Authoress Notes: Hi guys, Happy New Year! I'm so terribly sorry about the month long wait for this chapter. Work was keeping me busy, and I had a mild case of the stomach bug earlier this week which wasn't fun at all XD But I'm much better now, and this chapter I hope you all will enjoy. Thank you all so much for all of the wonderful reviews, favorites and follows. They mean sooo much to me.

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Disclaimer: I Do Not Own The Mortal Instruments originally created by Cassandra Clare or Beauty and The Beast.

"ALEC! ISABELLE! MANGUS! SIMON! SELENE! ANYONE HELP!"

The enormous wood massive door to the castle flew ajar, as Clary hurried inside with Jace's limp body over her shoulder, wet mushy snow dripping from her red hair and onto the plush carpet, producing a deep dark puddle in the fabric. Very carefully, she laid Jace on the polished, soft surface, before rushing towards the second floor landing of the staircase. Her voice echoed throughout the grand chamber. Where in the world was everyone she wondered. Behind her, the door slammed shut, as the various locks began to secure themselves tightly, as they moved in sync together.

It had taken her nearly almost an hour to get back to the castle, afraid and terrified inside that she was possibly and all ready too late to save Jace. Not barely bothering to wait, she quickly lifted Jace up onto his side, as she felt her arms begin to shake from his enormous weight from underneath her. The golden fur on his lower and upper arm, she noticed was stained with blood. It was still running red; as she carried him upon Wayfarer's back in the freezing cold.

His breath was shallow, and his heart was racing a million miles a minute. She felt that maybe even his pulse would be gone/non-existent if someone didn't do anything and fast. It wasn't long until the Lightwoods suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs. A blood-curdling high-pitched scream had brought the siblings running. For they had overheard it very clearly from the bottom floor, and Alec, Izzy, Simon, Magnus and Selene were taking the stairs on their right, carefully moving one step at a time.

Alec's sky-blue eyes widened at the sight of his best friend and parabatai lying on the ground in Clary's arms and thus without hesitation, rushed down the stairs. Izzy's brown eyes were full of concern as well, for she didn't want to lose her adopted brother. Selene almost burst into tears, but held herself together. Simon followed behind, his brown eyes wide with worry. Alec being the first one to reach them, he hopped over towards Jace's right side. His blue eyes noticed several grave cuts and bites which needed to be tended too immediately.

Clary noticed they had rounded the corner, before spotting her instantly. Alec quickly turned to see his boyfriend, sisters and Simon had now caught up with him.

"What in the hell happened?" he asked, his form shuffled beside his best friend as his voice coming out slightly panicked.

Izzy rolled her eyes and snorted, "As you can see Alec, Jace is hurt."

"Of course, he was being foolish and egotistical like usual. He would have died back there if he hadn't gone after-"

Simon glared at him, "He went out into the forest to rescue Clary, and for that reason, he saved her life. Nonetheless, you would have done the same thing if it was Magnus, Jace, Izzy, Sel, or me."

"Yeah cut the poor guy some slack," Selene added.

"ENOUGH YOU GUYS!" Magnus's voice rose, echoing through the room like a loudspeaker, which caused them to abruptly stop bickering.

"I can consult my magic to see how bad the damage is."

The warlock knelt beside Jace, before placing a glitter covered hand over his body. He closed his eyes, before concentrating. A light blue glow began to form around him. Dark blue sparks forming from the metal tips on his hands. It wasn't long until they faded away.

"We've got to get him to the infirmary. I can sense they could be infected. And from what I can see now, he's lost a lot of blood."

Clary's green eyes narrowed, "Jace saved my life Alec, and you know it. You shouldn't be the one mad at him. If it comes down to it, you can blame me. It's all my fault. He shouldn't have taken on all those wolves at once. I shouldn't have run away."

Jace's large form began to stir, as his head slowly picked itself up slightly from her arms. His eyes began opening slowly, before they looked at Clary for just a mere moment. His golden eyes staring intensely into her greenish irises. "Clary, are you all right?" he asked, whispering very hoarsely. He sounded exhausted, and not to mention very weak, before his head slumped back down to his shoulders.

"I'm fine," she replied, gently cradling his face in her hands. He was now unconscious, as blood ran down the right side of his face, while his clothing was torn into pieces, her eyes noticed Alec somehow produced a gray pen. It started to glow on the lower part, before he knew it was working. Clary watched closely as Alec hastily drew a strange and very weird-looking symbol on the side of Jace's face. For a moment, it was translucent, before the lines began to darken. They swirled together to create a irazate rune.

