I burst out of the doors of the Institute and walked briskly down the sidewalk. The only thing that was keeping me from running was the fear of injuring Peeta who was tucked away in my shabby messenger bag. All my other things were still in my- the room in the Institute. The Institute was no longer my home, that was made clear by Maryse. Very, very clear.

I clutched the strap of my bag tighter and walked faster, attempting to make my mind stop working by physical activity. But that was useless seeing as I still had to be practical. It was obvious that I was going to need someplace to stay. At the Institute Isabelle had insisted I move into one of the permanent resident rooms across the hall from her, Luke hadn't argued since there wasn't really a lot of room at his place what with Clary and several pack members almost always there. It would have been like staying at a hostel, permanently.

Before I was really aware of it, I was walking past the red skinned Clancy and through the doors of Taki's. It looked just the same as before but yet subtly different. I made my way over to a two person booth and sat down, pulling the menu towards myself and examining. I skipped over the faerie and werewolf foods and turned to the back of the menu. Scanning over it, the same things stood out to me as the first time I'd been at Taki's.

"Where are your friends?" a soft, feminine voice beside me asked.

I glanced up to see the waitress, Kaelie, hovering over me in her stilettos. Her solidly blue eyes made it impossible to tell what part of me she was looking at.

"What?"

"You're Jace's friend, right?" Even though her voice went up at the end of the statement, it was hardly a question.

"Um, yeah," I answered lamely. Feeling awkward under her gaze, I shifted my bag on the bench next to me, discreetly checking on my cat.

Kaelie turned her head to the side like a curious puppy playing with a new found toy. "You're not his type."

I blinked. "What? Are you seriously going to talk to me about Jace, because at this moment, I'm not in the mood. I know you two have some sort of- of history or something but I really, quite honestly don't care. All I want to do right now is order a hazelnut cappuccino." And as an afterthought, "Please."

She smirked at me and I wished she had some sort of super ugly scar or a mole like King Tut's grandmother. It simply wasn't fair that Jace's past was so… so…

"I'll be back with that as soon as I can."

Perfect. I wanted to hate her as she walked away, just be mad at someone. Instead, I fidgeted mindlessly with the napkin sitting in front of me and attempted to come up with a plan. I could go stay with Simon but that would be awkward – his mom thought I had a crush on him. Maryse wanted me to distance myself from the Institute, probably didn't want me to be a bad influence on her children because apparently my very existence was an appalling crime.

A bone chilling thought crossed my mind. What if she knew? Shadowhunters believed only demons could travel between dimensions and I had traveled between them. With angelic help, of course, but would they believe me? Or maybe she'd found the books while we had been out. I hadn't bothered to check on them or grab them before I left. I had to go back to the Institute. Why didn't I burn the books? Oh, right. Because I'm an idiot.

"Here you are." Kaelie brought me back to the present world as she set my cappuccino and a smoothie in front of me.

"Thanks," I said automatically. "I didn't order the smoothie."

"I know," she said simply and walked away. I stared after her, trying to think of an acceptable way to call her back but before I could, someone slid into the seat across from me.

"It's not often one of the Nephilim comes here alone," said the new addition. The furry ears poking through his thick dark hair and the sharp teeth declared him to be the cook I'd glanced the last time I'd been there.

"One of the Nephilim?" I asked dully. "At the moment that's highly debatable."

He regarded me with iron grey eyes. "You cannot change what you are."

"Actually, I believe werewolves can," I pointed out.

He bared his teeth at me without seeming angry. Smiling. "You are a lot like Jace. I find it amusing. Your names are fittingly similar as well, Jaci."

So he knew my name. Cool. When I'd been trying to escape the world I'd managed to run right into the place where everyone seemed to know me and I knew no one. "How do you know me?"

He flashed his teeth again. "Nothing happens in my restaurant I don't know about."

"So you're Taki. I'd say it's a pleasure to meet you but this encounter has only been awkward and a little creepy."

Taki narrowed his eyes. "You think you're smart, Shadowhunter."

"That," I said, toying with the cappuccino mug, "is the second time I've been told that today. I'm assuming you didn't just come over here to tell me something I already know. What do you want, Downworlder?" If he wished to call me Shadowhunter it only seemed fitting to call him Downworlder.

"I want nothing from you," he said harshly. "I've only noticed that you are different from most of your kind."

Apparently that was a question. "I wasn't raised in Shadowhunter culture." I saw no reason not to tell him the truth. Maybe the story would get back to Maryse and she'd believe my lack of association with Valentine.

