Eight

The night's chill bit through Jasmine's fighting gear as the group left the Institute and she suppressed a shiver. Her stele in-hand, she swiftly marked a heat rune into the skin of her wrist - hissing at the sizzle of burning flesh. It worked immediately, her body filling with warmth and she sighed in relief. Clary watched, unbridled curiosity in her green eyes.

The moon illuminated the way to Simon's van, which had been parked haphazardly on the side of the road just in front of the Institute's glamour - thanks to Jace's unparalleled driving. She wouldn't be surprised if they found a parking ticket on the windscreen. The group clambered in and Jasmine turned to Clary, stele offered out to the redhead.

"The rune I drew," she started, raising her arm so Clary could see her wrist more clearly. "It's designed to fill the shadowhunter with warmth. Would you like me to draw it on you?" She had noticed Clary shivering just as violently as she had.

The redhead's green eyes glittered with consideration, glancing between Jasmine and the intricate stele in her grip. Almost absentmindedly, she lightly touched the fading rune that still adorned her neck.

"At least you'd be awake for this one," Jasmine joked lightly, casting a teasing glance towards the front of the van - where Jace was settling into the driver's seat.

"Ha ha," he deadpanned without bothering to turn around. Apparently he'd felt the weight of her eyes on him.

Clary's gaze didn't falter from the stele, her indecision palpable.

Jasmine's smile softened. "You don't have to. I just noticed you were cold," she explained quietly.

Something akin to determination hardened the look in Clary's eyes - so strong it took Jasmine by surprise. The redhead shoved her arm out and nodded once, her jaw clenched and a grimace already on her face.

The blonde countered her overly tough facade with gentleness, her reaching grip as light as a feather on Clary's outstretched arm. "It'll sting for a few seconds," she warned, watching Clary's face for any sign that she'd change her mind, and ignoring the probing look she could feel emanating from Alec and Isabelle.

She found none. Clary just nodded once more. "I'm ready."

The tip of the stele glowed brightly as it touched delicate skin, painting a burning path through alabaster canvas. Clary sucked in a pained breath and held it.

"Breathe," Jasmine murmured, her eyes focused on creating the swirling rune; her hands were artists' hands, steady and precise. She heard Clary release the air she'd been holding and nodded minutely in praise.

She finished the rune in under ten seconds, though it probably felt a lot longer for the redhead, and she watched as Clary took in the intricate pattern of the rune - her discerning mind was probably itching to recreate it.

The rune kicked into action as soon as the stele left her skin. Clary visibly relaxed, her shoulders no longer bunched from the biting cold. "Thanks," she said, smiling gratefully at Jasmine.

"No worries."

Jace was watching the two of them with a raised brow. "Can we go now?"

"I don't know what you were waiting for. I'm capable of drawing runes in a moving vehicle, Jace," Jasmine sighed with a roll of her blue eyes.

The golden-haired shadowhunter scoffed, turning back in his seat to face the road, finally kicking the van's engine to life. "You could've said."

Jasmine shook her head and noticed Alec's glare bounce back and forth between her and Clary - specifically the rune on the redhead's arm - and then Isabelle's wicked grin as she watched Alec's disapproval.

"Would you like me to draw it on you, too?" Jasmine asked the brooding male sweetly, a saccharine smile playing on her lips.

Alec ignored her, simply turning away to face his sister with a scowl. It only served to make Isabelle giggle and Jasmine smile wider which, in turn, strengthened his glower. The vicious circle continued throughout the journey until Jace finally pulled to a stop outside of an old church.

The group climbed out of the van, and were immediately greeted with rows upon rows of gravestones - old and decrepit as well as ones of new, shimmering marble. Grand oak trees were dotted around the expanse, with sprigs of wildflowers growing by the thick roots. A sea of thick mist lingered around the tombstones.

"Whose grave is it?" Alec asked, breaking the sombre silence - the question for no-one in particular.

Isabelle strode ahead, reading out the name she had written down. "Mary Milligan, born January 10th, 1802. Died January 10th, 1878."

Jasmine hummed, trailing just to the side of Alec as the group followed. "What a way to celebrate your birthday," she mused.

"What are we looking for?" Clary asked.

"A cache of weapons," Isabelle responded with a flick of her hair, weaving through the multitude of gravestones.

"Stashed here with Mrs Milligan," Jace continued, overtaking the brunette to lead the group forward, his stride strong and purposeful. Clary quickly hurried after him; a moth to a flame - glancing at the crumbled gravestones littering the grounds..

