Hey guys! Happy Palm Sunday! I hope you guys are all enjoying your spring brake. Mine has been pretty good to me lol I'll be updating the next chapter on Easter since it's the holiday, so I guess that's a treat. I hope you guys enjoy your holiday. Here's chapter 21!

I sat in that bed for hours, trying to go to sleep. But every time I got comfortable, Jace's dead body popped into my mind. And I had to start all over again.

So, finally, I got up and changed into a camisole and shorts. Then, I quietly walked down to the gym, bringing my iPod with me.

I figured if I wasn't going to sleep, I could at least train.

I hooked myself up to the harness and walked up to the wall. And yes, I knew it wouldn't make a difference, seeing that I didn't have a spotter. But at least I could pretend.

I took a stopwatch and started it, so I knew what I had to beat next time.

I tried to lose myself in the music that was playing in my ears. If I looked down and saw Alec wasn't there holding on to the rope, I'd flip my shit.

I tried to picture him shouting encouragements to me and I'd roll my eyes, thinking he was only lying to make me feel better.

I was about fifteen feet up. Seven minutes on the clock.

I kept going, telling myself repeatedly to not look down. Listen to the music.

And then I reached the spot where I usually stop because the grips are too spaced out.

I knew I should've gone back down since I was doing it without anyone watching. But I kept going.

I was a shadowhunter. Raziel's blood ran through me. I could do anything. Right?

I couldn't reach the next grip by just reaching out for it, I knew that. I had to jump. And that's exactly what I did.

I dangled from the grip by my fingertips. If I slipped, I could break every bone in my body, if not die.

I kicked myself off the wall and jumped again. I grabbed the two grips and sighed in relief as I put my foot on the one below me. I was able to climb safely again.

Twenty-five feet up. I looked at the stopwatch. Ten minutes.

I continued to climb.

A few more jumps and stretches and I was at the top. Thirty feet in the air. Right where Isabelle stood when she impressed us all with her swan dive. It only took me fifteen minutes.

I hope one day I'd be able to do that. Not just to say I'm better than her but to prove I wasn't as helpless as she thought.

"It's all about balance," Alec had said.

I swallowed. I wanted so badly to jump. But once I did, I knew I wouldn't be able to take it back. I could die. It made a lot more sense to just climb down. But lately I've been very senseless.

I pushed myself off the wall. I felt myself flip twice in the air. And then, it was like time slowed down.

I saw the ground getting closer and closer. I got myself right side up and prepared myself for the landing. It's all about balance.

I landed on the balls of my feet, silently thanking my mother for making me go to all those dumb gymnastics lessons as a kid.

I flipped off walls, jumped over things and maybe even danced a little. I did everything I could to test my abilities and work on what I had trouble with.

By two in the morning, I was sweating so much, my tongue was sweating so much, I was dizzy from dehydration.

I took a long swig of water and was about to go to bed when I caught sight of the weapons room.

The coolness of the room felt good against my sweaty skin.

I saw the bow and arrow that I almost killed Alec with. I saw whips, knives, guns, swords, every possible weapon you could imagine.

A dresser sat underneath a rack of guns. I opened one of the drawers and saw a whole collection of daggers.

I picked one up, feeling the sharpness of the blade with the tip of my finger. I felt like Mulan as she looked at her reflection in her father's sword. Except I would never chop off my hair like that.

The handle was smooth. It fit perfectly into the palm of my hand.

Sparks of adrenaline shot up through my hand and up my arm as I wondered when Alec and Isabelle would let us play with this stuff.

I put the dagger back in the drawer and left the weapons room.

I took a cold shower and then climbed back into bed. This time, I was able to go to sleep.

I dreamed of a jealous Isabelle that night.

A couple hours later, Jace was shaking me awake.

Usually, I'm not very happy in the morning. But with Jace, I found myself smiling.

"Hey."

I had gotten only five hours of sleep that night. Had Jace been anyone else, I would've smacked him.

"Hey, I said.

"You should get up. Alec and Isabelle want us in the gym."

I sat up and pushed myself out of bed. "Ok. I'll see you there in a few minutes."

He kissed me lightly before leaving.

I threw on my usual tank and shorts and then raced to the gym. I couldn't wait to show Isabelle what I could do.

When I went down to the gym, Jace wasn't there yet. So, I just sat and watched Alec and Isabelle.

Isabelle had a knife in her hand and made Alec dodge every one of her moves. I would try to stop them but I've seen them do crazier things.

When Alec had her on the ground, he took the knife and made Isabelle dodge.

"They're pretty good, huh?" said Jace.

I nodded. "Yeah. But no matter how good I get, I'm never allowing anyone to get that close to me with a knife."

He laughed. "C'mon, let's go in."

We walked inside silently, trying not to distract them.

Isabelle ducked and jumped until she found an opening. She tackled Alec ot the ground and took the knife from him.

They booth stood up and sighed when they saw us. They must've been really tired.