"And yet you bear the Marks of the disgraced."

I couldn't help but glance down at the back of my hand and the silver trace of a rune. "You caught me," I said, letting sarcasm color my voice. "I killed demons as a baby but I was too good at it and the Clave was getting jealous so they erased my memory and sent me to be raised as a mundane."

Taki chuckled, his flinty eyes glinting. "Is this how you treat everyone you meet?"

I shrugged and took a sip of my cappuccino. "Only the furry eared cooks."

"You're not bad," he said, pulling the smoothie towards himself, "for a Shadowhunter."

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks for that."

"You are an unusual one," he continued seriously. He narrowed his eyes at me and his ears lay back against his head. "All of Downworld is talking about you. And your friends."

My eyebrows arched skeptically. "Do I look like I have friends at the moment?"

"At the moment you look as though you have one friend."

"So we're friends now?"

Taki considered that and shook his head. "Acquaintances. I don't keep company with Shadowhunters."

"Hmm," I thought that over. Having a Downworlder who was on my side would keep me connected to everything going on without having to worry Luke or Clary about me and the whole "Thou shalt not come neareth the Clave" thing. "'Acquaintance' is such a cold term. My preposition is allies."

"Allies," he said, testing it out. "And why," he leaned forward, "would I want to form an alliance with a Shadowhunter?"

"Maybe because it would be… beneficial for you."

"Or maybe it's because you have no one else to turn to?" he suggested and sipped at the smoothie.

I kept my voice cool and even, acting the part of a sarcastic and narcissistic Shadowhunter perfectly. "I have plenty of others to turn to."

Taki's mouth twitched with amusement. "But you don't deny that you are no longer welcome at the Institute."

I did not deign myself to answer.

"News travels fast if you know where to listen for it." I could tell from the feverish light in his eyes that he was finally getting to the point that he had come to tell me. "I know something that may interest you."

"If it has anything to do with either Valentine or the Clave I couldn't care less."

"And if it has to do with Jace?"

My eyes snapped from the tabletop to his face before I could pretend a lack of interest. "What?"

"I might, hypothetically, know that he was spotted entering a werewolf bar not long ago and if we were allies," he leered, "like you suggested I might, hypothetically, tell you."

My entire body was tense and I resisted the urge to lunge forward and grab Taki by the throat to force the words out of him. "Where is he?" I said stiffly, only my voice giving away how tense I was.

"First the terms of our alliance."

"Where is he?" I demanded again.

"If you wish, I will tell you the things that pass my ears."

"Must be a lot of things," I commented through my teeth. "You have rather large ears."

He flashed his sharp teeth at me. "And in return I would like your assistance when I require it."

I didn't like the way he was looking at me so I stood up, gathering my things. "I don't like your terms, Taki." I tossed a twenty on the table. "But I'll consider acquaintanceship."

He eyed the twenty and grinned up at me. "This is a sad day, Jaci. I was hoping you'd accept."

I nodded cordially and turned to leave.

"However…" I turned back to face him but he wasn't looking at me, instead worrying the edge of the bill on the table, "I happen to like you, Shadowhunter. The Hunter's Moon." Steel colored eyes met my hazels. "That's what you need to know."


The Hunter's Moon was just as dingy on the outside as Taki's, if not more so. And it smelled a bit like dog even out front.

"Jace is in there," I said quietly, pretending I was talking to my sleeping cat and not myself even though it was a complete lie. I stared at the door, trying to convince myself that it wasn't weird that I was about to burst into some random Downworlder bar I'd never heard of before where Jace just happened to be.

Before I could take a step forward, the door burst open and an extremely tall person stormed out, muttering. "Fucking Shadowhunters."

"Eesh," I commented, more out of amusement than actual offense. "We haven't even met and you already hate me."

The man's harsh gaze flashed to me and I saw the disfiguring scar cutting across his face and making him that much more intimidating.

"Silver powder," I commented sadly. "Gotta hate it."

"Are you with him?" the man growled, glaring daggers down at me.

"Who?" I asked, puzzled. I'd just showed up. "Oh! You must mean Jace. Well at least, I think you mean Jace. He's the only person I know who can make someone this," I indicated him, "angry." I was rambling. "I'm sorry, I'm rambling. So I take it this means Jace is in there? You know what? Don't answer that. I'm an idiot. Sorry." I went to move past him but he didn't budge.