"Why are there Shadowhunter weapons in a churchyard?" She asked. "Is it some kind of deal you have with the Catholic Church?"

Jasmine spoke up from next to Alec, at the back of their formation. "Not specifically Catholics. Demons have been around as long as we have - all over the world."

"All ancient religions recognise demons… or at least they used to," Isabelle added.

"And, since Shadowhunters hail to no single religion, all religions assist us in the fight against them," Jasmine continued. "We could have quite easily gone to a Jewish synagogue or an Islamic mosque, and so on."

And she had done that, several times, in her battle against demons. So much so that she lost track of how many religious shrines, temples and churches she'd had the pleasure of pillaging for weapons and supplies.

"However," Alec began, glancing at the fair-haired woman. "They forgot about the threat because we've been here to protect them… Typical mundane failure of imagination."

A scoff broke free of Jasmine's throat. "Can that stick go any further up your ass?" She could tell Alec was about to retaliate when Isabelle jumped on the bandwagon.

"Are you saying we did too good a job?" The brunette laughed derisively, halting in her tracks as she stared her brother down. "You just can't let up, can you?"

"You know what?" Jace interrupted, his leader-voice coming through. "Alec, Jasmine - why don't you both go check out by that angel over there?" He pointed over to the far side of the graveyard.

Both Jasmine and Alec shot him disbelieving looks - glancing to each other and then back to the hilarious blonde. Alec grumbled and started walking towards the angel statue, muttering to himself, whilst Jasmine remained frozen. She quirked an eyebrow. "Is that a good idea?"

"We can't keep working with you two at each other's throats," he responded simply. "Sort it out." And with that, he started walking away with Clary - who kept looking back and forth between a perplexed Jasmine and a stalking Alec.

Huffing, she followed the route Alec took towards the angel statue. "'Sort it out'," she mimicked in a high-pitched tone. Yes, it was childish - but she didn't particularly care.

The man in question was dithering around the graves that surrounded the angel, looking just as put-out as she felt. She mentally prepared herself for the conversation they were about to have. How funny; that two battle-forged warriors found the prospect of having a potentially-awkward conversation more uncomfortable than pouncing headfirst into a horde of vampires.

"Right, let's hash this out so we can get on with our lives," Jasmine said, crossing her arms over her chest. She didn't particularly want to hear Alec's reasoning behind his strong aversion to her, but it had to be done.

His strong jaw clenched and he cast his eyes heavenward, as if asking for strength, before painstakingly turning his gaze back to her. "Go on, then."

The little… "How about you go on then?" She demanded with dramatic flair. "You're the one with the problem."

He looked away, between the gravestones and towards Jace and Clary. Jasmine could practically see the cogs turning behind his eyes. "We don't know this girl," he responded simply.

He really did think she was stupid. She shook her head, not believing his downright childish avoidance of the question. "What are you talking about? This isn't about Clary. You've been off with me the moment I got here. Like I said before, there is usually some reason for this hatred you seem to have for me… so, out with it– I wanna know."

"I don't hate you," he snapped with a signature eye roll, as if she were stupid for even thinking about it.

"So, what is it? You don't like me, don't trust me– what? Do I stink?"

Alec held her steady gaze with his own steely eyes, though she thought they flickered with something she couldn't quite pin down. "You talk too much."

Admittedly, that did draw a surprised laugh out of her and it took her a moment to find the words to respond. "And you talk little but arrogantly - I guess we all have our flaws."

The two glared at each other for a moment - examining and analysing, scrutinising and judging - until finally Alec deflated infinitesimally. "I don't know you."

"You haven't bothered to," she retorted.

"Nor have you," he shot back, just as quick.

Jasmine allowed that with a reluctant nod. "To be fair, you haven't made it easy… Look, I dunno how long I'm going to be here for, but it could be a while– could be forever," she trailed off contemplatively. "But it can't hurt to be on good terms with someone you might later need to rely on… and I mean that for both of us."

His broad shoulders heaved with an effortful sigh. "Fine." Such a drama queen.

Jasmine released a breath she didn't realise she was holding. "Good… Friends?" She asked, offering a hand out for him to shake.

Alec's face contorted as if the very word pained him, but reached out to shake her hand nonetheless. She was surprised to find that his hand was soft and warm - despite the chill - and his grip gentle, as if he was afraid of hurting her. The idea was laughable but, he was right, she didn't know him. Maybe he was a softie underneath his prickly exterior.

They held the other's stare - an understanding forming between them. A weight lifted from Jasmine's chest as she relished in being able to give up their constant and tiring battle of wits.

"Glad to see you two getting along," an amused voice came from Jasmine's right.

