Chapter 1

Clary POV

"Jace!" I tried to get his attention, but he seemed not to hear me through his door, "Jace, we need to go. You cannot ditch me on Alec and Magnus's engagement party. I need a date!" When he didn't answer I yelled again, "Ja-"

He opened the door and put his finger on my lips, "Shh, you'll wake the baby."

"What baby? Jace please don't tell me you stole a baby?" He pulled me into his bedroom and shut the door. I was glad there was no baby in his room.

"I did no such thing," he said.

"Is that the stuff from your dad's box? The one Amatis gave you."

"Yes, I've been looking at it a lot more recently. I just feel like I should know more about who I am, where I came from."

"Well, that's great and all," I said trying to pull him to the door by his wrist. I failed, just as I thought I would, "but we have to go to the engagement party."

"Fine, but you," he said pulling me in, "are required to dance with me at least twice."

"Well," I said with feigned reluctance, "I guess I could, if it will make you go." Then he kissed me. It was a hard and desperate kiss, as though he hasn't seen me for days. It seemed strange to me, that he would kiss me so desperately, but at the time, I thought nothing of it. "Lets go." I said impatiently.

...

Isabelle POV

"I love you," Alec said to Magnus as they walked over to where I was standing. "This party is... amazing." He kissed Magnus on the cheek. They were perfect together. I don't know why they hadn't already gotten together, but whatever makes them happy. Twenty-one is about the average age for a Shadowhunter to get married.

"By the Angel, where are Clary and Jace?" I said, frantically looking for them near the doorway of Magnus's loft, which seemed to have magically expanded.

"Iz, calm down. There coming. Jace is dawdling, and poor Clary is probably dragging him here now. You know how he is." Alec said calmly. He looked so happy. He never smiled as much as he was today.

"I do not dawdle." Jace said walking over behind Alec.

"Yes, you do," Clary said standing over to us.

"Really, how did I dawdle today, Clary?" he asked with interest.

"You pulled me into your room and tried to distract me by kissing me. Which, may sound ridiculous to anyone else, but it almost worked. Then, when I finally got you out the door into the cold air, you walked much slower then you usually do. It is freezing out there, you know. Though the cab was nice and warm, thank the lord."

"Okay maybe I dawdled a little..." he said giving in, "but I'm here now and ready to party!" He grabbed a shot of a thick liquid off the little bar that Magnus had in the far corner. It was an odd shade of blue, like a metallic blueberry. As the drink started to kick in, he walked up to a strange figure. A warlock with bright pink hair and scales that covered her body everywhere except her hands, the right side of her neck, and her head. Jace poked her arm and then walked back toward me. What heck was in that drink?

...

Clary POV

I helped Jace walk out the door. At this point he was so drunk he could barely walk. He was slurring his words and stumbling around he drank two more of those blue shots. I did dance with him twice when he was still mostly sober. He didn't even know who I was when I was pulling him out the door. He kept calling me 'pretty, strange girl'. I guess I should be happy that, even when he was to drunk to move correctly, he still thought I was beautiful.

When we got back to the Institute, Jace was saying something about going somewhere, but I couldn't really understand most of what he was saying. I walked him into his bedroom and started to take off his shirt that was somehow soaking wet.

"No, stop." he said as I was about to pull it off.

"But your soaked!"

"I have a girlfriend." he said and stepped back.

I was attempting to hold back a laugh (and failing, I might add) as I told him, "Well then, why don't you go changed and then go to sleep." I walked out of his room and down the hall into mine. I was going to sleep like a baby tonight. It was 2 a.m. I was so tired. I fell asleep as looked out my window at the dark, snowy New York sky.

...

When I woke up it was about ten o'clock. Oh, Jace would be so hungover. If only there were a rune for that. I walked over to his room down the hall from mine. I knocked on the door. There was a cold breeze coming from under the door. "Jace? Jace, I'm coming in." I said about to open the door. When I did, I found that is room was freezing and filled with fresh snow by the window. The window was open, and Jace was gone...