Jace was thrown into the study but he landed gracefully on his left foot, looking down at it because he didn't want to raise his eyes and see the rest of the room yet. It was silent. But that meant nothing. Jace slowly lifted his eyes.
And felt so dizzy he actually swayed sideways into the glass cabinet next to the Portal.
Neither his father nor his brother were still in the room.
Jace stood up straight and closed the door to the Portal quietly, amazed at his unusual good luck. He could still mess this up though. No doubt his father was looking for him right now.
Jace sped across the room soundlessly and peeked out into the hallway. The coast was clear. Now where would they first look to find him? His room most likely. So Jace headed in the opposite direction, stopping before each open door way and peering cautiously inside before hurrying on.
Where could he even go? Not out to the barn…it was too far away. He couldn't go any where that would seem odd for him to be in, like the weapons room; he never usually went in there unless he was getting something for a session and that was rare because Jonathan usually dealt with that. So where could he go?
And then he knew. A smile flashed across his face but faltered as he realized he'd have to pass Jonathan's room to get there.
Creeping up the stairs to the second floor, Jace eyed the open doorway of his brother's room.
His eyes then flicked down the long hallway to the large double doors that were his target. If he could manage to avoid Jonathan in Alicante by scaling a rooftop…surely he could avoid him in their own house.
Don't get cocky… his inner voice warned him as he started to creep towards the open doorway, seeing a shadow of somebody inside the room.
Jace told his inner voice to shut up as he neared Jonathan's bedroom and carefully…carefully, peeked inside.
Jonathan was standing in profile to him, his head turned away from the door, a clean shirt in his hands. Jonathan tossed the shirt on his bed, his eyes hooded with exhaustion.
Then Jonathan pulled his shirt up, and Jace prepared to dart across the doorway as soon as it was over his face, but stopped when he saw the black marks that swirled over his bare chest.
Remembering he had only seconds, Jace crossed in front of the open doorway and continued silently down the hallway, his heart pounding with what he had just seen on his brother's skin.
Jace opened the right door of the library and slipped inside soundlessly, peering behind him to see if he had been noticed.
The malignant marks that circled Jonathan's heart, so like the marks that circled Jace's wrist, was thrown from his mind as he saw a large shadow coming up the stairs; a shadow with hulking broad shoulders.
Jace quickly shut the door and ran across the library to the arm chairs in the corner, grabbing a book off a shelf at random and flipping on a table lamp before throwing himself sideways into a chair, his long legs dangling over the arm.
He had just opened the book, which had turned out to be Wuthering Heights, Jace cursed silently, when the door of the library opened.
Jace did not look up, pretending to be engrossed in the book, when the door shut and slow footsteps crossed over to him.
"There you are. Didn't you hear me calling you?" Valentine asked, his loud voice echoing in the large quiet room.
Jace counted to three before flicking his eyes up over the cover of the book.
"Hmm?" he asked. Valentine made a grumble of exasperation in his throat.
"Never mind. Your brother and I are home now." Jace looked back down at the book and flipped a page idly.
"So I see."
Valentine narrowed his eyes and walked over to stand in front of him.
Jace tried to make the neat words on the page make sense but they all just looked like the meaningless black scribbles of an illiterate.
Valentine's hand reached out and tipped the book up from the bottom with his finger so he could better see the cover. A low laugh rumbled in his chest.
"Wuthering Heights?" he asked mockingly.
Jace shifted his shoulders more comfortably in the chair, his jaw hardening defiantly without him meaning it to. Valentine laughed again.
"I suppose you relate to Heathcliff don't you? He finds his true love and it destroys him. He's obsessed with her even after she's gone. To love is to destroy Jace; this book is proof." he said patronizingly. Jace smiled stiffly.
"Yeah, I suppose I do relate to him. But more so for his thirst for revenge than for his love of a girl." he looked up and met his father's eyes.
Valentine's own eyes glittered with humor. That's right, Angel Boy. You just keep fanning that fire in your belly; I'm gunna need it.
"Goodnight, Jace."
"Goodnight, Father."
And with that, Valentine left the library.
