Jace stood in front of Clary, blocking her view of what was going on ahead. His black shirt clung to his back and his golden hair was matted with blood, sweat, and dirt. Clary's heart pound in her chest and she feared he might hear it. This was the first time they'd let her come along on a demon hunt since her training was started and she didn't want him to think that she wasn't ready. She swallowed the pit rising in her throat and took a step to the side so that she was standing next to Jace, rather than hiding behind him. He peeked at her out of the corner of his eye and a small smile played on his lips.

"You doing okay there Miss 'if you can do it, I can do it'?" he asked playfully while keeping his eyes straight forward.

"'m fine," she mumbled. Her hand gripped the seraph blade which hung on her belt. The past few weeks of training flickered past her eyes. The sound of the blade as it slid out of her belt, how tight she gripped it, how far over her shoulder she held it, the steps to take when manoeuvring the weapon. There were precise steps for everything it seemed, but did it really matter? She'd imagined herself being approached by a demon and she knew that with out thinking she'd do whatever she could to make it out alive.

"What's taking them so long?" Jace wondered out loud. He sounded more annoyed than worried which shocked Clary for a second, but then she remembered that Jace had been doing this almost his entire life and he must have been used to it. They'd been standing in an alley way waiting for Alec and Isabelle to chase the demon in where they'd trap it with the dead end. There the four of them would finish it off. "I can't wait any longer, I'm going to go see if they're coming," he said turning towards her.

"Okay, let's go," she answered walking forward.

"Hang on Clary. I know you aren't going to like this but I want you to stay here," he said firmly as he caught her by the arm.

"You're joking right? I haven't been in training for weeks just to stay back here and miss all of the action." Although Clary had been secretly terrified, she did want to finally be involved. The few runes that crawled along her back seemed to once again be burning as the anxiety built up. This was what she wanted; to be a shadow hunter. It was in her blood and now she was finally part of something bigger than herself.

"Exactly. You've only been in training for a few weeks. The rest of us have been doing this for years. You're not ready Clary, I want you to stay back." Although Jace hadn't intended to hurt Clary, his words stung stronger than the runes.

"But I am ready!" Clary exclaimed, tightening her grip on the blade. "You said just the other day that I was a natural."

"You were fighting against people who would never actually hurt you, not demons that could kill you," his last words came out choked and Clary felt a pang in her chest. Of course she knew that all he wanted was for her to be safe. "Please, just listen to me this one time." His eyes burned with intensity and Clary's throat tightened as she looked for the right words.

"Okay," she replied.

Without a word Jace took another step closer until they were hardly an inch apart. His hand lifted her chin and their lips met, slowly parting together. Clary's breath caught but all too soon he pulled away.

"I thought that shadow hunters never say goodbye," Clary said a little breathlessly. Her cheeks flushed when she realized what just one kiss did to her.

"That wasn't goodbye. That was merely a 'till next time'," he answered smiling. "Now promise me that no matter what, you'll stay here until we come and get you."

"I promise," she answered. With a smile, Jace turned around and walked to the end of the alley where he disappeared.

After a few minutes of pacing back and forth, Clary decided to follow. She walked around the corner of the building and instantly spotted the others where they stood in the middle of an empty street. Clary stopped immediately in her tracks when she saw what they were up against. Recognition hit her when she saw the large lizard like creature. It was the first demon she'd ever seen, back in the apartment where it'd attacked and poisoned her.

Without thinking she drew her sword out of her belt, making a loud screech from the metal against metal. Isabelle glanced behind her wide eyed as if she'd known who it would be.

"Clary, what are you doing here!" she yelled.

Jace and Alec bother turned to look but Clary had barely noticed. The demon they'd been fighting was staring straight at her. With a hiss it scampered after her and for a split second Clary thought she saw the creature's mouth curl up into a sickening smile.

She felt her legs go numb but before her mind could tell her legs to move, another hard creature knocked into her throwing her off her feet. It was Jace she realized, and before she could scream the demon jumped at him and sent him flying through the air.

Usually in movies, things like this were slowed down, Clary thought, but the images passing by her were so quick, she hardly knew what was going on. She hit the ground with a thump and a yelp as her head hit the hard road. For a few seconds, she knew she'd blacked out. Her vision had gone prickly and a loud shrieking noise sounded in her ears.

She lay on the ground as her eye sight returned for a few seconds, only to see a still mound lying on the ground in the distance. Clary silently begged for Jace to move just an inch as her vision went completely black.