Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

            In the streets of New York City, the crowds separated as a group of people, five men and two girls ran down the sidewalk. What the crowds didn’t see was their sharp fangs, nor did they see the tattooed man the were chasing.

            The tattooed man was a shadowhunter named David, a follower of Valentine. He had been on the run from the other shadowhunters ever since Valentine had been captured by the Clave, but it was not his own kind that had finally found him. It was a group of vampires, clearly wanting payback for what Valentine did with the Soul Sword.

            David turned off the main path down an alley where he hoped he could slip away unnoticed. It was his only chance since the vampires had managed to disarm him before he started running. Horror filled his face when he saw the alley was a dead end. Slowly, he turned around to see the vampires had followed him and had slowed their stride, as though they wanted to make every minute last as long as possible.

            The rogue Shadowhunter walked backwards when he hit the wall behind him. The group of vampires smiled as they continued stalking towards him, all of their fangs perfectly visibly.

            “Please, please don’t kill me. It wasn’t me, it was Valentine. Destroying the downworlders, all of it was his idea.” David tried to defend himself. The vampires ignored him though, and kept walking.

            “You sided with Valentine. You helped him. You are just as guilty as he is.” The lead vampire responded, heading straight for the shadowhunter.

            “Please, I’ll do anything you want, I’ll give you anything you want. Just pleas don’t hurt me.” David offered, his legs shaking with fear.

            “You have nothing to offer us.” The head vampire replied, now standing right in front of the unarmed shadowhunter they had attacked and chased throughout the city.

            “Not even the ability to walk in the sun?” David wondered, just as the vampire was about to bite his neck. The blood drinker pulled his head back a little to get a better look at the man’s face. When he didn’t say anything, David took it to mean that the vampire wanted him to explain.

            “When Valentine took that vampire hostage, the Shadowhunter, Jace, the one who activated the sword, gave him his blood to drink. Now, he’s a Daylighter.” For a moment, the vampire didn’t say anything. Then he tilted his head.

            “You’re saying all we have to do is drink this shadowhunter’s blood, and we’ll be able to walk in the sun?” The vampire repeated, his tone full of doubt.

            “Valentine had experimented on him. I don’t know what he did, that’s how the vampire became a Daylighter.” David informed him.

            “Become a Daylighter while getting revenge on the Shadowhunter who activated the sword, killing several vampires and other downworlders.” The vampire’s voice made it clear that he liked that idea.

            “So, you won’t hurt me?” David asked, unable to keep the fear out of his voice. The vampire turned to look right into Valentine’s follower’s eyes.

            “Hurt you? No, I’m not going to hurt.” The vampire waited until the Shadowhunter sighed with relief before he finished.

            “I’m going to kill you.”

            The vampire sank his teeth into the man’s neck as his victim screamed, before going limp only a few moments later. Once he sucked the Shadowhunter dry, the vampire let go of the dead body and turned back to the other vampires.

            “Looks like we have another Shadowhunter to find.”

Chapter Text

            Jace leaned forward to have a better look at the screen in front of him. Ever since he had accidentally activated the sword, there had been an increase in Downworlder attacks, just like they all figured there would be. Luckily, it wasn’t as bad as they had suspected, at least, not yet.

            The Shadowhunters that were in the New York Institute were slowly running themselves thin already, with some still healing from the attack on the Institute, hunting down the members of the Circle that had managed to escape, and the others still dealing with the lower demons and rogue Downworlders. An uprising was the last thing they needed.

            “Hey, find anything?” Alec asked, seeing the blonde stare at the screen, clearly looking for something to do. After Valentine’s attack, Jace had been working a lot harder, whether to make up for accidentally killing several Downworlders or to impress his newfound grandmother, Alec didn’t know. Probably both.

            “A Shadowhunter that was confirmed to be in the Circle was found dead in an alley this morning. Killed by a vampire.” Jace told him as his brother came to stand beside him.

            “So the Downworlders are taking the law into their own hands then.” Alec surmised, seeing the report on the screen.

            “Not surprising, considering everything Valentine did and stood for.” Jace added, not looking at the taller man.

            “No, it’s not, but it’s still against the Accords for a vampire to a Shadowhunter, even if they were a criminal.” Alec reminded Jace. When he didn’t say anything, Alec asked, “Do we have any idea who did it?”

            “Raphael said that it wasn’t him or anyone in his clan, though it wouldn’t surprise me if he was lying. But if he’s telling the truth, then no. We have no idea.” Jace replied.

            “Well, there are more vampire clans besides Raphael’s. We can check those. Where exactly was the body found?” Alec inquired. Jace moved his hand towards the screen and zoomed in on the map, pointing at the spot with his finger.

            “That spot isn’t really in any vampire territory.” Alec quickly realized.

            “I know.” Jace said in an almost accusing tone, as though he thought that Alec didn’t think he could see that.

            The black-haired Shadowhunter turned his head to look at his parabatai when he heard the young man speak. He was hunched over a little, as though he was tired from standing for so long, and there were faint, dark, circles under his eyes.

            “Are you alright?” Alec found himself asking, though he knew that the odds of Jace answering honestly were slim.

            “I’m fine.” Jace immediately answered, still keeping his eyes on the screen. Alec let out a frustrated sigh before turning back to the screen.

            It had only been a few days since Alec walked onto the roof to see Jace crying. While Jace never actually said what was wrong, he had a pretty idea, and when he saw Jace’s face when Clary was with Simon, he knew it. He had told Clary that they weren’t related, and Clary still chose to be with Simon.

            “Jace, it’s me. Come on, what’s on your mind?” Alec pressed. Jace didn’t say anything. He just acted as though he didn’t hear him.

            “Is it about Clary?” Alec wondered. If he asked more specifically, he might get a response from the other Shadowhunter. Jace shook his head.

            “Not really. Thinking about the, um, Imogen.” Jace stumbled over his words a little. Usually he was pretty good with his words, but he had only learned two days ago that the Inquisitor was his Grandmother, and he had no idea what to call her.

            “Bet you didn’t think that your long-lost Grandmother would be the Inquisitor, did you?” Alec asked with a smile. Considering how much Jace distrusted the Clave, and everything that happened with Isabelle being on trial and with Aldertree, it was almost ironic that Imogen Herondale would be his Grandmother.

            “No I did not. Granted, I never really thought I would ever know who my really family was after Valentine told me I wasn’t his son.” Jace revealed, still keeping his eyes looking straight ahead.

            Alec stared hard at the blonde. Considering his age, he had had more than enough problems and surprises with families. First, watching his father die at such a young age. Then finding out his father was still alive only to learn that he was actually Valentine, not Michael Wayland like he thought, and the girl he loved actually be his sister. Having his adoptive parents practically disown him, having his biological mother think he was a monster, then dying before he ever really knew her. Then finding out he wasn’t a Morganstern, but now a Herondale. It was just crazy.

            “Well, now you know, and you’re a Herondale. That family has a long and powerful history that any Shadowhunter would be proud to be a part of.” Alec replied, hoping to make him feel better. Of course, any Shadowhunter family would be better than being a part of Valentine’s, but the Herondale’s were practically Shadowhunter royalty.

            “Yeah, but I didn’t think I’d be all that’s left of it, besides, I don’t even know what to call her. I can’t keep calling her ‘the Inquisitor’, and calling her ‘Grandma’ just seems weird.” Jace told him, finally looking over at Alec with slight humor in his eyes as he said the last sentence.

            “It’s only been a few days since you both found out. Give it time, it’ll get easier. And even if it still is too awkward, you still have me, and Isabelle, and Max, and my Mom. You know we’ve always considered you part of our family.” Alec responded sincerely. Jace lowered his gaze, not really wanting Alec to see the emotion in his eyes. Sometimes, he wished he had the black-haired man’s ability to remain stoic and emotionless.

            “I know.” Jace answered.

            Desperate to take the attention off of him, Jace asked, “How’s Magnus?” This time, it was Alec who looked away.

            “I called him a couple of times, but he didn’t answer. He did send me a text that he’s okay. I’m just trying to give him some space right now.” Alec explained.

            “Don’t worry Alec. He knows that you didn’t know, and knows that you’re unbelievably sorry. You two will be back to normal before you know it.”  Jace encouraged his brother, lifted his hand to give Alec a pat on his shoulder.

            “Yeah. I’m going to get some sleep, it’s late. You should too.” Alec said. He waited until Jace nodded before he turned around and walked towards the hallway that led to his room.

            Jace turned back to stare at the screen for a few more minutes, wondering if he could figure out the mystery in front of him. When he still failed to find any sort of clue that could tell him which group of vampires had killed the Shadowhunter, he started making his way towards to his bedroom. He stopped when he saw Clary entering the building.

            “Hey.” Jace said. Clary stopped in her steps and looked over at him.

            “Hey.” Clary said back with a small smile. Jace felt his heart melt at the sight, her smile was so beautiful, but quickly took his mind off that. She was with Simon, he didn’t have any right to have feelings towards her.

            “You were out late.” Jace told her. The smile left her face as her red eyebrows went up.

            “I have a curfew?” The redhead questioned.

            “No, just making an observation. With Simon, I assume?” Jace responded. Clary folded her arms in front of her chest.

            “Yes I was, though I don’t see how it’s any of your business.” Clary replied defensively. Jace sighed and lowered his head. The last thing he meant to do was start a fight.

            “Clary, just because I’m not actually your brother, doesn’t mean I don’t worry about you. I still consider you a friend, and I care about you, especially for your safety.” Jace explained, his voice quiet and sincere. Clary’s face softened at his words as she unfolded her arms.

            “Thank you Jace, but I am safe with Simon. And I can take care of myself.” Clary replied, the small smile back on her face.

            “Okay. You should get some sleep, I have a feeling we’re going to have a long day tomorrow.” Jace told her, giving her a smile in return.

            “Good night Jace.” Clary said as she continued her way to her bedroom.

            “Night.” Jace whispered as he watched her leave. He waited until she was out of view before he started walking towards his own room.

SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH

            “Are you sure this is going to work.” Clara couldn’t help but ask as she watched Damien, the clan leader suck another mundane dry. It was the third one in the hour.

            The head vampire pulled his fangs out of the female human’s neck and her body fell limp to the ground. Turning around, Clara got a clear look at the blood running down his face and fought to keep her own fangs from emerging at the sight.

