GENESIS: A RIGHT TO STAND (Book One) • SHADOWHUNTERS

RUNES

Spencer met Alexander downstairs. He was leaning against the wall next to the elevator, tapping his foot impatiently.

    "You're late," he said by way of greeting. "I said ten minutes."

    "It's been eight," Spencer retorted. "Let's get this over with." If he wasn't going to be nice, then neither was she, although she hated being petty.

    Wordlessly, Alexander pressed the button for the elevator, and it rattled upwards. They stepped inside, and rode in silence down to the entrance hall and proceeded outside.

    "So, how are we planning on getting to Queens?" Spencer asked. "Do you have some sort of special Nephilim bus? A horse and carriage?"

    Alexander scowled at her before holding his hand out for a taxi. As one pulled up to the curb, he said, "Your chariot awaits, my lady." He opened the door, gesturing dramatically.

    Spencer rolled her eyes, but slid inside, Alexander following her. She gave the cabbie the address and he took off towards the bridge to Queens.

    "So," Alexander began. "Queens, huh? Isn't that where Spider-Man is from?"

    "Yes," she replied. "He's my upstairs neighbour, actually. We often go out on vigilante stunts together, except his suit's a lot better than mine."

    Alexander glared at her. "Are you always so annoying and sarcastic?"

    "Are you always so cruel and miserable?" When he didn't answer, she smirked. "You know, you could try not being a Grade-A pain in the ass. Try it some time—you might find people will actually like you more."

    Alexander rolled his eyes. "And you could try not being a Grade-A pain in my ass. You might just make some friends in this world, then."

    Spencer fell silent, not bothering to reply. Instead, she looked out the window.

    The cabbie drove them over the RFK Bridge, weaving through the traffic. Spencer could feel Alexander watching her, but didn't turn back to him. He really was mean, and for no reason that she could see. Maybe he just didn't like mundanes. Or girls. Or mundane girls.

    "What wound up happening with Clary?" she asked tentatively. "Hodge told me she's actually a Shadowhunter. How do you even find that out? Some sort of advanced DNA reading machine?"

    Alexander scoffed. "Jace discovered it. The other night, he went to go track her down and bring her to the Institute, but she took off home. When he got there, she had a dying Ravener demon on top of her and a pretty deadly sting in the neck from its tail. There were demon police officers outside, so he glamoured her with a Rune."

    "And these Runes, you can put them on anybody?"

    He laughed. "No. They only work on Shadowhunters. If you Marked a mundane with a few powerful Runes, they would become Forsaken. Lethal killing machines with no mind of their own, only loyal to the Shadowhunter who created them. It's a horrible thing to do, something most Nephilim would never even think of doing."

    Spencer supposed that was his way of saying that there were way crueller Shadowhunters than he. It was maybe the closest thing she'd get to an apology. "Right. So, Jace took a risk and Marked Clary anyway? Not even being certain that she was a Shadowhunter?"

    "Precisely. Hodge was furious, and so was I," Alexander said. "I don't particularly care for the girl, but Jace could have gotten in serious trouble if he'd been wrong."

    "And where are Jace and Clary now?" At Alexander's confused look, she clarified, "When you came into my room this morning, you told Hodge that they'd just left. Where did they go?"