Alright another chapter for my lovelies. Thank you all for the wonderful reviews, I am feeling quite a bit better now and my writing is flowing much easier now. I hope you all just enjoy and please let me know what you think, and ideas or things you would like to see, and I have a feeling there will be many with things that you do not want to see, but I make no guarantees, I did say this would be darker. Hehe, just trust and enjoy the ride.
Chapter 9
"What do you mean they out forth a kill on sight order?" Jocelyn said, her voice full of panic. Luke hurried to her side, wrapping an arm securely around her waist.
"That's what the message said." Jace answered simply with a calm and even tone. He turned slightly and saw he was still standing next to the couch and he allowed himself to fall into the security of the cushions. He wasn't so sure his feet could have supported him much longer. "Clary what have you done?" Jace said to himself as he covered his face with his hands.
Simon looked around to the mostly quiet and shocked faces. "Come on guys, we all know Clary, she will find a way to give us word as to where she is and that she is ok." Simon at least felt a little better knowing that Clary was not in the hands of some shady as fuck secret council that could have been doing only g-, could have been doing anything to her.
"But if she discloses our location to us we will have to inform the council, it is our duty as Clave members." Maryse said not bothering to look in Jocelyn's direction, she knew there would be a look of hatred on her face.
"Mom, this is Clary we are talking about. I know you haven't really taken the time to get to know her but I have." Izzy protested. "Clary wouldn't hurt anyone, or do anything to deserve a kill on sight order. Sure she was able to escape, but it's possible she should never have been taken in the first place."
"But." Maryse began but was never able to finish as Jace stood effectively cutting everyone off.
"Magus, will you take everyone back to New York and I will follow in the house, I don't think we will be needed in Idris anymore." Jace said sternly.
"I'll stay with you Jace." Izzy said cheerily.
"No." Jace said and left the room, walking up the invisible steps and then into his room. He slammed the door behind him.
"I guess that means it's not up for discussion." Magnus said. "Alrighty everyone, you heard the cranky man, everyone together we are going home."
Clary blinked a few times trying to take in her surroundings and figure out exactly where Sebastian had taken them. It had been cold in Idris but Clary was first met by the incredible heat that washed over her body. She looked around and found that nothing was recognizable. There were rocky hills and mountains all around her, not a single patch of green anywhere. Clary looked up into the sky and noticed the familiar sun she was used to, had been replaced with an ominous red orb that barely lit the sky.
"Sebastian, where are we?" She asked looking to her brother for answers but in her hear she had a sinking feeling she might already know the answer to her question.
"I've brought you home to meet my mother." He said simply leading the way through the jagged rocks.
Clary had no choice but to follow Sebastian. At least she still had her stele with her, which she placed in her bra for safe keeping as she started off after Sebastian who did not even bother to look back to make sure she was coming. Clary wondered exactly how welcoming a demon would be to someone that was part angel.
They had been walking for what felt like forever and Clary had begun to shake off some of her layers of clothing due to the heat. Sebastian seemed to be completely comfortable and didn't appear to even be sweating in the smoldering heat. Clary on the other hand was dripping in sweat from head to toe and desperately wished there would be at least a light breeze to help cool her skin. Her feet had begun to ache from maneuvering over the sharp rocks that threatened to trip her if she made even one wrong step.
"We got here at a good time; the sun is up so the rest of the demons are in hiding. We should make it to Lilith's place if we keep up this pace." Sebastian said cheerily from about 10 steps ahead of Clary. She was struggling to keep up, and she wondered how much longer she would have to "keep up" this pace. She looked to the sun and was surprised that it had not moved much in the sky from the last time she had looked at it. If he was worried that they may not make it before sundown then that would mean they still had a considerable walk left to go.
"How long is the sun up here?" Clary asked, her voice was rough from her throat being so dry.
"I didn't have a watch when I was here last but I would guess for about an hour." Sebastian said turning sideways to squeeze between two large boulders. Clary didn't even need to turn to fit through them. It was a physical reminder to her just how large and powerful her brother really was.
"Lilith told me once there are two planets here that circle each other which cause the sun to be blocked out so much." Sebastian stopped to point up to the sky. "See over there in the horizon, the large mountain like thing?"
Clary looked and saw the horizon was greatly rounded and dark. "Yeah?" She said trying to squint to see something important.
"That's the other planet. In about half an hour it will completely cover the sun and it will be pitch black except for the lava river of course." Sebastian said giving his sister a wicked grin before resuming his quick pace across the hazardous terrain.
Clary looked down and sighed, that meant they were only about half way there. She pulled the stele from under her shirt and gave herself an endurance rune, she was going to need it if she wanted to get there before the sun went down. She wasn't exactly sure that she felt much safer to be in Lilith's home either.
Jace sat on his bed for awhile, not wanting to leave his room until he was sure that everyone else would be gone and he would be completely alone. He was trying to rationalize in his head exactly what was going on, but the fiery letters kept flashing through his head KILL ON SIGHT.
At least Clary was not in the hands of the Clave council members. They could have been torturing her, questioning her, starving her, he didn't even want to think of other nasty things that could have been done to her. She was with Sebastian, and he knew that he would protect her, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something had been off about Sebastian ever since his sudden reappearance.
The guard that had visited him said that Sebastian had nearly killed one of the other guards which was proof enough that not all was well with him. Jace wandered out of his room, finding himself just barely down the hall, standing in front of Clary's door. He touched his hand lightly to the handle, trying to feel her presence there.
