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ONCE ASHER'S INJURY FINALLY healed, she was up and running in the training room.
Hodge ducked under the leg that went flying at his head. He swung the wooden bow staff forward, only to have it clash with another one. Asher turned and swept her leg across the floor, causing Hodge to lose his balance and fall. She brought her bow staff dangerously close to his face. "Checkmate."
Hodge rolled his eyes and held out his hand for Asher to grasp. She pulled him back up before putting away her choice of weapon. Hodge walked up behind her. "There are other things to do in this Institute than training, you know."
"I'm out of practice." Asher told him, taking a gulp of water. Hodge rolled his eyes. "Yeah." He replied sarcastically. "I can definitely see that." The brunette stuck out her tongue in response.
Asher went back to her room to shower before checking up on the girl still unconscious. As she walked past the common room, she noticed Alec on one of the computers. "Hey." She walked over to him. "Any luck on finding her identity yet?" "Almost." The older Lightwood scanned his eyes over the monitor as his fingers danced across the keyboard at an abnormally fast pace.
"Did you check to see if she had an ID?"
Alec's fingers stopped and he looked up at his friend in surprise. Asher chuckled, slinging her towel over her shoulder. "I guess not." She patted his shoulder blade before continuing the trek towards her room.
The mahogany door opened to a room very different from what Asher had back in the LA institute. The design of her new room was more Gothic. It had a higher ceiling with tiled stone walls. Two lights suspended from the top, surrounded by smaller lights built into the ceiling. A king-sized bed sat in the center against the wall farthest from the door with two black-shaded lamps on either side.
Asher's feet padded along the wooden floor to toss her things onto the red velvet couch next to the bathroom. She took a quick shower and changed into some black attire that fitted with the Shadowhunter dress code.
Her eyes travelled up and down her body in the mirror. A black cropped tank hugged her upper body, exposing her stomach slightly, and paired with ripped skinny jeans. The small hint of a scar peaked underneath her runes along her stomach, but Asher wasn't as self conscious about it as she used to be. People stopped asking about it after they found out the story. She wasn't surprised, word travels fast in the Shadowhunter world: faster if you're well-known.
Asher quickly fixed her makeup before tossing a large black hoodie over head and leaving the room. The brunette took her time walking through the hallways, her black converse slightly scuffing against the floor as she made her way to the infirmary.
Asher walked through the doorway to realize that the mundane was already awake in front of Isabelle. "Wow, thanks for telling me she woke up." The brunette rolled her eyes. Isabelle shrugged. "Jace and Alec were supposed-" She paused, eyes trailing down Asher's body. "What are you wearing?" Asher raised her eyebrow and looked down at her appearance. Isabelle walked over and pinched at her hoodie. "This isn't practical-"
"It's comfy." Asher shrugged. "Besides, it's not like I'm assigned to any missions." "But what about these?" Isabelle kicked at her shoes. "You could've worn, like, stilettos or-"
"You know I can't run in heels."
The brunette's eyes moved to the redhead. Her eyes were bloodshot and terror flickered within her irises. Asher slowly made her way over to the redhead and sat down next to her on the bed. "How are you feeling?" The girl looked taken aback by her question. "I-I'm sorry. Who are you?"
"Asher Montgomery." Asher gave the redhead a kind smile. "I'm guessing you don't know much of what happened?" The redhead took a small breath. Her body shook slightly in result. "All I know is that some psychos took my mother and now you people have taken me."
Isabelle slightly chuckled and joined the two of them. "And by 'taken' I assumed you mean 'saved your life.'"
"The mundane shouldn't even be here." An annoyed Alec walked into the room with Jace trailing right behind him. The redhead looked around the room at the four of them. "And where is 'here' exactly?"
"She's not a mundane, Alec." Jace reminded him. Alec glared at him. "How do you know that?" "Because I already told you: the seraph blade lit up when she touched it! I-" Jace looked down at the two female Shadowhunters sitting on the bed. "Isabelle, could you-" He gestured towards her spot, prompting Isabelle to swiftly rise and join her brother's side."I'm Jace Wayland." Jace introduced himself as he took Isabelle's place next to Asher.