            “That Shadowhunter is said to be the best fighter they have. This is the fastest way to draw him out. A bunch of mundanes killed by a vampire will always have Shadowhunters come out, even if they have their own problems, and they will definitely be sending out their best soldiers for this serious of an offense. Trust me darling, this will work.” Damien assured her. Clara had only been a vampire for about two years, she was still learning how the rules worked, whereas he had been with Camille for well over 100 years. He knew how the game was played.

            “Now, come on. We better get back home. The sun is rising, and it won’t be long before somebody finds her body, along with the other two. We’ll have our Shadowhunter soon enough. You’ll see.” Damien told her as he put his arm around Clara’s shoulders, gently leading her back to their home.

Chapter Text

            Jace swung his sword though it hit nothing but air. He was alone in the training room, because there probably wasn’t anyone else up at 5:00 am. If there was, they were probably keeping guard on the building, the Institute had put more Shadowhunters on guard in case of an attack, of either the Circle, or the Downworlders.

            But Jace didn’t really care if anyone else was up, nor did he care if they saw that he was awake. It was common knowledge that he would wake up early to train, but he would normally come in at 6:00, or 6:30 depending on his night before. Over the last few weeks however, he would be in as early as 3:30 in the morning.

            Ever since the attack on the Institute almost two weeks ago, Jace hadn’t slept more than two or three hours a night, and they were not restful hours. His dreams were plagued with memories of the bodies of all the Downworlders and Shadowhunters who died in the attack as Valentine’s laughs taunted him. He knew that until Valentine faced justice for his actions, and he found a way to make up for his part in the Downworlders deaths, he would never truly have a restful night.

            “You’re up early.” Jace looked over his shoulder to see Imogen Herondale standing at the edge of the mat.

            “More training never hurt anyone, especially when there’s a chance we’re about to be attacked at any moment.” He told the Inquisitor, getting into a ready position.

            “True, but lack of sleep can cause lack of focus. That can hurt someone, especially if they are attacked.” Imogen pointed out. Jace lowered his sword that he was holding in both hands as his biological grandmother came to stand in front of him.

            “I will admit, once I learned that you also had been given angel blood as a child, I had you watched a little more closely, as I did Clary. And when Valentine revealed, our, connection, I had you watched closer. It didn’t take long for news of your morning training sessions suddenly becoming much earlier over the last few weeks to reach my ears.” The Inquisitor explained, seeing the questioning expression on the young man’s face.

            “Have to be prepared for anything.” The blonde replied defensively. Imogen however, gave him a knowing expression.

            “And it is easier to prepare when sleep eludes you, isn’t it?” The older woman questioned. At Jace’s shocked expression, she gave him a sad smile.

            “I did the same thing, when my son, your father died. It was months before I was able to get more than 5 hours of sleep. In my spare time, I would also train, and hunt down every Circle member I could find. Anything to get any form of justice I could bring to those who deserved it.” Jace listened silently, unsure of how to respond. He had never seen this side the elder Shadowhunter, didn’t even know it existed.

            “Well, that’s probably why you are such a powerful Inquisitor. There aren’t many who would many who would dare challenge you.” Jace tried to compliment her but he knew that it wasn’t very successful.

            “Jace, I know what many Shadowhunters, including you, think of me. That I’m cold and heartless, someone to be feared. I know you saw it first hand when it came to Isabelle’s trial, but when you’ve been a position like mine for years, you learn to see corruption everywhere, especially after something has terrible as your own kind rising against you.” Imogen informed him. Even though her tone was steady and monotone, Jace could hear the hidden sadness in it.

            Jace didn’t know what to say to that. He couldn’t deny that he never thought that much about the Clave’s Inquisitor. Whether it was because of Valentine’s influence, or his own experiences, especially after the last few months, Jace didn’t truly know. All he did know, was that though he agreed that the Clave had major problems with the way they dealt with things, Valentine’s ideology was far worse.

            Before he could respond to his new-found relative however, another Shadowhunter came running into the room, capturing both his and Imogen’s attention.

            “Inquisitor, Luke Garroway is here to see you. He says it’s urgent.”

SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH

            “Where were they found?” Imogen asked, looking at the crime scene photos Luke had given her. Jace glanced at them over her shoulder, wondering what she was looking at.

            “In a night club at the edge of the city. All three of them, two puncture marks on their necks, with little to no blood lift in their system.” Luke replied. He had been called to the scene only an hour earlier. Once he saw the bodies, he already knew what had killed the three mundanes.

            “Is it possible that the club was a feeding den, and that a vampire got too careless?” Imogen questioned, trying to understand what had happened. It had been a very long time since a vampire had actually killed a human in such a manner. Due to the Accords, the Shadowhunter law, and with the struggles with Valentine, the vampires were being very careful about not killing an innocent mundane. She doubted that it was accidental however. If it was, there only would’ve been one body, not three.

            “No. I checked. There wasn’t anything like that there. And there had been no vampire activity in that area in years.” Luke informed the Inquisitor very matter-of-factly.

            “Either this vampire is very new and has no one to tell him the rules and watch over him, or this was done on purpose. It’s almost like he’s begging for attention.” Jace deduced, seeing how the bodies were laid out and how obvious the cause of death was.

            “I agree. This could not have been an accident. The only question is, why.” Imogen said, looking over the report again.

            “That’s what we have to find out.” Jace stated. Imogen glanced over at her grandson, seeing the determined look on his face before turning back to Luke.

            “Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We’ll take it from here.” The Inquisitor told the werewolf.

            Luke looked a little annoyed that he was now being excluded, but nodded and headed towards the exit. He had done his job, informing the Clave when a Downworlder was breaking the Accords, which was expected, but they were under no obligation to include him in the investigation. He couldn’t push to be a part of it, the Clave needed to know that despite what happened with the Soul Sword, he as a Downworlder was not holding a grudge and not interested in revenge.

            “Luke?” The detective turned around when he heard Jace call his name.

            “If you find anything else, come tell us.” Jace said. Again, Luke nodded and continued out of the Institute.

            “Any ideas?” Imogen asked Jace once Luke was gone.

            “Besides this being done on purpose, I have no idea. It could be that with everything that has been going on, a vampire might think that he no longer has to play by our rules, but other than that, nothing. Wait,” Jace paused, looking at the address of where the bodies had been found, “that’s only two blocks from where that Shadowhunter had been found. The one that was with Valentine when he attacked the Institute.”

            “Go wake Alec, Isabelle, and Clary. The longer we wait, the colder the trail will get.” Imogen ordered in a somewhat gentle tone. Without saying a word, Jace started walking towards Alec’s room.

SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH

            “What is so important that you had to wake me up at 6:30 in the morning?” Izzy asked Clary groggily as they made their way into the main room of the Institute where Jace, Alec, and the Inquisitor were already waiting. Clary’s only response was the shrug of her shoulders, but she was just as curious as her friend, she did not like getting up this early in the morning either.

            “Good of you two to join us, finally.” Inquisitor Imogen commented. She looked quite annoyed for it being only 6:30 am.

            “It takes time to get decent, especially this early.” Isabelle responded, in no mood to be respectful to the head of the Institute. Imogen looked at the clothes the younger Shadowhunter was wearing, and chose not to say anything about that.

            “Luke Garroway arrived an hour ago with reports of three mundane deaths that occurred last night, all done by vampires.” Imogen informed them. For a moment, no one said anything, then Alec spoke.

            “Do we have any idea why?”

            “So far, no. The deaths did however occur within two blocks of where the Shadowhunter David was found. We believe it to be the same vampire.” Imogen replied.

            “David was a Circle member, right?” Clary questioned, recognizing the man in the photo on the screen. She could vaguely remember seeing him with Valentine when she was taken by him weeks ago.

            “Yes, he was.” Jace answered, looking over at her, giving the redhead a clear look at the dark circles under his eyes.

            When Imogen started speaking again, Jace turned his head look at her. Clary quickly did the same though she barely registered what the Inquisitor was saying. All of her thoughts were on the blonde Shadowhunter standing a few feet away with Alec in between them. She knew that he still cared about her, she still cared about him too, though as friends of course. After all, she was dating Simon now and did love him, but deep down, Clary knew there was a part of her that would always care about Jace. It was that part of her that was demanding her attention.

            It didn’t take a genius to figure out that something was bugging Jace. He had been acting weird ever since Valentine’s attack, trying to be nicer to Downworlders they had come across, being more angry and ruthless when having to deal with Valentine, and more determined to fix every problem he came upon. Jace already had a bit of that whole need-to-save-the-world streak in him, but now the guilt he felt in his part of the Downworlders death had made it worse. It was far more obvious than he thought it was.

            “That’s all. Get to work.” Clary immediately snapped out of her reverie when she heard the Clave Inquisitor announce that.

            “What are we doing?” Clary asked Isabelle quietly so Alec and Jace, who were already walking away, wouldn’t overhear. Izzy looked over at her with a slightly puzzled expression.

            “Weren’t you listening?” The raven haired Shadowhunter questioned as she started following the boys.

            “I kinda zoned out.” Clary explained, walking beside her.

            “Ooo, thoughts stuck on a certain vampire?” Izzy asked with a knowing smirk.

            “No. I was just thinking, about Valentine.” Clary lied smoothly. She saw from the way her friend’s face changed that Izzy had bought it. It’s not like she was ashamed of herself for thinking about Jace, but saying anything like that to Isabelle, who seemed to live on romance drama, it would be hard to convince her of the fact that she was just concerned about him because he was her friend. Nothing else.

            “Basically, we’re going to look into any possible vampires coming into town and the ones already here to see if any of them have a history of killing mundanes and they haven’t been caught yet.” Izzy explained without any hesitation. She didn’t want to think about Valentine anymore then Clary probably did.

            “Shouldn’t we check out the place where they were killed? Try to find where they’re hiding?” Clary asked. While she knew that every since she had learned she was a Shadowhunter, everything had been a little chaotic with Valentine and the Circle, and this was her first, normal ‘mission’, she didn’t expect the work to be so, mundane.

            “They’re vampires. They won’t be out right now, not with the sun. And most definitely not the police checking out the scene already. Luke will call us if he finds anything. Hey, why don’t you call Simon, see if you can get him to talk to Raphael. He might know who did this.” Izzy suggested. Clary looked up to see that Alec and Jace had stopped in front of another screen and appeared to be waiting for them.

            “Yeah, I’ll go call him now.” Clary replied and walked away from the others, pulling her phone out of her pocket.

SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH

            “I thought I told you to get some sleep.” Alec said to Jace as they entered the nightclub. After spending the entire coming up with nothing, they decided to wait until the sun went down before heading to the club where all three victims were found.

            “You’re not the boss of me, and I did.” Jace retorted, looking around the room. The place wasn’t packed, but not empty either. There were maybe 20, 25 people around that he could see, but then again it was a little early in the evening.

            “Yeah, how many hours?” Alec questioned, also taking stock of the room and the people, not that anyone else could see them due to their glamour runes.

            “I’m fine Alec. Besides, this really isn’t the best time for a conversation like this.” Jace told him, heading towards the front corner of the room to get the best look at everyone around them. Alec followed closely behind.

            “Has Clary gotten any news from Simon?” Alec asked quietly, so no would hear them.

            “Not yet, they’re meeting with Raphael now.” Jace replied, watching the mundanes intently. He knew that the odds of the vampire attacking in the same place were not very high, but since the rest of the city has either under Raphael’s clan, or some other vampire’s clans control, this was the only real spot in the city he could attack. If he did in another clan’s territory, he’d have them to deal with as well as the Shadowhunters/

            “Jace?” The blonde turned his attention back over to his Parabatai, “Look over there, back corner of the room.”

            Slowly, with a bored expression, Jace swept the room with his eyes, quickly picking up a brunette male, maybe in his early 30’s standing all alone. That was not why he had caught Alec’s attention though. The man was staring right at them. He could see them through their glamour.

            “Definitely not a mundane.” Jace whispered, turning his gaze back over to the door, hoping the brunette wouldn’t notice that they made him.

            “Nope. No runes either. So, he’s either some Downworlder who just happens to be here or,”

            “He’s our vampire.” Jace finished, turning his head to look at the other side of the club, catching another glimpse of the man. He was still standing there, but now, he was smirking at them.

            “And guessing from that smirk, he knows we’re on to him.” Jace said, looking over at the door when he heard it open as two women walked in.

            “Should we make a move?” Alec wondered, letting Jace take the lead on this one.

            “No, it’s too crowded. Wait until he’s more alone.” Jace answered. Not too long after he said that, Jace noticed that the brunette was now sitting at the counter beside one of the women who had just walked in and started talking with her. She looked to be in her mid 20’s, dark blonde hair, and was wearing a black cocktail dress. Jace couldn’t deny that she was attractive, any other time, he’d probably flirt with her too.

            For an hour, Alec and Jace watched as the man flirted with the woman. They couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it was apparent that she thought he was funny. She seemed to be chuckling at almost everything their suspected vampire said, and he barely ever took his attention off of her. The few times he did, it would be to look up at them, as though he wanted to make sure they were watching him.

            “I don’t like this. It feels like a trap.” Alec revealed to Jace.

            “Yup. Good thing you have me to watch your back.” Jace replied with a cocky smile. Alec shook his head and turned his attention back to the vampire, just in time for him to see the brunette leading the woman out a door in the back of the room. Without saying a word, the two brothers followed.

            The door led right outside to a back alley that was extremely dark as there didn’t appear to be any streetlights close by. Jace was about to pull out his witch light from his pocked when he heard a muffled scream. Alec slipped his bow off of his shoulder and grabbed an arrow from his quiver while Jace activated his sword and they turned the small corner.

            The man was holding the woman tightly against him, fangs completely exposed, less than an inch away from her neck. He smiled when he saw them, and started walking backwards, dragging the blonde with him. Alec, having already put the arrow in position, fired a warning shot. The arrow just missing his shoulder.

            “Let her go.” Jace ordered. The vampire’s grin grew wider and he shoved her against the brick wall before running away from the two Shadowhunters. Jace immediately ran after him as Alec went over to the woman, who was now sitting up with her back against the wall.

            “Are you okay?” Alec asked as he looked her over, trying to find any evidence of an injury.

            “I’m fine.” She answered as she lifted her head, letting the black haired Shadowhunter see her own fangs. Before Alec could do anything, he felt something hard slam against the side of his head and his vision went black.

SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH

            Jace ran as the vampire continued staying ahead of him. He had the advantage of people seeing him coming and parting so they wouldn’t get hit. Since he’s glamour run was still on, no one saw that Jace was following him. Suddenly, the vampire turned a corner, and Jace followed him.

            When he rounded the corner, he saw he was in another alley, but the vampire was gone even though there was another wall at the end, making the only way out the way they had just come from. Holding up his sword so he was ready if something attacked him, Jace cautiously continued into the alley. There wasn’t anything there except for two dumpsters, and he approached them slowly, fully aware that the vampire might be hiding behind them.

            As he reached the last dumpster, and saw there was no one behind them he started to turn around to head back, figuring that the vampire probably jumped into the dumpster, then onto the roof and ran off. However, before Jace could walk away, something slammed into him from behind as he felt something pinch his neck. All of his muscles suddenly became limp as dark spots danced across his vision.

            The last thing he heard was a man whispering, “Nighty night Shadowhunter.”

Chapter Text

            Alec woke up on the ground with a pounding headache. At first, he was at a loss at what had happened, but it only took a minute before the memories came flooding back. A vampire was killing mundanes, they were sent to try and find him. Wait, they.

            “Jace?” Alec called as he sat up, causing a sharp pain to appear in his left temple. He raised his hand to the source of the pain and felt blood on his fingers. He pulled his hand away and looked around the alley. The girl, that was apparently a vampire, was gone. So was Jace.

            “Jace?” Alec called again, looking around for his partner. It was then he remembered that the blonde Shadowhunter had run after the vampire who they believed was the one who had killed the three humans.     

            Slowly, he stood up, using the wall behind him to keep himself steady as the world started turning upside down in front of him. He waited a minute for the dizziness to stop, and when it did, he started walking out of the alley and into the street.

            The street was fairly empty. He had no idea how long he had been unconscious, but it must’ve been a while since the sidewalks were filled with people when he and Jace arrived at the nightclub. However, that realization only made him worry about his parabatai even more because he should’ve come back, unless something happened to him. He started walking a little more faster, keeping an eye out for Jace.

            When he still didn’t see the other Shadowhunter anywhere around, Alec pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and punched in Jace’s number. As he held the phone up to his ear, he kept his eyes open, still looking for his brother. A few seconds after he put Jace’s number in his cell phone, he heard the ringing of a phone very close by.

            Suddenly a feeling dread and fear started spreading through his body as he started running towards the sound. Alec ran down less than half a block as the ringing got louder in his left ear. Turning his head, he saw another alley, right where the noise was coming from and started walking down it.

            He didn’t walk very far before he reached the brick wall blocking the way out, but he still didn’t see the phone. Hearing that the phone sounded to be close to one of the dumpsters in the alley, Alec headed over to them, and got down on his hands and knees, sticking one arm underneath it.

            Alec quickly found the cell phone and was about to pull it out when he felt something else under the dumpster. He pulled out the phone and reached under again, pulling out a stele and a sword. Jace’s stele and sword.

            Ending the call on his phone to Jace, Alec punched in a different number in his phone and waited for the person to answer.

SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH

            “Unfortunately Isabelle, I can’t help you. No vampire in my clan or myself kill mundanes.” Raphael said after Isabelle and Clary told him the whole story of what had happened. They were currently sitting at a booth in the Jade Wolf restaurant while another vampire that the clan leader brought with him, stood by the door.

            “I’m not accusing you of anything Raphael. I know that you wouldn’t. But can you think of anyone who would?” Isabelle questioned.

            “No, I cannot. Either the vampire doesn’t have a clan, or is a new vampire that hasn’t been taught.” Raphael replied, starting to sound defensive.

            “And you have no idea who that could be, you haven’t heard anything about this from any other vampire or clan.” Clary checked. While it may not have been a question, it certainly sounded that way and Raphael seemed a little insulted by it.

            “I’ve already told you, no, I have no idea. If I did, I would either turn him over, or kill myself for murdering the mundanes.” Raphael told them, his voice starting to sound angry.

            “What about the Shadowhunter?” Clary asked. The vampire may not kill any mundanes, or let anyone in his clan do it, he had made no effort to hide how angry and upset he was at with what happened at the Institute or how he felt about the Shadowhunters who sided with Valentine.

            “Killing a Shadowhunter breaks the Accords. While I personally think that he deserved it, I still value my life enough to not through it away on petty revenge.” Raphael said, sitting back in his chair. Just as he finished speaking, Isabelle’s cell phone started ringing. She pulled it out of her jacket pocket to check who was calling. When she saw that it was Alec, she stood up.

            “Sorry, but I have to take this. I’ll be right back.” Isabelle apologized and started heading to the end of the room for some privacy while she pressed the ‘answer’ button.

            “Hey Alec, what’s up?” Isabelle asked, holding the device up to her ear.

            “Is Raphael with you?” Alec immediately said, ignoring her question.

            “Yeah, not that he’s given us anything useful. Like Simon told us, he says that he doesn’t know anything and if he did, he’d tell us.” Isabelle told her brother then asked, “Why? Did you guys not find anything?”

            “We did. But there were two of them. Izzy, they took him. They took Jace.”

SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH

            The first thing Jace felt as he started to wake up, was that he was lying on a cold, hard floor. It felt like cement or some kind of rock. The next thing he felt was some kind of weight on his wrists. Slowly, he opened his eyes and found himself in a dark room with a single lightbulb hanging from the middle of the ceiling. It was the only source of light in the room.

            While trying to move as little as possible, Jace looked around, trying to get a better sense of where he was. Unfortunately, there were no windows or signs and there was only one door on the other side of the room. The only thing that he could see was a wooden table against the wall. He glanced down at his wrists, and saw thick, metal manacles wrapped around them, attached to chain links that led to the wall.

            “You’re awake. That was faster than we expected.” Jace turned his head to look over at the door as the vampire that he had been chasing before he passed out came into the room.

            “But then again, you aren’t like normal Shadowhunters now, are you?” The vampire questioned with a smile, causing Jace’s blood to turn cold. While he still had no idea where he was, and didn’t know for sure why the vampire had taken him, he knew that whatever the blood drinker was planning, it was not going to be good.

Chapter Text

            “But then again, you aren’t like normal Shadowhunters now, are you?” The vampire’s question echoed through Jace’s ears, but instead of showing how unnerved he was, Jace smiled.

            “Well you’re right about that. I happen to be a lot more handsome than all the others. And a much better fighter as well.” Jace replied with a cocky voice, pushing himself up to sit against the wall.

