"I still can't believe he flew everyone out to Ireland to attend his castle wedding. Who gets married in a castle?" Simon inquires emphatically. He is clearly worked up about the situation. I'm just interested in checking out the gorgeous castle surrounding me.

"Simon, I think you're overreacting. We're talking about the man who rents out an entire carnival for my birthday every year and who insisted there were more bedrooms in his house than he could count on both hands. I honestly was not surprised when he said he was getting married in a castle. I was surprised he didn't go bigger!"

"You think he called Seelie Queen first and asked if he could borrow her place?"

We both exchange a look and burst into laughter. We had several glasses of wine in my room before going castle exploring, and in our intoxicated delight we are completely oblivious to anyone coming around the corner. We almost slam into an older woman wearing a crisp, grey pantsuit and holding a clipboard she seems unable to take her eyes off of. She looks like, and I find it safe to assume, she is the wedding planner.

"Oh, Clarissa. There you are. We are almost ready to begin the ceremony. Your friend here should go ahead and join the other guests in the sanctuary." I give Simon a shrug and a half smile. He nods knowingly and returns a small smile before heading off. "Do me a favor before heading back to the dressing room? I need you to head down to the wine cellar in the basement and grab a bottle of wine. Anything will do, Celine just wants a bottle to take home and I have already wasted enough time looking for you to be able to go get it myself."

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to-" she looks up from her clipboard stopping me mid-sentence. When she looks down the hall- in the direction of the basement, I guess- and looks back down at her clipboard, I mutter, "Right, I'll just head off then." She doesn't reply as she spins on her heel and heads in the opposite direction, still looking at her clipboard and jotting things down. I head down the hall and find a door on the left that has a flashlight hanging next to it. There is another hook beside that is empty, either the other flashlight lost or currently in use. I snatch the remaining light and open the door, hoping I'm going the right way. I turn the light on and point it into the dark abyss. Some incredibly ancient looking steps lead down and end in a stone wall with a opening to the right. I am pretty sure I am walking into a death trap, but I decide to take my chances and head down.

Each careful step I take produces a loud creak which makes me nervous. I don't know how long it would take someone to find me if my foot goes through one of these steps and I get stuck. When I finally get to the bottom I find the old wine cellar, where extremely dusty wine bottles are placed sporadically around ancient shelves. The room is not large, yet it seems pretty empty. I don't know what I was expecting, but somehow I feel disappointed. "This is it?" I sigh.

"What were you looking for? A treasure room full of gold?"

The voice scares the shit out of me and makes me drop the flashlight to clutch my heart. The other person turns on their own flashlight and shines it in my face. I grimace at the bright light and he quickly moves it.

"Oh, hello there. I didn't mean to startle you," the suave voice responds in a more flirtatious tone.

"What the hell are you doing sitting alone in the dark?! That's not completely creepy or anything." In retaliation I pick my flashlight up off the ground and shine it in his face. The moment I do I wish I hadn't. My breath hitches and I freeze as I take in his flawless appearance. His flowing gold locks shine bright in the light like a halo around his head. I see his bright gold eyes briefly before he squints them in pain. Even contorted, his face is the most beautiful I've ever seen.

"Okay, Red, I get it! I shouldn't have shone my light in your face!" I don't budge so he reaches forward and lightly grabs my hand to move the flashlight down. Fire shoots up my arm where he touches me, radiating warmth all over my body. I'm so glad we are in the dark because I can feel a blush covering my chest and cheeks.

"Uh... Wh-what are you doing down here alone?" I sputter as I step back.

"I could ask you the same thing. I, at least, can defend myself if I go wandering alone and stumble upon a creeper in the basement. You, on the other hand, should probably be more careful. You could have gotten hurt if there were someone down here with more devious intentions than yours truly. Not that my intentions aren't devious, I just have more respect." What is with this guy? Is he really scolding me? Acting like I'm a child with no attention to safety?

