We didn't leave immediately, like I'd thought we would. No, we had to wait until it was dark before going to the creepy park with the creepy faeries for the creepy summons. Oh course it couldn't have been simple.

I set up camp in a corner of the couch, keeping my knees tucked up underneath me. Simon and Clary had left and Alec and Magnus had disappeared into the recesses of the apartment to start tampering with the magical contract that bound me to Magnus. Jace had vanished in search of the kitchen. My guess was that he'd probably opened a wardrobe and found Narnia. We were in a warlock's apartment, after all.

"Okay," Jace's voice was forcedly cheery as he reappeared in the living room with an armful of food. "I found outdated eggs, some moldy leftovers, a jar of mayo, and some bread and butter which were miraculously intact."

I smiled weakly at his proffered spoils. "Does Magnus know you raided his fridge?"

"I seriously doubt Magnus knows he has a fridge." Jace scrunched up his nose. "It smelled awful."

"I'm not hungry. But thanks." I turned to stare at the window – the same one in fact that Magnus had stared out as he muttered about blood. The thought made my stomach churn even worse.

I felt the couch shift as Jace settled down beside me but I didn't turn to look at him. He placed one of his hands on my arm gently.

"You don't have to go," he said quietly. "You can still change your mind."

"I know," I said softly. I didn't know if he heard me or not, I wasn't entirely sure I'd made a sound.

"I'll be there, Jaci," he continued. He spoke as though he were at a sickbed – my sickbed. "I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe. And Isabelle will be there, too."

I nodded.

I heard him give a humorless chuckle. "You're going to go no matter what I say, aren't you? And if I tell you not to go, then you'll definitely go."

"Would you expect anything else?"

I turned towards him then and took his hand in both of mine, holding it alongside my face. His palm was rough and callused from fighting. Jace didn't have a gentle life and neither did I.

"I keep feeling that something isn't going to go the way we expect," I admitted. "I can't shake it. Why would they want me?"

I knew Jace wouldn't lie to me. He wouldn't tell me something to comfort me if he didn't believe it himself. Instead, he simply remained silent and pulled me closer to him, stroking my hair gently until it was time to go.

It was the same pond.

Of course it was the same pond, why would the Fae try to drown me in any pond but this particular one?

Isabelle was waiting in the nearby gazebo for us and came running the instant she noticed our little ragtag group. Jace and I led with Simon and Clary trailing behind – probably acting awkward and couple-ish. I didn't care, I was trying not to be jumpy.

"Jace! Jaci!" Isabelle cried. She seemed thrilled and threw her arms around both of us in one, suffocating hug.

I almost managed a laugh but it couldn't get past the dry lump in my throat.

Jace was able to act naturally. Jace didn't ever panic. "Izzy."

Isabelle released us and immediately placed a hand under my chin, turning my face so that she could examine it better. "You look healthy." And then. "Are you taller?"

"Magnus used Miracle Grow," I choked out sarcastically.

"Magnus!" she cried as though just remembering. "How did you get him to let you leave?"

"Traded him for Alec," Clary stated simply, inserting herself into the conversation. Why was she there, again?

"Not permanently?" Izzy looked reasonably worried about her brother's safety. We had left him with a glittering warlock, after all.

"No," Jace said. "Just for a few hours. Unless Jaci doesn't go back… In which case, maybe he does get to keep Alec. Think of it as a lease with an option to buy."

I tried my best to scoff. "That'd go over well."

"Well, you did free a possible criminal – no offense," Simon added quickly once he caught my eye, "and traded your brother," he nodded towards Izzy, "to a warlock who looks like a gay Sonic the Hedgehog and dresses like the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang."

"Thank you for summing that up," I muttered.

Jace, meanwhile, was considering Simon. "Is there some particular reason that you're here? I'm not so sure we should be bringing you to the Seelie Court. They hate mundanes."

"Great time to mention that," Clary growled.

Simon just rolled his eyes. "Not this again."

Dear Clary was confused. "Not what again?"

"Every time I annoy him, he retreats into his No Mundanes Allowed tree house-"

"Maybe you just shouldn't annoy him," I snapped. I was quickly transitioning from terrified to defensively crabby.

