- Los Angeles, 2007 -

"Are you still sure you wanna do this?" Grayson examined Amelia, who was standing in front of him, dressed in her gear. She was wearing black leather trousers and heavy boots, her daggers were hanging from her belt and she had Mark's katana strapped on her back. Besides that, she wore a dark blue T-shirt, which belonged to Mark too. Amelia's hair was plaited in one thick braid, which was falling over her shoulder.

For the first time Grayson had the feeling that he was looking at a true Shadowhunter. His little sister was about to travel to a place none of them had been before, not knowing what would be waiting there for her. That thought made him shiver. He was not sure whether he should be proud of her or afraid she might get hurt. Grayson took a deep breath. Even if he did not like it, he had to accept that Amy was almost grown up and that he could no longer protect her. He had to let go.

Amelia seemed to be nervous too. Again and again, she was checking her gear, making sure her weapons, the witchlight and the Stele were where they belonged.

Grayson raised his eyebrows. "I could still come with you, you know."

Amelia smiled and shook her head. "I'll be fine. You better take care that my alibi is watertight and that no one wonders where I am."

Grayson nodded. "How long should I wait before I raise the alarm? In case you don't make it back?"

Amelia frowned and said, "I don't know. If Clary's right, it might be difficult for us to measure time there." She sighed. "Trust your feelings, Grayson. When you think it's time, then alarm the others. I trust you in that."

Grayson grimaced, but Amelia smiled. "I know, but that's the best answer I've got. Sorry."

He smiled too, but got serious again. "Are you scared?"

Amelia's smile vanished too. "Yes."

"Good." Grayson shrugged. "Fear makes you careful. It stops you from doing something stupid. I mean something more stupid than what you are already doing." He crossed his arms in front of his chest and murmured, "Maybe I should go with you. Maybe I could be useful there. Maybe -"

"Grayson," Amelia said softly. "Don't make this harder than it already is, okay? Believe me, I would take you with me, I would love to. However, the bigger the group is the more likely we are to get caught. And that I will not risk."

"I know," Grayson said hastily. "I know you're right. It's just not easy to admit that my little sister is right."

"Because the only thing bigger than your heart is your ego," Amelia said with a grin on her face. She had just finished the sentence, when Grayson pulled her close and grabbed her in a headlock.

Amelia laughed quietly and freed herself from his grip. "Stop it! What might Clary and Jace think, when they see me like that?"

"That you are not as strong as you claim to be," Grayson said and she stuck her tongue out at him. "Shut up!"

Just when Grayson was about to say something, the portal opened and Clary and Jace appeared like out of nowhere. Grayson put his hands on his hips. "Seriously - you have to teach me how to do that!"

Clary grinned. "Maybe when this is over." She looked at Amelia. "Are you ready?"

Amelia took a deep breath and nodded. "I guess so." She looked at Grayson. "If you don't hear anything until tomorrow morning, you can ring the alarm."

Grayson nodded and asked. "Have you set the clock?"

"Yep." Amelia raised her wrist and looked at her watch. "We have seven hours before it rings. I thought that it might help us to keep an eye on the passing time. In case time is playing tricks on us there. "

Grayson hesitated, before he pulled his sister into an embrace. "Take good care of yourself."

"I will," Amelia whispered. She pressed her body against his, and then she turned around and went to Clary, who was beginning to open another portal.

Jace stepped beside Grayson and said quietly, "We will look after her. I promise."

Grayson nodded and murmured, "She thinks she's strong, but she isn't. I mean, she is brave and a very good fighter, but … She is so tiny and breakable. And she has never been in a battle before. She -"

He stopped and Jace frowned. "She reminds me of one of my closest friends, Izzy. She is like my own sister. I used to think that I had to protect her, but if there's one thing I've learned from Isabelle Lightwood, it's that you never should underestimate someone just because he or she looks tiny and fragile."

Grayson smiled. "You will look after Amy nevertheless, won't you?"

Jace nodded. "Sure. The trick is not to let them know that you're looking after them. Works on Izzy too." He placed his hand on Grayson's shoulder and then went to the girls. Before Amelia stepped into the portal, she turned around to look at her brother, smiled and raised her hand.

Grayson smiled too and watched the three of them disappear through the portal. Then he closed his eyes and sighed deeply.

The tunnel was long and dark. Amelia barely dared to breathe. She could feel Clary right beside her and knew that Jace was only a few steps ahead. The journey through the portal had been no problem; Clary had let them to one of the tunnels close to the Seelie Court.

None of them had dared to use the witchlight, afraid the light might be seen by one of the faeries. All three were wearing Nyx, the night vision rune, allowing them to see in the dark, and a rune that made the move without making a sound.

Amelia whispered, "Are we at the right place?"

"I think so," Clary answered quietly. "The tunnels look different than the last time we've been here, but I'm pretty sure, this is the place." She paused for some seconds. "But then the Queen took us to some other tunnels. I don't think I could find that way again. So we have to hope that this is enough."

