Chapter 21
"Alright everyone," Mendelson says as he turns to their group. "Let's see how well you work together." He has a small self-satisfied look on his face. After seeing that exchange between him and Jace, she knows he's been pretending with her and Jonathan the whole time.
Clary considers briefly about calling him out but decides against it. It would do no good and honestly, she doesn't want to waste time on it. Now that so many people she loves are going with her and Jonathan to Faerie, she wants to be at her absolute best. Her fighting skills have mostly come back to her but they are nowhere near what she desires to be.
Besides, there is only one question she really wants to be answered now that encompassed so much. 'Why did he do it?' Why did Mendelson offer to train her and Jonathan and give them a place to stay? What was his end-game?
"Lovelace!" Mendelson calls.
George tosses his apple into the small garbage bin by the weapon's cabinet before walking to the middle of the mat where Mendelson is. "At your service." He says sarcastically with a cheeky grin.
"We are going to do some fighting scenarios to see how you work together and that will show me how to improve the group." He looks at George. "You and I will attack the Morgenstern's and Blackthorn from behind." He states. "Emma Carstairs will be 'injured' and lying on the ground. She will have to fend off an attack from either of us whenever we get the chance to attack her."
"Great," Julian says with sarcasm as he walks over to the mat. "In my opinion, we don't need this guy to train us."
"I agree," Jonathan says. "But we do need his training room. Let's just humor him for a while."
They all saunter over to the mat, grabbing training weapons as they go. Clary glances at the door that Jace disappeared through for a moment, wondering where he went.
Almost a full hour has passed before he comes back in. His hair is windblown and she suspects he was riding a horse. There are short white hairs on his pants. He looks calmer than when he left and when he catches her looking at him, he smiles at her.
Her heart jumps in her chest before she is able to temper her reaction to him. Avoiding him is high on her list right now after finding out about Mendelson.
She looks to Jonathan who has noticed he came back as well. He looks down at her. "Have you thought about what we talked about this morning?" he asks her, bringing up the conversation where he pointed out how she wasn't really mad at him about Ithuriel's dreams. Just hurt from him marrying someone else.
"Maybe." She shrugs her shoulders, dropping her head to look at the mat. "But the fact that Mendelson is his father-in-law is messing me up."
"Just…maybe don't be so cold to him. Jace, I mean." She looks up to his face, surprised by the pleading tone he used. "I'm just saying that when he left last night, he looked like he didn't know whether to throw up, cry, or punch something."
"What are you now? His cheerleader?"
"No." he shakes his head. "I just want you to be as happy as you can be after everything I and the Seelie Queen did to you. You deserve that."
Her heart gives an uncomfortable squeeze. "Jonathan, I…" She's interrupted by George coming over to where they are on the edge of the mat. Emma and Julian are fending off an attack by Mendelson, making him look like a child from their skill.
"That guy is bloody intolerable." He says, his brows furrowed but his eyes wide.
The contrast between his brows and his eyes makes her smile.
"He hasn't been like this till today." She replies.
"Well, it's good to know that we bring out the uselessness in him." He answers. "I mean, who is really going to be fighting if their arm is cut off?" He looks back out to where Emma has one hand tied around her back.
And she's still kicking Mendelson's ass as Julian smirks and steps aside.
"Why don't we start training by ourselves?" Clary suggests.
"I don't think I've heard a better idea in weeks," George says, smiling with relief.
"I'd actually like to go spar with Jace," Jonathan admits. He turns and looks to where Jace is decimating a practice dummy. He's been there since he got back. Clary's caught him watching her a few times and when she did, he gave her a smile and she looked away...like a coward.
"Okay." Clary picks up a staff and tosses George one as well. They walk over to a corner and face each other.
George eyes her warily for a moment. "I'm not so sure about this anymore." He says dubiously. "You're tiny but the look in your eyes scares me."
She laughs. "What look in my eyes?"
"The one that says, 'My name used to be Mogwai until someone spilled some water on me.'"
