Black || Jace Wayland [1]

| 01. arrogance will get you killed

"we allow our ignorance to prevail upon us and make us think we can survive alone, alone in batches, alone in groups, alone races, even alone in genders."

******

"GOT YA." Asher smirked.

With a flick of her brown hair, the young Shadowhunter landed lightly on the concrete ground.  She glanced up at the small perch she inhabited moments ago before moving forward.

The shape-shifter was no more than five feet ahead of her, changing forms as it bumped into people while passing by. The creature modified its look from a businessman to a woman wearing a baggy sweatshirt and leggings.

Asher's boots made small scuffing noises as she tailed the demon quietly. Turning into a dark alleyway, her hand brushed the seraph blade hiding behind her. She watched it enter an abandoned-looking building and quickly followed it inside. The door creaked open as she pushed it, creating a large echo inside the building. "Shit." She muttered. If the demon didn't know about her, it sure did now.

The eerie silence brought a shiver to Asher's spine. She carefully walked deeper into the darkness, keeping on high alert for anything that may jump out from the shadows. Her hand latched onto her seraph blade, waiting to whip it out at any moment.

A loud screech echoed off the walls and Asher saw herself standing in front of a dozen demons. The one she initially followed stood in front, head cocked with its mask donning a haunting smile. Behind it stood the rest: pale gray skin, soulless black eyes, and rows of sharp yellow teeth. 

Instead of quivering in fear, Asher grinned wickedly back. She unsheathed her seraph blade and held it out in front of her, illuminating the space around them.

"Oh, this will be fun."

_________________

At three in the morning, Asher Montgomery walked into the Los Angeles Institute drenched with demon blood. She left a line of the tar-like substance trailing back to the entrance in the form of footprints. The smell it gave off was so repulsive it could wake up an entire Institute of Shadowhunters.

And that's what it did.

A person clambered down the grand staircase of the Institute, grasping tightly onto the railing so that he didn't pass out from the smell and lack of sleep.

"What the hell is that?!"

Asher let out a chuckle and turned on the lights to the entrance room. Julian Blackthorn stood on the second to last step, pinching his nostrils shut. His face scrunched up from the smell. "This is the third time this week."

"You're the one who sent me on the mission." She pointed out, making her way up the steps. Julian followed her, annoyed. "Yes, but you didn't have to come back and wake up the entire institute."

"And I thought Shadowhunters didn't sleep." Asher teased, making the acting Head of the Los Angeles Institute roll his eyes. She proceeded to take off her boots and continue walking in her socks. Julian accompanied her as they both made their way to the girl's suite.

"You need to be more careful." Julian scolded Asher as she walked into her room. "How would you have even known that the blood wasn't poisonous?"