Clary tried to stand up, but dizziness washed over her harshly. She slid back down the wall and settled herself on the floor. Chairman Meow curled up on her lap and began to purr. Magnus panted and watched Clary carefully while Jonathan sat up and looked around.
"Should we really consider ourselves family?" Jonathan mused. "If we do, we're one big messed up family."
"That's the point," Clary coughed and grabbed her chest. She coughed again and clawed at her chest. It felt like something was crawling around inside her. "Magnus," she whispered frantically. He started to walk over slowly, but gained speed after Clary cried out. "There's something inside my chest. What did that warlock do?"
Magnus dropped down beside her and took her hands away from her chest. By then, Jonathan had made his way over to them. "That spell that the warlock just used. . . What color was it?"
"Green," Jonathan replied.
Magnus cursed. "Take Clary into my room and lay her down on the bed. When that spell is used, a victim is chosen from those in the room─"
"Victim?"
"I could use 'host' as well. A demon is created and it burrows itself in said victim's body. This one so happened to pick Clary's chest, which is going to make it a lot harder." Seeing Jonathan's confused glance he said, "It's closer to her heart. Jonathan, I'm going to need you to go back to the Institute─"
Jonathan snapped, "No."
Magnus sighed. "I need you to get me ingredients. If you ask Alexander, he should be able to help you."
"No," Jonathan's voice broke. "I'm not leaving my sister."
"She's in good hands."
Reluctantly, Jonathan agreed. He kissed her forehead. "I'll see you soon, Clare."
The final look that Clary gave Jonathan made his heart break. She looked so fragile and scared. He wished he could help her. With tear filled eyes, he turned away. Ignoring his own fragile state, Magnus began to work. Chairman Meow sat on the sidelines the entire time, making sure that Clary would be okay. He mewled occasionally as if asking if everything was still okay.
Magnus tried using magic on Clary, but it refused to work efficiently. He was too weak for it to work. It was Valentine's fault for conjuring his father. It had all been okay until that moment. Now Clary could die on Valentine's hands.
"Magnus, I heard what happened," Simon stepped into the room and quickly closed his eyes. "You could have warned me."
The flamboyant warlock chuckled. "Sorry."
Clary's shirt had been cut open and she was laying on Magnus's bed in just her bra and pants. Sighing, Simon opened his eyes, but refused to look at his best friend. Simon got a good look at Magnus. "Are you feeling okay? You don't look too good."
"Come here," Magnus motioned with his finger.
Not seeing the harm, Simon did as he was told. When he was standing by the warlock's side, Simon felt all of his power drain from him after Magnus placed his hands on his chest. "Magnus," he gasped. "Wh-why did you do that? You could have just asked."
Simon collapsed to the floor, not having the power to stand back up. He watched intently as blue light sparked out of Magnus's hands and swallowed Clary. Her screams filled the room and the blue light burned brighter. A black demon was raised into the air. It was shrieking and wiggling. At least it was until it blew up.
Clary's skin soaked up the blue light and she sat up with a gasp. There was a gaping hole in her chest that was slowly closing. She was panting as tears streamed down her face. Simon struggled to sit up. He wanted to see how she was doing. Clary launched herself at Magnus and sobbed into the side of his neck.
Jonathan tensed as he walked through the Portal and was met with a scream from his sister. He ran toward Magnus's room and arrived in time to see the demon explode. Simon was sprawled on the floor and Magnus was standing over Clary, hands still glowing blue. Clary sat up, her shirt torn down the middle and her chest heaving frantically. She launched herself at Magnus and sobbed into the crook of his neck. Jonathan carefully placed the ingredients he was holding on the bed before peeling his sister away from the warlock. She let out a heart wrenching sob before pressing her face into his chest. Jonathan had never seen Clary cry so much in only a few days.
"Jon," she cried. "It's not fair! Why did Valentine have to come and ruin everything? You could have showed yourself to mom and we could have been happy with Luke."
Jonathan cradled his sister to his chest. He seemed to be doing this a lot lately. "We'll kill Valentine, okay? We'll kill him and then you, me, Lucian, and mom can live at the bookstore and be one big happy family."
Clary sniffled. "O-okay." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Simon can come too." Jonathan chuckled. Magnus helped Simon onto the bed. Clary looked at him with surprise. "When did you get here?" Before Simon could answer, Clary spoke again. "Well, whatever. You're going to live with us, Simon. Since your mom isn't very fond of, uh, a vampire, you can live with us." Clary looked so happy in that moment that no one wanted to ruin it by talking. But Clary herself ruined it when she said, "I want to be the one to kill Valentine. He's ruined everything." Simon, Magnus, and Jonathan stared at Clary with wide eyes. Where that had come from, they didn't know.
They stayed inside Magnus's apartment all day hanging out like they used to. Although Clary laughed and smiled, the three boys could tell she was not herself. She was trying to make everything like it used to be. At one point, Clary got so frustrated she attempted to leave the apartment to find demons to kill, but Simon had thrown Clary over his shoulder and locked her in Magnus's room.