Clary bursts out laughing, doubling over. "I can't believe you just compared me to a Gremlin!"
"Hey." He says, holding his hands up in surrender. "I just call it how I see it."
She laughs again. "I also love that you know that movie. These lifelong shadowhunters have no knowledge of pop culture. I can't tell you how many awesome movie references I've used to make jokes with that would have made normal people die laughing, only to have the joke go over their heads." She shoves her thumb at the rest of them.
His eyes go wide with agreeance. "I know, right?!"
"It almost makes me feel bad for kicking your ass." She replies. Confusion washes over his face for a moment before she brings down her staff, sweeping his legs out from under him. He lands on his back with a satisfying smack.
"What the..." He says, looking at where she brought down the tip of the staff where his genitals are, hovering only an inch above them.
"Like I said, I almost feel bad."
He looks back to her face, his eyes wide. "I think I'm in love." He says in a mock whisper.
Clary smiles and laughs again, holding out her hand to help him up and rolling her eyes. "Come on, Casanova. Get up so I can kick your ass again."
"Ha!" he puffs out his chest as he stands. "You caught me off guard. That won't happen again. Ummpphh!" He falls on his back again after she hits him in the chest, knocking him off balance.
She bursts out into hysterics as he narrows his eyes at her, slowing getting up. This time, his eyes never leave her as he grips his staff tightly. "Oh. It's on like Donkey Kong now, you little gremlin."
"Okay, Shrek."
"Shrek?" he says indignantly.
"Yep." She replies with a smirk. "You're big, Scottish, funny, and I sense that on the inside, you are really just a big softy."
"But I am way hotter than him, right?" he asks as they circle each other.
She frowns and shrugs her shoulders. "Meh." Her frown doesn't last long before she can no longer hold back a smile at his offended face.
"Oh! You are SO going down for that comment."
"I'd love to see you try." She goads him.
After almost an hour, she's gotten the best of him 11 times to his 4. Right now, she's standing over him and doing the cabbage patch dance move, celebrating her latest victory.
"You're an evil little creature. Did you know that?" he says to her.
"I have no idea what you're talking about." She feigns innocence.
"You meant to slide that staff right in between my butt cheeks." His brown eyes glare at her playfully.
"Hey." She holds her hands up as he stands. "It's not my fault you turned at the last second." She tries to bite her lips to keep from laughing but it only lasts a whole ten seconds. That's when he turned around to pick his staff up from the ground revealing a hole in his pants.
He's wearing teal colored underwear with little pink hearts on them.
"What's so funny, Miss. Morgenstern?" He puts his hands on his hips, trying to look intimidating as he towers over her.
"I like your underwear. I think I had the same pair when I was 5." She giggles.
He reaches around to his backside, his eyes widening in horror. "It's laundry day today." He tells her.
"Mmmhmm. Sure, it is." She reaches out and pats him on the arm.
"Nice undies," Julian says, walking up behind him from the sparring mat, repressing a snicker.
George stands up straight and squares his shoulders. "Don't be jealous that I am manly enough to pull these off and you're not."
"You got me there, George." Julian chuckles. "I'm not even manly enough to buy those."
"Who's not manly enough for what?" Jonathan asks. He and Jace have just walked up, curious about the hysterical laughter coming from her and Julian.
Clary and Julian just bite their lips and look to George. He's still standing straight, looking as proud and unashamed as ever. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go find some new pants." He picks up his staff and then turns around and starts walking towards the door.
The sight of his teal underwear with pink hearts is too much and they all double over laughing, Jace and Jonathan joining in.
"Wait! Wait!" Clary yells at George, running up behind him and grabbing his hand. She spins him around and starts to pull him over to where she knows Mendelson keeps extra training clothes. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind you borrowing some pants for the day."
She catches a glimpse of Jace who seems to be scowling as they pass.
After giving some pants to George, he disappears into the bathroom and she walks over to where Emma is throwing knives. Mendelson is hovering over her. "Mind if I join?" she asks.
