Inked

Inked Chapter 1

Chapter 1

idée digne d'un trône

Moonlight exploded off the blade of his knife as he flung himself at Sebastian, his motion so fast that it seemed blurred, faster than any human movement Clary had ever seen.

Until now.

Sebastian darted aside, missing the blow, and caught Jace's knife arm as it descended. The knife clattered to the ground, and then Sebastian had Jace by the back of his jacket. He lifted him and flung him with incredible strength. Jace flew through the air, hit the wall of the Gard with bone cracking force, and crumpled to the ground.

"Jace!" Clary's vision went white.

"Belle... Earth to Belle?" Belle looked up from her book, sucked back into reality, suddenly aware of her surroundings. "You still want the soda, or would you rather return to your fictional friends? I'm sure they're more entertaining than me." Mason handed her the soda with a dramatic hurt look.

"Oh, please, you're the most entertaining person I know." Belle smiled and took a sip of her soda. The can was cool against her lips, but the drink itself was room temperature, due to the hot June in Arizona weather. She stretched her legs out across the warm blanket they had laid out on the grass and tilted her head back, soaking up the sun. She felt eyes on her as she turned her head. Mason, who had been looking at her, turned his head away.

Mason Sax lay down on his side and closed his eyes. Better to take up the time he had to rest while he could. His dad was pushing him to his breaking point with practice and training, and Mason would take any opportunity to sleep. Belle understood. She knew what it was like at Mase's house. His father had pushed him even hard after his mom left. She turned her attention back to her book, yet she couldn't seem to get her mind to focus. Her eyes slid across the page, with her brain refusing to absorb the words she was reading. Her mind was wandering. Too much going on at home.

Her mom had just had a baby, and it was pretty hectic with 6 kids running around the Cinderfall's small ranch home. Money had been tight, and Belle's father had begun working with the real estate full time. She didn't mind though. She had always been one of those girls who, frankly, could care less of what people thought about her family, or anything. She dressed in jeans, a T-shirt, and sneakers almost every day. She didn't care, and neither did Mase. All his attention went to her long, dark brown hair. That was the only thing she cared for in her appearance. She curled it every morning, letting it fall down in chocolate ringlets that bounced when she walked.

Mason stirred, and rolled onto his back. Belle smiled at him, and the way his dark hair looked perfectly in place with his tan skin, unlike her complexion, which was brown and pale with freckles. His face had a peaceful look on it, as it did when he slept. Belle only ever saw this look at times like these, where normally Mase never even thought without moving. His legs reached the end of the blanket, due to the fact that he was very tall. He was muscly, but slender. Belle reached out and shook his arm to wake him. He had only gotten a few minutes to rest, but it was already growing late in the afternoon. He opened his bright green eyes and looked up at Belle. He blinked, and glanced down at his watch. Oh crap. He scrambled up onto his feet, Belle flipping onto her back to look up at him.

"Its already past 4:30. I gotta get to baseball practice." He looked down, apology on his face. Belle frowned, and got to her feet.

"Okay. Have fun. I've got to get back anyway. I wanna finish my book." She smiled, as if just the thought of reading itself just made her happy.

"Sorry we couldn't hang out longer." With that and another glance at Belle, Mason grabbed his bag, looked at his watch again, and took off running through the park. Belle watched his tall figure sprint through the park until he turned a corner around a building, then she bent down to pick the blanket up. When her fingertips touched the wet blades of grass, something sharp pricked her finger. She winced and brought her right hand up to her face to get a look at what had cut her. She had expected a dot of blood, but this is not what she saw. She gasped and blinked. Maybe she had imagined it?