redamancy | jace herondale

48

"Zee." Jace said to me from across the breakfast table, his gaze right on me. "You haven't touched your breakfast-"

"Hm? Oh-" I nodded lightly in response, keeping my gaze on the book I was currently reading, my arms folding on the table and my face practically shoved into the book.

Jace repeated himself. "Zee."

"Yes, Jace?" I don't look up.

Jace stared at me. "I know what you're doing."

"What am I doing?" I questioned.

"You're distracting yourself." Jace said to me. "What happened with Jonathan wasn't your fault."

"Yes it was." I actually looked up and met his eyes. "I lost him. I had him, and I lost him- if I didn't screw up, we'd have him in a cell right now-"

"And it's okay." Jace emphasized. "We have patrols canvassing the entire city- if he's still here, we'll find him. I promise."

"Don't make promises you can't keep." I quietly murmured and looked back down at my book. "He's difficult enough to catch as it is."

"Zee." Jace said my name again, making me huff and look up at him, my gaze falling upon the sight of him holding a fork towards me, as he had cut a piece off his pancake to feed to me. "Open-"

I sighed quietly and leaned forward a bit, taking the bite off his fork, my eyes following as Isabelle sat down at our table, later joined by Clary.

"Ugh, I'm so hungry." Isabelle dropped her tray on the table and immediately stuffed her face with food.

"By the Angel." I scanned her. "Where have you been all morning?"

"So, I found a data chip inside Greenlaw's stomach." Isabelle turned toward me, swallowing her food. "But-it's highly encrypted- it's going to take me some time to crack."

"Hey-" Jace snipped when she snagged a piece of bacon off his plate. "Hands off my bacon."

Isabelle was quick to shoot back. "Guess you need to guard your food better."

"Hey-" Jace looked up when Alec and Magnus sat down at our table. "Magnus, what are you doing here?"

"Uh, where do I start?" Magnus sighed immediately. "I just moved out of my apartment, but unfortunately, my real estate agent died a few hundred years ago, so finding a new place has been a bit of a struggle."

Alec looked between us with a hopeful smile. "In the meantime, he's going to be living with us for a little while."

I immediately chimed in. "That's great-"

"Absolutely." Jace agreed with me.

Isabelle and Clary both smiled. "Welcome to the Institute, Magnus."

"Glad to be here." Magnus smiled but barely.

Then, my phone buzzed in my pocket, making me pull it out and answer it right then and there. "Hello?"

"Zee." Luke's voice filled the line.

"Oh, hey-" I greeted him. "Uh- whose number is this?"

Luke exhaled. "It's the precinct's."

"Did they give you your badge back?" I ask.

"Not exactly." Luke admitted. "The vampires attacked the Jade Wolf- and they killed most of the pack. The police think that I did it."

My eyes widen. "What?-"

"There's no time to explain." Luke quickly said. "I need you to tell the Shadowhunters what happened. I gotta go-"