For a brief moment, a strange feeling crept over Amelia. It was a feeling of hopelessness. With might and main, she felt that the chances of finding Mark were really bad. Faerie was huge and they did not have the slightest clue where to look for him. For a brief moment, she felt that she would never see him again.

Amelia shook her head and tried to get rid of these thoughts. She would not allow her mind to think like that, for if she did so, she could call the search off. Hope was the only thing left and Amelia would hold on to it for as long as she could.

Suddenly a bright light was flashing in front of them - Jace had lit the witchlight. He looked at Amelia and said, "I hate these tunnels. Why do they have to change? Why can't they just stay the way they are?"

"Because it would be too easy then," Clary countered smiling. "I thought you loved challenges, Jace."

"I do. Why else would I be here?" Jace raised the witchlight and Amelia frowned. "Maybe we should put signs on our path, so that we can find our way back."

Clary shook her head. "No, we should leave no traces that we are here. Signs would make it easy to follow us and that is the last thing we want."

Amelia bit her lip. What a stupid suggestion! She glanced at Clary and Jace; the two surely thought she was a dumb girl. Clary turned around and smiled at her encouragingly. Amelia returned the smile and followed them.

For what had seemed like hours they had been walking through the tunnels, silently trying to find a way, a clue - anything that would prove their mission was not a total waste of time. Jace was leading the way, the witchlight still in his hand. Amelia hoped he or Clary was able to remember the way back, for she felt completely lost. The timer on her watch told her that almost two hours had past since they had entered Faerie.

Amelia sighed. The more they were walking the more hopeless she felt. Just when she was about to ask Clary and Jace if maybe they were in the wrong tunnel, a small light appeared some feet away.

Jace stopped and Clary whispered, "What is that?"

"I have no idea." He shrugged his shoulders. "It looks as if we've finally found the end of this damned tunnel."

"Is that the Seelie Court?" Amelia asked, but Clary shook her head. "No. If it were, there would be guards in the tunnels. It has to be something else."

"Stay behind." Jace's inner tension was audible in his voice. He placed one hand on his sword and moved forward with careful steps. Coming closer to the light he put the witchlight back in his pocket, so that they were in the dark again.

Amelia felt her heart beat faster. The uncertainty about what they would find at the end of the tunnel was threatening and exciting at the same time. She knew that she was good with the daggers - but only in the training room. Never had she been forced to use her weapons in a real battle and she hoped that she would be brave enough to use them right. Carefully Amelia put her hands on the daggers and suddenly she felt an ease.

She knew how to fight and she would fight if she had to.

Jace turned his head and whispered, "Looks like sunlight."

"But it's in the middle of the night," Amelia said and he shrugged. "Time in Faerie has its own rules."

Again, Amelia felt like the most stupid human being ever. She had to stop saying such silly things. She did not want the others to think she was too inexperienced or too stupid to be helpful.

The end of the tunnel was only a few steps away. Jace slowed down and finally stopped. He raised his hand and the girls stopped too. They all listened, trying to hear something; but there was nothing, only silence.

Finally, Jace sighed and said, "Okay, we should risk taking a look." He smiled wickedly, winked at Amelia and stepped toward the light.

Amelia followed him, holding her breath as she stepped through the hole in the wall. She had been prepared for all kinds of possible sights, but not for what she saw when she stepped outside.

Spread beneath them was a landscape, so beautiful that Amelia almost could not believe what she saw. The entrance of the tunnel they were standing in was placed in a hill, just above a grass-covered meadow, which was so huge that it seemed to touch the horizon. It was surrounded by hills and some mountains, some of them so high that the peaks were covered in snow. At the foot of the hill were a small wood and a huge lake, whose water was shimmering crystal clear in the sunlight.

Amelia took a deep breath. "What is this?"

"Welcome to Faerie," Jace said quietly and she shook her head in disbelief. "How is it possible that there is such a place like this? I mean here?"

"There are a great many things here that cannot be explained." Clary stepped beside her. "And just because something is beautiful doesn't mean that it is not dangerous. I've seen enough beauty turn into destruction and death. So be careful. Both of you."

Amelia put her hands on her hips and said, "It looks like Idris. The lake could be Lake Lyn." She let her gaze wander around and frowned. She had always imagined that the place Mark was held would be dark and terrifying - just like the tunnels had been. In her imagination, he was in a place you would want to leave behind as quickly as possible. But the place she was seeing now with her own eyes was the complete opposite - it was beautiful. It was calm and peaceful and suddenly Amelia felt the need to run through the soft grass and to dive into the blue water. She wanted to spend more time here. She wanted to be here. It felt like home. It was a place where everyone could feel comfortable.

What if Mark felt the same? What if he felt at home here? What if he wanted to be here? To stay here? What if he felt at home here?

Amelia shook her head and tried not to think about that possibility anymore.

Jace looked at her. "Ready?"

