Sorry it's taking so long. But this is the last chapter with City of Ashes, and then it's on to City of Glass. Which is probably only going to have two or three chapters, since almost the whole time Max is in jail and Angel and Alice are doing research. Almost nothing changes from the book until near the end, so yeah. Also, I got ANGEL and finished reading it. I'm very depressed that the last book is coming out next year. And I'm confused about this Fang-Maya-Max-Dylan thing James Patterson has going on. Anyways, here's the next chapter. Yes, the title sucks, but I'm sorry.

Max

I guess it was the next day I woke up. Heavy metal chains were around my ankles, and I was lying in an uncomfortable position on the cold floor. By the way the room was rocking I figured out that I was on a ship. Sitting up, I rubbed my aching neck and looked around. The wall in front of me had a door leading to the outside and the other two walls each had someone attached to it. My raptor vision adapted to the darkness and I recognized Rat Boy and Mia immediately.

"Max?" Simon asked.

"Are you alright?" Mia sounded worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I answered and rubbed away the sleep from my eyes. "What about you? How are you feeling?"

"A lot better."

"Good. So, do you guys have any idea what's going on?"

I could faintly make it out when Rat Boy shrugged. "Just that Valentine's behind it."

That must be who I heard before I passed out, I thought. "You don't think he wants us for the ritual thing for the Maellartach?"

"The what?" Mia asked. We ignored her for now.

"But then why would you be here?" He pointed out. I thought for a moment, and then the door opened. For the few seconds before it shut, the dim light from the setting sun revealed who it was.

"The answer to that is simple," Valentine interrupted. His boots made heavy footsteps as he walked in our direction. "Since Max refuses to help me, then her unique blood will surely have a positive effect on the swords transformation. Unless, of course, she changed her mind."

I scoffed. "You wish."

He shrugged. "Your choice." He walked over to Simon and drew the sword. My breath caught in my throat. "Any last words, vampire?"

Rat Boy looked like he wanted to puke. "Dear Go-" He stopped as he tried to say God and started choking.

Valentine threw his head back and laughed. "Nice try creature. Your damned kind can't even say the word God. How pathetic." He grinned with bloodlust and slashed the sword across Simon's throat. Mia screamed, and I tried to lunge at him, forgetting about the ankle chains.

"Damn it! Simon hold on!" I yelled and pulled at my chain. I felt my pockets for my Swiss Army knife and came out empty. I groaned. It was in my jeans pocket, which is back at the Institute. I was left to watch painfully as Valentine drained Simon of his blood and filled a large vile with it. He stood up and walked away like he hadn't just killed an innocent boy.

"I'll be back for you two in a few minutes. Feel free to say your goodbyes." The door slammed shut behind him, leaving me to glare at it as I listened to Mia's sobs. I crawled over to him and checked his wound. He was even paler than usual he was out cold. I felt his wrist for a pulse. It was faint, but he was still there. He moaned and Mia silenced.

"Hey." I turned his head looking up and he moaned again. There was a commotion starting up outside. "Hold on Rat Boy, alright? We'll get you out of this." I had no time to do anything else, because the ship exploded.

Alice

I watched as the Inquisitor took Jace and dragged him off as I tried to fight off on of these demons. And it sucks because my main battle strategy, looking into the future to see my opponent's next move, is completely useless because of the Shadowhunters. I threw the demon over the railing and ran after Jace. The Inquisitor had been hassling him a lot lately, and I wanted to make sure she wasn't doing it again. Just as I got there, a demon attacked. For whatever reason, the Inquisitor jumped in front of Jace and saved him, but it killed. As she said whatever it was to him (I wasn't paying attention) another demon snuck up on him. I ran over and tackled it down, snapping it's neck in the process. Jace turned around and looked from it to me in shock. He opened his mouth to say something, but then an explosion went off. We were both flung back, and I avoided the flames at all cost.

Why is it that I automatically think of Gazzy and Iggy when I see this? Shaking my head, I saw Angel being cornered by demons at the same time I saw Nudge unconscious, sinking in the harbor water. I noticed Gazzy out of the corner of my eye. Didn't Edward mention he has a crush on Nudge? I called out to the mini pyro.

