"Hey Char," Jace says to me a couple hours later while approaching me. "You up to go back to Pandemonium tonight?"
I sigh. "It isn't a choice, is it?"
"It's always a choice."
"Yeah, there's a good choice and a bad choice. What time are we leaving?"
"Like, an hour. Dress for demons."
I sigh but nod. "All right. Are we gonna bring Clary with us?"
He nods. "And sadly the Mundane."
"What's wrong with him?"
"He shouldn't be here."
"Jace, we live to protect the Mundanes."
"Yeah, but no one ever said we have to like all of them."
I roll my eyes. "You don't even know him."
"And you do?"
"No. But I'm not gonna judge him before getting to know him."
He sighs. "Just go get dressed before Izzy makes you wear something worse than last night."
"The only thing she could make me do on a hunt that's worse than that is make me go naked."
"And she might do that if she finds you and you're not dressed. So, go."
I nod and go up to my room, grab a demon-hunting dress, and quickly change. I take a few of my throwing runes and my dagger, then go down to the weaponry.
"Hey," Alec says from behind me.
I turn around to face him. "Hey."
"I got you something."
I sigh. "Alec. Why?"
"Because I got it for our anniversary, but it came in today."
I sigh. "What is it?"
He pulls something from behind his back. A seraph blade and a bow. "These two weapons were manufactured together, and had the binding rune placed on them. One half on the bow, the other on the sword." He holds the sword out to me. "The weapons can't be too far apart for too long, or they'll start to lose some special abilities they have. So, it's a way for us to always come back to each other."
I smile, take the sword, and hug him. "That's so sweet. Thank you."
"You like it?"
"I love it." I give him a quick kiss on the cheek, then hold out the sword. "So these seriously have half a rune on them?"
He nods and puts the bow beside the sword, and I can see the binding rune if I concentrate on it. "Pretty cool, isn't it?"
"How did you find this?"
"I had it special made."
I look up at him, and the smile on my face grows. "That's so sweet. Thank you."
He smiles at me and presses his lips against mine.
"Oh gross!" Clary's voice yells from across the weaponry, scaring me and causing me to jump away from Alec.
Alec puts his arm around me and looks at her. "What?"
She looks at me. "Isabelle was right, it wouldn't be cute once I walked in on you two making out."
I roll my eyes. "You need something?"
"Yeah, a weapon."
I turn around, grab a dagger off the wall, and pass it to her.
"Thanks. I'll let you two continue your moment now." She backs out of the room, covering her eyes.
"God," Alec sighs, "that girl sure known to come in at the worst times."
I chuckle. "I'm gonna go finish getting ready, and see if I have somewhere I can hide this sword so demons won't see it." I kiss him on the cheek quickly. "Love you."
He smiles at me. "Love you too."
I walk out of the room and head up to my bedroom, thinking about places I could hide my new sword. I've obviously gotta bring it because (a) it's a seraph blade, which I don't have, and (b) Alec got it for me, so I'll use it even if I have to tape it to my back.
I get to my room and rummage around for a sheath I could hopefully put on my back.
"You don't have one," Izzy says from the doorway. "I looked for you."
I turn to face her. "How do you know what I'm looking for? And why did you go through my stuff?"
"I'm your best friend and you're dating my brother, it's my duty to go through your stuff."
I roll my eyes. "How'd you know I'm looking for a sheath?"
"Alec told me about the sword and bow thing. Isn't it adorable?"
"It was your idea, wasn't it?"
"Actually, no. My brother is a true gentleman."
I chuckle. "Well, I don't have a sheath. You wanna help me figure out how to hide this?"
"I said you don't have one." She takes a sheath that's the exact side of my sword from behind the wall. "I used to have a sword like that, got no clue what happened to it." She hands me the sheath.
"Thanks." I put the sword in the sheath then put the sheath on my back and hide it under my dress. "Ready?"
She nods. "We've just gotta wait for Clary, I gave her something to change into."
I nod and we head over to her room to wait for Clary.
"You are way too comfortable with your body," Clary says as she exits the bathroom. She looks at me, and her eyes widen. "You too?! Is it like, a Shadowhunter thing to dress like a prostitute?!"
I chuckle. "No. We just do this to capture the attention of whatever we're trying to get. Well, at least, for me. That's casualwear for Izzy."
She shakes her head. "Let's just get this over with."
I nod in agreement, and we all head out to the weaponry.
Clary's Mundane friend... um... Simon, is in there. When he sees the three of us, his eyes widen. "H-hey."
"Hey," Izzy says with a slight smile.
He his gaze shifts to me, and he smiles slightly. "Hey."
"Hi," I reply.
"Hey babe," Alec says as he walks over to me and puts his arms around my shoulders.
I look up at him, confused. He never calls me babe, he usually just calls me by my normal name. Oh my god, is he jealous? It's adorable.
I look back at Simon. "Sorry I was being a total bitch earlier, let me reintroduce myself. "I'm Charlotte." I hold out my hand.
He shakes my hand. "Simon."
I smile at him slightly, then look up at Alec. "Hey."
"That your brother?"
"Would my brother call me babe?" I ask as I look back at him.
"I guess not," he sighs.
I look up at Alec. Again. I see that he's got the bow that goes with my sword slung over his shoulder, and a quiver of arrows in his hand.
Alec looks down at me and kisses my forehead. "Don't go too heavy on the flirting?"
"I never do. I've said that a million times."
