Behind the door was all the Downworlders that had been stolen away from the City of Bones. Even a few Downworlders Magnus had heard had escaped prison. They were all set up on the same cruddy cots Magnus had been on. It was like when a hurricane tore through a town, with ll the victims set up in a shelter.

"This is my army," Asmodeus explained. "My army of Downworlders to rebel against the Clave and the Shadowhunters!"

Alec, Magnus thought, feeling a pang in his heart.

"This is horrible!" Magnus exclaimed. "There's no way it's going to work. Even the Downworlders understand that what's between ruin and the world is the Shadowhunters. Even we know the demons will ravage the world if we try and support you. The Shadowhunters may be horrible, but they're all that protects this world."

He thought for a second. "And I don't want to lose Alec. Getting rid of the Shadowhunters would mean losing him. And I can't just let him go."

"You don't get it, do you? You're too much of a slave to your boyfriend. You're too scared of your own powers. Magnus, you have to harness your true demonic powers, and fight for freedom."

"I don't want freedom like you're proposing," Magnus insisted. "I want Alec. That's all I want right now. It's because I love him, and don't want you to hurt him."

Asmodeus sighed. "Wait until you see the visions I need you to see. Then you'll understand where I'm coming from."

Clary woke up another morning without knowing what condition Jocelyn was in. It was driving her crazy, waiting for her mother to wake up. She didn't know how many days it had been, but she was starting to get worried.

Jace had volunteered to sit with Jocelyn during the nights. He'd felt guilty about her, because for a while, he thought she was his mother. Even though that whole issue had been resolved, Jace still cared for her. And anyone who was important to Jace was important to Clary.

He'd also promised that if Jocelyn would wake up, he would tell everyone. Clary thought it was very nice of him. Even though Jace had agreed to that, Clary checked on her mother every morning. She was going to do that right now.

"Sorry," Jace said when Clary walked into the room. "She's not awake yet. I checked. And I made sure she was still breathing."

"Damn it!" Clary yelled.

"No swearing in front of your mother!" Jace warned. Clary laughed.

"She doesn't mind," Clary explained. "I least, I think not. She'd understand if she was in my position."

"I wish I knew her better before Valentine captured her again."

"We did kind of forget about her."

"Yeah. And we also forgot about Robert and Maryse, but they wouldn't have been any help to us.

Clary laughed again, and Jace smiled. Clary loved when Jace smiled. Not an evil smile, like when he was planning something crazy, but a sincere, loving smile. Like whenever they hung out together.

"You're cute when you smile," Jace admitted. "I love that look." Jace got up, and gently kissed Clary on the cheek.

"Not in front of my mother," Clary reminded him. "Just in case she wakes up."

"Eh," Jace said, and shrugged. "Want to eat breakfast?"

"Sure."

Though they did walk hand in hand towards the kitchen. Even though Clary and Jace hadn't really defined their relationship, it was nice to have these little PDA moments.

When they made it there, Clary suddenly remembered Hodge was at in the Institute. Because she saw him sitting there, choking down Isabelle's scrambled eggs.

"You forgot I was here, didn't you?" Hodge asked.

"Yeah," Clary said.

"Definitely," Jace admitted.

"I didn't forget," Izzy said, pointing to herself. "Btu that may be because I've been feeding him these few days."

"Not very good, you know," Hodge pointed out. "I'm going to, uh, order something. I'm not feeling in the mood for scrambled eggs this morning. Why did I even start eating this?" He pushed the plate away from him.

Alec walked into the kitchen, nose in a book on Asmodeus. "Hey," he said, gently flipping a page.

"Oh, hi Alec," Hodge said. "Nice to see you."

"Yeah, yeah," Alec said. "Look, I need to read this book in a few days so I can rescue Magnus from his father. I need to have him back because we haven't yet slept-" He stopped cold, realized that Hodge was in the kitchen and would have an adverse reaction to Alec talking about sleeping with a male warlock.

"Who's Magnus?" Hodege asked.

"You remember Magnus Bane, right?" Alec asked, setting his book down without even marking his page. "He's the High Warlock of Brooklyn. And my boyfriend."

Hodge gasped. "You're dating him? The son of Asmodeus? The famous lothario of the warlock world? I'm really surprised you're dating a guy."

"I just fell for him," Alec explained, shrugging. "I really love him, and he loves me. And I want to sleep with him, too."

Hodge's eyebrows went up to his hairline. "Uh . . . I'm going to check on Jocelyn." He got up and left the room.

"Do you think he was weirded out by that?" Jace asked.

"Yes, but I don't care," Alec said. "I want to declare my love for Magnus loud and proud. So for me to do that, and not be afraid, it's amazing. Anyway, I need to get back to my book."

A few seconds later, Hodge shouted something from across the Institute. And it stopped everyone in their tracks.

"Jocelyn's awake!"