Disclaimer: All characters and background regarding Shadowhunters belong to Cassandra Clare.

I'm quite new to this place, feel free to give me any kind of feedback.

+) Edit: Re-written and updated in 07.19.2017. (at least on my side of the globe)

Joceyln anxiously watched her child giggle happily as the warlock showed her the pretty blue magical petals falling from his fingers. Her bright red hair that Jocelyn had spent the entire morning on to neatly braid was back in a messy tangled pile. The sight of her shining innocence was a painful reminder to what she had done, and what she should repent for the rest of her life. She could not save the child Valentine had so cruelly experimented on, and eventually burned together with his own life. She would save Clary, and give her the happy life of a mundane.

"It's alright, Jocelyn," Magnus sighed. "I can keep this red-headed scrap busy enough for you to zip home and back with the required payment. No, Clary, leave the Great Catsby alone." The last sentence was intended for the girl, small even for her age, who was reaching for Magnus's cat's tail. The girl gave him a meaningful look and grabbed the fluffy gray tail anyway.

The cat let out a piteous yowl and lunged for the girl. Before anything disastrous could happen, Magnus swept her up in his arms with a disapproving frown. Clary laughed and clapped her small, chubby hands, clearly delighted.

"She's a devil, this one," Magnus said. He lightly pinched her cheek, and turned to Jocelyn. His devil's mark, the green-gold cat eyes, were glowing. Despite what he let on, he was enjoying the company of the child. "Going yet?"

Jocelyn reluctantly nodded, waved at Clary, and stepped out of the door. The air was wintry, and the granite of the steps and the concrete floor was covered with a light sheet of snow. She pulled up the hood of her coat to cover her red locks—identical to the fiery red hair of the child—and carefully descended to the outside world. The icy breeze that swept through the streets put her on edge. There were rumors of past Circle members searching for betrayers, seeking for revenge. Luke had warned her, but not wanting to put him in trouble, she had turned away his offer to help. Something in the atmosphere she couldn't quite identify made her regret declining.

She quickened her pace. Sprinkles of snow started to fall from the ashen sky. The streets were quiet; too quiet, for New York. Instinctively, she glanced behind her. There were her footprints, already disappearing in the powder of snow, but that wasn't what made Jocelyn force her legs to a run. Another set of footprints was visible on the pavement, cut off mid-step in the middle of nowhere. She had a heavily-glamoured follower, hidden even from her Nephilim eyes.

The snow was falling in a flurry now, stinging her cheeks as she raced past the streets. She scrambled for her phone, but they slipped from her fingers and clattered to the roadway. Before she could bend to reach for it, it skittered to the center of the road as a car rushed by. Jocelyn cursed and abandoned the phone; hopefully, Magnus would notice something was wrong when she didn't answer his calls. Her lungs ached from running so fast without the help of newly applied runes. She could only pray that her Shadowhunter training would help her enough.

A shock of relief burst through her as the familiar white door of her own apartment came into view. Jocelyn burst into the room, panting and gasping for breath. She slammed the door behind her, and pushed the sofa against it. Her face was pale and her hands shaking. Her knuckles were white as she yanked the dagger from her belt. She may not have accepted Luke's assistance, but that didn't mean she hadn't taken precautions. She could only hope that this was enough. Jocelyn could feel the cold touch of the wall on her back and a drop of icy sweat slip down her neck. Then she could hear them. Footsteps, calm and confident, growing louder. The sound of formal shoes clacking against the floor in perfect rhythm.

She held her breath when the footstep paused, as if in thought. The sinister tick-tock of the clock sounded like the giant chimes of a graveyard bell. Jocelyn glanced at the windows, wondering if she should jump out. She shook her head. She lacked the protection of Marks, and it was likely the streets were teeming with her stalker's friends. She swiped a lock of hair stuck on her temple from perspiration. She was not going to fall without a fight. The room was deathly quiet, save the clock counting down the precious seconds of freedom Jocelyn had left.

Then the door exploded, and the sofa crashed into the table and wall at the opposite side. The table splintered into a hundred pieces. One wooden piece flew like an arrow into where Jocelyn had been standing a second ago. She threw herself at the opponent, slashing her dagger in a wide arch. She could feel the dagger slice through skin and flesh, but knew it wasn't enough. She stabbed at the man, but she was much too slow. A cold, hard hand clamped on her wrists, knocking the blade from her fingers. Her heart sank. She raised her head to get a clear view of her assaulter, and sucked in a painful breath. The white-blonde man—the man she had once fiercely loved, yet came to hate just as much—smiled down at her, wiping blood from his arms.

"I missed you, too."

The shock of seeing him, far from dead, gave Valentine enough time to strike her with the hilt of the blade she had been wielding. Jocelyn sank into deep darkness, with only one word illuminating the depths of her personal Hell.

Clary.

- 14 Years Later

"By the Angel," Jace gasped. He scrunched his nose. "This place stinks of Alec's unholy armpits."

"Shut up, Jace," an irritated voice replied. "We are on a mission, and I swear, if you pick a fight with the local werewolf pack, you're on your own with the Eidolon."

"Ah," he smirked. "but that's exactly what I want." The black-haired girl to his right sighed and rolled her eyes at him.

