Jace shook his head. "I sent her home. It was the best thing for her."
"You did a hell of a lot more than send her home. You destroyed her. Did you see her face?"
"It was worth it," said Jace. "You wouldn't understand."
"For her, maybe," Isabelle said. "I hope it winds up worth it for you." Isabelle stomped out of the room slamming the door shut behind her. It bounced so hard that the walls shook. Jace sat down with a heavy thump on the couch and put his head in his hands. His heart was breaking, but what else could he do. He burned to touch her every second he was with her and when he wasn't all he could do was dream about her and long for her, but he knew he couldn't have her. She was his sister. He hadn't wanted to touch Aline but he had to try something or he would go mad. She was better off hating him, thinking he hated her than slowly dying from a broken heart like he was. He scratched at the rune to heal a broken heart and sighed when he realized that this one definitely did not work.
His mind swirled around and he felt sick at the thought of her hating him. He wanted to end himself rather than make her believe he didn't adore her but he thought it was best. He paced back and forth in front of the fireplace hoping the motion would keep him from following her. He felt like he was going to crawl out of his skin if he didn't but he was holding himself back.
The door to the parlor flew open and Luke and Jocelyn came in quickly their eyes darting around the room. They scanned it and found it lacking before their gazes rested on him. Jace felt the earth move at the appearance of Clary's mother. She had been in a coma for weeks and now here she was standing in front of him as if she'd never been anything but healthy.
"Where is she?" Jocelyn demanded quickly her eyes stabbing into his.
Jace sighed and sat down, trying to look casual "For someone who's been out of commission for the last week or so you are aweful demanding, but in answer to your question, I don't know where she is."
Luke growled at his nonchalant tone but Jace was in no mood for an overprotective papa bear right now. He was just miserable enough to take him on no matter how much he liked him. Jace's hand clenched but he held himself back and actually managed to look like he didn't have a problem in the world.
Luke and Jocelyn sat down anxiously forcing him to look at them. "It is important that we find her, I have something she has to hear. We checked Amatis's house but she'd gone. Amatis has no idea where to find her."
"Look," Jace said quietly as dread crawled his stomach, "Considering our situation," he said the word as if it were dirty, his lips almost burning to say it " I made it clear that she is not wanted here. I'm hoping she went home like I told her to."
Luke and Jocelyn exchanged a worried look and Jace sat forward as the dread inside him threatened to overwhelm him. He had a very bad feeling about this deep down to his very bones and he dreaded the words that he heard next.
"Clary's gone." Luke said gruffly "we went home and the apartment has been torn up again, there is blood on the wall and Clary's stuff is on the floor. It doesn't look good and we were hoping she would be here with you considering how she feels about you."
Jace gulped past the lump in his throat almost unable to speak. "I sent her away," he stuttered stricken " told her she would never be one of us, because.." he broke off as his breath caught in pain "because as we all know she is my sister and I shouldn't feel about her like I do. I was trying to save us both." He raked his hands through his hair and tugged as worry fought with misery.
Jocelyn came to kneel beside him removing his hands from his hair. "Jace look at me" she said quietly, "That's what I was trying to come tell her, one of Magnus's spells woke me and when he told me what Clary believes, what you both believe, I had to get to her right away."
"What are you saying" Jace asked almost unable to hear anymore.
Jocelyn sighed "You are not Valentine's son; he raised you until you were nine, but you are the son of Stephen and Celine Herondale. He took you from Celine's dying body. You are not my son."
Jace felt his whole word rock as the sickening truth set in. He had destroyed the woman he loved and now she was gone.
"what have I done?" he whispered as he looked into Jocelyn's eyes, "what the hell have I done?"
Clary sobbed as she ran out of the house hardly able to breathe or see where she was going. She stumbled and would have fallen if she hadn't caught herself on the edge of a bench. Pain scalded her body and at that moment she simply wanted to die. All she could think of were the words Jace had said to her. They echoed through her mind and taunted her…
"You're a disaster for us, Clary! You're a mundane, you'll always be one, you'll never be a Shadowhunter. You don't know how to think like we do, think about what's best for everyone—all you ever think about is yourself! But there's a war on now, or there will be, and I don't have the time or the inclination to follow around after you, trying to make sure you don't get one of us killed!"
His harsh tone had ripped her and she knew she would never be the same again. She loved him so much but his words obliterated her. She gasped as tears flooded down her cheeks. His words and the image of him kissing Aline danced in front of her eyes in a sickening calidascope of images that made her wonder if anyone would miss her if she were gone.
She wiped a shaking hand across her eyes and pulled her stele out of her boot. She swirled it and created a portal to her old apartment. The blue glow of the portal surrounded her as she stumbled through and collapsed on the old chair her mother loved to paint in. She sat sobbing as the portal stuttered and died not sure what to do next.
She tried to stand but found herself barely able to gather the strength to move. She stood up and tried to make her way to her room when the pain began. She screamed as her head began to pound and she no longer could see. She stumbled and found herself clenched in a set of hard hands. A sick, almost sweet laugh hissed near her ear and Clary whimpered but tried to fight anyway. She aimed an elbow at the body that held her but quickly found the pain in her head compounded by a punch to the face that sent her sprawling.
"Sweet little sister," the voice sighed, slick and serpentine against her ears "stupid bitch, trying to escape me."
Clary felt her head swim and couldn't piece it together. The pain came in waves and warred with the pain from her face, making it hard to breathe. She was jerked up and slammed against the wall. The pictures jumped off the wall and her purse scattered as he slammed her against it again and again. Her head slapped the wall and darkness began to crowd her vision.
"who are you?" she asked as she began to fade.
He laughed low in his throat and slapped her, bringing her back to reality. "Stupid whore" he hissed "I am your brother and you belong with me, I own you."
Clary opened one eye hoping the pain in her head wasn't making her hallucinate. Please, please don't be Jace she kept intoning to herself as she tried to focus. Her vision cleared and Sebastian smiled at her, his grin so full of evil she wondered how she'd ever thought him handsome.
"what are you talking about?" she slurred out as her head swam again and she sagged.
Sebastian hoisted her back up and gripped her chin, squeezing it, making her look at him. "That worthless bastard Jace is not Valentine's son, I am. He belongs to Stephen and Cleine Herondale but Valentine raised him. He always loved the "Good" son." He said with a sneer " Now I'm going to take my rightful place beside him. And I am going to take everything I want, no matter what anyone says." He punctuated his statement by shaking Clary again. Her head hit the wall one final time and her world began to go black.
"Even You" Sebastian finished as she slid into darkness with terror in her soul.
