So, new chapter. Thanks for all the favourites/follows/reviews! Hope you like this new update. :D

Jace POV

Jace walked into the Shadowhunters common room early on a Monday morning to see Izzy going crazy. Clary was standing in the corner of the richly decorated room looking bewildered, while Alec and Magnus were talking quietly on a sofa.

"Ohmygod Clary!" Izzy screamed.

Clary frowned, and brought her hands up in exasperation. "Why are you so freaked out, Iz? It's only a birthday!"

"Only a birthday?" Izzy collapsed on an armchair and rubbed her temples. "I have to have everything prepared in less than five days! I can't believe—"

Jace stepped in before anybody got hurt. "Okay, calm down, Iz."

As soon as he spoke, an intense wave of releif washed accross Clary's face.

"Bad move, Red." He muttered.

Clary scoffed. "I just forgot!"

"You just for—" Izzy started, but Magnus quickly ran over and clasped a hand across her mouth.

"It's okay, biscuit, I'll help you…"

While Magnus was soothing Izzy, Jace walked over to Clary. "That," he said, "was yet another one of your unbelievably terrible ideas."

Clary glared at him.

After a couple of minutes of silence, she spoke again. "Has Aline woken up yet?"

Jace sighed. "No. And," he added, "fiddling about in her pockets like she's Hermione Granger and she's got the key to everything in her hand is not going to work. Nor, I dare say, is staring at her for hours on end."

Clary didn't respond.

During the silence, Jace suddenly remembered what the whole ordeal was about. Clary's birthday. If it was in less than five days…what could he get her that wasn't over the top, but also wasn't too uncaring? Jace sighed. He didn't know if he loved or hated the way Clary changed him.

Izzy POV

As Izzy was walking slowly back to her room with thoughts of dresses and presents in her head, she realised she felt slightly uneasy. Like somebody was following her. Slowly readying her whip and pulling out her seraph blade, she cautiously moved forward. The lights flickered, and a shadow flitted accross the wall. When her heart rate began to speed up, she scolded herself. She was a Shadowhunter. She was afraid of nothing.

Suddenly a hand clasped over her mouth. She tried to reach her seraph blade, but the man already had her in a head lock.

"Don't try to beat me." He growled, his stubble brushing Izzy's cheek.

"Who are you?" she said, fighting the urge to scream.

The man grunted. "You're better off not knowing."

And that's all Izzy remembered.

Clary POV

Clary shuddered as soon as she closed her bedroom door behind her. After a short conversation with Jace, she'd followed Izzy down the hall to their rooms. "Iz?"

"In here!" Izzy called form the bathroom, where she was fixing her plum lipstick. Taylor Swift's new album, Reputation, was blasting out through an expensive looking speaker on the shelf. "What's up?"

Clary sighed. "Well, I convinced Simon to ask you out."

"Oh! I'm—okay." Izzy capped her lipstick, frowning a little.

"And," Clary continued, "Magnus told me that we'd have to go to the mall today, to get outfits for my party that you and him forced me into."

Izzy mumbled in response, and tried to change her eyeliner. But her hand slipped, and even as she tried to fix it, she couldn't get it right.

"Come here," Clary said, and wiped off all Izzy's eye make-up. While she was fixing it, she began to muse outloud.

"Did you put contacts in today?" She asked.

Izzy frowned. "No...I mean—yes, yes I did!"

Clary raised an eyebrow. "Okay...it's just your eyes are like, more of a hazel than a dark brown."

Izzy didn't respond.

"I wonder if Jace will ask me to dance at my party…" Clary said, while finishing Izzy's eyeliner.

"Yeah, maybe..." Izzy turned, and slipped. She landed on the tiles with a sickening thud, and Clary rushed to her side.

"Oh my god, Iz, are you okay?"

"Yeah, Yeah, I'm fine." She grabbed onto the vanity and pulled herself up, ignoring Clary's outstretched hand.

Clary frowned. "What's up with you?"

"Oh, it's nothing," she said, "I'm just PMS-ing."

"Okay then…" Clary said, but still felt troubled. Something was not right. "Oh, and by the way," she said, "Hodge pulled me away yesterday to tell me that we get the class after lunch off today because we need to make that statment wih the Soul Sword."

She capped the eyeliner. "You know, the one saying we didn't murder Andrew and that you didn't poison me."

Izzy's eyes widened a fraction. "Yep, okay."

After a particularly boring lesson about the history of vampires and a quiet lunchtime, Clary, Jace, Simon and Izzy were walking to Hodge's office. Alec and Magnus hadn't turned up to lunch for some reason, so they got left behind. When Hodge opened his door, he squeezed through them and beckoned them through the hallways.

