#shadowhunter!reader

[soleilceirinen]

When the Darkness Comes | Thomas Shelby x Shadowhunter!reader - Part 6

Summary: you are a shadowhunter investigating the sudden rise of yin fen in the Downworld, the trail leads you to Small Heath and a blue eyed gangster.

A/N: English is not my first language, sorry if there are mistakes and thanks for reading!

Part 5 - Peaky Blinders Masterlist

It took you an endless amount of time and effort to convince Tommy not to wait for the ambulance. Nephilim were not allowed to receive any sort of mundane medical treatment, it was against the law. 'The law is harsh but it is the law' was one of the Shadowhunter's mottos.

But you had your own doctors in case of needing them: the Silent Brothers. They had always given you a bit of a fright with their eyes - so similar to a pair of empty dark holes - and their mouths permanently sewn shut. So, whenever you could, you prefered to avoid them. There was always the option of seeing a witch if the price was good although most of the time an iratze worked just fine.

Reluctantly, Tommy agreed to take you to your little flat. Actually, he had to almost drag you there for the last part of the way. Once inside, you collapsed onto a couch. He looked around, even though there was not much to see, analysing every detail while trying to gather as much information about you as possible. You did not care since you had done the same to him. It was fair.

His eyes stopped over the weapons piled in the corner and stared at you with a raised eyebrow. You shrugged with half a smile, as if saying ' it is what it is ' but instantly regretted it. Not a good idea after being shot. Tommy might have noticed because he crossed the room with a couple strodes without thinking twice. You raised a hand in front of you to make him stop.

"Can you bring me that thing over there? It's on the table, the one that looks like a magic wand."

"Is it magic?" he wondered, sounding like a little child.

"No, it isn't. At least not the kind of magic you must be thinking about. It's more complex than that, maybe you' ll understand it better when you see it", you tried to explain.

Tommy nodded slowly and turned towards the table. He glanced through the mess or documents and notes, results of your research, with his hand wandering over all of it until he paused next to your steele. He looked at you over his shoulder, questioningly. When you gave him a nod, he grabbed it.

The way he held it, like an orchestra director or a magician would, made your heart feel a bit warmer. How could he look so lost? Still, he listened to you and handed you the stele. It might be slow but this man was starting to realise how special you were.

Your fingers brushed as you reached out to grab the steele. With its weight pressed to your hand, you finally felt like you had the situation under control. As simple as it was, it gave you some sense of safety.

Since your dress was already destroyed, you gave it a tug, tearing the fabric apart to leave your shoulder and part of your chest free, not caring of Tommy's eyes on your exposed skin or the way he seemed to stop breathing for a second.

You looked at the wound. It was not bleeding as much as much as you thought it would be at this point.

In addition to not going to human doctors, Shadowhunters did not use firearms. This time it was not against the law but the runes prevented gunpowder from igniting, so they were not very useful against a horde of demons.

"The bullet is still inside", Tommy's voice broke the silence while confirming your suspicions.

There was no point in marking yourself with a healing rune if the bullet was in the way, it would never heal properly. You took a deep breath before meeting his eyes. Then you said slowly, "can you take it out?"

He nodded. Of course he could. He had done it too many times, more than he cared to remember. It was a shame he no longer carried razors sewn into his cap, that would have been useful. Thomas dissappeared for a moment and when he came back he was holding something sharp.

He knelt beside you and held you firmly. "I need you to stay very still while I cut the bullet out. Do you have whiskey or something strong?"

You listened to his words as you stared at him through half-lidded eyes, a bit confused. "Are you going to drink now? Are you being serious? I don't think this is the best time, Tommy..."

He snorted at your slurred words. "It's not for me, it's for you." When you shook your head, Tommy sighed. "You could have used some, this is going to hurt."

With a trembling hand you touched his. "It's alright. I can handle the pain, just get it out."

"I'll try to do it fast."

You rested your head on the back of the couch and looked away, trying to dissociate as much as possible, focusing on breathing. In, out. Again. Inspire... Meanwhile, Tommy got to work. A part of him could not believe this was happening for real.

He wanted to think that now that he was beginning to climb in society all of it would be left behind. But Thomas lived in a world of violence which would always be part of him.

At any given moment, when he least expected it, he would once again be involved in the situation of taking a bullet out of someone. Or being the one who pulled the trigger. Neither option was ideal, but if he had to choose one, he would opt for the second one.

Something rattled against glass. Tommy had just dropped the bullet into an ashtray and now was staring at you with a frown. "Are you alright?" he asked, rubbing the back of his hand over his face.

"I'm fine. Are you done?"

As he nodded slightly, you pressed the tip of the steele to your skin near the bullet wound and traced the shape of a healing rune under the close scrutiny of Thomas, whose eyes widened as the black mark appeared on your body.

"This is called iratze," you said quietly while finishing the rune. "It helps us heal. The closer it is located to the heart, the greater its effect. It should start working inmediately... This is what I meant when I said that you should see it to understand."

Tommy blinked a few times as if he were not believing what he was seeing. Almost as if his eyes, or his mind, were playing tricks on him.

It was barely there but if you payed close attention, you could tell that the appearance of the wound had changed. It no longer looked like a fresh one. Instead, it was closer to one inflicted a couple of days ago.

You continued drawing smaller iratzes on your arms, in all the parts of your body where the demon's icor had touched you. The redness of your skin started to fade away.

"It would have been pretty useful to have one of those in hand on more than one occasion" murmured Tommy. By the tone of his voice you could tell he was joking, which was a good sign after how distressed he seemed before. You just hoped that he did not have a stroke or somethig after all. "What is it?"

"It's called steele. We all have our own. I got mine when I was fourteen, as a birthday gift" you did not dwell on any more details although the energy in the room seemed to have changed.

Both of you remained in silence for a while, not quite sure of what to say next, until you spoke softly.

"I hate guns but I kind of like you and it's ironic because you are always pointing at me with one. I thought that if I ever got shoot, it would be you the one shooting me."

Thomas shook his head, his eyes lost somewhere behind you. "I'd never shoot you," his voice reflected the horror of simply thinking about the act of hurting you.

It made you smile. A small one but a smile nonetheless. "Well, that's not what you said when we first met, remember? How many times did you shove that thing to my face? Twice or three... Maybe more. I can't remember."

"Things were different back then" he said hoarsely.

"What has changed?"

He shrugged. "So many things, I don't even know."

Then he got up but paused for a moment, staring at the door. Not without some struggle, you reached out to grab his hand, warm in contrast with your cold one. "Wait, don't go away yet."

Tommy squeezed your hand and cleared his throat before calling your name. "You should rest. I'll leave some men outside, they'll watch out the whole night, don't worry."

You let go of his hand and rolled your eyes. Now, that was funny. What could a group of mundanes do to protect you from a real danger? Ridiculous.

"I don't need your peaky blinders to keep me safe, trust me. I can manage on my own," you said through your teeth.

"I don't doubt it", replyed Tommy. He sounded sincere. "But I'll feel more at ease knowing that you are not alone."

"Stay with me then" you whispered closing your eyes. Suddenly, keeping them open felt like the hardest challenge.

Before you could hear his answer, a thick and overwhelming cloud of exhaustion fell upon you, dragging you into a deep sleep.

