A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating! This chapter is setting the stage for some big events to come. Special thanks to sosayscrystal for being our fantastic Beta! Enjoy
CHAPTER 2
Clary POV
If I had to choose only one word to describe Magnus Bane, I would choose epic. Given this, it was not hard for me to believe anything that I saw when I first set foot into The Fiery Lizard. From outside, the bar gave the appearance of being nothing more than a hole in the wall, but as with a lot of things that involved Magnus, things are rarely what they seem. It was two levels, with two wrought iron stair cases leading to the upper level. One was directly to our left and the other on our right.
There were two bars on each side of the room, each one seeming to stretch on and on and I found myself wondering if there was a back of the place. Behind them, mirrors spread from floor to ceiling, making the space appear even larger. As we approached the bar closest to us, I noticed that there seemed to be numerous scuff marks all along the top, looking unmistakably like heel marks and for one horrifying moment I pictured scenes out of the movie Coyote Ugly and I hoped that I was safely hidden behind any piece of furniture available if an event like that started taking place.
"Not quite like Pandemonium is it?" Simon shouted to me, leaning an elbow on the bar.
"You got that right," I replied, still looking around. The entire middle of the bar was designated as a dance area and even at the early hour it was packed with people moving and writhing to the music. Instead of the customary round tables and chairs, there were couches and loungers haphazardly spread around. Long rectangular columns of velvety cloth hung around each section, offering privacy to those who desired it. I realized that Isabelle had yet to reappear, but I wasn't worried, she was a girl that knew how to handle herself in any situation. Simon had been scanning the room, but he suddenly stopped and pointed off towards a corner.
"Jace and Alec are here," he told me, leaning to me so that he could be heard over the thumping music. I followed his gaze and spotted Jace instantly. He looked dangerous dressed in all black, but that was no surprise. He was sprawled in some sort of a recliner, looking more like he belonged there than anyone in the room. His hand was on his shoulder; wait that wasn't right. It wasn't his hand on his shoulder, it was someone else's. I followed the hand up until it became an arm, and then realized that there was a girl hanging off him. Not just any girl, a kelpie girl. She was beautiful, with long curling blond hair that seemed to have flowers and vines attached throughout. Her wings weren't concealed, but flowed behind her gracefully. She was pale and even from across the room I could make out the striking violet colour of her eyes. She leaned closer to him and whispered something in his ear that brought a smirk to his face. Simon nudged me and I forced myself to tear my gaze away.
"Want to go over there?" he asked, but I shook my head. There was nowhere in the world I wanted to be less than over there with Jace and that beautiful girl.
"Nah, let's get something to drink first," I said, but Simon raised his brows at me, and suddenly I felt very stupid. Of course he didn't want to get anything to drink. He was a vampire after all, and I doubted that blood would be on tonight's menu, Downworlder bar or not.
"Sorry Simon, I wasn't thinking. Let's check out the rest of the place and see if we can track down Isabelle." I said throwing him a sympathetic look. There was a sudden commotion farther down the bar that drew our attention, and we both watched fixated as a new bartender stepped out from behind a swinging door. Cheers and applause immediately rang out and we weren't left wondering why for long. Through the door came an unusually tall, muscular man with a shock of red orange hair, which reminded me strangely of a roaring fire, and eyes as black as coal. For a second I thought I saw patches of green scale-like areas on his skin, but I blinked and they were gone so I assumed I had just imagined it. One of the waitresses shouted out a drink order to him and he winked at her and immediately got to work. He moved like a blur behind the bar and before I knew what was happening, his long red, forked tongue whipped out of his mouth and slithered quickly towards me. I couldn't control my gasp and almost took an involuntary step back when his tongue simply wrapped around one of the martini glasses in front of me and snatched it away. Embarrassed at my reaction, I glanced up at Simon, but he was too absorbed in watching the scene before us to have noticed my slip-up.
"You're not afraid of reptiles are you pretty girl?" asked a voice close in my ear. Startled, I looked up into a pair of now familiar blue eyes. It was the boy that I had met on the street. He had a self satisfied smirk on his face that told me that he had been witness to my reaction to the bartender's tongue.
"Of course not," I answered automatically. I could feel a blush starting to creep up my neck. The boy winked, and reached his hand inside my jacket so quickly that I barely had the chance to swat him away. My effort was wasted though; he had seized my dagger and held it up between us. I stared wide-eyed into his eyes as he turned it from side to side, the tip of the blade catching in the light.
"I would think that someone who carries weapons like these is frightened of very little," he said with a knowing look. A sudden thought occurred to me, and I snatched my dagger back. His hand encircled my wrist before I could pull it completely away.
"Who are you?" I asked. A heart stopping grin flashed across his face, showcasing perfect, white teeth.
"My name is Sebastian. I'm a Shadowhunter just like you."
--
Edward POV
Once back home with my hunger successfully satisfied, I made my way to the music room. Playing the piano was always a release for me, it allowed me to escape from reality and become one with the music. Sliding my hand along the smooth flat surface, I travelled the length of the piano with feelings of mixed emotion, eventually sitting and staring at the keys. I hadn't been in the mood to play in quite a while but at that moment, I felt the need to be in there and to find the release I so desperately needed. After a few moments of indecision as to what to play, I settled on Bella's lullaby. Thoughts of Bella ran rampant through my mind. A montage of our life together flashed before my eyes and the sweetness of her smile lingered in front of me as I began playing, my fingers dancing on the keys and the sound of music filling the room. It was exhilarating. Succumbing to the rhythm, I pressed harder and moved faster over the keys, picking up the beat, I felt like I was flying, soaring through the clouds. Thinking of her laugh, her smile, her voice, intensified my urge to keep playing from song to song, I felt like I could play until my fingers turned numb. Suddenly, my mind shifted, and Carlisle's thoughts about how proud he was of me at this moment swam through my brain. He and Esme loved my playing. I was so caught up in the music that I didn't realize Carlisle had been leaning against the door frame, and I briefly wondered how long he had been standing there, I instantly stopped.