            “And a much better Downworlder killer.” The vampire shot back bitterly. Jace’s smile immediately left his face when the vampire told him that.

            “I never meant to activate the sword. I truly thought I was destroying it. I never meant to kill anyone.” Jace said sincerely.

            “I think you’re lying.” The vampire replied, “You are, after all, Valentine’s son. And it’s not like your kind, the Shadowhunters, have ever cared about what happens to the Downworld. Well guess what. I do. Intentional or not, you are the cause of several deaths. Those people deserve justice.”

            “Is that why you kidnapped me? To make me pay for what happened?” Jace asked, looking directly into his captor’s eyes.

            “That was part of it, yes.” The vampire admitted as he placed his hands behind him and started walking up and down the room in front of the Shadowhunter.

            “One part? What is the other part?” Jace inquired, completely confused as to what other motive the vampire could have to kidnap him.

            “Don’t get me wrong, if I could’ve, I would’ve killed you for what you did to my kind and the other Downworlders, but Raphael refused to strike against the Clave for vengeance. He believes that it would only make things worse. He is such a coward. He should not be the one to replace Camille. So, I struck out on my own, along with those who agreed with me. Our numbers are still too small to get our revenge.” The vampire started to explain.

            “Then what changed your mind bloodsucker?” The young man asked, trying to appear bored with this conversation though he was truly curious. The vampire stopped moving, and punched Jace in the face.

            “I don’t think you’re in a position to be antagonizing me, son of Valentine. If you need something to call me, call me Damien.” The vampire, Damien, said as Jace slowly turned his head back to face the brunette. His captor was now crouching down in front of him, face only inches away from his.

            “And to answer your question, it was a Shadowhunter, one of your own kind, a follower of Valentine. He told us about how Valentine kidnapped a vampire and you let him drink your blood.” Jace again felt his blood turn cold as he realized what Damien was getting at.

            “And suddenly, that vampire can walk in the sun. A true Daylighter.” Damien finished.

            “You know that’s ridiculous. There have been multiple times where a vampire drank blood from a Shadowhunter and nothing happened.” Jace told him, trying to appear as nonchalant as possible.

            “That’s true, but you’re not a normal Shadowhunter, remember? You have more Angel blood in your system and only you and Valentine’s daughter have that. No one else in history has.” Damien explained with a wide smile, exposing his fangs, “Why don’t we test this theory?”

            Before Jace could do or say anything, Damien shot towards him and sank his teeth into Jace’s neck. The Shadowhunter tried to move his arms so he could push the vampire away, but the venom was already taking effect. He felt drowsy and his limbs heavy while the rest of his body went completely numb.

            Damien suddenly pulled away after only a minute, only drinking a little as his prisoner fell to the floor. He didn’t want the Shadowhunter dead, at least not yet. He had to know if drinking his blood would indeed make him a Daylighter. And if it did, he would need his captive alive.

            “Rest up Shadowhunter. You have a few hours until it’s morning. Then, we’ll see if this works.” Damien said. Then he turned and walked out of the room, leaving Jace alone.

            Jace again, pushed himself back up into a sitting position. Though the vampire didn’t take much, the venom that entered his system made him feel very lethargic. Sitting up took a lot more energy than it normally would’ve. He went to grab his stele so he could activate his healing rune so he wouldn’t be as affected by the blood loss and venom as he was, only to find that it was gone. Damien must’ve taken it. No matter, he could activate his rune without it.

            As Jace felt his rune start to burn something strange happened. Instead of feeling the light burning fade along with the drowsiness and heaviness his body was feeling, the burning started to spread throughout his body and became more and more intense by the second. Jace tried to deactivate the rune to stop the pain but couldn’t. The pain only kept growing.

            “AHH!” Jace screamed as he again fell down onto his side and his vision went black.

SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH

            “And you have no idea where they could be?” Clary asked Alec, desperate for an answer.

            After Isabelle had gotten Alec’s call, they rushed back to the Institute to meet up with him. They were currently in his bedroom with the door closed. They had yet to tell anyone about what had happened, scared what reaction they would get from the Inquisitor if she found out that not only was the mission a failure, but her grandson had been kidnapped.

            “If I did, I would’ve had you guys meet me there. I looked around the entire area but I have no clue where the vampire took Jace.” Alec responded, quite annoyed that the redhead seemed to be treating him like an idiot.

            “Why would the vampire even kidnap Jace in the first place? He had to have known that would only bring more attention to him.” Isabelle wondered.

            “It wasn’t just him. The vampire wasn’t working alone. This was a planned attack.” Alec revealed, the memory of the girl they thought they were saving actually being a vampire came to his mind once again.

            “And the plan was to kidnap Jace? But why?” Clary questioned, glancing back and forth from Isabelle and Alec. She was still new to this Shadowhunter thing. She didn’t know how vampires think or operate.

            “Revenge?” Alec suggested before adding, “A lot of Downworlders were killed during Valentines attack which Jace was indirectly responsible for.”

            “Seems a lot to do simply for revenge.” Isabelle stated, “I mean, why not just kill him on the street? Why go through all that trouble?”

            “Well, maybe they-” Alec stopped as a sudden pain appeared in his neck. He lifted his hand up to the spot, feeling it throb even though there was nothing there.

            “Alec? You alright?” His little sister asked, coming closer to him. Clary also moved, but not as close as the other Lightwood.

            Alec waited until the throbbing died down. Luckily, it only took about a minute, but that minute was all he needed to connect the dots. He dropped his hand and lifted his shirt to look at his Parabatai rune. Then he looked back up at the two young women in the room with him.

            “Jace. Something happened to him.” Alec told them, then after another moment, he added, “I think the vampire drank from him.”

            “Oh no.” Clary muttered as horror covered her face.

            “What?” Isabelle asked, looking over her shoulder at the shorter girl.

            “Simon drank from Jace and became a Daylighter. What if that’s why the vampire took him? What if he found out Jace’s blood could let him walk in the sun too? That’s enough to make a vampire plan all this to kidnap someone.” Clary told them.

            “But, how would he have found out? We're the only ones who know about that, besides Simon.” Alec reminded them.

            “Unless Simon told someone. Raphael was very interested in knowing how Simon got to be a Daylighter.” Isabelle informed her brother and her friend. Clary was about to defend her boyfriend when Alec suddenly fell to the floor.

            “Alec!” Isabelle called out as she knelt by her brother’s side while Clary came around to his other side. Alec didn’t respond though, he just writhed in pain, hand clutching his Parabatai rune.

            “Jace.” Alec whispered before he completely passed out.

Chapter Text

            Jace woke up to his entire body throbbing in pain. It felt almost like the one time he decided to train for more than five hours at once, except worse. He turned his head, groaning as his muscles protested.

            “Oh good, you’re alive. You made us worry when you suddenly started screaming.” Jace opened his eyes to see a girl with dark blonde hair standing a few feet away from him. The same girl from the nightclub, the girl that Alec stayed behind to help.

            “You’re a vampire.” Jace stated with shock as he pushed himself up into a sitting position, though the throbbing in his entire body got worse as payback for moving. The girl smiled.

            “Yup. Good trick huh? Damien thought of it. After all, you Shadowhunters only care about yourselves and mundanes. He knew that you guys would come to the rescue if you thought a helpless mundane was in danger.” The girl explained, letting her fangs become visible.

            Jace however didn’t care about why they put on a show, he could’ve figured it out all on his own. All he cared about was the fact that Alec had stayed behind to help the ‘victim’, but if she was in on the whole thing, then what happened to his brother?

            “What did you do to Alec?” Jace practically growled. The female vampire looked a little frightened, but quickly shook it off and let her smile grow.

            “The other Shadowhunter you were with? Don’t worry, I didn’t kill him. I only knocked him out, so at the very least he’ll have a bad headache. On the other hand, I might’ve punched him too hard and cracked his skull. Don’t know, didn’t bother to stick around and find out.” She taunted.

             Jace’s anger and fear for his Parabatai suddenly took over and he forced himself to stand and charge her. He had completely forgot that he was still chained to the wall until the restraints pulled him back towards the wall. Though he didn’t actually touch her, he succeeded in scaring her even more and she took a few steps away from him.

            “You haven’t been a vampire for very long, have you?” Jace asked though he knew the answer. No vampire who had been one for a long time would be so timid. Only the newest ones were that easily scared. The dark blonde suddenly looked defensive as she crossed her arms over her chest.

            “I’m older than that stupid Daylighter.” She said.

            “But not by much. When did you turn? A year ago? Two years?” Jace questioned, moving backwards until his back hit the wall so he could lean against it.

            He was still extremely worried about Alec, but once he remembered that he was restrained and saw how scared the vampire was, the pain that he had forced down came back up. Not to mention, he could tell that she had only been taunting him earlier with how injured Alec was. Someone as timid as her wouldn’t have hit that hard.

            And maybe, just maybe, there was a chance he could convince this vampire to let him go. It was clear from the way she was acting that she had very little experience with Shadowhunters. It was probably a long shot, but at the moment, Jace couldn’t think of any other way to get free, unless he wanted to wait for Alec to come and rescue him. Though who knew how long that could take, he didn’t feel like waiting around for the vampires to realize that his blood could make them Daylighters.

            “That’s none of your business.” The vampire yelled at him.

            “No, but it is my business when a vampire kills innocent mundanes, especially if he only did it to get to me.” Jace said, his voice growing soft so he wouldn’t appear as threatening as he was before.

            “You killed several Downworlders, their deaths deserve justice. And it’s not fair that we vampires are restricted to only come out when the sun is gone. Every other kind of Downworlders can go out whenever they want. Why can’t we?” The vampire pointed out.

            “I truly thought that I was going to destroy the sword. Valentine told me I had demon blood, that I was his son. It wasn’t until I touched the sword did I realize that he was lying. I never meant to activate the sword. I am really sorry about their deaths, if I could bring them back, I would.” Jace told her, looking down at the ground.

            “Well, you can’t. What you can do though, is help us, by giving us the ability to walk in the sun.” The vampire replied and Jace looked back up at her.

            “And what will vampire do when they can? Over half of the mundane deaths caused by the Downworld are killed by vampires. If those vampires got the ability to walk in the sun, you really think that those numbers would go down? They’d only go up. I don’t know why vampires can’t walk in the sun, but I know that if they help keep the mundanes safe, then I’m okay with that.”