Simon glared at me but otherwise ignored my comment and turned to address Jace. "Let me remind you, the last time you wanted to leave me behind I saved all your lives."

Jace rolled his eyes. "Sure. One Time."

"The faerie courts are dangerous." Isabelle to the rescue. "Even your skill with the bow won't help you. It's not that kind of danger."

That kind of danger I could handle. Creepy, underground faerie danger was a bit more… terrifying.

"I can take care of myself." Simon's stubbornness reminded me of my own. It was just be so much more intelligent to stay put and never move an inch closer to that damned pond.

Pond. What a funny word for something that can be so deadly.

"You don't have to come," Clary said to him quietly.

And that, of course, solidified his determination. "Yeah, I do."

Jace sighed angrily and held his arm out to me in a very gentlemanlike way. "Then I suppose we're ready. Don't expect any special consideration, mundane."

I didn't bother trying to tell him off.

"Look on the bright side," Simon pointed out. "If they need a human sacrifice, you can always offer me. I'm not sure the rest of you qualify anyway."

His words made me sick to my stomach, but I tried not to show it.

Jace, who also adopted dark humor in threatening situations, said, "It's always nice when someone volunteers to be the first up against the wall."

"Come on," Izzy snapped as she moved toward the edge of the pond. "The door is about to open."

Seeing where Izzy was headed, I gladly took Jace's arm. It wasn't a time to appear brave. I just needed to do whatever it took to get through this and into the Seelie Court and if that meant Jace had to bind and gag me, then so be it. I was going.

Even if it went entirely against my every instinct and my whole being screamed to run away as far and fast as possible.

I heard Clary's voice but couldn't tell what she said: Isabelle had started wading into the water and Jace and I were following her.

"Oh Angel," I muttered and clutched helplessly at Jace's arm. The freezing water was clawing its way up my legs, wanting to drag me under. Before I was even up to my knees I was shaking and breathing in short, panicked breaths.

"It's all right, Jaci," Jace said in a low, soothing tone. He kept up a rapid stream of reassurance and advice, including the helpful tidbit about not eating anything while in the Seelie Court. The others were talking, too, but their voices didn't register. Even Jace's sounded distant, as though I were already under the water and he was trying to communicate something important to me.

The water was up to my ribs. Jace's arm was around my shoulders now and Isabelle stood in front of us only inches away from the reflection of the moon.

The small, still functional part of my mind noted that that didn't make any sense, whatsoever.

"Jaci, close your eyes."

I did as Jace said and then I was falling. Falling into the water, into their clutches. I could feel the shadows dancing.

Too late.

My eyes flew open as my feet hit solid ground.

I was underground. In the realm of the faeries.

No.

The dream. It all came rushing back.

The faeries left her forever with a vow to leave her be, unless she ever came to them willingly.

With a vow to leave her be, unless she ever came to them willingly.

Unless she ever came to them willingly.

Willingly.

Jace landed beside me, stumbling minimally. I turned to him, terrified but unable to speak. I was caught. It had been a trap and I'd been stupid enough to just wander right into it.

"Cold?" he asked, apparently noticing that I was shivering.

I barely managed to nod. It hadn't even been a clever trap.

In quick succession, Isabelle, Clary, and Simon all appeared.

How could I have been so stupid to let them come here, too? Somehow the added terror made my mind clearer and removed the paralyzing weight that had been surrounding me. This was just another misstep, like with the vampires. I could spin this in my favor. We would all get out. I was resourceful, damn it.

"Oooh, that was fun," Isabelle commented.

I glared at her.

"That does it," Jace announced. "I'm going to get you a dictionary for Christmas this year."

Isabelle blinked water out of her eyes. "Why?"

"So you can look up 'fun.' I'm not sure you know what it means."

She stuck her tongue out at him. "You're raining on my parade."

"You just dragged your parade through a pond," I pointed out dryly. "A little rainwater can't really do anything to it."

"So, which way do we go?" Simon asked.

We all looked miserable with our drenched clothes and chattering teeth.

"Neither way. We wait here, and they come and get us," Isabelle said loftily.

"They?" I echoed softly. The air seemed to thrum with magic.

Clary crossed her arms and glared moodily at Isabelle. "How do they know we're here? Is there a doorbell we have to ring or something?"

I started humming "Ding-Dong the Witch is Dead."

