The Mortal Instruments - City of Illumination (Set after City of Heavenly Fire) (Book Seven)
Chapter One - Living in the lap of luxury
Clary propped herself up onto Izzy's bed waiting impatiently for her. Despite their 'rough' start to their relationship, over the years Clary and Isabelle seemed to have become by mundane definition 'friends'. Clary often found herself getting ready with Isabelle and spending most of her time in the institute despite her recent move back home with her mom and Luke. This may have had something to do with Jace and her training, mostly Jace, Clary smirked to herself then realised and focused her attention on rotating her stele in her hands. With her training nearing an end and no Sebastian putting their lives in danger, Clary couldn't help but indulge the time she spent with her boyfriend. Isabelle emerged from the en suite and took her position in front of the floor length mirror. Black leather boots ran up her thigh ending just before the hem of her lacy black dress. 'So, how do I look?' Isabelle did a twirl whilst ruffling her hair. 'You look fine, I'm sure Simon will love it. Can we go now?' Clary muttered from across the room, her frustration clearly projected through her voice. 'I know I do' she said finishing her turn in her usual confident fashion her long dark hair trailing behind her, her back to Clary as she faced the mirror. Clary huffed, she hated the way Isabelle made everything look so effortless, Clary couldn't tame her wild curls by simply ruffling her hair and letting them fall loose the way Isabelle did. Clary looked over to see Isabelle's dress around her ankles revealing her dark set of underwear, Clary's mouth opened as she began to speak 'Isabelle what are you-' she was interrupted by the confident voice of the exposed Isabelle 'It's too sexy. We don't want Alec drowning Simon in the pool after Simon sees me in this and can't resist himself' she smirked and pulled a floor length gown over herself with an open back revealing scars of many runes Clary recognised and some which she had drawn herself. Clary ran her fingers through her own wild red curls, they were a fire that could not be put out. 'I guess so' Clary's face flushed red releasing a laugh under her breath 'So can we go now?' Clary mumbled. 'Why didn't you just ask?' Isabelle smirked as they headed into the corridors of the institute, meeting Jace, Simon and Alec in their path.
Even though she knew Simon had dived head first into intense physical and academic shadow hunter training. It was strange seeing Simon in place with the other Shadow hunters, she recognised the curved hook of the strength rune escaping his collar and tried to imagine what he would look like when he had been a shadow hunter as long as Jace, with all those scars marking his experience. 'Clary?' a voice echoed through her absent mind, it was Simon, Clary realised she'd been staring whilst preoccupied by her thoughts, Simon's eyes wide with concern. She knew he'd taken to wearing contacts as part of his new shadow hunter appearance, but emotion still shone through his deep brown eyes. Her lips curled into a familiar smile as she took his hand and gave him a reassuring squeeze then released and continued out the front doors.
She felt a faint touch trace down her back and hold her waist, Jace. She let herself grin as he took her hand and led her down the street. To any mundane it would prove a challenge to walk in Isabelle's favourite pair of stiletto fighting boots on the dark streets of Brooklyn, in fact Jace had once suggested she take to wearing heels made of adamas, as he swore those stilettos could massacre even the greatest of demons. I had to suppress a laugh, as Isabelle's glare pierced Jace's grinning face. The clinking of isabelles heels lit up by streetlights, yet these seemed dim compared to the radiating light show of Magnus's apartment in the distance.
They arrived at the Warlock's door and as Jace reached for his stele to temporarily divert the doorman's attention, Magnus burst through the gate and threw himself on Alec, who looked taken aback at first but his stern face reddened as he held his boyfriend in his arms. Jace forced a cough 'Not to encroach on your much awaited get together after Alec having stayed at the institute for let's see, one night, but I believe we have business to do here'. Simon's head appeared over Jace's shoulder, 'and by business, he means party'. The group of shadowhunters glared at Simon as Jace let out an exasperated sigh. Magnus finally released his grip and spread his arms revealing a lack of upper body clothing underneath his detailed silk kimono. 'I thought you were Indonesian?' Clary enquired as the Warlock led them into his newly furnished pool house. 'I can be anything I want biscuit' Magnus's green cat eye's became flecked with blue for a second like the scales of a rainbow, as the cherry blossoms on his kimono turned to tidal waves of rhinestones, and with that Magnus danced off towards a group of warlocks whom Clary recognised as Tessa and Zachariah, dragging the stiff shouldered Alec along behind him.
The idea of a pool party seemed mundane to Clary before she entered the rooms full of cave hot springs hidden in curtains of wild vines and plants that opened with fluorescent light with any touch. Clary and Isabelle stripped down, Clary couldn't help but feel intimidated as she looked from Isabelle's black cut out swimsuit with a v neck that stopped just above her stomach and then to her own striped navy blue bikini her mom had bought her for christmas last year, it barely fit so at least she had the tight angle going for her. As Isabelle shifted her gaze to the boys, they seemed engrossed in the challenge of climbing to the highest peak of the makeshift cave and bombing the pool free of it's water. Isabelle snickered at the blossoming bromance as she dove in and emerged from the waters drawing the attention of a few faerie boys in a nearby spring, however Clary couldn't help but feel slightly dissatisfied with the lack of Jace's attention. This quickly turned to fondness for him as she saw Jace making an effort with Simon, even though she could tell by the boyish glimmer in his eye he was having fun.
