FROM THE SHADOWS

[01] HEADFIRST INTO THE SHADOW WORLD

"I bet you fifty bucks Jocelyn hasn't told Clary shit yet." Mabel was grinning up at her father, who shot her a sharp look.

"Language," Luke warned. "And you're on. Jocelyn knows it's dangerous for Clary not to know. She was going to gift her a stele and tell her what it was."

Mabel hummed and raised an eyebrow at her father, who immediately wanted to swallow his words. "Speaking of which, when do I get mine? It's been months since I turned eighteen and you said—"

"I know what I said," Luke cut her off, sounding defeated as he pinched the bridge of his nose. Mabel had no clue why her father hadn't given her a stele yet, but she knew that whatever the reason was, it was bothering him. She'd tried asking but each time he just blew her off and changed the topic.

Mabel just didn't get it. Unlike Jocelyn, her father had always told her everything about the Shadow World, making sure she was prepared to face it if she had to. He'd told her about everything, from Shadowhunters and Downworlders to Valentine and the Circle, which he'd initially been a part of. It's why they were in hiding, living a Mundane life. Mabel knew all of it, unlike Clary. Jocelyn's way of protecting her daughter was by shielding her from the world; Luke protected Mabel by preparing her to face said world.

Luke had trained her from when she was just a preteen. By now, Mabel knew how to fight, how to use weapons, and he'd even taught her everything about runes. The latter was quite useless if he wouldn't give her a stele but pointing that out had proven to be equally as useless.

Aside from preparing her from the Shadow World, Luke had stressed that he wanted her to live as normal a life as she could. Despite having a werewolf father and Shadowhunter blood running through her veins, Mabel's life was as close to Mundane as it could get. She'd graduated high school, had her best friend Liam to hang out with, and she'd even turned her part-time job at the repair shop into an apprenticeship that she would start after summer break in less than two weeks.

Compared to Clary, who was going to be thrown in the deep end from today on, since the protections that kept her from seeing the Shadow World were wearing off, Mabel thought her dad had made the better decision. She couldn't even think about having all this dumped on her after not knowing better for most her life. Let alone the betrayal of your own parent lying all your life. Mabel had been tempted to just tell Clary everything many times before, but she knew Jocelyn would make Clary forget again if she did and it'd only get her in trouble. Besides, as much as she disagreed, Jocelyn had the best intentions and she had no right to undermine the mother.

The two Garroways entered the apartment and, with a wave to Jocelyn, Mabel headed straight to Clary's room. The door was ajar and she found Clary trying on a new top that Mabel didn't recognize. She leant against the door frame and crossed her arms, letting out a low whistle. "Nice top, Weasley."

Clary rolled her eyes but smiled as she met her eyes in the mirror. "Thanks. Dot got it as a birthday gift."

Mabel hummed, nodding in approval. "Speaking of which..." She stepped further into the room and plopped down on the bed, tossing Clary a small rectangle box in wrapping paper. Clary barely caught it, but Mabel wasn't worried. Clary's bedroom floor was cover in a thick, fuzzy carpet. You couldn't break something by dropping it even if you tried. Mabel's phone was solid proof of that.

"Mabel..." Clary complained. Mabel knew she hated people spoiling her on her birthday and the wrapping paper looked fancy. Mabel didn't care and shrugged.

"It doubles as a 'congrats for getting into art school' gift. Great job, by the way. I'm proud of you."

Clary beamed brightly, a fuzzy feeling rising in her chest at hearing Mabel say those words. Mabel wasn't the most vocal about her feelings, but when she was, you knew she meant every word. The curly brunette didn't tell her she was proud lightly, and Clary appreciated it all the more for that.