The last chapter! Hope you enjoy! Xxx

XXX Jace POV XXX

Jace could hardly comprehend the strange, sudden turn of events. One minute, he was fighting Jonathan, surrounded by demons, and the next, the evil bastard was nothing but a red smear on the ground and the demons had disappeared.

But he didn't care about any of that right now. All he cared about was the girl lying on the bed before him, pale and fragile. Her body was trembling, but not as violently as it was before. In truth, she was wracked more by small, weak tremors, as though she didn't even have the strength to writhe in pain any longer. Her eyes were staring blankly at nothing. He watched in horror as the whites of them began turning a sick, deep crimson. Dark blood was pooling in her eyes, leaking from them to stream down her face.

"Magnus!" He yelled to the warlock, who was already running toward them. "Do something!"

His world was crumbling down around him as he watched the girl he loved expiring before his eyes, succumbing to some dark force that he couldn't fight. He clutched at her small hand. It was deathly cold, utterly still in his grip.

"Don't die on me, Cary," he said desperately, his voice ragged. "You can't die. You can't leave me."

She had saved him so many times, in so many ways, and now he could do nothing for her. He hated himself for his weakness, for his inability to fix her.

Magnus was at her side now, his hands pressed into the center of her chest. Jace growled at the sight of his hands on her naked body, but Magnus shot him a hard look.

"Fix her," Jace demanded.

Magus just stared at him, his eyes sad. "I don't think there's anything I can do. There's demonic blood in her veins. It's burning her up from the inside out. I can't remove it without killing her.

Jace grabbed his stele from his pocket and began frantically tracing iratzes on every inch of her body.

"It's too late for that," Magnus said softly.

"It's not too late!" Jace shouted. But he could see that the iratzes were having no effect; they weren't powerful enough.

Power. A rune with healing power like no other.

He ripped off his leathers, rending open his bloody shirt beneath them.

"Alec," he said desperately, pointing to the mark that Clary had etched into his skin. Trace this rune on her chest. Just over her heart.

"What is that?" Alec asked, hesitant to draw an unfamiliar rune.

"Just do it!" Jace snapped, thrusting his stele on his friend. Alec took it, starting about the task, occasionally looking back at Jace's chest to carefully study the pattern. Then the rune was finished, and Jace held his breath as he stared down at Clary.

Suddenly, she started writing again, screaming in agony. Her body had healed enough that she was no longer at the brink of death, but the blood still burned her veins. It wasn't enough. He had to get the blood out of her if she had any hope of healing.

Drawing a dagger from his belt, he cut the plastic tube that was filled with Jonathan's tainted blood. Then he made a small incision at the crook of his own arm. He didn't even feel the pain when he shoved the hollow tube up under his skin and into his own vein. He instantly felt a tugging sensation as his own rich, crimson blood flowed out of him and into Clary. The needle in her other arm continued to draw her own blood out of her system. Only now it drew out the demonic blood, replacing it with Jace's.

"Jace, what are you-" Alec began

"Trace the rune again," he snapped over his friend's question. "This time around the needle with my blood."

Alec stared at him for a moment, comprehension dawning in his eyes. "Jace," he said weakly. "You can't. You'll die."

"I don't fucking care!" Jace roared. "Now do it!"

Alec grimaced, but he finally bent to draw the rune. Jace didn't know how long he stood there, willing his life's blood to pump into Clary. He heaved a sigh of relief when her body stilled, her screams subsiding to small whimpers. The blackness was leaving her eyes, returning them to their intense, gorgeous green.

His legs threatened to give out beneath him as he became light-headed, and he fell against the bed, gripping onto the rail for support. Alec moved toward him as though to tear the plastic tube from his arm.

"Don't you dare," Jace hissed. He blinked hard against the black spots that floated across his vision, desperate to hold on, to ensure that they didn't stop him.

But his head was spinning, his fingers were going numb. He collapsed, throwing his body over Clary's as he fell. He breathed in her beautiful scent as he drifted into darkness. She smelled like home.

XXX Clary POV XXX

Clary's entire body was aching; she felt as though her insides had been singed. Her lungs and throat burned as she drew in deep, unsteady breaths.