They both look to her and while Emma smiles, she can see a slight tightening of Mendelson's eyes. "Not at all. It'll give us some time to catch up without all those dumb boys." She nods her head towards where the guys are waiting for George to come out of the bathroom. Once he does, they all wolf-whistle at him and George starts swaying his hips like he is Jessica Rabbit as he walks back to them.
"You seem to be getting your footing back with your training," Emma says.
Clary turns back to her. "For the most part." She shrugs. "I guess it's like riding a bike. I'm still not where I should be though. You, on the other hand, are incredible, Emma." Clary's been watching her and has been so damn impressed. She's an absolutely incredible shadowhunter.
"Thanks." Emma blushes slightly. "Practice makes perfect, right?"
Mendelson leaves then after putting away some knives he was using. He calls out for the guys to spar with each other while she grabs some of her own knives and stands next to Emma. She pulls back and snaps her arm forward, letting a knife fly and sinking it deep into the near center of the target. "I've always been good at throwing knives," Clary remarks with a smirk.
"How are you?" Emma asks. Clary looks up to her. She tucks a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear. "Really. How are you really?"
Clary takes a deep breath and throws another knife. "I'm...coping." She shakes her head. "There are good days and there are bad days. The hardest thing is just sleeping through the night."
Emma seems to understand what she's saying and nods. Thankfully, she doesn't ask anything else about it. "It was really good hearing you laugh over there. What in the world was going on?"
Clary smiles. "George ripped his pants. His underwear was teal with pink hearts."
Emma giggles. "Damn. I hate I missed that." She looks to where Mendelson is. "He's got some good tips but he seems distracted. Probably because his son-in-law has been staring at you all morning."
Clary doesn't take the bait, not wanting to talk about him. Instead, she turns the tables on Emma. "Is there a Mr. Emma Carstairs anywhere? I'm sure with as insanely beautiful you turned out to be there has to be a million guys that are lined up for a chance with you."
Emma shakes her head and purses her lips. "No. I don't have time to date."
Clary studies her as she throws a knife. There is something about the expression on Emma's face that is off. "You sure?" Clary asks. "Because your face says otherwise."
"The guy I like, I can't have," Emma confesses and she throws her last knife, walking up to the dummy and collecting them.
"Why not?"
Emma takes a deep breath and blows it out. "Because I just can't."
Just then, a vision begins to stir and a rune pops up behind Clary's eyes. She has no clue what it's for, but she knows it's incredibly powerful. Three sweeping and intersecting lines and a small slash just out to the side of it. Just seeing it in her mind, she can feel its strength.
Her eyes squeeze shut tightly and her hands come up to rub her temples.
"You okay?" Emma asks.
"Yeah." Clary answers, opening her eyes. "Just suddenly got a headache. I'll be fine."
It's lunchtime when she and Emma step away from throwing knives. She watches as Jace, George, Jonathan, and Julian walk outside. The men look tired because they have been sparring the whole time. Once Emma and Clary are outside and are sitting against the wall where she and Jonathan have eaten lunch every day, she looks up and almost vomits.
Usually, only Mendelson's wife brings out a tray with their lunch, but today, Jace's wife is with her carrying her own tray. She's walking over to them with her eyes trained on Jace who is standing next to Julian on the other side of the door.
Emma reaches out and grabs Clary's hand that is laying on the grass between them. The movement must have caught Evie's eyes because her eyes were now locked with Clary's. She can't seem to look away for some reason and the longer they stared at one another, the colder Evie's eyes got.
Her brown eyes began to feel like daggers. The animosity started to pour off of Evie in waves with every step she took. The closer she got, the worse it got.
Suddenly, George was there standing in front of her, blocking her view of Jace's wife and shading her from the sun. She has to crane her neck up to look at his tall and large form. "Ummm, hey." He scratches the back of his neck, seeming to search for his next words for a few seconds. "I saw you were killing it in there with the knives."