"I-I'm-"
"Clary Fray." Jace finished. "Yeah, we know who you are." "Well that's not creepy at all." Asher muttered, earning a glare from Jace. She held her hands up mockingly before turning to face 'Clary'.
"Am I the only one who finds this unusual?" Alec questioned. Jace rolled his eyes. "You find everything unusual, Alec."
"I have to report this to the Clave."
"You know what? Dial it down a notch."
"My brother doesn't have a dial." Isabelle stated, lounging in one of the chairs. "I love you, Alec, but you have a switch that's always on." "I love you too." Alec responded. "But this is just-"
"You know what?" Asher spoke up, a sarcastic smile gracing her lips. "I think you both need to dial it down a notch." Jace and Alec both look at her incredulously. Asher rolled her eyes. "Can't you both see she's traumatized? She just lost her mother, she's in an unfamiliar place, and now you two are yelling aggressively in front of her."
Clary stared at the brunette the entire time, confused yet slightly relieved. Asher turned to her. "Do you need anything? Some water?" Alec stared at her in disbelief as Clary slowly nodded her head. Asher looked back at Isabelle. "Izzy, would you and Alec get Clary so water?"
"Wha-are you serious?" Alec looked between her and Jace. "What is with you two? Really, no, what is with them-" "Walk with me, brother." Isabelle got up from her chair and ushered him out of the room.
Jace leaned forward to inspect the redhead's neck. "Your wound, it's healed." The redhead looked down at her shoulder. "How is that even possible?" She questioned looking back at Jace. "So what? I'm miraculously healed and all of you-"She paused for a split second, looking down at his lips. "-stunning people have magical powers?"
Asher silently scoffed at the not-so-subtle bedroom eyes Jace gave her. The blond Shadowhunter's ego felt like it was crushing her.
"No." Jace chuckled at Clary's reaction. "No, don't confuse me with a Warlock."
"A what?"
"A warlock." Jace repeated. "It's one of the Downworlders." "Okay," Clary shook her head. "You're not making any sense." Jace looked at her confused. "Warlocks, vampires, seelies, they're all Downworlders-" "Literally, my brain is about to explode!" Clary looked like she was about to have a panic attack.
"Ah, jeez. Okay, uh-" Jace didn't really know how to handle the situation, making Asher roll her eyes. "You're forgetting that she's not a Shadowhunter, Jace." "She is! Dear Raziel, I am not about to have this conversation again-"
"Jace." Asher hissed. "She may be like us, but she has no idea of who we are or what we do. If you're going to get riled up, I'm going to make you leave too." Jace huffed in annoyance, but remained in his seat grumbling like a child.
Asher turned back to Clary. "I know it's a lot to take in, so just take a deep breath okay?" She spoke calmly and reassuringly. The redhead nodded in response and exhaled. "Okay."
"Now, I'll make this simpler for you." Jace attempted to explain the situation once more. "We're Shadowhunters. We protect the human world from the demon world. So those people that you saw at the Pandemonium? They weren't people at all. They were shapeshifting demons."
Clary leaned towards Jace. "I'm not interested in your supernatural 'fight club'. I just want to find my mom. The rest of it, whatever it is-" She looked over at Asher. "All I care about is finding my mother." A line of tears formed in Clary's eyes. "Please, please help me find her."
Jace glanced over at Asher and saw her fist ball up the white sheets. She looked like something was bothering her, so Jace spoke up to prevent any awkward silence. "I'm the best chance you've got."
"I don't even know you." Clary scoffed when a phone rang from beside her. She slipped it out of her pocket, and a look of relief crossed her features as she put the phone next to her ear. "Simon." She stood up and started walking around in nothing except an oversized t-shirt.
