Smoke and Mirrors ▹ Alec Lightwood [1]

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
MOONLIGHT

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     "There's three of us and only two beds," Jace drawled. "Amazing." Adrian glanced up from where he was unpacking at one of the dressers, grinning when he saw Jace standing at the foot of one of the beds, his hands on his hips. He could hear Alec moving about in the bathroom. He folded one of his sweaters inside the dresser, then turned to face Jace, bracing his hands on top of the dresser behind him.

"You don't sound amazed," Adrian pointed out, rubbing a hand against the back of his neck. It was dark outside, in the middle of the night there at Alicante, and it was making him feel tired, even though he knew it was still the afternoon in New York. The sudden burst of adrenaline earlier that day and jumping through a Portal hadn't helped matters. He tilted his head in an attempt to stretch out his neck as he waited for Jace to respond.

"That's because I'm not." The bathroom door cracked open, and Alec came out, running a hand down his face. He paused mid-step when he saw Jace's over-dramatic scowl. "I don't want to wake up one night just to hear you two going at it like—" Alec sputtered, while Adrian just barely managed to hold back laughter.

"Jace!" Alec scolded, cheeks slowly turning red. Adrian hid his smile with his hand, ducking his head to hide it more when Alec smacked him on the stomach with the back of his hand. Adrian caught it before he could draw his hand back and linked their fingers together. Jace frowned at their joined hands and pointed at it.

"See what I mean?" he complained. "You two are constantly touching each other. Keep your hands to yourselves."

"Okay, one," Adrian drawled, "we've only been dating for about two weeks. Neither of us are thinking about sex quite yet." Alec made a sound of embarrassment and pulled his hand free of Adrian's. When Adrian glanced over at him, he saw that Alec had turned away and buried his face in his hands. "Two, we are great at self-control. Right, Alec?" His smile grew into a grin when Alec made another sound of embarrassment, this one louder than the first. He laughed and looked back at Jace. "Unless you want to share a bed to avoid that—"

"No," Jace said quickly, making Adrian laugh again. Jace grimaced. "I want my own bed, thanks." Jace flopped down on the bed, stretching his limbs out wide to take up all the space. Adrian shook his head. His eyes went to the other bed. He knew he should go to bed and try to sleep, but he wasn't exactly tired, not in the way that required sleep. He let out a small sigh.

"I wish Clary was here," he said, shooting a quick glance at Jace. He was staring up at the ceiling, blond hair falling into his eyes. His open expression had shuttered closed at the mention of Clary. "I could get her to create a sleeping rune." He still wasn't quite sure how her gift worked. She couldn't exactly create runes, she just drew the ones that appeared inside her head. She always said she thought the runes always existed, they just weren't in the Shadowhunter Codex. Adrian had once jokingly asked her if angels were sending them to her, and then they had both gone quiet when they remembered Valentine had experimented on both her and Jace with angel blood.

"She would be here if Jace hadn't lied," Alec said smoothly as he started putting his own things away. Jace blinked slowly, then turned his head to glare at Alec. Alec didn't even look at him. Jace's eyes narrowed when Alec didn't return his look, and then he sat up in one smooth motion and scowled.

"It's safer for her not to be here," he argued. Adrian rolled his eyes at the excuse, flopping down on the bed beside his friend.

"The more you use that excuse, the less I believe it," Alec fired back. Jace sat forward, opening his mouth to continue the argument. Adrian shook his head again and held in a sigh.