"I know. Just wanted to make sure."
"Well keep doing it and one time I'll make out with one of them. It gets on my nerves."
"I'll never ask again."
I smile up at him. "Thanks. I love you."
"I love you too."
"Okay," Jace sighs. "Now that they've had their usual before demon-hunting moment, let's go."
We all walk outside, and I follow everyone to a van, we get inside, and Simon drives us to Pandemonium.
"I'll stay here with Simon," Izzy volunteers.
"I'm not doing the flirting by myself," I reply.
"No one's doing any flirting tonight," Jace says to us. "Just looking around."
"Then why am I dressed like this?" I ask while motioning to myself.
"No one's complaining," Izzy says with a slight smile on her face. "Especially not him." She points to Alec.
I shake my head and get out of the car.
"Okay," Jace sighs once we're all out. "Clary and I are gonna go take care of this business-"
"Why can't we help?" Alec asks.
"Just trust me, okay? If we need your help, you'll know it."
"What are we supposed to do?" I sigh.
"You're seventeen, dating, and at a nightclub," Clary says. "Go have sex or something."
I put my hands over my ears and walk away. "I'm not hearing that I'm not doing that don't bring it up again!" I say as I walk away. I enter the club on my own and start walking around. I find my way to the bar and sit down on a stool.
"Hey there," a guy says as he sits down beside me. "Can I buy you a drink?" he asks with a smile.
I look at him, trying to figure out what he is. He doesn't have fangs, so he can't be a vampire. And no runes, so he isn't a Shadowhunter. "Werewolf or warlock?"
He chuckles slightly. "You don't remember me, do you?"
"Should I?"
"I guess I have changed in the last three years."
My eyes widen as I actually look at his face, not just looking for fangs or runes. "Jake?"
He smiles at me. "Hey Char, long time no see."
"Get the hell away from me." I take my sword off my back and point it at him.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. That's not a good way to treat your ex-boyfriend and ex-parabatai."
"Get away!"
"I'm sorry for what happened. I swear, I didn't know they'd come after me."
"Get away!"
He stares at me for a minute. "You know, you're even more beautiful than you were a couple years ago."
"Shut up. How did you even find me?"
"I saw you walk over here. You never answered my question earlier, can I buy you a drink?"
"I don't drink."
"Then why are you at a bar?"
I sigh. "Don't worry about it. Just go away."
"I want another chance, Charlotte. I can make it up to you."
I shake my head as Alec pushes through the crowd of people and walks over to me.
"You okay?" Alec asks me.
I nod. "Yeah, I'm fine."
"Who's he?" Jake asks.
I sigh. "This is Alec. Alec, this is Jake."
"Wait," Alec says in a slightly alarmed voice. "Jake? As in, the guy who got your family killed?"
"I didn't mean for it to happen," Jake sighs. "I loved Charlotte, I still do. She had such a nice family, why would I get them killed if I knew it'd hurt her?"
"Shut up. You don't deserve her time. Get away from her."
"I was her parabatai and her boyfriend. What are you to her?"
"I'm her boyfriend, and my sister is her parabatai."
He looks at me. "You got another parabatai?"
"Not like I'd be yours again," I say while rolling my eyes.
"And another boyfriend?"
"Jake, I hate you. And I will kill you."
"You know, I heard that you're the best Shadowhunter in Idris. Why aren't you there?"
"I moved here a year ago. I'm the best Shadowhunter in New York, now. Probably still the best in Idris."
"And she isn't afraid to kill a Downworlder," Alec says while glaring at him. "And neither am I."
Jake looks at me. "Charlotte, all I want is another chance. Please."
I shake my head. "No. I'm with Alec now. I love him. I hate you."
"But you might not, if you just thought it over. I heard that you were looking for me in Idris, a couple years ago."
"Well I've changed since then."
"Have you really?"
"That's enough," Alec says while grabbing my arm. "She's with me now. You had your chance, and you blew it. So cut the crap and get away from her."
"Is that what you want?" he asks while looking at me.
I nod. "Goodbye, Jake."
"It was a pleasure seeing you again, I'm glad we had a better ending this time."
"How'd it end last time?" Alec asks.
"That's not important," I say immediately, not wanting to tell the story.
"She and I," Jake sighs, "we were making out in her room when they attacked, and she drive a sword up my back afterwards."
"How are you even alive after that? I thought I'd killed you?"
"And yet, you looked for me."
"It was a mistake. Goodbye, Jacob." I grab Alec's hand, stand up, and walk off with him.
Alec puts his arm around me. "So that was him?"
I nod and choke back a small sob. Seeing Jake brought back so much stuff I've been trying so hard to forget.
"You okay?"
I nod again, silently.
He tilts my face upwards and looks down into my eyes. "Are you really?"
I take a deep breath and nod. "Yes."
"Good. C'mon, let's go find Jace."
I nod yet again and we walk off to look for Clary and Jace, but Clary finds us first.
"The vampires got Simon!" she says frantically.
I take a deep breath and shake my head. "Okay, let's go kill some vampires."
**A/N hey guys! I knew I said that there wouldn't be another Charlotte/Alec scene for a while, but I had this one in my head before I even started the book, so I did it. And you know what? This is an Alec Lightwood fanfic, I'm putting in all the Alec moments I can think of. And AGAIN, I need some opinions on the cover thing. Pleeeeeeeease? Just one opinion? People are voting and the chapters are getting reads, but no one's telling me what they think of the cover thing :(