"Shelby!" a voice called from the other side of the door. "Shelby, get your ass up out of bed!"
Shelby got out of bed, got dressed in a pair of jeans and a black shirt, and went into the kitchen of the Institute, where her three siblings, Jace, Simon and Clary were.
"Morning, Max," she said, sitting down next to her younger brother, who was eating cereal and reading a comic book. "What're you reading?"
"Manga," he said simply.
"Cool," she said, and turned her attention to her twin, who was sipping from a cup of coffee. "Alec, where're Mom and Dad?"
"They left for Idris this morning," he answered, and continued to sip his coffee.
"Oh," she said, disappointed that they hadn't at least left a note for her.
"Oh, Alec," Jace said. "Can you and Iz go interrogate some warlock today? Clary and I have plans."
Shelby could see Alec's shoulders tense up for a split second, but it was so small, she thought she was the only one who saw it.
"Actually," Izzy said. "Me and Simon have plans, too."
"I'll go with you, Alec," she said, knowing Alec wouldn't want to go alone.
"Thanks, Shell." He gave a small smile, and she returned it.
After everyone finished their breakfast, Shelby and Alec went to grab some weapons in case they needed them. While Shelby grabbed a seraph blade, a witchlight, a stele and a few daggers, Alec only grabbed a stele, a witchlight and a small dagger.
"Do you really need that many weapons, Shelby?" he said, being a protective twin brother.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. Now, let's go interrogate a warlock."
Shelby and Alec walked to the library, and saw Jace there, looking at books again.
"Hey, Jace," Alec said, walking over to his parabatai. "Where's the warlock we're supposed to interrogate?"
Jace just pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and gave it to Alec.
"Thanks, Jace. We'll see you later," Shelby said, and she and Alec left the Institute. They caught the subway, and headed to Brooklyn.
Magnus was sitting in his apartment watching television when he heard the buzzer.
He walked over, pressed the buzzer, and shouted, "WHO DARES TO DISTURB THE HIGH WARLOCK?"
"We're Shadowhunters from the New York Institute," a girl's voice said. She didn't sound gentle, but she didn't sound tough, either. "We need to ask you a few questions."
Magnus buzzed her up, knowing that if he didn't, the Clave would be suspicious of him.
He opened the door, and two Shadowhunters walked in. One was a pale boy with black hair and blue eyes, who was wearing a large sweater and some slightly baggy jeans. The other was a girl who looked almost exactly the same, the only differences being that her hair was slightly longer, and she was wearing better-fitting black jeans and a black shirt. He had to admit that they were beautiful.
"What do you want, Nephilim?" he asked, closing the door and leading them over to a set of couches.
The girl spoke up, while the boy played with a loose thread on his sweater. "First of all, I'm Shelby, and this is my twin brother, Alec. Next, we need to know your name."
"Magnus Bane," he said, shocked that there were people that didn't know his name.
They asked him questions for a couple of minutes, and stood up to leave.
"Thank you, Magnus," Shelby said.
"Bye," Alec muttered, and they started to walk towards the door.
"Wait," Magnus said, grabbing Shelby's arm. He grabbed a piece of paper, which he handed to the girl. "You two should come to my party tomorrow night."
"Thanks," Shelby said again, and her and Alec left.
What's wrong with me? Magnus thought.
Alec heard a knock on his door, and went over to open it. All he saw was black hair as someone pushed past him into his room.
"What do you want, Shelby?" he questioned as his twin walked over to his closet.
"You and me are going to that party tomorrow night, and you at least have to wear clothes that fit better." Alec was about to protest, but Shelby kept on going. "You can still wear a sweater and jeans, but they have to fit better."
"Fine." Alec normally would've protested if someone was going to make him dress differently for a party, but he knew Shelby wouldn't go crazy about it like Izzy would.
"That's it," she shouted after digging through Alec's closet for a few minutes. "You and me are going shopping."
Shelby and Alec headed for the nearest shopping mall, and looked through stores for an outfit for Shelby to wear, then looked for a pair of jeans and a sweater for Alec to wear.
When they finished shopping, Alec and Shelby headed back to the Institute.
"Holy shit!" Isabelle screamed when they walked in, which caused everyone else to come down. "You took Alec shopping? How much did he argue?"
"Not at all," she replied, and dragged Alec to her room, leaving everyone staring at them, their eyes wide. She kept her clothes laid out on her desk chair, and hid Alec's under her bed.
Alec glanced out the window by Shelby's desk, and saw that it was starting to get dark out. "I'm going to go to bed."
"Alright," she replied. "I'm going to walk around with Max."
"At least take a dagger with you."
"I was going to," she said, grabbing her weapon and leaving the room.
Alec left her room and fell asleep, thinking about the party tomorrow night.