"The Court knows all that happens in their lands. Our presence won't go unnoticed." Isabelle busied herself with wringing water out of her hair and clothing.

"Does anyone else find that just a little creepy?" I demanded with a shudder.

"Sh!" Isabelle urged.

"And how do you know so much about faeries and the Seelie Court, anyway?" Simon demanded of Isabelle, who blushed. Fortunately, the poor girl was spared the trouble of having to answer by the appearance of a faerie.

Oh Angel.

Odd that everything turned to a high pitched ringing sound.

I started to get tunnel vision as we started moving away from the entrance and into the bowels of the Seelie Court. Weird, having tunnel vision in a tunnel.

Eventually the creepy, darkish, earthy, faery tunnel broadened out and gave way to a dazzling – well, I assume it was meant to be dazzling – open chamber styled in a mockery of a summer pavilion.

There was music which pierced the ringing and made me cringe. It was so blastedly familiar.

And the dancers. They were much too familiar. Even if they weren't the same faeries I'd once met as a little girl, they looked the same. They had the same ethereal beauty interlaced with a dark sort of devastation. Some were half vegetation, some looked to be half devoured. Their ruined state only added more to the unnatural beauty of their faces. A girl with glistening pink and blue wings smiled at me. Her teeth were sharper than Taki's.

I clutched Jace's arm tightly and followed mutely through the room, doing everything I could to keep the dancing faeries in my line of vision. Would they recognize me and grab me? Would they force me back into their dance?

I refused to answer the questions.

Meliorn's voice cut across my internal monologue. Rude. "These are the Queen's champers. She's come from her Court in the north to see about the child's death. If there's to be war, she wants to be the one declaring it."

We were standing in a small group huddled before a curtain made of vines. Well, at least the creepy faeries were very green. Stay on the sunny side… there is no sunny side in a tunnel. I let go of Jace's arm, ignoring that he immediately flexed his hand as if to test the muscles were still working. I hadn't been holding on that tight. I was determined to seem confident and composed. They might have tricked me, but they hadn't beaten me.

Meliorn pulled the curtain aside and I was the first one through.

This room was smaller than where the faerie's had been dancing. It was very simple, an earthen hollow light with Will-o'-the-wisps trapped in glass jars. The Queen was seated on a couch, not a throne, and her courtiers were assembled around her from all walks of fae life. I tried not to make eye contact with any of them but they were everywhere. And they were all staring at me.

"My Queen." Meliorn bowed. "I have brought the Nephilim to you."

Thank you, Captain Obvious.

I take it back about the staring thing. The Queen was looking at all of us, not just me. "Four of these are Nephilim. The other is a mundane."

Jace moved to the front of our formation. I could feel the charm oozing off him. "Our apologies, my lady. The mundane is our responsibility. We owe him protection. Therefore we keep him with us."

"A blood debt? To a mundane?" She sounded terribly interested.

I stepped on Simon's foot. "Don't say a word," I hissed.

"He saved my life," Jace continued smoothly. "Please, my lady. We had hoped you would understand. We had heard you were as kind as you were beautiful, and in that case – well, your kindness must be extreme indeed."

I shot an amused glance at Jace. His ridiculous airs were giving me courage. If he ever tried any of that crap on me –

"You are as charming as your father, Jonathan Morgenstern." Apparently the Queen ate up Jace's flattery. "Come, sit beside me. Eat something. Drink. Rest yourselves. Talk is better with wet lips."

Warning lights.

"It would be unwise to refuse the bounty of the Queen of the Seelie Court," Meliorn whispered.

And it'd be unwise to accept it, but I kept my mouth firmly shut. For once.

Isabelle glanced at me as though she could read my thoughts. "It won't hurt us just to sit down."

Okay, so the shiny cushions they had for us to sit on were fabulously comfortable. And the customer service was fantastic. The instant we were all settled on our pillows, a pixie appeared with a tray bearing five cups of a faerie beverage complete with delicate rose petals floating in each cup.

I glanced at Jace and Isabelle and saw them each accept a drink though neither did anything other than hold it so I followed their lead. Simon took one and set it on the floor beside him.

"Don't you want any?" urged the pixie.

"The last faerie drink I had didn't agree with me." Never was a truer word spoken.