She smiles. "It's one of the few things that don't require a lot of wrist strength." She shrugs. "Or it could just be because I'm a badass."
George's face lights up with amusement. "It's more likely the second one."
"I'd like to think so." She replies.
Emma squeezes her hand before letting it go. "Definitely the second one. I seem to remember George lying on his back more than you when you two were sparring."
"That's because she's so tiny and fast," George says, his tone sour. It's obvious his pride is hurt.
"Yes. I'm very sneaky, Mr. Deeds." She says with an accent, hoping he'll catch on to her movie reference.
His huge smile lets her know that he does. "I love that movie." He then motions to the spot next to her on the grass. "Is this seat taken?"
"Nope."
"Alright then." He then proceeds to just sit down where he was standing in front of her.
She looks confused between him and the spot next to her that he asked about. "Why did you ask me if the spot next to me was taken if you were just going to sit there?" she asks him.
"Because I like to be mysterious." He grins at her. "Like James Bond. That's how he gets all the ladies." He then wiggles his eyebrows at her and both Emma and her break out in laughter.
"Oh yeah. You're so mysterious." Clary quips back as Mendelson's wife tries to hand her a sandwich.
George immediately grabs the tray and says a quick thank you before giving me a sandwich. Mendelson's wife walks off with the empty tray and when she does, Clary leans forward and speaks lowly. "Thanks for that."
"Thanks for what?" George asks, only looking slightly confused.
"For stepping in front of his wife for me and running interference with her mom." She leans back as he just shrugs.
"Don't worry about it."
"Well," Clary takes a bite of her sandwich before finishing her thought. "If looks could kill I would have been dead."
"Really super dead." George clarified and both she and Emma laughed.
"What's so funny over here?" Jace appears next to her and takes the spot that George asked about.
An awkward silence washes over the group.
"Nothing that you'd think was funny," Clary muttered under her breath and then took a bite of her sandwich.
"Try me," Jace says with a cheeky smile.
"Honestly, Jace. You wouldn't think it was funny." Emma tries to stress.
"Why won't any of you just tell me? It's not like I don't have a sense of humor."
"Oh for the love of…" George says, his Scottish brogue thick with a bit of exasperation. "Clary was remarking on the daggers you wife was throwing at her with her eyes, using the expression 'If looks could kill, I'd be dead'. Then I said, 'Really super dead.' And we all had a good laugh about it."
Clary only glances at Jace briefly. His face is red with what she thinks is embarrassment and he looks slightly sick.
The atmosphere becomes unbearably uncomfortable. So uncomfortable that Clary stands and begins to walk around to the back of the training building, away from everyone. She's alone for a full 7 seconds before Jace rounds the corner.
"I'm sorry." He says. "About that," he jerks his thumb from the way that both came, "and about Evie."
"There's really no need for you to..." Jace cuts her off.
"She's angry because I asked her for a divorce."
Clary's heart stops beating and her breath stops short on an inhalation. Her surprised eyes lock with Jace's.
"I asked her last week and that's what we were fighting about last night. I'm assuming you heard me arguing with Mr. Mendelson." He shifts his weight uncomfortably for a moment. "He's Evie's father."
"I know. George mentioned it." She says lowly.
"Of course, he did," Jace mumbles as he looks at his feet and then back to her.
She thinks about asking him why he said that, but she doesn't get the chance as he continues. "I'm all in, Clary. You are who I love; who I want to be with."
She's completely unsure of what to do or say. She was not expecting him to say all this and say it with such conviction. All she can do is stand there and stare at him, looking so beautiful. Her heart restarts and thuds painfully in her chest, her walls around it starting to slip down by a few inches.
"I know you're mad at me right now and that you might very well tell me to go fuck off but I decided that I'm going to tell you that every chance I get. I thought you were dead for an agonizingly long 4 and half years and I realized a lot during that time." He takes a small step closer, seemingly encouraged by her silence and by the look in her eyes.
