Brothers by Blood (Alec Lightwood twin)

Chapter 54

*The Next Day*

NO ONE'S POV

Maia was cutting up some lemons as she watched Simon and Clary talking. Due to her werewolf hearing, she could hear every word they were saying, but she didn't say anything due to the fact that they were mid-conversation.
"OK. Open." Clary said, handing the flyer that she had asked Maia to make for Simon. "I kind of booked a show for you." Clary revealed.
"O...K. Clary, this this is amazing. But Rock Solid Panda's kind of extinct now. There's no Rock. There's no solid. I'm just a...a lone panda." Simon said, trailing off.
"I've heard the music you're writing. It's...it's incredible. It'll be fine! You can rock solid on your own." Clary encouraged him.
"No. See, it's one thing to jam in the boat basin. It's another thing to play here. In front of actual people." Simon retorted.
"Well, I'm not an actual person?" Clary asked teasingly.
"No. Not at all." Simon said.
"No?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You're like on a totally different plane." He replied.
"I'll take that as a compliment." She said with a smile.
Maia rolled her eyes at their banter. As she was listening in on them, she had noticed Jace arrive and without a word, poured him what she knew was his favourite drink. He looked like he needed it. By the look on his face, it seemed like he had had a long week. Whilst Simon and Clary continued talking, Maia turned her attention to Jace.
"Must especially suck for you." She said to Jace, continuing to cut the lemons into slices.
"Why?" He asked, pretending like he had no idea what she was talking about. She gave him a look of "You're joking right?" but changed the topic nonetheless.
"So this rumor about you actually being Shadowhunter royalty. Is it true?" She asked curiously.
"I don't know. Can it get me free drinks at the Hunter's Moon?" He said.
"Let's not get crazy." She retorted playfully. They both laughed.
Honestly, she was glad to see him smile. She'd never admit it, but, despite her dislike of Jace, she couldn't deny that he did have a very attractive smile, and she liked it when he genuinely smiled without smirking or being flirtatious.
"I don't know what I am. I've had three different last names in a summer." He told her. "Now I'm a Herondale. All I know is I'm the same Jace." He said.
"God help us." She replied jokingly. Before either of them could say anything else, a Seelie girl walked up to the bar.
"Shot of Tequila. Double." She ordered.
"Make that two. Her shots are on me. Hey Kaelie. Long time." He greeted her. Without a word, she took the drink and poured it all over his lap. Once it was empty, she put the glass down on the bar and walked away. Maia laughed.
"Man, rejection is so much more fun when it's happening to you." She said, a smile on her face. She threw him a towel so he could dab up the liquid that was now all over his lap.
"Hey, you don't make a lot of tips, huh?" He asked before throwing the rag down on the bar.
"Word of advice? I'd spare the Downworld your charm for a little bit. That Soul Sword you ignited killed a whole lot of them." She told him. By the look on his face, she could tell that this was still a sore spot for him, but she didn't want him to make it worse for himself so she decided to talk to him about it regardless. She then walked off to get a container to put the lemon slices she had just cut up in, leaving Jace alone to his thoughts.

CLARY'S POV

I looked over towards the bar and locked eyes with Jace. He looked sad for some reason. I turned back to Simon.
"Hey. Let's get out of here, yeah?" I asked.
"Yeah." He replied. We both got up and headed towards the door.
Once we were walking down the road he started talking about his gig yet again.
"What if they hate my music so bad that they start throwing their pretzel sticks at me?" He asked nervously.
"I'll take them down before they get the chance. You're gonna be fine, Simon." I replied. He then stopped in his tracks. "What's wrong?" I asked.
"I smell blood." He said, not looking at me.
"Oh my God, that looks like-" I began, but Simon finished for me.
"Human flesh." He said quickly. As I got closer, I saw that it had a black symbol on it...a symbol that I recognized.
"Simon, that's a rune." I said in horror.
I got out my seraph blade, activating it as we walked into the alley. We saw two more pieces of flesh with runes on them before we turned a corner only to find a dead body. A Shadowhunter with their runes carved out.