The rotting black mark that had covered only Clary's hand this morning was now closing in on her shoulder. Magnus had removed the painful effect of the blood-oath, but the fear of knowing that she had just an hour to live was more paralyzing than physical pain.

She ran through the dark alley at Jace's heels, Alec a few paces ahead of them.

"He should be just up here!" Alec yelled, turning his head back toward his parabatai.

Jace looked back to Clary and saw the tears pool in her eyes. What if they couldn't find Madzie? What if they were wrong about where Valentine was keeping her?

Without missing a step, Jace reached out and held onto her good hand, offering the only comfort he could manage. He wanted to stop and tell her it would be ok, to hold her in his arms let her bury her face into his neck, but they were out of time.

Once again, Jace would need to be mentally prepared to out-smart his father and to take custody of a hostage — a little girl whom he'd never met.

Alec rounded the corner and stopped abruptly at a metal door to an oversized warehouse. He was puzzled. He could have sworn he heard carnival music playing softly in the background.

Jace and Clary nodded at Alec, who loaded a new arrow into his bow before kicking open the door and walking inside, Clary and Jace covering him from behind.

"Hope you're not scared of clowns, Jace," Alec said.

"Is this where the carnival goes to die?" Jace asked.

"Madzie," Clary whispered, trying to keep them focused.

"Clary," Jace said softly, "I don't see anyone."

Clary jumped back as one of the carnival rides whirled to life. The cars on the track squeaked against the rails, lights flashing. It reminded Clary of a horror movie she had seen with Simon when they were younger.

"Care for a ride?!"

Jace, Clary and Alec snapped their attention to the voice.

"We don't have time for games, Valentine!" Clary yelled. Jace threw a cursory glance her way, surprised by her brazen attitude.

Valentine stood on top of the ticket booth at the center of the warehouse. The lights slowly became more bright, illuminating the space.

"Clarissa," Valentine said, "I'm so glad you've come to meet your new sister. Madzie is delighted to have someone to play with."

And just at the drop of her name, Clary's spirit grew stronger. She could feel the blood-oath in her shoulder twitching.

"Yes," Clary said, fighting every instinct in her body to agree with the man whom she despised so much. "I would like to see her."

Alec watched carefully as Valentine glanced over his own left shoulder, toward the carousel, and when Valentine jumped down off the ticket booth toward Jace and Clary, Alec made an effort to move closer to that part of the warehouse.

Valentine froze when he saw the extent of the damage to Clary's arm. Jace had never seem him so look afraid, so intimidated.

"Who did this to you, Clarissa?" Valentine asked.

"You did," Jace answered. "And if you don't leave this building in the next minute, Clary will die."

Valentine tried to inch closer to them, but Jace guarded Clary protectively.

"There was a spell," Jace explained, "a blood-oath about you in New York. That's why we came to find you. We're bound to expel you from the city, alone, and if you don't leave…"

Clary stared at Jace with wide eyes. Was this actually going to work? Did Valentine not know about Clary's true blood-oath with Iris?

On the far side of the warehouse, Alec slowly circled round the back of the carousel. His eyes were sure to scan every inch of the ride, but it was a little pink shoe that caught his attention.

Madzie was strapped onto one of the carousel horses, curled forward with her head drooped against the pole, her hands fiercely clutching the horse's ears.

With her hair fallen to one side, Alec could just make out the gill cuts in her neck— no, they weren't her gills. They were fresh, cut against her warlock mark.

He moved toward her, ready to sweep her up into his arms, when he felt a pull. His parabatai mark.

"Alec!"

Alec turned on his heels and sprinted back to Jace and Clary. Valentine had made a portal, but he had Jace in a headlock, wanting to his son through with him. Alec locked eyes with his parabatai.

"Are you really going to let your perfect daughter die, Valentine?" Jace asked, his breath hitched. He was still trying to taunt him.

"I don't think the blood-oath will mind if my half-demon son comes with me, now will it?"

Jace's heart dropped with he saw his parabatai standing just a few feet away. Jace pleaded with his best friend. "Alec, not again."

Alec nodded to Clary before mechanically pulling an arrow from his quiver and loading his bow, sending it laterally through

Valentine's chest before the elder Shadowhunter had time to realize what had happened.

Of course Valentine would live, but with help from Clary, Jace was able to break away from the man's hold, and Alec sent another arrow through his chest, causing Valentine to stumble back.

Valentine looked to Alec with a smirk, "Keep my daughters safe."

Jace pulled his seraph blade and lunged at the man, sending Valentine through the portal. Clary threw her arms around Jace's hips to hold him back, terrified that he'd fall through as well.

Clary turned him round, and Jace pulled her into his arms, holding her close and trying to bring her any remaining ounce of comfort that he could.

They stood still, trying subconsciously to match their breathing.

"How's your arm?" Jace asked.

"We're close to her," Clary said. "I knew as soon as we got inside."

"Where's Alec?"

Clary gasped. "Did he find her?"

