Chapter One:
"Addy, get the fuck out of bed, we've got training," a voice called out, sounding through the halls of the Institute.
A loud grumble was the only response that Adelaide Blackwell was able to produce as she rolled over onto her back. Much like nearly every other day of her life there at the Institute, Adelaide had to get up early and start training. As a minor and a Shadowhunter, that was her life. Fortunately, she loved what she did and wouldn't have traded it for the world. Pushing herself up to a sitting position with palm of her hand, Addy slid from underneath the blanket atop her body and swung her legs over the side of the bed. As much as she wanted to remain sleeping, she knew it was only a matter of moments before someone burst through the door to drag her out of her room.
Clearly not wanting to let her down, Addy heard the loud burst of her door being shoved open by one of the other members of the household. Though the footsteps were familiar enough to alert her as to who it was, the soft smile of recognition didn't appear until she felt the weight of another person crawling across her bed and the lithe arms of Isabelle Lightwood around her mid-drift.
"As much as I appreciate you in this bed, it's time to get up," Izzy murmured, whispering right into Addy's ear before lightly nipping it and pulling away.
Little moments like that from Isabelle always brought a slight blush to Addy's face, since she was still getting used to the fact that Izzy was past hiding their relationship. They'd been living together at the Institute for years and romantically involved for a few months, but only recently had Izzy been open about her feelings for the other girl. Turning her head over her shoulder to face Izzy, Addy's eyes trailed over the other girl's body. Though she was covered with her Shadowhunter gear, Addy liked her best when she was dressed as such. It was part of who the girl was and she had to admit that it hugged her curves in all the right places.
"Well, I mean, if you appreciate it so much, maybe you should just stay for a while," Addy responded, an innocent grin toying at her lips as she spoke. The blonde turned back into the bed to face Izzy, crawling slightly forward so that she could straddle her at the hips. Her hands rested softly at Isabelle's back before she leaned forward to press their lips together. If there was anything that Addy wanted to wake up to in the morning, this would be it.
Never one to waste time, Isabelle quickly responded, parting her lips slightly to up the intensity of their kiss. Her fingers tangled in Addy's hair, pulling her in closer as the two continued to kiss, completely forgetting about the training they were supposed to be at. With a slight grunt, Izzy let her hands drop to Addy's waist, using her hips to roll the girl to the side and into the mattress before comfortably situating herself on top of her. Their bodies pressed together, Izzy tilted Addy's head up towards hers, leaning down into her to resume their kiss before her hands trailed down to the girl's pajama shorts. With her hands at the waistband, Izzy started to pull them down off the other girl's legs.
And then the door opened again.
"Addy, Izz- oh," Alec started to say, pausing in the doorway with his eyes widening. He probably should have been used to such things as the two had been pretty open the last few weeks. However, seeing his younger sister in such a compromising position would never be something that he could get used to, as often as he may happen upon it.
Groaning irritably, Izzy rolled off to the side, separating herself from the other girl with a scowl directed over towards her brother. "Always excellent timing, Alec," Izzy commented, clearly annoyed by the disturbance. However, practice was generally important, so Izzy hopped up from the bed, holding out a hand to help Addy up before heading over to the wardrobe and tossing Addy pieces of her gear to change into.
When Addy started to strip her shirt off, Alec awkwardly shuffled back out of the room, closing the door softly behind him and muttering about Izzy as he departed. It didn't take long for Addy to change into her gear, aided along by Izzy snapping things in properly and making minor adjustments as Addy folded up her pajamas to put away. The two worked in sync as they got ready, a trait that simply showed how well they were matched a lot of the time.
Once dressed and ready to go, the two girls left from the room, exiting to find Alec and Jace waiting for them. Alec was standing with his arms folded and his head dropped, clearly still a bit embarrassed for what he'd walked in on. Jace, however, was simply smirking, a knowing look on his face as he eyed the girls walking out.
"And neither of you thought to invite dear Jace to the party? Shame, really," Jace said, shaking his head slightly as he spoke. The smirk on his face didn't drop for a moment, even when Izzy shot him a dirty look.
Knowing that there was little she could say to deter Jace from his running commentary, Addy settled for simply rolling her eyes as the group headed to the training room. They were training, unlike usual, in full gear, since the group would soon be going out on a hunt together. Wanting to be as prepared as possible, they were decked out fully and would be doing drills together for the next few hours.
"I call Jace as my sparring partner. He deserves it," Izzy announced, unfurling her whip almost instantaneously once they were in the room. Clearly, she was quite ready to start practice and no one was going to say no to someone like that. Saying no to Izzy was like poking a sleeping tiger and that just wasn't something any of them wanted to attempt. They valued their lives.