"Like the fact that no matter how many times I told you I loved you and kissed you or made love to you, it was never enough. If I told you that I loved you every waking moment for the rest of my life, it still wouldn't be enough."
She catches a glimpse of yellow behind him and shuts down immediately. "I can't deal with this right now," Clary says shaking her head. Her walls are up again, refortified. "I don't know what I want. I don't know what I feel, but mainly, I know that this really isn't the best time or place for all this." She motions back and forth between them.
"Then when would that time be?" he asks. His tone is on the verge of annoyed.
"When your wife isn't walking over here." She looks over his shoulder as Evie approaches, eyes red and tears streaming down her face.
Jace looks behind him and sighs a curse word.
She's really close to them now so Clary turns and says, "I'll just go."
"No, wait Clary." Jace pleads.
She spins around and Evie is there next to him. "No. I'm not staying for this." She says, pointing at the both of them.
"I need to speak with you, Jace," Evie tells him.
Clary starts to turn away again but feels Jace grab her hand, pulling her to a stop. She pulls it back to herself.
"Actually, it might be better if she stays." Evie's voice is almost piercing with its ferociousness. "She should hear what I have to say."
"What are you talking about?" He asks.
Clary half turns to the couple.
"I came to tell you that I changed my mind." Evie states. "I'm going to fight for you, Jace. I don't want what we have, our love and marriage, to be thrown away at the first obstacle. I love you and I know you love me. I want to be with you."
Clary doesn't say a word as she turns and walks away. She hears Jace curse and then his footsteps as he trots up behind her. Before he can say anything, she raises her hand and looks at him. "Just…give me some space. It's obvious you have a lot to deal with and think about right now and I can't...won't be pulled into your marriage. We can try and be friends. All I want to focus on right now is going back inside and training so I don't die in Faerie. Jonathan deserves a chance at an untainted life."
She leaves then, walking away from him.
"Fuck!" Jace screams in frustration just as she rounds a corner, heading back to the doors of the training room.
God knows she loves him, but everything is still too raw for her, too new. If only she didn't love him so much, she would be able to let him go.
But she does and so she can't.
His words are on repeat in her head and that doesn't help her at all with thinking straight.
"I love you too, Jace. If only that were enough." She whispers before wiping away a random tear. Clary takes another few breaths to clear her head before deciding that she needs to table the Evie-Jace-Clary love triangle she's gotten stuck in. "Just focus on surviving." She chants to herself with her eyes closed.
Clary takes the step that brings her back to where she started, walking over and sitting back down next to Emma. She's beyond grateful when she doesn't say anything and just hands her the sandwich that she had set down.
They eat in silence and listen in to the conversation that George, Julian, and Jonathan are having about the best way to kill and three-headed warex demon. She catches Jonathan looking at her at one point and he mouths at her, "You okay?"
She holds her hand out and rocks it back and forth, motioning that she was...okay. Not great but not destroyed either. It was more like she was mentally tired and just wanted to sleep for the rest of the day so she wouldn't have to use her brain anymore. It was so tiring not thinking about Jace.
When Mendelson calls them back in a few minutes later, Jace appears looking a little worse for wear. His face is flushed and his hair is sticking up in two places on top of his head. When he searches the room for her with his eyes and finds her standing next to Julian by the arrows, his features turn a bit forlorn before he tears his gaze down to the floor.
The lump in Clary's throat seems to get bigger and the stinging in her eyes rachets up a few levels.
They both avoid each other for the rest of the day, acting like magnets that were pushing against each other. It bothered her more than she wanted to admit to herself. The strain that was felt between them after being so crazy in love was so painful. But it wasn't like anything else.
It was painful in a whole new, different way.
She hated the situation that they were thrust in, knowing that if Evie hadn't come around the corner when she did outside, that she might be speaking with him right now. Possibly even flirting with him. She had felt herself slipping, giving into his words and imagining what it would be like to be in his arms again.
