Recap: Skylar's come back to New York from her running away and spending time in Tulsa. She and Anastasia are still in a huge fight, although Ana is struggling to hide how much she wants things back to normal. Jace wants to plan something with Ana's help that he hopes will free Sky, but he doesn't know from what. Axel, Sky's sort-of-boyfriend, has gone back home at the other angels' beck and call. Presently, Ana is trying to figure out who calmed down Skylar so quickly, when she was supposed to be going to Taki's with Alec.
"I still feel awful for leaving Alec." Sky twisted her hair into a better ponytail than the one that had started to fall.
Sebastian lounged on the couch casually enough, considering he had basically kidnapped her. "The fire-message would have gotten the cue across. Alec knows you haven't told them everything yet. Besides, you have other work to do."
"Oh, yeah?" She smirked. "And what kind of work do you have in mind?"
The Morgenstern son got to his feet and stretched. "I'm shocked, Sky. For a second there it seemed like you had your memory back." His black eyes flashed for the briefest moment.
When the Iron Sisters had first released her from their protection, Skylar returned to Tulsa in order to send a message to Magnus without being too suspicious. Of course, that meant Sebastian found her almost instantly, and at the time she had acted as if she didn't know who he was, beyond the fact he was another Shadowhunter. Her hatred had slowly been melting away the more she worked with him, especially in the past few days. It was similar to the way things had been before Valentine sicced his demons on her. Back then he hadn't been his own mastermind; he had walked away from her when his father ordered it.
"Maybe I do," she taunted. Regardless of her mistrust toward him, his speed impressed her. The wall shook at her back as Sebastian pinned her there, one arm curled around her waist, the other hand framing her face. Sky focused on blocking out her emotions, still grinning like a madwoman. "You missed me, huh?"
"I haven't felt any human emotion as powerful as the guilt of knowing I didn't save you. Do you understand how terrible I felt, Bane?" He touched their foreheads together with the ghost of a sigh.
Skylar hoped what he said was true. "Whether you're Jonathan or Sebastian to the world, I have sided with you since the moment I left the Institute years ago. Death is your weapon, and killing me should have been a memorable first. One more thing I could have helped you with."
If possible, his eyes darkened. "Your death is the only one I would never celebrate." He let her go.
"Ooh, watch it, Morgenstern," she warned jokingly, still hyperaware of his proximity. "You almost sounded non-demonic." She slipped away from him and headed for the staircase. It was good to stop faking things, even for a little while. She had to go back to the Institute or Magnus' apartment eventually, but Axel's decision – the same one he'd made over and over for at least a year – cut deeper than she cared to admit.
The stench of blood drifted out from underneath a wooden door, plain in comparison to the rest of his retreat. Sky would have liked to ignore it, except the pull of her magic was too great.
Sebastian found her not ten seconds later, staring at the carnage. "Usually, guests don't invite themselves into closed rooms," he whispered in her ear.
Shivering at the chill coming from the sacrifices, Skylar was suddenly glad her abnormal bloodlines kept her from feeling the actual cold. It was close to impossible to keep her flippant tone. "Shouldn't these be, I don't know, in a basement?"
"My experiments are not something I'm ashamed of," he replied calmly. "Nor will the Clave find them here, with all the wards that are up."
Noting everything she saw, Sky forced herself to close the door and swallowed the bile in her throat. Sebastian would destroy all of the Shadowhunter and Downworld races if no one stopped him. As much as she had missed her old friend, he had become the leader now. That made him so much worse of an enemy than when he merely listened to Valentine and Lilith.
"You don't have to stay where you aren't comfortable."
"Why are you acting like a real person?" Skylar headed for the master bedroom. "Jace might be my best friend, but I worked with you as a partner – a dark one – for a long time. Trying to hide your personality now is only freaking me out."
Sebastian mirrored her earlier smirk. "Rest while you can, Sky. I wasn't joking about the work you have to do."
As soon as she was alone, she got a message out to Brother Zachariah. Hopefully he recognized the code that Tessa had taught her.