[berryazule]

Being Luke Garroway's daughter and Clary's BFF

Growing up with Clary was definitely an odd one

You knew all about Shadowhunter and Downworlders 

But never about Valentine or where things went wrong for your Dad

Like made you absolutely promise to never tell Clary a thing

Not before her mother decided it was OK

You and Clary both shared a passion for art

Her art lied within drawing of all kinds

And yours lied within painting and photography

When at the coffee shop in the beginning you didn't fall for her sad face

But laughed and Simon for falling for it

You were her one person to rant to when she started randomly drawing runes

The guilt kf not being able to tell her nearly crushed you

On the night everything went wrong you had to pass on the invitation

You'd fallen 'ill' after going out for the night so couldn't join

You ran to the club when Simon frantically called you

He was ranting about Clary speeding off into a back area of a club with a random dude

You had never equipped your weapons so fast when you heard the name

When.you got there Clary was already gone

You saw a quick glimpse of fellow shadowhunters but ran back home to try catch Clary

When you arrived, everything was trashed

And Clary was gone

The end <3

[writingforweirdlings]

Not Everything Is As It Seems

Summary: How about a Jace imagine about being really tough and unemotional, but one night in the middle of the night he finds you in the training room crying while beating the crap out of a punching bag. 

Characters: Reader, Jace Wayland, Hodge Starkweather, Rick the Douche

Fandom: Shadowhunters

Word Count: 1519

Request: @izzytheninja

AN: I didn’t know what to put as the picture so here you have Hodge Starkweather shirtless because a body like that doesn’t deserve to be hidden. (I’ve said to much)

I was one of the best warriors in the Institute, of course I was basically raised to fight. My brother is also a great fighter, he trains the new shadowhunters.

Yes, I’m a Starkweather and my brother is Hodge.

Most people doubted me or looked at me the wrong way because of who my family is. Sure it bothered me but I never let it show that it did.

“Hey little Starkweather,” Rick called me. “I have a question for you.”

“Yea and what is it?” I walked over to him.

“Why don’t you tell us where the Circle is hiding?” he looks down at me.

“And why would I know where the circle is?” I asked already knowing where this is going.

“Well you brother was in the Circle so it’s only natural for you to know something about them,” he looks at me with disgust in his eyes.

“I know the same thing you know about them so why don’t you go out and actually find some useful information?” I turn but he grabs my wrist. 

Instinct takes over and I use my palm to break his nose. I punch him in the gut and then roundhouse kick him and he goes down. I was about to land a few more hits but somebody grabs me from behind. I try to get out of their hold but I stop when I hear their voice.

“Calm down Y/N, it’s just me,” my brother says.

“What the hell happened?” I turn to my left and see Jace Wayland looking between me and Rick.

“The bloody bastard was being disrespectful so I put him back in his place,” I spat out.

“This is the third time this week Y/N,” Hodge says letting me go slightly.

“Well maybe if everyone didn’t stick their nose in my business it wouldn’t happen,” I said through gritted teeth.

“Come on, let’s go a few rounds,” Hodge says pulling me towards the training grounds. “Hand to hand or with weapons?”

I walked to the rack of weapons and grabbed a bow staff, “wouldn’t want to hurt you with my usual choice of weapons.”

“Come on Y/N. We’re equally matched,” he says picking up his chakrams.

I put the staff back and pick up my dual blades. “Let’s get started shall we?”

We circle each other for a bit before he makes the first move, I dodge his attacks. When he said we were equally matched he was right, neither of us could get the upper hand on the other.

I went on offense and started attacking him. He blocked most of my attacks but I got a few cuts in here and there. I was about to get him near his ribs but he sidestepped me and twisted the sword out of my hand.

I turned and was about to go at him but he beat me to it. I barely blocked his first attack. I knocked him on his feet but he just bounced back and when he did I punched him in the face and threw one of his chakrams on the ground.

“You’ve gotten better,” he said as he got back into his stance. “But you’re still not good enough.” He charged me but I managed to get out of the way. We went back and forth for another ten minutes before being interrupted.

“Mind if I join you two?” We both stopped when Jace walked onto the training floor.

“Join us two? As in all for one or two to one?” I looked from him to Hodge.

“You two against me,” he said picking out a sword.

“You seem a bit too cocky Wayland,” I picked up my other sword.

“I think I can take you two out easily,” he stepped back towards us.

“Is it because we’re both pretty tired out?” Hodge asks.

“Maybe,” Jace responds and gets into his stance.

I look at Hodge and we nod at each other and get into our stance. Hodge starts us off and not soon after I join in. Jace is a great fighter but going against us was a wrong move.

Hodge and I let him think he has the upper hand and wait for the right moment to knock him down. Jace was able to twist the sword out of my right hand. Hodge spared me a glance but I shook my head and we kept going.

I kicked Jace behind his knees and he went down. I knocked his sword out of his hand and Hodge held one of his chakrams to his throat while I held my sword to his heart.

“You underestimated us Wayland,” I breathe out.

“Or maybe you underestimated me,” he twists Hodge’s wrist and then grabs my wrist and takes my sword before knocking me away. He turns to Hodge but before he can attack I get back up and put Jace in a headlock.

He tries to get me with the sword but Hodge takes it from him and leaves me to it. I put enough pressure to knock him out.

“I’ll ask someone to take him to his room,” Hodge hand me my sword. I nod my head and place my dual blades back in their spot.

I walk back to my room and crash on my bed.

Hours Later

I woke up and went to the kitchens to get a quick snack and a water bottle. I headed back to the training room and wrapped my hands in bandages.

I set the water bottle down on the bench and walked over to the punching bag. I just wanted to let out some steam but it turned into much more than that.

Traitor. Her whole family are traitors. She isn’t one of us. Look at her brother, he’s only alive because the Clave thought he was useful. He should be rotting in the City of Bones. She should be there too. Why is she here? She’s probably betrayed us already!

I let my thoughts consume me and I kept hitting the bag. I didn’t even notice the tears running down my face or that someone was watching me. I punched and kicked the bag not caring that my hand started to bleed through.

“Y/N,” I heard someone call my name but I kept going. “Hey come on you should stop.”

The person tried to pull me away from the bag but as soon as they did I started punching them. I didn’t do any serious damage, I was tired out from hitting the bag. I eventually stopped and almost fell to the ground if they hadn’t caught me.

“Come on, let’s sit down,” he said.

“P-please don’t tell my brother,” I said through the tears.

“He won’t hear anything from me,” he handed me the bottle of water I had left on the bench. “What happened?”

I drank a quarter of the bottle before I said anything. “I don’t know, I just let go.”

“Let go of what?” he asked rubbing his hand up and down my back.

I looked into his eyes, “Everything, I let it all go. My thoughts, the gossip everything they ever said about me or Hodge. I let it take over my mind and body. I know they don’t want either of us here because of who we are and what Hodge has done but I can’t just act like it doesn’t get to me cause it does and no matter what we do to try and redeem ourselves it won’t ever work. We’ll never be trusted.”

Jace pulls me against his chest, “You shouldn’t worry about them. They may not trust you but I do. You and Hodge are one of the greatest fighters we have, together both of you are nearly unstoppable.”

“What’s going on here?” I hear the familiar voice of my brother.

“We were just talking,” Jace says loosening his hold on me.

“Y/N, are you okay?” He walks closer to us.

“Why wouldn’t I be,” I look at the ground.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” he kneels in front of me and lifts my head up. “Who was it?” he ask once he sees the tears on my face.

“No one. I just, I couldn’t keep it in anymore,” I whisper. “I don’t like how they look at us and how they treat us as if we’re somehow beneath them.”

