A/N: I REMEMBERED MY PLOT! It took me a month, but I did it! I'm just so sorry it took so long!
But here it is, Chapter 8! There's a time-skip, so it starts out about a month after Chapter 7.
Enjoy! :D
The living room of the Institute was empty other than the blonde boy who sat leaning over a mahogany desk in the far corner. But he wasn't paying attention to the papers scattered before him, or the worn books lying open to dog-eared pages. The only thing he could think of was sleep. He hadn't slept in days, but as much as he wanted to lay his head down on the warm wood of the desk, he couldn't. He had to get to the bottom of this, and figure out how the hell someone who had been dead for almost a year could come back to life.
He heard a crackling noise behind him, and before he could turn around to investigate the sound something sharp hit him in the back of the head.
"Ow!" Jace touched the back of his head, wondering if whatever had hit him had broken skin. He turned and saw nothing in the dark room around him. "Alec?" He called, wondering if his foster brother was up to something, trying to get Jace out of the library for once. Jace took a step forwards, and a paper airplane crinkled under his bare foot. He bent own and picked it up, wondering if it was what had hit him, and where the crackling noise had come from.
The unfolded airplane held a note, written in tidy handwriting that Jace recognized but couldn't place.
Demons are gathering around the Institute. Have Clary portal you out, and to my loft. I'll explain more later. –M
Who was M? Jace thought for a moment, glancing around the room again. The old-fashioned fireplace in the corner opposite the desk caught his eye. Embers were glowing red, even though the fireplace hadn't been used in years. Jace strode across the library and kneeled next to the fireplace.
The scent that hit him told him everything he needed to know. Warlock magic. M was Magnus, although Jace was surprised by the means of communication. Magnus had never sent them demon warnings using fire before, but he had mentioned that it could be done.
Demons are gathering around the Institute. Jace strode back across the library to the one huge window across the back wall. He pulled back the heavy curtain a few inches, and saw that the area around the Institute was bare. But then he caught a flash of something in the distance, a black form that was traveling closer and closer at a rate Jace had never before seen a demon move. And he saw that the one demon was followed by many others. Magnus hadn't lied.
Jace burst into the kitchen, throwing the door open with such a force that it crashed against the wall. Clary gasped in surprise and stared up at him from her seat at the table. She hadn't seen him in days, ever since a recent Pandemonium routine sweep had landed them cornered in a storage closet. The demons had said only one thing, "Valentine has returned." And then the group of black creatures had disappeared into thin air; something that Clary had never before seen happen other than when they were killed. Since then, Jace had been locked in the library researching how anyone could be killed by Raziel himself and come back to life. But now he looked stressed and a little panicked, gripping a single piece of paper in his hand as he took long strides across the kitchens to where Clary, Alec, and Isabelle were sitting around the table.
Jace threw the paper down on the middle of the table. "We have to leave the Institute. Demons are arriving in swarms, and we're surrounded. Clary, do you think you could portal us out?"
Clary looked up and as green met gold she knew that whatever Jace had found in the library was more than just a reason for Valentine to be alive again. She nodded to him as she reached across the table for the crinkled white piece of paper. As she held it up in front of her, the first thing she noticed was that the creases in the paper indicated that it had once been folded into a paper airplane. Clary's eyes skimmed over the note, "M is Magnus?" She asked, and Jace nodded stiffly.
"Magnus?" Alec reached across the table and snatched the paper from Clary's hands. He frowned as he read the note. "That's his handwriting. Jace, where did you get this?" Alec sounded miffed that his boyfriend would contact Jace first.
"He sent it through the fireplace in the library. We have to go now," Jace insisted. Clary could see how his muscles would tense and relax and tense again and he shifted his weight from one foot to another.
"Yes," Alec stood up, "Everybody gear up. Clary, get ready to portal us out of here."
Isabelle followed Alec and Jace to the weapons room without question, leaving Clary alone in the kitchen.
The seriousness of the situation hadn't really hit her yet. Clary knew that she should be following Jace to the weapons room too, but she couldn't help feeling abandoned. He had been ignoring her along with everyone else, even after her attempts to help him research and the times she had brought his meals to the library for him. At one point Jace had blatantly told her that he wanted to be alone, and he didn't need help. She had left him in the library and they hadn't spoken since. Clary had been angry with him for a while, but the feeling had worn off. Now, she didn't know what to think. She half-hoped this demon attack would bring them back to speaking terms again.
Clary stood and pushed back the white curtain over one of the kitchen's windows. She gasped at what she saw. Black figures had gathered in a half-circle around the Institute's entrance. She couldn't tell where one body ended and another one began, and she could practically feel the energy radiating off of the mass of demons. They were a breed she had never seen before, and that alone unnerved her more than Valentine coming back from the dead ever could.