For over a minute, Jace could do nothing but sit there and stare at the closed library double doors, waiting for his father to come back in and explode like an atom bomb.
But when absolutely nothing happened, Jace's head dropped back against the arm of his chair and a loud sigh of relief escaped his lungs. The hand holding Wuthering Heights slipped off his stomach and fell to the floor and Jace could do nothing but smile up at the high ceiling in amazement.
He had actually gotten away with it. All of it. He couldn't believe it.
Jace swung his legs over the arm of the chair and stood up, the grin still tugging up his mouth as he strode over to the book case and slipped the book in his hand back in its spot.
"I gotta say Father…you're loosing your touch." Jace said wickedly before he went to turn off the lamp.
As he walked back through the darkened library to the doors, Jace lazily trailed the fingers of his left hand along the spines of the books in the shelves, feeling like he could do just about anything.
Suddenly Jace stopped, his fingertips still brushing the spine of a book. Jace looked down his arm at the black markings that darkened the pale skin of his wrist.
He wasn't finished yet. He still had to get the spell book for Magnus.
And since he seemed to have unusually amazing luck tonight…why not take advantage of it?
The way he figured it, the world was finally being set right and he was being given a break for once. It was about damn time too…
So Jace left the library, quietly walking down the hall past his brother's now closed bedroom door and down the stairs to his father's study.
As he neared the open doorway, his instincts gave a little flicker of warning. Don't push it…
Jace slowed and stopped outside of the study, a frown crossing his face. He pushed away the feeling and peeked into the room; his father wasn't in there.
Jace grinned and slipped inside, closing the door behind him quietly and telling himself that he was just being paranoid; his father had already said goodnight.
The foreboding feeling rose up again as he crossed the room to the book shelf at the back and this time Jace told himself he would be a fool for wasting an opportunity like this.
His eyes skimmed the spines of the books, not quite knowing what he was looking for.
Then he saw a dark green cover that had the same kind of markings on it that his wrist held.
Jace's heart pounded excitedly as he pulled it out and started flipping through the pages.
He knew that he couldn't take the whole book; his father would surely notice that…so he'd have to find the page the spell was on and sent that to Alec by fire message.
Jace tore out a blank page from the front of the book before continuing to flip through the various spells in the dark green tome.
Jace cringed at the pictures that were below some of the instructions. There was some nasty magic in here…
Jace flipped faster, feeling a churning in his stomach when he finally saw a bracelet of what looked like runes being burned into someone's arm.
An illustration of a shadow with dark red eyes and clawed hands was leaking out of one of the runes and as Jace stared at it, cold sweat ran down his spine.
Before he could dwell on it anymore, Jace tore the page from the book and slipped it quickly back into its place before folding the page into a tight square.
Jace looked around the bookshelf and spotting a pen, he pulled the blank piece of paper towards him and began scribbling a hasty fire message to Alec.
Then folding the two pieces of paper together, Jace pulled open the small drawer of the bookcase and dropped the pen inside, the note now a small square held tightly in his left hand, when his heart thudded painfully and the small hairs on the back of his neck rose up.
Jace slowly pushed the drawer shut and discretely slipped the note into his pocket.
"Find what you were looking for?"
Jace's eyes slipped closed.
He slowly turned around, placing his hands behind him on the edge of the shelf.
Valentine was standing at his desk, not looking at him, pouring himself a glass of scotch. He brought the crystal up to his mouth and took a drink before flicking his dark eyes over to Jace.
"I thought you were asleep." Jace said.
Valentine smiled and stared at him, his face resembling a pale mask with dark holes cut out for the eyes. Those eyes glittered as he slowly started to approach Jace, the glass of scotch held lightly in his hand.
"I'm not." he said without blinking.
Jace knew better than to say something smart ass in response, which astonished him, since he was certain that he was pretty much the stupidest person in existence.
As Valentine closed the distance between them, Jace felt his fingers tighten on the shelf behind him.
The worst part of this was…he had no one to blame but himself. It was his own fault he was in this mess. He had been so close…and then he had to go and get cocky…
"So," Valentine said before draining the rest of his scotch and setting the glass behind Jace on the shelf. "Did you find what you were looking for?"