“I know kid, I know.Don’t ever let them see that they get to you? Don’t give them the satisfaction of knowing that they can hurt you, alright? If you ever need to talk I’m here for you and it seems Jace is too?” he looks at Jace with narrowed eyes. “You should get back to bed,” he says standing up

I smile and stand up hugging him before heading to my room. Before I get too far I run over to Jace, “thanks for what you said,” I kiss his cheek and turn back around.

“If you do anything to her, I’ll hold you down while she slowly kills you,” I hear Hodge say just as I get past hearing distance.

Tag List: @uncomfortable-writers @archer-whovian-violinist @brok3nsurvivor @fearlessparabatai @theriverdaleash @doctorwhoandrory 

[soleilceirinen]

When the darkness comes | Tommy Shelby x shadowhunter!Reader - Part 3

Summary: you are a shadowhunter investigating the sudden rise of yin fen in the Downworld, the trail leads you to Small Heath and a blue eyed gangster. A/N: English isn't my first language, sorry if there are mistakes! Warning: nothing. Part 2

Peaky Blinders Masterlist

Following Thomas around wasn’t giving you any extra information, he seemed to be nothing more than a mundane man. Given that your encounter in the alley had been a bit awkward, to call it something, it was time to take action and step into his life. 

You got up and dressed nicely in your regular clothes, no shadowhunter gear this time. It was important to appear normal, you thought, as you grabbed your coat and stepped into the foggy street. 

The Shelby Company Limited building raised in front of you, the view wasn’t any special. You took the opportunity to straighten a lock of hair and make sure that your weapons were well hidden under your dress. With your best smile, you entered the building, heading to Thomas’s office. It wasn’t difficult to find, he was the owner after all. 

A dark haired woman who might be his secretary looked up at you as you stood in front of her desk. 

“I want to see Mr. Shelby,” you said, smiling politely. 

She looked you over from head to toe and rolled her eyes. It made you feel a bit insulted but you tried to ignore it. 

“Do you have an appointment?” she asked reluctantly, perhaps a bit annoyed, as if she already knew the answer. Or as if this weren’t the first time that an unknown woman came to see her boss unannounced. 

You ran a finger across the wooden surface of the desk. “No,” you admitted, looking down. "But I'm sure Mr. Shelby will make an exception for me.”

“Sorry but I can't let you see him without an appointment. Mr. Shelby is busy, he probably won't be back for several hours. I can see if he has any free appointments next week…”

“No, thank you”, you cut her mid sentence and turned around to leave. The skirt of your dress fluttered gracefully as you left under her narrow eyed stare. 

Of course it couldn’t be that easy. 

Once outside in the street, you looked for a quiet and hidden place. The first empty alley would work perfectly. You searched in your purse until you found your stele and rolled up the sleeve of your coat. After making sure that no one was watching, you drew a glamour on your forearm. The burning sensation was quite comforting.

Without hesitation, you resumed your way to the building with the difference that this time no one turned their heads to stare at you. 

You walked past the secretary's desk without her noticing your presence, as expected, and carefully turned the doorknob to Thomas's office. It was closed. With a sigh, you took out the stele again and drew a mark on the door surface. Immediately, the lock gave way under your hand. Carefully, you opened it enough to get in without drawing the secretary's attention. 

Then, you drew a mark on the door again, closing it, as if nothing had happened. 

The office was empty. 

You inspected every surface, the room was richly decorated. Since you had no idea of how long it would take Thomas to come, you took your time exploring every corner until you finally took a seat in the chair behind the dark wooden desk, placing your coat on the side. You took off your glamour and looked through the mess of papers scattered in front of you, business, business, nothing incriminatory. 

But it made you smile, the chaos on the desk reminded you of your own mess in your small apartment. At least you had something in common with that man. Given that you didn’t find anything interesting that could help to clarify any of your research, you leaned back, making yourself comfortable, prepared to wait. 

After a while, you heard the secretary's voice greeting Thomas, as well as his deeper voice. You bit your lip expectantly as he inserted the key into the lock and entered the office, without noticing your presence at first. You watched him hang his dark wool coat on the rack, completely unaware. 

“Good morning, Mr. Shelby,” you greeted cheerfully.

He jumped and turned to look at you with his blue eyes wide open. Within seconds, his gun was pointed at you. 

It made you frown.

"Really?" you complained, clicking your tongue. "Why do you have to point that thing at me every time we see each other? I already told you it's not polite, Mr. Shelby. I don't like it at all.” 

Thomas stared at you in disbelief. He lowered the gun and ran a hand over his face, looking exhausted. “What are you doing here?” he asked quietly.

You shrugged. “I just want to talk with you and make something clear.”

He stood by the bottles and poured himself a glass of what seemed to be whiskey. Slowly, you got up, making sure that he was watching every move of your body. In fact, his blue eyes wandered over your figure shamelessly. 

Thomas got closer to the desk, walking around it until he sat behind, feeling the warmth you had left on the chair. So you must be real after all, he thought, still watching you. 

On your behalf, you hadn’t moved. You sat on his desk crossing one leg over the other, letting the hem of your dress rise up a little more than what would be decorous for a lady. But you were no regular lady. 

You stretched your arm, showing him your dominant hand, more specifically, the back of it. Thomas grabbed it as if by instinct, it seemed that he was going to kiss it but he just held your hand in his, still frowning as he scrutinised your face. His hand was warm and wide, calloused too, and his grasp was firm. Almost as if he were trying to make sure that you were made out of flesh and bone, not some sort of illusion created by his mind. 

“I’d like to try something. What do you see, Mr. Shelby?” you asked, pointing to your hand with your eyes. He followed your gaze as he caressed your fingers absentmindedly. There was your first mark, as well as every other Shadowhunter’s first rune, like black ink in the shape of an eye. The Voyance rune. It helped seeing the Downworld. 

After a few seconds in silence, his eyes grew wider and he cleared his throat. “It’s the tattoo of an eye”, he muttered, stroking the black rune with his thumb. You stared at his face in order to find any sort of recognition but there was none. 

You caressed the pale skin of his wrist with your fingertips. “Don’t you know what it means?”

Thomas shook his head, not letting your hand go. Again, it was as if just by holding it in his bigger one, it could make him believe that you were real.  

“I don’t even know what all this means” he said, gesturing at you with his free hand. “Am I losing my mind?”

His words made you sigh sympathetically. “No, you’re not.” 

You leaned forward, stopping a few centimetres away from his face. Being so close, you could smell the whiskey he was drinking and the faint scent of cigarettes. His blue eyes fell on your lips for a second before jumping away. 

“Are you even real or just a demon on a mission to torture me?” he asked, barely audibly. You smiled and caressed his lips with yours before leaning back, resting a hand on the desk behind you.

“I’m no demon Mr. Shelby. Quite the opposite, the blood of the angel Raziel runs through my veins” you confessed. He seemed puzzled, like someone who is not understanding a single word. “A Nephilim, a demon hunter. And this is not a tattoo, it is a mark which helps me fight. Well, it’s more complex than that but for now I think that’s enough for you Mr. Shelby. I have more though” you said, pulling the hem of your dress up. 

You placed your stretched leg on his lap and immediately he traced the intricate shapes intertwined all over your skin, some were as black as the night, those were the most recent ones, while others were starting to fade away and some remained like old scars, almost invisible on your skin. 