Clary stood at the door of the weapons room, fully dressed in her Shadowhunter gear, with two Seraph blades in her belt along with the pair of daggers Jace had given her, and her stele. She didn't know if she should go in and learn what Alec's plan of action was, or stay out in the hall and avoid the awkward distance she knew would be between her and Jace.
She didn't have to wait to decide. Alec threw the door open and crashed into her as he stormed out of the weapons room. "Clary!" He grabbed her shoulders to steady her, and gave her apologetic smile, "Sorry. You ready to portal us out of here?" Clary wondered if it was the space growing between her and Jace that was bringing her closer to Alec. She had been a little confused at first when Alec had begun consulting her for battle strategies, asking about new Runes, and inviting her to get Taki's takeout with him and Magnus. But she really did enjoy that he wasn't ignoring her so much anymore.
Clary nodded, "Alec, have you seen the army of demons assembled out there?" She flinched internally as she remembered the heaving mass of dark shapes creating a barrier so intimidatingly impassible it felt as if the Institute were suffocating. She understood now why Jace had seemed so nervous in the kitchen; they were cornered and outnumbered, and who knew how long it would take for the demons to find a way inside the Institute.
Alec put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "I did," he said softly, "And that's why you have to get us out of here."
"Yeah," Isabelle appeared behind her brother in the doorway of the weapons room, her gold whip curled neatly around her forearm. "I saw those things," she shivered, "God, that's just something you don't see every day. Any idea what breed of demons those are?"
Both Clary and Alec shook their heads and Isabelle shrugged.
"You guys ready to go?" Jace pushed his way past Isabelle and out of the weapons room. Clary wondered how he could carry all of the weapons he had stuffed into his belt. It had to be heavy, and yet Jace could move faster than any of them in battle. He had asked the question pointedly at Clary, but it was Alec that answered.
"Yeah, let's move out. Clary?" Alec nodded to her, and she stepped back and drew the rune she needed on the wall across from the weapons room. A swirling portal opened up where the rune burned into the wall, and Clary turned back to meet Alec's waiting eyes. "Alright, I'll go first. Izzy, follow me, and Clary and Jace after. Clary, you can close the portal as soon as Jace gets through." Alec stepped into the portal and was gone. Clary knew Magnus would be waiting for them on the other side, but she couldn't help the sudden wave of apprehension that washed over her. What if the demons out there had a way to prevent them from portaling? They were like nothing she had ever dealt with before, and maybe they could do things other demons couldn't.
Isabelle followed her brother through. Clary took a step to follow her, but Jace grabbed her arm and pulled her towards him. "Clary," he started, and Clary heard something in his voice that made her look up into his eyes. Green met gold for the second time, and Clary could see that all of the walls Jace had thrown up between them had been stripped away. "Clary, I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm sorry I've been avoiding you. I was just… just – "
"It's okay," Clary cut him off, laying a hand on his shoulder, "I'm not mad at you. I was, but I'm not anymore. Valentine returning from the dead is a huge deal, and I understand why you did what you did." She gave him a small smile, and he visibly relaxed.
Only to tense back up again. "Alright. Let's get out of here." Clary turned to step through the portal, but Jace stopped her again. "Wait. Clary, I have a feeling that it won't be Magnus waiting for us on the other side. Stay close to me."
"I have the same feeling," Clary took his hand from her arm and briefly laced her fingers through his. "Let's go."
Jace nodded, and stepped in front of her and into the portal, already reaching for one of his Seraph blades.
Clary was met with the sounds of snarling, and Alec and Isabelle screaming orders to each other. Clary barely had time to name one of her Seraph blades before she was attacked. Jace was still standing between her and most of the oncoming demons, dodging and spinning with a grace Clary didn't know was possible. He kept the brunt of the demon horde away from her, but Clary was still fighting more of the shadowy black monsters than she thought she could handle.
"Why didn't we portal out of the Institute?" Jace shouted above the roar of the fight.
"I think it's something these demons can do!" Clary shouted back, spinning with dancing steps and cutting limbs off of various shaped demons as she ran until she and Jace were back-to-back. "They must have prevented my portal from getting us any farther out than the Institute grounds." She ducked as Jace swung his Seraph blade around over her head, and she stabbed at a demon about to attack him from behind. They switched places, and Clary hooked her arms around Jace's at the elbows so that he could lift her up to kick away the wall of demons beginning to surround them. Once Jace set her down, they each drew a second Seraph blade and felled the remaining creatures at twice the speed. It seemed as if they might be able to overpower the demon force.