"Gazzy!" He looked over at me. "First, watch the explosions! And get Nudge!" I pointed to where she was and ran off to help Angel. Along with the Shadowhunters and that warlock, Magnus, we had all come to help, knowing they'd need it. It's to bad I didn't have my vision, or else I could do more to help. I sighed as I fought off some more demons. It sucks being blind.

Max

I heard Mia scream, but I was too shocked to. I was right next to the wall, so it was no surprise when I felt the freezing water of the harbor pierced my skin. My chains were no longer attached to the wall, but they still pulled me down. A piece of the wreckage fell on me and dragged me down with it. In my shape, I was in no condition to push it off. I could see the flames through the water and hear the muffled noises of a battle going on above me. My gills help me to breathe underwater, but the temperature made it hard to swallow and my body started to freeze up on me. I started getting frantic, twisting and struggling to get out of the way of the metal that pulled me down. My vision darkened and I was dimly aware off someone's hands grab me. They pulled me up and I was back inside the ship, taking deep breaths and wrapped my arms around me to warm myself. I looked up at the person who saved me.

It was Jace, his golden hair stuck to his forehead with water and he panted trying to catch his breath. He looked at me worriedly. "You okay?"

I nodded. "Thanks. I was going to die down there."

"So, how did you get here? And why?"

"Valentine thinks my blood will increase the power of the sword. I'm not sure how, but he used this thing, probably some demon. It brought out my greatest fear."

He stared at me for a second. "Aragon? Really? It's the demon of fear. I ran into it twice. I just killed it not to long ago; it was my father, saying how much I was like him." He shook his head.

"Well you're not like him. Valentine is evil and psychotic. He thinks that Shadow hunters are superior to all. You know that the world needs everyone to keep itself balanced." He smiled as I said that. "What about the first time?"

He looked pained. "It was, Clary. She was dieing. And there was nothing I could do to save her."

I nodded in sympathy. "That's just like what I saw. Not Clary, of course."

"Yeah." He knew exactly who I was talking about.

"Things will work out between you two. I mean, there's obviously something weird going on, but after it's all over, I'm sure everything will work out."

He looked up at me. "You think so, huh?"

"I know so. But can you do something for me? Valentine already got to Rat Boy. I don't know how much longer he has, but I'm kinda worried. Can you find him for me?"

He nodded. "What? Yeah, of course. But, on our way here, a demon grabbed Clary and brought her here. Find her for me."

"Definitely."

We ran off in opposite directions for our search. A lot of the metal walls were charred from the explosions, and I could hear the sound of the battle going on above me. Every once in a while I thought I would hear someone in the flock or one of the Cullens yells, but I couldn't be sure. My ears stayed on alert, trying hard to find the voice of Clary or Valentine. I was nearly running, constantly looking from wall to wall, seeing if they were in any of the rooms. A lot of the doors had either fallen off or were hanging off by a single hinge. After a few agonizing minutes I finally heard something.

"Stand back! I know you're lying!" Clary's strained voice sounded through on of the few intact doors. I pressed my ear up against it, seeing what she was talking about.

"Oh Clarissa," Valentine's slimy voice said. "Don't be a fool. You know it's true. When Jonathan saw Aragon he saw you." My anger flared. What a liar! I took a few steps back and kicked the door down with my combat boot.

"He's not telling the whole story Clary! Don't believe him!" I ran towards her, a bit shocked seeing her gripping the Maellartach, and was blocked by Valentine's broad form. He grabbed me by my shoulders.

"How did you get out?" He asked. I ignored him and looked around his shoulders to see Clary.

"When Jace saw Aragon he saw you dieing! And he was completely useless to do anything to save you!" I yelled. She was surprised.

"R-Really?" He lowered the sword a bit and let her guard down.

Valentine growled. "Shut up you worthless freak!" He threw me across the room and I hit the metal wall hard and feel onto the ground face first. I heard Clary scream as I laid there for a second, trying to get some breath back in my lungs. I tried getting up and felt blood trickle down the back of my neck, soaking my messy brown hair. When Clary screamed again I stood up quicker and balanced myself with the help of the wall. Through my blurred vision I could make out Valentine wrestling with her to get the sword. He did and put the tip of it to her neck as she froze up against the wall. My ankle throbbed when I tried to walk on it, and I'm pretty sure I broke it when I landed. The ringing in my ears stopped me from hearing anything. Feeling so useless to Clary, I was extremely relived when Jace and, Alec (?) dropped from the ceiling. Is that Alec? No, he's taller than that. I wasn't sure what he was saying, but then I recognized the voice. Jace had saved Rat Boy! They were arguing for a while, and then when Valentine turned from Clary, she drew some rune on the wall of the boat. Valentine looked freaked, and I fainted (probably from blood loss again) as the boat started to fall apart.