            “And what about those that just want to live their lives? Not every vampire kills mundanes.” She pointed out before adding, “Why shouldn’t they be able to walk in the sun?”

            “I don’t make the rules. But I do know that my blood is not going to make you a Daylighter.” Jace told her.

            “We’ll find out if that’s true soon enough.” Both the Shadowhunter and the vampire turned to look at the door when they heard another voice. They looked over just in time to see Damien enter the room.

            “Clara, why don’t you go make sure the place is locked up. We don’t want any unexpected visitors to show up.” Damien ordered. The dark blonde woman, Clara, nodded and made her way out of the room.

            Once she was gone, Damien turned his attention back to Jace. He looked down at the watch on his left wrist and said, “Only one more hour before we know if this works. I hope for your sake though, it does.”

            Damien gave him a sadistic grin before turning and leaving the Shadowhunter alone once again.

            Jace sat back down on the floor, unable to think of any way to escape. The throbbing in his body had died down some, but not much. He lifted his hand to his neck where Damien had bit him, and felt the two puncture marks. Though he could tell they had been healing, they should’ve been gone by now, especially with his healing rune being activated.

            Then he remembered what happened when he activated the healing rune. Instead of feeling a slightly burn and the healing of the injury, the pain had intensified to the point where he passed out, and he had no idea why. Maybe it was because he had never activated his iratze without his stele. Whatever the reason was, Jace was now too nervous to activate any of his other runes. If he tried to use them so he could escape and the agony that he felt last time happened again, he would only pass out. It might be worse.

            Jace looked over the chains on his wrists. They were rusty and old looking, but they were very thick. He pulled on them a little to see if they would budge at all, but no, they were too strong. Looking over at the spot in the wall where one of the chain links were welded into the wall. Again, Jace pulled on the chains to see he could pull it out of the wall, but again, no suck luck. The only way out was for someone to either break them, or unlock the manacles with the key.

            Resigning to the fact that for now, there wasn’t anything he could do, Jace let his head rest against his shoulder, hoping that by the time someone came back into the room, the throbbing would be fully gone and he’d be able to escape.

SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH

            Alec woke to the sound of people arguing. It took a minute to recognize that one of the voices was his sister’s, and another minute to recognize Clary as the person she was arguing with.

            “Simon wouldn’t have told anyone! He knows that if any other vampire learned how he became a Daylighter, Jace would be in more danger! He wouldn’t do that!” Alec heard Clary yelled.

            “We are the only people who know! Who else could’ve told them?” Isabelle asked, very loudly. Alec force his eyelids open and saw Magnus sitting down on the bed he was lying on beside him. The minute the warlock saw that he was awake, he turned to the two arguing women.

            “He’s awake.” That stopped the fighting as Clary and Isabelle came rushing to his side.

            “Alec, are you okay?” Izzy asked as she watched her brother start to sit up only for Magnus to put his hand on his chest and gently push him back down.

            “Don’t move just yet. We still don’t know what exactly happened.” Magnus told him.

            “I already know what happened. It was Jace, something bad happened to him, I just don’t know what.” Alec replied. The three others looked at each other before looking back down at him.

            “Are you feeling better?” Magnus asked, concerned laced in his voice.

            “Yeah, I feel fine. We need to find Jace.” Alec replied, moving to sit up again. This time Magnus let him.

            “We will, but you should rest. If you’re feeling whatever Jace’s feeling and they’re hurting him, then you’re not going to be of any use to him.” Izzy pointed out, laying her hand on her big brother’s shoulder.

            “What’s going on in here?” Everyone froze at the sound of the Inquisitor’s voice. Very slowly, they all turned to look at the older Shadowhunter who was watching them with a stern look on their face.

            “Alec, you’re back. I expected you and Jace to report to me when you came back from your mission. Where is Jace?” The Inquisitor asked, just noticing that her grandson wasn’t with them. Worry began to fill her entire body when she saw the looks on the Shadowhunters’ and warlock’s faces.

Chapter Text

            Clary was surprised that the Inquisitor managed to stay so calm as Alec filled her in on what happened. She expected the woman to start freaking out that not only had they failed in capturing the vampire responsible for the deaths of the mundanes, but that her grandson, her only living relative, had been captured and was actually the target of the attack. Clary could however see a boiling rage and uncontrollable worry filled in her eyes though, so she knew the woman wasn’t heartless as many Shadowhunters believe.

            “So, not only did you fail to bring in the vampire, Jace got kidnapped, you got injured and you didn’t even manage to get the identity of the vampire who was behind all this?” The Inquisitor questioned, her words short and clipped though her tone harsh. Alec gave a shameful nod, looking down at his lap. Magnus, who was standing beside the bed his boyfriend was still laying on placed a hand on the young man’s shoulder.

            “Well, we aren’t going to get anything accomplished by standing around doing nothing. You think the reason for capturing Jace is because he can turn vampires into a Daylighter, like he did Simon?” The elder Shadowhunter asked Clary.

            “Yeah, I know that Raphael had been pressuring him into telling how, and other vampires would want to know too.” Clary answered.

            “Then go find Simon, and bring him in for questioning.” The Inquisitor told and turned to tell Isabelle something, but Clary spoke before she could.

            “Wait, what? Simon isn’t a part of this, he wouldn’t tell anyone about this.” Clary defended her vampire boyfriend. Imogen turned back to the redhead, a stern look on her face.

            “You say that Simon is the only other person who knows about this, and that vampires had been pressuring him into telling them how to become a Daylighter. Unless one of you told someone, then it is most likely him. So, forgive me if I do not take your word for it. Go bring him in, and that is not a suggestion.” The Inquisitor ordered Valentine’s daughter, coming to stand right in front of her. Clary felt herself start to crumble under Imogen’s fierce eyes, but stood her ground. She knew that Simon would never betray Jace like that, no matter how much they might not get along.

            “I’ll go get Simon. You guys, see if you can find out where the vampire might have taken Jace.” Isabelle spoke up, not wanting Clary to suffer the Inquisitor’s wrath. Clary tore her gaze away from Imogen and was about to protest yet again, but stopped when Isabelle shot her a look, telling her to just let it be. As she left the room, Inquisitor Herondale turned to Alec.

            “I want you to inform me the minute you find anything.” With that, she walked out of the room, leaving the two Shadowhunters and warlock alone.

            After a minute of awkward silence, Clary said, “I’m going to go with Izzy.”

            She didn’t wait for a response either and left the room. Again, an awkward silence fell upon the room. This was the first time since Alec had seen Magnus, had actually talked to him after everything that happened with Valentine and the demon. He didn’t really know what to say and it seemed like Magnus didn’t either.

            “How are you feeling?” Magnus suddenly broke the silence.

            “I’m okay, just worried about Jace. Why are you here?” Alec asked suddenly when he realized how odd it was for Magnus to be here, he had been avoiding him ever since they got the demon to switch his and Valentine’s body’s back.

            Seeing the hurt look on Magnus’s face when he asked that, Alec quickly said, “Not that I’m upset you are here, but, how did you know?”

            “Isabelle called me, when you passed out. She was worried about you, and since they didn’t want to tell anyone to find out what was going on, she called me hoping I could help.” Magnus explained, looking down at a random spot on the floor.

            “Thanks.” Alec replied, his voice quiet.

            “Yes, well, I should be going. Please be more careful next time.” Magnus said, then started walking out of the room. Alec wanted to call him back, wanted to stop him, but he knew that he should let him go. What happened when he was trapped in Valentine’s body could not be so easily shrugged off and forgotten about. It would take time for that to heal, and all Alec could do was wait for the warlock to open up. But right now, he had to go track down his missing Parabatai, again.

            The Shadowhunter got off the bed and headed for the door, stopping by the mirror. He just noticed dur to his reflection that the cut he got on his head from when the female vampire knocked him out, had completely healed. He hadn’t even realized that his head had stopped hurting. Magnus had probably done something.

            Getting back to this task at hand, Alec headed down to the other end of the Institute where the main room was. He was surprised at how quiet and empty the place was, but when he looked down at his watch, the shock wore off. It was almost 5:30 in the morning. Barely anyone was up this early.

            At first, he thought he would be alone, but another surprise came in the form of the Inquisitor. She was standing by of the tables, looking over a map of the area where the vampire attacks had happened and where Jace had been kidnapped. He really shouldn’t have been so surprised to see her there, after all, Jace was her grandson and was showing that she was did indeed care about him.

            The Inquisitor looked up when she heard him enter the room, and watched as he came over to the end of the table.

            “So, the attacks all happened here, in this nightclub.” Alec informed her, pointing to the spot on the map before moving his finger to a different spot, “And Jace was kidnapped here. At least, that’s where I found his stele, phone, and sword.”

            “The vampires are staying in this specific spot. Makes sense, they come any further into the city they’d have to deal with Raphael, and he knows what could happen if a vampire was breaking the Accords in his territory.” Imogen said, still staring at the map. Alec couldn’t really see her face, but could see her fists clenched so tightly that her knuckles were white.

            “We’ll find him.” Alec assured the woman. Imogen looked up at him then.

            “Does Jace often get into trouble like this?” The Inquisitor asked, looking somewhat amused and exasperated.

            “Yeah, he’s pretty reckless. All act first and think later.” Alec confirmed. The Inquisitor shook her head.

            “Just like his father.”

            For a moment, Alec stayed quiet, then added, “But pretty much the only reason he does keep getting into trouble is because of Valentine. If Valentine didn’t exist, none of this would’ve happened to Jace.”

            “If Valentine never existed, a lot of things would never have happened. The Circle wouldn’t have happened, the uprising never would’ve happened, all those Shadowhunters and Downworlders would never have died.” The elder woman said, looking back down at the table, a sad expression appearing on her face.

            “I promise, I’m going to do everything I can to find him and keep him safe.” Alec told his brother’s grandmother. She looked back up at him again and offered a small smile.

            “I know you will.”

SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH

            Jace had no idea how much time had passed since Damien and Clara had left the room. There were no windows or clocks or anything he could use to tell him how long he had been waiting. Every second though felt much longer than it actually was. He kept expecting the door to open almost every minute.

            While he knew that odds were, it was his blood that had given Simon the ability to walk in the sun, he couldn’t be 100% sure. He wasn’t lying when he told Clara that vampires had drank from Shadowhunters before and nothing happened, but Damien was also right in saying that he wasn’t a normal Shadowhunter. He, like Clary, had much more Angel blood in them due to Valentine experimenting on them. But he also couldn’t be sure that Valentine hadn’t done anything to Simon while he had been captured. He’s ‘father’ seemed to like experimenting on people, so it wouldn’t surprise him if he did, but again, he didn’t know.