Jace didn't answer. They were so close, Jace could smell the scotch on his breath.
Valentine chuckled and lifted his hand to Jace's chin, gently turning his face to the side and making him watch as he raised his arm and pushed a green book further back into the book shelf; it had been sticking out farther the ones around it.
Jace dropped his eyes, cursing his arrogant stupidity. Valentine let go of his face.
"Got bored of Wuthering Heights so quickly did you?" he said in a voice that was barely above a whisper. Jace tried to settle his racing heart.
"I was curious." Valentine narrowed his eyes.
"And what have I told you about curiosity?" Jace felt his eyes and voice go dead.
"It kills things." Valentine nodded slowly.
"It really does, Jace." he said quietly. Jace finally looked up at him.
"Well I knew you wouldn't tell me anything if I asked you… and I couldn't stand not knowing. You've also always told me that the only way to be a man is to be a master of your own body. How can I do that when there's something on my body that I don't understand?" Valentine considered him for awhile.
"So what did you learn?" Jace blanked his eyes.
"Not much. I don't speak the language…so this was all for nothing." Valentine blinked slowly at him before reaching behind him for his glass.
He then turned on his heel and went back to his desk, getting the bottle of scotch and another glass, pouring a healthy amount of liquor into both of them.
Valentine walked back to him and handed him the second glass and Jace took it, idly thinking that he drank way too much for a seventeen year old.
Valentine waited until Jace had taken a drink before speaking again.
"So what did you do today? Anything…exciting?" Jace looked up at him. He shook his head.
"No, not really. It was pretty dull actually. I practiced my aim…" he glanced down guiltily. "And went to the barn for a bit." Valentine watched him before shaking his head and downing the scotch in his glass.
"You and those damn horses…I don't pretend to understand." he said as he turned away from Jace to the fireplace. "Finish your drink and go to bed." Jace blinked once in astonishment before knocking back the rest of his liquor and setting the glass on the mantle.
"Goodnight, sir."
He then walked to the door as calmly as he could manage and just as he reached out his hand for the handle, it was pulled away and Jonathan swung open the door.
"Here you are; I've been looking all over." he said in an annoyed voice. Jace cocked an eyebrow. Jonathan stared back at him coolly.
"Gimme your seraph blades so I can put them away."
At the fireplace, Valentine was staring down into the flames meditatively, his fingers drumming a staccato melody on the mantle.
Jace slid his seraph blade out of his belt and handed it to his brother, hilt first, before starting to push past him.
"Wait, where's the other one? I gave you two this morning."
Valentine's eyes flicked up from the fire.
It was a second before Jace responded.
"Oh, it's probably up in my room." Jonathan scoffed impatiently.
"Well, uh, go get it. What do you think I am, your maid?" Jace sneered at him before pushing past him.
"Jace." Valentine said.
Jace and Jonathan both stopped and looked at him due to the tone of his voice.
Valentine curled his first two fingers quickly in the boy's direction, a nonchalant gesture that said 'come here'.
But Valentine was not looking at him, and there was nothing very nonchalant about the gesture. Jace walked slowly back to his side.
"Yeah?" Valentine stared into the fire for a few seconds, before a small smile curved his mouth.
"What all did you say you did today?" Jace frowned.
"I told you. I practiced my aim and was in the barn, then I did some reading."
"Its funny…" Valentine said slowly as he straightened up and turned to face his youngest son. "You say you were in the barns…but you don't smell like the horses."
Every excuse to explain why that was that came to Jace was a transparent one, so he kept his mouth shut.
"In fact, if I'm not mistaken…" Valentine leaned in, bringing his nose close to Jace's neck.
Jace had to fight his body to remain still. He heard the quiet inhale and then his father stepped back, his eyes dark. And then he chuckled.
"It seems that your curiosity is contagious, Jace."
Jace blinked at him, noticing how the firelight was dancing in his eyes.
"So tell me," Valentine said softly after Jace remained silent, "What did you think of Alicante?"