There was a louder, wilder sound to their left. Clary pushed Jace out of the way as the most gruesome thing either of them had ever seen flew buy in a fury. To call it a demon was an understatement. The halo of darkness that surrounded its twisted, deformed body expanded out far enough that it touched Clary. She felt her body grow cold, and a feeling of fear overwhelm her. The demon lunged at them, its fanged mouth dripping venom. Jace jammed his blade upwards into the thing's throat as it loomed over them, about two feet taller than Jace. It screamed in pain, but swiped desperately at them with its talon-like claws. Jace wasn't fast enough to block the attacks. The demon slashed at him, and tore three gashes across his side. Jace let go of his blade and fell, groaning in pain. He still tried to push Clary out of the way as the demon's swipes became more frequent. Clary screamed, unable to force herself to move as the heaving black body came closer and closer. The demon's dark halo completely encompassed her body, and she felt more afraid than she ever had before in her life.
"Valentine has returned," it hissed in a low, rumbling tone, ichor dripping from its mouth, "You will live to see the day he rules this earth." Then the demon swung a bloodied claw at her. Clary was still frozen in place, and the demon threw her against the outside wall of the Institute, slashing open her arm. She heard bones crack, and barely felt a dull throbbing pain across her body as her world turned black.
Jace couldn't figure out where he was. He couldn't get his eyes open; couldn't move. The only thing he remembered was Clary's scream, and a feeling of cold fear.
Clary. The memory was enough to get his eyes open, and Jace saw that he was lying in the grass outside of the Institute. The ground was covered with pools of Ichor and blood. Jace tried to sit up, but a sudden burning pain in his side overwhelmed him. He groaned and fell back down, clutching his side. His hand came away bloody, and that triggered Jace's memory of the demon invasion. He remembered the huge black thing that had attacked them, and the pain, and Clary screaming. The last thing Jace remembered seeing was the demon throwing Clary against the wall of the Institute.
That thought alone made Jace forget about all of the pain he was in, and he was able to sit up, and then stand on shaky legs. His vision was blurry, but he could still make out the shape of Clary's body lying next to the wall. She was covered in blood.
Jace staggered towards her, barely able to walk, his head spinning. He made it about halfway before he keeled over in pain and landed on his knees. He tried to force himself to stand back up, to get to Clary and figure out if she was still alive. His vision blurred further, and he could hardly make out the shape of her body only eight feet away from him. Another spasm of burning pain shot through his side, and Jace fell forwards. He managed to catch himself, balancing his weight on his hands and knees. He crawled towards Clary, trying as best as he could to ignore the pain as he made his way to her. He reached her side, finally able to see that yes, she was breathing. But barely. Pure panic overcame him, and he collapsed over her, catching himself before the weight of his body landed on her arm. Three gashes cut diagonally from her shoulder to her elbow, and blood was pouring. Jace shrugged out of his Shadowhunter gear and pulled the t-shirt he had been wearing underneath off over his head. He ripped the grey fabric into strips and wrapped them around Clary's arm. "Clary?" His voice was barely above a whisper, "Clary, wake up. Please wake up." He ran the backs of his fingers over her cheek. He couldn't think anything beyond, She can't die. Not now. Please, she can't die. "Clary, please. You have to wake up. You have to breathe. Please, Clary. Please wake up." He slipped his hand under her neck, tilting her head back so she could get more air into her lungs. Jace ran his other hand over her body, checking for more wounds or broken bones. Her wounds could really be bad enough to kill her, could they?
Clary coughed few times, "Jace," she mumbled.
Jace leaned over her, holding his body up on one elbow. "I'm here, Clary. Wake up."
Her eyelids fluttered. "Jace," her eyes opened, and she blinked against the light. "Jace, what happened?" She looked pale and exhausted.
"There was an attack on the Institute," Jace hoped she hadn't lost her memory when she hit her head. "An army of demons. They stopped us from portaling out."
Clary frowned, "What about Alec and Isabelle?" She asked weakly. She tried to sit up, but Jace held her down.
"Don't move," he ordered. She would only hurt herself.
Alec and Isabelle. Jace didn't know where they were. He hadn't seen them since they stepped into the portal, and he didn't know what had happened after he passed out. "I don't know," Jace pushed Clary's bangs away from her forehead and saw that the blood that had plastered her hair to her skin was still dripping from a cut across the left side of her forehead. Clary winced and tried to move again, but Jace held her down. "Shh, don't move," Jace rolled up another strip from his t-shirt and pressed it over Clary's forehead.
"Jace," Clary's voice was weak, "You're bleeding." She reached up and laid a shaky hand on his arm.
