Chapter 11

"I feel horrible," Clary sighed,

"This isn't your fault," Jace took her hand.

They had been walking in a straight line for at least an hour. Paris had started to get so busy that Clary and Jace were constantly being split up by strangers and the amount of people made Clary worry that Max and Rafael had gone past them, but she just couldn't see them through the sea of people. They had gone into every shop that could possibly sell hot chocolate and then scanned the whole place for the two missing boys. But they remained just that- missing. They had made sure to not be seen by anyone in case things turned ugly, but at this rate, Clary was afraid that she'd have to return to Magnus empty handed when she had promised to bring his children back. Walking in a straight line was starting to make Clary go mad and instead of simply crossing the road, she grabbed Jace's sleeve and they turned to walk onto a different street.

"I thought the deal was to keep going straight," Jace complained,

"I'm sure it won't hurt anybody if we take a detour," Clary replied.

After a couple of steps down the street, Jace stopped. His whole body froze as he sniffed the air like a bloodhound. Clary tried to smell what he did, but it took a bit longer to detect the slightest hint of sulphur that lingered in the air and once she got one whiff, the smell became more prominent. Jace slid out his blade and slowly stalked the street with his arm in front of Clary to protect her from whatever was causing the smell. It was endearing and heart-warming that he'd always put himself in front of her, which Clary only allowed because he didn't want to damage his ego. They reached the only closed café in the whole of France where the smell grew in intensity. However, the café didn't look as if it had been closed properly; the tables were wonky, the chairs looked as if they were waiting for their occupiers to return, there were half full mugs and half eaten food and there was even a bag left under a chair. The place certainly didn't scream welcome; all the more reason to check inside. Jace was about to open the door, but Clary put her hand on his shoulder.

"Ladies first," She chimed and Jace obliged.

She slowly pushed open the door and let her seraph blade lead the way. She could feel Jace right behind her like a protective shadow as they crept through the eerie café. Towards the back and behind the counter, she noticed an ajar metal door, but before she could advance towards it, a woman with long brown hair and tanned skin opened the door and walked up to her. The woman didn't look scared, worried or even pleased to see them like an owner of this particular café would be; instead she seemed emotionless.

"Parlez-vous anglais?" Clary asked as best as she could.

The woman was clearly not in the mood for talking and shook her head. Clary began to notice how she was able to see her and Jace, how she moved inhumanly and seemed what she could only describe as off. When it clicked that it was an Eidolon demon in front of her, she raised her weapon, but the demon quickly grabbed her by the throat and threw her into the side wall, leaving Clary to fall into two wooden tables and chairs. Before Jace could run to her, Clary gave him the thumbs up despite the throbbing pain that surged through her arm and her side. The only reason why a demon would attack us up here, is if there's something at the back that needs protecting, she told herself as another demon ran towards Jace.

"Keep them busy," she instructed as she got up,

"Nah, I'll just let them run free," Jace commented,

"Well, if you really want to make them like free range chickens."

Clary rushed through the metal door to find a room full of shelves of cleaning products and stairs leading downwards. She looked at the cleaning liquids until she saw one marked 'skin burning' and carefully poured it into a spray bottle before heading downstairs.

"Ugh what a putrid surprise," a woman scoffed.

Clary had to stop in her tracks as a wall of the pungent sulphur scent hit her. The all in black woman stood in front of a large cube covered in fabric and her hair was a deep dark red. She possessed the look of an evil character from one of Simon's manga books and she made Clary feel as if she was helpless prey.

"Where are Max and Rafael?" Clary asked with her blade held high,

The woman laughed, "As you Americans would say, finder's keepers."

The woman clicked her fingers, prompting another demon in the form of a large man to jump at Clary. This time, she swiftly moved to the side, sprayed the chemicals in its face and smiled when it screeched in pain, before hook kicking it in the back and striking it from behind. It made a final howl before it plummeted to the grounds and turned into a large puddle of black thick blood.

"Where are they, bitch?" Clary asked again,

"I moved them," the woman simply replied.

Clary would've bought this, however behind the fabric over the cube; she spotted something bright, round and blue, which soon revealed the silhouette of recognisable horns. She started towards the cube, but the woman raised her hand and Clary went flying back into the stairs. There was no choice for her, she either found and brought back Magnus and Alec's children or she kept searching until death. She took out her stele, drew a rune on her hands and raised t, allowing the swirls, lines and dots to slowly paralyze the woman so that Clary could lift her like a light statue and put her in the corner. Then, she lifted the fabric to see Max clapping next to Rafael.

"That was cool," Max cheered.

It filled Clary with such joy whenever she made Max clap and smile as he would make the room that little bit brighter.

"Don't touch the bars; they hurt," Rafael warned her.

There were red burns down the side of Rafael's face and arms as well as pain still lingering in his face and Max clutched his hand to stop him from crying. Clary stuck her stele into the blazing bars, making them disappear completely and reached out for the boys who ran into her arms. The feeling of them all snug in her arms triggered a tear to fall from her eye. She had finally found them.

But she soon heard a sigh come from behind her, "Reunited at last. Disgusting," the woman snarled as her hair turned flaming red and she pulled Clary back,

"Leave her alone," Rafael demanded.

But the woman wasn't going to take any orders and her grip on Clary's hair tightened. Clary kicked back into the woman's stomach, hoping that she would loosen her grip, but there was no luck and instead, the woman began to chant a spell which rendered Clary unable to breathe.

"Clary bear!" Max cried.

Quickly, Rafael grabbed Clary's seraph blade and dug it into the woman's leg while Max created a ball of blue fire and threw it at her as she winced in pain. The woman flew into the ceiling and crash landed by the stairs where Clary created handcuffs around her wrists with her stele. The warlock showed no signs of pain for her still slightly bleeding wound and glared at Rafael as if attempting to kill him with her mind, prompting Clary to stand in front of him.

"Good work boys," Clary smiled as she fixed her hair and then held her hands out.

Max and Rafael high-fived her before Jace walked down the stairs with his hair thin but still looking good. The pride on his face as he surveyed the scene made Clary chuckle to herself, but an animalistic noise that came from behind a door wiped the smile off of her face, especially when the stench of sulphur from the room grew stronger and seeped from the room entangled with tainted red midst. Rafael pulled Max with him behind Clary's back.

"What's in there?" Jace questioned,

"Why would I tell you," the warlock woman replied,

"Because I can divorce your head from your shoulders in one second."

Clary and the woman watched Jace as he played around with the blade to the point where he became very close to cutting his own hand. His emotionless face mimicked the woman's, which began to make Clary slightly worried that he would follow through with his threat.

"It's where I summon the demons I need," she confessed,

"Why do you summon so many demons?"

"Giving you the answer would be cheating."