Jace took Clary's hand and they ran toward the direction where Alec had come from earlier. Alec heard their footsteps quickening and called out to them in a voice that Clary thought was rather unusually happy.

"Hi, Jace," Alec said, speaking slowly with a smile forcibly plastered across his face. "Hi, Clary. This is my friend, Madzie."

Clary realized why Alec had changed his demeanor. The little girl on the carousel was staring at them, and she was absolutely terrified.

"Jace," Alec said, "could you call Magnus and—"

"Yeah," Jace said. He backed away, trying to be as non-threatening as possible. He'd never met the kid before, but he knew she'd only ever met adults who treated people poorly, and she had no reason to trust the three of them.

"Do you remember that day we met at your Nana's house?" Alec asked her. He crouched down as he talked and slowly removed the quiver of arrows from his shoulder, placing it gently on the ground. He lay the bow beside it.

"I was waiting by the front door, and you were sitting on the stairs… you have some cool gills."

At the mention of her gills, Madzie flinched and pushed her shoulders up as high as she could to hide her neck.

Alec looked back to Clary, remembering the original purpose of the mission. Clary's eyes were watering.

"Are you still hurt, Fray?" he asked.

"What? No," Clary said. "It's almost below my elbow now."

"Then what is it?" Alec whispered.

"I've just…" she mumbled. "I've never seen you like this."

"You have any better ideas?"

"Just, show her you're safe. I don't think she'll hurt you."

Alec looked back to Madzie, whose little body was shaking.

"You know," Alec said, resuming his sweet, sing-song voice, "we could get out of this dark place and go somewhere safe where it's warm." He slowly moved closer to her as he spoke, trying not to startle her.

"And we can eat a good dinner, and get you cleaned up…" He was just a few feet away now.

Alec softened his voice even more. "I'd bet we could even make those cuts go away."

This was a tempting offer. Madzie knew she was trapped up on the carousel horse and that she couldn't run away, but she didn't know who this man was. Was she supposed to remember him? She heard them yelling at the bad man. The bad man had been nice at first too. He had brought her ice cream...

Alec put one foot up on the base of the carousel and crouched down to make sure that he was "smaller" than her.

Clary watched the whole thing unfold from further back, not wanting to add to the girl's fear. This entire other side of Alec was so amusing to her.

Jace walked back over and reached for Clary's hand, examining it as if he were a medical professional. Clary snickered at his confidence.

The blood-oath was now pulling down to her wrist though. Jace moved his arm around Clary's back, and she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Have you ever seen Alec like this before?" she asked him.

"A few times," Jace said. "Mostly with Max. But if this were Max, he would have just grabbed him and started running. Alec doesn't usually have this kind of…"

Alec looked up into Madzie's eyes and tried desperately to show her that he would not harm her.

"It's my job to keep people safe," he said. Alec tried his best to look her over for other injuries as he talked, but he couldn't be sure if she was in physical pain. "And I promise you that I will take you to a place where no one will hurt you."

Alec saw the little girl give a small nod and his heart jumped.

"Ok, so I'm going to unclip this right here," Alec said, reaching for the buckle on the safety strap. Madzie flinched at the sound, but she almost seemed relieved when the strap fell to the side, off of her back.

Alec was afraid to reach out to see if she would let him lift her up because if she jerked away from him, she could fall. He didn't want to just grab her without her permission or he would lose whatever trust he just worked to build. He decided to stay crouched down, still making sure to present himself as smaller than her, and reached up again with a single hand. This time, he placed his fingers gently under her palm.

"Would you be able to hold my hand?" Alec asked her. "It would make it easier to get you down."

Madzie looked at the Shadowhunter and allowed him to pry her hand off of the horse's ear. Alec stood up a bit taller and guided her hand toward his shoulder, causing Madzie to slide sideways.

"Come here, sweetheart," Alec said, trying to encourage her. He leaned away from her a bit more, and she fell softly into his embrace, both of her arms reaching over his shoulders.

"You're such a good girl," Alec praised. Realizing what had happened, Madzie tucked her legs up into Alec's ribs and clutched onto pieces of his shirt, hiding her eyes in his shoulder. Alec immediately walked back toward Jace and Clary with her.

Clary placed her blood-oath hand protectively on the back of Madzie's head and the three of them watched as the black curse completely vanished.

"Here," Jace said, taking off his leather jacket. He covered Madzie with it and helped Alec secure it under his arms.

"Thanks. We'll be at Magnus' place. Are you going to—?"

"For as much as I'd love to join you," Jace said, smiling, "we have to go report this, and I want to check on—"

"Isabelle."

Alec and Jace spoke her name together. She was in a treatment facility, detoxing. Her brothers trusted the program, but they hated that they couldn't see her every day.

Clary nodded toward the whimpering bundle in Alec's arms. If Max Lightwood looked small for his age next to Alec, Madzie seemed to almost disappear. "You sure you're going to be ok?" she asked him.

"I have no idea," he whispered.