As his hand wandered over your leg, he noticed the muscles under the fascinating shapes of the runes, the same way that he had noticed your scarred knuckles and your callous hands. Definitely, you were no ordinary person, at least not like anyone else he had met before.

His hand started moving up your thigh but you grabbed his wrist with a strength that surprised him, stopping him from reaching up any further. A couple of centimetres more and he’ll touch the dagger that you kept attached to your leg just in case. You didn’t want him finding it out and thinking that you were planning to kill him or something, which would probably lead to him pointing that stupid gun at your face once again. 

“So you are an angel then” he questioned, raising an eyebrow. He was now touching your calf, it felt good to have someone, even a stranger like him, touching you like that.  

You shook your head. “Not exactly, a Nephilim. That’s what I am” you repeated, tilting your head to the side. “What about you?”

Thomas gave you a questioning look and lit a cigarette. He smoked in silence and you observed him. He was something to see, this close. It made you feel something funny in your belly. Focus, you reminded yourself. A dear friend of yours, a warlock named Magnus Bane, had told you once that blue eyes and dark hair were the most perfect combination, or something like that. You couldn’t remember his exact words but right now, you couldn’t agree more. 

“What do you mean?” he finally said. 

“Are you a mundane? What can you tell me about your parents, Mr. Shelby? Did you meet them?” 

He let out a cloud of smoke and shrugged, looking down. “I met them, yeah. There’s nothing to tell, they’re dead.” 

“I’m sorry to hear that” you whispered softly. He nodded without looking at you and squeezed his eyes with his hand. 

“It’s alright,” he said. 

What he didn’t tell you was that his mother used to see things, and that she ended up drowning herself. Now he was seeing things too and the idea of losing his mind was frightening him. He needed to stay clear, for the family, for the business. He shook his head and sighed. 

The door opened abruptly, hitting the wall. All the sudden noise was accompanied by strong footsteps. 

“Tommy! We have a problem with the ships, we need you down there… Oh, sorry. I didn’t know you were busy”

You recognised that voice. It was Thomas’s brother, Arthur. You turned your head to look at him over your shoulder while taking your leg out of Thomas's hands, pulling your dress down and pretending to be ashamed by the interruption. Arthur had a big smile on his face, he reminded you of a kid who knows that he shouldn’t be laughing but still finds the situation amusing. 

“I’m not busy, Arthur. Tell me, what is it?” Thomas changed his position in the chair, completely ignoring your presence. As if you weren’t there at all. As if he couldn’t feel the warmth irradiating from your body or smell your sweet scent.  

Arthur made a dismissive gesture with his hand, still smiling. “Don’t worry Tommy. We’ll take care of it later, it wasn’t that important.”

Thomas noticed Arthur’s eyes on you and frowned. You bit your lip, trying to hide your amusement.  

“Something else, Arthur?” 

He seemed to doubt. “Uh, no, I’ll let you two alone.” Arthur turned around and left the office, closing the door behind him. 

Slowly, Thomas turned to you. “Did he see you?”

You nodded patiently. He frowned even harder than before, grabbing his head with both hands. “I don’t understand it. How? I thought I was the only one, that they couldn’t see you.”

You placed a hand on his shoulder. The poor man was almost having a meltdown. “Because I am a Nephilim and I can use marks to make myself invisible. Regular mundanes can’t see me but some have the Sight, they can see the Downworld” you explained quietly, moving your hand up his neck. “I’m not wearing a glamour right now, that’s the name of the mark that makes us invisible, that’s why he saw me.”

He remained in silence, with his face buried in his hands. 

“You said that your aunt could see spirits,” you recalled and he nodded. “Do you know if she can see something else? Has she ever told you stories…?”

Thomas let out a bitter laugh. “Those are just superstitions, gypsy stories.”

You got up from the desk and grabbed your coat, taking a few steps away. “But Mr. Shelby… Don’t you know that all stories are true?”

He stared at you with a softer expression. “Tommy,” he said. It took you a second to realise that he was telling you his name. 

“Y/N,” you said, smiling widely. “I’ll see you around, Tommy.”

Turning around, you headed out of his office. When his secretary saw you she seemed taken aback, a puzzle expression replacing her previous annoyed one, clearly not understanding when or how you got into Thomas’s office.

“Have a nice day” you told her as you passed by her desk.

[soleilceirinen]

WHEN THE DARKNESS COMES | Thomas Shelby x Shadowhunter!Reader - Part 5

Summary: you are a shadowhunter investigating the sudden rise of yin fen in the Downworld, the trail leads you to Small Heath and a blue eyed gangster. Warning: nothing. A/N: English is not my first language, sorry if there are mistakes and thanks for reading! Words: 2.9k

Part 4 - PEAKY BLINDERS MASTERLIST

What are you supposed to wear to the races?

Despite not having been there before, at least you knew that it was some sort of social event, right? So you decided to wear a dress, the one that you brought with you to Birmingham just in case. Guess today was the day.

You took your time doing your hair and makeup, feeling the palm of your hands tingle with excitement. Tommy was taking you to the races and that had to mean something. Was it a date?

A little voice in your head reminded you of the purpose of your presence in Small Heath, but you pushed the thought away. For once, you were going on a date with no one but the leader of a gang, who by the way, was quite attractive and also had shown an interest in you.

Just a day, you thought, tomorrow I’ll continue with my duty. I swear by the Angel.

Without realising it, you had been clutching your tiny purse in your fists, so hard that your knuckles had turned white. Slowly, you softened the grip while shifting your weight from the tip to the heel of your feet as you waited for Tommy to come and pick you up. 

There was no reason to be nervous, but nevertheless, you were. And it was kind of irrational because almost every night you faced the most disgusting demons, all your life since you were a little girl, you had been surrounded by horror and death. Tommy was just a man, probably mundane. The small possibility of him being a warlock was not clear yet but still, why couldn’t you think of him without your heart beating like crazy?

You did not have the privilege to behave like a silly teenager in love, you were a nefilim. However, you couldn’t help but feel butterflies in your stomach whenever you remembered the night before. The thought of his plumped lips devouring your mouth with his hand on the back of your neck and the taste of whiskey on his tongue. 

Nothing to worry about, you repeated to yourself, like a mantra. You had been in worse situations.

In order to try to calm down, you started thinking. Perhaps you were feeling a bit uneasy due to the fact that you were quite exposed since you were not wearing any sort of shadowhunter gear or weapons. Only your trusted old dagger, attached to your thigh where your dress covered it from anyone’s sight. Your bag was too small to carry any weapon in it, even your stele did not fit, it was too long. 

Hopefully, none of those things was going to be necessary. Who or what was going to attack you in broad daylight? One of the horses? No demon would come out until the sun went down, anyway. And there were still several hours until that moment.

A car stopped in front of you, pulling you out of the tangled labyrinth of thoughts about everything that could go wrong.

Tommy was in it, watching you with interest. His blue eyes scanned you from head to toe. When he finished, you could see a tiny smile at the corner of his mouth. He raised an eyebrow as you approached the vehicle.

“Hello, Thomas”, you said, getting into the car. With the small bag on your lap, you crossed your hands over it and stared at the man sitting next to you.

He leaned over to kiss your cheek, barely touching your soft skin. “Hello,” he replied hoarsely. The scent of cigarettes filled your nose. “That’s a nice dress.” 

You looked down and touched the fabric with your fingers. “Thank you, I wasn’t sure about what I should wear.”