After a few minutes of silent walking, the group eventually got to a steel door with many different locks and runes on it. Hodge quickly unlocked it, to reveal a large room with differnt cases and display cabinets lining the walls. When he pulled the Soul Sword out of one of them, Clary frowned.

"Why is the Soul Sword kept here?" she aksed.

Hodge handed the sword to Clary, and nodded to a man in a black suit who Clary hadn't noticed before. "The Clave thought it would be far safer here than in its safes."

"Okay," Clary said, although the explanation made absolutely no sense. The Clave representative stepped forward, and nodded.

"Clarissa Fray, did you, or did you not, murder Andrew Hakinen?"

Clary steadied the blade in her hands, but felt the answer slip out her mouth like a bar of soap. "No."

"Okay then," the guy said, "do you have any idea who might have done it?"

"No. But I do suspect my brother."

Clary was horrified at her words. She glanced at Jace, who was looking at her with wide eyes. He shrugged, and mouthed: well, there's nothing we can do now.

"Your brother?" the Clave represantative said. "What's his name?"

Oh shit. "Jonathan Morgenstern."

"Morgenstern?" Hodge said, but he didn't look too surprised. "Does that make you…Clarissa Morgentern?"

"Yes."

The guys eyes widened, then filled with rage. "Valentine Morgenterns daughter."

"Wait—" Hodge said, holding up his hand. "Clarissa Morgenstern, are you in league with your father or brother?"

Clary breathed a sigh of releif. "Absolutely not."

Hodge exhaled. "See, it's fine." But there was still a rigidty to his shoulders.

"Okay, Isabelle's turn." He said, and nodded to the representative.

"So, Isabelle Lightwood," he said, "did you—"

He was interupted when Alec ran into the room, Magnus close behind.

"Is this really necassary?" Alec cried.

Hodge sighed. "Alec, we all know that Isabelle had nothing to do with it, but the Clave doesn't."

"C'mon, Alexander." Magnus said, and pulled him towards the corner.

Hodge nodded to the Clave represntative.

"Okay," the guy continued, "Isabelle Lightwood, did you, or did not murder Andrew Hakinen?"

There was a silence.

"Yes."

The air was suddenly so stale Clary found it hard to breath. Yes. She sucked in a breath, but it didn't seem to help her dire need for air. Yes. The clock on the wall seemed to slow down. Yes.

The representaive seemed unshaken.

"Did you…" Hodge trailed off, a bead of sweat dripping down his wrinkled face. "Did you, uh, murder him to, uh…protect somebody?"

Isabelle clenched her jaw, and pressed her lips together. "I did."

"Who?"

She turned to Clary uneasily. "I killed him to protect Clary."

Clary exhaled, but still felt weird inside.

"That's a—" the guy started, but Hodge cut him off.

"Did you attack Aline Penhallow?"

Izzy sucked in a breath through her teeth. "Yes."

"That's definetly a—" the guy started, but Hodge cut him off again.

"Ask her of she poisoned Clary."

The guy clenched his teeth. "Did you poison Clarissa Fray a couple of weeks ago?"

Izzy took a breath. "Yes, yes I did."

Clary's breath caught, but she immediately turned to the Clave guy. "You've got to ask her if she did it purposely," she said, as if the guy was a moron.

The guy glared at her, but spoke again. "By the Angel. Okay, did you or did you not poison Clarissa a few weeks ago, on purpose?"

Izzy looked down, and the everybody in the room held their breath.

"Yes."

"Did it work?" Valentine said.

Jonathan smiled triumphantly. "Yes, yes it did. They swallowed it all in one gulp."

Valentine nodded. "Good." He said curtly.

Jonathan was pleased with the praise—it was the most he'd received in years.

"As for the boy?" Valentine said.

"As for him," Jonathan said, "I plan to reveal him soon. Then, I'll have two down, three to go."

Isabelle POV

Isabelle woke up on a cold, hard surface. Frowning, she trailed her fingertips along the wall, to find a dirty stone surface. She bolted upright, and looked around wildly. She was in a small, dark room, with dirty stone walls. She waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness.

When they did, she could see a row of steel bars blocking her from the tunnel on the other side. I'm in the City of Bones. In a cell.

Isabelle rubbed her temples, and stood up slowly. Her whole body ached, and she couldn't think why she was locked up. She remembered walking along the hallway…then she had her whip…then…

She couldn't remember. She didn't even contemplate yelling for help—the Silent Brothers wouldn't listen.

