"Aren't you over doing it?"
Clary stood frozen, blinking at Jace. He was sat on the steps of the house with a thick jacket on zipped all the way up. She'd expected to give him an earful for not telling her about the ritual, but now all she could do was fumble for words. Clary had fun with Sebastian. Actual, real fun. The rush of adrenaline she'd felt from fighting had sent a current through her, making her feel more alive in the last hour than she had in the last month. "W-what?"
Jace eyed her gear. "Going for two runs in one day, especially after a bad nights sleep and throwing up earlier."
"Oh," Clary looked down at her Blood-spattered shoes. "Right, I went for a run. I guess I am over doing it a little."
"I know how hard you've been working." Jace was turning his phone over and over in his hand. "But you'll be no good to anyone if you run yourself down."
Clary stared up at him. Know how hard i've been working? "You do?"
He nodded. "You want to be a Shadowhunter. Who am I to stand in the way of that? I'll write you a real training plan once everything stops trying to kill us all. Maybe Maryse will even replace Hodge."
"Are you feeling okay?" Clary stepped towards him. "You're not yelling at me."
Jace laughed dryly. "Is that all you think I want to do? Yell at you?"
"No." Clary kicked at the step of Luke's porch. "I just thought you would. I mean, you came all the way down here right?"
"Well," He held the phone up to her. "After that extremely strange phone call I wanted to check that rune hadn't gone to your head."
"It wasn't strange." I mean, my floor was covered in blood and Sebastian had just climbed through the window, but that seems pretty mundane in comparison to the rest of my life.
"You asked how I was, made a noise like you threw the phone on the floor then hung up."
That's scarily accurate. "Bad signal."
He looked at her dubiously, but dropped it. "And there was something else to, but I didn't want to tell you over the phone, anyway." Jace pat a space on the step next to him.
Clary sank down and looked at him with apprehension blooming in her chest.
His gaze rested on her intensely. "I wasn't going to tell you about this, but I don't see the point in lying anymore, especially with that thing on your leg now. I hate all the lying. To Alec, to Luke, especially to you. Do you know what I mean?"
"Yes." She bit into the inside of her lip. "I know exactly what you mean."
"Of course you do." He reached for her hand, and turned it over in his own. She held her breath as he pushed the sleeve of her gear up and exposed the bandage on her forearm. His fingers brushed her skin lightly. "You're the one who has to bare this."
"It doesn't hurt." Clary said all in the one breath she'd been holding. They were sitting so close that she worried he might hear how her heart thumped. "It doesn't hurt at all, now."
"I can't bare the idea of anything hurting you." His fingers still rested on her arm, and he let out a shaky breath that tickled her neck. "Which is why I wasn't going to tell you about the ritual-"
Clary felt like he'd thrown a bucket of icy water over her. Please lie to me. "What ritual?" Don't let me be the only liar.
"Magnus has a plan to summon a demon, one that was already summoned by valentine, and interrogate it."
"Why didn't you want to tell me?" She sounded normal, despite the guilt that was burrowing though her chest like a knife.
Jace looked down at where her arm still rested in his hand. "Because of that rune. I thought that it wouldn't be safe for you to be around a demon, but then I realised that you'd find out anyway and that would just drive you away from me. What good is that going to do?" He brought his eyes to meet hers, and the sincerity in them felt like it was a blow to her heart, finally stopping it in her chest. "I don't want to drive you away."
I went demon hunting with Sebastian. He climbed into my bedroom and I didn't turn him away. I risked it all because I was angry at you for something you didn't even do.
She couldn't shatter the look in his eyes. "When is the ritual happening?"
Jace shrugged. "I'm not sure, there's still some things Magnus needs to find for it." He wrapped his fingers around her wrist. "Do you forgive me?"
Clary wanted to wrench her hand away from him and punch herself in the face. "Forgive you for what?"
"For almost lying to you about the ritual. It was cowardly of me."
"But you didn't even do it." Clary focused her eyes on his fingers around her wrist. "You didn't lie at all."
Jace signed. "What would it achieve? Me and you need to work together if we're going to get that rune off your leg." When Clary finally made herself look him in the eye, he was looking back at her with a faint smile that didn't reach his eyes. "No more lying to each other. We're family, and I'm going to start acting like it."
Please don't. Anything but that, please. "No more lying." Did her voice sound normal? She couldn't tell. The porch felt like it was rippling beneath her like water.