“Well,” he started the car, “you surely look lovely.”

Biting your lip, you tried to hide a smile and glanced away in a futile attempt to keep your thoughts at bay. It was complicated though, with Tommy’s hand on your leg.

-

The place where the races were held was packed with people. You caught glimpses of them staring at you as Tommy guided you through the crowd with a hand on the small of your back. Even when he stopped to talk to some of them, about business or politics as you could hear, he did not let you go away. He kept his hand constantly connected to your body, until you found the stables and Tommy took a few steps away from you, stopping in front of a horse. 

You approached them carefully, trying to avoid ruining your shoes, and admired the beautiful animal. 

“This is your horse?” you wondered in awe, slowly bringing your hand closer to the animal’s snout. 

The smell of the horses and the hay brought back some memories from your childhood in Idris, suddenly you felt very small. Tommy nodded in silence, caressing the horse’s neck with affection. 

After weeks of following Thomas Shelby around, watching and studying his every move and even the slightest interaction, this was the first time you had seen him showing anything resembling tenderness. This man had nothing to do with the intimidating and cruel facade that he showed to the rest of the world. In front of you, you had a man who was whispering words of affection to his horse in a language that you were not able to understand. 

“Oh! You’re here, Tommy” a feminine voice caught you off guard. She hadn’t seen you yet, so she kept talking to him. “I wasn’t expecting to see you so soon, not before the races at least. I’ve been thinking about our last conversation and…” 

Her voice grew smaller when you moved to the side, stepping away from the horse and a little closer to Tommy. The lady’s dark eyes danced from you and Tommy, almost as if indecisive. 

“I’m showing the horses to Y/N,” he said as if that explained his presence there, brushing your arm when he said your name. Her eyes finally rested on you for a moment, taking in the information before returning to Tommy. He was looking at you. “This is May Carleton, she trains my horses.” 

“Nice to meet you,” you said, as friendly as you could. 

She nodded, touching her hair and quickly looking away. You almost felt bad for her, disappointment oozed from every pore of her skin despite her attempt to hide it.

It made you wonder if something had happened between them. Probably, based on the way she tried to meet his eyes but he wasn’t into her, at least not anymore from what you could tell. 

It did not surprise you. Actually, it just confirmed one of your assumptions about Thomas, the fact that he was the kind of man who couldn’t keep his dick in his pants. 

May’s face was so devastated that it only increased your sympathy for her. It wasn’t her fault to have fallen in love with him. The bastard had something that made it really hard to ignore him. He was like a light in the darkness alluring you to get closer and once you realise it, it is too late. You’re burnt and he is leaving you. 

Tommy cleared his throat and placed his hand in the small of your back once again, ready to lead you out of the stables. “We’re going to find our seats before the race starts, we’ll talk another day, May.”

As you two moved forward among the crowd, you gave him a side glance. He seemed unfazed after the encounter with her. 

“You could have been a bit nicer, you know. She clearly still feels something,” you said once you found your seats. 

He raised an eyebrow at you and shook his head, lightning a cigarette. 

“What May and I had ended a long time ago. Our current agreement is purely professional.”

“Does she know?”

“She’s a smart woman, she must have figured it out by now.”

-

You had no idea of what to expect of the horse races but definitely it was not this. People cheered and talked loudly about their bets and the horses and whatever. And you were bored as hell. Thomas kept his eye on his horse and he even smiled from time to time, probably every time he won a bet which meant he was making money.

It was hard to stay focused and enjoy, as much as you tried. Everyone around seemed to be having the time of their lives but you just couldn’t. The nerves were creeping up your stomach, making it impossible. Something was off, but you didn't know what it was. 

On more than one occasion, your intuition had saved your life. So you began to scan the crowd, searching for something that could explain your uneasiness.

As you did so, your fingers dug into Tommy’s forearm a little too hard. He frowned and turned his head to look at you. “Something is going on, I don’t know what it means yet but I would say that we are being watched,” you told him in a low voice. 

Tommy took a quick look around and shrugged before glancing back at you. He sighed at the sight of your face contorted with worry. His hand caressed your cheek.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to worry,” he said softly, resting an arm over your shoulders and pulling you closer to him protectively. As if you were a naive and vulnerable girl, as if he had forgotten the fact that you were a demon hunter. “People will stare, it’s normal. Don’t you know who I am? Also, my date is a beautiful woman. Let them look all they want.”

His arrogance made you frown. “No, Thomas. It’s not about that, you don’t understand what I mean. I think this is something beyond mundane, and we need to get out of here. We are too exposed, I need to figure out what’s going on.”

“Nothing is going on,” he said firmly. You opened your mouth to reply but he put a finger over your lips, pressing them gently. “Take a look around, see all the Peakys? We are safer here than anywhere else right now.”

He was right, all around you could see men wearing peaked caps and tailored suits. You even recognised some of them, there was Arthur and others whose names you did not remember. However, you were convinced that whatever it was, they couldn’t stop it. 

“Love, look at me.”

You looked up at him, he seemed so calmed that it made you feel a bit embarrassed. What if you had just let yourself get carried away? Tommy squeezed your hand. 

“But Tommy…”

“But nothing,” he cut you off before you could keep insisting. “Enjoy the races. I have a surprise for later.”

He was smiling almost imperceptibly, only for you to see it. You pursed your lips and ended up nodding, there was no point in trying to convince him, he was as stubborn as a wild horse. Even more than that.

So you rested your head on his shoulder and looked up, staring at the sky. The sun was starting to set. Now, more than ever, you regretted not bringing enough weapons with you. 

-

Relief filled your body once everything was over and you stood up, ready to leave. Tommy seemed to be in a good mood. Once again, he guided you through the crowd, this time he offered you his arm to hold on to as you made your way back to the car. You let him guide you, without paying attention to him or what he was talking about, still alert to any suspicious movement around. 

As you walked further into the dark streets, the feeling of being followed intensified. You were only a few metres from the car when you looked over your shoulder and saw it.

You stopped walking, digging your heels into the ground and making Tommy stop as well, he gave you a questioning look that you did not return because your gaze was on the alley you two had just walked by a few seconds ago.

A creature had sneaked there so fast that if you hadn’t been feeling that something was off all that time, it probably would have gone unnoticed. It seemed to be a ravener demon, like the one you had killed the night before.

Was it following you, or Tommy?

With a fluid movement you unhooked your arm from his and threw him your bag. It hit him in the chest but he managed to grab it before it fell to the floor. Reaching under your dress, you grabbed the dagger. The blade shone under the street lights. 

“Stay here, I’ll be back in a second. Don’t get any closer,” you warned him, adjusting your grip on the dagger. 

Before he could reply anything, you had already disappeared running towards the alley. But Tommy was not the kind of man who follows other people’s orders. He headed towards the alley too, stopping a few steps away from the entrance, unable to take his eyes off the scene in front of him.

The demon was hiding there, waiting for you. It only took you a couple of minutes to kill it, although you ended up covered in black, viscous ichor.

“Damn it,” you muttered, dropping the dagger and wiping your hands and arms on the fabric of your dress, trying to clean as much ichor as possible from your skin. The dress was ruined. 

You hissed at the burning sensation, taking a moment to put yourself together. Then, you turned around to face the entrance of the alley. Tommy was standing there, a lonely figure in the middle of the dark street. But wait, he was not alone. There was someone else. 

Suddenly, it all clicked in your head. The ravener demon was just a distraction, the real danger was still out there. 

