Chapter 1

Jace's peircing, golden eyes glinted in the harsh lighting of the institute. As he leapt high in the air, his blade         shimmered beautifully, light ripelling down the damascus pattern. He landed directly in front of Alec and brought his shimmering dagger up to Alec's throat. Alec saw this move coming and also brought his dagger up to parry the attack. While Jace was occupied with the parry, Alec thrusted the blade in his other hand into Jace's unprotected stomach. They smiled crookedly at each other before             vaulting into a complicated series of leaps and bounds, which resulted in Jace crashing down on Alec's docile form with his blade at his throat. A cackle rose from Jace's throat. "You never were as good as me." He joked lightly. "Ha. You wish." Alec laughed as he fllipped Jace over, putting him in a hold.

Their playfight was interrupted by the heavy institute doors opening, revealing a beautiful woman, clad in a revealing shirt and tight, leather pants. Her ruby red lips turned upwards into a broad smile when she entered the training room. "You never stop do you, boys?"

"You know us. Work hard, play hard, Iz." Came Alec's reply, still pinning Jace to the ground.

"Well I've got someone to meet you here..."

"Dang the newbie's here already?" Jace said as he heaved himself up from under Alec. "Jace! She has a name, you know." She berrated him as he chuckled to himself. "You can come out, if you like." Isabelle said as she looked behind her. From behind her, a head of purple hair appeared."I- uh wow." She said, readjusting her glasses. Isabelle moved aside and put her arm around the newcomer. Her mahogany eyes twinkled as she advanced into the room, the stranger in tow. "This is Louise Lastwell. She just came from the London institute."

Jace's fair locks slipped from their usual slicked-back style and dangled down onto his face as he clambered down from the training platform. He extended a lightly scarred hand towards her. She looked at it, thoughtfully. It had small scars covering it. The palm was rough and caloused, yet hiding a touch of gentle softness. Despite the apparent roughness and wear on the hand, the nails and cuticles were immaculate. Cautiously, she raised her own hand and shook his.

He smiled a dazzling grin. "I'm Jace. Also known as the handsome one." He purred with a wink.

At that moment, Alec jumped down and joined them. "Oh, please. Who calls you that?"

"Clary used to."

"But not anymore, thankfully. And we don't need Louise here doing it, either." Jace looked like he was about to say something, then stopped himself when he heard a chuckle come from Isabelle.

"Oh aren't you two boys just so adorable, fighting over the new girl. Come on, hun. Lets leave them to it and I'll take you to meet Clary and then we can go to my favourite place." Isabelle smiled and put an arm around Louise as they turned away.

As they walked down the hallway, Isabelle glanced at Louise sideways. "Sooo, what d'ya think about this place? And more importantly what d'ya think about the boys?"

"They're both uh. Well um you know." She smiled tellingly.

"I knew it!" She yelled enthusiastically. Her eyes grew wide. "Who do you prefer?" At that, Louise was taken aback and simply stuttered and mumbled incoherently. Isabelle giggled again. After that, they wallked in companionable silence.

The library was empty, save two souls pouring over old manuscripts. They looked up when they heard the unmistakable click clack of Isabelle's heels on the tiled floor. "Hey guys. Guess who I brought?" She greeted them with a large grin. A girl with carrot-orange hair came running towards them. She greeted Isabelle first with a loving hug and a soft kiss. Then, she hurried to Louise and smothered her in a hug. She smelled like flowers on a summers day. Her jade eyes seemed to glow in the harsh overhead lights. "You must be Louise." She stated.

"Heh, yeah. I guess I'm well-known here already." At that, Clary smiled and linked hands with Isabelle before adding, "Oh, I'm Clary, by the way. Sorry I forgot to say."