The pair jolted apart, ripping their hands away as they faced a thoroughly pleased Jace. They gave him matching glares, finding common ground in the desire to wipe the smug expression off of the blonde's face.

Alec sidled closer to Jace and Jasmine, electing to ignore his comment - back to business. "We're crossing a line into vamp territory," he warned.

The blonde huffed a laugh. "Yeah, that's the point." He clapped a hand upon Alec's tense shoulders. "Come on, Alec, cheer up. It's going to be fun."

"Damn it, Jace, just… think this through," the dark-haired shadowhunter implored before lowering his voice. "You don't even like this guy. This isn't about the mundane, this is about Clary."

Jasmine couldn't disagree with him on that. She did notice the disdainful looks Jace had given Simon when he'd been with the group. The sudden turn in attitude was glaringly obvious. But then Alec had to keep talking.

"What, are you so desperate to get laid that you'll risk killing us?"

Raziel, help us. The fair-haired shadowhunter considered slipping away from the bickering men - however she found herself caught between a rock and a hard place. Quite literally. A towering gravestone was blocking her left and she was stuck in the middle of the two arguing on her right - both men close enough she could feel the warmth emanating from their bodies.

"You don't even know this girl. Why do you trust her?"

Jace seemed to take a steadying breath. "Is this about her being Valentine's daughter?" He didn't wait for Alec's response. "Haven't we been through this?... You can trust her, or not. I don't care. That's not my business. But if you don't trust me–"

"Jace! Jasmine! Alec! I think I found it!" Clary's yell echoed across the misty graveyard. "Mary Milligan!"

Thank the Angel for Clary.

The three broke apart and made their way to join the redhead at a large, stone mausoleum. Jasmine was surprised to find Alec sticking at her side, rather than stalking off beside Jace.

"'Beloved servant'?" Clary read aloud once they reached her. "Who wants that on a headstone?"

"Someone who is in service to a cause greater than themselves," Alec responded, circling the mausoleum and stopping at the far end.

Jasmine brushed off the dead, fallen leaves that covered the top of the grave, allowing the intricate carvings to be on full display - specifically the engraved enkeli rune.

"At least she is now," Jace joked drily. "Abracadabra."

"Wait– you people actually say that?"

Jasmine, Alec and Jace snorted in amusement. "No, Clary," he responded. "We don't."

The redhead shrank back in embarrassment, her face flooding with colour. Jasmine placed a hand on her shoulder and offered a smile, as Jace ran his stele over the angelic rune on the grave. It glowed a luminescent gold and a faint crack could be heard beneath the heavy stone.

Alec and Jace grabbed at each end of the mausoleum and heaved up. The top separated from the rest of the tomb and they slid it over to the side, revealing a runed crate instead of poor Mrs Milligan. Jace pulled the crate open. An array of weapons and steles rested inside, sat atop plush, scarlet velvet.

"What are all these?" Clary asked.

Jace rummaged through the compartment. "Blessed knives, steel and silver blades," he said, piling some of the weapons onto the ground, "electrum wire– not much use at the moment, but always good to have spare– charms of protection, stars of David–"

"Jesus," the redhead murmured.

Jace just smirked. "I doubt he'd fit."

Clary rolled her eyes at the joke and reached into the crypt, plucking out one of the seraph blades and weighing it in her hands.

"Don't touch that," Alec said, moving closer to her. "You don't know how to use it."

Clary held the angelic weapon up between them - as if in silent warning - and Jasmine edged closer, eyes pinned on the blade wavering in her inexperienced hands. The redhead glanced at the angelic steel contemplatively. Clearly she didn't know the raw power contained within the blade; how the lightest, misplaced touch could cut to the bone. Otherwise she wouldn't have been waving it around so flippantly, edging it closer and closer towards the stoic man before her.

"What, like at Pandemonium when I killed that demon?" She asked him in a sickly sweet voice, her tone bordering on smug. Jasmine fought the urge to argue against her. Sure, she'd been holding the blade - but Jasmine distinctly remembered her paralysed form, the terror that overtook her features. She'd frozen, and Jace had impaled the demon onto the blade.

Evidently, Alec thought along the same lines. He stepped closer to Clary, the sharp edge of the weapon inches away from his throat. Jasmine gently leaned over, reached a hand out and carefully nudged the tip of the blade down and away from Alec.

"You didn't kill–"

"Alec," Jace cut him off. "I'm gonna show her the right way to use it." He turned his attention back to the crate of weapons. "Do you see what you need in here?"