"The rune should hold for now," Alec said.

Magnus with a snap of his candles, used some magic on Jace. He slowly rose up into the air, lighter than a bubble.

"Agreed, I'm going to require a few things to make a potion which will help him heal. Clary, Izzy, and Selene I need you three to go down to the kitchen. Heat up some hot water in a pot and bring with you some extra towels too. Alec and Simon, you run to the greenhouse and furnish me some witch hazel, abscess root, honeysuckle, and a mandrake root. Could you guys do that for me?"the warlock asked.

The girls each nodded in response, as so did Alec and Simon. "We'll get the water ready in no time," Izzy said.

"Simon and I will find the herbs," Alec added.

As Izzy, Clary, and Selene walked next down the corridor, the red-head took one last look at Jace before she went downstairs. Sel glared at her with rage in her blue eyes.

"How could you let that happen to him?" she said, angrily, as they walked down the long, winding corridor which led to the kitchen.

Clary sighed, shaking her head in response, "I know you guys. It shouldn't have happened at all. I went to the West Wing where I wasn't even supposed to be, and Jace found me there. He lashed out at me in anger. I got scared away. Wayfarer and I lost our way in the snow, and this pack of wolves appeared out of nowhere and ambushed us. There were far too many of them for us to handle."

"Jace should not have frightened you off like that. I'll be certain to have a word with him," Izzy said, as she bounced along the hallway.

"I'm sorry Clary. I didn't know. And yeah, he shouldn't have done that at all. He urgently needs a good talking to. One of us should've gone out to look for you instead of her," Selene added.

"It's all right Sel. But honestly, I felt so helpless out there, like I literally couldn't do anything to fight those creatures off. If I hadn't snuck into his private chambers and I might have prevented Jace from-"

"Even if that was the case Clary, Jace would have felt in his heart the need to defend you the entire time. And I'm sure you're extremely aware of it. He's only known you for a limited amount of time, but he's starting to care for you," Simon said.

Alec nodded, "He loves us dearly, but now he cares more about your safety and well-being now. If it was reversed and we were in your place his primary focus and intent would be to protect you, and not watching out for Izzy, Simon, Sel, Magnus or me."

Clary rolled her eyes, "You guys, I was eminently capable of defending myself. My father taught me-"

A stern look from each of them immediately silenced her.

"I'm sure you are. But to put it another way, the three of us, especially Alec have had more training and experience than you. And you both needed to be saved and rescued. These kinds of things happen all the time," Izzy said.

"As a group, we all need to help protect one another from harm. In addition, Jace would've done the same for us all, especially you. But for now, and furthermore, we need to focus on, which helping Jace to get better and to heal. Magnus is taking him to the infirmary," Alec replied.

"We'll catch up with you soon," Simon added before they headed off down the left hallway.

Finally reaching the kitchen, they went inside. Clary walked over towards the fireplace, grabbing two wooden logs. Grasping the polished wood carefully in her hands, she hurled them over the mantel. Selene found some matches and brought them over to her. Clary opened the pack, before striking one up against the flammable side. A small orange flame burned at the end of the small stick which she tossed into the logs. A large black kettle hung over the fire, on a long iron rod.

Pretty in an instant a crackling fire began to cackle in the hearth. Isabelle hopped up onto the counter, using her spout she opened one of the white wood doors of the cabinet. Inside was a very neat arrangement of various dishes including bowls, plates, and cups. Her brown eyes scanned the shelves looking for what she needed. At long last she found a large ceramic bowl. Selene and Max aided her to get it down onto the counter along with a metal bucket.

"All right, I'll get the water ready," Clary said, as she went over to the sink. Turning on the tap, she placed the metal bucket right into the sink. It slowly began to fill with water. Once it was full, she brought it back over to the kettle and deposited it inside, repeating this over at least seven times before it was finally at last full.

"I can grab the towels," Selene added. She hopped off the counter, which was next to the table. Using her handle, she opened the bottom cabinet and retrieved four clean tan towels. By stacking them neatly, she was able to avoid wrinkling them. When the water was finally heated, and Clary stirred it well, grabbed the cermanic bowl, towels, and they set off to the infirmary.

