Chapter Three

Clary didn't think, she just ran- past a bewildered Simon, wading through the hordes of dancing people (thanking God for the first time that she was small), and pushing past an indignant bouncer that gave a squawk of protest. She made her way along the street, running faster than she had ever run before, even in training. Clary was oblivious to the stares of people, and even when she bumped into a posh looking woman with a pink poodle, the stereotypical aristocrat, she just stood up and kept running. The only thing that ran through Clary's mind was that she needed to get back to the house, seal the entrance, and report everything to Valentine and Jonathan. Her mind was racing, and she suddenly found herself facing a dead end. Clary cursed. She had forgotten that Valentine went somewhere else with the house on Saturdays with "adult business." Clary was cornered.

"You're a Shadowhunter," Jace said, his voice startling Clary. She spun around, crouched and seraph blade in hand.

"What?!…I mean, yes, yes I am," Clary's mind raced to find a cover story. Her mind raced as she tried to remember her cover story. Valentine would not be pleased if Jace, of all people, knew the truth.

"I've never seen you around before," Jace said, tilting his head inquisitively.

"I'm from an Institute in Switzerland," Clary explained, hoping that she sounded believable. She was normally as good a liar as Jonathan, but for some reason, feeling the golden eyes watching her made her nervous.

"Really, where?" the Shadowhunter pressed on.

"Helsinki!" Clary blurted out the place that she was most familiar with. She quickly realized her mistake with a sinking heart.

"One, you don't look Swiss, and two, Helsinki is the capital of Finland," Jace said, a bit pleased with his answer.

"My dad's the Swiss one. I don't know who my mom is. And Switzerland barely has any institutes, so Helsinki was the closest. My brother and I travel around the world with my dad, and I sometimes get locations mixed up…especially when someone looks at me like I'm a serial killer," Clary explain glaring slightly at Jace. She didn't like him, something that was clear to her. He seemed off, and strange, and Clary didn't really like things she was unfamiliar with. Plus, Jace was an arrogant prat, which Clary hated.

"Okay…." Jace stretched out the word, making it clear that he didn't believe her, "Why are you here then?"

"My dad and I travel around the world a lot, and I wanted to come to New York," Clary said, breathing after the sentence. Jonathan had told her before- Rule number one in lying is the breath naturally. Then no one would expect anything wrong.

"Why New York?" Jace asked again. Clary huffed. What was this? Was she supposed to win a reality show when she answered all the questions correctly?

"Um…" Clary said, trying a trick. She peeked at her watch, a birthday present from Valentine, and plastered the most realistic surprised look she could muster on her face, "Oh, it's late! I'm sorry but I have to go."

Clary tried to sidestep. Jace stopped her, "It's only eight."

"The sun's down," Clary tried again weakly. Clary inwardly cursed. Even if Jace hadn't been suspecting her, he would certainly now.

"Most Shadowhunters sleep late…unless you've been living under a rock lately?" Jace said, making an attempt at a light-hearted joke. Then, Clary snapped. She didn't know why, but now she was in a tight situation, was plain uncomfortable because Jace was here, and had a very long day in Paris. Now, a part of her subconscious recognized Jace's harmless question as an insult and Clary reacted instinctively. She kicked Jace, hard, in a-place-that-must-not-be-named (You know where). Jace buckled, but recovered fast. The once friendly, but kind of tense atmosphere turned into a fight, and Clary was cussing her head off mentally. She saw an opening and ran again. Clary knew where she was going.

Times Square would be crowded with people, so nothing could happen there. She would wait until it was midnight, and find Jonathan, go home, report everything to Valentine, and never go to New York again. It was what the sensible person would do, so Clary bought an iced coffee and watched the Time's Square TV run. It was midnight pretty soon, but the streets were still crowded. It was one o the things that Clary liked about New York. In the festivities of the new day, no one noticed the red-haired girl slinking silently away.

"I don't even want to know what you've been up to," Clary said, as soon as she saw Jonathan. A few strands of hair where sticking up, unlike his usual neat appearance, and there was a lipstick smear on his collarbone that apparently Jonathan hadn't seen yet.

"The same goes for you, sis," Jonathan said, eyeing her. Clary looked down, and fought the urge to scream. It was surprising that no one had mistaken her for one of the homeless. Her hair was sticking out all over the place, for some reason. Her normally spotless bright green shirt was almost completely black with clumps of dirt. The green was only left in a few patches. Clary's skinny jeans, her favorite pair of skinny jeans, wasn't noticeably dirty, but frayed and torn at many places.

"I better go clean up," Clary muttered, pushing her way past and entering the house, which was thankfully there now. After a long shower, with extra gardenia scented shampoo, Clary stepped out, made a mental note to burn the soiled clothes, and changed into another green top, but with black baggy jeans instead. She headed to the training room, where Jonathan was sure to be right now.

"Hey," Jonathan said, giving Clary a small smile as Clary sat on a bench, "Mind to explain why your clothes were so dirty today?"

"I saw a stray cat and a person chasing it, and I helped the person catch the cat," Clary said. Clary then was shocked at herself. What was she doing? Clary had to tell Jonathan about the three Shadowhunters, but it felt wrong.

"Oh," Jonathan said dismissively. He knew about Clary's love of animals.

"I'm going to sleep now," Clary said, even though she wasn't sleepy. Jonathan just shrugged and picked up a spear.

That night, Clary dreamed of Jace as an angel.

I'm trying to update weekly now.