"Maybe," he said slowly and heatedly, "you should teach him some manners."

I raised one eyebrow. "You think he's my responsibility?"

"You're all responsible for each other."

"I see." I was liking this tall person less and less. "Well, if that's your philosophy. Excuse me, I should probably go stop him from dismembering everyone within a ten foot radius in there."

But he was completely ignoring me now and gazing over my shoulder with a look of mingled shock and horror.

"What are you…" I trailed off as I saw it. A body was lying, tangled and motionless, in the alley with a shadow stooped over it. "Oh bloody hell."

Finally sensing our presence, the shadow darted away as we rushed to the body. It was a boy around my age, maybe a bit younger and hardly recognizable. Blood spattered the alley from the boy's torn throat and I was really wishing I'd used a different curse than "bloody."

"He's still alive," the man beside me said, hands fluttering useless over the boy.

Blank brown eyes stared up at me before sliding laboriously to the man. Then the boy was completely still.

"Not anymore," I whispered. "Farewell."

"Well," the man said hoarsely, "aren't you going to do something? You're a Shadowhunter."

I'd just watched a boy die and now I was being expected to leap into action? What was I supposed to do? Summon the Clave? Because that would go over well.

"No," I said flatly, "I'm not. Well, I am, but barely." I dragged my wrist across my forehead, shoving my bangs out of my face and trying to clear the images from my mind. "I'm useless here."

He was on his feet instantly and heading towards the door of the bar. I followed closely, feeling like I might be sick if I stayed with the boy. The instant he went through the door, I heard the bar fall silent and I ducked in unnoticed behind him.

"Bat!" a girl's voice cried. "Are you hurt?"

Bat stared blankly at them all and I managed to sink into a chair subtly. "An attack. There's a body in the alley. A dead kid. Blood – everywhere. Not my blood. I'm fine."

"A body?" someone asked. "But who?"

The entire population inside the bar moved in a rush towards the door. Well, almost. Through the crowd I saw someone with blonde hair sitting at the bar completely undisturbed. My heart skipped when I realized it was Jace. Bat was explaining the alley scene to the crowd.

"There was someone in the alley. Someone kneeling over him. Not like a person – like a shadow. They ran off when they saw us. He was still alive. A little. I bent down over him, but-" he paused. "He died without saying anything."

"We?" someone asked.

I saw Bat nod. "There was a girl-"

"Vampires," a female voice declared angrily. "The Night Children. It can't have been anything else."

I saw one issue with her analysis. Vampires had fangs, they had no reason to slit throats. They wouldn't spill all that blood. I swallowed thickly at the thought of the alley painted in blood. How we hadn't noticed earlier than we had, I didn't know.

Bat shoved through the crowd and moved towards the figure I knew to be Jace. Before the werewolf could reach him, however, Jace was on his feet.

"What's your problem, werewolf?"

"Are you deaf, Nephilim?" Bat snarled. "There's a dead boy in the alley. One of ours."

"Do you mean a lycanthrope or some other sort of Downworlder?" I heard Jace's voice ask delicately. The crowd had moved so I could no longer actually see him and I didn't have the energy to change vantage points. "You all blend together to me."

"He was only a cub," a new voice said in a strained tone. "His name was Joseph."

I groaned inwardly and pinched the bridge of my nose. In just a few short weeks I had seen more death than I had in my entire life previously. My hands felt sticky and I realized upon opening my eyes that they were covered in Joseph's still-warm blood.

"A lycanthrope boy?" Jace asked.

"He was one of the pack," the voice that had identified the body continued. "He was only fifteen."

My stomach lurched. Until recently Clary had been fifteen, the death of someone her age made me uneasy especially since I hadn't seen her for a couple days.

"And what exactly do you expect me to do about it?"

"You're Nephilim. The Clave owes us protection in these circumstances."

I knew I should probably step in and try to instigate peace but there was no way I would be able to stop either side. Jace had apparently gotten some urge to try and get himself killed and the pack was on edge.

"I don't see anything you need protecting from here," Jace said insolently. "Except some bad décor and a possible mold problem. But you can usually clear that up with bleach."

Okay, screw sitting this one out. I got to my feet and began to thread my way through the crowd to the confrontation.

"There's a dead body outside this bar's front door," Bat's voice said. "Don't you think-"

"I think it's a little too late for him to need protection if he's already dead."

"Jace," I said lowly, finally having my made to the front of the mob of wolves who were fairly bristling (some literally).