Clary felt the ghost of a feeling. The feeling she felt that day in Taki's, when Jace said he would only be her brother from then on. It was like having your heart shatter in your chest mid-beat, as if words could change the rhythm of your pulse. Now, she felt a shadow of the heart break. Her heart beat had never recovered from the first time he had lost his feelings for her, and now it was just salt in an old wound. We're family.
"Great." He gently put her arm into her lap. "I'm heading over to Magnus's, if you want to come. The sooner this ritual is over with the better."
She shook her head. "I'm pretty tired," I need to go inside to cry. "And I think Luke's waiting on me for dinner."
"Good," He said, getting up. "Make sure you have enough to eat. Oh," Jace started down the steps. "I found something weird in Emmet's office today, But I call you about it later. Maybe we can have an actual conversation before you hang up on me."
She called some agreement back to him as he walked away. Clary dug her nails into her hands until the skin broke. She had lied to Jace's face. What was a white lie, when it came to someone you wanted to be happy? Jace, for all his talk about not driving her away, would be furious if he knew she had gone on a hunt with Sebastian, and that would lead to him and Sebastian being at each other's throats. The reason behind it didn't subdue the swelling guilt inside her.
Clary got up, and thundered down the porch steps. She didn't stop until she got to her bedroom window and threw herself up and through it, bitterly wondering how she would get the blood stains off the she had sheets she had left behind earlier today.
X
Takeout Menus were strewn across the breakfast table of the Kitchen in Simon's house. It was probably not uncommon to have a 'regular' place to eat, like a the deli not far from Clary's old apartment that was a staple of Simon's childhood, or even how Taki's seemed to be the only place the Lightwoods ever ate in. Simon's mom didn't have a 'regular' place to eat.
"How about this one?" His mom thrust a menu at him. Simon couldn't eat solid food, and he had pretended to read at least four of these menus already.
"No," Rebecca said, craning to see over his shoulder. "I don't feel like something spicy."
He looked between his mom and Sister. Rebecca didn't look much like him, but Clary said they had the same cool, brown eyes- even if Simon's colour seemed closer to black these days.
Neither of them knew that he was a vampire. Apparent in the was his mom turned her warm gaze on him and asked. "What do you feel in the mood for, Honey?"
Knocking on the front door saved Simon from answering.
"I got it." Rebecca jumped up, patting Simon on the head as she went passed him out into the hall.
"Are you feeling alright?" His mom reached for his hand, but he recoiled. His skin would feel ice cold to her. "You look pale."
That would be because I'm dead, mom. "Jet lag." He covered pulling away by pushing his hair out of his eyes. "I might crash soon."
The door into the kitchen opened, and Simon missed his mom's reply as his jaw hit the kitchen tiles.
Rebecca came back into the room slightly red in the Face, followed by Jace.
"It's for you, Simon." She said, making wide eyes at her mom that Jace couldn't see. Simon was speechlessly looking between Jace and his mom.
Jace smiled at Simon's Mom. "Sorry to interrupt your evening."
His mom smiled back, and elbowed Simon. "A new friend of yours, Sweetie?"
"This is Jace. He's Clary's-" Her what?" "Friend as well. From School."
"Oh," She didn't seem to notice the daggers that Simon was shooting at Jace and the smug expression that Simon knew meant he was enjoying this. She was too busy beaming at Rebecca, then Jace. "Well, would you like to join us for something to eat? It's always nice meeting Simon's friends. Have you known each other long?"
Jace shrugged, being as charming to his mother as he was to the Seelie Queen. "You could say it feel's like years."
"How nice. Are you in the band as well? Oh- What's it called now, Simon? You're always changing the name."
Rebecca wiggled her eyes at Simon, and he quickly stood up from the table, unable to stand his two worlds crossing for another second. "Did you want something, man?"
"I was passing by on my way to grab something to eat and wondered if you wanted to come with."
Passing by? From where? He wants something, or he wouldn't be here. "Sure," Simon said, glancing at his mom. She nodded and Simon made his way towards Jace and the door out into the hall as normally as he could. "I'll see you guys later."
"You boys be careful, okay?"
Jace smiled dazzling over his shoulder as Simon shoved him through the kitchen door. "I'll take good care of him."
Simon rolled his eyes and pulled the kitchen door behind them. Jace wasted no time in getting out of the house, Simon hurrying behind him struggling to put shoes on and walk at the same time.
"How do you know where I live?" The door shut behind them and Simon zipped his jacket up, not that He needed it.
"Don't worry about it."
"I'm extremely worried about it."