Alec and Simon were all ready there, of course. The clock was helping Magnus cut up the mandrake root by crushing it into little pieces while Simon added a small teaspoon of witch hazel to the mix. Jace was lying on one of the long cots by the window, his golden fur was messy and sticking up all over the place, drooping over his forehead. The infirmary was a large, open space, with tan painted and wooden walls. Beds made up with crisp white sheets and pillows were neatly placed across from one another.

"There you are my darlings, did you bring everything we needed?" Magnus asked.

"Yes, we did," Izzy said.

"I boiled the water; Selene got the towels, and Izzy found the herbs you requested," Clary added.

"Oh thank the Angel, I was beginning to wonder when you guys were ever going to bother showing up." Alec grumbled which earned him a glare from everyone besides Jace.

"All right, let's not waste any time children," Magnus said clapping his hands, "Let's not fight."

Clary set the supplies down on the beside table, as the warlock put the finishing touches on the potion. He filled a small glass with the green liquid and brought it over to Jace's bed. The red-head rolled up her shelves, as she poured some hot water into the large cermanic bowl from Izzy's spout. She was now back at the castle along with everyone else in the infirmary which just so happened to be right off the grand entrance by the main entryway right in front of a warm fire in which Magnus started.

Jace was now awake and conscious, his golden eyes glaring at the wound on his left arm and her, as she took one of the towels and dipped it into the hot water. He sat in an upright position, clutching his injured arm in his large paw. A large red gash had formed across it; mostly caused by the sharp talons of the wolves in the woods whom had left their dental impressions in his skin.

Squeezing the remaining excess water out of the rag, she made sure every last drop of water was gone from the fabric. "Here, I'm going to help clean that for you," she said. He continued to glare at her. Clary's multiple attempts to clean the cut were thwarted, as Jace ducked out-of-the-way. The glint in his eyes was a sure clear sign of his strong will and determination that she wasn't going to get her hands on it.

"Jace just hold still for one second!" she finally was able to clamp the cloth over the wound, but as she did so Jace let out a very loud roar of pain escape his lips. Alec, Magnus, Simon, Izzy, and Selene immediately shrank back towards the doorway.

"That really hurts!" he snapped at her, causing Clary to roll her eyes at him.

"Well, if you had just stayed still for a second, then it wouldn't hurt as much!" she shouted.

He snorted, "If you hadn't run away from the castle, then none of this would have occurred."

"If you hadn't frightened me then I wouldn't have run away!"

Jace quickly raised a finger to respond, as he searched his brain for a clever comeback. "Well Fairchild, you shouldn't have been sneaking around the West Wing," he smirked triumphantly.

"And you seriously need to learn how to control your temper, Herondale."

The enchanted objects all stiffened like hard boards, clearly waiting in anticipation of Jace continuing to scream and argue with her, but he just placed his cheek into his palm and stopped complaining. His siblings, Magnus, and Simon slowly began to inch out of their individual hiding places. They were all immensely surprised at how Jace's anger had suddenly disappeared and he was able to calm down.

"Now just hold still," the small red-head said, murmuring, as she placed her hand right underneath his arm. "This may sting a bit." The poor prince was still in pain but let a huge sigh escape his lips. He was much too tired to continue fighting with Clary. In all, he made no moves to stop her from doing what she needed to do. It literally seemed as if all the anger and tension had been drained away, leaving nothing but exhaustion to be angry with her anymore.

As she continued to patch up his wounds, they said nothing to each other. Clary took a moment to look at Jace's face. To the world, he was ugly, hideous, and deformed. And not to mention very angry and temperamental. But she knew there was no denying the kindness and mercy he'd shown her by rescuing and saving her life from those wolves.

"Jace, by the way..." she began, her voice was soft and quiet, "I wanted to thank you for what you did for me back there. Thank you kindly for saving my life."

He slowly turned to look at Clary; the look on his face was a mixture of surprise and happiness. His golden eyes stared into her gems of emerald-green. It was if as he could see right down to her very soul. Jace attempted to find any signs of uncertainty or whether she was terrified or frightened. But recognized none.

"You're welcome," he said in a much milder and gentler tone. And for the very first time, she bestowed him a true, genuine smile.

A heavy dark air hung over the small village of Alicante, while a cold, but quietly hushed breeze floated over the houses and establishments, and the crescent silver moon glowed brightly in the dark sapphire sky. The tavern was now dark and deserted, except for a lesser light coming from the very back of the kitchen. Everyone had gone home for the night back to the safety and a much well deserved slumber all tucked and safe in their little beds.