But it was nothing compared to the agony that she had endured. Her mind tried to shy away from the dark memories, from what Jonathan had done to her. Oh god, she was awake now. Jonathan had promised her that when that happened, she would be different; she would love him, would be a slave to his will.

She remembered her mind going dark as she gave in to the taint within her. Had she been turned? Searching her soul, she didn't feel any different. She still felt a burning hatred for Jonathan; there was no love there.

Jace. Jace was still in her heart.

But the last time she had seen him, two demons had held him in their grasp as Jonathan gloated that he was going to force Clary to kill him. She had pleaded with her brother, desperate for him to release Jace. In that moment, she hadn't cared what happened to her; she would do anything, become anything Jonathan wanted, if only he would spare Jace.

But she had failed. She knew that he hadn't been released, and her last clear visual memory was of the boy she loved twisting in the demons' grip as he frantically tried to reach her.

Tears leaked from her closed eyes as she realized the truth: Jace was dead. She wanted to die. But she wanted to kill Jonathan first.

Forcing back her grief so shat she could take action, she opened her eyes, bracing herself to see his twisted, gloating face.

But when she did, he wasn't there. She was staring up at a familiar ceiling, painted white with intricately carved cornices. Could she really be in the Institute? Her stomach dropped as she realized that Jonathan must have already taken it over. She had to get to him, had to destroy him before he could do any more damage.

Pushing back the pain that had held her immobile, she shoved herself into a sitting position, taking inventory of her surroundings.

Then her eyes fell on the most glorious thing she had ever seen: Jace was lying on the bed beside her. His eyes were closed, his tanned skin several shades paler that usual, but his chest rose and fell as he took deep, even breaths.

He's alive. She thought, relief coursing through her.

But then her stomach twisted in dread. Had Jonathan kept him alive only so that she could murder him? But no, that was wrong. She and Jace were free; they weren't bound or restrained in any way. What was going on?

She reached out to reverently push a golden lock of hair back from Jace's forehead. He stirred at her light touch, sighing contentedly.

"Jace?" She whispered his name tentatively.

His eyes snapped open. They filled with wonder as he looked up at her.

"Clary," he breathed her name like a prayer.

His hand was at the nape of her neck, pulling her toward him as he tangled his hand in her hair. He crushed his lips to hers, his tongue sensuously tracing the outline of her lips, demanding entrance. She sighed into him, opening for him. Their tongues intertwined, feverishly dancing as each of them reveled in the heat of the other's touch upon them. Jace sucked her lower lip into his mouth, biting down with almost bruising force, as though he was desperate to mark her, to consume her. Clary relished the slight pain, the sharp reminder that Jace was real, that he was alive.

His hand snaked under her shirt, finding her naked breast, running his fingers over her hardened nipple catching it between them, rolling it deftly. Clary instinctively wanted to arch into him, to beg for more of his erotic touch. But she stilled above him, her entire body going taut as images of the last time she had been touched so intimately ran through her mind in sickening succession. Jonathan ripping off her clothes, mercilessly squeezing her tender breasts, running his fingers gently around them as he taunted Jace.

Clary suddenly felt filthy, disgusting. She drew back from Jace with a shudder, unable to bear his hot touch any longer. She wasn't worthy of it. Not after what she had allowed Jonathan to do with her. He had taken something from her that she could never get back, something that she could never give to Jace now. Her virginity had been stolen, and there was nothing she could do about it. Her eyes began to sting as tears blurred her vision. And now he would come for her again, she was sure of it. He would use her body to torment Jace, destroying his mind before he chose to end his life. But Clary would live on, forced to live on as a shell of her former self as Jonathan used her as he pleased.

"Clary," Jace said her name, his voice full of concern. He reached up to cup her face in his large hand, but she flinched away from him.

"Don't," she whispered. "Please don't."

She could no longer bear his touch; it would only make it harder when Jonathan came for her.

"If he knows… If he sees…" She choked on her words. "I can't bear it, Jace."

A mad idea came to her. There was a way out, a way to avoid a lifetime of suffering. "Kill me," she begged. "Please, Jace, don't leave me with him. Don't make me…" Her words were cut off as her throat tightened, fear overwhelming her.