Suddenly, she realized she could hear voices echoing off the stone walls.

"No, I want to see her!"

Pause.

"You're pathetic!"

Another pause.

"By the Angel!"

Then a more resigned, calmer—"Thank you."

Then, a halo of orange curls began to bob towards her.

"Clary!" Isabelle cried.

Clary smiled.

"What the hell—"

Clary reached the bars and a shard of dim light fell accross her face. She wasn't smiling—she was scowling with a burn of pure hatred.

"Clary? Why—what's happening? Why—"

Clary laughed humourlessly. "Are you actually being serious?"

Isabelle was lost for words. What did I miss?

"You don't remember how you admitted to poisoning me and murdering Andrew?"

"I—what?" Isabelle said incredlously. "Why the heck would I say that?"

Clary raised an eyebrow. "Don't you remember holding the Soul Sword and saying that, yes, you did poison me all those weeks ago? That our friendship was a lie? That—"

"I would never say that!" she cried. "Why on earth would—"

"Oh, I don't know!" Clary yelled. "Because it was the truth?"

"I have done a lot of things, Clary, but I never poisoned you. I never killed Andrew." Isabelle paused. " Nor was our friendship a lie."

There was a silence.

"Then why did you say those things?" Clary's voice was soft and full of vulnerabilty, Isabelle could tell she was crying.

"I…I don't know," she said. "I don't know."

Clary POV

How could Izzy be innocent? No, Clary reminded herself, no nicknames. I call her Isabelle now.

Clary rubbed her red, teary eyes, and looked over to Izzy—Isabelle's, empty bed. She missed her already.

There was a soft knock on the door. "Clary?"

"Come in," she croaked.

The door creaked open and Jace's silhouette was in the frame. "Can I come in?"

Clary nodded, but then realised he couldn't see her because it was so dark, so instead muttered her agreement.

"Simon is throwing things around the room," he said, closing the door and walking towards her bed. "You know how OCD I get. And plus," he sat on the edge of her bed, "I would rather spend my time with a crying Clary than a crying Simon."

Clary managed a watery smile, but didn't respond.

"I mean," Jace continued, "I think you would benefit from my outstanding charm and people skills more than rat-face."

There was a silence. "Jace…" Clary started, but he had already laid down behind her and squeezed her tightly in his arms.

"I don't beleive it," she said.

He didn't respond, but buried his face in the crook of her neck. And just before she fell asleep, she felt the tiniets bit of wetness on her shoulder. That's when she thought that maybe, just maybe, Jace needed that hug more than she did.

Maia POV

When Maia was sitting at breakfast on Tuesday morning, she realised the all high-and-mighty Lightwood table (plus Clary and Simon, of course) was unusually quiet. And, taking a closer look, she realized that the black-haired-bitch was gone. Her curiousity piqued, she dismissed Jordan (who was still trying to talk to her, when could that guy take a hint?) and walked over there cautiously. Pulling an empty chair out from a nearby table, she sat next to Clary. "What's the matter with you guys?" she said.

Only then did they emerge from their moping and realise she was there.

"What are you d—"

"Alec," Clary warned, "shut it. She's our friend."

Alec glared at Clary, but said nothing more.

"Where's Isabelle?" Maia said, straining to call black-haired-bitch by her actual name and not a string of curses.

They all looked at her like she'd just killed somebody, and didn't respond. But judging by Clary's expression, it was something bad.

Maia actually felt bad for her. And that was saying something.

Suddenly, Simon spoke. "Isabelle was the one who poisoned Clary." He said, a fierce anger in his tone. "She's in the Bone City now."

Maia pulled back in shock. Clary and Isabelle were practically besties—why would Isabelle poison her? It didn't make sense.

"But don't tell anybody," Clary added quickly.

"No," Simon said, "tell anybody you like. She deserves what she gets."

Clary jumped back a little, confusion on her face. "She didn't—"

"Clary, accept the facts." Simon said. "She did it."

Clary turned away from him.

"Come here," Maia said, holding her arms open for Clary. The hug was a bit awkward at first, but then it got more comfortable.

"You have a friend in me," Maia whispered. She was surprised by her own words.

When she was paired with Jordan for an assignment on vampires, she decided to tell him half the truth, half a lie. She still wanted to honour Clary's request, but also felt the need to tell somebody. She told him about how the truth about who had poisoned Clary and (she suspected) had killed the Shadowhunter had been discovered and locked in the Bone City.

"So," Jordan said, "I was wondering…would you like to meet me this afternoon after class? I want to show you something."