Izzy and Jace went off to one side of the room, leaving Addy and Alex to spar against each other before they moved on to other drills. Taking out her glimmering dagger, Addy got into position, waiting for Alec to pick his own weapon out. Within seconds, they were at each other, winding about and striking out at each other in a deadly dance. The two were fairly evenly matched and after a few bouts of sparring were huffing out breath, standing a bit apart from each other.
Across the room, Izzy and Jace were still going at it, just as intense as they had been at the start. Though Alec and Addy couldn't hear what the two were saying, they could both sense that Jace and Izzy were arguing about something under their breath. However, they also both knew that it was probably for the best that they leave them to sort it out on the training floor. Sometimes, with Jace and Izzy, it was for the best to stay out of it and not get too involved.
"You and Izzy seem to be doing well," Alec piped up after a few moments of silence. Addy was working with her stele, melding a few runes into her dagger as she leaned against the wall of the room. Her face remained impassive for a moment, saying nothing in response as she continued to work.
"Yeah, yeah I think we are," she agreed with a nod, as a smile tugged at her lips. "Uhm, sorry about earlier, by the way." Addy didn't exactly want to talk about it, but she certainly didn't want to just leave it as it was. Walking in on your sister in a position like that probably wasn't something most people wanted to see, especially not Alec.
Shaking his head with a bit of a chuckle, Alec shrugged it off. "It's alright. You make her happy, so, thanks."
That wasn't at all the response that Adelaide had been expecting and her mouth formed a quick "o" before closing once more. Her head fell slightly, a blush creeping up on her cheeks before she looked back up at Alec. They had always been friends, of a sort, but they'd never developed more than an understanding between them. They got along well enough, but they were both more of the quiet types and ended up just not talking as much as they could have. However, with the recent development of the relationship between Addy and Isabelle, the two had been at least attempting to be more involved with each other.
Addy knew that Isabelle had a close relationship with her brother, so she intended to put as much effort as she could into getting to know him better. "Hey, yeah, she makes me happy too, so she deserves it," Addy responded, rubbing her hand along the back of her neck. She had never been very good with conversations like this, as was obvious by the awkward movements that she was making.
The moment was quickly devolving into a particularly uncomfortable one for the two, but fortunately was interrupted by Jace and Izzy coming over towards them. The two seemed to be over whatever spat they had been in, patting each other on the back and filled with an exhausted energy from their training. They both tumbled down to the ground to sit with Addy and Alec, taking their weapons out to fix up any wear and tear they had undergone from the sparring.
"Everyone is looking pretty good today. You've been taking my pointers," Jace commented, a lazy smile gracing his features for a moment before a serious expression took over again as he set about working.
"And you apparently haven't been taking ours. Your ego is unbecoming Jace," Alec retorted with a joking grin.
At that, Jace let out a scoff and looked up at Alec with a theatrical frown. "Alec, I thought you of all people would have been on my side. I'm wounded, really."
As per usual, everyone simply rolled their eyes at the golden-haired boy, Izzy shoving at the boys shoulder before rising to her feet. They were all pretty burnt out after their training and wordlessly they all shuffled out of the room to follow Izzy out to the kitchen. It was definitely time to eat lunch and work on their plans for tomorrow.
Slumping down into their chairs in the dining room, the foursome were delighted to see that they were being brought a full meal to chow down on as they went through the details of their mission. The four were being tested with a relatively minor mission, just to give them some experience out in the real world when it came to hunting down and neutralizing the threat of various demons. There was a rumour of a demon causing trouble a bit downtown and the four had been given the task of killing it.
As far as the Clave was concerned, it was a routine procedure and would be safe enough for the four to tackle with no problems at all. However, that didn't stop them from taking it seriously, as if it were a life or death situation. They had maps of the city laid out on the table in front of them and were chattering back and forth about the minor details of the mission. It probably wouldn't require such hefty planning, but the group didn't want to disappoint at all. They intended to execute the plan flawlessly.
As the clamor died down and the plan was officially agreed on, the four sat back in their chairs, a sense of accomplishment between them. There was nothing more to be discussed, they were ready for action. They were set to go out the following day, giving them the rest of the afternoon to rest up and do as they pleased, which they were all quite excited by.
"So, who's up for going out tonight?" Izzy asked, leaning forward into the table with a dangerous glint of mischief in her eyes. Unfortunately for the rest, it wasn't possible to say no to Izzy. They would all be going out that night.