Over at the doorway, Jonathan's eyes widened. Jace flicked his eyes at the fire.
No point in denying it…he shouldn't have tried to fight the inevitable. Now whatever his father decided to do would just be that much worse because Jace had arrogantly believed that he was going to get away with it, more than once.
"Mm, so you don't feel much like talking about it huh?" Valentine asked in that same quiet tone, his eyes burning holes into Jace's face. "Well can I ask who you went to go see?" Jace glanced up at him.
"I didn't go to see anyone. I just wanted to see what all the fuss was about." he said in a low voice. Valentine crossed his arms.
"Call me crazy, but for some reason, I just don't believe you."
Valentine took a step closer and Jace felt his heart slam against his ribs like it was trying to get away from him.
"Now, I'm only going to ask you this one more time. Who did you go to see?" he murmured in the voice that inspired fear in grown Shadowhunters. Jace looked up and met his eyes.
"A girl."
There was a long silence as Valentine searched his eyes, and it was the loudest silence that Jace had ever heard.
"A probable story. But knowing you, the real reason you went to the city is likely to just piss me off."
"I'm telling the truth; I went and saw a girl." Valentine cocked his head to the side.
"And I suppose the fire message in your pocket is to that girl?"
Jace swallowed as he looked down at his boots.
"Yes." Valentine smiled cruelly.
"Let me see it."
"No. It's private."
Valentine sighed and slipped his stele out of his jacket.
"Well you came here tonight looking for answers…and now you're going to get them."
Jace's head whipped up as Valentine grabbed his forearm and pulled him forward, touching the tip of his stele to the black markings that burned around Jace's wrist.
Jace tried to wrench his arm out of his father's tight grip as Valentine said a few words in a harsh language and then suddenly, everything went black.
He felt like he was being forced down a very tight tube, the walls suctioning to his body like an unbreakable plastic, his mouth and nose being covered with a suffocating thickness. His arms were pinned down at his sides so tightly it felt like they had become molded together.
His lungs ached and his senses were cut off completely; the only thing he was aware of was the crushing darkness. Just when he felt like he was going to lose his mind, the tube seemed to burst and he was falling.
He hit something solid and he gasped air into his lungs with a desperation he had never felt before. A sickened groan escaped his mouth and then a shape fell upon him, a shape that was entirely too familiar.
The demon from his dream as a child was hovering above him, an insane smile stretching its horrible face. Jace rolled over to run from it but it laughed, freezing him inside his body.
Remember me? It asked with a voice that made Jace's flesh crawl. Then the demon reached out its hand, its fingers unnaturally long and bony, and touched Jace's forehead.
In his mind, Jace saw Alec Lightwood; tall with messy black hair and those deep blue eyes.
Jace saw Alec smile at him and drop his eyelashes, like they shared a secret. He felt the overwhelming feeling of brotherhood when he looked at Alec; he knew that he would give his life to save Alec's and knew that Alec would do the same for him.
And then suddenly a huge shadow swept up behind him and Jace called out to him, but no sound escaped from his throat.
The demon shoved its fist through Alec's back, and Jace saw his parabatai's eyes fly wide with shock and pain before he looked down at the long fingers that were sticking out of his chest gruesomely, soaked red with his blood and fanning out like some macabre flower.
The demon yanked its fist back out of Alec's chest and Alec crumpled to his knees, blood gushing out of his mouth. Alec tumbled sideways and his blue eyes sought out Jace's golden ones.
"Jace…" he choked, his hand reaching out for him.
Jace couldn't move to help him.
Please stop…Jace begged as he watched his first friend dying slowly in front of him, watched the light fade from his eyes, and be completely incapable of doing anything to ease his pain.
The demon appeared at his side before leaning down to speak in his ear, its burning eyes on Alec.
Only you can stop it…just do what he says and it will all go away…
Jace closed his eyes. Okay, I will.
And just like that, Alec disappeared.
The demon was gone, the soul crushing blackness was chased away and with a gasp, Jace opened his eyes and found that he was on his knees in front of Valentine, who was staring down at him with the coldest expression on his face.
"Still curious?"