Scene Change

For the second time I woke up in the infirmary of the Institute. It took me a few minutes to remember what all had happened. Rat Boy being killed by Psycho, the ship exploding (I'm starting to think Gazzy and Iggy might have something to do with that), Jace saving me, finding Clary, then being knocked out by Psycho, and then Clary destroying the ship. I groaned and sat up, happy to find myself in the clothes I was wearing the day that demon attacked and the Shadowhunters saved me. Was it really only a few days ago? It seems like a lot longer. I sat up and climbed out of the plain white bed, slipping on my precious black combat boots. I stretched and looked around. I wonder how long I'd been sleeping? Voices sounded outside the door and I stood and listened to them.

"Do you think she's awake yet?" That's Dylan.

"I don't know, her wounds were pretty bad." Jace, definitely.

"Just open and check!" Iggy and his rude ways.

"But what if she's sleeping and we wake her up?" Sweet little Nudge.

"Well she needs to wake up anyways!"

I sighed and opened the door myself. Jace, who was holding onto the doorknob, was flung to the side with it. I chuckled as he glared at me and stood back up. Then I was bombarded once again by hugs from the flock. Nudge and Angel grabbed me by my wrists and dragged me to the kitchen.

"C'mon, they ordered Chinese!" Angel told me cheerfully. When they sat me down they pushed a plate in front of me, already filled with various Chinese foods. Alec, Isabelle, and their brother Max were already almost done.

Izzy smiled at me. "Look who finally woke up."

The vampires and the two werewolves walked in. "I'm glad you're alright," the dark headed petite one said.

"Uh, thanks, um, who are you guys again?" I didn't bother beating around the bush.

"And how can you guys be on holy ground?" Clary asked from where she was rinsing off her plate.

"The thing about these bloodsuckers," Jace explained. "Is that the regular rules don't apply to them. They're almost indestructible."

"Like we don't burn in the sunlight, we sparkle." The brunette one continued.

"And the only way to kill them is to rip them apart and burn the pieces." Angel added. The Shadowhunters looked at her for a few seconds.

"The holy water and holy ground rules also don't apply to them," Isabelle said, not even bothering to hide her annoyance.

"And with the werewolves," Alec started. "The moon has no effect on them what so ever. The change whenever they want."

"Oh and I'm half human, half vampire." The youngest one added cheerfully.

"I'm Alice, that's Jasper, Jacob, Nessie, and her mom Bella, and her dad Edward," Alice introduced.

I nodded politely, and then I realized something. "Oh my God, my mom!" I jumped up from my chair and ran to the wall phone, and by guessing from the looks on the flocks' faces, she has no idea what's going on.

As I was frantically typing in her number, I heard Jace snicker. "I'm guessing she hasn't seen you guys since you were attacked by that demon." I just shook my head and waited for someone to answer the phone.

Ella's voice finally answered. "Hello?"

"Ella? It's Max."

I think she nearly screamed. "Max? Oh my gosh, are you okay? What happened? Are the others with you? Where are you? Mom! It's Max, she's on the phone!"

Before I could answer any of her questions, my mom was on the phone, asking the same things. "Mom, I'm fine. We were attacked by this, demon thing. And the others are right here with me. They're fine too. We're in Manhattan."

"Manhattan? How did you get there?"

"Um," I looked over at them. Jace shrugged and Izzy waved it off, like 'go ahead and say' and Alice smiled at me. "It's a long story."

"I have time."

"Alright, so…" I explained everything to her. The Shadowhunters and the vampires and everything else, then Valentine and how he was after me. I mentioned the Inquisitor and her insane ways and then the ship. There were a few seconds of silence.

"…Mom? You still there?"

"I'm coming to Manhattan." I heard Ella's agreement in the background.

"What? No! It's too dangerous!"

Alice looked up from her glazed over expression. "There's no stopping her, Max. She made her decision and she's sticking to it."

Jace cut off whatever Iggy was going to say. "Now who does that remind you of?"

Alright, hope you guys liked it. Think we could make it to 20 reviews? I'll try to update faster too.