She caught it effortlessly.
He had no time to process that though the girl standing in front of him was Clary, she did not remember him, or herself, for that matter, especially when there was a demon, ready to kill her if she did not have the answers the creature craved.
He landed in front of her, casting a glance back at her.
Her eyes were wide, filled with fear. Both hands wrapped around the handle of the seraph blade, holding onto it for dear life.
"Jace." She whispered.
Not once did he have to tell her his name.
The Clary he knew and loved was still in there, somewhere.
It was enough to keep him going, for the moment, anyway.
With a renowned sense of hope, he started towards the creature.
"S-Stop!" Clary begged, suddenly latching onto his arm. "He's my friend!"
"Clary." Gently, regrettably, he pulled himself from her grasp, turning back to face her. "This isn't your mundie, okay? It's a-"
The glamour protecting the demon faded.
She gasped.
He wanted to shield her, to promise her that everything was going to be okay, and he would. Now that he had her back, even if she didn't remember herself, or him, or Alec, or Isabelle, or anything about their lives together, he was never letting her out of his sight again.
He would protect her, because he hadn't protected her before, he just had to kill the ravener first.
With one arm extended in front of her, he readied his weapon.
The demon lunged at them.
"Jace!"
"It's okay, Clary." He mumbled. "I've got this."
She raised a shaking hand, pointing above their heads.
There were three more crawling down the side of the building. Jace cursed under his breath.
"Stay behind me." He directed. "Use the blade only if you have to."
"Use the..." Clary trailed off from her repetition of his words. "You've got to be joking! I don't know how to use this!"
"Yes you do." Jace replied. "You were trained to do this, it's in your blood."
He pulled the knife he always kept clipped to his belt, and thrust it at two of the creatures.
They disintegrated immediately.
Clary pressed a trembling to her mouth.
She was scared.
Of him.
"Clary," He started to say, his hand enclosing over her own. "Don't-"
The second ravener threw itself at them.
Jace pushed her out of the way, his head cracking against the cement.
"Jace!" Clary cried, rushing to his side.
He had to be okay.
She needed him to be.
"Jace." She said again, slipping her hand into his. A familiar jolt shot through her arm. "Jace."
He stirred, but did not open his eyes.
The thing, a ravener, she thought he had called it, was still alive, its attention now fixated on her.
Clary wanted to smash it, to blind it. She had almost forgotten the blade in her hand.
As the creature lunged for her face, jaws wide, she thrust the sword into the demon's chest.
The ravener began to twitch, spasming uncontrollably.
And then, it disintegrated, disappearing into nothingness.
Jace coughed.
Glancing at him, Clary watched with relief as he sat up, pressing a hand to his head.
"What?" She asked, momentarily forgetting herself. A grin spread across her face. "No thank you for saving your life?"
His eyes reflected pride.
Amusement.
It was a look he had given her often, when she bested Alec in the training room for the first time, when she killed her first demon.
When she threw rocks at his window at three o'clock in the morning, just for the hell of it.
Slowly, he pulled himself to his feet, offering her a hand for the millionth time that day.
Something whistled through the air next to her head. She tried to duck, but it was too late.
The last creature sank its teeth into her neck.
She cried out in pain. Jace's blade punctured right where the demon's heart would have been, had it had one.
And then he was beside her, his hand cupping her cheek.
The long, luminous cylinder, as thick around as an index finger and tapering to a point made another appearance.
Her neck began to burn.
"We need to go." He said, shoving the stele back into his pocket. "Now."
"Jace..."
"Please." Jace was almost begging. "Come with me. Let me take you home."
Clary nodded numbly.
She couldn't argue with him anymore; she didn't want to.
The world tilted.
Jace slid a hand across her back, holding her steady. "Can you walk?"
Clary didn't answer, too busy trying not to fall over. The ground was heaving up and down under her feet.
"Jace." She whispered, crumpling into him.
He caught her easily, swinging her up into the air. She locked her arms around his neck, holding onto him for dear life. Clary tipped her head back to look at him but saw only the stars cartwheeling across the dark sky overhead. Then the bottom dropped out of everything, and even Jace's arms around her were not enough to keep her from falling.
Jace tightened his grip on her, starting a brisk walk back to the Institute.
"I've got you." He promised, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
He really had her.
He finally had her, and he was never letting her go again.