On the other side of me, Clary was lifting her cup to her lips.

"Don't," I hissed, nudging her with my foot.

She blinked at me, confused. "But it smells yummy. See," she fished out the petal and crushed it between her thumb and finger. "Delicious."

I glared at her. "Set. It. Down."

Seeming to come to her senses, Clary delicately set the cup aside.

Of course the Queen had watched it all but she said nothing. "Now, Meliorn tells me you claim to know who killed our child in the park last night. Though I tell you now, it seems no mystery to me. A faerie child, drained of blood? Is it that you bring me the name of a single vampire? But all vampires are at fault here, for the breaking of the Law, and should be punished accordingly. Despite what may seem, we are not such a particular people."

"Oh come on. It isn't vampires," Isabelle said, stealing the words right from my mouth.

"What Isabelle means," Jace shot a warning glance at both of us, "is that we're almost certain the murderer is someone else. We think he may be trying to throw suspicion on the vampires to shield himself."

"Have you proof of that?" Her tone was filled with authority. Even in a crowd of thousands, I bet I could pick her as a queen.

"Last night the Silent Brothers were slaughtered as well, and none of them were drained of blood," Jace said.

I shuddered. It was really only last night. So much happened so quickly.

"And this has to do with our child, how? Dead Nephilim are a tragedy to Nephilim, but nothing to me."

For some unknown reason, Clary gasped.

I ignored her. "Of course, my lady," I said, copying Jace's format. "Nor would we expect you to concern yourself over something so trivial."

"But the Soul-Sword was stolen as well." I present to you, the Jace and Jaci tag team. Teaming up to talk to magical beings since… we first talked to Magnus Bane. "You know of Maellertach?"

The mention of the Soul-Sword seemed to amuse the Queen. "The sword that makes Shadowhunters tell the truth. We fae have no need of such an object."

I decided to let Jace handle the rebuttal on his own.

"It was taken by Valentine Morgenstern. He killed the Silent Brothers to get it, and we think he killed the faerie as well. He needed the blood of a faerie child to effect a transformation on the Sword. To make it a tool he could use."

"He needs more blood, first, though," I added. So much for sitting this one out.

"More blood of the Folk?"

"No. More Downworlder blood-" Jace began.

The Queen's eyes flashed. "That seems hardly our concern."

I felt my heart sinking. They wouldn't help us.

"He killed one of yours," Isabelle reminded her. "Don't you want revenge?"

The Queen cast a sweeping glance over all of us, taking her time in answering. "Not immediately. We are a patient folk, for we have all the time in the world. Valentine Morgenstern is an old enemy of ours – but we have enemies older still. We are content to wait and watch. For now, our wrath has subsided."

"He's summoning demons-"

I held up a hand to stop Jace. "Your wrath has subsided?" I asked. "What does that mean?"

The Queen locked her eyes on mine. "For now, Valentine has at length repaid a portion of the debt we were owed."

"We're not here to give you orders on behalf of the Clave," Jace said in order to bring the conversation back to where he needed it. "We came when you asked us because we thought that if you knew the truth, you'd help us."

"Is that what you thought?" Her voice was much to calm. She seemed to be sparking with withheld anger. "Remember, Shadowhunter, there are those of us who chafe under the rule of the Clave. Perhaps we are tired of fighting your wars for you."

"With us," I corrected. "We had hoped you would fight with us."

Jace jumped onto my line of thought. "Valentine hates Downworlders more than he hates demons. If he defeats us, he'll go after you next. And when he does, remember that it was a Shadowhunter who warned you what was coming."

His words echoed in the silence of the room. And then, very slightly, the Queen smiled and turned her gaze away from us, taking a sip from a chalice before speaking once more. "Warning me about your own parent. I had thought you mortals capable of filial affection, at least, and yet you seem to feel no loyalty toward Valentine your father." Her smile was poisoned sugar. "Or perhaps this hostility of yours is the pretense. Love does make liars of your kind."

"But we don't love our father," Clary argued. "We hate him."

"Do you?"

"You know how the bonds of family are, my lady," Jace said. "They cling as tightly as vines. And sometimes, like vines, they cling tightly enough to kill."

The picture brought to mind wasn't pleasant, especially considering the number of vines I could see from where I sat.