"There are bigger things to worry about right now." Jace said, "Like the fact that Clary is hiding something."
Simon, conscious that his Mom and sister were peeping at them through the kitchen window, started after Jace down the drive way. "What do you mean, hiding something?"
"You said it yourself earlier. She looks sick but have you noticed the way she's been acting?"
Simon had noticed. Clary would zone out for minutes at a time like she was submerged in water, her nails were bitten raw and she seemed so defensive when he so much as asked how she was. "Like what?"
They were walking aimlessly, Jace's pace was fast and irritated. "Today I went by after I got a really weird phone call from her. Luke said she was sleeping but then I bumped into her on the porch, dressed in gear."
Simon was working hard to keep up with Jace. "I don't think that's all that strange. You guys are meant to train all the time, right?" Jace didn't say anything. He was out of breath, and Simon could see that his eyes were blood shot. When he really, really focused, he could hear Jace's heart slam in his chest as if he was running for his life. What was wrong with him? "Is there something you're not telling me?"
Jace stopped walking, and stared at Simon with an intensity that made him step back. "Tell me how to look after her like you do, because all I seem to be doing is making it worse."
He stared at Jace. This is what desperation must look like. Simon almost pitied Jace, before he snapped out of it. "You have a special way of making everything about you, did you know that?"
The intensity in Jace's eyes was extinguished immediately, replaced by something much colder. "I don't care about me. I care about Clary. I thought you would understand but I must have been mistaken, vampire."
There it is. Jace's sure fire way of trying to make Simon forget the burning desperation he had in his eyes just minutes before, so that all Simon would be is annoyed rather than think Jace might actually have feelings. Simon rolled his eyes. "You want to help? Why don't you start treating her like a person and not a problem for a change."
Simon turned on his heal and started to strop home, feeling Jace looking at the back of his head as he walked away, and not even turning to glare back at him when he heard Jace's phone ring. Simon only turned around when he heard the tone in Jace's voice.
"What do you mean tonight? How can he be ready?"
Simon stopped. If he had any sense, he would turn back around and walk as fast as he could away from the Shadowhunter and go home to his mom and sister and there normal, mundane take out.
Jace had finished muttering quietly down the phone and snapped it shut. He started walking away from Simon, just as the street lights around them blinked on.
Grumpily, Jace called out. "Are you coming or not?"
He threw one last look towards his house before running to catch up with Jace.
X
ONE NEW TEXT MESSAGE FROM: JACE
Ritual happening tonight. Meet at Magnus's.
Clary had wasted no time after getting that Text from Jace. Her whole body ached. From the wound on her arm, the soreness from hunting and the general dizziness she had felt since fainting during her run this morning, Clary was a little disappointed she couldn't crawl into her clean bed, having spent the last two hours getting blood out of the coverlet- not to mention off the floor.
What was one supposed to wear to a demon summon ritual? She associated demons with wearing gear, but that was for fighting. In the end, Clary threw on clean jeans and a thick turtle neck with her gear jacket on top for good measure. Clary wanted to look like she knew what she was doing. Turning up in full fighting gear would get her sneered at by Isabelle, but she didn't want Alec to think a hoodie and Jeans is not taking being a Shadowhunter seriously. She has to be perfect.
Luke had crashed on the sofa and she threw a blanket over him before heading out. Darkness covered the street. Once upon a time, not so many months ago, Clary would have walked in the dark like this with her earphones plugged into her Ipod and not a single clue about any of the shadows around her. Now, she walked briskly between the spaces under the street light aware of every noise she heard.
When she did finally thunder up the steps of Magnus's apartment, she couldn't wait to finally be inside.
The door into the apartment was opened by Alec, who smiled at Clary when he opened the door. "You got here fast."
"I didn't want to you start without me." She shrugged, Or get eaten on the way here. Stepping past Alec, she took the room in. All the furniture had been pushed to the far side of the room to make way for the large 5-pointed star that was being drawn by Magnus. "woah."
"Woah indeed."
Jace was leaning against the far wall, his hands in his pockets. She was pleased to see that he was wearing the exact same clothes as earlier. Just dark jeans and a t-shirt. She was very relieved not to have worn full fighting gear.
Clary shook her head. "I can't believe this is really happening."
Alec padded past Clary and leaned down to look over Magnus's shoulder. "I've never seen it done before either. Is it complex?"
Sighing, Magnus stood up. "This part is child's play. I was doing this before I was fully Grown. It just takes a lot horse power."