Tommy was staring at you wide eyed. He had presumably witnessed the whole encounter with the creature and now more than ever since he saw you for the first time, he looked as if he had lost his mind.

Actually, he was kind of astonished by the speed at which you had moved and the way you had made that horrible thing disappear. 

He was not paying attention to his surroundings and even if you warned him, he could not react fast enough to avoid the man approaching him from the back. Luckily, you could move faster than a regular human. Using what was left of your speed rune, which wasn’t much because it had almost faded away at this point, you run to get between the man with the gun and Tommy. 

If you hadn’t been busy with the ravener, this guy would not have had a chance to get so close. The man pulled the trigger just when you were about to push Tommy away, the loud bang of it sent a shiver down your spine.

The sound seemed to snap Tommy out of his stupor. A million thoughts and emotions flooded his mind, this could not be happening. Not again. All of a sudden he was no longer in the middle of a dirty street but knelt on the floor while holding the limp body of his wife, who had just been shot by a bullet intended for him.

Tommy held you tightly, with his vision clouded by anger but focused. He took out his own gun and shot the man many times, not stopping until there were no more bullets left. The man fell like a ragged doll on the ground, a dark pool of blood under his thin body. 

It had all happened so fast... as you held onto Thomas tightly, he spoke softly in your ear. Or maybe he wasn't speaking softly, but the gunshots had sounded so close that you couldn't hear anything now. Well, you could hear your heartbeat inside your eardrums. And something else, a sharp pain that increased by each second. 

With trembling hands, you touched your chest just below your collarbone, where the pain was coming from. You looked at your fingers, covered in crimson. A sob escaped your lips and then you began to understand what Tommy was telling you. 

He kept repeating that you had to stay calm, that everything was going to be okay. A few men, Peaky Blinders, arrived at the scene alerted by the gunshots and Tommy started screaming orders at them. 

“I need an ambulance now!”, he shouted, returning his attention to you. “You’re alright Grace,” his voice was barely a whisper as he caressed your hair and rocked you back and forth. 

Even though it hurt, you tried to get out of his hold. Although it was the first time you had been shot, there were worse kinds of pain than the physical one. Tommy tried to make you stay still but you needed to see the man who had attacked you. 

Being closer now, you noticed his frail body, he seemed young. A teenager or a young man, he could not be older than you. But his hair was matted and completely silver. It was too dark to see the colour of his eyes but you were sure that they were silver too, just like the greyish tone of his skin.

A yin fen addict. 

[soleilceirinen]

When the darkness comes (Thomas Shelby x Shadowhunter!Reader) - Part 1

Summary: you are a shadowhunter investigating the sudden rise of yin fen in the Downworld, the trail leads you to Small Heath and a blue eyed gangster.

A/N: I'm obsessed with Cillian Murphy, it's a fact. I also have an obsession with Shadowhunters (the books, especially The Infernal Devices). I had this idea in my head for a while so I said, why not? I don't think it's necessary to have read the books to understand the fic, although it probably helps. Also, it may not be accurate with the timeline of the series but honestly, I don't care.

(I just wanted to share my obsession, I think when Cillian was young he looked like Will Herondale in The Infernal Devices and now that he's older he looks like Will in The Last Hours. He is described with high cheekbones, full lips, blue eyes, dark hair... in my mind Cillian is Will).

English is not my first language, sorry if there are mistakes!

MASTERLIST - PEAKY BLINDERS MASTERLIST - Part 2

During the past few months, the use of a drug called yin fen had grown exponentially among the inhabitants of the Downworld. The head of the London Institute trusted you enough to put you in charge of the investigation into who was bringing it to England, and worse yet, who was exporting it to America. You were committed to finding out, no matter what it would cost.

Those most affected by its consumption were werewolves, which was expected and somehow broke your heart since you were quite fond of the species. But that was not the end of it, at some point mundanes had discovered the silver drug and had begun to consume it uncontrollably. It could never end well, as a nephilim you had to put an end to it.

After spending the last two weeks busy with the investigation of the shipments, you had finally found a trail that led you to a place called Small Heath.

-

You had heard many names, the most repeated ones had been the Shelby family and the Peaky Blinders. Above all of them, the most frequent was Thomas Shelby. The people you talked to for information seemed to be afraid to even say his name out loud, some of them refused to answer your questions but others went so far as to describe him as the devil himself. 

That made you worry. What if that man was a demon? It was a possibility, in that case you should notify the Enclave immediately but first, you needed to be completely sure of it.

It had been raining all day so when the afternoon came, you realised that it was not going to stop anytime soon. You stretched your back and got up from the small table where you had been sitting for hours now. It was cluttered with documents and information about The Shelby Company Limited and its members. You took a quick look at the one-bedroom apartment you had rented, it was a mess. Shrugging, you approached the armchair where you had left your shadowhunter gear in the morning and started getting ready to go outside. Maybe in the Garrison you could find more clues.

You had a glamour on, which meant that you were invisible to the mundane eye. You had also marked yourself with a rune of stealth, so you moved in complete silence. Walking around the interior of the pub and carefully observing the customers, you sighed tiredly. There was nothing suspicious.

You left the pub and took shelter from the rain at the entrance. When you first heard about the Garrison, you hoped it would be some kind of Downworlder lair but you only found a bunch of drunk mundanes. Not even one werewolf or a fairy barmaid. 

Two young men came out of the pub too and stood next to you while smoking and talking in a low voice, neither of them noticed your presence. 

"You should try it," one of them said. The other shook his head, letting out a puff of smoke. "Why not, Isaiah? It's better than Tokyo..."

The tallest one, Isaiah, threw his cigarette on the ground and adjusted his cap. "I don’t know, Finn. I've heard things, none of them good." 

“Nonsense,” scoffed the first one. 

Finn's name was familiar to you, if you remembered correctly, he was one of the members of the Shelby family. Although the possibility of him not being the same one was there, their conversation had caught your attention. They could be talking about any other drug but something deep inside told you that you were in the right place. 

As far as you knew, the effect of yin fen in humans was similar to that of cocaine, it was a strong stimulant. You examined the boys, looking for any sign that could tell you that they were addicted to the drug but they looked good with their tailored suits and freshly cut hair. In general, they seemed healthy.

It was very noticeable when someone was a yin fen addict. The drug used to drain the person’s colour, leaving a silver coloration in their skin, hair and eyes, as its name indicated: silver powder.

"They're coming," Finn said, pointing down the street with his lit cigarette. 

Looking in said direction, you saw a group of men dressed just like the two boys, with nice tailored suits and caps, approaching the Garrison. As they came closer, you moved to the side to let them pass. Despite being invisible due to the glamour, you were still very tangible. They passed by, ignoring you as you were expecting. One of them, a tall man with a moustache, hugged Finn enthusiastically, laughing and gesturing for them to enter the pub.

You watched as they got in, unaware of the pair of blue eyes that were staring at your figure. The man didn’t even blink when you looked back at him. 

He was pale and had dark circles under his eyes as if he had not slept in days, almost like a vampire. He could have been one except for the fact that he was holding an almost finished cigarette in his hand, and it was well known that vampires avoided fire as much as possible since they could burn like paper. With each drag he took on the cigarette, the tip of it lit up like a small orange eye in the rain. 

His blue eyes roamed your body up and down, he then raised an eyebrow at your appearance. You were dressed all in black like most shadowhunters did, with your hair tied in a braid and the tip of two seraph blades protruding over your shoulders. You carried more weapons, but these were not visible to the man. 

