City of Heavenly Fire (The Mortal Instruments Fan-fic)

Chapter 2: Demon Party

Clary shivered in her sweater as she and Jace walked through the streets towards a small restaurant near the corner of the block. But this wasn't because she was cold. The angel wings seemed to be permanently stuck to the back of her eyelids; whenever she blinked, there it was again. Clary hugged her elbows tightly.

"Cold?" Clary felt the heavy weight of Jace's jacket on her shoulders. She snuggled into it gratefully. The jacket was way too big for her, but it smelled like Jace. And it was warm and toasty... Because of the fire, she thought silently. She smiled slightly despite the thought of the horrible conversation she had just been a part of in the library. She shuddered again as they walked up to the front of the small restaurant. It was nice, with a headboard that read: La Belleax. But suddenly, Clary didn't feel like eating at all. She shuffled uneasily. "Jace? Do you want to just walk in the park for a bit? I don't really want to eat at the moment."

Jace shrugged easily. "Sure. I was just about to suggest that as well." Clary looked closely at his face. He was gorgeous, as always, but his eyes seemed troubled despite his even tone. Clary sighed as the two of them walked across the street towards the small community park. Beautiful little lights lit up around the bushes and trees as they walked quietly around. She could see tiny, lovely faeries poking around the leaves, shedding sparks of light.

Sitting down on a bench next to a bright lamp, Jace patted the seat next to him. Clary sat, leaning her head on his shoulder. It was warm and muscular. She could see his permanent runes through his white long-sleeved T-shirt.

Facing her, Jace took a deep breath before speaking. "About the angel wings we-" Clary stretched up to stop his words with a kiss. His lips against hers made her heart flutter like the wings of a hummingbird. It was an intense sense of wanting. His lips parted slightly to draw back, but not before a small shock passed between them. She gasped, but not really out of surprise; it had happened before.

"Clary... You can't avoid this conversation." Jace said, his eyes large and golden in the lamp's light. "You know we can't stay like this forever. Living peacefully, I mean. We have to face him eventually." Clary knew who he was talking about. Sebastian was someone she had spent way too much time thinking about recently.

"I know. He'll come after us, just like he said." Clary told him. "But when he does, we'll be ready. We'll defeat him like we did before. You'll see." Clary wasn't sure if she was reassuring Jace or herself.

"I'm not worried about that, Clary. It's just... we're finally together, but what if something comes between us again? It's happened so many times before."

Clary thought about that for a moment. Of course, he was right. First, they thought they were siblings, then Jace was possessed, and then controlled by Sebastian.... But that wouldn't happen again. Jace is back with me, everything is alright, Clary chided herself furiously.

She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, trying to erase the image of twin black holes from her eyelids. Clary snapped her emerald eyes open again, praying she would never see those black pit-like eyes again. But she knew in her heart she would have to face them again someday. She pushed her thoughts away and turned to Jace again.

"Nothing will. Just promise you won't go looking for him all on your own or something stupid like that." Clary looked at him pointedly. She reached out and touched his cheek tentatively. He caught it for a moment and smiled.

"What? You think I do stupid things often?"

Clary nodded vigorously and Jace pretended to pout. Angel, he's gorgeous, Clary's mind whispered. She lightly pressed her lips to his. It was soft, but fiery nonetheless-and not because of the Fire, Clary was certain. Her heart clenched. She finally had him back, her Jace. She wanted the moment to last forever, filled with the feeling of his warm lips against hers, the thumping of her loud heartbeat in her ears. The gentle touch of his hands on her back and his long fingers running through her hair.

She suppressed a sigh of disappointment as Jace pushed her gently back to look at her. His eyes were bright like the lamp light pooling on them in arcs of yellow and gold.

"I won't. Promise." Jace leaned forward slightly this time. Her heart sped comfortably. She reached up and... that's when she saw the huge figure looming up behind him.





Clary screamed, her voice sounding high and loud in the silent, empty park. Jace whirled around and was on his feet before Clary even blinked. She quickly stood up and reached for a weapon of some sort, before realizing she was dressed for a date, not training or demon-hunting. She turned and got a good look at the demon. It wasn't one she had ever seen before in her short time as a Shadowhunter. It was large, very. It was at least 10 feet tall, with several arms, which looked more like tentacles. It's robust head was a light shell-pink colour with many sets of eyes and a round mouth full of sharp pincers. She immediately named it "squid demon".

Jace whipped in front of her, seraph blade in hand. "Nariel!" He cried, before launching himself off the floor and slicing off a tentacle as it came slithering towards him. It landed in the pool of light the lamp created, and Clary could see the bloody suckers attatched to the tentacle, with a set of piercing talons at the end.