"Uh…" Maia trailed off, contemplating. It did sound like a lot like a date but…why not? Sure, he definetly did not deserve a second chance…but… "yes," she said. If tried to do anything, she could kick his ass now, so why not?

Clary POV

Clary was wallking to the first lesson of the day with Jace when they were stopped by Hodge.

"Jace, Clary," He said, taking in their appearances.

"What do you want." Clary deadpanned.

"Well, I have good news."

Jace raised an eyebrow. "What—"

"Aline has woken up," Hodge interjected. "We need to see her right now before she forgets who attacked her."

Clary inhaled sharply. If Aline said that it was Isabelle who attacked her…

Because the Izzy she knew would never have harmed anybody. Clary, Jace and Hodge ran to Aline and Kaelie's rooms. Clary flung the door open, to see a startled Aline lying in bed, a full glass of water on her bedside. Her dyed blond hair was black at the roots, dark bags under her eyes and unusually pale skin.

Kaelie stepped in front of Aline and smiled. "Jace!"

Jace scowled. "Piss off Kaelie. You know we're here to see Aline, not you."

Clary felt the tiniest bit satisfied by his words.

"C'mon, Jace! We had so much fun the other night—" Kaelie started.

"You know what Kaelie?" Jace said, "I'll speak to you if you fix all this mess."

Ignoring what Kaelie had said, Clary stepped forward to Aline's bed.

"Clary," Aline croaked. "I'm sorry for—"

"No, it's all right." She said, knowing Aline was probably going to apologize for being a bitch on their first day. "Right now all we need to know is who attacked you."

"Um…" Aline trailed off.

Hodge exhaled wearily and stepped in beside Clary.

"We are all very glad that you've woken up, Aline…"

Clary gazed around the room. Aline's bedside table was crowded with get well cards (please get better soon, love Helen).

"…is there anything you remember?" Hodge finished.

"Well, the person who did it was definetly a male," Aline said.

Clary smiled. So it wasn't Izzy after all. "Does that mean Izzy is cleared?"

"No," Hodge said. "Aline could have just remembered incorrectly."

Aline cleared her thoat. "Um, what is this rune on my neck?"

They all looked over to her.

"Uh, Clary?" Jace said.

Clary stared at the rune. "Weakness…" she whispered. "Weakness. The rune is weakness."

There was a silence.

"Has, uh…" Jace trailed off. "Has Helen come to see you yet?"

Aline's forhead creased. "No. Why?"

Clary remembered Helen's confession a few days ago. "I think she has something to tell you."

"Okay…" Aline said, and took a careful sip of water. "Oh, also, what is Isabelle not being cleared for?"

Jace pursed his lips. "Nothing."

"I see." Aline said, although it was quite obvious she didn't believe him.

Maia POV

When Maia returned to her rooms after her date with Jordan, she was elated.

"So, what happened?" Helen Blackthorn asked, as she lounged on her bed.

Maia took a deep breath. "He kissed me!"

It was true. After a wander through a variety of beautiful gardens that she hadn't even known existed, they'd sat together and watched the sunset. Then, they'd shared the perfect kiss under the last rays of light.

Helen raised an eyebrow. "I have never seen you so excited over a boy."

Maia rolled her eyes. "Oh shut up!" She jumped onto her bed, and for the first time in a while, she felt happy.

"Oh," she said, just remembering watching egotictic-asshole and Clary rush off before class. "Have you seen Aline yet?"

Helen smiled warmly. "Yes. She agreed to go to the red-heads birthday party with me!"

"Clary, you mean?"

"Yeah, her."

Maia whooped, and she and Helen high-fived. "We, my friend, are on a roll today!"

Some of the Shadowhunters and werewolves had found their friendship strange, or even offensive. But Maia had learnt a lesson after starting Shadow World School. Some Shadowhunters, Fair Folk and vampires were good. Some (such as black-haired-bitch and egotistic-asshole) were not.

Jace POV

Jace couldn't sleep. It didn't help with Simon's tossing and turning in the bed accross from his, but the main thing keeping him awake was his sisters confession. Why would she say that she murdered Clary's ex, attacked Aline and poisoned Clary? It made no sense whatsoever.

Just then there was a knock at the door. Jace jumped up, exxpecting it to be Clary. But when he opened the door, he found Kaelie standing on the doorstep.

"By the Angel, Kaelie," he said, "what do you want at a quarter past eleven?"

Kaelie smiled. "I did what you asked. I know who actually attacked Aline."

Okay, so I know that was a massive cliffie, but in all honesty I just couldn't be bothered to write any more. Anyway, good morning/afternoon/night!