The dark-haired shadowhunter rolled his eyes and surveyed the selection in the tomb. He sighed heavily. "No. There's no bow here. I need one."

Jasmine recalled his deadly accuracy with the weapon in Pandemonium, his hands steady despite the bow-string quivering with every swift release of an arrow. She agreed - his skills with the bow would be crucial as a long-range offensive against the vamps.

Jace turned towards her then, eyebrows raised in a silent question. She scanned the trove of weapons. "I'm fine with a seraph blade and some daggers…" She grabbed those weapons as she considered the rest. "But there aren't any stakes here. We'll need that– and some holy water."

Clary whipped around to face Jasmine with disbelief plainly written across her face. "You're joking, right? I thought that was all, like, movie stuff."

Jasmine smiled patiently. "Some Downworlders are vulnerable to elemental weapons. Vampires are weak to oak or ash wooden stakes, religious symbols… for lycanthropes, it's silver powder, bullets, and so on."

"I have to rune some arrows. That's back at the Institute," Alec interrupted quietly. "I gotta go."

Just as he turned to leave, Jasmine lightly touched his arm - though she quickly removed her hand when he glanced at it quizzically. "I'll come with you– we'll need those stakes."

The plan seemed to worry Jace. "Well, how are you two gonna get back into the Institute?"

Alec shrugged nonchalantly. "Go in the back. No-one will bother us if it's just the two of us."

She couldn't read the expression that flashed across Jace's face as he responded to Alec. "Alright, good. Go." Jasmine bristled at the dismissal, and it wasn't even her he was speaking to. "I can finish up here."

Jasmine started walking away but the lack of Alec's presence had her pausing. She turned back to see the dark-haired shadowhunter hesitating, his piercing gaze still on Jace. "Hey… I understand what we need to do," he told the blonde in front of him. "And I trust you, parabatai, but don't ever doubt me… No matter what I said."

Jace shrugged and walked towards Alec. "It's already forgotten– I'll see you at dawn." He offered his hand out.

Alec gripped his parabatai's hand firmly. "At dawn," he repeated. The two nodded once and then broke apart, Alec striding off to where Jasmine waited a few paces away.

She glanced over the shoulder of Alec's approaching form, towards Clary and Jace. They certainly appeared pretty cosy as Jace started showing the redhead how to handle the seraph blades properly. Her gaze moved to Alec's face as he stopped just in front of her, surveying the conflicted expression in his eyes.

"Let's go," she said finally.

Alec led the way back to the Institute. Jasmine couldn't trust herself to remember the quickest route back; though she endeavoured to spend more time in the city so that she would eventually be able to navigate it like the back of her hand.

Despite the fact that it was around 2 o'clock in the morning, the city was still roaring with activity. The honking of car horns echoed in the air as the two of them weaved through the alleyways of New York. Jasmine wrinkled her nose every so often; the putrid concoction of sewage, rotten food and dead rats was rife in the tight space of the alleys.

As she stepped over a half-eaten rodent, she glanced ahead to Alec, who manoeuvred his way through the cramped backstreets effortlessly. "I didn't know Jace is your parabatai," she said quietly, not really sure what she was hoping to achieve but curious nonetheless.

The slight tilt of his head was the only indication that he'd heard her. They remained in silence for a couple of minutes, continuing on their path as they ducked under a particularly low-hanging fire escape.

"We decided that we were going to become parabatai when we were eleven years old," he told her, a wistful edge to his voice.

Jasmine tried not to reel back in shock that he'd answered on a topic that was obviously personal to him, especially considering she hadn't actually asked him any sort of question. Instead she found herself wanting to take advantage of the opening he'd inadvertently given her.

"What's it like?"

Alec shot her a questioning look. "My mum has a parabatai," she elaborated, "but she never really talks about it."

He paused, glancing back to eye her in consideration. "It's… reassuring," he settled on, "having someone you know is always looking out for you. I can feel when Jace is safe and he can feel when I am… We don't just fight together– we're brothers."

Jasmine smiled. "Sounds nice."

They reached the end of the dark alley and came out onto a relatively quiet street. Alec's face, which had been obscured by the night's shadows of the narrow passageway, was fully illuminated by the harsh, fluorescent streetlights. Somehow they made the blue of his eyes brighten even more. Those startling eyes were scrutinising her features closely, and he seemed to debate his next words.

"Don't you have anyone you'd make your parabatai?"

Her smile tightened and she breathed out a sigh. "Not really. I had a couple of friends in London, but none that I'd consider close enough to commit to such a bond." She paused for a moment. "And it's too late for me now, anyway."