"You would betray your own father for the sake of the Clave?" the Queen inquired.

Jace nodded slowly. "Even so, Lady."

She looked entirely delighted. "Who would have that that Valentine's little experiments would turn on him?"

I glanced at both Clary and Jace who looked blankly back at me. This… this might explain a lot.

"Experiments?" Isabelle demanded.

The Queen let her gaze rest lightly on Clary, myself, and then Jace. "The Fair Folk are a people of secrets. Our own and others'. Ask your father, when next you see him, what blood runs in your veins, Jonathan."

Jace recovered well from the oddness of the speech. He ducked his head respectfully. "I hadn't planned on asking him anything next time I see him. But if you desire it, my lady, it will be done."

"I think you are a liar," the Queen said. "But what a charming one. Charming enough that I will swear you this: Ask your father that question, and I will promise you what aid is in my power, should you strike against Valentine."

I sighed with relief. I could feel this terrible meeting winding down to an end and nothing had happened to me. Paranoia for nothing.

Jace smiled bewitchingly. It wasn't his smile, it was a snake charmer's smile. "Your generosity is as remarkable as your loveliness, Lady. And I think we're done here now." He stood and the rest of us followed. Including the Queen.

"A moment," she said. "One of yours and one of ours must remain."

A chill of dread ran down my spine and my hand automatically found Jace's.

"What do you mean?" he asked cautiously.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the Queen raised her hand – it passed over me – and pointed to Clary. "Once our food or drink passes mortal lips, the mortal is ours. You know that, Shadowhunter."

Clary turned to me, panic in her eyes. "But I didn't drink any of it! She's lying."

"Faeries can't lie," I said quietly, staring just as horrorstruck at Clary.

"Look to her fingers and tell me she didn't lick them clean."

I let go of Jace and snatched up Clary's hand. There was a small mark on one of her fingers, but nothing else.

"Of blood," Clary protested. "One of the sprites bit my finger – it was bleeding-" Her breath hitched and she stared at me. "It's true. There was some of it on my finger…"

I whirled on the Queen. "Why? It was a trick, you planned it all along. WHY?"

There was nothing friendly about her smile. "Perhaps I am only curious. It is not often I have young Shadowhunters so close within my purview. Like us, you trace your ancestry to heaven; that intrigues me."

"So ask polite questions," I suggested through bared teeth.

"If you want to study a Shadowhunter," Clary cut in, "I won't be much use to you. I don't know anything about Shadowhunting. I hardly have any training. I'm the wrong person to pick."

She sure as hell was the wrong person to pick. She was my baby sister.

"In truth," could she say anything but in truth if she couldn't lie? "Clarissa Morgenstern, you are precisely the right person. Thanks to the changes your father worked in you, you are not like other Shadowhunters. Your gifts are different."

And now everyone's all sorts of confused.

"My gifts?" Clary echoed.

"Yours is the gift of words that cannot be spoken," the Queen said in her soft voice. "And your brother's is the Angel's own gift. And yours," she looked directly at me, "is the gift of two conflicting realms. Your father made sure of it, before any of you were ever born."

"Valentine isn't my father," I felt the need to point out.

"My father never gave me anything," Clary proclaimed. "He didn't even give me a name."

Jace seemed to be as confused as the rest of us. "While the Fair Folk do not lie, they can be lied to. I think you have been the victim of a trick or joke, my lady. There is nothing special about myself, my sister, or Jaci."

The Queen's laugh was as warm as ice. "How deftly you downplay your charms. Though you must know you are not the usual sort of human boy, Jonathan… Could it be that you do not know?"

"I think it's very possible that we do not know," I pointed out, seizing Clary's wrist protectively. "But I am not leaving Clary here. We have nothing to teach you, perhaps you could release her? Or I'm afraid you'll be left with some squatters."

The Queen turned her head to the side and smiled. "What if I told you she oculd be freed by a kiss?"

Clary was confused. "You want Jaci to kiss you?"

The entire Court broke into peals of mirth.

"Despite her charms, that kiss will not free the girl."

I was extremely relieved. I was not kissing a faerie, thank the Angel.

"I could kiss Meliorn," Isabelle suggested.

"Nor that. Nor any one of my Court."

