Chapter 3

Brother Zachariah arrived at the New York Institute in record time, only to find Maryse Lightwood waiting impatiently on the doorstep. Her foot tapped on the ground, and she was overall jittery in her stance. A look of relief flooded her features as the Silent Brother reached the doors and she beckoned him inside.

"Thank the Angel you got here so fast," she sighed as the Institute door swung shut behind them. "It's Jace - something happened and he's burning up again."

The Heavenly Fire, Brother Zachariah clarified. He was supposed to be careful.

Maryse sighed again, knowing just how much of a daredevil Jace could sometimes be. He didn't care much for rules, and often dismissed them in an effort to do whatever he wanted. Maryse was sure that he had inherited the trait, as the Herondales had always been known to have a devious demeanour.

But Maryse would never have guessed that her adopted son would risk his life by playing around with the Heavenly Fire trapped in his body. She knew that he would give up his life in an instant for those he loved - a dangerous trait but expected of a training Shadowhunter (yet she still believed that it was incredibly noble for someone so young). But he wouldn't throw it away when the Shadowhunters were preparing for the looming battle with Jonathan Morgenstern - or Sebastian, as he, and most of the Clave, preferred to call him. Jace refused to explain what had caused the Heavenly Fire to spark up, and insisted that it had just happened and that he had no idea what had triggered it. But it was clear by the way he said it each time that he was hiding something.

Brother Zachariah followed Maryse to the infirmary, where Jace laid in one of the beds, unmoving other than the rise and fall of his chest, at a faster pace than usual. He stared at the ceiling, transfixed in thought, his blonde hair splayed out on the pillow and arms at his sides.

"Jace?" Maryse said, and his eyes snapped up to meet hers. She noticed the sunny glow on his skin than even reached his already golden eyes, a clear sign that the Heavenly Fire still lingered close to the surface. "Jace, are you alright?"

"Yes," he said, sitting up a little. "Yes, I feel much better." He then looked to Brother Zachariah, his head cocked to the side as if he were confused by the Brother's presence. "I'm sorry to waste your time, but I think I'm OK now."

The Heavenly Fire is in fact still visible, Zachariah stated, standing close to the bed with his head bowed to hide his face. What exactly caused this outburst?

"I don't know," Jace replied sternly, sticking to his story. "It just happened."

The Silent Brother nodded once, seemingly having everything figured out. He told Maryse that she could leave, and that he would need a few hours to get Jace back into shape. She nodded and made sure, yet again, that Jace was feeling OK. He replied with a nod, insisting that he was fine, as teenagers always did. Then she left the room, turning back to ask if Jace knew where Alec had disappeared to.

A tense look flickered across the boy's face as she said his parabatai's name, but it vanished as quickly as it had appeared. "I don't know," he said, tone completely normal, nothing about him suggesting any tension between the two boys. "Have you checked his room?"

Brother Zachariah loomed over Jace for a long time without saying - or rather, communicating - a single word. Normally, this would have made him feel a little uncomfortable, but Jace didn't really care all that much. He had more pressing issues to deal with.

He had told Maryse and Zachariah that he didn't know what had caused his Heavenly Fire flare, but judging by the amount of times she had asked, she obviously didn't believe him. He stuck to his story, stubborn in making sure that he didn't give any clues as to what had happened between him and Alec just hours before.

Their first kiss had been strange and unexplainable, easily dismissed as it had been so slight and quick. But this latest affair had been much more intense, stirring up uncontrollable sensations in Jace, and therefore igniting the flame that had led to his whole body burning bright and hot. There was no denying his feelings for Alec - he just had to hide them as best as he could.

Have you been working on controlling your emotions? Brother Zachariah asked, in the eerie mental voice that echoed around in Jace's head.

Jace shrugged. "A little."

Could that have been the reason for your outburst? Jace didn't answer but tried desperately to swallow the need to cough. Strong emotions can have a negative effect on the Heavenly Fire - anger, jealousy, excitement. Lust, even.

Jace couldn't help but groan - Brother Zachariah was bound to figure it out eventually, if he hadn't yet, so there was no point trying to cover it up. The Silent Brother didn't make a comment, but simply inclined his head and began to work, lacing Jace with the strange magic of the Silent Brothers the way he had just a few weeks earlier.

Try to ensure it does not happen again, he advised.

"It won't," Jace promised, although a part of him sniggered, knowing that he was kidding himself.

Just a few minutes later, by which point Jace had closed his eyes and allowed Brother Zachariah to work in peace, the door to the infirmary was flung open and Isabelle waltzed in with the grace and urgency of most experienced Shadowhunters. Alec trailed behind, carrying the same concerned expression as his sister, yet a little more hesitant in his approach. He blushed a little when his eyes met Jace's gaze, but was able to hide it from anyone else's view.

"By the Angel, Jace – what did you do?!" Izzy cried, ignoring Brother Zachariah's presence as she hurtled towards Jace. The blonde groaned and closed his eyes again, trying to ignore his sister and the flame burning through his veins. He heard a load sigh from Izzy but kept his eyes closed, until a the cold sensation of a hand on his shoulder along with a freezing rush through his whole body forced his eyes to fly open.

