Hello, hello everyone! I'm back with Chapter 9 for you . It's got a lot of FIRE! I hope that you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Hello to all of the return readers, and welcome to all of the new ones. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I'm not Cassandra Clare, and I don't own anything MI related. Just messin' with her characters is all ;).

CLARY p.o.v.

I sat there as four pairs of eyes stared at me with mixed reactions of confusion and shock. It had been at least ten seconds since I had finished telling them what had happened to me, and yet, no one spoke.

"So…yeah…I guess that's it," I said, making sure that they knew I had finished. I fiddled with the hem of the oversized, tie-dyed t-shirt Magnus had loaned me; the shoulders were damp from my after-shower hair. My feet swung from the chair and barely scraped the ground. I felt like a small child under the scrutiny of her parents.

The first sound came from Magnus – an amused chuckle. "'That's it', she says," he dramatically waved his hand through the air. He studied me for a few seconds, and then stood up and placed his hands on the armrests of my chair. Does he not believe me? Magnus could be quite scary when he wanted to. I involuntarily moved back into my seat when he lowered his head to meet my eyes. Through my peripheral vision I saw Jace shove himself out of his chair, clearly alarmed by the close proximity between Magnus and I. "The almighty Angel Ithuriel rescues you from death, and delivers upon you a message from The Heavens, and you say, that's it?" He stood up and released a good, hearty laugh this time, making my heart and body jump. Phew! I thought. He sat back down and crossed his long legs, looking at me from over his glasses. "My darling, Clary, if you think that what happened to you is simply an everyday occurrence, you are grievously mistaken. The Angel Ithuriel does not make house calls for just any dying shadowhunter. You, my dear, you have a job to do."

"But what job?" I asked, feeling the panic and confusion rise from my gut. "How will I know what to do? He didn't tell me anything."

"Trust yourself," Jace said simply, as if it was the easiest thing in the world. "You'll know when you know." Leave it to him to be more confident in me, than myself.

"Easy for you to say, you're not afraid of anything!"

"Wrong." For a moment his eyes were dark and distant, and then they refocused and fell into a relaxed and almost sad, gaze."I'm afraid of losing you."

My breath hiccupped in my throat, and I stared at him with awe. He never spoke that way in front of his brother and sister. It was so…honest. Behind closed doors, yes, all of the time, but never out in the open. He was tough Jace out in the open. One side of him that I loved very much, part of the reason I fell in love with him.

Before I had time to physically pick my jaw up from the floor, and Alec's, and Isabelle's, Magnus ruined it by saying, "The boy has a point," he agreed. "If The Angel himself did not specify the time and place, then it is simply a waste of time to fret."

"But what if I can't do it?" I turned to Magnus. "What if I'm not strong enough to defeat it? Whatever it is? I can barely kill a demon!" I clenched my firsts hard, mentally cursing my mom for hiding this life from me for so long. It was costing me now. And it may cost the people I love, too.

"Hey, hey, relax, it's okay." Jace was next to me, taking my strained fists into his warm hands. He was a big, solid presence for me, and I don't know what I'd do without him. He rubbed soothing circles over my knuckles. "Look, we're going to figure this out. Okay? Together. All of us, you're not alone." I half-heartedly nodded. He winked, and then he moved his lips to my ear and spoke in secret, "Besides, this is something we can definitely work with. This whole hero thing…hot."

"We can hear you, genius," Isabelle said, flatly.

"Jealous?" he wiggled his eyebrows at her. "It's understandable. It has been quite a while since you've gotten lai-

Jace's sentence was stopped short with one flick of Isabelle's whip. It's snapped within an inch of his face. "Spare me, Lightwood," she rolled her eyes. But I could tell she was proud to call him a Lightwood. "But he's right, Clary, this is pretty badass," she said, winding the deadly accessory back up her arm. "I have to admit, I'm kiiiiiinda jealous."

What, Isabelle jealous of me? "No way," I dismissed it. But then I played along, "Don't worry Iz, you'll always be my sidekick." Alec tried and failed miserably to stifle his laugh under a cough. And Jace openly chuckled at my side.

