Chapter 30 - Angelic Powers

Kadir called us together to share the data recorded by the little device. Jace had asked if he could remove the pads now, but he said no. So the search for the angelic power would continue. Jace's pulse and heart rate were a little faster than that of a normal Shadowhunter or human. There was no distinction between Shadowhunters and humans, as their bodies and functions were identical except for the runemarks. To be on the safe side, Kadir had also trained with the electrodes and his results were similar to the normal orientation values.

"I can't explain the discrepancies," Kadir admitted, eyeing Jace, then the readings the device had spat out. "I suspect that even a healer could not give us a more precise answer. Jace fought like he always does, and he didn't seem exhausted from any of the fights."

"Neither was I," confirmed Jace, who had left the ring and was sitting next to Adam on the training mat.

"Did you notice anything unusual?" Kadir asked, casting his dark eyes at Adam and me intently. "You might have noticed something firsthand that I, as an outsider, couldn't see."

I had often wondered how old Kadir actually was. His skin was smooth and unlined, his hair long enough not to be affected by age. Every time we fought him, he was a worthy opponent, moving swiftly and reflexively. I had a hard time putting a number on him because he seemed somehow timeless to me. Like a Silent Brother, although of course he didn't look a bit like one.

Adam just shook his head at Kadir's question. I took a moment and reviewed the fight in my head. His sword blows had been of immense power. I'd compared him to Jonathan and decided that Jace actually outperformed my brother in that regard. Of course, I would never admit that to any of them. Still, I cleared my throat.

"His punches were surprisingly strong," I told Kadir, not even glancing at Jace. After just losing control of myself for a second, I didn't dare look at him anymore. He was the only one who noticed that I had drifted off. I didn't want to admit this weakness to myself. "The power he transferred to his seraph blade was not ordinary energy, like Adam's for example. It was a different, more powerful kind. I felt the difference."

Of course, Adam didn't like my comment . For the second time that day, he pulled a rather disgruntled expression, as if my words had hurt him personally. I was just trying to put into words what I felt . That alone was hard enough without needing him to get upset about it because they hit his ego. Still, it puzzled me because I didn't really know Adam as someone who got annoyed about such trifles. He had struck me as the most indifferent of the small circle of Nephilim since my arrival in New York .

Kadir nodded at my description and seemed to think for a moment. His brow furrowed, his eyes fixed on an invisible spot on the floor. "Maybe Jace's strength is tied to his heart rate."

For a short time we were all silent. Then Adam spoke up. "I'm more curious as to why his heart rate is increasing at all when he's not out of breath. It may be that his pulse plays a role, but I wouldn't focus on that in the first step."

Kadir looked at him curiously. "What do you have in mind?"

"Are the stats different between Clary's fight and mine?" Adam got up and joined Kadir to take a look at the numbers. Both were silent as they studied them. Then they looked at each other and finally their eyes met mine.

I raised my eyebrows questioningly when they didn't give me an answer. "Can I read minds now?" Adam's lips twitched involuntarily, but quickly deformed back into an indifferent line. He was definitely mad at me when he didn't allow himself to grin because of a sarcastic comment I made.

"Jace's heart rate is consistently higher in the second fight than in the first," Kadir told me.

"But that may be for the simple reason that he didn't have a break between fights," I replied without hesitation. I already had in mind what they were getting at. "And the fight was much longer."

"That's true, but as a result of the device, his pulse jumped from one second to the next. It wasn't a constant increase, but a sudden one," Kadir replied and then continued. "Perhaps we should actually not focus on the pulse as such, but find out its cause. Perhaps your power is controlled more by your emotions, Jace."

Jace, listening to the conversation with a disinterested expression, just shrugged. When I looked at him, I wanted to roll my eyes. He always tried not to let anything get to him. Even now, when it came to his subconscious actions, he was acting like he was way too good for any of this.

"Very well," Kadir murmured, lost in thought. His eyes slid from Jace back to the data and then back to me. "We're going to do it like this now. Clary, Jace, back in the ring with you guys."

I sighed and slowly stood up. Jace did the same and walked past me to retrieve one of the swords that lay on the floor in front of the ring. Kadir shook his head. "No sword fight. We're going to try another close combat technique that you should be familiar with: wrestling."

