CHAPTER 7

"How bad is it?"

But Alec didn't respond. He just kept running beside Clary until Isabelle whipped him into a stop, the leather marking his skin raw.

"Talk, Alec!" Isabelle shouted.

Alec came just a little too late. He thought he was dreaming when he heard Jace screaming for his help. How can demons even get inside the Institute? Alec knew that he might've yawned a few more times before he realized what was truly happening. And when he got into Jace's room, Jace was already unconscious—with Clary beside him, trying to revive him awake.

"It's bad." It was Clary who answered Isabelle. "And don't you feel guilty about it." Clary snapped back at Alec.

She knew what Alec must've been thinking—and feeling. Clary knew it was Alec whom Jace first called for help and he didn't respond soon. And no matter how much Clary worried about Jace's condition, it wasn't Alec's fault. Because like what he said before they left the Institute, what kind of demons can get inside the Institute in the first place?

"But Magnus is already stitching him up." Alec finally spoke, removing the coiled whip on his arms. "He'll be fine. Hopefully."

Clary thought Alec still seemed so lost.

But it was Isabelle who flared up in anger. "Hopefully?"

"What do you want me to say then?" Alec retorted.

"I don't know! He's gonna be okay sounds good to me!"

"Guys, please!" Clary stood between them. "This is not the right time to argue. We have to get to those demons!"

Isabelle sighed heavily and coiled back her whip. She started walking away again, her high heels clicking noisily on the pavement floor.

"You might want to keep it silent..." Alec called after her. Isabelle turned and made a face at him then walked away again.

"You know this is not the right time, Alec." Clary, too, started to walk away from Alec but he stopped her.

"Clary," Alec grabbed her by the arm which caught Clary off-guard. He looked apologetic and quickly let go. "I'm sorry, really I am. With what happened to Jace. I should've gotten there sooner..."

"It's not your fault." Clary sighed. "And you're right about the demons. They can't get inside holy grounds."

"I'm betting that these creatures are new breeds."

"That's the worst case scenario-!"

"Guys!" Isabelle came back running, her whip swaying behind her. "I need both your help you know!"

Alec and Clary hurriedly came to her aid. And in the left turn of the alleyway, where they were still a few good meters away, Clary could already smell the stench.

"Ugh. It's worst than we thought." Alec said and scrunched up his nose.

"They even look the way they smell." Isabelle added.

And Clary thought they were both right. As they swerved to the next alleyway, the three of them almost barfed on the spot. In the far end of the alley, twenty—if not thirty—scaly creatures were looming and staring piercingly at them.

"Do you think these are the same creatures that hunted Jace?" Wow. That doesn't sound normal. Clary thought. Jace usually does all the hunting.

"Looks like it. According to Magnus—and if we could trust your boyfriend's sense of smell," Alec glanced at Isabelle who made another face. "—this is the only spot where it reeked like havoc."

"Good." Clary said with a determined face. "I really need to kill some demons right now."

And with a glance at the Lightwood siblings, with the simple reflex of Alec's finger around his bow, with Isabelle spreading out her whip, and with Clary finally naming her first seraph blade, the three of them simultaneously attacked the breeding purple lizards.

"They're so many!" Clary heard Isabelle shout from one of the corners. "And the smell's just nauseating!"

"Breathe with your mouth then!" Alec shouted back as his arrow pierced through the neck of one of the demons.

Clary was stabbing her second demon when a third one narrowly missed her with its silver goo. She took a final jab at the lizard underneath her and stared at the gaping hole on the trash bin just behind her where the goo was still oozing.

"For the love of... don't let them spit on you!" She shouted back to Isabelle and Alec.

In the chaos around her, Clary at least managed to see both the siblings veer-off gracefully from the demon spits. She turned back to the demon that spit on her and threw her blade. She hit it directly on its neck, which Clary learned to be its weakest point. It made good feeling to her that she still got to hear the honking of the New York cabs all around her as it made her believe she was still in the real world. The scampering noise—and the smell—of the purple lizards were still too far-fetched for her. She was actually fighting on her own. Without Jace.

But something inside Clary almost clenched in worry as she struck another demon, now with her second blade. She stood up as the demon vanished and retrieved her first seraph blade. In the corner of her eye she saw Isabelle behead two demons at the same time with her whip while Alec's arrow shot directly at the demon scuttling away from them.

How could Jace lose to these demons?

"I know what you're thinking!" Alec said. He was behind her shooting another group of lizards, squirming in the corner. "Jace could kill all these by himself."

Clary stood up and helped Alec by throwing her seraph blade. It hit three demons through and through.

"That's not what I was thinking."

"Yes you were." Alec released another arrow and almost grinned at her.

"And so were we." Isabelle came and whipped another demon and eventually mutilated it. "These creatures are weaklings to tell you the truth."

"Then...?" Clary almost stopped and turned to face the siblings when she remembered basic Shadowhunting rules: Never let your guard down.

"They might've caught him off-guard." Isabelle shrugged as she whipped the last demon for the night. Alec was already searching the grounds, looking for his arrows.

"But he has never lost..."

"We will all soon, Clary, if you just stood there paralyzed." Isabelle giggled.

"Why are you not taking this seriously?"

"We are." Alec said, his eyebrows in a furry as he wiped an arrow with his shirt. "It's just that, we faced the wrong kind of demons."

"What?"Clary exclaimed.

"Obviously, these are not the demons that attacked Jace." Isabelle said.

"So we're wrong then?" Clary asked.

"No." Alec said. "The spikes, the gashes and bruises on Jace... they perfectly match the lizards' defensive weapons. But it's their skills, actually, of using those weapons that made all the difference."

"New breeds?" Clary asked Alec.

He nodded.

"Someone might actually be training these demons."

"That's what I thought too." Standing in the entrance of the alleyway, looking still as breathtaking-although pale-was Jace in his leather jacket with Magnus standing behind him, a furious frown on his face.

"Jace!" Isabelle exclaimed and hurriedly hugged him.

"Ow! I'm not exactly all healed, Izz."

"Sorry!"

"Jace, what are you doing here?" Clary sighed.

"Watching some demon games, of course!" Jace was in a new white shirt now but there were already a few blood marks on his chest, the gauze visible underneath.

"I told him you wouldn't like it. But you know how persistent he can be." Magnus shrugged behind him. "You were spectacular, by the way, Clary."

"Relax. I didn't fight, did I? No matter how much I wanted to—with all the demons surrounding you—I'm still capable of controlling myself. For your sake." Jace approached her and took her hand.

"You had fun, didn't you?" Clary almost punched him again in the shoulder with her other hand but Magnus gave her a warning look and mouthed, Not a good idea.

Jace nodded then scrunched up his nose. "But the smell's really fantastic!"

"Oh, I need a shower." Isabelle said and started walking back into the streets.

"I didn't say Isabelle reeked, did I?" Jace smirked. Isabelle shot him a ferocious look.

"She was actually worried about you." Clary whispered as they followed the others, Magnus and Alec walking side by side with Isabelle, already on the phone—with Simon, Clary guessed.

"I was worried about the three of you. Especially you. You left without me."

Clary gripped his hand.

"But did you see the demons I struck with one seraph blade?" Clary asked excitedly, stopping as a yellow cab passed by them.

Jace grinned, showing-off his perfect smile. "I taught you well."

Thanks to all the awesome reviews! I promise that I'll update as soon as possible-now that I have the time to actually do so! :))