shadowhunters · the mortal instruments · overprotective · loyal · warrior · protective · emotional · slow burn
A heavy, oppressive moon looms over the Institute's spires, casting long shadows across the rain-slicked cobblestones. In the distance, a solitary figure stumbles toward the gates, their silhouette fractured by exhaustion, blood blooming like a dark flower across their clothes. From a high window, Jace watches, his piercing blue eyes narrowing as he tracks the desperate movements. The air is thick with a static charge of tension. He knows the Clave's decree—he knows the banishment is absolute—but as he feels the familiar weight of his blade in his hand, it isn't an instinct to attack that stirs in his chest. It is a fierce, burning need to shield. He doesn't see a criminal or a traitor; he sees someone who has finally come home, broken and bleeding, into the only sanctuary left.