up in everything, I forgot you guys were there for a moment. I'm Clary. And I'm guessing you guys are the Lightwoods… and Simon. Oh Angel, I barely recognized you! When did you become a vampire?"
He hugged her, before sitting back down. "A few years after we got separated from each other."
She nodded. "And Magnus Bane. High Warlock of Brooklyn. I didn't think I'd see you here. It's nice to meet you."
He grinned at her. "Yes, well, Alec is my boyfriend and I figured I should be here to greet the newbies with him."
She smiled. "Aww… you two are so cute together! Anyways, is there a mall around here somewhere cause I am in desperate need of more summer clothes. I read that New York can be really cold, so I packed a lot of winter-ish clothes, but now that I'm here I'm dying of heat stroke. Plus, the air pollution here is terrible. How does anyone breathe without getting lung cancer?"
She was about to continue when Jon cut her off. "One thing at a time Clare-bear."
Izzy laughed. "I'll give you my phone number so I can take you once you're finished unpacking. You can even come back to the institute once we're done. My parents and Max are still in Idris for the week, so they won't be there to meet you."
"That's fine. Hey, is there a beach around here? I've only ever been to the beaches near Idris, so I've always wanted to go to a mundane one. Which reminds me that I left my purse in the cab and that he's still waiting on me. Excuse me for a moment."
She ran out, and Jon sighed. "Sorry about that. Clary's kind-of… special. Not in any serious way, but she thinks about so many things at once, and it can be hard to keep up. We've tried to teach her to reign it in a little, but like I said…".
Alec grinned. "It's fine. She actually reminds me of Max a little."
Izzy laughed. "Right? But I think it's cute she's so excited to be here. How old is she anyway?"
"She turns seventeen in two weeks."
Jace was surprised. "She's sixteen? Really?"
Jonathan laughed. "Yeah. She's always been really small."
"So do you guys know-"
He was cut off as Clary came running in, her bags in tow. She dumped them by the booth, grabbing Sebastian's arm and shaking it up and down. "They have a Starbuck's Right next to a comic book store! Can I go? Pllleeeaaasssee?"
"But we're right in the middle of something. Can't it wait?"
"This is life or death, Seb! This absolutely can NOT wait!"
"Clare, we were in the middle of something important…"
"That's fine. I can go by myself! It's right across the street."
John shook his head. "No. You aren't going anywhere by yourself right now."
"But…"
Simon looked at Sebastian. "I'll go with her. It's right across the street. I've been there a million times. I can show her around."
Jon and Sebastian looked at each other for a moment, before nodding at SImon. He opened his mouth to say something, but Clary pulled him out the door, chattering excitedly. They watched them through the window as they crossed the road and went into the comic book store.
Jace turned back towards them. "Why isn't she allowed to go anywhere by herself? Isn't she trained?"
Jon sighed. "Yeah, she's an amazing shadowhunter, but it's dangerous for her to be out in public by herself. Demons seem to find her if she's within a two hundred-mile radius. And she can fight on her own, we just have to be cautious. You know?"
"So, demons find her easily? Why?"
Sebastian sighed. "That's a long story that we'll tell you guys together later tonight. Clary will most likely want to tell you guys herself. She gets angry when we tell people without her."