Clary skirted around the drawing to stand next to Jace. "I didn't realise it would be happening so soon."
"Neither did I." His voice was tense. "Sebastian found what we needed, apparently."
Clary's heart jumped in her chest slightly. Don't be weird or he'll be on to you. "That's good, right?"
Jace made a noise of agreement, his eyes focused on Magnus drawing symbols around the edges of the pentagram. For once she was glad he wasn't focusing on her. She could tell Jace was tense about summoning a demon, and it probably wasn't helped by Sebastian beating him to getting the demon parts. At least, he thought it was Sebastian who had beaten him.
The front door opened, and Clary did a double take. "Simon?"
Simon looked up, Isabelle and Caleb entering in behind him. "Surprise."
He held out the white plastic bag in his hand to Alec. "That's everything you asked for. Do you know how hard it is to find candles this time of year that aren't scented cinnamon apple or something stupid like that?"
"What are you doing here?" Clary asked him. "I thought you had to un-pack and everything."
"I did, but-"
"Couldn't bare to miss out could you, Bloodsucker?" Jace cut Simon off and Clary shot him a glare.
"What does it matter?" Isabelle laid her coat over one of the tables pushed against the wall. "We're all here now, lets get this party started."
Caleb whooped at headed over to help Magnus organise the candles from the bag Simon had brought around the pentagram.
Clary looked around. "Isn't Sebastian coming?"
Jace had taken up his old position against the wall. "Disappointed?"
"No," Alec answered her as if Jace hadn't spoken. "He's not."
"He doesn't approve." Isabelle rolled her eyes and elbowed Clary. "I think he's afraid of Magnus."
Why would Sebastian go hunting for the ritual if he wasn't going to take part?
"Anyone with any sense should be." Magnus was nodding to himself. "Alec, could you get me the Eye, please?"
"What do the symbols around the pentagram mean?" Simon asked Magnus as Alec slipped into the next room.
"They're Demonic runes. They mean a variation of things."
Caleb grinned. "Like a cooler version of our runes."
"If you think Demon runes are cooler than angel runes," Jace looked amused. "you're in the wrong profession."
Alec came back in, and handed the Mason jar he was holding to Magnus. Magnus shook it at the teenagers. "Do not step into the pentagram from this point on, do you understand me? That is what his keeping it from being able to reach over and rip your faces off."
There was a murmur of agreement as they gathered around the five pointed star.
With a wave and a flash of blue sparks from Magnus's hands, the candles around the room were lit and the lights went out.
The candle light cast an eerie Glow on Magnus's face. "It's time." Magnus closed his eyes and started to chant something in a throaty language. Simon was looking from Isabelle to Caleb in surprise. Clary had never heard anything like it before.
"He's speaking Chthonian, It's a demon language." Said a voice in her ear, as if reading her mind.
She looked over to Jace. "What is he saying?"
He shrugged. "No idea. Not Many Shadowhunters study it anymore."
The Candle flames grew, flickering away. Magnus stopped chanting and opened his eyes. He drew a knife out his waist coat pocket and sliced his palm with it. Alec winced as the warlock stepped into the pentagram and held his hand over the runes, dripping blood over them. He emptied the jar from earlier into his other palm. The little yellow eye gleamed in his hand. He placed it into the centre and took his place outside the star.
"Join hands." He told them.
The yellow eye started to shake, and spark. Clary took Simon's hand then, hesitantly, Jace's; His hand was so much bigger than hers. She could feel the roughness of his fingertips on the back of her hand. His eyes were forward but he held her hand tightly.
Magnus's chants got louder, and the flames rose with his voice. Clary could see Simon instinctively shy from them. Suddenly, the eye caught fire. The blaze stayed low and contained, but threw off thick black smoke that rose high into the room. Clary watched in awe as the smoke took form of a person, well, almost a person. It had two legs, two arms, and a head with one glowing yellow eye.
"Magnus bane." The voice did not come from any mouth on the demon, the sounds seemed to pour out of the fire below.
Magnus wiggled his ringed fingers at the Demon. "Hello."
"What do you want?"
Magnus frowned. "Now now, the last demon I invited over was much more polite. Where are your manners?" The Demon said nothing. Magnus frowned. "Fine. Earlier today, you were despatched back to the void by a Shadowhunter. We want to know who summoned you onto this plain."
The fire made a noise that sounded like a cackle. "We have no today here, we need not such phrases as today!"
Magnus's eyes blazed brighter than the fire in the pentagram. "You are in my control, Ilbis demon. Do not test me." His voice boomed. The fire wavered.
