Three
The imprint of the rune from the stele shoots another convulsion of overwhelming pain throughout her body. The mark of the rune swelling Seraphina's skin and turning the colour into a crisp red. Jace's face is disdained with a look of concentration as he determinately travels the stele into the shape of the healing rune. " Is it nearly done?" Seraphina gasps out between the intense shocks of pain, wondering if the runes have this excruciating effect on Shadowhunters as well. " Jace, it seriously feels like my skin is becoming charred." Seraphina grits her teeth and turns her attention towards the runes on Jace's arm. How can they endure so much pain?
" Hold still." Jace sternly speaks back to Seraphina, his hand gripping so hard on her arm to steady it that the skin around it is turning pale. He closes a line of the rune and retracts the stele from her arm, leaving a raw red mark, as if it were a tattoo. Jace leans back, silently criticising his work of art as he nibbles his lip slightly, deep in thought. Jace then focuses on Seraphina, his tawny eyes trying to decipher her. " Let's hope this works. How do you feel?"
" The pain isn't as prominent anymore." Seraphina replies, her voice filled with relief. Maybe this will work after all. " How long does it take to work?" Jace's eyes travel to the former angels back and he narrows his eyes slightly.
" It should be taking effect now. Though maybe it works differently on angels." Jace explains and then noticing Seraphina's frown he corrects himself. " Sorry, former angel." Seraphina shrugs knowing that he meant nothing by it, her fingers lightly tracing the first rune that Jace Wayland, a Shadowhunter and her saviour had placed on her. " The swelling will go down, that's if you experience the same process as us, which I doubt you will."
" Well I'm not dying, so something must be working." Seraphina murmurs, leaning forward to put her back on full display. " Is the wound healing?" Not shy at all, Jace immediately examines the wound on her back, noticing that the viciousness of it is slowly decreasing.
A smile shows on his lips and he nods. " It's definitely better then it was before." Jace's voice seems triumphant and with Seraphina feeling relieved, he then takes off the jacket he's wearing, displaying a black shirt underneath it and passes it to Seraphina. " You think you can walk?" Seraphina gladly takes Jace's hooded jacket and slips it over her top half.
" Where are we going?" Seraphina asks, slowly standing herself up. Jace grips on her arm, but she shrugs it off, indicating that she can move without being held.
" I'm going to show you the Gray Book. If you're good enough I might even let you choose another rune that I can draw on you." Jace tells her with a wink and Seraphina half-heartedly nudges him with her elbow.
" There is no way in hell that I'm letting you put another rune on me." Seraphina tells him with an accusing smirk and Jace chuckles.
" Isn't the word 'hell' forbidden from the angel dictionary?" Jace teases her and Seraphina nudges him again, this time harder.
" Well I'm not an angel anymore am I?" Seraphina retorts, this time starting to feel calmer then she was before. Jace Wayland must have that effect on girls.
Jace leads Seraphina through the extravagant institute. Each part of the walls are covered in patterns or ancient paintings and she finds it interesting to her taste. As soon as they reached the library, Seraphina's mouth fell open in awe. Oh if only I were a bookworm then this would be heaven. Well not exactly the heaven that she's lived in. Jace grins at her surprised expression and slips his hand into hers, squeezing it tight and then leading her down the spiral of stairs. " This is amazing." Seraphina explains with her own amazed smile on her face.
" This place is nothing compared to the greenhouse, now that place is beautiful at midnight. I'll have to show you it sometime." Jace tells her as they reach the bottom of the stairs.
" I'd like that." Seraphina smiles back at him and then she spots a large book laying on a pedestal. " Is this the Gray Book?" She walks up to and runs her fingers along the sides of the book, opening it to the first page. Jace steps up behind her and places his hand over hers, turning the pages of the book so they can see each rune that had been placed in. Jace is so close that she can feel his small breaths on his neck and her heart starts to beat faster.
Jace points to a picture of a rune on one of the pages. " That's the healing rune, the one you have." She then feels his hand gently run up the jacket she's wearing and skimming delicately over her wound. " It appears to be working, the wounds barely there." Jace's voice is close to a whisper and she turns her face towards his, their faces inches apart. " Can I…" Jace starts to speak but then he is interrupted by a sound coming from the top of the stairs.
" Am I interrupting?" The beak nosed man asks, a slight look of disapproval on his face.
" Hodge."
