"This is the house, right?" I asked Levi, who was following me.

He nodded.

"Yes. They went in here yesterday. Go there and knock."

I took a deep breath. There was a possibility that I would finally get a parabatai today. It had to be done anyway, but at least I could hope that this guy would match me. Levi and I had asked questions as much as we could about him and everyone had said they had never seen better Shadowhunter that hadn't been trained in Idris.

"You're not ashamed right now, are you, Sam?" mocking tone was in Levi's voice.

I turned around and shot him my dangerous gaze.

"Shut up."

I stepped forward just to prove him how wrong he was, but as I walked towards the door, I felt speed of my pulse increasing. I wasn't used to make friends with people who were unknown to me, especially not making the first step. But, I had no time to be patient and wait for someone to introduce me to this guy. I had less than a day to find a parabatai and he was the main candidate.

When I came to the door, I took a deep breath once more and then, without looking at Levi, who most certainly laughed at me behind my back, knocked on the white door. I heard steps, like someone was running to open the door. But, when it did open, it wasn't the blond guy Jace who was looking at me. It was a black-haired girl whom I had seen yesterday in Jace's circle of friends.

"Yes?" she asked politely, although she had never seen me before.

"I'm looking for Jace Lightwood." I said calmly, proud of the fact my voice didn't shiver.

She leant on the door, looking curiously at me.

"Why do you need him?"

"I have to ask him something. I was told I'd find him here." I still tried to keep my voice calm, but not from the same reason as before. I had been a bit scared before. Now her curiosity was making me angry.

Why do you care? I don't need you, I need him. If this is his house, just call for him. If not, tell me so and I'll leave. I thought, but said nothing, trying to look completely indifferent.

The girl opened the door a bit wider.

"Do you want to come in?"

I couldn't hold my surprise back completely. I expected that he would come, we would have a fight, I would beat him, hopefully after more time than it had taken against my former opponents, and then he would become my parabatai. I had no vision of friendly chatting in the living room with people I didn't know and who didn't interest me. But, I remembered Levi's words about making friends and not pushing people away. This was my first chance to try that strategy.

"Okay, why not?" I shrugged my shoulders.

The girl smiled.

"I'm Isabelle." she stretched her hand out towards me.

"Sam." I accepted her hand and shook it.

Then we came into the house. At the last second I remembered Levi, who still stood in the street. I looked at him, but he didn't seem angry for me abandoning him. He smiled and nodded, like he approved my actions until now.

At last, you're happy. I smiled back at him and then followed Isabelle into the house.

Isabelle led me into a big living room. There were three persons sitting on the couch. One guy had black hair and face features similar to Isabelle's, so I guessed he was her brother. His blue eyes looked at me with curiosity, but also with doubt, like he didn't trust me. Next to him was short, red-haired girl with green eyes, who looked just curious. And next to her was guy with brown hair and eyes, but what captivated my attention the most about him was his pale skin. He looked like he had no blood in his veins, pale almost like a vampire. If he stood next to a white wall, I probably wouldn't see him.

"Where's Jace?" Isabelle asked behind my back.

Looking and evaluating this company, I had almost forgotten why I had come here in the first place. I looked around, searching for the blond hair and noticed him at the same moment he spoke.

"Here he comes." I heard irony in his voice as he was descending down the stairs in the corner of the living room.

He came down, looked at all of us and then his gaze stopped on me.

"Who're you?" he asked, but I could notice he didn't really care because boredom was easily noticeable in tone of his voice.

That's your first mistake. I didn't like to be treated with boredom.

"I'm Sam. I've come here to see if you're good enough to be my parabatai." I had never liked people being evasive so I got to the point at once.

Everyone reacted opposite of my expectations. They all laughed.

"If I'm good enough?" Jace said with sarcastic smile on his face. "The question is if you're good enough to be my parabatai. And I somehow don't think so."

I was pissed off by them underestimating my chances against him. I was the best Shadowhunter in Idris. People years older than me couldn't beat me. And now I had to listen to room full of young fools laughing at me.

Calm down, Sam. I tried to convince myself. He's an idiot and I can prove it. I'll be the last to laugh if I play this smartly.

"People told me you were a good Shadowhunter, but I guess they forgot to mention you were a coward as well." I smiled ironically at Jace. I ignored everyone else, although my opinion of them was no better.

They all stopped laughing at once. Everyone looked at Jace, waiting for his reply to this insult.

"Of course I'm not afraid of you." he said. "I think fighting you would be the waste of my time."

"If you think I'm such a poor Shadowhunter, it will take just two minutes of your time to beat me."I had to fight him. Now this wasn't just about finding a parabatai, it had just got more personal. He had insulted me by laughing at my abilities. I had to show him how wrong he was and kick his ass so much he would never forget it.

We were all silent for a few moments and then Jace spoke.

"Okay you're right. It won't take long."

I nodded, smiling.

"Of course it won't."

His golden eyes studied me for a moment.

"What weapon do I need?"

"Choose it yourself." my smile was now combination of sweetness and irony. "I need just one Seraph blade."

"Then I'll take the same, so you don't feel outnumbered." he replied.

I waited for a minute for him to go upstairs again to get his Seraph blade. When he came back, we went out of the house, with all his family or friends or whatever they were following us. Levi waited for me outside, smiling at me. I nodded confidently and then turned towards Jace. The Seraph blade was already in his hands.

"Shall we begin?" he asked smiling, like I was just a kid who believed Santa Claus existed and needed to be proved otherwise.

I took my Seraph blade and held it tightly, feeling my body filling with adrenaline.

"Whenever you're ready."