When she saw Evie coming up behind him, it was most definitely like a bucket of cold water was dumped on her and she shut down.
Going to bed that night was hard. Jonathan hugged her tightly to his chest and kissed the top of her head before leaving her in her room. She was so desperate for Jace's arms to be wrapped around her that she hated herself for it. He was married. Whether or not he was getting a divorce didn't matter because, at this point in time, he was married.
And she would not be the other woman.
The next day when she and Jonathan arrived at the training building, Jace was nowhere to be found. An hour into warm-ups and strengthening exercises for her wrists, Emma leaned over to her from her spot next to her. "I think Jace is in Allicante handling some personal issue." She must have seen her looking for him periodically. If that was the case, it made her feel like a loser. "I overheard him talking yesterday to Mendelson after you left saying that he probably wouldn't be here today. The conversation was pretty heated between them."
Clary just nods before standing up and going to grab a short sword.
"That thing looks like a regular length sword in your hands." George's cheeky grin spreads across his face as he continues. "You know...because you're so tiny."
She glares at him and then flips him off. "Like I haven't heard that one before."
He turns thoughtful, bringing a hand up to his chin. "You're right. I need to come up with something more original."
Jonathan, who was only a few feet away, walks up and stands next to Clary. Before she realizes what he's doing, he's propped his elbow up on top of her head and rested his chin on that fist. "She makes one hell of an armrest."
Moving as fast as she can, she turns slightly and punches him in his side. He winces briefly before rubbing the spot and laughing along with George. "You guys are such assholes."
George brings his hand up to cover his mouth, a look of outrage morphing is features. "Such vulgar language. And I am too pretty to be compared to anyone's asshole."
This catches her off guard and she laughs, putting her sword back and walking away to the hanging rope to try and climb it. She couldn't be there and practice swordplay if those two were going to be joking on her. After climbing the rope four times, her hands and wrists are killing her. She slides down the rope and wipes a bead of sweat from her brow.
Jonathan walks up to her, looking a little confused. "George was telling me that Simon told him that you used to be in some sort of club called the Lollipop Guild?"
Her face scrunches up in confusion for a moment and she looks over to George. He has a mischievous look on his face though he is trying to cover it up with a look of innocence.
"Yeah. He said that you would welcome new people to your neighborhood with a song and dance, giving them a lollipop. But that doesn't sound like something you would have done, not even as a kid."
"What in the world is he talking….."
She stops mid-sentence, realizing what is going on.
The lollipop guild was from the movie The Wizard of Oz. The lollipop guild would welcome new people to munchkin land...
Her eyes turn into poison-tipped daggers as she looks back over at George...who is now bent over, one hand on the ground holding himself up. He's laughing so hard his face has almost turned purple and he's desperately trying to suck in air between stunted giggles.
Seeing him like that kills some of her anger. If she were completely honest, he had burned her and burned her good. Poor Jonathan looked so confused as he looked between them. He wasn't raised a mundane, so he wouldn't understand the classic movie reference or realize that George had used him which made the joke even better.
Watching George laugh was contagious. Even though it was at her expense, it was really funny and very well orchestrated. After George got done wiping the tears from his eyes and was able to stand upright, she locked eyes with him and gave him a theatrical bow. Once she was standing again, she laughed and called across the room, "That was a good one, asshole! Very original."
"I tried. I didn't want to let you down again!" he called back.
She gravitated toward him to rest of the day. He was so light and happy and carefree. It was refreshing to be around someone that she didn't know from before. She didn't have to worry about him noticing something different about her or worrying that he would ask her about her and Jace since he never knew them as a couple like everyone else did.
She felt like she could breathe talking to him. He kept her laughing with stories about Simon stumbling through the Academy and about his childhood endlessly sheering sheep on his parent's farm. She recalled the one time she visited Simon at the Academy, when he still didn't have his memories back, and how George had run into their dorm room door as he tried to leave. They were laughing about it as they left for the day.
"Why were you in such a hurry that day? It was almost like you were afraid of me." She laughs.