"Ok, guys, I want you to climb the wall again," Alec said breathlessly.

We didn't say anything, not wanting to trigger anything.

Jace went first. To me, he still seemed really fast for someone who's only climbed the wall twice.

Alec and I cheered him on. Even Isabelle contributed after a while.

When Jace reached twenty feet up, Alec had to bring him down. That was where the grips were too far apart for him. He tried to get past it but Alec didn't want him to slip.

"Ok, your turn, Clary."

I grabbed a stopwatch and tossed it to Isabelle. "Time me."

I heard her whisper, "Is she serious?"

"I think so," replied Alec.

I scurried up the wall, trying to figure out which route was easiest and which one was fastest.

I wished I had just held on to the watch. I wanted to know how fast I was going. Or how slow.

I felt like it was taking me forever. It didn't take me this long last night. So much for beating fifteen minutes.

I tried to hum a song to myself, hoping that would make me go faster. But my pace didn't change.

I gave up trying to hum and just went up silently.

I reached that twenty foot point. And before Alec could bring me down, I jumped.

Jace whistled loudly while Alec and Isabelle stared silently.

I found myself smiling as I climbed the rest of the way up. Even if I didn't beat my time, I at least proved to Isabelle that I was good.

And when I reached the top, I looked smugly down at the three of them. "Time?"

"Ten minutes!" Alec called. "Good job, Clary!"

"Why don't you jump off?" Isabelle said.

I rolled my eyes as Alec elbowed her. And while he wasn't looking, I jumped.

"Clary!"

I landed on the balls of my feet just like last time.

After unhooking myself from the harness, Jace picked me up and spun me around.

"Holy shit, how did you do that?" he said through an excited laugh.

I looked at Alec. "It's all about balance."

He kissed me lightly. It took everything I had not to make it serious.

"Alright guys, over here."

Jace and I followed Isabelle to the other side of the gym.

There was a balance beam that seemed to be two times higher than usual.

"How are we even supposed to get on that thing?" I asked.

"Yeah, it's impossible to jump that high," Jace said.

Isabelle gave us that smug look when she said, "A human can't jump that high. What about a shadowhunter? Clary, wanna go first?"

Fucking bitching.

I stepped underneath the beam and then I jumped and pulled myself up.

"Not bad for a rookie," Isabelle said.

"Would you stop that?" Alec said, glaring at his sister. "That was perfect."

Isabelle pulled out a Nerf archery set.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I want you to dodge these arrows without falling off this beam."

My eyes widened. "Well, what if I do fall off?"

"Well, that will suck, won't it?"

Alec sighed. "You'll be fine, Clary. It's all about balance."

The first arrow shot was easy to dodge. And so was the next one. It wasn't until Isabelle started shooting faster that I had trouble.

When I ducked, I wanted to stand up straight and regain my balance but by then she was already shooting the next arrow and I had to move the other way.

"You have to move your feet," she said.

"I'll fall if I do."

"What do you think we're practicing for?"

I looked down at the beam. It was only about four inches wide so I didn't have a lot of room to move my feet.

I got in a ready position, keeping my feet together and bending my knees.

Isabelle shot the arrow.

I jumped and landed on the beam safely.

I ducked for the second one and cart wheeled when I saw the third one coming.

Isabelle was right. Moving my feet made things easier. I had to keep better balance but I was able to move out of the way quicker.

On the last arrow, I kept my feet a little to far apart and slipped. But I my hands had a firm grip on the beam.

Alec smiled and I think I saw a little smile on Isabelle's face too.

"Good job," he said. "Your turn, Jace."

I hopped off and fist bumped Alec as Isabelle got all of her arrows together.

When I saw that Isabelle was going easy on Jace, I glared at the back of her head.

She only shot at Jace's upper body so he didn't have to jump as much.

I looked at Alec to see if he noticed. And he did.

"Sorry, Clary," he said. "She's just like that."

I sighed. "Whatever."

We practiced a couple more times on the beam. After Jace almost broke his ankle, Alec and Isabelle dismissed us.

"You were really good today," Jace said as he limped behind me.

"Are you sure you're ok?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But you! Holy shit!"

I rolled my eyes.

"You've gotta teach me how to do that."

"Teach you? I don't even know how I did it."

He threw his arm over my shoulder and walked me to my room. "I'll see you at breakfast."

"Ok."

I took a quick shower and got dressed. I went downstairs expecting to see something on the table but there wasn't anything. Only Jace sat there with a bowl of cereal and petting Church.

"Where is everyone?" I asked.

"They're in the library," he said. "They're discussing their plans for tonight."

"Oh, that's right. They're fighting tonight. That doesn't worry me at all."

"Relax, Clary," he said. "They'll be fine."

I poured myself a bowl of cereal and poured something for Church too since everyone seemed to forget.

Church pounced out of Jace's lap and ran to eat his breakfast.

"Oh, I keep forgetting to feed that damn thing."

I laughed as I sat next to him. "Nice parenting skills."

"Shut up."