Isabelle tugged on Clary's arm playfully, Clary was sitting on the edge of the pool feeling ill-fitted but Isabelle's tugs forced her to shuffle closer to the pool. Clary looked away from the agitated Isabelle rolling her eyes. To Clary's surprise Isabelle turned away and swam to the opposite end of the pool. Clary sighed unable to admit she liked having a friend's attention, she edged closer to the water when suddenly she felt a curl around her waist, it was Isabelle's whip, the pulling was only soft but Clary soon found herself completely submerged with Isabelle swimming towards her. Clary watched as Isabelle recoiled the whip around her leg as if second nature. 'I knew my moment of silence was too good to be true' her shocked expression softening. Isabelle looked over triumphantly 'Oh don't pretend you weren't begging for that' she boasted.
Flicking her hair and she turned away and swam over to a group of faerie girls, the faeries with their skin shades of blue, green and pink seemed familiar, they all held twisted glasses of a strange liquid including Isabelle. Isabelle gestured for Clary to swim over 'Clary, I've got some friends of mine I want you to meet!' Clary feeling out of place looked around for an excuse to avoid the awkward encounter, she had bad experiences with the faerie folk and wasn't sure she was quite ready to begin drinking with them. She spotted Magnus from the corner of her eye leaving Tessa and finding a spot in the same pool, covered by a fountaining hot geyser, when the fountain died down however she found him approaching a sulky looking Alec, she wasn't sure if it was going to be too intimate for her to interrupt, but her suspicions were confirmed when the geyser died down a second time revealing the two bodies in a heated embrace. She turned and reluctantly swam over to Isabelle and the drinking faerie girls. It wasn't until Clary had joined the circle that she realised the faerie were completely unclothed and the only thing covering their exposed bodies were their long thick beds of hair. Her body tensed and she uncomfortably slipped into the circle, she felt a familiar touch trace her back and she relaxed, she turned to find Jace but instead found Isabelle's hand 'Relax Clary, we have a truce with downworlders remember?' Clary let out a faint laugh under her breath and moved shakily into the conversation.
The faerie girls looked like exotic dancers, Clary couldn't help but feel undermined, then she remembered, they didn't just look like exotic dancers, it was at Pandemonium that she'd first seen these girls. Except the familiar face of Kaelie from Taki's, Kaelie smiled at her and Clary smiled back. 'This is the one, the vampire's always talking about' The vampire, Clary processed this, they must mean Simon, they don't know about that change. She was sure Isabelle would not be insulted by this claim that Simon 'always' talked about Clary, Clary looked down at her untouched drink and then turned to Isabelle. Isabelle surprisingly as always looked like her calm and collected self. One of the faerie girls with pale tinted blue skin and a large curl of ocean green hair over her front, drew attention to Clary's drink as it turned white 'Oh look, she's embarrassed!' Clary stared down at the mood drink 'I-I-' she stuttered then realised there was no use in trying to explain, this was definitely a faerie drink and this was definitely Magnus Bane's party. 'I'm just going to go uh- pee' Clary blurted as she backed away from the group. 'She's adorable Isabelle! Can i just take her home?', 'I just want to eat her up'. Clary knew that was an expression in the mundane world, but couldn't help but feel slightly fearful when it came out of the faerie folk.
She continued stumbling backwards until she reached the edge and climbed up throwing a fur towel around herself. 'Only Magnus' she laughed shivering 'I bet, bed bath & beyond is missing a large portion of their premium polar bear fur towels' she said to herself as she saw the rainbow of brightly coloured towels scattered around the pool house. She headed towards the bathroom upstairs, she knew Magnus's place pretty well from her experience staying here with her mum for a while in the past, despite it's new layout every day. She stumbled up the stairs, holding her towel tightly around herself. When she reached the first bathroom she walked in on two werewolves she recognised from Luke's old pack. She quickly closed the door behind her, and did the rest of the party a favour by drawing a soundless rune on the door. She continued along to Magnus's en suite. This was slightly more private, Clary sighed as she dropped her towel sat on the edge of the bath tub. It was another Friday night in Brooklyn, that she would have never seen if not for her Shadow hunter friends. She was never much of a partying type back when her and Simon used to spend their days playing video games and hanging out on the two seater at Java Jones, now it was Taki's and Downworlder clubs.