Sebastian's black eyes stared straight forward, into the bitter cold, cruel eyes of the man sitting in front of him, who just so happened to represent the last vital piece in his well, crafted and though out scheme. Valentine and Mark sat beside him, his form slightly trembling with fear, which the three men just merely ignored. The four of them were in the very backroom of the tavern. It's once bright, happy, and cherry atmosphere had vanished completely.

The sole source of light came from a small glowing rock. A small witch light which rested on the table they were seated around. Various trophies that Sebastian had collected and won were scattered across the room. Typically these reflected and displayed his triumphant and amazing skills, but now they appeared to look like terrifying demons or a monsters one with the Sight could merely see. Shadows danced across the walls, barely even able to be seen in the not bright enough lighting.

Plus the man sitting before them made Mark indeed want to run for the hills. His name was Axel Mortmain, and by his demeanor, he just as a result happened to be every bit as harsh and mean, as his reputation. Mortmain's face was long and angular, his misty eyes were always set in what appeared to be a mean, intimidating glare. His hair was gray, and he had sideburns.

But in all, he wasn't another feeble old man whatsoever. He was tall and broad-shouldered; clad in an expensive looking black and pale suit. Axel, of course, was very rich and wealthy. For he was the head doctor at Pandemonium, the local town asylum for lunatics and the mentally ill. Despite all of this, he wasn't blissfully content with the wealth he all ready was blessed with.

"Your very consciously aware Mr. Velrac that I normally don't leave the asylum at an hour late like this," he said in a low voice, which dripped with sarcasm and a slight bit of intimidation. "But your fire message did just so happen to say it would be extremely worth my while."

Sebastian grinned as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small brown sack, before throwing it onto the table. Mortmain opened it reaching inside and pulled out a smooth golden coin. A grin formed on his face.

"You have my attention. I'm listening."

The platinum haired hunter leaned forward with his elbows resting on the table, grinning back. "My problem just so happens to be this: I've had my heart set on making a certain red-head my wife for a while. Clarissa Fairchild."

"Luke Garroway's daughter I assume?" Axel asked.

Valentine nodded, "Yes. You see my son has been in love with her for a long time. They're both old enough to be married, and you know us Morgenstern's, nothing isn't off-limits to us. We always get what we want. No matter how hard it may be difficult to get it."

"She needs a little...whats the words...Persuasion," Sebastian added.

"You should've witnessed it. She turned him down flat!" Mark said, laughing whole-heartedly, as he took a drink of his smoothie.

Sebastian glared at him before he outstretched a hand to strike him, but Mark ducked out of his way.

"Everyone in town is aware and know that Luke is a complete total lunatic. He just so happened to be in here earlier tonight, raving on and on about a hideous beast who's keeping her father his prisoner, and a dark, cursed castle."

Axel raised a bushy eyebrow at his words.

"Luke is purely harmless."

"My point is Axel; our dearest Clarissa would do anything to prevent her stupid father from being locked up," Valentine added.

"Yeah, even agree to marry him," Mark added, as he stroked his sore head.

Valentine was just about to whack him once again for his son, but the doctor interrupted his thoughts.

"So what you're saying is, what you want me to do is throw her father into the asylum unless she agrees to marry you?"

Sebastian nodded, his black eyes gleamed with pure satisfaction, as he focused in on the glowing white witch light, the crystal reminded him of Clary's precious heart, shattering into a million pieces at the sight of her father locked up in a bleak, grim cell in a straight jacket. The scenario in his mind was ideal.

"That is just mean, despicable and wrong," Axel said, rubbing his hands over his eyes, before an evil shy grin formed on his face. "Put differently, I love it!"

Valentine laughed, "I knew you would my old friend. It's established then."

"In that case we've got a deal," Sebastian replied, before he, Valentine, and Sebastian all shook on it by opening up a box of cigars and some wine, toasting to their evil plan.

Meanwhile back at the Garroway house, Luke raced around his vacant, silent living room. Cleary he was in a hurry, as he stuffed various maps, a compass, extra supplies, a lantern, and some extra candles and matches into the deep pockets of his coat and a bag. Almost everyone in the tavern believed and thought he was crazy. But he wasn't at all.

The inventor had indeed seen the horrid, monstrous beast with his own two eyes. He'd stared into his hate-filled eyes, gotten grabbed by his sharp, vicious claws, and now the monster had his daughter, prisoner in his castle.