I expected her to flick the whip in my face now, but instead she crossed the room, engulfed me in a bear hug, and said, "Damn straight." And she honestly sounded a little proud to say so. And I couldn't help but feel a little flattered to hear it. "And I swear, I will never be that stupid agai-"

"Stop," I forced her shoulders back, which was harder than it looked. "You've apologized enough. All of you," I said, meeting their eyes, one by one. Jace didn't look at me; instead he looked in the opposite direction out the window. "It was nobodies fault but my own." I had Jace's full attention now. "I couldn't handle myself. I wasn't strong eno-"

"No," Jace said. "It is not your fault. It's his fault." We all knew that when Jace said he, him, or his, he meant Tristan. "If he'd been looking after his student like he was supposed to, he would have noticed that you were hunting an Asmodeus Demon."

An Asmodeus Demon. There was that name again. I couldn't get it out of my head ever since I heard Jace identify it. The demon of lust apparently. Lust! That's what attacked me. I'd learned that they are a very, very rare form of demon. Ones that do not generally hang out in nightclubs looking for prey; they generally send lesser demons on those errands for them. And as important as this fact might be, I couldn't bring myself to tell them, especially Jace, who I'd seen when it transformed. How can you tell the person that you are so completely in love with, that when you stared into the eyes of a demon of lust, you didn't see him, you saw his mortal enemy.

"It takes years of mental and physical training to take them on alone," his voice snapped me back into focus. "You experienced first hand how strong they are. And therein lays my point. If he'd cared enough to notice that, he'd of taken you out of the equation and killed it himself."

"And you can't remember anything about your confrontation with the demon?" That was Alec asking. "You don't remember what you saw? Or perhaps what it said?"

"No," I lied. And I absolutely hated myself for it. But what good could it bring? None. It would only fuel an already raging fire within Jace. I know that Tristan is not what I want. I know that because I know myself. But if I told them what I saw, Jace could never forget it. It would eat away at him and I'm not sure he would ever look at me the same way. I can't risk that. So, as far as they know, I don't remember anything that happened after arriving at Pandemonium, and that's how I would keep it. "I'm sorry." And I was.

ALEC p.o.v.

We hadn't been home ten seconds before Jace broke away in search of Tristan.

"Heeeeere we goooo," Isabelle sang as we turned the corner to follow after him. "Ooooor, maybe we don't. Where'd he go?"

"We can't let them fight." Clary stressed to us as she checked the inside of Tristan's bedroom. She had attempted to reason with Jace during the taxi ride back to the institute, but he simply wouldn't discuss it. It was no use to argue; she knows that his number one priority in life is she and her wellbeing. It's utterly frustrating when the qualities you most admire and most despise in a friend are one in the same: conviction.

"We have to find them fir-" I was cutoff by the loud hum of conversation. I looked up toward the ceiling. "Weapons room." As we ascended the stairs the volume of their altercation grew louder, and clearer, and then we were standing in the doorway.

They didn't acknowledge our approach. "Look, man," Tristan said through gritted teeth. "Like I tried to tell you before, I didn't mean for that to happen. Obviously."

"I don't give a shit that you didn't mean for it to happen. The fact is, it did." I didn't need the rune for enhanced vision in order to see the rapidly pulsing vein in Jace's neck. "She should have never been put in that vulnerable of a position in the first place. She was nearly dead when we found her!" He was absolutely right. "If I hadn't come in when I did-"

"I would have been there to help her."

Jace took one threatening step forward, bringing them toe to toe. "What is it you're getting at?"

"Simple." Tristan said. "If you hadn't burst in when you did, completely throwing a wrench into my plan, I would have followed Clarissa and the demon into the room, and if she needed me, we would have taken it down, together, all the while keeping her nice and safe, for you."