He could see you.

It made your heart pound in your chest with anticipation. You stared back at him in silence, hesitating about whether you should talk to him or get ready to fight him.

You could not do one thing or the other, because at that moment, the man with the moustache came out of the pub and put his arm over the man who was staring at you. “Tommy! Come in, we’re waiting for you. What are you doing here in this rain? You’re soaked…”

Tommy as in...Thomas Shelby? 

Tommy nodded towards you. The other man looked at your direction, it caused you the same feeling as always when someone looked at you while wearing a glamour, as if instead of seeing you, he saw through you.

"What is it, brother?" he wondered, winking his eyes in a vain attempt to see something.

Tommy looked from you to the other man with a confused expression. You remained silent. He dropped the rest of his cigarette to a puddle and ran a hand over his face, shaking his head. After one last glance in your direction, he turned and lightly pushed his brother towards the pub. 

"I think I'm seeing spirits like Polly, Arthur," he muttered in a hoarse voice while they walked away.

The last thing you heard before they disappeared behind the doors of the Garrison was Arthur's muffled laughter.

[soleilceirinen]

When the darkness comes | Tommy Shelby x Shadowhunter!Reader - Part 2

Summary: you are a shadowhunter investigating the sudden rise of yin fen in the Downworld, the trail leads you to Small Heath and a blue eyed gangster.

A/N: English is not my first language, sorry if there are mistakes!

Part 1 - PEAKY BLINDERS MASTERLIST

Since your first encounter with Thomas Shelby, you had been following him everywhere, day and night. A week had passed and you could tell that the man was getting more and more paranoid each day, clearly aware that he was being followed. He even commented on it to some of his peers but they simply told him to relax. 

From what you had been able to observe, it was clear to you that Thomas was not a vampire. You had seen him walking in broad sunlight and drinking alcohol although you had not caught him eating something solid yet. Also, you were almost sure that he wasn’t one of the fey despite being pretty enough to be one of them. 

He didn’t seem to be a werewolf either, because many times you were able to see the shine of his silver cigarette box in his hand. Besides, at that precise moment you were watching him under the light of the full moon and he wasn’t showing any sign of changing. 

At this point you still needed to find out if he was a warlock, a demon or just a mundane with the Sight. Despite Greater Demons often taking the form of handsome men wearing suits, which you did find quite funny, you were almost sure that it wasn’t the case here. So, warlock or mundane it was, but in order to figure it out you needed to see him completely naked. 

Warlocks were the offspring of a mundane woman and a demon, and they always had a mark that indicated their true nature such a weird skin or eye colour, horns, claws, a tail, scales… but you couldn’t see any with him wearing so many layers of clothing. If he had a mark, it was well hidden. 

You were in a narrow alley near the Garrison, so distracted thinking about how you were going to make him undress that you didn't notice the moment he disappeared from your sight. You returned to reality after noticing a presence behind you. Slowly, you turned around until you were facing Thomas Shelby, who was pointing his gun at your face.

"You're following me," he said through clenched teeth. It wasn't a question, he already knew the answer. 

You looked at the way he gripped the handle of the gun, his knuckles white from the pressure, and shrugged slightly.

“Well, that’s true. I was hoping you wouldn’t notice. In fact,” you said, raising an eyebrow, “if I hadn’t gotten distracted thinking about… uh, something, we wouldn’t be in this situation right now”, you finished with a small smile. 

He stared at you impassively with his serious face, like a cold mask. “Are you Russian?”, he questioned. You looked from his face to the barrel of his gun and back to his face. He seemed exasperated at your lack of response. “Italian? Why are you following me?”

“I was born and raised in Idris but now I live in London. I want to know more about yourself, Mr. Shelby, that’s all. Could you stop pointing your gun at me? I don’t think those are good manners”, you stated simply. 

Thomas let out a hiss but never put the gun away. He seemed like a trapped animal and you didn’t doubt that he would shoot you if he wanted. With a sight, you slowly raised your hands showing him your palms in an attempt to let him know that you weren’t going to hurt him. 

“I would like to talk to you, Mr. Shelby”, you said softly. “I know you’ve been sending yin fen to America, but do you even know what you are selling?” 

His lips parted as if he were going to say something, you could almost imagine the hinges inside his head turning over and over again. And behind all that, a confused expression.

“What do you know about magic Mr. Shelby?” you continued without taking your eyes away from his blue ones. 

“My aunt can talk to the dead and I could tell your fortune and charm dogs,” he said bitterly. You couldn’t tell if he was serious or messing with you. 

Tilting your head to the side, you dedicated him another smile, this time wider. “Oh, I see. If I were you, I would speak a little quietly because they are going to think that you have lost your mind, talking alone in the middle of an alley and pointing your gun to the void.” 

“What?” 

A pair of footsteps were approaching, they were probably heading in the direction of the Garrison but at some point they would pass by the entrance to the alley and they would see you. Well, not you. Those who approached were talking in low voices, a man and a woman as far as you could tell. Her heels clicked melodically against the wet cobblestones.

When Thomas turned his head in their direction, you took your chance and jumped away from him with a series of fluid movements thanks to years of training. From the top of a roof a couple of buildings away, you watched the scene. 

The woman asked Thomas what he was doing there. He was still holding the gun with his arm outstretched, pointing at nothing. When he realised that you had disappeared, he lowered the gun and rubbed his hand over his face in a dejected gesture. 

“Don’t pay attention to him Ada”, said the man, who now you identified as Arthur. “Lately our Tommy has been acting like this, trying to convince us that he’s been followed. I bet he was talking to the ghost before we arrived, am I right Tommy boy?” 

Arthur laughed but Ada seemed to be worried. She took a few steps and grabbed Thomas by the arm, pulling him out of the alley. “Have you been taking opium, Tom? Are you seeing things again?” 

Thomas shook his head. After taking one last look at the alley, he let his siblings drag him to the Garrison.

[soleilceirinen]

When the darkness comes | Tommy Shelby x Shadowhunter!Reader - Part 4

Summary: you are a shadowhunter investigating the sudden rise of yin fen in the Downworld, the trail leads you to Small Heath and a blue eyed gangster.

A/N: I'm not sure about how this part turned out. Anyway, thanks for reading it. English isn't my first language, sorry if there are mistakes!

Warning: nothing.

Part 3 - Peaky Blinders Masterlist

Usually, patrolling the streets was boring. Not tonight. You had been following the trail of a ravener demon for about half an hour without it noticing. It was the first demon you had encountered in Small Heath since your arrival. 

Luckily, it was a minor one and not very smart. Its disgusting appearance, a mix between a centipede and crocodile with some scorpion parts, made your stomach turn. Sometimes these kinds of demons were used to follow someone or to keep an eye on something. 

That’s why you weren’t surprised when the ravener moved around all the places that were clearly Shelby territory. More specifically, the parts of Small Heath dedicated to their non legitimate businesses. So, without any doubts, the demon had something to do with the yin fen.

However, you didn't think it was directly related to the Shelbys. 

That is, someone external, maybe the one responsible for sending them the drug so that they could distribute it throughout England and export it to America, was the one controlling the ravener. It could be a warlock’s work. Also, there were probably more than one demon, although you hadn’t seen others, which could be a problem if they decided to attack you in group. 

Tired of walking around the city among piles of garbage and puddles from the same place to the next, you took out of your coat one of your seraph blades and got ready to finish off the ravener.