The three young Nephilim were standing in the middle of a shabby, old bar. Everyone in the room, even the bartender, was glaring at them with distaste. That didn't seem to deter the gold-haired boy from grinning with mischief. Jace picked up a bottle from a shelf, rolled it between his slender hands, then purposefully dropped it. The bottle shattered at the impact, myriad of shards bouncing off the tiles. The bartender glowered as the liquid spattered the chairs. Jace smiled at the tense atmosphere, his gold eyes hovering over the customers, who were half-standing in a threatening stance.

"Oops. My bad. By the way, you sell crappy drinks." Jace noted with a mock shudder. "I guess that's the concept you're going for, with that stench of wet dogs?"

"Ignore him." Alec groaned. "We're looking for an Eidolon. We saw it run off to somewhere around here, but we lost the trail."

"And I thought we could use dogs to find the trail—"

Before Jace could finish the sentence, a chair smashed into the counter, just inches from where he stood. Instead of flinching, his grin widened. His hands reached for the mop beside him. He snapped the mop, giving himself a wooden pole with a jagged edge. Wielding it like a spear, he jumped, gracefully landing on the table from which the chair flew. Ignoring Isabelle's exasperated shout, he swiped the pole towards a burly man, ready to slice his arms.

"Stop!" The yell startled Jace, and the pole skidded across what seemed like an invisible wall. Everyone turned to see a short girl with fiery long hair, glaring murderously at Jace. Her hands were outstretched, and Jace could see gold rings adorning her fingers, sparkling madly even in the dim lights of the bar. Her eyes were amber, with black slits like a cat's. Her fingers sparked, and the pole in Jace's hands were whisked from his fingers. He looked down at his empty hands in dismay.

"That was my weapon," he whined.

"That was my mop," the bartender growled. Jace could see his features distorting into a beastly face. He could hear the crack of rearranging bones as the bartender's face twisted and started to grow a snout, full of fangs that could easily tear a bear apart. He tensed once more, ready to stab the werewolf with the seraph blade hidden in his jacket.

"I said, stop!" The girl yelled. The bartender clenched his teeth, his face returning to the dark-eyed human. She stepped towards the Nephilim, frowning with contempt. Jace studied her. Despite the devil's mark that shone like a beacon, there was something familiar about her, something that distinguished her from the other warlocks he had met before. "Don't you Shadowhunters have something better to do than goading werewolves into a fight?" Jace could hear the distaste in her tone, which surprisingly hurt.

He studied the girl carefully. She looked young, even for a warlock. If she had been a mundane, or even a Shadowhunter, she would have been around his age. She was a pretty girl, though it was a different sort of beauty from Isabelle. She had a petite form, slender as a paper doll, with wide eyes that spoke of a fierce curiosity. The spray of freckles across her cheekbones was strangely endearing. The way she acted as a protective ward to the pack of ferocious werewolves made his lips curve involuntarily—by appearance, she was the one who needed the most protection in the bar.

"Haven't we met before?" He knew it was a stupid question, but he couldn't shake off the strange feeling of familiarity. Alec stared at him with disbelief, which Jace answered with a shrug.

"Not only is that a terrible pick-up line, but you have an equally terrible sense of timing," she answered, her voice cool. "Get off the table." A flick of her fingers sent Jace flying off the table, but he landed with a graceful flip. There was a hint of disappointment in her amber eyes. "For a Shadowhunter, you seem surprisingly uninterested in hunting. There's an Eidolon outside. Just a few blocks ahead."

"And for a warlock, you seem surprisingly uninterested in the Accords," Alec said. Jace silenced him with a look.

"I see no point in abiding by the Accords if it protects Nephilim goading werewolves, and threatens warlocks protecting furniture at the same time," she replied. "Now get out before I do something the entire Clave will hunt me down for." She snapped her fingers, and the door swung wide open. The lights of the streetlamps spilled into the bar.

"Let's go. She told us what we need to know. We're going to lose the demon." Isabelle hissed as she nudged Alec, and slightly tugged him toward the door. He sighed and glanced at Jace. Jace felt the urge to send them along first, to give himself some time to speak with the warlock girl. He clamped his teeth on his tongue before he could voice it, and nodded to his parabatai.

Before he stepped out the door, he swiveled to face the girl. She was watching him, scowling. For a moment, when his gaze lingered on her eyes, they were the color of spring leaves. When he blinked, they were the usual amber shade once more. Jace massaged his temple, wondering if he had finally gone mad.

"What's your name?" Jace asked.

The girl's eyes widened in surprise as she blurted out an answer: "Cl—Alice. Alice Bane." Then she bit her lower lip, regret for telling him the truth plain on her face. The corner of his lips twitched as he turned back towards the door.

"I'll be seeing you again soon, Alice."

The bemused scoffs of the girl were audible in the crowded late-evening streets of New York. Jace huffed a short laugh in exhilaration as they launched into the shadows, for the demon they were about to dispatch. The sight of the warlock had replenished him with newly found strength, as if she had carved new Marks to his scarred skin. This evening, he thought, had proved to be an exceptionally good evening.

Note:

I've just seen a review by a Guest, saying that the title and summary is similar to another story. (Is there a way I can add comments directly to the reviews?)
I have to say that is quite peculiar, because I just learned about this site, and created an account on Monday.
I'll check the story mentioned after I'm finished with my finals, and make sure the story is not flowing the same way.
Also, I would like to add that it's only the first chapter, so it might be a little too early to judge whether the story is similar or not ;)

+ Edit) I've said it on a later chapter, but I'll post it here just in case. I've read the summary of the story mentioned, and it seems there won't be anything to worry about :D Thanks!