"I know of no yesterday, Master," The voice said, dripped in submission. "But I walked the earth, it is true."
"Who summoned you, Child?"
"No angel blood runs in him, Master." The demon said. "The blood that runs to his heart is as black as his eyes."
"In the name of the Clave," Jace said. "Give us a name."
The smoke looked as if it turned, placing it's self in front of Jace. If it did have a face, Clary was sure it would be glaring at Jace.
"Angel boy. Your Clave means nothing to me. I would crush the bones of the Nephilim in the blink of an eye"
"You have met the wrath of a Shadowhunter already. Don't push your luck, ugly." Isabelle snarled as if she was ready to jump into the pentagram and fight the flames.
"And you kind of need more than one eye to blink, dude." Caleb looked over to Simon. "Would he be blinking or winking if he only has one eye?"
The demon turned back to Magnus. "I do not know the name of my true master."
"Than you are no help to us." Magnus's voice was fringed with irritation. "begone-"
The demon whipped around the pentagram, the flamed blazing upwards. The demon's face seemed to split into a grin when it rested it's gaze on Clary. It leaned over the chalk lines surrounding it. "Tell me, little one, Do you think your angel will save you, in the end?"
Jace wrenched her behind him, breaking the circle As Magnus started to Chant loudly in Chthonian.
"What?" Jace said, his voice was like thunder. "What does that mean?"
The members of the group were all looking from one to another, Clary thought she heard Isabelle scream at Magnus to banish it, but she was too fixated to the flames to hear.
The demon pointed at Clary with an arm of curling smoke. "She is Marked for the slaughter. She is Marked! She is marked-"
The whole room started to spin around Clary as she stumbled back from the pentagram as the demon wailed like nails being dragged down a chalk board.
"Marked for the Sacrifice. Marked for the ritual. Will her angel blood save her then?"
"What ritual?" Magnus boomed in English, his voice carrying around the room like a roll of thunder. His eyes blazed fiercely. "I order you tell us, Demon!"
The smoke twisted away from Clary and turned back to Magnus. "The awakening."
"Enough!" Cried Magnus. "You have been of little use to us. Begone, and pray we never call on you again."
Magnus waved his arm and the candles went out, taking the fire and smoke with it. The room went dark and plunged into Panic. Everyone was shouting over each other and Alec fumbled for a light switch as Caleb fell over one of the candle sticks.
Clary felt an arm around her waist holding her up. She shook all over. The awakening. The awakening. That is what Valentine had said to her in her dream, the dream where he gave her the mark. Marked for the slaughter.
The lights came back on, and Clary sunk to the floor. Simon, who had been holding her up, went down with her. She could hear him asking her if she was okay, and she shook her head.
"It was the same." She said, looking frantically from Magnus to Jace. "The demon said the same thing as Valentine in the dream. Are you listening to me?" Jace had turned white to the roots of his hair. He was frozen on the spot staring at her. "It was the same."
"Wait," Simon stood up, looking between Magnus, Jace and Clary. "what's going on?"
Alec and Isabelle were looking as confused as Simon. Alec frowned. "Jace?
Slowly, Jace started to shake his head. "This is bad."
"What's bad?" Simon demanded. "Clary?"
Jace whipped his head towards Magnus. "What should we do?"
"I don't know." Magnus rubbed his eyes. "I need a drink."
Magnus headed towards his kitchen giving Alec's shoulder a squeeze as he went.
Behind Clary, Jace started talking. His voice was flat as he explained about Clary's dream, the rune on her leg and the way normal runes burnt her. Clary wasn't listening. She was focused on the knife that Magnus used during the ritual, on the floor a few feet from her. She retrieved it from the pentagram. Clary used the knife to rip her jeans and expose the rune.
"So now you know." She said, turning and showing them.
Isabelle's hands flew to her mouth and Alec swore softly.
Jace's eyes bulged when he saw it. "What the hell did you do?"
The ugly, scrawled rune one her leg was red and angry, surrounded by dry blood and deep cuts.
The knife slipped from her hand and clattered on the hardwood floor. "The codex said runes could be disfigured."
Caleb was sitting on the floor with his hand over his forehead. "Not that one, by the looks of it."
"What the hell," Alec spoke calmly. "Is wrong with the two of you? Why didn't you tell anyone?"