            Jace hoped that his blood wouldn’t make Damien a Daylighter, hoped that when he walked into the sunlight to see, he would burn and die before he could make it back into the building. If he did die, then they would have nothing to gain from him and a killer wouldn’t be able to kill anyone else ever again. Granted, if it also didn’t work, then they would probably kill him, to keep their identities secret and for revenge for what happened with the Soul Sword, but he was okay with that. Honestly, he deserved it. Those Downworlders are dead because of him, intentional or not.

            Suddenly, the door to the room flew open, and Damien walked inside with a sadistic grin on his face, and Jace knew that any hope he had that his blood wouldn’t work left him.

            “Looks like someone just became a lot more useful.”

Chapter Text

            “I’m telling you, Inquisitor Herondale, I did not tell anyone about how I became a Daylighter.” Simon told the elder Shadowhunter standing in front of him, his voice a mix of exasperation and fear. He had told the Inquisitor the same thing over and over yet she refused to believe him and the more he denied telling anyone about how he became a Daylighter, the scarier she seemed to get. Apparently, that was possible.

            “So you’re telling me, that you, a vampire, gained the ability to walk in the sun, and no vampire came to you, wanting to know how?” The Inquisitor questioned, coming to stand right in front of the chair Simon was sitting in.

            “No, Raphael did come to me, but I didn’t tell him anything.” Simon answered, looking over at the corner of the room where Alec, Isabelle, and Clary stood.

            When Clary and Isabelle first showed up at the canoe shack and told him about how Jace had been kidnapped and that they needed his help, this wasn’t what he had in mind. They didn’t tell him about how he would basically be accused of helping vampires take the blonde Shadowhunter so they could become Daylighters.

            “Raphael, the vampire clan leader, the one who saved you by helping you turn, came to you for the knowledge of how to walk in the sun, you said no, and you haven’t been attacked or killed by him.” Imogen Herondale said dubiously.

            “He threatened me, but I didn’t say anything. I swear.” The Inquisitor stared at him, clearly not believing a word he said. Finally, Clary spoke up.

            “I know you don’t believe him Inquisitor, but I do. I’ve known Simon since we were kids, he would never betray Jace, or any of us, like that.” Clary defended her boyfriend, capturing Jace’s grandmother’s attention.

            “You two are dating, I’d hardly call your opinion objective.” The Inquisitor stated. Before Clary could say anything, Isabelle came forward.

            “I trust Simon as well. He came to me for help in getting Raphael to stop threatening him as well as to stop trying to find out how he became a Shadowhunter. It was difficult, but Raphael did stop, and he didn’t find out about Jace’s involvement. If the vampires did kidnap Jace to become Daylighters, it wasn’t Simon who told them. Remember, we don’t know for sure that was their motive. It could be simply for revenge.” Isabelle explained.

            For a long moment, the Inquisitor was silent. She looked between the vampire the two Shadowhunters who defended him. The silence made the room extremely more tense than it already was. Imogen then looked over at her grandson’s Parabatai. The entire time she had been questioning Simon, he stayed quiet, not saying a word. Now, she wanted to know if he trusted the vampire as much as his sister and Clary. It was his Parabatai’s life on the line, his opinion mattered more to her than the others. After only a few seconds, Alec nodded, letting her know that he did.

            “Only Raphael came to you?” Imogen asked, looking back down at Simon.

            “Yes.” Simon revealed.

            “He is the leader of the New York City vampire clan. All the vampires are with him, besides a few loners. If anyone knows anything about who took Jace, it would be him. Go and question him again.” The Inquisitor ordered the Shadowhunters, who all nodded and started making their way to the door.

            “Does this mean I can leave too?” Simon asked, standing up from the chair he had been sitting on.

            “No.” Everyone stopped when the heard the older woman say that.

            “I still don’t trust you. You will remain here until they find Jace and deal with the vampires who were a part of this conspiracy. If we find evidence that you are indeed innocent, then you are free to leave. And that’s my final word on the matter.” The Inquisitor left no room for argument and no one tried. They all knew what she was capable of, and considering it was her grandson who was at risk, they knew that Simon was getting off easy. Without another word, the three young Shadowhunters left the room to go find Raphael.

SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH

            “Looks like someone just became a lot more useful.” Jace stood up off the ground when he heard that, the chains on his wrists dangling at his side as he did so. The sadistic smile remained on Damien’s face as he stalked towards the prisoner in front of him.

            “115 years since I last felt the sun on my face. You have no idea how much such a little thing like that could be missed. But now, with your blood, the rest of my clan will be able to have that again.” Damien said, coming to a stop in front of Jace, just out of his reach.

            “You, have a clan? Can’t be a really big one since no one in the Institute has ever heard of you.” Jace responded. He had first wondered if the vampires were with Raphael, that Simon had revealed how he became a Daylighter, but Damien quickly disproved that theory. When he said that he struck out on his own with those that were loyal to him, Jace didn’t know if they had fully become a clan. Guess they actually had.

            “Oh our size doesn’t matter. What does matter, is that we will be the only Daylighters in the world. Once everyone in my clan has drank your blood, then I will kill you. Rest assured, it won’t be a pleasant death. Then, I will kill that other Daylighter. What was his name again? Samuel, Simeon, no, Simon. Yes, that’s it. The fact that we are Daylighters will make every vampire want to be with us, and with your death, the Clave will never find out our identities.” Damien explained.

            Jace felt his stomach fill with dread. He didn’t know what the vampire’s overall plan was, but now that he did, he knew he had to escape. Alec, Izzy, and Clary were looking for him, he knew that was certain, but if they could find him in time, if they couldn’t find Damien’s connection to Raphael either, then yes, his plan go on without a hitch. There was also the possibility that Damien might also kill Raphael and his followers just to make sure that their identities would be kept secret. Who knows what they could do after no longer being bound by the sun.

            “You won’t get away with any of this.” Jace told him, his voice sounding a lot more confident than he felt. Damien didn’t look worried at all though as he started walking backwards towards the door.

            “Oh, we’ll see about that. But for now, Clara?” Damien called and Clara came into the room. Damien put his hand on the female vampire’s back and gently ushered her towards Jace.

            “How do you feel about finally being able to feel the sun again?” Damien asked as they reached the middle of the room. Clara turned her head to look at Jace, a wide smirk on her face.

            “I would love too.” Clara replied as she started moving closer to Jace, who raised his arms in a defensive position.

            “Don’t even think about it. I don’t need my stele or sword to take you down.” Jace told them.

            Clara slowed down ever so slightly, but then brushed off his words and kept walking. Jace backed up just a little so that the chains on his wrists wouldn’t be pulled so much, giving him more room to move. She kept coming closer, and opened her mouth exposing her fangs. Jace waited until she was right in front of him before she attacked.

            He wrapped his hands around her neck and pulled her close so he could push her against the wall. Normally he wouldn’t be so violent against a woman, but he didn’t care right now. Once he had her against the wall, he drove his knee right into her stomach while she wrapped her hand around his arm and tried to twist, but Jace activated his strength rune to give him an advantage over the vampire who would normally be stronger than him.

            The mistake Jace made though, was forgetting that Damien was still in the room. He felt the other vampire wrap his arm around his neck and pull him away from Clara. Before Jace could try and break free, he felt Damien’s fangs pierce his shoulder. He let go of the female vampire to try and push the male vampire away from him, but Damien’s venom was already flooding his system.

            Jace was expecting his body to go numb like it did before, but the exact opposite happened. He felt a terrible fire start running through his body. It was worse than when he tried to activate his healing rune a few hours earlier. The pain kept growing and was suddenly doubled when he felt Clara bit his arm, also drinking his blood. The fire became so unbearable that Jace couldn’t even bring himself to scream. Before he knew it, black spots started appearing in his vision, and everything turned black.

SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH

            Once Isabelle, Alec, and Clary left the Institute, they called Raphael who agreed to meet with them, but since they still had no idea if he was part of what happened to Jace and the mundanes, Alec decided it would be better to meet on neutral territory. So Alec called Magnus, asking him if they could meet at his place. Magnus, though a little reluctant, agreed.

            “Thanks for doing this Magnus.” Alec told his boyfriend as he, his sister, and Clary came into the apartment.

            “I’m happy to help.” Magnus replied, though quietly, almost like he still just wanted to be left alone. Alec felt guilty for getting Magnus’s help when he was still struggling with what all happened while he was trapped in Valentine’s body, but he didn’t have a choice, they had to find Jace. Also, at least this way, he could talk to Magnus, since he had been avoiding his calls and texts.

            “You better have a good reason for waking me up. I’ve been up all night after all. And I don’t risk going out in sunlight for just anybody, so you better make it worth it.” Raphael said as he came out of the kitchen and into the living room where the three Shadowhunters and warlock were waiting.

            “We still haven’t found Jace.” Isabelle started but before she could say anything else, the clan leader cut in.

            “And you still think it’s me?” The conversation between his sister and Raphael faded from Alec’s ears as he felt a sudden throbbing in Parabatai rune and his shoulder. He hoped nobody would notice how he tensed up because of it, but he was wrong when he saw Clary look over at him.

            “Alec, are you alright?” Clary wondered quietly so that no one else would hear. Isabelle was still talking with Raphael and Magnus was watching them both, trying to avoid Alec. She knew he wouldn’t want any attention on him when Jace was still in trouble. Alec started to nod, but then suddenly stopped and wrapped his arm around his waist, hand right over his Parabatai rune.

            “No. It’s Jace.” Alec whispered as a sudden agonizing pain filled his body. It was even worse than it was last time this happened and his legs buckled under him.

            “Alec!” Clary cried as she watched the older Shadowhunter fall to the ground. She quickly grabbed him, trying to slow down his descent, but he was too heavy for her. Magnus was suddenly by Alec’s other side and together they started moving him towards the couch. Raphael watched in shock while Isabelle wanted to go help but knew there wasn’t anything she could do. She knew what was happening.

            “What’s wrong with him?” Raphael asked as Clary and Magnus lowered Alec down onto the warlock’s couch.

            “Something’s happening to Jace.” Clary answered while Alec’s entire body tensed in pain. They could clearly see that he was biting his cheeks to keep from screaming. All of Isabelle’s instincts were telling her to go to her brother’s side, but she knew the only way to help Alec, was to find and save their brother.