Jace shrugged her hand off. "I'm fine, Clary. Don't worry about me." She reached for him again, but Jace shook his head, "I'll be fine, Clary, I promise. Just breathe." He had to figure out a way to get help. Whatever had attacked them had been powerful, and whatever poison it had gotten in their systems probably worked faster that regular demon poison. Jace was having trouble holding himself up, but he couldn't let himself collapse. Clary was in worse condition than him; Jace could feel that she was struggling for breath, and she couldn't keep her eyes open. Jace pressed his fingers to the pulse point at her neck. "Stay with me, Clary," Jace leaned down and gently pressed his lips to hers, "We'll get through this, I promise. Just stay with me." Waves of panic washed over him, one after another. He had to find a way to get them out of there, maybe to Magnus, but at least somewhere far away from the Institute before the remainder of the demons decided to return.
Clary's eyes opened. She took a shaky breath, "Jace," she struggle to speak.
"No, Clary, shh," Jace slipped his hand back under her head, cradling her.
"No," She reached up and laid her hand on Jace's chest, "The demons – " she coughed, and Jace was afraid she would start coughing up blood. "Their gone," she whispered, "We can – " she stopped, coughing again.
"Don't try to talk," Jace ordered, adjusting her so that she was on her side. She coughed harder. "Clary – " Jace whispered, afraid. She couldn't die. Jace had heard about Nephilim who died from demon poisoning. They got weaker, too weak to breathe. It was painful. Clary was in pain, coughing so hard now that she was coughing up blood. And there was nothing Jace could do but hold her, and beg her not to die.
Clary's coughs died down. Her eyes fell closed, and her breath came in short gasps. "Jace," she mumbled, "Jace… portal… Amatis."
Amatis? What did she mean? Jace leaned over her, afraid she would stop breathing. Portal… She was right, there were no demons to stop them from getting out now. If they could get to Idris, they would be safe. The city of glass hadn't been fully rebuilt yet, and the new wards around Alicante hadn't been completed yet.
Jace reached for his stele, and realized that the demon must have torn his belt off when it sliced open his side. Clary still had her stele, though. Jace pulled the stele from Clary's belt and tried to keep his hand from shaking. He closed his eyes, trying to remember the Rune that Clary drew to open a portal. Portal. The word brought his memory of the Rune back, and he carefully traced the shape in the bloody grass below them.
The black swirling mass opened underneath them. Jace wrapped his arm around Clary's waist and rolled over and into the portal.
Jace visualized the kitchen in Amatis's house. The white tiles and cedar cabinets, and the rectangular table surrounded by windows in one corner.
He felt them being whisked away, but he didn't let go of Clary. He shifted so that he would land on his back with Clary's body on top of him.
Jace hit Amatis's tile floor and the breath was knocked out of him. Clary let out a small whimper.
Jace could hear a woman's voice shouting, but he couldn't make out the words.
The yelling stopped. Jace felt soft hands on his shoulders, and comforting voice was talking somewhere above him.
"Jace," he heard. I know that voice… "Jace, look at me." Jace forced his eyes to focus. Amatis.
"Demon attack," he managed, "Institute. Clary."
"I heard about the attack," Amatis kneeled beside him. "Jace, can you get up?"
Jace nodded, and adjusted Clary in his arms so that Amatis could help him sit up. His side cramped and burned, but he didn't complain. Amatis had to heal Clary first. "Sorry 'bout the blood," Jace mumbled, struggling to stay conscious.
"It's fine," Amatis helped him stand on shaky legs, still cradling Clary's body in his arms. She guided Jace to the table and yanked the tablecloth off. "Lay her there," Amatis helped Jace lay Clary on the table, and then pulled a chair around to the head of the table for Jace to sit in. He leaned over and slipped his hand under Clary's head, and reached for her hand with his other. Amatis gave him a wad of bandages to press over his side, but Jace only used the outer layer of his black Shadowhunter gear to keep the white fabric in place.
Amatis stood on Clary's other side, having found a few more rolls of bandages and her stele. She touched Clary's bleeding arm, and Clary whimpered.
Her eyelids fluttered open. "Jace?" Her eyes searched for him, unable to focus.
Jace laced his fingers through hers, "I'm here, Clary." He pressed his lips to her forehead, away from the bandages.
"Amatis?" Clary closed her eyes.
"We made it," Jace laid his forehead against Clary's shoulder. "I portaled us here."
Amatis looked up at him, "You made a portal?"
"With Clary's rune," Jace felt Clary squeeze his hand. He glanced up and met Amatis's gaze, question in his eyes.