"If the Clave found out Clary would be locked up in the silent city like some kind of lab rat, and you know it, Alec-"
"Did you really think we would tell anyone?" Isabelle looked as angry as Alec. Simon was silent, doing nothing but looking at Clary with hurt expression.
"No." Jace sank onto one of the sofas against the wall. "I know that you would never, but how could I ask you to keep something this big from Maryse and Robert? If you had to lie to the Clave, you'd be breaking the law."
Alec folded his arms across his chest tightly. "As if we haven't already smashed the law into a million pieces already? Jace, half the conclave is dead. I'm not afraid of the law."
Magnus had slipped back into the room without her noticing, and stood at her side. He handed her a glass of water. "Are you alright?"
Jace was still arguing with his siblings. She nodded.
"Demons are cryptic. Don't drive yourself insane over what it said."
Clary met Magnus's eyes. "Do you think I'm going to die?"
He returned her stare, for a long hard minute before laughing dryly. "Not if they have anything to do with it."
Magnus nodded to the lightwoods, Simon and Caleb. They were quiet now, looking back at her.
"I never wanted any of this." She said. "I never wanted anyone to have to lie or be afraid or anything because of me."
"None of that matters." Isabelle spoke firmly. "We're in this together. Which means," She cast an icy look in Jace's direction. "We need to work together."
Everyone except Jace and Magnus nodded firmly.
"Tomorrow," Jace said, "We should re-group and come up with a strategy going forward."
Caleb nodded. "Taki's?"
"I could go for Taki's and strategizing." Simon nodded.
"It's late." Alec said. "We should all get some rest."
Coats were grabbed and good byes were exchanged, and Clary found herself on the doorstep of Magnus's building. The cold air felt amazing on her face. The rest of the group filed out of the building behind her, and Simon caught up to her side.
"I understand why you didn't tell me." He said, bumping her with his shoulder. "I understand, but it still sucks."
"I'm sorry. I was going to tell you, I really was."
Simon signed. "I can't wait to go to sleep. First 24 hours home and I've already summoned a demon. Figures."
"I'm sorry about that, as well." Clary stopped walking. "You'd be worried about school or band practise rather than demons and drinking blood if it wasn't for me."
"Hey," Simon frowned. "That's not true. Band practises worry me even in the afterlife."
"You know what I mean." Clary shook her head. "I wish I could just- stop."
The others were catching up to them now. "Stop what?"
"Everything."
"Clary, are you-"
"I'm heading home," She said, brightly. "I'll see you at Taki's, Si."
Clary gave him a quick hug to silence his protests about walking her home and started down the street before she would have to talk to the others. She'd ruined Simon's life. He would never age. Everyone he has ever met will die and he will be forced to live forever. She needed to be alone. As she turned the corner, her footsteps became the only sound in the deserted street. Finally, she was alone.
She was almost home when her phone buzzed in her pocket. She lifted it to her ear. "hello?"
"It's me." Jace said, "Just checking that you didn't get eaten on the way home. You stormed off pretty fast earlier."
"I just needed to be alone."
"I wish I'd never told you about the ritual. I didn't think it would be like that."
Clary signed. "It makes everything less complicated now, I guess. Now that everyone knows."
Jace laughed dryly. "'Complicated' is a good word for it."
She started up the steps of Luke's porch. "Speaking of complicated, I was going to visit Mom before Taki's tomorrow. I haven't been in a stupidly long time. I was wondering- well, I mean- you can come with if you want." There was silence on the other end of the phone. "You don't have to." Clary added quickly.
"Okay." He said, after an uncomfortably long pause. "Sure. I'll be at Luke's at nine."
"Oh," Clary didn't expect him to actually say yes. "Okay, I'll see you tomorrow then."
Jace hung up, and Clary stared at the phone for a long moment. Anxiety bloomed in her chest. Why did she do that? He only accepted so he wouldn't hurt your feelings. Way to go, idiot.
Clary used her stele and let herself into the house. Luke was still crashed on the couch, and she made a b-line for her room and her bed.
Tomorrow was another day, and Clary felt like she needed all the rest she could get to face it.
X
09:25 AM
Where is he?
The bubble of anxiety that she had desperately pushed down earlier that morning rippled to the surface. What if Jace was joking? He been caught off guard when she asked him to visit her mother with her last night. She knotted her hands in her lap. Would he actually stand her up?
Clary wiped her lip-gloss angrily on her sleeve. She put it on this morning with the thought of seeing Jace; Stupid, she thought, like he would care about her lips, or the fact she wore her hair down, the way he liked it best. Like he would even show. She got up from where she was waiting on Luke's porch and stomped down the steps, truck keys in hand.
