predestined | jace herondale

2

"Zee- Zee, come on." Simon grabs my hand, "We gotta go."

I slip my hand away from Simon's, looking between Clary and Simon.

"Whatever your decision is- I'm with you." Clary nods towards me.

"As much as choosing you-" I looked at Jace, "-would drive me absolutely insane-" he lightly smirks as I spoke, "I'm gonna do it anyway."

"What?" Simon immediately cuts in.

"He literally killed a demon and saved my life." I gaped at Simon, "I think he's our best bet right now."

"What?" Simon repeats, staring at me with wide eyes.

"Come on." Clary grabs his hand, pulling him along as I followed Jace back up the stairs.

"How do we know this Mick Jagger-looking guy is even gonna try-" Simon started to ramble.

Jace stops, turning around, "Mundane, we do not have the time."

"Come on, Simon." Clary pulls him up the stairs as we walked back into the empty church.

Simon looks at us, confused at what we were doing in here.

Jace huffs, grabbing out his stele, drawing a rune onto his arm, Simon staring at it with wide eyes, "He's, like, burning himself-"

Jace puts his stele away, grabbing Simon's hand, Simon's eyes widening even more, "Buddy, what's going on, man? I'm not your type, man-"

"Where are we? What the hell?" Simon immediately said, the entire empty church turning into what I had just left minutes ago, "Zee, is there a war going on that I don't know about?"

"There is now." Jace lets go of Simon, walking in further.

Clary looks at Simon and I, "I think my mother's at the center of it."

We follow Jace, Simon continuing to ask questions, "What is this place? There's a lot of gear in here. What'd they do, rob a tech shop?"

I stood next to Jace, as he pulled up camera footage from outside, Simon whispering in my ear, "So this cold-blooded killer is gonna help us?"

"He's not a killer." I looked at him, "He's protecting us."

Jace cuts in, "Specifically, you. It's sort of our thing."

"Your thing? You guys have a thing?" Simon asks immediately.

"He means a Shadowhunter thing- right?" Clary looks at me.

"You're catching on-" I nod towards her, my eyebrows furrowing, "Even if- I haven't exactly fully caught on but- that's what they do, protecting humans from demons."

"Demons, right." Simon scoffs, his tone filled with sarcasm, "That makes perfect sense, 'cause there are demons running all around New York."

"That is the first correct thing you've said all day." Jace spoke up, his eyes landing on NYPD banging on the church door.

"Won't they find us?" Clary stares at the footage.

"No, our wards will deter them." Jace told her, "And the NYPD will do their typical mundie thing for a few hours and then the area will be clear."

Alec walks up behind us, "What is going on? Why is there two mundanes in the Institute?"

"Wait-" I stop him, looking at Jace, "Can I see your- blade?"

"My seraph blade? Why?" Jace grabs it out of his pocket, looking up at me.

"I need to test something-" I grabbed it from him, holding the blade, as it lit up.