"Bullshit." Jace said. "If she needed you? We both know that your plan was weak, and dangerous. If you're at all what you think you are, you would have known that there was no way she could have taken down an Asmodeus demon on her own, you shouldn't have even allowed her to try. She's not ready for that, yet. It would have taken less than a second for it to snap her neck. Half the time it would have taken you to get to them. Like I said…weak and dangerous."

"She killed it didn't she?"

Jace clenched his fists, and when I took a step forward, contemplating stepping in between them – or fighting beside him if need be - he held out his hand to stop me, not once taking his eyes off of Tristan. "Yes." His voice was low and menacing. "She did. But only after it shattered her skull and broke her ribs. And right before she fell into a coma because of it." He narrowed his eyes and brought his face within inches of Tristan's. "If you want to test me, Tristan, this is the wrong subject to do it on."

I'm pretty sure this was the first time he'd said Tristan's name aloud. I looked at Clary who was huddled in the doorway halfway hidden behind Isabelle. What had happened to the Clary that was downstairs, bursting through doors and shouting orders? It wasn't at all like her to stand back and keep quiet, especially when it came to Jace's safety. And if this resulted in a fight, no one in this room would be safe.

Tristan cocked his head to the side and studied Jace. "Is this really about what went down at the club?" he asked. "Or, is this about something else? Our past, perhaps? Me and you and Valen-"

Without warning Jace grabbed Tristan by the neck and shoved him against the weapons table. Tristan didn't fight back. Instead he smirked, as if it was fun.

"Jace," I warned. "Not here. Not now." He didn't stand down.

"Listen to your Parabatai, Morgenstern, I mean, Herondale, I mean, Lightwood."

In one swift motion Jace kicked Tristan's feet out from underneath him, and leveled him to the ground, stele pressing hard against his throat. Isabelle immediately lashed her whip, and it coiled around Jace's wrist – a precaution in case things went from bad, to worse, or worst.

Once again, Tristan made no effort to stop him, and for a couple of long, tense moments, nobody moved.

"Jace," Clary's tiny voice sounded from her spot in the doorway. "Don't," she said, quietly. "Please."

He looked up at her, and then back down at Tristan. "You're lucky that she's reason enough for me to stay out of the cells of the Silent City," he seethed. "Or I'd end you."

When Tristan moved to speak – most likely a remark that would force Jace to call to his weapon – I pointed directly at him. "You. Shut up." And then I put a hand on Jace's shoulder. "Enough," I said. Let's go." Isabelle uncoiled her whip, and Jace got to his feet. Without sparing another look at Tristan, he turned to go, grabbing the hand of a shocked and zombie-like Clary.

Something was definitely going on with her.

CLARY p.o.v.

I woke up this morning feeling hazy and lost; the same feeling I had as I went to bed last night, the same feeling I had as I watched – like a robot - Jace and Tristan have it out in the weapons room, and, if I'm being honest, the same feeling I've had ever since I met that Asmodeus demon at Pandemonium. But its intensity grew overnight. Exponentially. I keep marking it off as a side effect of, 'the sting'. And I'm really hoping I'm not wrong.

It's starting to affect my life. Last night, after me and Jace came back to my room, all he wanted to do was be close to me and love me, and tell me all of the reasons why he loved me. And there has never, ever been a time when I wasn't thrilled to hear them. Except for last night. It's like I was on autopilot, numbly moving through the motions: brushing my teeth, changing into my pajamas, watching Jace, watching me change into my pajamas. Even when he wanted to talk to me about Tristan, finally, I didn't care to hear about it, I couldn't make myself. Eventually he noticed, and with my lack of response and explanation, he got up and left. The scary part is, I didn't try to stop him. And then came the nightmares. Horrible ones. Ones filled with terror and loss. A single image haunted my mind: me, terrified, huddled in the corner of a dark room, holding a seraph blade to my chest, hands covered in blood. Through the dark I could hear footsteps coming nearer, and then it was there, a shadowy figure, standing in the doorway. That's when I woke up.