"Because I had the biggest crush on you and I didn't know how to act," George admits freely. "I didn't want to end up embarrassing myself by saying something stupid, so I ran. But instead, I just ended up embarrassing myself by running into a door."
"You had a crush on me?" she laughs disbelievingly.
"Of course." He says like it should have been obvious.
She rolls her eyes as he walks to his horse. "See you tomorrow!" he calls out.
"Tomorrow!"
She and Jonathan follow their guards back to their cabin, talking about the day but avoiding the topic of Jace. She knows he will pounce on her once they are alone and she's dreading it. She doesn't exactly have any solid answers for him about what is going on between her and Jace.
When they come over the hill to the cabin, Jonathan is the first to notice something by the door. "What is that?" he nods.
Clary squints her eyes and after she takes a few more steps, she realizes what it is. Her heart leaps into her throat. Jonathan realizes what it is and takes off into a light jog.
"It's Heosphoros and Phosphoros." He murmurs, reaching out to pick up Phosphoros. "Where did they come from?" He drags his fingers reverently over the stars engraved into the shiny metal.
Looking down at Heosphoros, she sees a small envelope with her name written on it under the tip of the sword. She immediately recognizes the handwriting. "Jace." She whispers.
With shaky hands, she bends down and picks it up, tucking Heosphoros into her side.
"Let's go inside," Jonathan tells her, placing a hand on her back and guiding her into the cabin. Once inside with the door shut, she goes to the small couch and sits down, not trusting her legs to hold her up after she opens the letter.
"Do you want me to go?" Jonathan asks, pointing to his room.
She shakes her head. "No. Just...sit next to me?"
He nods and sits down beside her. His hand comes up and rubs soothing circles on her back.
She takes a deep breath and opens the envelope. There is a three-page handwritten letter inside. She has to wipe away a rogue tear before reading.
Clary,
I brought you and Jonathan Heosphoros and Phosphoros, your birthrights. After we believed you died, your mother demanded all of your personal belongings back. When I tried to give her Phosphoros and Heosphoros, she didn't want them and told me to melt them down. I didn't have the heart to do what she wanted for a multitude of reasons. I gave Heophporos to Simon because that's what I thought you would have wanted, and I took Phosphoros. It's only right now that both of you are back that you take rightful ownership of them. They are Morgenstern swords.
As for what happened yesterday, I'm sorry. I'm not sorry for telling you what I did but for Evie showing up and inserting herself into our conversation. I know that was difficult to hear but there is something that I want you to know. I haven't changed my mind about wanting a divorce nor will I. It doesn't matter what Evie thinks or wants because there is nothing she can do to stop me.
I'm also letting you know that I won't be training with you and the others for the rest of the week. The relationship with my father-in-law is too strained and being there, so close to her family, I can't concentrate on training or you. I think that was the plan all along when he offered to house and train you and Jonathan. He wanted me to keep away from you to get back at me for hurting his daughter. He knew he would be able to make it awkward and tense between me and you if he and Evie were there. Unfortunately, he was right.
The last thing I want to say is that I want you to understand something. I want you to understand that I am not going anywhere. I will wait for you. I don't care how long it takes for me to earn your forgiveness but I will never stop trying until I do. I've been in love with you since I was sixteen and my feelings have only gotten stronger. I know what it's like to lose you and have to live without you. To say that it was unbearable would be a gross understatement. Now that I have you back, I have undoubtedly won the lottery. I have been given a gift from Raziel himself and I would be the world's biggest idiot if I didn't do everything in my power to earn it; to be worthy of you. And I will. I love you, Clarissa Adele Morgenstern. You are my soulmate, my other half. I'll never stop trying to win you back. Ever.
-Your Jace
The tears are unstoppable now. A torrent of them are running down her face while Jonathan hugs her to his side. "I love him so much, Jon." She stutters.
"I know," he whispers to her. "I know."
Up next, they finally go to Faerie!
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