Wrestling was a primitive sport and I wanted to groan loudly. But I gave no sign. Like our last fight, I lined up across from Jace while Kadir briefly went through the rules: whoever knocked the other out of the ring first won. Pushing, hitting and kicking were forbidden, as was picking up the other and throwing him out of the ring.

Of course I knew how wrestling worked. However, it wasn't one of my strongest fighting techniques, and I wouldn't say I enjoyed doing it. I'd rather have a sword between me and my opponent. When wrestling, it was so easy for my opponent to grab me and hurt my body. It was a method that quickly disregarded the rules. Because in practice there were no rules to follow. No one would remember to just push their enemy forward and not hit or kick them. In my eyes it was unnecessary training as you would never wrestle with your opponent on the battlefield. If a fight broke out, both sides would attempt to gain the upper hand with punches and kicks. There were no rules to follow on the battlefield. Superior was the one who had the higher muscular strength. It was that easy. All these facts were ignored in wrestling. It was a purely theoretical sport.

In fact, it might even work to my advantage right now because I was a lot less muscular than Jace. Still, wrestling made me uneasy, especially when I thought about being so close to him. Everyone here knew Jace hated me. So no, I wasn't longing for the moment where we would be face to face.

I glanced at Adam. He had made himself comfortable on the training mat. Our eyes met for a few fleeting seconds. The expression on his face was wary, as if trying to hide his true feelings from me. He's still your friend, a voice whispered in my head as I continued to watch him long after he'd looked away. No matter what, you should settle your argument. Was I ready for that? I didn't know yet.

Kadir's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. "Fight like your life depends on it. As if it were a matter of life and death. While this may just be a practice session, I want the results to be as real as possible." Then he gave the go-signal and our fight began.

We slowly approached each other until there was only two meters between us. Unhurriedly, Jace let his eyes travel over my body, looking me up and down. As if he was considering how long it would take him to subdue me. A valid question. I secretly wondered too. It was obvious that I had to look very petite next to him. Jace was a lot taller, broader, and stronger than me.

Unlike the sword fight earlier, I didn't attack him first. I let Jace go first. Partly it was because I didn't really know how to start. Of course, my father had also taught us wrestling, but it had by no means been the focus of our training. Valentine and I agreed when it came to wrestling. It was of no use to us on the battlefield.

Jace lunged forward, waking me from my thoughts. I focused on his feet and watched them move across the level ground. A moment later he had grabbed my shoulders and was pushing me in the opposite direction with all his might.

I knew right away that this fight was going to be extremely difficult to win. Even Jace's sword blows had been strong, but the raw energy of his muscles could hardly be contained. I did the only thing I could think of: wrap my fingers around his upper arms and move to the side.

We spun in circles for several seconds. Jace kept trying to push me across the mat to the end of the ring and I struggled to push myself against him. Wrestling was a high-contact fight. In wrestling, you were actually always pushing your body against your opponent's. The hands were often raised in front of the chest to intercept attacks from the counterpart. This usually ended in a scramble where you pushed your own hands against the other's.

That's exactly what we did. Our hands were clasped together at chest level, and we tried to push the other back using our own body weight. In this open confrontation, I would have little chance of winning. Jace outweighed me, which alone would sooner or later get me out of the ring. So, I tried to avoid his power by repeatedly dodging to the right or left. But that wasn't a tactic I could pursue for long.

For the first fifteen minutes we wrestled standing. As time passed, Jace caught me doing one of my evasive maneuvers. Another way to win the fight was to bring your opponent to his knees. If he was flat on the ground and you had your arm wrapped tightly around his neck, you emerged victorious from the round. Wrestling Jace to the ground was almost impossible. I could barely wrap my arms around his neck because he was a head taller.

After another five minutes, Jace finally managed to pin me to the ground, putting his leg between mine in another of my dodges, leaving me no chance to continue my stride. My eyes were on the ground as my knees hit it and I strained every fiber of my back not to land flat as he took his next step. Jace fell to the mat next to me and in one quick, precise move tried to trip me.

All of this happened in complete silence. There were no swords clashing. Only our breathing and my gasping could be heard. Jace still remained calm. My muscles burned and my heart was beating fast from the exertion.

I just so managed to pull myself away from him and free myself from his grip. I took a brisk step back as I got to my feet to put space between us again. For a brief moment we looked directly at each other. Then I charged and we fought again in a standing position for dominance that would slowly but surely return to Jace.