After that I couldn't sleep, so I quietly made my way to the library and did some research. I found a book titled: A Field Guide to Demons, Fairies, Fallen Angels and Nephillim. In that book I read all about Asmodeus demons and their purpose in the universe. Apparently they didn't have much of one beyond luring humans with lust, and then banishing them to the second level of hell. Thank the Angel I hadn't succumbed to that second part. Not yet at least. And hopefully not ever. But what frightened me the most was a small section that read:

Prior to its attack, sometimes days in advance, an Asmodeus Demon will seek out its prey

in order to establish a cerebral connection. This does not require physical contact, and it

alone will cause momentary incapacitation. For the victim, the days following this encounter

will become obscure and disarrayed. This act establishes a connection, and therefore deems

the demon's final kill, effortless.

And then it got worse.

If the demon is not destroyed, the victim's illness will rapidly worsen, and then, eventually, it will

consume them.

And that was it. There was no Cure section, no How-to guide on how to 'rid oneself of the condition'. That demon found me outside of Hot Wings that night and messed with my mind. I was sure of it. But I killed it, and now I just had to wait until the infection ridded itself from my body. Then I could go back to being my normal self. Or, at least as normal as life was for me these days.

As I was rearranging my weapons belt, preparing for training, there was a quiet knock at the door. I quick slipped into the gym shorts Izzy had loaned me – teeny-tiny, black, spandex shorts – of course. I always made fun of the girls on the volleyball team for wearing these butt-huggers, and here I am…

"Come in," I said, throwing on my favorite dark blue, t-shirt. It was perfect for working out. Maybe a little tight, but thin and easy to maneuver in.

Maryse poked her head in, smiling, and then came in, closing the door behind her. She was dressed in fitted workout pants and a black t-shirt, with her dark hair pulled into a tight, sweaty ponytail that fell to her waist. She was feminine, but strong. With her youthfulness, and Isabelle's maturity, they could almost pass as sisters. "Clary, can I speak with you for a moment?"

That's when it hit me. She must know about everything that has happened over the last couple of days. Someone told her.

"Of course." My throat was dry. "What can I do for you?" I asked, politely.

"I won't take too much of your time. After I freshen up I'll be departing on a two-day errand to Idris, and I'm already running behind," she said, as she pushed a button, illuminating her cell phone's face. She definitely didn't seem worried, or upset. "I spoke with Jace," she looked at me knowingly. "He's not quite thrilled with me at the moment. I'm well aware of his altercation with Tristan, and I have spoken with both boys on the matter." So they hadn't told her the whole story. Well I wasn't going to. "But regardless of the malevolence between them, your training will continue, as scheduled, until further notice. The Clave will not tolerate a disruption in your development due to any past or present," she searched for the word, "issues, the boys may have with one another. Understood?"

"Yes." And I did. The Clave wasn't necessarily known for their patience. And I couldn't blame Maryse for siding with them. For all she knows this is simply an act of rebellion on Jace's part.

"Okay then." She kissed me on the forehead and smiled. "Would you mind creating me a Portal when I'm ready?"

The thought excited me. "Absolutely!"

….

After seeing Maryse off, I headed toward the training room. I was fastening my weapons belt around my waist when I rounded the corner, and ran directly into someone. Jace. And there it was again, the huge void, flaring up, as if to make sure that I'd noticed it. The place where my emotions would run wild at the mere sight of him now seemed, empty. And not only empty, but agitated, and angry.

He was standing in front of me, arms crossed, dressed in full Shadowhunter gear. And Maryse was right. He wasn't thrilled.

"Hey," I said. "You going out?"

"Just getting in," he clarified, eyes immediately shifting to my shorts, and then to my thigh sheath, where I regularly kept Sammael. "Seriously?" He looked at me. "Is that necessary?"

"You're asking me if weapons are necessary for training?" I asked, caught of guard by the sudden hostility in my own voice. Since when had that happened? I wasn't hostile toward Maryse. Why Jace?

"No," he said, jaw clenched. "I'm asking if the booty shorts are necessary for training? And I can see through your shirt. You think this isn't hard enough for me already? Sending you in there. But now you're asking me to send you in looking like that? He won't be able to concentrate, Clary."