Clary realized that Jace was saying something to her and snapped into focus, ripping her gaze from the arm segment. He was holding out a dagger to her. "Take it, quick. You have to be able to defend yourself." Clary nodded and gripped the handle of the long blade. Jace flung himself forward, dodging the flicking tentacles. As one came near her, Clary swiped out at it with the dagger, slicing off a good few feet of it's arm. Jace knocked the squid demon down and sank his seraph blade into it's midsection quickly before it had time to bit out with it's large, dark mouth.

Jace stepped back as the demon disintegrated, going back to the demension it had come from. He looked at it in disgust before turning to Clary. "Are you-" His eyes widened in horror and surprise, staring at something behind her. Clary's heart was in her throat as she slowly turned to face a horde of monstrous, blood-sucking, human-eating demons. The demons varied in size, height, and number of limbs. Clary recognized several squid demons, along with a few spider demons, Raum, Oni, Drevak... She gasped suddenly, and realized she hadn't been breathing. "Jace! There-there's so many!" It was true. Dozens, hundreds, maybe. This was too much, even for Jace to handle alone.

He grabbed her hand and turned abrubtly. Together, with Clary being half-dragged by Jace, they ran out the exit of the park. She didn't see the demons coming after them, but she didn't have to turn and look. She could hear their thundering steps, pounding the ground after them. The stench of demons was everywhere. Clary ran as fast as she could, but even then she could tell Jace was slowing down for her. She put on a burst of speed, not wanting to endanger not only herself, but Jace as well.

The streets were nearly deserted at this time, nearly ten o'clock. But there were still a few cars, here and there. She wasn't sure what the drivers and pedestrians saw, but they sure saw something. Maybe a crowd of gangsters with guns or a pack of wild dogs. The few people out this time of night screamed and quickly ran indoors, until soon, nobody but Jace and Clary were out.

Finally, after several sharp turns, swerves into hidden allyways and a lot of dodging and ducking, they slowed to a stop in a shadowed area near a school. Clary doubled over, gasping for breath. "Did.... we lose.... them?" Clary asked in between gasps. She could no longer see or hear the demons, though the stench was still overpowering in the humid air.

"I think so," Jace said, panting. "But we should get indoors, you can bet they'll find us out here." He appeared to be thinking hard. Looking frantically around, Clary spotted a street sign that was quite familiar. She recognized this place! It was near Eric's house, only a few blocks down.

"Jace! We can go hide in Eric's house!" Jace looked confused. He opened his mouth to speak, but Clary cut him off. "You know, one of Simon's friends. They have a band practice in Eric's garage tonight. It's only a bit farther down that road." She pointed in the direction of his house, where she had spent numerous hours listening to their band play and argue over what their next name should be.

Jace bit his lip. "You're suggesting we hide in a house with a bunch of mundanes in it?" He looked incredulous.

"Yes, Jace! Now come one, before they find us!" Clary was losing her patience. Jace started to say something, when she heard it again. The thundering of steps. Some of the demons must have tracking abilities, she thought. Jace straightened up quickly and took her hand.

"Okay, fine. It's not like we have much of a choice. Lead the way!" Clary sprinted down the block, hand-in-hand with Jace.







"Five, six, seven, eight!"

Simon nodded to the beat of the music as he counted the bars before he would start playing. He looked around at the band, smiling. It was good to finally do something normal for a change. Instead of, say, meeting with the great angel Raziel or fighting in a war. Simon hummed to the music and strummed his guitar. Jordan was singing into a microphone, having agreed to be in the band, now called Meticulous Sardine, just a little while ago.

The beat of the loud drums pounded into Simon's ears, the sound ear-bursting but comforting at the same time.

Simon frowned suddenly and stopped playing. He was sure he had heard something. Someone saying his name? It was impossible to tell in the midst of the drums banging and instruments on full blast. "Stop! Guys! Wait a second!" The band faltered after a moment.

"What?" Eric asked irratibly. "I was just getting into my groove."

Kirk snorted. But Simon wasn't laughing. "Listen. Do you hear that?" The boys shook their heads, looking at him weirdly. Matt opened his mouth, probably to question his about his mental stability, when Jordan cut him off.

"Wait, guys, I hear something, too." He said urgently, putting up a hand to silence the others. "It sounds like-"

Simon's eyes widened as he heard a distinct girl's voice yell again. He quickly strode over to the garage door, nearly tripping on a cord in his haste. He lifted the mechanical door with a press of a button and saw, to his utter surprise, Clary and Jace, running towards him.