Angelic

Alec ~ 8

I was halfway through my scrambled eggs when Jace walked into the kitchen, sweaty and out of breath.

"Where have you been?" I asked in between bites of egg.

"Training with your favorite person in the world." He responded with a bitterness.

"Let me guess: she knocked you on your ass?" I wondered, already knowing the answer.

He filled a glass with water, chugging it down. As he went to refill it again, he asked, "What makes you think that?"

"well, first of all, she's an Elite." I reminded him. "Second of all, you've been pretty easy to beat lately. Your head isn't in it. I mean, I can probably guess where your thoughts are at..."

"Don't bring her up." Jace commanded.

"Who?" Izzy asked, coming into the kitchen in pajama pants and a thin tank top. Her hair was in two braids, which fell down over her shoulders, stopping at her elbow.

"No one" Jace said at the same time I said "Clary". Jace shot me a glare. I ignored him.

Izzy decided not to comment on her, opening up the fridge and looking for something to eat. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something red on Jace's forearm. I looked over--to see dried blood on his arm.

"She cut you?" I questioned, slamming my fork down on the table loud enough to make both of them look over at me. Jace saw where I was looking and glanced down at his arm. "I had a cut there. She accidentally opened it-"

"Oh, that's it!" I yelled, standing up, breakfast forgotten, and heading straight for the training room.

"Alec!" Izzy called after me, but Jace must have stopped her, because neither one of them stopped me.

I didn't care if she knocked me on my ass. I knew the anger was blocking my rational thoughts, but she needed to learn the difference between sparring with someone and full on beating someone up.

I walked through the doors to the training room, grabbing one of my seraph blades I had stashed by my bow and arrow the day before and looked around the room for her. She was catching her breath, a bottle of water in one hand and a towel in the other. She had looked up when I came in and was still watching me.

"I just finished." She told me from across the room. As she spoke, I walked over to her. "You can have the room to yourself."

"Oh, no." I took the water bottle out of her hands, handing her a seraph blade. "I'm fighting you."

For a second, it looked like she wanted to protest, but after seeing the look on my face, she decided the better of it. We walked over to the middle of the room and before she was even fully focused I swung at her sideways, aiming for her neck. She ducked quicker than the blade moved, acting like she was rehearsing a series of movements she had memorized long ago. That only angered me more. I faked right, and just as expected, she moved left, and swung at her again, only to be blocked by her own blade. I glared at her, pressing against her with all the strength I had inside of me. A look of recognition fell across her face, though why I didn't know. Suddenly, her feet gave out from underneath her. She fell to the ground, lowering her blade.

"Alright, you won." She wasn't even out of breath. "Can I go now?"

"I don't need you to go easy on me." I told her.

She gave me a look that said, I'd knock you down in two seconds.

My gaze didn't waver, and instead of arguing with me, she stood back up, grabbing the seraph blade and waiting for me to strike her again.

...

I don't know how long we were at it. But after she'd fallen at least twenty times, and me only two at the most, she was looking just as angry as me. By now, we were fighting for multiple minutes before either of us got our blade knocked out of our hands. Somehow, I managed to knock her on her back, her blade falling out of her hands, and before she could reach it, I kicked it out of her reach, bending down until I was leaning over her, pointing my blade at her heart.

"Just do it!" She glared up at me. Her accent got thicker when she got angry. "I know you've been wanting to since I got here! So do it, Alec Lightwood. Kill an innocent. Let the guilt rot out your soul until you're having someone begging to kill you."

I stared down at her for a long moment, waiting for her to fight back, show any kind of resistance. "Why won't you fight back?" I shouted back at her, just as loudly as she had.

"Because I don't want any of this!" She screamed, and for the first time since I had met her, I saw her eyes fill with tears. "Damn it, Lightwood!" Her voice lowered after a second, the vulnerable expression she had just worn gone, like it had never been there at all. "Get off of me."

Before I could move, the doors to the training room opened and Max walked in. He stopped, like he had been frozen, as soon as he saw us.

"Um..." He began, looking like he was looking at something that was burning his eyes.

I stood up, getting off of Ev, and saw her stand, too.

"What's up, Max?" I asked, making my voice as soft as I could, despite the anger still running through me.

"I can't find Jace." He said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I thought he was in here."

"I'll help you find him." I told him, not giving Ev a second glance before leaving with my brother. I felt a small victory as Max and I headed towards the elevator. I think I had just figured out why Ev seemed so sketchy.