Jace caught her face in both hands, not allowing her to draw away from him this time. "Look at me," he ordered. "He's dead, Clary. Jonathan is dead. He can't hurt you anymore."

Clary's heart skipped a beat. "How?" She breathed, hardly daring to believe.

"Don't you remember?" Jace asked, puzzled. "You took control of Maellertach's power. You forced the demons to turn on him. They destroyed him, Clary. Completely. He won't be coming back again."

Clary wracked her brain, searching through her memories. There was a dark place in her mind that she hadn't wanted to face, hadn't wanted to contemplate. But she forced herself to remember.

She had been consumed by the pain, could feel the darkness seeping into her soul, eradicating everything that she was. Knowing that there was no other way to save Jace, she had reached out for it, embracing it. She had sacrificed what little was left of herself to kill Jonathan. Once she had surrendered to the power of his blood, she had possessed the same control over the demons that he had. And she had taken it from him, the distraction of Jace's brutal onslaught allowing her the opening she needed to steal the power form him.

She remembered the high-pitched shriek, the tearing sounds, the crunching of shattered bones. She shuddered.

I did that. I killed my brother.

But she felt no remorse. All she felt was a sudden surge of vindictive glee, and a twisted smile broke out on her face.

Then another thought occurred to her: if the last thing that she remembered was giving in to the darkness, then why did she feel unchanged?

"But then…" She began hesitantly. "How am I alive? How am I… me?"

Jace gave her a small smile, wiping the tears from her cheeks with a brush of his thumb. "I used the rune that you left on me. And I gave you my blood," he said simply.

Clary looked down at him, once again taking in how pale he was. He also had another of the powerful healing runes marking his skin, on the crook of his arm this time. Clary shivered. How much had he given her to need that mark? He must have almost died…

"You idiot!" She said, throwing herself down onto him so that she could embrace him tightly. "You could have died!"

"Do you really think I could have lived if I lost you?" He murmured against her neck, his warm breath blowing across her skin, bringing her nerve endings to life.

But again, she stiffened, upset by her desire. She felt tainted by what Jonathan had done to her, and she couldn't allow Jace to be infected by that. She pulled away from him. He grasped her shoulders, holding her in place.

"What's wrong, Clary?" He asked softly.

"How can you…? I can't let you…" She tripped over her words. "How can you touch me? After what he did to me? I'm dirty now, Jace. I'm not the same girl you used to love." Tears began streaming down her face again. This was it: the moment she had been dreading, the moment he would tell her he didn't love her anymore. How could he?

His fingers closed around her upper arms tightly, and he shook her slightly. "Clary," his voice was hard and disapproving. "How could you ever think that? I will always love you, do you understand? Always. Nothing that could ever happen will change that."

Clary peeked up at him through her wet lashes. Could he be telling the truth? Looking down into his golden eyes, she couldn't see any hatred, any disgust. There was only love and compassion.

"I love you too, Jace," she whispered wonderingly, hardly believing that he was forgiving her. "Can you really forgive me for what I've done?" She asked tremulously, fearing his answer.

Jace's face darkened further. "What you've done?!" He demanded, anger bleeding into his tone. "Clary, you've done nothing wrong. Everything that happened was his doing." He shook her again. "Never let me hear you say that you were at fault ever again. Do you understand me?"

His fierce expression told everything she needed to know. In that moment, she realized the truth of his words. They warmed her, and the tight fist that she hadn't even realized was gripping her heart loosened.

Recognizing her acceptance, Jace pulled her down onto him before flipping her over so that his weight was pressing her down into the mattress.

"You're mine, Clary, and no one else's."

"Yes," she breathed, her heart filling with love.

His lips were on hers, kissing her in a frenzy, plundering her mouth with a ferocity that she had never known before. His hot tongue branded her as his, reinforcing his possessive words. Clary felt whole again; nothing had ever been more right that the feel of Jace against her, their bodies entwined so tightly that they were one.

Yes, she was his and he was hers. Forever.

The End

So I hope you all enjoyed this story. I'm so glad to have finally finished and gotten my thoughts out on paper! (Or on the computer screen. You know what I mean). If you liked it, I would really appreciate a review! Thank you so much to everyone who has followed this story. Your interest means the world to me! And makes me feel like less of a sicko…