"Edward, please don't stop. Esme and I were just commenting on how lovely it is that you are playing again. Don't let me distract you," he pleaded with me.
I gave him a sideway smirk and reassured him that I had already been about to stop. In fact, I had some matters I wanted to discuss with him regarding the rash of murders and missing people reports in the Southern Italy region. I had been wondering what was going on over there. The Volturi were very protective of their area and never allowed such crimes to commence on their soil largely because of their fear of bringing attention to themselves. They had counted on their anonymity all these years to survive.
Standing up off the chair, I made my way over to Carlisle.
"Carlisle, have you heard anything regarding Italy? I was searching the papers as usual, and I noticed a few articles regarding missing people and unexplained murders. Have you heard from Aro?" I asked.
The look on Carlisle's face made me realize that he was unaware of this. I quickly dashed upstairs and grabbed the articles as well as my laptop to ensure we could review the most up to date information from local online newspapers.
While reading through paper after paper questions starting rising. What was the Volturi doing? From the description in the papers, most of them mentioned the cause of death as "unexplained drainage of blood and torn flesh." How could they let this happen? Carlisle thought we might be best to call a meeting or teleconference with all the vamp families to see what kind of information they held. I told him that I wanted to go for a walk to try and wrap my head around this for a bit, and for him to call me when he got a hold of everyone. He agreed and off I went.
Ofcourse the only place I could go to really clear my head was to Bella's grave. Starting out at a light run, it took me no time at all to reach her resting place. I had planted lavender and freesia in memory of her. It wasn't quite like her smell but close enough. Smelling the air, I tried to clear my head, but instead of smelling the sweet floral smell, I was hit with something foul. It was wet DOG. Jacob. Jacob must have been here not too long ago. I had to give it to him; he was just as persistent as I was in fighting to keep Bella's memory alive. But still I couldn't help but feel that he was up to something. All this time a strange feeling constantly haunted me and I knew sooner or later I would have to find out what it was. "Stupid dog, does he always have to ruin everything?" I shouted out with a laugh.
"Now Edward, that wasn't very nice, what have I done to you, well… at least in the last year," a voice from behind me snickered.
"Dog…I mean Jacob, what do you want?" I bit out at him.
"I shouldn't have to ask permission to be here, she was my friend too and I can come anytime I want," he smirked. "Unless…you want to do something about it!" he snarled and now he was standing in front of me with his face inches away from me.
"Jacob, you will get the fuck out of my face, if you know what's good for you," I shouted as I shoved at his chest.
"Do you honestly think you scare me leech? I can rip you apart with my bare hands," he roared.
"You mean paws," I said, with a laugh.
I should have known better than to antagonize him. I should have just walked away, that is what Bella would have wanted me to do, but I couldn't. With everything that had happened, I really wanted to hurt someone. And right now, I wanted to hurt Jacob. I could feel the vein in my temple pulsing, and I knew there was no backing down. Any moment now, he was going to phase…
--
Carlisle POV
"Carlisle!" Alice shouted. "Its Edward!"
"What is it Alice? What's wrong with Edward?" I asked, but she couldn't answer me as she was fully engulfed in her vision.
I scanned the room and watched my family anxiously, as we waited for Alice to return to her normal state. Emmett was pacing back and forth mumbling something to himself and punching the air with his oversized arms; Rose was painting her nails, and trying to decide on how to wear her hair; typical Rose, thinking only of herself. Jasper was right beside Alice, rubbing her back, trying to calm her, and Esme was looking at me, whispering something, but since I was scanning the room looking at everyone else, I missed what she had said, so instead I grabbed her hand tightly and kissed her on the forehead.
A shiver went through Alice as she was coming out of it. But by the look on her face I knew something was wrong. All Alice could spit out was "Edward…gravesite... vanished."
With that said the entire family sped out the door.
--
Edward POV
Jacob stepped back to give himself more room. It started with a low growl, and then his body jerked as his muscles rippled like a wave across his chest and down his back. Cracking his neck from side to side, he stared at me with his lip curved baring his teeth. "Do you know how long I have waited for this?"
Jacob's breathing was deep and heavy, almost like every breath hurt. His voice sounded more animal-like than human.
"Well then what are you waiting for Mutt," I said as we circled each other. "Are you afraid of the BIG, BAD BAT?" I taunted with a laugh.
I could see Jacob straining to stay focused, almost trying not to phase. I wondered why. The only thing we had in common was Bella, and now that she was gone I didn't see any reason why we couldn't finally give in to the impulse to fight. The hatred I was feeling inside was overwhelming, losing my Bella, being defeated by James and my own failures to keep Bella safe. I snapped!
Nostrils flaring, my eyes fixed on him I shouted "Maybe that is why Bella chose me instead of you, because I could make her experience things no dog like you ever could."
Yup that was it, that's all it took. I've never actually seen a shifter like Jacob phase.
"You stupid, filthy reeking bloodsucker," was all he said before he leaped into the air towards me. His eyes went instantly from brown to pitch black; his body exploded releasing the wolf encaged inside him. He landed in full wolf form, his massive jaws snapping and snarling inches away from me.
A/N: Please review and let us know what you guys think so far! Chapter 3 is right around the corner…
Ari and B