At that moment Kadir suddenly intervened. His voice was calculating and cold, reminding me of the Kadir I had met shortly after arriving in Alicante. "Considering who you're up against, you should be fighting harder, Jace."

I stiffened instantly at his words and Jace stopped moving as well. We both looked at Kadir and gave up our attack stance.

"Who gave you permission to stop? Go on!" he shouted at us in a stern tone that I had never heard from him before.

We did what he said, even though the confusion was obvious. I settled into my attacking stance and attacked Jace without giving much thought to tactics or possible gaps in his defense. Jace seemed almost grateful that I continued without hesitation. His hands reached up to mine and clasped my fingers. His hands were bigger than mine, and it was still weird to see my fingers disappear into his hands. Jace pushed with all his might against my hands, which I had placed in front of me as a barrier. It hadn't been more than twenty seconds since my new attack.

"Do you fight her so badly because she's a girl, Jace?" I heard Kadir's raised voice ask. Since he didn't seem to want us to end our fight, I didn't turn to face him this time, preventing Jace from doing so as well. If he had broken his stance, I could easily overpower him, though it wasn't exactly honorable.

"What are you doing?" Jace retorted in an annoyed tone, while his outstretched arm stopped me from dodging to the left. "I fight normally."

"No, don't. You are stronger than her and yet you are not using the full extent of your potential. You spare her." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Adam turn his head in Kadir's direction, puzzled. He probably didn't know what got into our coach either. My fleeting glance swept past Adam. Kadir had folded his arms over his chest and was watching us with narrowed eyes. His forehead was wrinkled and his mouth turned down slightly. He looked dissatisfied and that had to mean something. A subconscious shiver ran down my spine, although I couldn't say why.

"I don't," Jace hissed, obviously resenting Kadir's comment. His fingers tightened around my hands. I could see his concentration slipping away. Kadir was distracting him and I wasn't sure if I should take advantage of that.

"She's a head shorter than you and probably only weighs half your body weight and yet she's your equal," Kadir replied, sounding almost bored this time. What in the Archangel's name was the matter with him? "You spare her, Jace."

Jace gritted his teeth and looked down at our clasped hands. I felt him pushing against me again with full force and reacted immediately. My eyes slid to his neck and I wondered if I might be able to grab him if I jumped in the air. I analyzed Jace's fighting style. He made an effort to regain his full focus on the fight, but his movements were jerkier than before. However, that didn't change the speed at which he moved his body. I still had trouble keeping up with him.

"Or are you afraid of the Morgenstern girl? Are you afraid she'll do to you what her father did to your parents?"

This time it was me who got lost. I gasped. Kadir's words caught me completely off guard. Jace could have capitalized on my blunder, but he was just as stunned as I was. I looked into his eyes and saw the anger seething inside him. Jace didn't look at me. He turned his head over his shoulder and fixed his gaze on Kadir.

"What are you talking about, Kadir?" he called out to our trainer. You could hear his emotions slipping away from him. The death of his parents and their connection was an absolute taboo subject for him, even I knew it. How could Kadir throw such things into the room? It almost seemed like he was trying to turn Jace against me. It was hardly necessary, he already hated me anyway.

Whatever demon had Kadir in its grip, it would not let go. "It's true, isn't it? It is said that Valentine sent your father on this mission on purpose to get rid of him. Apparently, he wasn't good enough for him as second in command."

"Enough," Jace snapped out through tightened lips. He pressed his nails into my hands so hard I had to clench my teeth to keep from gasping. It was an unconscious reaction to Kadir's words. I cautiously tried to free myself from his grip, but his hands were like a metal cage. "Watch how you talk to me, Kadir!"

Kadir continued as if Jace had never spoken. "A real waste of Valentine's time, and not really honorable either. He could have stuck the sword between Stephen's ribs himself, the outcome would have been the same anyway."

Adam and I both snorted in outraged surprise and our eyes met just a second later. For a brief moment our argument was forgotten. My shock reflected in his dark green eyes. I raised an eyebrow and he shrugged in response.

Jace and I were still wrestling when Kadir's words hit Jace. My thought of putting my arms around his neck to wrestle him to the ground was forgotten. Jace had risen to his full height and the struggle between us resembled a violent dance. By now he had let go of my hands and was focusing his attempts to beat me on my upper arms. His shoulder crashed violently into mine as he grabbed my left arm and pushed with all his might. I leaned forward to keep from tipping over and lost my balance, resulting in my head banging on his other shoulder.

