Chapter 25

Jace POV

Blackwell cut me free and sprinted out of the cell before I can kill him. My eyes darted back to Clary's small form curled in the middle of the floor, and I could tell she was trying to hold in the sobs. I pulled myself up and stumbled towards her as quickly as I could, falling next to her and pulling her onto my lap.

She leaned into me, burying her face in my chest and clinging onto me tightly. Her breaths were sharp from the pain and I held her closer, rocking us gently back and forth. I ran my hand through hr hair soothingly, softly kissing her forehead. She let out a small sob and a few pained tears fell from my own eyes. "Shhh, it's alright. You're okay, I've got you now."

It was the second time this week I watched Sebastian torture her while I couldn't move. They tied me up, coating the ropes with some damn liquid that burned constantly. The pain that put me in combined with the pain of watching that bastard hurt Clary was unbearable. Closing my eyes only made it worse. Then, I could hear his voice taunting her and her cries of pain, but I couldn't see what he was doing, and that scared me.

I scooped her up in my arms and carried her to the corner. I lay down, using my jacket as a pillow, and pulled her on top of me. My side pressed against the cold wall and I wrapped my arm around her back, pulling her away from it slightly. Her jacket had been discarded when Sebastian made her take it off and my shirt that she had been wearing was torn in a few places. Good thing I had another exactly the same at home.

"You shouldn't always do this," Clary scolded me, sniffling quietly. "The ground's freezing and you don't even have a shirt. I told you to wear your jacket and use mine as the pillow."

I sighed. "You know I'm not going to do that Clare. I'm fine." Lie.

But she didn't need to know that. As far as she knew, I was fine, and I wasn't in pain. But I was in pain, and my strength was definitely starting to wither. It was getting to the point where sometimes I couldn't breathe, and my wounds definitely weren't healing anymore.

But Clary was hurt too, and her safety would always be more important than mine. Everyone needed her, not just me. She was the only one that could kill Valentine, and although she still didn't know how, she at least had to be alive.

"Jace, stop. I know you're lying and I know you're not okay. Please, just let me help you," she pleaded.

I shook my head. "No Clary. I'm not weakening you to fix up a little scrape."

She scoffed. "Well that's fine because it's a lot note than that. You think I haven't noticed you're wounds aren't healing? I can help you." I didn't answer, avoiding her eyes as she stared up at me. "Jace," she said softly, "there's something else you're not telling me, isn't there?"

My eyes flickered down to her hurt gaze and I clenched my jaw. "Of course there isn't. Why wouldn't I tell you something?"

"I don't know Jace. You tell me." She lay her head back in my chest, taking her sad eyes off mine.

"Clary," I sighed. "It's nothing. I don't even know what it is, how am I supposed to tell you?" The stupid thing wasn't real. Valentine was doing something to make it seem like it was, it was just him messing with my head.

"I don't know, but you could at least try," she grumbled.

I groaned in frustration. "There's another prophecy," I blurted.

She slowly tilted her head back to look up at me. She stared at me, then blinked. "What?"

"When I lived with Valentine, I used to always be in the library. I found this prophecy. I didn't understand what it was at first, I thought it was just some poem. As I got older I realized, and then I found out about you and the angel blood and everything and," I trailed off. "I always refused to believe it, and eventually I just kind of forgot, pushed it to the back of my mind. But I still remember every word, clear as day."

She bit her lip. "What does it say?"

I blew out a breath before reciting the prophecy I had memorized since I was nine. "Three souls emerge from light and dark, Both souls of light ignite with sparks/Into a demon the dark soul will grow, From this blood like water flows/From these sparks forbidden love is told, When the lives of your own is sold/Strong winds of darkness start the war, When opened both hell's and heaven's doors/Fire consumes to end the game, When they all go out in a burst of flames."

She looked at me with wide eyes before nodding slowly. "I'm guessing we're the 'souls of light'."

"Yeah, I think so," I nodded. "Valentine's the dark soul, I guess."

"It's, uh, it's not too bad," she said hesitantly.

I gave her a blank look. "They all go out in a burst of flames," I quoted.