He opened the door lightly and smiled lightly seeing the bed a tangled mess of sheets and blankets. Clary was not as neat and tidy as he was and while it had always drove him nuts, seeing this small part of her comforted him. He walked over to the bed putting his hand on her side of the bed feeling the soft silky sheets beneath his palm. Their last night in this bed had been a really good one and Jace smiled at the memory and then quickly the smile faded. What if something happened to her and he would not get the chance to see her ever again? What if he never got to see the way her face lit up when she smiled, or the way her cheeks flushed when she was embarrassed?
Jace was pulled from his thoughts by a small fiery message that appeared before his eyes. He snatched the message reading it quickly.
We need to meet. –B
Jace's heart thumped hard in his chest and he sent a reply as quick as he could. He would be back in New York by morning and he could meet with Brandon away from prying eyes and ears. It was mostly what Maryse was saying that made Jace snap the way he did. She was too busy worrying and looking after herself. If it had been Alec or Izzy she would have at least questioned going to the council with any information, but since it was Clary, Maryse would not hesitate to rat her out just to be on the safe side. Actually, Jace wasn't too sure that Maryse wouldn't go to the Clave with the information she already had. Jace hoped that it had not been a mistake inviting her in the first place. She had once been like a mother to him.
Jace took Clary's pillow and brought it to his nose. It smelled like her and he wanted a piece of her with him or else he feared he would never get to sleep but he didn't want to sleep in her bed and mess up the perfect cacophony of her sheets. He took the pillow back with him to his bedroom and stripped off his clothes down to just his boxers.
He pulled back the sheets and got under the covers, holding the pillow tight to his chest and burying his nose in it while closing his eyes. He tried to imagine Clary safe and waiting for him in New York. He would go with her wherever she wanted to go, and would happily live out the rest of his life in hiding from the Clave as long as it meant that he could be with Clary and she would be safe.
Clary looked up to the sky again, seeing the large round planet inching its way across the sky, getting closer and closer to the sun. She was feeling much better since marking herself with the rune. Her sweat had dried on her skin and she wasn't producing any more, she figured her body was just too dehydrated to even sweat anymore and her skin was left itchy.
Sebastian stopped walking and Clary nearly ran into the back of him. "Wha.." She started then stopped as she saw what was in front of them. It was a kind of clearing, with large stone pillars arranged in a circle like shape around mostly cleared ground. It was something like what she imagined Stonehenge would look like if there was no grass or trees nearby.
"We made it before the sun set after all." Sebastian said happily entering the stone circle and taking a seat on a large flattened boulder lying horizontally on the ground. Clary followed along and sat beside him giving her feet a much needed rest. She removed her shoes and tried to massage some life back into her feet.
"Lilith will be around once the sun sets. Other demons don't usually enter here unless Lilith tells them to so we should be relatively safe here." Sebastian said looking over to Clary. She was obviously exhausted from their journey. He grabbed a hold of the foot she was rubbing and started to massage her feet for her.
His hands were warm against her smooth skin. Clary was surprised at first and then visibly relaxed as Sebastian worked magic with his fingers helping to smooth out the pain she was feeling. Clary closed her eyes and leaned back on her elbows and just let herself enjoy Sebastian's hands on her aching limb.
Sebastian used his thumbs to rub her foot thoroughly eliciting an occasional sigh from Clary as he soothed the spots that ached her the most. He set her foot down delicately when he was finished with it, and then moved swiftly off the rock to grab her other foot in his hands.
He took his time rubbing this foot as well as he had done the other. Clary opened her eyes and watched him work for awhile; he was completely absorbed into his work. Clary shut her eyes again just relishing in the relief she was feeling after the long exhausting day. She couldn't believe that not long ago she was escaping out of a jail like place. Clary let herself get lost in contemplation and did not notice as the sun slipped beneath the large sister planet, plunging the world around her into darkness.
Sebastian continued to work on Clary's feet. The small sighs coming from her partially parted lips were driving him insane. He tried to focus on what he was doing and got lost in the feeling of her skin against his. He fantasized about running his thumbs up her feet to her ankles and then continuing slowly up her thighs as he crawled up her body until she was pinned below him. But it wasn't time for that yet, soon, but not yet.
Sebastian stopped letting his hands fall to the rocky ground and Clary opened her eyes. He saw her blink a few times to adjust to the darkness. Her skin was pale against the night sky, there was a red tint to the air from all the lava streams that flowed freely across the planet. The red in her hair looked like flowing lava, her skin pale and creamy like marble. Sebastian couldn't hold himself back any longer and he moved quicker than Clary could even register and his lips were suddenly on hers.
Clary didn't even know how to react, her brain to slow to process his quick movement or what he was doing. She felt his lips against her own, a sickening wrongness swept through her body. His hands were on both sides of her head holding her still. She felt a sharp pain on the back of her head, and then she was swiftly pulled under by darkness.
Sebastian felt her body go limp against him. He released the hold he had on her and she fell limply onto the stone. Behind where Clary had been sitting Sebastian saw a familiar face and he smiled. "Lilith, so good to see you again."
"I have told you before; please call me mother, for that is what I am." She growled lovingly. "I see you have brought me your sister as promised, and sorry to break apart your intimacy, but she is not yet ready to be yours. Not until she has the mark, you know this, which is why you have come is it not."
"Yes mother." Sebastian said looking down with lust filled eyes to his unconscious sister. He watched with a smile as Lilith removed Clary shirt and began to carve with one sharp nail a mark above Clary's heart, one that pulsed red in time with her beating heart, on that matched his own.