Jace turned to Asher. "Are you okay?" "I'm fine." Asher brushed him off as her hand relaxed. Jace furrowed his eyebrows. He clearly didn't believe her, but he let it slide and leaned forward to grab a gray book from the bedside table. He flipped through it, eyes scanning over all the drawings of runes in it. "If she isn't a Shadowhunter, then why is she drawing these?"
Asher took the book of him and scanned over the page. "It's the Enkeli." She turned the page and the same symbol continued popping up in different sizes and styles.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"The angelic rune." Asher rolled her eyes as she continued flipping through the book. Jace snatched it back. "Why didn't you say that, then?" "What are you, five?" Asher snatched it back. "It's the actual name for the angelic rune." "Nerd." Jace muttered, snatching the book again.
Asher huffed and stood up from the bed to get as far away from him as possible. She walked over to Clary, who stared out one of the windows. Asher caught sight of a male mundane standing outside of the church. From what her angelic hearing could pick up from the phone, his name was Simon and he knew Clary was here with his 'Find my Friend' app.
A shadowy figure darted past him from behind, making the brunette tense up. Asher groaned in annoyance. "You've got to be kidding me." She walked away and proceeded to leave the room, knowing that this situation was getting out of hand.
"Where you headed?"
"The Clave."
A hand grabbed Asher's arm and turned her around. Jace stared down at her intensely. "You can't do that." "Watch me." Asher turned to leave only to be pulled back once again. "You're just like Alec." "At least Alec has common sense." Asher jabbed her finger into his chest, which didn't seem to faze him one bit. "Don't think I haven't seen you in here, watching over her." The blond Shadowhunter pointed out.
Asher crossed her arms, lips pursed. "Your point?" "You're not like other Shadowhunters." Jace told her, his eyes softening slightly. "You have compassion for protecting mundanes, something I'll never understand." The brunette scoffed and attempted to leave a third time, not wanting to listen to Jace's derogatory comments about humans. He stopped her, yet again, letting out a sigh so that he could get himself back on track in winning over her help. "You are willing to go to great lengths to protect mundanes, no matter the cost. Don't stop that right now."
"One mundane is risky enough." Asher shook her head. "But two? I'm not going to put our people's safety at risk-" "We're only helping her find her mother." Jace reminded her. "That's it." "That's it?" Asher laughed humorlessly. "There was a demon at her house. Do you really think her mother going missing, having a demon attack her, and those rune drawings are just coincidences?" Jace's eyes trailed off to the side the more he thought about it.
"There is something going on." Asher told him. "And we need to tell the Clave before it gets out of hand." "It won't get out of hand." Jace promised. "We'll just do some investigating. Then, we'll tell the Clave. Deal?" Asher narrowed her eyes at his preposition. Her gut was telling her that something wasn't right. She looked over at Clary pacing around the room on the phone.
Asher groaned and threw her head back. "Fine." She agreed reluctantly, and then held up her finger. "But, if the slightest thing goes wrong, we are going straight to the Clave."
"Deal." Jace grinned widely. Asher rolled her eyes. "Whatever, just don't do this only to get into her pants." Jace widened his eyes and a blush spread across his cheeks. "Wha-I-"
"Yeah, yeah." Asher waved him off and turned around. As she was about to leave for the umpteenth time in that hour alone, she was stopped yet again, but not by Jace.
"Where are you going?" Clary rushed over to her. She seemed less terrified than she was before, however she still looked on edge knowing now that the only person who was kind to her after she woke up was about to step away.
"Uh, I'm just going out to find Alec and Izzy." Asher pointed her thumb behind her at the door. "Oh." The redhead looked down and fumbled with the phone in her hands. "A-are you coming with us to get Simon?" She looked very hopeful, so much that it slightly hurt Asher when she said no.
"Jace can take care of that." Asher motioned to the blond Shadowhunter. "But I'll be in here with Alec, so come get me if you need anything, alright?" The redhead nodded, a small smile on her face as she went to go look for her clothes.
Asher turned to look at Jace. "Don't do anything stupid."