"That doesn't necessarily mean us," she tried, wearing a thoughtful expression.

I huffed. "Well it doesn't mean it's not us either. We are definitely part of the prophecy, it's not going to mean some random few that get caught in the crossfire." I blew out a breath. "I just, this prophecy is worse than the other one. The other one didn't actually say anything about, dying in the end. I was trying so hard to look for another one because I just thought, if there's already two, there has to be more, or just some way of killing him. I just wanted there to be some way to do it, that had you safe in the end."

She shook her head, looking at me sadly. "Jace, I'm trying to kill someone," she reminded me softly. "This is a war. I was never going to be safe."

"I, I know that Clary, I do. But that's not going to stop me from doing everything I possibly can to protect you."

"What about you? You're part of the prophecy too, you're in danger too. It's bad enough that you're here. Don't forget that I'm trying to keep you safe, too." Her lips pecked my cheek and she snuggled into my chest, wrapping her arms around mine which was still firmly around her waist. My other arm lay bent at the elbow across her back, my hand tangled in her hair.

I sighed, tilting my head down to drop a kiss on her hair. We lay there and I held her tightly, hoping beyond hope that neither prophecies were real, that there was no prophecy at all.

I suddenly thought that maybe there wasn't. Valentine possessed both demon and angel blood, that's what made him different. But the demon must have overruled the angel completely, ridding that blood from his veins as nothing but darkness coursed through him. All he was now was a demon, and we already knew how to kill them.

I was about to voice this to Clary when she shot up into a sitting position, clutching her head. My eyes widened in shock as she let out a cry of pain. I hauled myself up, pressing my back to the wall. My arms shot out to wrap around her small form and quickly pull her back to me.

I cradled her in my arms, stroking her hair soothingly as I tried not to panic. "Hey, hey, what is it Clary, what's wrong?"

She shook her head quickly. "I don't know. It, it hurts and, I can't see!" I looked down at her to see her eyes open but unfocused, moving back and forth rapidly.

I pursed my lips, stroking her cheek. "It's alright, Clary, you're alright, just calm down. You were trying to find someone else's mind again, weren't you?" She nodded meekly, whimpering. "You think you can get into mine instead? Hey, you're okay, shhh," I murmured, lightly rubbing her back.

A few tears trailed down her cheeks and I gently wiped them away, pulling her closer. She was still whimpering quietly, holding her head in her hands. I gently guided her head so it rested on my shoulder. Her breathing slowly returned to normal and I looked down to see her eyes were coming back into focus.

She lowered her hands slowly before breathing out a sigh and leaning into me. "Thanks," she smiled sheepishly. "I'm okay now."

I nodded, smiling back at her. "Anytime. So what happened exactly?"

She shook her head in confusion. "I was trying to reach someone again, and I'm pretty sure that still didn't work." I nodded. "But then it went black and there was this shooting pain in my head, and I just, I don't know," she frowned.

I gave her a squeeze. "It doesn't matter. As long as you're okay now." She hummed, nodding that she was fine as she closed her eyes. I leaned down to kiss her lips softly. "Sleep if you want Angel."

Her eyes opened and she smiled gratefully before letting them close again. "I love you y'know," she said softly.

I laughed quietly. "I know. I love you too. So much," I smiled. She smiled contently, heaving a breath before snuggling into me. I held her tightly, smiling at her peaceful expression and her soft, even breaths as she fell asleep. There were small cuts and bruises on her face, but they were healing and fading even as I looked at her. She was so beautiful.

My hand skimmed down her arm, feeling a long, bloody, cut above her elbow. My arms tightened around her protectively and I rested my cheek on her hair. I thought about what she had said and what happened to her, and I was pretty sure she had reached someone's mind.

Valentine's.

Hi guys! Quick update! Sorry it's short and probably crappy though.

Two more chapters left and then the epilogue guys O.O

I have to thank my friend for this chapter because I wouldn't have been able to write this one without her, as she helped me with this prophecy. Plus, school started for me again, so I'm actually quite proud I could update so soon.

I hope you guys liked this, and I have to thank you again for sticking with me! :)