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

WARLOCK

The subway trip to Brooklyn was long and silent, the carriage mostly empty but for an elderly woman who complimented Alec on his eyes.

Their stop came, and the six of them got off in Brooklyn's industrial district. Isabelle and Simon led the way, using something called a Sensor as a sort of map.

Alec and Spencer were next, not exactly walking together. Behind them were Jace and Clary, side by side.

"Why is it," Spencer wondered aloud, tugging the hem of her dress down for the hundredth time, "that you always end up chaperoning me?"

"Huh?" Alec glanced over at her. "I don't know. Maybe I'm always destined for the shortest straw."He could feel Spencer glaring at him. He sighed. "Truthfully, I don't think I'd cope too well with looking after Clary or Simon."

"Why?" Spencer asked. "We were all raised mundanes. Simon and I are mundanes. What's the difference?"

"The difference is that you, much as I hate to admit it, are smart and capable. You're as close to a Shadowhunter that a mundane could get." Alec ran a hand through his hair. "I know Clary is a Shadowhunter by blood, but she doesn't have the instincts that come with it. Most of us are born to be fighters. It's almost like she's...handicapped. Or like there's something stifling her."

"Well, I suppose that's why we're here," Spencer said. "To try and remove this block in her mind. Maybe that will help, and you'll prefer to be responsible for her."

Alec looked at her sideways. "Somehow, I don't think I would."

"This is the right street!" Isabelle said from up ahead.

Alec and Spencer passed a large black car. Behind it were parked a few motorcycles, with numerous pipes. They were gorgeous, clearly well-cared for.

"Oh, wow," Spencer murmured. There was an odd feeling brewing in her stomach, a dark, sort of oily sensation.

"Jace!" Alec called. "Think we're in the right place?" He pointed to the motorcycles, shining in the moonlight.

"What's that?" Jace asked, coming over. "Vampires."

Simon and Isabelle joined the group. "Looks like motorcycles to me," Simon said.

"They are, but they've been altered to run on demon energies," Isabelle explained, a look of distaste on her face. "Vampires use them—it lets them get around fast at night. It's not strictly Covenant, but..."

"I've heard some of the bikes can fly," Alec said. He wore an expression of excitement—not something Spencer often associated with him. "Or go invisible at the flick of a switch. Or operate underwater."

Jace circled the bikes. He ran a hand over the chassis of one of the bikes. A Latin phrase was printed on the side.

" 'Nox invictus'," Spencer read. "Victorious night." She glanced up at Jace, who was gazing at her with mild interest. "That's not foreboding at all."

"What are you doing?" Alec asked. Spencer noticed Jace slip his hand into his jacket. Odd.

"Nothing."

"Well, hurry up," Isabelle said irritably. "I didn't get this dressed up to watch you mess around in the gutter with a bunch of motorcycles."

"They are pretty to look at," Jace pointed out, and Spencer agreed. "You have to admit that."

"So am I," Isabelle said, and Spencer hid her grin. "Now hurry up."

"This building," Jace said, looking up at the building behind them. It was a red brick warehouse, it's entryway lit by a single lightbulb. "Is this the one?"