Detained [2] 《SHADOWHUNTERS》

Chapter Twenty-Six

The morning was bright and misty, basking the Institute in pale sunshine. Inside, Shadowhunters were hard at work. The Greater Demon that Jace claimed to have vanquished had actually just dissipated, tearing through the streets and taking lives with it.

Jace, Clary, Alec, and Andy were all standing around one of the table monitors in mission control. They were all eager to fight this thing and take it down for good. "Azazel's attacks go as far south as the meat-packing district," Alec told them as he sorted through the map.

"It's no use just tracking the dead bodies," Jace huffed from beside him. "With his ability to dematerialize, he could be anywhere."

He was right, backed up by the more recent attacks that had been added to the map in front of them. They were scattered throughout the boroughs, leaving them unable to guess where he might pop up next. As if tracking him wasn't hard enough, he was targeting Shadowhunters and downworlders as well as the mundies. They had no idea where to start looking.

Still, the weight of it all was lost on Andy as she glanced over to her brother. "'I killed a Great Demon'," she imitated in a deep voice, smirking. She couldn't keep herself from bragging even if she wanted to, it was in her blood.

He gave her an annoyed grimace while Alec rolled his eyes. "This is serious," Jace reminded her, although it was mostly to cut off her inevitable insistance that she could handle this better than he could. "If we can't do this, all our asses are on the line."

Andy lost her cocky grin. "The way the Inquisitor tells it, our asses are already on the line," she pointed out. She was ready to say more and try to take over when a nectary voice cut her off.

"Maybe we can help."

They all looked up to find the source, glad to hear her and see her back in the building. She looked good, better, which worried Andy and Alec more than it should have. Isabelle strolled into the room like she hadn't just disappeared for twelve hours while kicking a drug addiction.

Behind her trailed a tall, blond-haired Shadowhunter, a stranger to all of them. His face was narrow and his jaw was like a dagger. He wore a light grey dress shirt that made him stick out like a sore thumb around the Nephilim that were dressed to fight.

It wasn't uncommon to find a stranger in New York. Some Shadowhunter families lived throughout the city in their own apartments, slaying the demons they found and only checking in with the Institute a few times a year. But something about his sudden arrival made Andy's skin crawl, the way he hung awkwardly beside Izzy as the girl walked up to meet her family.

Clary called out for her as soon as she was close enough, pulling her into a hug. "We've been so worried about you. Where have you been?"

Clary and Jace both held confused and relieved expressions, but the two behind them were both silently scrutinizing the newcomer. Izzy met her brothers gaze, quickly coming up with a lie that would satisfy the other two. "Looking for Azazel," she said, turning back to the redhead.

"And this is?" Andy trailed off impatiently with her eyes trained on the other Shadowhunter.

Izzy straightened up, quickly introducing him. "This is Sebastian Verlac. He's from the London Institute. When the demon came after me, Sebastian saved my life." She explained.

"Oh, I simply lent a hand," Sebastian contended. His voice was thick with an accent that matched what Iz had told them. 

Izzy offered him a grateful smile. "Sebastian's an expert on all things Azazel." Alec's brow furrowed. It was great timing, seeing as they were struggling to locate said demon.

"When I studied abroad at the Paris Institute, I specialized in Greater Demons," he explained, eager to answer the silent questions being cast his way.