Don't touch him, Brother Zachariah told Alec as the dark haired boy jumped back. Jace's flesh was burning hotter than fire, and the gasp he'd made when Alec had touched him said it might be a good idea to step back. He could have burned your hand off – you are very lucky.

Jace sent Alec a slightly startled, warning look and the older boy nodded and folded his arms over his chest. Izzy fussed over Jace as she had to Alec that morning, trying to force some answers out of him about what had stimulated the flare. Alec knew that it was his fault - he'd kissed Jace just to prove a point, as well as to sooth the lustful aching in his stomach at the sight of the blonde boy topless. Because of him, the Heavenly Fire could have burned Jace to ash.

Yet, when he'd touched Jace's skin just a moment ago, an electrical surge had passed through him like an electric shock. If this wasn't strange enough, it hadn't hurt at all - if anything it had been a pleasant sensation. Judging by Jace's expression immediately after, he had felt it too. But Alec didn't say anything to Isabelle or Zachariah about it, and neither did the other boy.

After a while, and after making sure that Jace was OK, Alec decided to leave. Due to much persuasion from Alec, Jace and even Brother Zachariah, Izzy also followed, a little reluctantly. She asked Alec if he knew what Jace was hiding, but he just looked away and denied everything.

"You know," Izzy began, changing the subject as they strolled down the hall, "I never noticed it before, but your boyfriend is really stubborn."

"Ex-boyfriend," Alec corrected, accepting the disappointed look she sent him.

"Not on my terms! He practically agreed to marry you months ago, and I'm not giving up with you guys until you're walking down that isle." Alec sighed, but made no effort to shut his sister up.

"But really," she continued, "I never knew, but Magnus is even worse than Clary - it took half an hour of shouting up to his window for him to even buzz me in, and another twenty minutes to get him to have an actual conversation with me."

Izzy carried on with her rambling and Alec ignored most of it, trying to hide the ache in his heart whenever she said the warlock's name.

The truth was, he missed Magnus. It had only been a day and he already missed Magnus' smell, his crazy dress sense and even all the annoying glitter. He missed going to Magnus' apartment to escape the bore of staying cooped up at home. He missed curling up on the couch with his boyfriend, Chairman Meow persistently climbing onto his lap. He missed the passionate nights he'd spent with Magnus, where the cat had also sometimes tried to make himself known.

Alec had felt so out of place with Magnus at first, the idea alone so unfamiliar that he wasn't sure how to act. But after a while, he'd eventually become so comfortable with Magnus that it felt more than natural to be with him. He never hesitated in telling Magnus that he loved him, because it was true - an undeniable fact.

It felt so wrong to now be indulging in kisses from Jace, so close to his and Magnus' breakup that it almost felt like cheating. Alec sometimes found himself hoping that he would wake up and realise that the last day had all been a dream, and find Magnus laying by his side, preferably naked and playing with his hair.

With this in mind, the rest of Alec's day was spent locked in his room, constantly checking his phone and hoping that the stubborn warlock would reply to his texts or phone calls. He must have sent at least a hundred texts, and left many pleading voicemails, begging Magnus to take him back, apologising and even throwing in a few 'I love you's in the hope that he would give in soon. But by the end of the day, Alec had had no luck, and Magnus was still ignoring him.

That night, Alec barely slept, tossing and turning in his bed as a million crazy thoughts spun through his head, mostly concerning either Jace or Magnus - sometimes both. When sleep finally took him, Alec was dragged into a heated dream full of kisses and bed sheets and lots of naked flesh. Originally, Alec was relieved to find that Magnus was the man in his dreams, however, nearing the end of his slumber, the dark hair suddenly lightened to a golden blonde and Jace took the warlock's place.

Alec woke late the next morning, startled and annoyed, and quickly found that he had a definite problem brewing. He ignored it at first, hoping that it would go away, but when the sensation grew in intensity, Alec found himself rushing to the bathroom for a long cold shower. It helped somewhat, but Alec still couldn't shift the feeling of guilt that laid at the bottom of his stomach due to his most recent dream.

The freezing water fell over Alec's skin like a million frozen bullets, and he could only take the shattering cold for so long before he was forced to turn up the temperature. His teeth were chattering by this point, and he wrapped his arms around himself and stood under the water for a long time in an effort to warm up.

And maybe if he hadn't taken so long, the next strange incident wouldn't have happened, or at least not then. Alec didn't hear the bathroom door ease open, and didn't notice as someone undressed and climbed into the shower behind him, since his eyes were tightly closed. But he did feel the gentle sensation of a pair of familiar arms encircling his waste from behind, and leaned into them, smiling with a content moan and not bothering to open his eyes.

He assumed that it was Magnus, remembering how many times the warlock had crept up on him in the shower before. And considering the fact that he'd just been speculating on how much he missed Magnus, he was glad that his wishes had come true.

But when he opened his eyes and glanced at the arms that held him, he realised that the golden skin of the arms definitely wasn't Magnus' darker colour. He jumped away immediately as he noticed this, and mentally kicked himself for being so stupid. He stared with a puzzled look at the other boy who'd joined him in the shower.

"Jace, what the hell are you doing?!"