His eyes widened when they landed on me but he went back to his impudent expression almost immediately. "Jaci," he said. "What interesting company you keep. You have blood on your face." I could hear the well concealed strain in his voice.

"Worried, Wayland?" I asked with a sarcastic tone that lacked heart.

Jace's eyes took in my entire appearance and he shrugged before turning back to the bar and the amber drink that sat there. "Not particularly," he said. "You're a big girl who can't be bothered to tell anyone where you're running off to."

I hated his tone. "I can take care of myself."

Jace chuckled, still with his back to me and the angry mob of Downworlders. "As can I. The rest of them…" he trailed off. Let them fill in the blanks. "One couldn't even keep himself from being splatter painted in an alley just outside this infested nest."

"Is this the attitude of the Clave one week after the Accords?" the bartender said with disgust, looking at the two of us. "The death of Downworlders is nothing to you?"

I held up my hand and pointed to the lack of the Covenant Mark there. "I'm not a Clave member. Plus we're not even eighteen yet."

"Neither was Joseph," someone shouted.

Obviously the pack was determined to blame something on someone. There was one thing I'd noticed about the inhabitants of the Shadow World, they were creatures of action.

"Joseph is dead," Jace said carelessly. "His age hardly matters anymore."

I whirled on him. "Is there a particular reason why you're trying to piss everyone off? Fine. Do whatever the hell you want. I'm done caring." And with that I shoved my way through the crowd and outside where the air was heavily scented with blood.

Joseph's body still lay where it had been, glassy eyes staring forever at nothing. I knelt down beside him and slid his lids closed gently. Only fifteen.

"Jaci?"

I turned to see Luke walking towards me. He seemed to be blurred and I realized then that I was crying. I wiped the tears away angrily and got to my feet. "Luke," I said simply.

He glanced down at the body before stooping to pull up the shirt collar over the bloody gash on the boy's neck. The effect was that now – aside from the blood and the setting – the boy could have been sleeping.

"It never gets any easier." Luke wasn't looking at me. "Each death is as terrible as the last."

"If it wasn't," I said, "would we still be human?"

Luke chuckled bitterly without humor and stepped around me toward the door of the bar. "Calling us human is a stretch, Jaci."

Once he opened the door, I was inclined to agree with him. Judging from the sounds and the milling about of the mob, Jace had taunted the pack into a fight. As I moved to follow him, Luke put his arm out; successfully keeping me out of the melee.

"That's enough."

The entire pack froze at those two words. Luminous, wolf-like eyes turned towards us, sliding over me and settling on Luke: the pack leader.

"That's enough. Leave the boy alone."

Like water, the pack dispersed. Soon all that remained where they had been were the man, Bat, and Jace looking considerably worse for wear than he had two minutes ago. His lip was split and there was a cut by his eyebrow. Bat had Jace's shirt fisted in one hand and a knife in the other. In an instant I had something in my hand ready to throw to disarm the werewolf if needed.

"He's not a boy, he's a Shadowhunter." Bat spoke the word like a filthy curse.

"They're welcome enough here. They're our allies," Luke said calmly.

"He said it didn't matter," Bat protested, "-about Joseph."

Luke turned his gaze to Jace who was no longer smirking like an idiot. "I know. Did you come in here just to pick a fight, Jace Wayland?"

Jace smiled widely, blood flowing from his lip. "Luke."

Looking shocked, Bat released Jace and turned to Luke apologetically. "I didn't know-"

"There's nothing to know," Luke said wearily.

"They said the Clave wouldn't care about the death of a lycanthrope child," the bartender said in a deep voice.

"They?" Luke asked.

"He's including me in that," I said harshly.

Luke blinked down at me and rested the hand that had been previously holding me back on my shoulder. "Jaci and Jace don't speak for the Clave. Besides, they couldn't have done anything even if they'd wanted to. Isn't that right?"

I didn't answer him. Obviously news traveled quickly through Downworld.

"I know what happened with Maryse," Luke said into the silence.

"Who told you?" Jace demanded, paling. "Clary?"

I sighed. "Jace, how would Clary know?"

He ignored me like he always did when I was right.

"I'm the pack leader," Lue said. "I hear things. Now come on. Let's go to Pete's office and talk."

"Me too?" I asked, or was I free to go wander the city and drive myself mad with my thoughts?

"Yes."

"Fine," Jace said and glanced at one wall of the bar where some sort of liquid was dripping down the wall, "but you owe me for that Scotch I never got to drink."