"If no one is going to aid me here, I'll just go out and look for her myself," he said, suddenly grabbing another coat and wrapping it over himself, including another layer. "I don't care how long the journey is, or what it takes, I'll find that damned, cursed castle and get Clary back myself!"

He quickly threw open the door, and stepped out into the bitter cold. Night had fallen, and snow was everywhere, but none of that mattered to Luke. He was a father, and nothing was changing the fact that he had to protect his little girl from harm. Gathering a deep breath, he walked down the road moving at very much faster and quicker pace, setting off into the unknown with a single lit lantern as his sole source of light.

As Luke's tall figure began fading into the woods, he failed to notice a large, rather luxurious looking carriage pull up to the front of the house. It was being pulled by two strong horses. A door flew open, before Sebastian stepped out along with Valentine while Mark followed suit carrying a lantern. They walked up the inventor's steps and politely knocked on the door. When no one answered, Sebastian allowed himself inside.

"Oh Clary, Luke are you here?" he called.

No one answered. In fact, the house was unexpectedly and eerily quiet. Random items were scattered across the front dining room table and the living room was a mess. To them, it seemed as if someone had been there merely for a moment and left in haste.

"I hate to say I told you so again boss, but look's like no one's home, and that plan of yours wasn't going to work after all We best be on our way," Mark said, before he started for the door.

"The idiot's right I'm afraid, we best be going," Valentine muttered.

Sebastian rolled his eyes before grabbing Mark by the collar of his shirt, lifting the poor kid off the ground and carried him outside.

"Those two will ultimately return. In the meantime, Mark can keep watch he lives only a mile away," he said.

A cruel smile twisted his father's lips. "Absolutely, that's an excellent idea."

"But I can't stay here, I'll freeze to death!" Mark protested.

Valentine reached into his jacket pocket retrieving his stele. He drew a rune on each of Mark's arms and stuffed some wrapped bread, cheese, some matches, and a flask of water into the boy's hands.

"There, those will keep you warm, fed and hydrated for a few hours. We'll back to check on you in the morning."

"But-" Mark began, but it was too late, they'd all ready taken off in the carriage. Mark shrugged his shoulders, and ran back to his house on the other side of the field.

The sun shone radiantly the very next morning, gently resting on the pure white snow on the ground beside the castle. Jace was standing on the balcony of his room, his golden eyes firmly locked on Clary. For she was down in the courtyard right below him slowly leading Wayfarer back to the stables. To him, she looked absolutely radiant and gorgeous. She wore a pretty green long shelved dress, which billowed at the waist, and tied with a pretty light green ribbon.

Over the dress, she wore a dark green cloak which sheltered her from the cold. Her long red hair was down, cascading down her shoulders into ringlets of crimson fire, gently framing her heart-shaped face. He noticed that her green eyes lit up with laughter, as Church danced around in the snow. Her cheeks were a rosy shade, mostly from the brisk air, and she was smiling as she led her father's horse along the snowy path. Laughter escaped her lips as Church who was prancing along the fence accidentally lost his footing and fell into a snow bank.

The clumsy cat footstool emerged a split second later causing her to laugh even more. Magnus threw back his head in laughter, along with Alec. Jace's heart leaped at the sound of her laughter. He enjoyed it, for it sounded like a peal of bells. He shifted his feet out from underneath him, feeling a tad bit uncomfortable. He'd made an effort to look more decent and nice by dressing in a light blue shirt over his golden fur, a black cape and simple black pants. His golden eyes glanced towards the tightly wrapped bandages around his arm. The one where she'd treated the night before. Something inside him changed last night, between the both of them, and he was now more than determined to break the spell.

"Never in my life have I felt this way about anyone? he said in a gentle voice, not shifting his eyes off Clary who smiled up at him. "You guys I want to do something nice for her. But what?"

Alec sighed, "Well, there's always the options of flowers, chocolates, expensive jewelry, romantic poetry, promises you don't intend to actually keep..." he said counting off on his hands.

Magnus levelled his eyes at his boyfriend, "Oh please that's a bunch of stupid, mundane nonsense. Flowers are nice and so are perfume and chocolate. But has to be something which will spark the young lady's interest." He tapped his chin in thought before an idea popped into his head."Wait a minute, I know."

Jace and Alec moved closer to hear his idea. As Magnus whispered it into their ears, a smile overcame Jace's face. "That's an excellent idea. She'll love it."

The warlock grinned, "Then let's not waste any time and get a move on with winning your lady's heart."