Fourtris Meets Clace

Chapter 12 - Jace

JACE

Tobias has gone to get me a Coke. I sit on the couch, twiddling my thumbs, thinking about our recent conversation. Tobias literally has no idea who we are. I start to worry that he will panic when he finds out the truth. The real truth about Shadowhunters. If I tell him, he might not be as bad. But if his mom tells him, he might blurt it out.

Tobias hands me the can of Coke. It fizzes loudly, shooting bubbles into my face. "Thanks," I say. "Listen, Tobias. I have to tell you something."

He slurps the soda. "What is it?" he asks obliviously. I gulp.

"I really shouldn't be telling you this," I begin. "But if I don't, it will go horribly wrong. Just hear me out, okay?"

I can't believe I'm doing this.

"What will go horribly wrong?" Tobias says. He looks slightly worried, and I regret starting this conversation.

"Well," I say. "There was a lot of things about the experiment that Evelyn didn't tell you. She lied to you, basically. The point of her experiment was not asking you to guess who we are. The point was to get you to come to her and complain that it was impossible to even estimate who we are. Then, she would tell you. She wanted to record your reactions to the information, to retest your Divergence."

Tobias looks dumbfounded. "Oh," he says. I exhale. I hoped for the worst - that he'd go to punch me, and he'd yell at me to leave, and he'd order me to stop telling lies. "She told you this?"

"Yes," I say.

"Wow," he says. "Well, now I know, I may as well ask - who are you, exactly?"

Crap.

"Um," I stammer. "It's a lot to explain."

"I can keep up," Tobias says. He looks at me with a curious expression.

"Okay," I say. I stand up and lock the front door, much to his horror. "I'm doing this for my own reasons. I don't want you running off anywhere and blurting it out."

"Alright, mate, what the hell are you doing?" he asks, standing up.

"It's a lot to take in," I tell him. "Like I said, bear with me."

I clear my throat and sit down again. Tobias follows. "Me and Clary... we're not anything you've heard of," I begin. "We are called Shaodwhunters. I know, right - sounds like a gang name, but just hold on. Our job is to protect humans like you from demons."

"Demons?" he asks. "Is this a joke?"

"I swear on the Angel's life it is not a joke," I promise.

"What angel?" Tobias asks.

"The Angel Raziel," I say. "The founder of the Shadowhunters. Thousands of years ago, a man called Jonathan Shadowhunter summoned the Angel from Heaven. The Angel gave him a Cup and a Sword. He poured some of his blood into the Cup and gave it to Jonathan to drink it. And then a superhuman was created - someone with angel's blood, therefore someone who inhabited immense strength and power. The Shadowhunters. And, yeah. I'm a Shadowhunter."

Tobias is shocked. He looks at me as if I'm insane.

"Stop kidding with me, Jace," he says firmly.

"I'm not," I say quietly. "I promise."

"Holy cow," he says. "I have to see if this is true."

And with that he runs out the door, grabbing his car keys on the way.