"The shorts," I pointed to them. "Not mine. They're Isabelle's. She left them for me at my door because she knew I didn't have any clothes. It's not my fault she chose them. And she's not here to give me anything else. The shirt, it's mine, and I always train in it. What you see through my shirt is my sports bra, not sexy lingerie. What do you want me to do, Jace?"

"Apparently nothing," he said. He narrowed his golden eyes, and brought his head down to study my face more closely. That's when I noticed the tiny specs of blood on his neck. He'd hunted, and killed. His eyes were searching for something, but I'm not sure what, and after a few seconds he withdrew, and folded his arms back across his chest. "What's going on with you, Clary?" he asked. "Something's not right."

When I didn't respond, he continued. "Are you looking for attention from him? Is that it? Did I do something to piss you off?"

The heat was rising from my belly, filling my cheeks with red-hot fury. "Attention? I repeated. "Is that what you think? Excuse me, Mr. Flirt With Every Girl in Sight, Regardless of Her Species, and Regardless of The Fact That I Have a Girlfriend! If anyone is seeking attention, it's you!"

"Are you kidding me? You know that you're the only girl in the world for me! What do I have to do in order to prove that to you?"

I took a slow deep breath before saying something I might really regret. But I was still livid. "Nothing, Jace. You don't have to do anything. Just leave me alone." I tried to step around him but he blocked my path. I wouldn't meet his eyes.

He put his finger under my chin and lifted my eyes to his. His anger was gone, replaced with hurt. "Clary," he said, moving his hands to my cheeks. "You are the most important thing to me. Ever. And I hate fighting with you. If I've done anything to hurt you, I am so, so sorry. I would never do anything to break your trust in me. I'm yours, always. And I love you."

Right now is when I would usually melt into his arms, and we would spend the next hour kissing, and making up, telling each other all of the reasons why we couldn't live without one another. But instead, I looked into his trusting eyes, and said, "I'm sorry. I can't do this right now. I'm late for training." I stepped away from his hands, and one glance back told me that he was still standing there, hands in midair where he'd held my face, lost and confused.

JACE p.o.v.

I slammed my bedroom door shut, and threw my jacket at the chair. I took out my cell phone and dialed Isabelle's number.

"What up, bro?" She answered, still excited from our three a.m. hunt. We'd taken down two Shedim Demons that were bothering a couple of kids in the park. Wouldn't really call them competition. It was over in less than thirty seconds.

"Iz, it has to be tonight."

She knew exactly what I was talking about. "Ok. I'll call Meliorn and we'll meet him at the entrance. You going to call Alec?"

"No. You call." My words came out with more intensity than I'd meant.

Silence.

"You alright? You sound like you want to deck somebody. Hopefully not me. What'd I do now?" Leave it to her to want everything out there in the open.

"Nothing. It's Clary. Something's up with her, and she won't tell me what. And what the hell is up with you giving her those shorts? You think I enjoyed seeing that?" Of course I did. But so would he, for next three hours. I heard my cell phone crack under the pressure of my grip.

"Ewwww…yeah…sorry about that one. I'm an ass. And so is Tristan."

"I know. And I know. Anyway, call Alec and let him know the plan. Meet me back here early, I want to hunt first." Click. I admit I'm not very graceful when it comes to conversation. Let's hope my attitude changes before my court date with the Seelie Queen tonight.

to be continued…

AN: Phew! Done and done . I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter! The suspense and action is on the horizon…I can see it! Let me know what you guys think. i LOVE reading your reviews…they make me want to rush home and write, write, write!

And a special THANK YOU to all of my Chapter 8 reviewers! You guys are the best: nessa1998, PriceX3Jayme, CarLei, Immortal42, Love The Vamps01, jenn-is-me, paramorelover14 and Story Writer-In-Books I Trust-. I appreciate all of the encouraging words .

Until next time…

Next Chapter: Dreams are hard to come by. But nightmares on the other hand…