A deep growl escaped Jace's throat, making me jump. Kadir's words had awakened a flaming anger deep within him. But this time he wasn't staring at Kadir. His darkened eyes were focused directly on me. I could almost see the red haze that lay over them. His features slipped as I straightened up and squeezed his arm as hard as I could. Blank rage showed on his face. Squinted eyes, twisted mouth and bared teeth.

That was exactly whyI hated wrestling. You were so close to your opponent that you hardly stood a chance if he was actually after the other person's life. And right now I was in that exact situation. With every second that Jace's anger swelled, the strength in his muscles grew more powerful. But I could see on his face that he didn't know how to control that power. He could feel the anger running through his veins and didn't know how to deal with it. Every fiber of my being told me to free myself from his clutches as quickly as possible.

"Jace," I whispered as evenly as I could, but even I could hear the hint of panic in my voice.

Jace didn't respond. He continued the fight between us, tugging at my upper arm as if trying to tear it free from the rest of my body. Was that still considered wrestling?

I struggled to free myself from Jace's grip, but every muscle in his arms was tense. They wrapped themselves around my body like steel threads. He yanked me in his direction so violently that I immediately lost my footing. My head bumped into his shoulder again and I took an awkward side step, not really knowing what else to do.

Jace tried to wrap his arms behind my neck to wrestle me to the ground. And now that he seemed to be unleashing his true power, I didn't stand a chance. I wriggled in his arms like a fish. Almost helplessly, I pressed my fingers into his arms and fought against being pinned to my knees. But with every word that came out of Kadir's mouth, Jace's anger grew.

Kadir ignited a previously untapped storehouse of power within Jace. As that thought raced through my mind, I suddenly realized what he was trying to do. "Jace," I said louder now. "He's trying to piss you off on purpose. Stop doing that!"

"Do all the Herondales in your family let themselves be bossed around by the Morgensterns, or did your parents only instill that in you?" Kadir countered so quickly that Jace barely had time to consider my words.

I couldn't see his face because he had me half pinned to the ground, but I doubted Jace was able to control his actions anymore. I could only vaguely remember the things the Inquisitor had said to me during my interrogation. I could hardly think back to the things I had done under the influence of angelic power.

Jace finally managed to push me to the floor. I tried to crawl forward but he yanked me back towards him by my shoulders. He knelt down next to me and a second later I felt his arm around my neck. I gasped to get as much oxygen into my lungs as possible. What did I expect? I lost and he beat me. But Jace didn't loosen his grip. Instead, he tensed the muscles in his arm and shifted the weight of his upper body onto my back.

A surprised rattle escaped my throat. "Jace," I gasped. When he heard it, he didn't seem to care. He didn't respond.

With the last of my strength, I hit him with my hands. I dug my fingernails into his upper arms and tore open the skin. Jace still didn't respond. I could feel the sticky moisture of blood on my fingertips. So I scratched him again, harder this time. The edges of my field of vision slowly darkened and a dim feeling overcame me. My eyes stared impassively across the hall and I didn't know how to think straight again as he continued to constrict my throat.

Then I suddenly heard Adam's voice. It seemed to come from very far away. "Let him stop," he said in an alarmed tone. "You can see she's choking!"

Kadir said nothing. My face wasn't turned towards them, so I couldn't meet his eyes. What was Kadir's intention? I doubted he actually wanted me dead. But the thought stopped me. Maybe that's what he wanted after all. Kadir had been hostile to me from day one in Idris. Was it possible that over the last few days he had only pretended to have shed his dislike for me?

"Clary, kick him between the legs. If you twist your leg a little to the right you might be able to reach him!" Adam's loud voice reached my ear and if I had had the strength I would have smiled. Instead, I pulled myself together, closed my eyes, and focused on my leg.

Jace lay halfway on top of me, his arm wrapped tightly around my neck. It was against the rules, but I didn't care anymore. I lifted my knee sideways, but it took several attempts to hit the right spot. Jace gasped in confusion and toppled sideways. The grip around my neck relaxed. I took a deep breath and propped myself up on my arms. Jace's hands shot out to grab me again as he realized I was trying to flee. But I had a second of advantage. I staggered to my feet and stumbled forward.