Isabelle threw her hands up and took a step away from us. "I'm not kissing any of you. Just so it's official."

"That hardly seems necessary," Simon spoke up for the first time in a long while. "If a kiss is all…" He stared to move towards Clary and I couldn't help but notice that she tensed up.

"No," the Queen cut in. "That is not what I want either."

"Oh, for the Angel's sake," Isabelle cried, rolling her eyes. "I take it back. I'll kiss Simon. I've done it before, it wasn't that bad."

"Thanks," Simon said dryly. "That's very flattering."

"Alas, I'm afraid that won't do either." The Queen had her eyes on Clary and a cruel smile played on her lips.

"Well, I'm not kissing the mundane. I'd rather stay down here and rot," Jace declared.

Simon blinked at him. "Forever? Forever's an awfully long time."

Up went one of Jace's eyebrows. "I knew it. You want to kiss me, don't you?"

"Not everyone finds you attractive," I muttered, not comfortable with the idea of anyone kissing Jace.

He smirked at me. "It's true what they say, then. There are no straight men in trenches."

Simon fumed. "That's atheists, jackass. There are no atheists in trenches."

The Queen's cold voice interrupted our deliberating. "While this is all very amusing, the kiss that will free the girl is the kiss that she most desires. Only that and nothing more."

The kiss she most desires. I stared at the Queen. But that would mean…

"Please no," Clary moaned.

Simon's look he threw at Clary was a mixture of betrayal and disgust. "That's ridiculous. He's her brother."

Clary's terrified eyes met mine. I didn't know what to say, what to think. Jace stood like a statue beside me.

"Desire is not always lessened by disgust," the Queen said simply. "Nor can it be bestowed like a favor to those who are most deserving of it. And as my words bind my magic, so you can know the truth. If she doesn't desire his kiss, she won't be free."

Simon whirled furiously on Clary. "You don't have to do this, Clary, it's a trick-"

"It's a test," Jace's low voice corrected. I could hear his anger.

Isabelle sighed. "Well I don't know about you, Simon, but I'd like to get Clary out of here."

"Like you'd kiss Alec," he snapped at her, "just because the Queen of the Seelie Court asked you to."

"Sure I would," she snapped back.

"Shut up," I hissed. I refused to look at Clary. "Just… get it over with. Please."

Jace didn't move.

"It's just a kiss, Jace," I said quietly. "A kiss for her freedom."

He grabbed my hand and squeezed it briefly before turning to Clary. Her lips were slightly parted and she looked breathless. I tried to look away but I was sickly fascinated. Would Jace…?

Touching her the least amount possible, Jace bent down to press his lips to hers.

Clary's reaction was immediate. Her arms were around Jace's neck as she tried to deepen the kiss. I glared at the Queen who had a smile on her lips. Carefully, Jace grabbed Clary's wrists and detached her from himself and ending the kiss.

I refused to look at her. Guilt and betrayal were battling inside me. My own sister. How could she?

"Was that good enough?" Jace's voice was hard as stone. "Did that entertain you?"

The Queen was beaming "We are quite entertained."

Jace growled, "I can only assume that mortal emotions amuse you because you have none of your own."

And the mood was utterly destroyed, not just deteriorated.

"Easy Jace," Isabelle murmured.

"Come on," I said in a sharp tone, turning on my heel to lead the group to the door. But I couldn't make it as far as the door. An unseen force blocked my path.

Jace, Isabelle, Clary, and Simon had all moved past me.

"Jaci?" Jace asked, concerned.

I couldn't speak, could barely breathe. Of course.

"Is something wrong?" the Queen asked in a deadly soft voice.

Heart stuttering, I turned to stare at her. "I can't leave." It wasn't a question.

Her smile was back. "You can't."

"What?" Jace's voice was low and threatening.

Despite the fact that my greatest fear was literally coming true, I felt eerily calm. It would seem that part of me had been expecting this for a while. When dealing with the Fey, everything was only a question of time. The Seelie Court was a vast network that reached everyone, there was really no avoiding their wishes. That's what made them all so terrifying.

But knowing the worst is coming, somehow that made me know that I could handle it. Probably since it couldn't get any worse.

"Jace," I said softly, still keeping my eyes glued on the Queen, "do you remember that story I told you?"

