"She said what?!" Alec's hiss made me wince. Had he never heard of personal space? I pushed him away until his back hit the wall of the closet but that still didn't leave much space for me with both Lightwoods cramped in with me.

"Why are we in a closet again?" I sighed, trying to find a position where my shoulder wasn't brushing Alec, or Isabelle, or a wall, or any other damn thing.

"We have to be subtle about this Jace!"

"About what? The fact that you still haven't come out the closet to your parents?" I smirked. I thought the pun was rather clever, however Isabelle didn't seem to think so. She smacked my arm, rolling her eyes in that was that only Isabelle does.

"This is serious."
I sighed again and looked up into the heavens, praying for a God I didn't believe in to get me out of this situation.

"I know and I've told you what she said. Apparently Valentine has the Mortal sword and needs Clary for his evil-genius-taking-over-the-world-and-killing-everyone-in-it-plan."

"Wait," Isabelle's brows were furrowed as if she was confused, "tell me more about this plan."

"What I said pretty much summed it up. She said he wanted to destroy the Clave. Without the Clave, shadowhunters run wild. Without shadowhunters demons take over the world. Demons taking over the world means..."
"Okay, we get it Jace. We're all going to die," Alec said exasperatedly.

"Exactly," I smiled, "now that we've got that sorted out..." I headed for the door, desperate to get out of this closed space. Isabelle only pushed me back and I let out a growl of annoyance.

"We need to tell Hodge."

"We can't! If he knows he'll let the Clave know!"
"Exactly! They need to, why would we keep it a secret from them?!"

"Because we can sort it out ourselves!"

"Isabelle, this isn't about proving what a good Shadow hunter you are!"

"You think I don't know that!?"

"Then why the hell do you want to keep it from the Clave?!" I just leant back, watching the two siblings fight, rather loudly I might add.

Before I could step in, before it got physical, however, the door to the closet opened to reveal a mass of red hair. Again, I cursed by erratic, beating heart, but she looked like some avenging angel. An angel with a raised brow and humour in her eyes.

"Was this your attempt at being subtle? Because, it usually works better if you're not screaming at each other."

That got both Lightwoods to shut up.

...

I had the sudden sense of déjà vu as we sat in the library with Hodge and Clary in that arm chair I first saw her in. However, now she wasn't cowering in fear, she sat straight analyzing everything around her.

"My father's hate of the clave is no secret. He plans on destroying them and killing every shadowhunter and downworlder that stand in his way."

"One man can't stand against a whole community of shadowhunters and downworlders." Alec's point was reasonable, however the green eyed beauty opposite me already had an answer.

"No... but a man with a Mortal sword, an army of demons and the help from the Fey and the Children of the Night, can." There was silence, then...

"Wait."
"What?!"
"Explain!"

I sat in silence, my eyes roaming the face of the girl opposite me. She closed her eyes for a moment as if gathering her thoughts before they opened and pierced through me. I stared right back, my heart thumping wildly for a reason that I didn't want to admit.

Hodge stood suddenly from behind his desk and the room fell silent.

"We would have heard if he had taken the Mortal sword, you must be mistaken." Her eyes didn't leave mine as she replied,

"I told you, the Clave isn't as powerful as they'd like you to believe." My eyes narrowed, still on her.

"Are you saying that the Clave know it's missing but haven't alerted anybody?" It was the first time I had spoken since Hodge had us also move to the library so we could discuss the evil-genius-taking-over-the-world-and-killing-everyone-in-it-plan.

"No. They don't know yet. He replaced the real sword with a fake."
"How did he even get the sword without being caught?"

"He has inside men."

"In the Clave?" She nodded.

"Who?"

"I don't know." I took a moment to look her over. She had kept eve contact during the whole conversation and hadn't once hesitated. I didn't know why, but I believed her.

"You going to tell us about the army of demons you mentioned?" I rose a brow, and leant against the wall, trying to seep the information from her, not that she seemed reluctant to give it. Why was she so eager to offer information? Was she working for Valentine? Somehow, I knew she wasn't.

She frowned and looked down, a look of irritation crossing her face.

"I don't know how he did it. He let my brother take control of that, you know being half demon and all." She let out a humourless laugh, her eyes suddenly darkening. I frowned. There was a story behind that.

"And why does he need you?"

When she looked up, the fear in her eyes was unmistakable, I had never seen anything like it. One moment it was as if the terror was swallowing her alive and somehow swallowing me whole too and the next, she closed herself off. Her eyes were empty.

"I don't know." This time I knew it was a lie. She was hiding something.

Hodge, seeming to notice the tension in the room cleared his throat again.

"Seeing as your father is after you, Clary, you need to learn to protect yourself. We can finish this talk later." At this, the girl in front of me scowled.

"I can protect myself."
"Really? Because you appeared here half dead from a ravener. They aren't exactly the most intelligent of creatures." Her glare turned in my direction and I found myself smirking. Who knew that pissing off someone could be so much fun?

"I dropped my steel," she said through gritted teeth.

"That proves the fact that you can't look after yourself. You shouldn't have dropped it in the first place." She opened her mouth about to respond when once again, Hodge interrupted us.

"I have no doubt that you can fight Clary, but it won't hurt to practice with Jace just to sharpen you up."
The suggestion somehow got my heart beating wildly again and I swallowed, trying to hide my sudden excitement.

"Don't worry, I'll go easy on you." She only grinned, a sly look in her eye.

"You promise?" And somehow I knew that she was a force to be reckoned with.