Alec gestured for them to continue on their way to the Institute. "You're 18?" He asked as they walked.

"Bingo," Jasmine replied with a shrug. "I'm not overly bothered by it– but it just would have been nice."

"No, I get it," Alec told her, quietly. She had to strain her hearing to even catch the words. "I can't imagine not having Jace as my parabatai."

She thought back to the graveyard; the intensity between the two men. They'd obviously been through a lot together and she didn't doubt the depth of their bond.

Jasmine had considered the concept of having a parabatai but, as she'd said to Alec, she never found a deep enough connection with anyone to endure the trials that came with the parabatai ceremony. Sure she'd been friendly with the shadowhunters her age, but there had always been a barrier between them - whether that was consciously or not. She noted the perpetual emotional wall that Alec enforced around him, and wondered how him and Jace had managed to forge their friendship.

"Here we are."

Jasmine didn't realise they'd already reached the Institute, and glanced up at the increasingly familiar building. They were approaching one of the back entrances to the church. The door was centred underneath a huge stone archway which was overgrown with vines and moss. It was quite evident that this particular path was not used very often and she voiced this thought to Alec.

He smirked. "No– Jace and I used to use this to sneak in and out of the Institute when we were younger. It came in handy whenever he got in trouble for something."

"But not you?" She asked, a teasing smile on her lips.

"One of us had to be sensible most of the time."

The two shadowhunters grimaced as the door creaked open, and they hurried in before they could draw too much attention to themselves. Jasmine didn't recognise the path Alec led her through - much to her dismay. Clearly she hadn't explored the Institute enough.

One passageway led to another and so on until, finally, they reached the weapons room, using an entrance she hadn't noticed before. Alec stepped in and quickly made a bee-line for one of the weapons vaults whilst Jasmine busied herself with locating the stakes and vials of holy water.

She searched through a few crates that were scattered around the room with no luck. She'd found a couple of crucifixes - but that would have little impact on a large-scale coven of vampires.

"Check in a few of the vaults," Alec suggested, not taking his eyes off the arrow in his hand as he ran his stele over it.

Doing as he'd said, she quickly searched through a couple of the vaults until, finally, she located a whole batch of different types of stakes and vials.

"Alec," a gruff voice echoed through the room.

They both startled at the interruption, neither of them having heard the telltale sounds of approaching footsteps. Jasmine watched as Hodge made his way to stand in front of Alec; a brief nod sent her way in greeting.

"Didn't know you were here," he said, glancing between the two shadowhunters. Jasmine quickly schooled her expression into one of neutrality, rather than the obvious deer-in-headlights face she'd probably been making a moment before.

"Yeah–no, I– uh."

Hodge held a hand up to stop Alec's rambling. "Don't tell me. I don't wanna have to report you." The corner of his mouth quivered, as if he were trying to suppress a smile.

"It's just that, you know, Clary is–"

The mentor's face hardened. "That girl is Valentine's–", he doubled over with a yell of pain, his hand slapping against the scarlet circular rune burned into his neck. "The monster's daughter," he managed to growl out. "There must be some reason why the roaches are crawling out of the woodwork again, right?"

Jasmine looked away when he turned his gaze to her.

"I'll leave you to it."

Hodge turned to do exactly that and made his way out of the room when Alec called out. "Hodge?" He waited until the mentor spun back around. "Thank you."

The older man smiled sadly. "You remind me of me, Alec. A loyal friend standing in the shadows of the chosen one." That got Jasmine's attention. She watched Alec's expression closely as he digested the spiel with a scoff. "Hey– don't make the same mistakes I did… Look where it got me." He sighed heavily, and then cast his gaze to her. "When you both finish doing… whatever you're doing, I'd like to speak to you, Jasmine."

She nodded slowly, a blind feeling of dread tightening in her chest.

And they watched as the ex-Valentine sympathiser left the room and, she didn't know if she was imagining it, but Alec's shoulders looked a lot heavier than they had before.

A/N: Another one bites the dust! A bit more Alec and Jasmine interaction in here! But I'm getting antsy and desperately want to finally get to some of the more Magnus-centric parts of the story - especially all of them together! They will definitely be an interesting trio (I hope lol). These chapters have been closely following the tv show so far, but my mind has been telling me to slowly integrate more from the books because I absolutely adore them. There were a few plot points that I loved that were not touched upon in the show and I'm itching to write them haha! Let me know what you guys think :)

Reviews:

Rose1414: Thank you again for another review! I love that I finally have a bit more free time to write, so expect more updates! I always look forward to seeing what you say about the story!