Clary climbed in, yanking the door shut behind her. She had just started the engine when the passenger door opened and Jace slid in, making her lurch the truck forward in surprise. He grinned at her, his hair and face wind kissed, golden locks lit up like a halo in the Sun of the winter morning.
Clary frowned. "You're late."
"Fashionably so," Jace said, rubbing his cold hands together. "Does the heater work in this thing?"
"I didn't think you were even going to show up, I thought you forgot."
"Clearly, you were about to reverse over me." He reached forward and fussed over the heater's buttons. Clary rolled her eyes and turned it on for him, slightly satisfied she knew how to do something he didn't. Their hands brushed as he pulled away, and even though they were cold, her skin pricked with heat where his fingers brushed hers.
"Like I would stand you up, Clary." He added, quickly dropping his hand.
Clary's stomach churched loudly, clearly not satisfied with the glass of water she had for breakfast.
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Hungry?"
"All the training must have boosted my metabolism." She laughed nervously. She didn't really skip breakfast, it wasn't like she was on a diet or anything. She just felt a better on an empty stomach. Her body felt light and ready to go.
He shot her hard glance, but shrugged. He kept up conversation over her tummy rumbles. "Emmet had it out with us this morning, apparently babysitting Max wasn't in the Job description Maryse Gave him. We're shocked as well."
"You shouldn't be so hard on Emmet- or Caleb, for that matter. "
"Even max thinks Caleb is weird."
"I think there is a lot more to Caleb and Emmet then they let on." she sighed.
"You seem friendly with them."
Clary shot him a sideways look "Caleb and Emmet?"
He nodded, now absently picking at his nails. Clary frowned. "Why wouldn't I be? Don't you like them?"
"I think they're hiding something."
She frowned. "What would they be hiding?"
He leaned forward in his seat, with narrow eyes. "Emmet's what? 20? 22 at the most, and he's running an Institute? that's basically unheard of, Clary. Plus, me and Alec broke into his office."
Clary looked at him sharply. "You what?"
"Christ, keep your eyes on the road." Jace gripped the door handle. "We found a pile of letters under a lose floor bored."
"What did they say?"
"No idea. They burst into flames when we touched them. People who have nothing to hide don't enchant their mail."
"Maybe Emmet is a little shady" Clary admitted. "But Caleb is a sweetheart."
He sank back into his seat slightly. "I wish I could see the good in people, like you do." Clary couldn't tell if it was the fact he was looking out the window, or just the sudden softness of his voice that made him sound so distant.
The traffic started to move, so she tore her eyes off him and focused on the road. "I know Emmet and Caleb." she said, changing the subject. "They wouldn't hide anything bad, not like Hodge -if that's what you were thinking."
"I would just like to point out that that's exactly what we all thought about Hodge."
She dug her fingers into the wheel, and sighed heavily. She thought of Caleb, all lanky arms and legs and big black eyes- the idea of him hiding something was almost laughable. He was just so- so sweet. Even Emmet who she'd only had a few real conversations with, seemed always in a good mood. she was slightly surprised how defensive she felt, she had only known the Whitetales a short about of time, yet they had been her only company in the lightwoods absence. The idea of someone else lying or scheming behind her back wasn't something she could take right now. Desperate to suppress the idea, she changed the subject "You can still change your mind, you know. I know how you feel about her, it's okay."
The last time he had visited, when Clary's mom first went to Hospital, he had stood at the end of the hospital bed speechless until Clary yelled at him.
His eyes were fixated on something in the distance, avoiding her glances, but his hands were balled tightly on his lap "I'm not exactly Son of the year, I know."
"She's not exactly Mother of the year, either. But as our family members go, she's not that bad."
He laughed dryly. "It's strange how alike they are."
"Who?"
Jace reached over to turn the heater down. "Valentine and Jocelyn."
she frowned. "How are they alike?"
He sat back in the leather seat and looked over at her thoughtfully. "They both lied to protect us." he Stated. "Jocelyn took your memories and hid the shadow world from you. Valentine lied about who he was, our last name and so forth."
"And they both lied to us about each other." Her grip on the wheel tightened as they turned into the parking lot adjacent to the hospital. "But they aren't anything alike."
"Clary-"
She yanked the keys out of the ignition. "c'mon, we're here."
They walked through the parking Lot and hospital in a strange silence, neither one daring to be the first to break it. Even though he had only been here once, Jace seemed to take lead, striding through the white washed halls only slowing occasionally to allow her to catch up.
