Fallen Angel

xii

"Clary! You need to focus!" Zoe said, starting to get annoyed.

Clary sighed and shut her eyes again, taking deep breaths. She felt Zoe tap the palm of her right hand and she envisioned the fire rushing through her veins to the palm of her hand. Zoe sighed.

"It isn't working." Zoe said. Clary sighed and looked at the clock.

"Zoe, I have to go soon." Clary said.

"No, you can leave when you get it right. Again." Zoe said. Clary sighed and closed her eyes. Zoe tapped the bottom of Clary's left foot and she envisioned the fire burning the sole of her foot.

"How hard are you thinking?" Zoe asked.

"Zoe, I'm trying my best. We've been at this for hours, I am exhausted." Clary said. Zoe looked at the clock.

"We're not giving up. You need to be able to do this." Zoe said.

"And you said at the beginning that this wouldn't happen overnight. But here you are, trying to get me to control it in a matter of hours." Clary said.

"You're not working hard enough. Try again." Zoe said. Clary stood up.

"No. I am done for tonight. I'll be back here tomorrow at the same time." Clary said. She stormed out of the training room. Jace bumped into her and smiled.

"Hey you! How'd it go? You're done early." He said.

"I wouldn't recommend touching me. I don't want to burn you." Clary said.

"Okay, what's the matter?" Jace asked.

"She doesn't understand that I need breaks." Clary sighed. Jace looked at her and pushed a red curl out of her face.

"Okay, lets take some deep breaths. Try and get the fire under control. We'll take some deep breaths. Zoe's just trying to help." Jace said.

"No she's not! She's trying to-"

"Shhh, positive thoughts only. We need to calm you down, not rile you up." Jace said. Clary sighed and took a deep breath.

"Now, how about we get you something to eat?" Jace asked. Clary laughed and nodded, intertwining her fingers with Jace's. He smiled and led her down the hallway.

+++

"What are you in the mood for?" Jace asked.

"Waffles." Clary said, pulling her winter jacket tighter around her body. The night was colder than she had anticipated.

"IHOP it is!" Jace said. Clary laughed as Jace eagerly walked down the snowy New York sidewalk.

"Wait wait stop!" Clary said. Jace stopped and Clary looked up.

"It's snowing!" She said happily. Jace smiled and gently kissed her.

"I love you." He whispered. Clary smiled and kissed him again.

"I love you too." She whispered back. Jace smiled and gently kissed her one more time before pulling her gently towards the entrance to the IHOP. They walked inside and the hostess smiled.

"How can I help you guys?" She asked.

"Can we have a table for two?" Jace asked.

"Absolutely, if you'll just follow me." She said. The hostess led them through the almost empty restaurant and sat them at a booth for two. She handed them both menus and smiled.

"Your waitress will be with you shortly."

Jace smiled at Clary.

"So Zoe's kinda driving you crazy?" He asked. Clary nodded.

"I need to take breaks. And she doesn't get it and she's pushing me and it's not helping." Clary said. A girl walked towards them smiling.

"Hi, welcome to IHOP, my name is Amelia and I'll be your waitress. Have you guys decided what you'd like to drink?" She asked.

"Can we have two orange juices?" Jace asked. Amelia nodded and wrote it down.

"Also, can we have a large cup of ice?" Jace asked. Amelia nodded again and walked away.

"Ice?" Clary asked.

"I have an idea that might help you." Jace said.

"I don't want to train!" Clary groaned, resting her head on the table.

"Don't worry, we'll try once and if you hate it, then we don't have to continue. Just one try." Jace said. Clary sighed and nodded.

"Fine. One try." Clary said. Amelia returned with two glasses of orange juice and a cup of ice.

"There you go. Have you guys decided what you'd like?" Amelia asked.

"Yeah, can we get some waffles, please?" Clary asked.

"Yeah absolutely! Anything  else?" She asked.

"No thank you." Clary said. Amelia smiled and walked away and Jace handed her an ice cube.

"Let's see if you can melt this. If not, it's okay. Then we can drop the subject." Jace said.

Clary nodded and made her hand into a fist around the ice. She envisioned the fire running through her veins to her fingertips. She felt her hand heat up and she felt cold water running down her wrist.

"Clary you did it!" Jace said. Clary opened her fist and saw nothing but the soaking wet palm of her hand.

"You can't blame that on body heat. Ice doesn't melt that quickly." Jace said. Clary smiled.

"I did it." She said softly. Jace smiled and took her hand. He kissed her knuckles and smiled.

"You did it! So waffles are on me, because you deserve it." Jace said. Clary smiled and looked at her hand.

"I did it."

+++

Clary was halfway through her waffles when Jace's phone rang.

"Hello? Oh hey Iz. No Clary and I are at IHOP. We wanted waffles. No...? Oh my god. Okay. No we'll be there soon. Where are we meeting? Okay perfect. We'll see you soon. Bye." Jace hung up and looked around the restaurant. He saw Amelia and she walked over.

"Hey, are we able to get two to go boxes? Somethings come up." Jace said.

"Yeah absolutely! I'll be back with those and the bill." Amelia said.

"What's happened?" Clary asked.

"I'll tell you when we're outside." Jace said. Clary felt her stomach drop.

"It's Sebastian isn't it?" She asked. Jace sighed and nodded as Amelia came back with the boxes and the bill.

Jace pulled out some money and put it on the table before him and Clary left.

"What did he do?" Clary asked.

"You'll see when we get there. Iz said it's pretty awful." Jace said. Clary started walking faster to keep up with Jace.

"When did this happen?" Clary asked.

"We don't know." Jace said. Clary sighed and the pair started quickly walking towards the Institute.

Once they got to the Institute, Clary pulled the door open and Jace saw Isabelle.

"Iz! Hey what happened?" Jace asked. Isabelle looked at Clary.

"Get her shoes off." Isabelle said. Clary frowned but pulled her shoes and socks off.

"Come with me." Isabelle said. She led them down to the basement.

"Brace yourself. It's a pretty big shock."

Clary looked down and gasped in horror.

On the wall was a pair of angel wings along with a message in ichor. 

Erchomai. I am coming.