I took a couple bites of my cereal and happily welcomed Church into my lap after he finished eating.

I tangled my fingers in his soft blue fur. "So, do you know where they're going?"

Jace swallowed. "I think they're going to central park. That's where they think Valentine and Jonathan are."

I nodded.

"You know, I keep thinking about our date. And how it was interrupted by those demons."

I smiled. "That seems like forever ago."

"It's only been a week."

"You've been counting?"

"Maybe."

I looked down and busied myself with petting Church as he purred. I didn't want Jace to see my blush. Hopefully my hair could make it blend.

"Since we'll have the house to ourselves, what do you say we have a movie night."

"As a date?" I said looking up.

He smiled. "As a date."

"Ok. I'm up for it."

"Good."

After I finished my cereal, I kissed Jace. "I'll see you tonight."

"You're gonna make me wait ten hours to see you?"

I chuckled evilly. "Yep."

I closed and locked my door. I was probably torturing Jace a little too much but it was boring just sitting around in this place all alone. I needed a little bit of entertainment.

I pulled out the Codex and began to read.

At three, Jace was knocking on my door.

"Clary, I'm dying over here. Please let me see you."

I burst into a fit of laughter. I tried desperately to quiet them but Jace's whiny voice sent me over the edge.

"Clary, it's not funny. I'm pretty sure someone could die of boredom."

I snorted into my hand, trying to catch my breath.

"Clary, open the door or I'm calling off our date."

"Oh, you big baby!" I got up and opened the door.

He snaked his arms around my waist and kissed me. But not like the last few times. Like our first kiss. Except he was less careful and I was less self-conscious.

I pressed my body against his, wanting to get as close to him as I could.

Jace closed the door.

I moaned lightly as his tongue flicked my lips.

I opened for him and gripped his hair.

His hand rubbed the spot on my lower back, an inch away from my ass.

I forced myself to pull away. "Let's save it for our date tonight, huh?"

He sat down on the bed and picked up the Codex. "You're still reading this thing?"

"I wanna learn as much as I can. We don't have any time to lollygag."

"But we have time for a date."

I smiled. "We always have time for a date. I just meant training wise, we have to learn quickly."

"Yeah, why don't we just train longer in the mornings?" Jace asked.

"Alec wants us to build muscle," I said. "If we train too long, we'll only end up losing weight."

"Do you have an answer for everything?"

I blushed. "Sorry."

Jace's hand caressed my cheek. "I love when you do that."

I moved his hand and rolled my eyes. "Shut up."

"I'm serious," he laughed.

"Would you stop doing that to me?"

"Doing what?"

I shrugged, not knowing what to say. All I knew was that Jace made me feel girly. It was a nice feeling. A great feeling. But I didn't want to be blinded by it. I was afraid I'd miss something important.

I mean, that last little stunt almost had us in the bed together. We had to control ourselves.

Jace turned on the TV. He wanted to watch something on HBO but I talked him into letting me watch NCIS. He claimed it was boring but five minutes in and he was yelling at Ziva to turn around.

At six, still no one was at the table so Jace and I had to make our own dinner.

We ended up putting Ramen noodles on the stove

"They're not still in the library, are they?" I asked.

"I doubt it," he said.

At seven, Jace and I had finished putting the dishes in the washing machine. I put some more foot in Church's bowl and left the kitchen to see the Lightwoods gathering at the front door.

They all wore tight black clothing. I guess that made sense. They didn't want to trip over flared jeans and they didn't want to stand out. But what they wore looked nothing like the traditional shadowhunter fighting outfit I saw in the Codex.

Jace and I followed them.

They were putting weapons into their belt, making sure the guns had bullets and such.

"You guys are leaving now?" I asked.

"Yeah," Alec said. "But don't worry, we won't be long."

"Just please don't burn the house down," Maryse said.

I smiled. "We won't."

"Be careful," Jace said.

Isabelle chuckled.

"Izzy," Jace said in a warning tone.

Isabelle hugged her brother. "I promise we'll come back in one piece."

"Ok, good. But promise me you'll be careful."

"We're shadowhunters, Jace. Careful isn't in our vocabulary."

"Isabelle!"

She kissed Jace on the cheek. "Mizpah."

"What?"

"It's a sort of goodbye without saying goodbye," she said.

"I don't like the sound of that," he said.

"She's referencing the Bible, Jace," I said. "'And Mizpah, for he said, the Lord watch between me and thee when we are absent one from another.'"

"I still don't like the sound of that."

"She's smarter than she looks," Isabelle commented. "We'll be back. Stop worrying."

Isabelle looked at me and for the first time she didn't glare. And I didn't glare at her either. Even though we were telling each other that everyone would be safe, we knew that it was dangerous.

We nodded briefly but respectfully at one another and then she left with her family.

"Ready for our date?"

I planned on making the chapter longer but I didn't want to make it too long. I'm a very lazy writer, I'll admit it lol but I promise, next Sunday I'll update again.

Review plz!

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