"Jaci, what are you talking about?"

"The day of Magnus' party," I insisted. It was important that he understood.

In my peripheral I could just see him start to understand. "I'd forgotten," he admitted slowly.

I nodded fractionally. "So did I. Sort of. I think."

"So you really can't." He said it with finality. I was actively avoiding looking at the others. They wouldn't understand.

"Why does Jaci have to stay?" Isabelle demanded.

The Queen grinned broadly. "She must pay off part of Valentine's debt."

I heard someone shuffle awkwardly. "But Jaci has nothing to do with Valentine!" It was Clary.

"Just as you have nothing to do with him?" the Queen asked quietly.

"Just go," I said, cutting off any reply anyone would have. "I'll catch up with you when I can."

Isabelle marched forward. "Jaci is a Shadowhunter. She belongs to us, it's in her blood."

The Queen's mouth twisted into a cruel smile. "When your claim is greater than blood, then you may take her."

"Greater than blood?" Clary echoed.

I spun around to face her and grabbed both of her hands in mine. "Listen to me, okay? You have to go now. You have to explain to the Inquisitor what happened, that I'm just as secure here as if I were at Magnus's apartment. Convince her to end the contract so that Alec can leave, got that? You need to go and don't worry about me. I'll come and find you as soon as I can."

Tears were welling up in Clary's eyes. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.

I knew exactly what she was apologizing for and pulled her in for a tight hug. "Just don't be stupid, all right?"

She nodded wordlessly and stepped away, letting go, I realized.

And then Isabelle had grabbed my shoulders and whirled me around to face her. "I'm getting you out," she said stiffly. "And soon. Her words bind her magic so I'll find a claim for you greater than blood and then you can come home. And I'll visit, I'll keep you updated. You'll be home before you know it."

I nodded. "Kill some demons for me."

She nodded briskly in response and then stepped back. Simon awkwardly stepped into her place.

"Don't do anything stupid," I cautioned, seeing the dejection and anger in his eyes from the kiss still. He looked as though he couldn't hear me.

Knowing it would be extraordinarily difficult, I finally turned to Jace.

"I'm not leaving you here," he stated with his eyes narrowed threateningly. "I told you."

He really wasn't going to make this easy. "I hereby absolve you of your promise," I said in a pointless attempt to sound somewhat cheerful.

But Jace just shook his head. "I swear, by the An-"

I slapped my hand over his mouth so that he wouldn't finish. "Jace," I hissed into his ear, going on tiptoe so that – hopefully – the Queen wouldn't overhear. "You said you would do whatever it takes to keep me safe. For right now, that means you have to leave." I blinked furiously. "I don't want them to hurt you. And I need you to watch out for Clary."

He stepped away from me and turned sharply. I could tell he was furious, but at least he wasn't going to stay. Jace nodded towards the others to walk out in front of him and he followed. And just as I thought he was going to leave, he spun on his heel and advanced toward the Queen.

"Promise me that she will not be harmed in any way," he demanded.

The Faerie Queen smiled thoughtfully. "Such attachment. She will not be harmed, Shadowhunter. You may come and see for yourself whenever you wish to. Does this satisfy you?"

Jace nodded sharply. "Thank you, my lady." Without another word, he turned to leave.

"Jace!" I cried before I could stop myself. I crossed the room quickly and threw my arms around him, burying my face in his chest and breathing in the smell of him. He held me just as tightly and desperately as I held him. I felt him kiss the top of my head.

We stood there clinging to each other, not knowing how long it would be before we saw each other again.

"Come back for me," I whispered.

He stepped back but kept his arms around me. Still wrapped in his embrace, I looked up at him, his golden eyes were feverishly bright. "I always will." His voice was rough and it shook slightly. My heart stuttered as I raised a hand to touch his cheek. I'd only ever thought I would care about my mother, my sister, Luke, and Simon and for the longest time that had been true. Now I had Isabelle and Alec and even Max to add to that list. And Jace. Though he was in a category that was all his own.

Funny how being faced with separation makes you realize how much someone means to you.

He kissed me gently and the rested his forehead against mine. I wanted to say something but no words would come out. Instead, I kissed his cheek and stepped out of his embrace.

And he left.

And I stayed.