            “Raphael, please. If you know anything, please, tell me. I’m begging you.” Isabelle pleaded desperately. Raphael looked away from Alec to Isabelle then back to Alec, just in time to see him fall unconscious.

            “There was this one vampire, Damien. He was a part of my clan. Camille turned him over a 100 years ago. He was completely loyal to her. When she died, he tried to take over but failed. I managed to get him to fall in line, but after the attack on the Institute, he wanted revenge, and when I refused, he tried to start a mutiny. I kicked him out, along with seven others who sided with him. If any vampire is brazen enough to kill mundanes and kidnap a Shadowhunter, it’s him.” Raphael revealed, looking anywhere but Isabelle’s face and Alec’s unconscious body.

            “Do you know where we can find him?” Isabelle asked, her voice still filled with desperation.

            “That nightclub has become his prime spot. He won’t go far from it, a mile at most. Camille did have a few properties in the area. I can show you.” Raphael offered.

            “Thank you.” Isabelle responded while Magnus went to get a map that he had of the city.

Chapter Text

            “Are you sure you’re feeling up to this?” Isabelle asked her big brother as he swung his quiver filled with arrows over his shoulder. He had woken up pretty quickly after he passed out and was well enough to head back to the Institute to get more weapons so they were all prepared to find and save Jace. Raphael had given them two locations where Damien could be hiding, a warehouse and a hotel. It wouldn’t take very long to search them since Magnus agreed to help, but Alec still looked pretty pale.

            “I’m fine. The only thing we need to concern ourselves with is finding Jace.” Alec responded. When he woke up on Magnus’s couch, the warlock put a spell on him, temporarily dulling the effect on his Parabatai rune. Though Alec didn’t like that he couldn’t really feel Jace that much anymore, it was the only that he could stand and fight if Jace was being hurt or in pain again.

            Isabelle was about to say something when a loud crash grabbed the siblings’ attention. They both looked over at the rack that had all the swords and spears on it, and saw that when Clary had reached for a sword, she accidentally knocked the entire thing over. With a loud sigh, Isabelle went over to help and Alec was about to go with her when he saw the Inquisitor coming over to him.

            “Are you ready?” Imogen Herondale asked once she reached Alec.

            “As soon as Clary and Isabelle are. Magnus is waiting for house outside to portal us. We’ll get to the two locations that Raphael gave us much faster.” Alec informed the Inquisitor.

            “How many vampires did Raphael say there were?” Imogen questioned.

            “Eight, including their leader.” Alec replied.

            “When you find Jace and the people that took him, don’t bother bringing any back for a trial. Just end the situation there.” Alec looked over at the Inquisitor in shock when he heard her say that.

            “They killed three mundanes, and quite possibly that one Shadowhunter who was a member of The Circle. And they kidnapped another Shadowhunter and drank from him, all of which are against the Accords. They would already be sentenced to death. If we bring them in for a trial, then the fact that Jace’s blood could make a vampire a Daylighter would become public knowledge. That is the last thing we need. So, you make sure that there is no vampire left to tell that secret.” The Inquisitor explained.

            “What about Simon?” Alec wondered, knowing that though Simon didn’t have a part to play in Jace’s kidnapping, he was still a vampire who did know how to become a Daylighter.

            “If someone can verify that he indeed had no part in this, and if Jace trusts him, then he would be allowed to go. Until then, he will be staying in the Institute. Now, go find my grandson and bring him home.” Imogen ordered, her desperation seeping into her voice as Isabelle and Clary finally started making their way towards them, weapons in their hands.

            “I will, I promise.” Alec said, and he and the two girls headed out of the armoury and out of the Institute where Magnus was waiting.

SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH

            Jace didn’t know how much or how long they drank, but it wasn’t enough to kill him. He knew that much because he woke up, though it was to a world of pain. Slowly opening his eyes, Jace saw Damien and Clara standing beside him, looking down, clearly waiting for him to wake up.

            “Did you have a nice nap?” Damien asked sarcastically. Jace did his best give the vampire a glare, but even that hurt and he wasn’t sure how well it was done. However, it had the opposite effect because Damien chuckled when he saw the look.

            “Didn’t think so. You looked like us drinking your blood really hurt, which is really strange. Every person I ever drank from enjoyed it.” Damien said with a smile, crouching down beside the Shadowhunter. Jace tried to think of a response, but even that hurt. He felt like his entire body was one giant bruise and doing any sort movement intensified it to the feeling of being stabbed.

            “Well, painful or not, you better rest up. You’re going to need it.” Damien told him, then stood up and walked out of the room, Clara following right behind him.

            Left alone again, Jace stayed still on the floor. There wasn’t anything else to do, everything hurt too much. Even if his muscles didn’t throb with pain when he moved, his body was too heavy to move. The vampires must’ve drank a lot of his blood. And even if they didn’t, he couldn’t escape. He had already tried, and activating his runes proved to be too painful to risk trying again.

            “Alec, please hurry.” Jace whispered, wishing that somehow his Parabatai could hear him.

            Jace didn’t realize that he fell asleep until he was woken up by the sound of the metal creaking open. This time, he managed to push himself into a sitting position as Damien came back inside, seven people, including Clara, came in after him. The six others that Jace hadn’t seen before, two women and four men, started coming towards him, opening their mouths and letting him see their fangs.

            “You aren’t going to get away with this.” Jace told Damien as the six vampires came closer to him.

            “Oh Shadowhunter, I already have.” Damien replied with a smirk.

SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH

            When the first location was a dead end, Alec found himself praying that the next location would be the one where they would find Jace. He also prayed that they wouldn’t be too late. Coming out of the portal Magnus activated, Alec had his bow loaded and up, pointing straight ahead. Behind him, Isabelle and Clary both had their swords up. Magnus came in last, standing casually behind them, waiting for something to do.

            “What if he’s not here?” Clary asked quietly, her voice filled with worry. Before anyone could respond, two vampires, a boy and a girl came out of the hallway on the left, fangs visible with two lines of blood running down their chins.

            Recognizing the girl as the one from the club where Jace was kidnapped, Alec replied, “Oh, he’s here.” And he released the arrow in his bow, hitting the female vampire in the shoulder.

            The vampire screeched in pain as she moved to pull the arrow out but Alec was already firing another shot, hitting her in the chest. With another screech, her body exploded into dust. Hearing another screech, Alec turned to see Clary finish off the other vampire with Izzy’s help.

            Once the two threats were eliminated, the Shadowhunters and the warlock started down the hall where the vampires had come from. Seeing that there was only one door that was open, the group made their way towards. When they got there, they saw a set of stairs going down to the basement.

            Isabelle pushed past Alec so she could go down first, that way, she could take care of any threats that would be coming right at them and protect Alec so he could take care of any threats from a distance. Isabelle started walking down the stairs, Alec following, then Clary, then Magnus.

            Once they were down the stairs, there were only three doors to check, but only one had a light coming from the crack between the floor and the bottom of the door. Before they went to open the door, it opened and another vampire, also having blood running down his chin, came out.

            The vampire charged at them, but Isabelle held up her sword, sticking it right into the man’s gut. Just like the other two, he screeched and his body exploded. The minute his body was gone, Isabelle and Clary charged into the room with Alec and Magnus right behind them. What they found made their blood boil.

            Five vampires were crouched down around a person that was laying flat down on the ground. Jace. The vampires raised their heads when they heard the rescue party come in, blood covering their mouths and chins. Alec immediately recognized one of them as the other vampire from the club.

            The remaining vampires stood up and moved to attack the group, but the vampires were no match for the beyond furious Shadowhunters. Alec dropped his bow, pulled an arrow out of his quiver and charged the vampire he recognized, the one he just knew was the leader, especially from the way he was smiling at him.

            Alec shoved him against the wall, stabbing his arrow into the vampire’s neck. The vampire made a gurgling noise as more blood started running out of his mouth as well as his neck. After a few second, the vampire went limp as his body exploded into a cloud of dust. Turning around, Alec saw that his sister, Clary, and Magnus had taken care of the other vampires, and he rushed over to his Parabatai’s side.

            He didn’t think that Jace was still awake. He hadn’t moved and made any sort of noise, and with five vampires drinking from him at once, well, Alec was just happy Jace was still alive. As he pulled Jace’s body up and into his arms, he felt the blonde stiffen at little.

            “Alec?” Jace’s voice was raspy and quiet; Alec almost didn’t hear it.

            “I’m here Jace, I’m here. You’re going to be okay.” Alec promised him as Izzy crouched down beside him. Clary knelt down on Jace’s other side along with Magnus, who immediately used his magic to unlock the chains that Alec failed to notice were on Jace’s wrists.

            Clary held in a gasp when she fully saw the condition Jace was in. There were small little holes in his jacket sleeves and his pants that had blood soaking them. There was also blood on his neck and on the ground. She pulled out her stele from her belt and lifted Jace’s shirt to find and activate his healing rune.

            Suddenly, Jace placed his hand on her wrist, fingers loosely wrapping around her hand. She looked over at him and heard him say, “No, don’t. Hurts.”

            Clary stared at him in shock. His voice was so weak and his eyes were so unfocused. She had never been bitten by a vampire, had no idea what the effect their venom has on the person being bitten, but she knew that Jace was in bad shape. He was still bleeding from the puncture wounds and his skin was so pale and was in pain. Deciding to ignore him, Clary again lifted his shirt to search for the rune when Magnus out his hand on her shoulder and pulled her back a little.

            “Stop. Don’t activate his healing rune, don’t activate any of his runes.” Magnus told her, keeping his eyes on the Shadowhunter in Alec’s arms.

            “What? Why?” Alec immediately asked, completely stunned that his boyfriend would refuse the healing of his brother.

            “Because it will only cause him more pain. Usually a Shadowhunter can take being bitten, but if they are being drank from for too long in one sitting, or by more than one vampire at a time, they say that it starts to hurt. The venom becomes painful because of their angel blood, and if they get to that point, they have to wait until the venom wears off before they activate a rune because it makes it worse. Jace has way more angel blood than all of you,” Magnus paused, looking over at Clary and said, “except maybe you. Activating the rune is only going to hurt him.”

            “So, what do we do?” Isabelle asked. While a part of her wanted to know how Magnus knew all of that, she ignored it, knowing that he was right. When she was at the point where she was getting Raphael to fed on her, there was one time where he accidentally went too far and it felt like her body was starting to catch fire and it hurt. If Jace was feeling anything like that, the last thing she wanted to do was make it worse.