She nodded hesitatingly. "What are we're going to do? Do we just walk down there?"

Jace grinned and answered, "Due to the lack of any better plans, I would say that is exactly what we're going to do."

"Maybe we'll find traces or something else that might help us," Clary said and Amelia took one last look over the landscape before she followed the others down the hill, her hands still on the handle of her daggers.

The water of the lake was clear and surprisingly warm. Amelia cowered at the shore and let her fingertips run through the water. As a child, she had traveled with her parents and Grayson to the mountains. There had been a lake in a valley whose water had been so cold that it made her still shiver. But the water of this lake was so warm that Amelia thought about taking off her boots and walking into it. Again, she had this strange feeling of not wanting to leave this place, so she stood up and turned away from the water. She went to Clary, who was sitting beneath one of the trees, and sat down beside her. "Should we go any further?"

Clary thought about it and said, "I don't know if that's a good idea. We have to think about returning home."

Amelia looked at her watch and held her breath in surprise. More than five hours had passed since they had come here. She dropped her arm, sighed deeply and Clary looked at her. "It was pretty obvious that we would not find him the first time we come here."

"I know," Amelia said quickly. "I was just … hoping. It's frustrating. He won't even know that we were here."

Clary gazed around and murmured, "We could leave him something, like a sign. Something only he would understand. Any idea?"

Amelia thought intensely. Suddenly she had an idea. She rose to her feet, knelt down in the sand and took out one of her daggers. With its tip she began to draw something onto the ground, wiped it out again and started all over. After some seconds she turned to Clary, who was watching her carefully.

"What is it?"

"It's a twine of thorns," Amelia explained. "It symbolizes Mark's family name - Blackthorn. And this is a cross - it stands for my name. So it's like a combination of our names. Do you think it will work?"

Slowly Clary nodded, examining the picture of the thorns that were entwined around a small cross. Amelia got back on her feet. "Maybe I could carve it into the trees. And if the Hunt rests here, Mark might see it."

"That could actually work." Clary smiled and Amelia took a deep breath. "Okay. I'll start right away." She went to some trees, which were standing close to the water, put her hand on the bark and closed her eyes.

Please, she thought desperately, please let this work. Let him find it and make him understand. Let him know that I was here, that I am looking for him. Please.

For some seconds Amelia held her breath and tried to focus on Mark with all of her will power. Then she took the dagger and started carving the symbol into the tree.

The Institute was completely silent when Amelia came back. As quietly as possible, she sneaked through the corridors, carefully avoiding running into someone who might already be awake. Although she tried hard not to make a sound, her steps sounded like rolling thunder in her ears. Nevertheless, she made it to her room without being noticed.

Amelia opened the door to her room and smiled when she saw Grayson, who was lying on her bed. Carefully she closed the door behind her and went to her bed. She looked at her brother, who had his eyes closed and was breathing steadily and calmly. On his chest lay an open book he obviously had been reading. Amelia reached out her hand and put it softly on Grayson's shoulder.

Slowly he opened his eyes, blinked and looked puzzled at his sister. "You're already back?"

Amelia nodded. "Yeah. And I'm tired. So would you please get out of my bed and into your own?"

Grayson sat up and yawned. The book slid from his chest and fell to the bed. Amelia took it and read the title. "Faeries - Myth and Mythology." She looked at Grayson. "Seriously?"

He yawned again. "We spent the whole evening in the library. Jules and I were picking all the books that dealt with faeries, Emma was searching the internet." He ran both his hands through his hair. "Jules came up with the idea that we should also pay attention to fairytales and myths. He says there's always some truth in those stories. So this was my bedtime reading."

Amelia smiled. "He's a clever boy."

Grayson stretched his body and she passed back the book. "Did you find something?"

"No," Grayson answered grinning. "Besides scary fairytales about gnomes, trolls and faeries. I'll probably never sleep again."

Amelia gave him a wry look and he shrugged. "Okay. Forget that. Tell me how the Faerie was."

She frowned. "Other than I had expected." Although she was very tired, she told Grayson everything she had seen in Faerie. She told him that it was a peaceful and beautiful place, that she had felt good there and that that fact confused her. And she told him that there had been no trace of Mark and that she had left the signs, hoping he might find them.

Grayson listened silently, thought for a while and asked, "Do you want to give up? I mean, do you still think we have a chance?"

"Of course we do." Amelia raised her eyebrows. "There's no way I'm giving up on him. We'll go back and I will carve that sign into every single tree in Faerie if that's what it takes."

Grayson grabbed the book, stood up and looked at his little sister. "I knew you'd say that. And you should know that I will always back you. And now go to bed and rest. You look awful."

Amelia wanted to say something, but she was too tired. So she just nodded and crawled under her blanket without even taking her clothes off. Before Grayson left the room, she had already fallen asleep. That night she dreamt of blue lakes and grass-covered valleys. And of Mark, who was sitting on the shore, smiling happily and waiting for her.