She pushed her hair off her face and saw her damp face in the mirror, she dried what she could off and some of her hair with the help of the mirror when someone walked in. 'I'm sorry I didn't realise you were having an intimate moment with yourself' Clary broke free from her stare in the mirror to see Jace leaning against the door frame. She couldn't help but feel an overwhelming joy at his appearance, she hadn't seen him all night, she buried her head in his bare chest, her hands gripping at his shoulder blades. His smirk softened to a smile. 'Have I told you that I love you today?' he asked moving backwards out of the bathroom. She felt drawn towards him as she left the bathroom 'I don't believe you have' she remarked. He picked her up holding her hips and kissed her softly 'Well I do' he kissed her again briefly 'I love you Clary'. She laughed, was this his way of apologising for abandoning her all night. Well if it was, it was working. She kissed him back with such force he fell back onto Magnus's cavern of pillows. 'I suppose I love you too then' she giggled, her curls fell loose over her face, she couldn't care less. 'There's something about that bikini' he whispered into her neck.
Jace had Clary scooped up in his arms, she felt his muscular figure as he walked toward the pool, she knew what was coming next, he wouldn't be Jace without a mischievous plan. She felt herself dropped into the water in a shower of giggles. A male faerie approached her from behind, she wouldn't have felt his presence until she saw Jace's stele trace a rune in the air to put him in a temporary daze. She tilted her head 'Did you really have to do that?' she questioned. He shrugged and then his wide Jace grin spread over his face as he put his fingers to his lips and approached the entrance to a cave which was covered by a waterfall. He caught his breath and ducked his head into the cave 'Isabelle Lightwood that is not very ladylike!' his Maryse impersonation was surprisingly accurate and hilarious. Clary burst into giggles protected from Isabelle's glare by the waterfall barrier. Simons face flushed as he untangled himself from Isabelle. 'You two lovers get decent, it's time to head back' Jace said casually as he glided through the water taking Clary and wrapping her in her second fur towel of the night. Isabelle and Simon emerged from the cave, with their fingers laced together, it was actually kind of cute Clary thought, she never thought she'd think that about Isabelle's relationships.
When the two pairings had gotten dressed and were ready to leave despite the downworlders expressions of shock that they were not staying for the entire night. Isabelle spoke up 'The question is do we leave him or try and find him?'. 'I think he's in safe hands' Jace replied in his casual Jace manner 'Literally'. Isabelle smacked Jace over the head as they walked out the front gates toward the Institute. Jocelyn and Luke would probably kill Clary if she spent the night in the institute and she knew that, Clary sighed, her parents did not trust her alone with Jace especially overnight. When they reached the institute entrance Clary kissed Jace on the cheek goodbye. 'Couldn't you just come in for a little bit?' Jace pleaded, his hand brushing her waist, his eyes sparkling with their usual golden charm. 'You know if i come in, I won't be able to leave' she smiled from the corner of her mouth and turned away. He quickly pulled her in for a kiss on her tiptoes, she raked her fingers through his golden hair playfully and pulled away 'I love you Jace Herondale' he pulled a face, a childish glimmer in his eyes then smirked 'I love you always'. Simon and Isabelle had found their way to Isabelle's room well before Jace got the chance to say goodnight, not that he usually did. He walked down the hall to his room and then splayed out over his bed lazily slicing his seraph blade through the air. He couldn't sleep thinking of Isabelle and Simon in the other room. His face cringed until he heard a sound at his window. He readied his blade and crouched against the wall away from the sight of the window. A figure fell to the floor next to him from the window and he pointed the blade. It was Clary. He released a shaky breath, 'I could have killed you' he let out feeling heated. 'But you didn't' she smirked kissing him softly on the lips. He opened his mouth to protest but instead fell into the kiss.
Alec sometimes forgot in the comfort of his apartment each night that Magnus was the High Warlock of Brooklyn. Alec sighed and stroked Chairman Meows soft fur, he threw himself into the pile of pillows on Magnus's bed and felt the warmth and the familiar silk sheets. He then sat up rigid on the end of the bed, he realised the others had probably left by now though he didn't mind, his head was filled with worries that maybe Magnus didn't have time for him tonight, and Alec should have just gone to the institute. It could often feel in this unfamiliar crowd of downworlders that Alec, the shadow hunter was just one of many insignificant people. When the door opened slowly and stealthily as Magnus tip toed backwards into his room not noticing Alec on the bedside behind him. Magnus sighed and turned around to reveal Alec, his face turned from tired to pleased. 'I was hoping I would find you up here' Magnus whispered taking a seat next to Alec and placing one hand on his knee. 'I know you're busy' Alec mumbled. Magnus placed a finger under Alec's chin and turned his face toward him 'I'm never too busy for you Alexander' his worried blue eyes in line with Magnus's own. Alec leaned in and kissed the warlock with a revealed passion until they were lying back on the bed accompanied by the purring Chairman Meow lost in the silk sheets by their feet. Alec smiled at the cat and then turned to Magnus 'I know' he whispered as they leaned in to a warm embrace and didn't let go again.