            Magnus didn’t answer her. Instead, he lifted his hand off of Clary’s shoulder and laid it on Jace’s chest, a small red glow coming from his palm. Within seconds, Jace relaxed in his brother’s arms and his eyes closed.

            “That should keep him pain free until the venom wears off.” Magnus told the Shadowhunters.

            “Then let’s get him home.” Isabelle stated. Alec immediately slipped one arm under Jace’s legs and one under his shoulders then proceeded to pick up his unconscious Parabatai as Magnus drew another portal to take them back to the Institute.

Chapter Text

            Alec, Isabelle, Clary, Simon and Magnus waited in the hallway outside of the infirmary.  As much as they wanted to stay with Jace, once they got to the Institute, the nurses immediately took Jace and had them wait outside. When they finally came back and assured them that he would be okay but needed rest, Imogen went in to stay with Jace and refused to let them see Jace. She said it was because she had to question him, and didn’t want him to change his story because of them, but Alec had a strong suspicion that it was because she just wanted to make sure he was okay without anyone seeing how worried she was.

            “As fun as waiting in a hallway is, unfortunately I have to get going. Call if you need anything else.” Magnus broke the silence, gaining everyone’s attention.

            “Thank you, Magnus, for everything.” Alec said sincerely. The warlock nodded, then turned and walked away. Isabelle waited until he was out of sight before she got up and followed him. She caught up to him just as he reached the door.

            “Magnus.” Isabelle called out, causing Magnus to turn to look at her.

            “What is it Isabelle?” Magnus asked as Isabelle came to stand in front of him.

            “Is Jace, Jace isn’t going to get addicted to the vampire venom, right? Like I was?” Isabelle questioned, her voice filled with worry. She hated what the venom did to her and did not want her brother to go through the same thing she did.

            “No, he won’t. While the venom usually could make a person, or Shadowhunter high, for Jace, it did the opposite. It caused him pain because of his angel blood and activating his runes. He’ll be fine.” Magnus assured her, giving her a small smile. Isabelle nodded and Magnus left the building. Once he was gone, the Shadowhunter turned and headed back to the hallway where everyone else was waiting.

SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH

            Jace woke up very slowly. The agonizing pain he was feeling before he passed out was gone, replaced by a dull throb that was manageable. He sluggishly opened his eyes, and was greeted with a very different sight then what he had seen the last few times he woke up. Instead of the white empty room Damien was keeping him in, Jace saw the familiar walls of the Institute. More specifically, the infirmary. He was lying down on a bed in a room in the infirmary in the Institute. He was safe.

            “Jace?” The blonde turned his head and saw Imogen standing beside him, “How are you feeling?”

            “I’m alright.” Jace answered. His grandmother smiled.

            “Good, I’m glad. I’m sorry to ask you this now, when you haven’t had much time to recover, but I’m afraid I need to know. Do you know who told the vampires who took you that your blood can make them Daylighters?” The Inquisitor questioned, looking very regretfully that she was asking but seemed angry about the vampires.

            “It was the Shadowhunter, the one they killed, the one that was in the Circle. He was there when I let Simon drink my blood. He told them.” Jace replied.

            “Did Simon have anything to do with this?” Imogen asked and Jace looked her right in the eyes, suddenly realizing what she had apparently been thinking while he was gone.

            “No, Simon didn’t tell anyone. He may not be my favorite person, and I’m probably not his favorite person either, but I trust him. He wouldn’t tell anyone.” Jace informed her, and Imogen nodded.

            “Okay. Now, in order to make sure that no one knows about this, about what your angel blood can do to vampires, the real reason those vampires took you must not leave this room. The only explanation that will be given to the Clave and to everyone else, is that this was an act of revenge. Nothing else.” His grandmother told him and he nodded in agreement.

            “Good. Are you feeling up some more visitors?” Imogen wondered, briefly looking over at the door. Knowing who she meant by ‘visitors’, Jace nodded eagerly. She made to leave the room, then looked back over at him.

            “I’m glad your safe. You’re going to be okay.” The older Shadowhunter said with a smile. Jace smiled back and nodded again. With that, Imogen turned and walked out of the room.

SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH

            They had no idea how long they had been waiting in the hallway. It seemed like forever, but was probably only two or three hours when finally, the door opened the Inquisitor came out of the room, causing the waiting Shadowhunters and vampire to stand up and come over to her.

            “How is he?” Alec asked worriedly.

            “He’ll be fine. Even though we can’t use the healing rune, he’ll still heal at a faster rate though. All Shadowhunters do after all. And he’s awake right now, you can all go see him, but there are some things we need to discuss first.” The Inquisitor replied.

            “What’s that?” Clary wondered.

            “First off, the reason that Jace was taken, is not talked about to anyone after this. We do not need word about Jace’s blood turning vampires into Daylighters getting out.” She waited until they all nodded in agreement before turning to Simon.

            “Jace has confirmed that you had no part in his kidnapping or anything to do with the vampires, that they found out from the Shadowhunter they killed the day before they killed the three mundanes. So, you are free to go, but if you ever tell anyone, I will personally see that you are executed for treason against the Clave.” Imogen threatened. Gulping, Simon nodded, too scared to answer.

            “Finally, Jace needs his rest. Try not make sure he doesn’t do anything strenuous.” Again, everyone in the group nodded and made their way past the Clave representative, but Imogen reached out and grabbed Alec’s arm to stop him.

            “You dealt with all the vampires, right?” Imogen inquired quietly, so that no one would overhear them.

            “Yes. They won’t be hurting or killing anyone anymore.” Alec responded. The Inquisitor nodded and let go of his arm. Once her grip was gone, Alec headed into Jace’s room where the others had gone.

SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH

            It didn’t take very long for his friends to came into the room after his grandmother left. Less than three minutes later, Jace heard the door open and Clary, Isabelle, and Simon came into the room. Simon’s appearance surprised him, but not as much as Alec’s lack of appearance. Not even a minute after they came in though, did Alec come through the door behind him.

            “Hey, how are you feeling?” Clary asked as she came to his side with Isabelle while Simon stood at the foot of the bed and Alec came to stand on his other side.

            “I’m alright. It’ll take more than a few vampires to take me down.” Jace replied with an easy smile. It was at that moment a yawn broke through Jace’s lips.

            “Go to sleep Jace. We’ll be here.” Alec told his brother. Jace, too exhausted to protest, nodded, and let his eyes slip shut.

            Seeing that Jace was now asleep, Alec spotted a few chairs near the back of the room. He headed over to them, grabbed them and dragged them over to Jace’s bedside. He and Isabelle immediately sat down and Clary was about to do the same when she saw Simon tilting his head to the door, telling her he wanted to talk privately. Knowing that Jace would be fine with Alec and Isabelle watching over him, she followed her boyfriend out of the room.

            “I’m going to go. But I’ll see you later, okay?” The vampire said.

            “Okay.” Clary replied. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek then headed back into Jace’s room while Simon made his way towards the door.

SHSHSHSHSHSHSHSHSH

            Clary sat alone in the infirmary room watching over Jace. After two hours of watching him sleep with Alec and Isabelle, the Inquisitor came in, needing Alec to come write a formal statement about everything that happened since he was in charge of the rescue mission. Not long after he left, Izzy got a call from Raphael and left to talk to him. Clary was left alone.

            “Jace?”  Clary said quietly as she saw Jace starting to wake up. Hearing her call out his name, the blonde opened his eyes which immediately found hers.

            “Hey. How long was I asleep?” Jace asked, his voice still sounding a little drowsy.

            “About two hours.” Clary replied with a small smile then wondered, “How are you feeling?”

            “Better. Where is everyone?” Jace questioned when he saw that Alec and Isabelle weren’t in the room anymore.

            “The Inquisitor needed Alec to write up a statement about what happened for the Clave and Raphael called Izzy. They’ll be back soon.” Clary informed him. Jace nodded, letting her know that he heard her, but didn’t say anything.

            They sat for a while in silence, neither really knowing what to say. Jace, not wanting to let her know how freaked out and scared he was while he was being help by Damien, and Clary, not wanting to let him know how worried she had been. After the silence became too unbearable, Jace spoke up.

            “You didn’t have to stay you know.” Clary looked over at him in shock.

            “Jace, you were kidnapped and tortured. I wasn’t going to leave you. You said before that just because we weren’t siblings doesn’t mean you don’t care about me. Well I still care about you too.” Clary explained, causing Jace to look over at her, a hesitant smile coming upon his face.

            “Thank you.” Jace replied. Clary smiled in return and laid her hand over his, her fingers wrapping around his. The moment ended when they heard the door open. They turned their heads to see Alec coming into the room.

            “You’re awake. How are you feeling?” Alec asked worriedly as he came to sit in the chair on Jace’s other side.

            “I’m alright Alec, you don’t have to worry about me.” Jace told him with a slightly cocky grin.

            “I’ll let you two talk, I’m going to go call Simon. I’ll be back later.” Clary announced as she stood, then walked out of the room.

            Alec waited until she was gone before he turned back to his brother, “She’s gone, so tell me the truth. How are you feeling?”

            Resisting the urge to laugh, Jace said, “Still a little sore, but I’m okay. Promise. What about you? Heard you got attacked by a vampire too.”

            “I’m fine. It was just a bump on the head.” Alec answered, the added, “You know Jace, we really need to talk about your tendency for getting into trouble.”

            “It’s not like I go looking for it you know?” Jace replied.

            “I know, trouble finds you. But do you think you could try hiding from it for a while? I can’t help but feel like one day you’re going to get yourself killed.” Alec revealed, the joking manner completely dying down.

            “I’ll try, but you know why I’m never worried when trouble does come?” Jace questioned.

            “Why?”

            “Because I know I have you to bail me out. You’re always there for me.” Jace told him. Alec lowered his gaze for a minute, not wanting his brother to see the mixed emotions he knew were spreading across his face as he pushed down all the memories of when he failed to be there for Jace. When he gained control, he looked back up at the blonde.

            “I’ll always be there to bail you out.” Alec promised. Jace smiled as his eyes drifted closed again. He was still pretty exhausted. Having your blood sucked out of you by a bunch of vampires sure drained your energy. Jace chuckled a little at the pun and quickly fell asleep, knowing that no matter what the fallout of this would be, his brother was watching his back.