Inside the Institute walls, Hodge paced anxiously. Hugin flew in circles around his head. A Portal shimmered nearby, its surface rippling. Suddenly, a man with blond white hair and dark eyes stepped through. Hugin squawked and flew excitedly to him. Valentine smiled darkly. "Ah, Hugin. It's so nice to see you again."
"Valentine," Hodge spluttered. "What are you doing here? The kids can walk in at any moment."
Valentine rolled his eyes and waved off Hodge's concern. "They're not a concern. I'm here to see how the search for the cup is doing and how my daughter is doing."
Hodge froze at the mention of the little redhead. "Your son. He's alive."
This time Valentine froze. "Jonathan is dead," he spat. "Everyone knows it. A three year old cannot just disappear and survive on his own."
"Clarissa faked his death─"
"She was two!"
"But she is your child. One that was injected with angelic blood." Valentine's sharp gaze softened. He hated his daughter for looking like his wife, but she was still his blood.
Valentine clapped his hands together. "Now I'll have two children to help me. This just makes things better. Now, I must be going. Contact me immediately once the children bring you the cup."
Hodge sighed. He'd have to hand over the cup and possibly the two children. Clarissa already doesn't trust him. She would not bring her brother to him willingly. . . Unless something happened that only he could fix. Although there is their warlock. The three of them are infatuated with each other. Hodge made a face. How they could treat a warlock like family. Absurd.
Jonathan was carrying a sleeping Clary in his arms when he arrived back at the Institute. They had popped back in through the kitchen. It just so happened that Alec was shifting through the fridge looking for something to eat. He sighed with relief when he saw Clary, safe and unharmed, nestled in Jonathan's arms.
"No harm done?" Alec asked, setting an apple on the table next to a knife.
Jonathan shrugged. "A bit of harm, but nothing Magnus couldn't get rid of."
Alec gave Jonathan a sheepish look. "I hope you don't mind that I told Izzy. She was getting awfully fond of Clary."
"But we've only been here for four days. And Clary was asleep three of those days."
"Izzy's never had any friends that were girls. She's always had me and Jace," Alec replied.
Clary shifted in Jonathan's arms and her eyes fluttered open. She popped her head up and glanced at Alec. Jonathan set Clary on her own two feet. At first, Clary stumbled, but then she regained her balance and was able to walk herself. She beamed at Jonathan. "We should all do something fun."
"No, we shouldn't. You had a demon inside of you not too long ago," Jonathan said firmly.
Clary rolled her eyes and huffed, "But Magnus took care of that problem. I'm all healed. With that said, I think we should go do something fun."
"How about we wait until tomorrow? I think Izzy would like to know that you're okay," Alec said.
Reluctantly, Clary shrugged her defeat. "If we must."
Alec smiled. "I'll go find Izzy."
Not even minutes passed before Isabelle was rushing toward Clary. "Alec told me what happened. Are you okay? I've never heard of something like that happening before."
"I feel perfect. There's no gaping hole in my chest and I've had a nap." Jonathan chuckled from behind her.
Isabelle sighed in relief. "That's great." Almost hesitantly she asked, "Would you like to watch movies with me? Jace went out and got Vampire Academy, the Fault in Our Stars, Clash of the Titans, and Divergent."
This time Clary's smile was directed at Isabelle. "Absolutely."
Jace was sitting on the couch waiting for the group to come in. The Fault in Our Stars was already on the television, waiting to be watched. Clary cautiously took a seat next to Jace, unconsciously sliding closer to him until the sides of their bodies touched. Jonathan sat on the opposite side of Clary with Simon, who had shown up moments before, next to him. Alec sat next to Jace and Isabelle next to Simon.
"Shall we start the movie?" Jace asked, picking up the remote. He was greeted with a chorus of yeses.
Clary shifted excitedly on the couch. She'd been waiting forever to see this movie. Luke had gotten the book when it first came out and she was the very first to read it. She had cried for hours when Augustus died.
Not even five minutes into the movie, Clary was sobbing. She was a mess. Simon had to get her tissues because Jonathan was too busy laughing at her. By the time Augustus had told Hazel that he lit up like a Christmas tree, Clary couldn't keep quiet. Sobs racked her body relentlessly. Instead of turning to her brother, Clary turned to Jace for comfort without realizing it. She turned her head into his shoulder to try and muffle her sobs. Jace wrapped his arms around her and whispered soothing words into her ear.
They continued to watch the movies wrapped in each other's embrace. Clary didn't mind the change in body warmth. Her brother was a bit on the cold side, but Jace was entirely warm. It was a comforting warm. Clary snuggled deeper into Jace's side and his arms tightened around her.
All four movies were finished quicker than Clary expected. She wanted to stay in Jace's embrace for longer. Seeing how comfortable Clary was, Jonathan left her and kissed her forehead before announcing his departure. Isabelle, Simon, and Alec quickly followed suit and said their good nights.
Clary slowly moved out of Jace's grasp and yawned. "I guess I should be going too."
Golden eyes met green. They were both captivated by the other's gaze. Slowly they moved toward each other. Jace cupped Clary's face in his hands and brought his lips down on hers.