"Well at least I'm not the creep sitting alone in a dark corner," I spit.

"Whoa calm down there Red. Don't take your lack of safety measures personal. I'm just doing my part to educate little girls of the behavior required to survive entering a creepy, desolate basement by themselves. Now, come on, we should probably get upstairs. The wedding is about to start and it looks like you're in it." He walks to the bottom of the stairs and motions up with the flashlight. "Ladies first."

"Oh no, you can go first Golden Boy. That way if any of the steps are weak you can be the one to find out. Also, I'm not a little girl." I hear him chuckle before he heads up the stairs without saying another word and I grab the nearest bottle I can find as I head up after him.

I walk back to the room for the bridal party and Celine pounces on me as soon as I walk in.

"Oh Clary! There you are! You were gone so long and we did not know where you went. I was afraid something might have happened!" I can't tell if she was more concerned about my safety or the fear of me messing up her wedding.

I dismiss the thought and reply, "I'm sorry, I got caught up in checking out this beautiful castle and then I went to get this for you," I say, handing her the wine bottle I found. "I didn't hold you up did I?"

"Thank you! No, you came just in time. We are about to go out, but I need to run you through the process real quick since we unfortunately didn't have time for a rehearsal."

I am actually glad I didn't have to endure any rehearsal/rehearsal dinner extravaganza. Father attributed it to the last minute planning and the castle being booked every day for the next year except today. I didn't question it because I was just happy this would be a one and done sort of deal. Like ripping off a band-aid. Fast and quick and then it's over.

"Shoot."

"Well, in a few minutes we will head out of this room and go to the hallway beside the sanctuary. The bridal party will line up next to the groomsmen. You will be in the middle behind Jia and before Maryse, and you'll be paired with my son, Jonathan."

"Wait you have a son?"

"Yes, did Valentine forget to mention that? I am so sorry, he has only met him once and probably just forgot to let you know I also have a kid of my own." Father mentioned Celine would be moving in after the wedding, but does that mean I'm also going to have to start living with some kid? "Okay, now once the music starts, you will take turns walking in in pairs. Have you been in a wedding before?"

"Yes, I was a bridesmaid in my mother's last wedding."

"Perfect, then you know how the rest goes. Imogen, the wedding planner, will instruct you on what to do if you get confused."

At the mention of her, the wedding planner slips into the room and exclaims, "Okay ladies, are we ready?"

Celine all but forgets I am there when she runs to her other bridesmaids to finish getting ready. I stand there awkwardly as Celine exchanges loving words with her two closest friends. Since she only has a few bridesmaids, the process is luckily a short one and we are soon off. The bridal party seems to arrive first, so we go ahead and get in our spots in line and wait. Imogen hands us each a small bouquet from a basket.

The pink and champagne assortment of flowers is perfectly gorgeous and I know they will surely smell divine. To test my theory, and because I positively adore flowers, I bury my nose in the flowers and take a deep breath of floral heaven. Then I take another because I just can't get enough of the sweet aroma.

"You know, snorting pollen doesn't get you high, right?"

Oh no. I know that voice. I know it better than I know the face that goes to it, honestly. I lower the bouquet as I slowly turn to look at him. Somehow he manages to yet again take my breath away. How can one person be so shockingly beautiful? I swear, he's more gorgeous than most models I see in magazines. The first time I saw him, he wore a grimace and I thought his face was still the most perfect I had seen. Yet that does not even compare to the playfully cocky smirk he wears now. It makes my brain melt and my knees go weak. Surely by now I must be drooling. I try to muster a snarky response, but have to drop my eyes and take a second to remember how to think.

I inhale deeply and look down at his shoes. I look to my left and my right and see a pairs of male legs on either side. That means Golden Boy is...

"You're Celine's son?!"

"Yes," he replies slowly, drawing out the 'e.' "My name is Jace. And you are?"

"Clary Morgenstern," I finally look him in the eyes and say, "your soon to be stepsister."