“Uriel,” you said out loud, giving a name to the blade. Instantly, it lit up, filled with angelic power as it brought light into the darkness.

At that moment, the demon noticed your presence. You already knew that the poor thing wasn’t very clever. It lunged at you with quick movements, trying to reach you with its disgusting insect-like legs. You moved faster thanks to a heightened speed rune. The seraph blade traced luminous arcs through the fog as well as the ravener’s body.

With a screech and a gush of dark ichor, the demon disappeared. They didn’t die, instead, they returned to their own dimension. You observed the light from the blade fading away, it was covered in ichor and it was starting to corrode so you dropped it, no longer useful. At least the ravener’s blood hadn’t splash all over yourself or your clothes. 

You scrunch your nose for a moment, looking around. There were no signs of more demons but the night was still long until dawn. With a sight, you closed your coat to protect yourself from the cold wind and continued patrolling. 

A couple hours later, you headed to The Garrison. A drink or two wouldn’t hurt. 

The warmth of the pub welcomed you like a hug. You appreciated the cosy atmosphere, despite the noise of the drunk customers laughing and talking. So you headed to the bar, where you sat in one of the seats and rested your head on your hand. 

After a while, you felt the presence of someone next to you, so close that their arm was brushing against yours. Slowly, you turned your head and watched him through your eyelashes, blinking lazily. “Good night, Tommy.”

He nodded, watching you closely. “Long night?”

You nodded back. "You have no idea. By the way, I'm not following you, in case you were wondering. I just wanted to get something to drink," you said quietly.

Tommy chuckled and turned to the bartender. He ordered a couple of bottles and glasses before turning to you, placing his hand on your lower back. "Come with me, we can talk in a quieter place." 

Without removing his hand from your back, he guided you to the private room at the side of the pub. After closing the doors behind him, the noise was muffled and distant. You took off your coat and sat down on one of the seats, resting your head against the wall. Tommy sat by your side, watching you like someone does with an exotic animal. He lit a cigarette and started smoking in silence.

The small window opened, revealing the bartender with Tommy’s order. He got up to pick it up and left it on the table. Your eyes followed him, too tired to move.

"I'd like you to try something," he said, pouring a clear liquid into one of the glasses and setting it down in front of you. 

You grabbed the glass and brought it to your face, smelling the contents. "What is it?"

“Try it,” he replied, leaning back in the chair, never taking his eyes off your face. At your expression of rejection, Tommy rolled his eyes and took the glass from your grasp, brushing his fingers against yours and drinking it in one gulp. “It isn’t poisoned, see? I just want you to try it and give me your honest opinion.”

You had learned the hard way not to drink or eat things offered by strangers, more specifically if those strangers were fairies. One could never trust them. However, you had already ruled out the possibility of Tommy being a fairy, right?

"Okay, I'll try it."

Tommy poured another glass and slid it in front of you. You took a small sip and hummed softly.

"Well?" he asked, putting out the cigarette in the ashtray.

You shrugged. "It's sweet, I suppose," you said unconvinced. "I don't drink regularly, so I don't know. It's not bad." 

"Not bad..." he murmured.

You grabbed the bottle and turned it in your hands, looking at the label. "Gin," you read aloud, "distilled for the eradication of the seemingly incurable sadness... Shelby Company Limited, it’s your own gin?" 

"It's part of the business," he explained as he sipped his whiskey.

As you finished the contents of your drink, a sudden wave of warmth spread through your chest, so you rolled up your shirt sleeves. That night you had discarded your shadowhunter gear and had decided to wear a simple white shirt and trousers. You loved wearing pants, it made fighting much easier than a dress or a skirt. 

Actually, from a distance you could pass for a boy or a young man. If you had worn one of those peaked cups, you could infiltrate among the Peaky Blinders and they wouldn’t be able to tell the difference. Up close you couldn’t fool anybody. Tommy was delighted in the way the pants hugged your waist as well as the dark runes spread throughout your body, barely visible through the thin fabric of your shirt. 

"Do you like horses?" he asked suddenly.

You watched him with a raised eyebrow and nodded slowly, finding the question quite odd. "When I was little and lived in Idris, we had a horse. I used to ride all the time, it made me feel like Boudica. Why do you ask?"

Tommy shrugged. "Have you ever been to the races?"

After seeing you shake your head, he slapped the table cheerfully. He seemed to be in a good mood. "Tomorrow I'll take you to the races. Wear something nice."

“Alright,” you agreed, laughing softly at his enthusiasm.

He sat closer to you, throwing an arm over the back of your seat. You suppressed a smile, men were so easy to read sometimes.

"So, you don’t ride anymore?" he asked after a while. The tips of his fingers began to brush against the side of your neck, sending shivers down your spine.

You heaved a long sigh. "No. Unfortunately, I had to move to London a few years ago and it's not the same. In Idris I used to live in the countryside,  where I could ride freely, here I feel like I'm in a cage. Everything is grey, smokey and smells bad."

Tommy laughed. "I don't really understand what you mean about Idris but it sounds like a  good place. What made you come to London?"

You looked into his eyes, he seemed genuinely interested. Still, you looked away, focusing your attention on your hands.

"I'm a Nephilim, remember? A Shadowhunter," you saw Tommy nod out of the corner of your eye, "although we're all over the world, because there are demons everywhere, our home country is called Idris."

“I’ve never heard of it,” he commented, sitting a little closer to you.

"Of course, because it is non-existent for mundanes. It is located between Germany, France and Switzerland. Mundanes cannot access it, it is our sanctuary," you explained. "Years ago my parents were sent on a mission, it seemed like something routine and simple but they were ambushed and it didn't end well. They..."

Finishing the sentence wasn’t necessary because Tommy had understood. He squeezed your shoulder gently. "I'm sorry," he whispered.  

You looked at him with a frown. "Don't be sorry, that’s how life works. We are warriors, we must fulfil what has been entrusted to us since our creation, keep the Earth free of demons. Most Shadowhunters die young, that's how it is. We have been trained for it since we were children."

Tommy seemed surprised at the sudden vehemence of your words. Out of the blue, your face had become a hard facade, lacking the typical sparkle of amusement in your eyes. Instead, it seemed to have been replaced by a layer of grief and resignation. 

"They sent me to the London Institute to finish my training there and I stayed. I had nothing to return to in Idris," you said with a sad smile on your lips.

He closed the little space that separated him from you and pressed his lips against yours. You closed your eyes, tasting tobacco and whiskey. Then, you reached up and placed your hand on the back of his neck, where his hair was so short that it was barely there. Tommy grabbed your waist, pushing his tongue deeper in your mouth.

As you began to feel your crotch getting wet, you pulled away from him with a soft whimper and held his sharp jaw in your hand. “At what time will we meet tomorrow?" you asked in a whisper.

“Meet you here at five,” he muttered, staring at your lips hungrily. You released him, connecting your mouths again. 

An overwhelming feeling started to grow inside of your chest, so you got rid of his hands on your waist and stood up with fluid movements. You grabbed your coat and leaned to give him one last kiss. “See you tomorrow, Tommy.”

"Stay a little longer," he pleaded softly, trying to catch his breath.

You shook your head. A small smile threatened to peek at the corner of your mouth. It didn’t reach your eyes though. “I better get going, my night is not over yet,” you said, walking out of the room into the crowded pub. 

Tommy remained there as he watched you disappear without looking back.