Since Kadir hadn't finished the fight, I positioned myself across from Jace again, gasping in shock as I looked at him. There was a wild expression in his eyes. My lungs, which weren't getting enough oxygen, made me cough. My left hand shot to my chest as a searing pain shot through my body.

Kadir saw the uncontrolled look in Jace's eyes, but he still hadn't seen enough. "The Morgensterns rarely follow rules," he said, alluding to my kick, which was definitely a rule breaking. "Your parents and many other Nephilim found their deaths just because they could not follow the rules. Because they don't accept the rules of our society."

Jace didn't wait for me to attack. He lunged straight at me. It seemed like the rules didn't apply to him either, because he grabbed me by the collar of my gear and threw me across the ring. Just like that. My body hit the ground with a thud that blew the air out of my lungs. The world around me blurred for a moment. I saw a large figure looming in front of me, but couldn't make out any details.

"Stop," I whispered weakly. In any other situation I would have been ashamed of the sound. Because a Morgenstern was not allowed to show any weakness.

Again Kadir passed me by and he slowly made me angry. Enough was enough. He must have enough data from Jace to analyze by now. If he continued now, it would only be because data had never been his primary intention. "Did Valentine hesitate when he murdered your parents?"

By now I had raised myself up to kneeling in front of Jace. I slowly raised my head and stared past him at Kadir. A hot shiver ran through my body and I felt the anger that was now boiling up in me. "He didn't murder them," I growled through clenched teeth, slowly getting to my feet.

"But they died as a result of Valentine's actions. They could be with us today if it weren't for him." I looked away from Kadir, who returned mine with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. If Valentine didn't exist, then neither did I.

I stared up at Jace and could see my angry expression reflected in his golden eyes. His hands were balled into fists, and I could clearly see his artery beneath the thin, stretched skin. Only a meter separated us. He could cross it in seconds.

Looking into Jace's contorted face, I noticed the air around us for the first time. The air between us seemed to burn. It was hot and stuffy and when I reached out my hand in his direction it felt like I was holding it right over a flame. I was able to feel his anger. It was almost like I could smell it.

The red haze immediately left my head. What remained was a stunned expression that was written on my face. Jace actually possessed the power of the angel. He didn't know how to control it, but that didn't matter. It was certainly possible to learn this. What should I do now? Should I tell Kadir about this? I was sure they couldn't feel the warmth.

"Her father killed the people you love," Kadir continued, and in that moment, I would have liked nothing more than to grab a sword and cut off his head. The anger surged back into my body and with it the superhuman strength crackling on the palms of my hands. "And now he's threatening the world again. Together with her murdering brother, they roam the cities of Earth, killing any Nephilim who cross their path. Clarissa is afraid of her own brother because he is more powerful than any of us and you are afraid to fight her?"

I turned to face Kadir, limbs shaking. "He's not a murderer," I hissed as loud as I could, already taking a step toward him when Jace lunged at me. I should have seen it coming, but my own anger had blinded me.

Jace didn't try to wrestle me to the ground. Instead, he grabbed my throat with his hands and lifted me into the air. The moment my feet no longer felt safe ground beneath them, a new flood of panic shot through my veins. The warmth from just left my body and what was left was an icy and gloomy cold that slowly spread inside me.

Kadir continued and now I saw the small malicious smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "Her father killed your family. He threw your father to the vampires and drove your mother to suicide."

I hissed an insult at him, but Jace cut off my flow of words by pressing my larynx with the backs of his thumbs. I gasped, fell silent immediately and nearly blacked out. Tears ran down my cheeks. Adam's screams reached my ears. The air to breathe was gone and I stopped struggling against his grip. My eyes, barely distinguishing light from dark, rested on Jace, whose face was contorted in anger. His spirit, however, seemed miles away. He had fallen into a trance. Even if I begged him, he probably couldn't stop choking me. His subconsciousness controlled his body now.

"You wanted to kill her from the start, now you have your chance," Kadir hissed, unable to contain the hatred in his own voice. He had actually deceived me. I had actually believed that he would be able to be an impartial coach. My father would have been embarrassed that I'd let myself be tricked so easily by a Shadowhunter who was only slightly better than his community average.

Kadir smiled, but Jace didn't see it. His eyes were fixed on my face. "Kill her. Kill the daughter of your parents' murderer."

It would help my story a lot if you vote for the chapter, it also keeps me motivated haha. :)

Skyllen