When they reached the ward, Clary approached the desk to sign them in for visiting. The Nurse at the desk looked up and smiled, Clary realised, at Jace. Of course, she was smiling at Jace. He wasn't Glamored, and he was beautiful. Girls probably smiled at him all the time. The Nurse herself was pretty. Dark, clear skin and brown eyes that seemed to have a strange shimmer to them, framed by long eyelashes.
"Good morning," Even her voice was pretty. "Who are you visiting today?"
"Our mother," Clary Grumbled. "Jocelyn Fray."
The Nurse nodded and pulled the computer keypad towards her. "okey-doke, let me just get you all signed in and then-" She frowned at the screen.
Jace leaned over the desk. "Is something wrong?"
The Nurse looked up with furrowed brows. "It's just- Jocelyn Fray isn't here."
The words took a few seconds to actually make any sense to Clary, she blinked at the nurse. "what do you mean she's not here?"
"The system says she's been transferred to a private end of life unit- she was signed out an hour ago."
"End of life- an hour ago- sighed out." Clary's heart felt like it was beating in her ears, had Jace not got a sudden Iron grip around her shoulders, she might have bolted down the hall to her mother's room. "Who signed her out?" She demanded.
The nurse looked back to the screen and typed away at the keyboard. "Er- yes, 8:03AM, she was signed out by her husband for transfer."
"Her Husband?"
Once again, the pretty nurse frowned. "yes- A Mr. Morgenstern-"
That was it for Clary- Jace's grip was the only thing keeping her up now. She felt everything drain though her feet, like an invisible weight pulling her insides out.
"Sweetie, is something wrong?" The Nurse asked her, her eyes wide, no doubt at the fact Clary had turned as white as the wall.
Jace's grip tightened. "Our mistake," his voice dripped charm. "We were simply misinformed. Thank you for your help."
He turned them around and basically dragged Clary out of the ward.
The way out of the hospital was a blur, one minute she was looking at the pretty nurse, the next minute the Sun was in her eyes as Jace leaned her against Luke's Truck.
"I don't understand," She squeaked, digging her nails into her palms. "How- why?"
"Her eyes," Jace said. "Did you see the shine in them? Valentine must have used a persuade Rune – cast a Glamor or something. Give me your stele."
She retrieved it from her coat pocket and numbly handed it to him. "What are you doing?"
Jace took out his own silver stele and started to trace a rune on Clary's. "This is your mother's, Right?"
She nodded. "Yes, Luke Gave it to me. Why?"
"The tracking rune didn't work. You must have had to it long, or Valentine's blocking it somehow, or-"
"Or she's already dead."
Jace didn't say anything, his mouth was a hard line. "We need to get to the institute. Can you drive?"
She replied by yanking the driver's side door open and clambering in. She backed the truck out at an illegal speed, before Jace had even slammed his door shut. She disregarded the one-way system of the parking lot and drove out the entrance way, swerving out the way of the oncoming traffic.
Jace was gripping the dash, wide eyed. "When Isabelle said you could drive, I assumed she meant legally." He glanced in her direction, and made a disapproving noise as he reached over her and fastened her seatbelt.
"I can," she said with exaggerated patience. "I think this life or death situation warrants the illegal driving, don't you think?"
"He won't kill her," He stated bluntly. "He couldn't, He's in love with her-"
She whipped around to glare at him. "He doesn't love anyone!"
The truck swerved, and Jace gripped the dash again, swearing. "Watch where you're going!"
She gasped and focused back on the road. Clary made a silent prayer that there were no cops in the area.
"At Renwick's, I saw him talking to her, telling they that when she was awake they would be together again, that they -that we- would be a family again. He does love her. I think he always thought that she loved him to."
Clary scoffed. "She would never- not now. I don't know if anyone could love him.
Jace stared out the window, away from her "I did."
She glanced at him. "But that's- different-" Clary said, carefully. "He's your father."
Jace turned to her, straight-faced and guarded. "And yours."
She opened her mouth to reply, but he cut her off. "Just pullover here, before you tailgate someone. Traffic is horrendous. We'll save time by running."
Jace, Clary thought, would definitely save time by running, she however, could probably be outrun by her comatose mother. None the less, she pulled over and they abandoned the truck, taking off down the street on foot.
X
Hey guys
It's been a while because honestly, I've had no motivation to write.
If you could leave some feed back, it would be amazing and will help keep me going!
xx
