ANGEL WINGS - SHADOWHUNTERS

[4] demons and angels

"I don't understand. I thought that a half-angel, half-demon was a seelie?" Clary asked, leaning up against a table at the Jade Wolf with her arms crossed over her chest in worry. Rowena was seated across from her in one of the booths, sharing Clary's worry for the hurt Shadowhunter. They had gotten the blood bag back to Jace and were waiting for word on his condition.

"Yeah, that's true but they have human souls like other Downworlders... I don't." Rowena explained, becoming more and more insecure about her life story by the second, "My father was an angel; my mother was a demon. They were both on Earth, in human form, they fell in love and had me."

"What happened to them?"

Rowena sighed, "My father, after learning that my mother was a demon, fled to Heaven. I never met him. He abandoned me..." Rowena paused, pulling the sleeves of her black sweatshirt over her hands, a tear falling from her right eye that she quickly wiped away. "And my mother was exiled to Hell the day after my 18th birthday."

"And how long ago was that?" Clary joked, smiling and standing up straight.

"Only four thousand, seven hundred and fifty-something years ago." Rowena smiled, rolling her brown eyes and sniffing the tears away. She stood up and leant against the table she was previously sat at, across from Clary, "I don't really remember anything about them..." She paused and sighed, "and I don't really want to."

Clary moved closer to Rowena and pulled her in for a short but sweet hug. She didn't know why but Rowena knew from that moment that she could trust Clary. "It's okay not to be okay with your past." Clary said, pulling away from the hug but keeping her hands placed comfortingly on Rowena's shoulders, making Rowena feel safe. "You don't have to keep your feelings bottled inside. If you need to talk, I'm here."

"Thank you," Rowena almost whispered due to her voice breaking as more tears slipped down her cheeks and she bowed her head to look at the floor beneath her.

Their moment was interrupted by Michael, who made the two girls' heads snap in his direction. "The transfusion helped. He's much better. He's gonna wanna see you." He said, directing his last sentence towards Clary, who nodded at Rowena and started to move past Michael, "But, uh, can I, um, talk to you for a minute?"

"I will make myself scarce." Rowena smiled, still wiping away tears as she turned around to leave the Jade Wolf. "I'll be outside."

Rowena took in her surroundings, she walked towards the edge of the dock and stared into the water. For some reason, water had always made her feel better, she never really knew why. It was just a feeling. She watched her reflection as her tears fell into the water with small splashes. Rowena took her sweatshirt arm into her right hand and wiped them away. The splashes in the water slowed and as the water cleared the reflection changed. She was no longer the Rowena she knew today. The reflection staring back at her was her own but from many, many years ago.

Rowena screamed, she was in agony as she fell to the floor, her breathing quick and heavy, struggling to concentrate on anything but the pain that was coursing through her body.

"You're almost there, my child." Her mother spoke, softly but with desperation and excitement lacing her menacing voice. "Keep pushing."

Rowena screamed once more, tears streaming down her cheeks, "I-I can't... Mama I c-can't do th-his." She sobbed; her voice almost inaudible, panic rising in her chest. "I'm s-so sorry!" The sound of her shallow breaths quickly became the only noise in the room.

Her mother bent down in front of her and Rowena looked deep into her dark eyes, "Yes, my darling, yes you can. You are much stronger and more powerful than you believe." Rowena looked down at the floor, blood dripping from her nose and ears which landed on the ground below her, mixing with her salty tears. "Look at me. You can do this!" Her mother yelled, gripping her daughter's small shoulders.

Rowena pushed, harder than she had ever pushed in her life, screaming the air out of her lungs as the pain focused on her back. Suddenly two slits appeared, one on each shoulder blade, and two bones covered in light grey feathers slowly crept their way out, covered in blood, until they formed two enormous wings, spread out wide. Her eyes glowed a faint gold colour as they emerged, Rowena standing up to show them in their true glory.

The pain stopped.

"You did it." Her mother smiled, clapping her hands together in delight. "They're beautiful."

"Rowena!" Clary said, a bit louder than the first three times she had said it, breaking Rowena out of her trance. She turned to face Clary, who looked very concerned. "Are you okay? You looked kinda spaced out there."

"Yeah." Rowena smiled, "Just thinking."

"We need you in the Jade Wolf." Clary said, smiling at her and dragging her along back inside the Jade Wolf.

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"But why would Valentine tell a prisoner what he was planning to do?" Clary asked, looking between Jace, Luke and Michael.

"He didn't. Well, not directly. But he gave me a way to learn all about his plans." Michael stated, causing Rowena to grow suspicious of him. She knew something was off about this guy but since he was Jace's father and Clary seemed to trust him she didn't dwell on her suspicions.

"How do you mean?" Jace asked.

"He injected me with Downworlder blood. The pain was excruciating. Sometimes I was sick for days. But it's not often you got a Shadowhunter to experiment on. So, I guess that's why he always stopped short of killing me. But, little by little... I developed enhanced hearing and vision." Michael said, and told us about Valentine's hideout, Renwick's.

"Who's Renwick?" Clary asked.

"It's not a who. It's a where. It's a deserted smallpox hospital on one of the islands of the East River." Luke informed us.

Clary sighed, "Under our noses is right. And we can't track over water." She said, annoyance and frustration.

"He left me to die in that cage." Michael interjected, feeling sorry for himself.

"Valentine never wasted time on compassion." Luke said, looking Michael in the eyes.

"He won't get any from me when the time comes." Jace said, standing up.

"Before it does, you need a strategy. Waiting a day could mean the difference between failure and success." Michael interjected, once again, however, it was one thing Rowena could agree with.

Jace took a breath, figuring out his next move, "Okay. Clary and I will scout Renwick's tonight."

"Jace, don't." Clary interrupted, standing up in front of Jace to stop him from leaving. "Your runes are still weak. Luke, Rowena and I will go. Just take this extra time to rest and..."

Jace cut her off, "I'll be fine, Clary."

"Jace, please."

Jace sighed in defeat and sat back down, looking over at Luke and Rowena, "Don't let her get you into trouble."

A/N: Sorry for the random update but I'm out all day tomorrow so I thought I would update today instead but I'll be back to normal Saturday updates next week! Also, thank you so much for almost 100 reads on this book! It means so much to me so thank you, and I really hope you enjoy it!

Luv u all xxxx