"Clary will be fine," Amatis told him, beginning to wrap a white bandage around Clary's arm. "What about you? How's your side?"
"It's fine," Jace didn't want to tell her that it hurt so badly he could barely breathe. Clary had to be first priority.
Amatis nodded and focused on Clary again.
Jace tried to focus too. Clary was breathing fine now, whatever Amatis had done was working.
Pain shot through Jace's side. He let go of Clary's hand to grip the edge of the table, clutching his side with his other hand. He could vaguely hear Amatis saying something, but he couldn't understand the words. He tried to keep from moaning in pain, but the burning in his side was too much. Jace felt himself fall out of the chair and land on the tile floor, and his head hurt along with his side. And then he couldn't feel anything besides the sting of a stele against his arm.
White. That was all that Jace could see. It felt as if he was lying on a cloud. The pain in his side was gone.
"Jace?" He heard Amatis's voice somewhere to his left. "I know you're awake in there. Do you want breakfast?"
Jace turned his head, and the whiteness was gone. Amatis stood in an open doorway, a tray of pancakes balanced on one hand and a glass of milk in the other.
Jace hoisted himself up on his elbows, realizing that the white he was seeing was the walls of Amatis's guest room, and the tangled sheets around him. "Yeah. Where's Clary?" Jace remembered seeing her laying, unconscious, on Amatis's table. Panic threatened to overwhelm him, but Jace remembered that Clary had been breathing, and that Amatis had been able to heal her.
"Clary's upstairs, in her room. She already had breakfast." Amatis walked into the room and set the tray and the glass on the table next to the bed. "She was asking for you. I told her you were still resting."
"Thanks," Jace reached for the glass, "Can I go see her?" Amatis nodded, and Jace flung aside the sheets and swung his legs over the side of the bed. His side cramped as he stood, but it faded. Jace nodded to Amatis as he walked by, remembering where Clary's room in this house was. Walking up the stairs was more painful than Jace had expected, and he had to stop and lean on the railing every few steps to keep his side from cramping up.
Jace pushed open the second door to the left of the stairs, "Clary?" He asked quietly, in case she had gone back to sleep since eating.
He saw her, leaning against the headboard of the small bed under the window, sketching in a green notebook. She looked up at him, and a smile lit her face. "Hey," she answered, "You're up. Did Amatis bring you breakfast?"
Jace made his way across the room and sat on the bed by Clary's feet. She set the notebook on the little square table next to the bed. "You feel okay?" Jace reached over and touched her shoulder.
Clary laid her own hand on top of his. "I'm fine. What about you?" She laced her fingers through Jace's, and pulled his hand up to her cheek.
Jace scooted across the bed and pulled Clary into his arms. "Better, now that you're safe."
Clary rested her head on Jace's shoulder and traced her fingers over the faded scars on his arm. "Jace," she sighed. "I meant," Clary pressed her other hand to his side, over the bandages she could feel under his shirt, "Does your side hurt?"
Jace shook his head.
Clary wondered if he was lying, but she didn't think he would. After all, they were both safe now, away from the remaining demons – if there were any – and inside the Alicante.
Clary leaned into Jace's chest, letting the sound of his heart beating calm her. "Jace?" she asked, wanting to know if he knew what it was that had attacked them.
"Hmm?" He ran his fingers through her hair.
"What were those things? I've never seen demons like that before."
Jace tensed for a moment, and then relaxed and lowered his head so that their foreheads touched. "I don't know. They have something to do with Valentine, though."
Clary remembered the massage the demon had given them, about Valentine's return. But that didn't make sense to her. Valentine couldn't really have come back from the dead. But the demon attacks and the messages made it seem as if Valentine – or someone who had the same ideals as Valentine – was making another attempt at forming an army. "What if it isn't Valentine?" Clary tilted her head back to meet Jace's golden eyes, "What if it's someone else, using Valentine's name to scare us? It doesn't make sense – he couldn't really have come back from the dead."
Jace closed his eyes and tightened his arms around Clary's waist. "I don't know what's going on, Clary. I just don't know."
A/N: Good? I know Jace seems really Out Of Character, and he's being all obsessive and protective, but he's under a lot of stress right now. I mean, how would you feel if your father-turned-evil-maniac-turned-dead-turned-miraculously-not-dead was sending hordes of powerful demons after you and the love of your life? I know I'd be pretty freaked out. I think the next chapter will start out with Jace's POV of the last section of this chapter. And you'll find out what happened to Alec and Isabelle. ;)
Three guesses as to what happens next! ;D
Please review! You know how happy that makes me! More fluff next chapter if you do! :D
xoxo,
Jace's Angel
