Half Truths

Pleading the fifth

The cacophony of the busy street faded away as Jace laid eyes on Valentine Morgenstern in the flesh for the very first time. From the amount of ominous words and inflection whenever anyone mentioned his name, Jace expected something  foreboding, large, fear inducing. Instead, before him stood a man no taller than himself but a lot more broad, he looked exactly like the way jace had pictured him. On  the surface, to be just like any other businessman one could encounter on the street. Same stiff, pretentious posture, same smooth, uncalloused hands, and same stern "I-know-everything-so-don't-try-to-school-me" look on his face. Jace immediately saw the threat plainly in the recesses of his black eyes.

Behind the dark pools, he saw the absence of conscience. The ability to destroy life, whether it be by death or other means, without further thought. Thinking back, he'd noticed a glimmer of that in the eyes of his son as well. Jace's fists clenched at his sides as he tried to hold back his instinct to push Clary behind him. Not only because he felt the overwhelming need to protect her from this man, but because he wasn't supposed to even know who he was, let alone that he was dangerous. But that didn't mean he wasn't keeping careful watch.

His eyes locked on Valentine's. The man gave no hint as to his feelings toward Jace being there, he just simply stared back. Black meeting gold across the space between them. Out of the corner of his vision, Jace saw Clary fidget and then step forward. He wanted to reach out and draw her back, but he kept his hands firmly fixed to his sides.

Clary sighed. "Sorry, Father. I forgot."

Jace cringed. Hearing her call him "Father" was like a knife slicing through his skin. The thought that this man had any part in creating this girl made Jace sick. He knew, without even the slightest doubt, that Clary had no idea what unspeakable things her father had done—or had allowed to be done. For all intents and purposes, Valentine kept his hands clean, but he was instrumental in ordering and setting up many unsavory acts.

Valentine's gaze flickered between Clary and Jace, his brows pinching together as he tried to figure out who Jace was. Knowing he was about to be dismissed, Jace reached into his pocket while moving forward. He leaned into Clary, his mouth at her ear while his eyes stayed on Valentine. Lifting his hand, he touched the back of her neck and the very edge of the collar of her jacket, slipping a small device under the fold.

"I'll be just inside," he whispered, trying to let her know she wasn't alone, but giving her the space she wanted, even though it went against all his instincts. As much as everything in him screamed to stay right there, he knew Valentine wouldn't be stupid enough to try anything out in the open like this. Even so, if he did, it wouldn't take Jace long to get there.

Clary glanced up at him, a small smirk on her lips. Nothing about the way she held herself, or the look in her eyes, suggested she felt intimidated in the least by her father. "Sure thing, Cass. Thanks for the ride."

He wanted to say something smartassy, but decided against it. Not because he gave a flip about her father standing there, but because he didn't feel like being an ass to her at the moment. Instead, he winked and walked toward the club. Glancing over his shoulder to make sure they weren't watching, he slipped into the shadowy doorway and retrieved the earpiece from his jacket pocket. After looking around for prying eyes, he placed it discreetly in his ear. It was small and fit just so it was nearly undetectable.

People streamed past, and he tried his hardest to ignore the flirty grins of the girls and scowling faces of the guys. Tonight, he wasn't there for fun. Duty called, and she stood just outside his reach with one of the most dangerous men in the city. It felt wrong and irresponsible to leave her out there with him, but he knew this case called for a different set of rules than most others. The enemy was her father, not some stranger she'd never met. And that brought to light a whole new slew of problems, namely the fact that Jace couldn't really keep her away from him. In fact, his whole job was to get her closer to him, and use that to infiltrate Valentine's personal space. From the strained looks father and daughter gave each other, Jace was resigned to the fact that that task wouldn't be easy.