Since the pain had for the most part left him, Jace found it relatively easy to close his eyes and slip back under consciousness, as he was still exhausted. It felt like he had only had his eyes closed for a few minutes when he felt hands at his wrists.

He opened his eyes but did not turn to see who it was that was releasing him, knowing that Jasper wouldn't have come back and that aside from the fae stable boy, he did not wish to see anyone else.

The person moved over to his right wrist and began unbuckling the strap and Jace could tell by the sound of his sure and confident movements that it was Jonathan.

Jonathan saw that Jace's eyes were open but did not speak to him. When his wrists were free he moved down and began to free his ankles. And Jace did not move or try to sit up; he didn't even rub his raw wrists.

He just laid there, staring up at the ceiling as the tension in the cellar rose and rose like a fever. When he was free, Jonathan walked to his side.

"Can you sit up?" he asked.

Jace didn't reply. After a few seconds he slid his palms down on the table and pushed himself up, grimacing though he did it slowly. Then Jonathan backed away from the table as Jace swung his legs off and pulled himself over to the edge, his face turning alarmingly pale as he did it. Jonathan crossed his arms.

"I'm supposed to take you back to your room." Jace flicked his eyes up to his and Jonathan noticed that they were the only dark feature of his face.

"I know the way there." he said in a low voice.

Just hearing its raspy tone reminded Jonathan of the last few minutes of his torture, at his own hand, when Jace had screamed so loud his voice had given out. And then as he was bringing the poisoned blade back and forth in a sawing motion, finishing up the last A so it was all nice and deep, he realized that Jace was no longer screaming and that he had passed out.

That was when Valentine had decided they had better call it quits.

"I realize that, but Father believes you need an escort." he said back. Jace stared back at him dully.

"Whatever."

Then as he was about to lower himself to the floor, Jonathan reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out the black shirt that had been hanging there like a rag. He held it out to Jace, who looked at him like he was an idiot.

"I don't want that." he said, his tone angry because he had had to say that he didn't want it when it should have been damn obvious to anyone with eyeballs that it would hurt to put the shirt on. Jonathan leaned his head to the side but didn't take the shirt back.

"The Circle is here." was all he replied. A bitter smile broke Jace's expression as he reached out and yanked the shirt out of Jonathan's fingers.

"Well we certainly can't have them see me walking around looking like a knife sharpener," his eyes glittered as his voice took on his best impression of their father, complete with his arrogant, cultured superiority. "Now can we, Jonathan?"

Jonathan hooded his eyes but didn't say anything; Jace had imitated Valentine so well it was somewhat disturbing.

Jace gave him a little sneer before tugging the shirt on, eyes closed tight against the pain it caused him. Then he slid to the edge of the table and stood up, where his legs promptly gave out and he fell to his knees with a gasp of pain.

Jonathan quickly bent down to help him but before his hand could touch his shoulder, Jace shot back up and shoved his arm away viciously, his eyes bright with a rage that was close to animalistic.

"Don't!" he yelled.

Jonathan actually stepped back, surprised because he had never seen Jace so angry in all his life. His eyes looked so wild it was shocking.

"Don't try to help me now…" he said, every inch of him taut with threat. "You had your chance."

And he didn't know how he did it, but then Jace turned and walked away from him, his body not betraying an ounce of the pain that he was feeling.

Jace pulled the cellar door open so hard that when he let go of the handle it flew back and hit the wall with a bang before it came ricocheting back; and anybody slower than Jace would've been crushed by it. As it were, Jace had completely disappeared from the doorway seconds before it slammed shut, leaving Jonathan alone inside.

Jonathan sighed and jogged to the door, knowing that he had to catch up with Jace and make sure he didn't do anything stupid in front of the Circle due to his extreme anger, because if he did, Jonathan would be the one to pay for it for he had been assigned as Jace's escort.

Jonathan all but sprinted up the stairs and down the hallways just as Jace was approaching the open doorway of his father's study. Jace turned and looked back over his shoulder as he saw Jonathan running after him. He only gave him a glare and continued his long stride.

Jonathan caught up to him as they passed the open doorway and Jonathan drew in a breath, hoping that Valentine wouldn't notice them.

"Boys? Come in here a minute."

FUCK! Jonathan shouted in his head as he turned on his heel to go back. He schooled his face into blankness before stepping into the doorway.

Most of the Circle was there; all gathered around in armchairs with Valentine in the gravitational point. His father looked at him with slightly narrowed eyes.

"Where's your brother? Jace!" he called. To Jonathan's surprise, Jace appeared at his side, all evidence of his rage gone like it had never existed in the first place. Valentine's eyes shone when they fell on him.

"Jace." he said in greeting. Jonathan was sure that only the three of them could hear the undercurrents of mockery in the way he said it.

"Father." Jace's response was empty.

Valentine smiled then, and just the way it lit his face; Jonathan felt a foreboding weight in his chest. His father gestured to his fellow Circle members with a light wave of his hand.

"Don't be rude now Jace, say hello."

He was testing him…dance little puppet dance…Jonathan thought.

This was to see how well Jace had learned respect, to see if he would do as he was told or if he would cock an eyebrow and say something smart ass in front of the Circle.

Jonathan looked away from Valentine to Jace. He could tell that Jace was thinking the same things he had been thinking.

Jace's eyes dropped to the floor for a second before they flicked back up again, but when they did, they were uncharacteristically dull and blank, like he had just stepped out.

"Hello."

The Circle members greeted him but Jace didn't hear a word; he was too busy committing the look his father was giving him to memory so that he could recall it perfectly and paste it on over the faces of every demon he killed from that day forth.

"I've decided I want you boys to join us for dinner," Valentine said to the room at large, though his bright onyx eyes were still on Jace. "It's been too long since the whole gang has been together and besides…I know Jace must be famished."

This taunt seemed to be too much for him because Jace turned on his heel and walked away down the hall, his jaw clenched like he was restraining himself from speaking.

Jonathan flicked his eyes back over to his father, who was grinning. Then Valentine nodded his head in the direction Jace had gone and Jonathan followed after him.

Jace barely refrained from slamming the door of his room shut so that the walls shook and the windows exploded with glass. Instead he closed it with a calm that he didn't feel and paced to the center of his spotless room, where he stopped and slowly ran his fingers through his hair.

He felt a terrible building anger inside him, far surpassing any anger he had ever felt before.

How was he going to sit through dinner with this feeling, with his father taunting him in front of his followers? How was he expected to just sit there and take it all… without so much as a dirty look, or a snide comment or anything, because surely that's what Valentine would be looking for…

He would be waiting for Jace to slip up and then…what? What more could he do?

Jace cringed as soon as he had the thought. What more could he do? Valentine had only scratched the surface, and he had a very creative mind…

Just then, his door opened and Jonathan entered. The rage seemed to come back to Jace in a second.

It was an unspoken law between the two of them that they were not to step foot in the other's room.

And that Jonathan had done it in front of him, when he was already pissed…

But Jonathan only looked back at his wide eyed incredulous, rage filled expression with mild interest, his head cocked to the side a little.

"I'm supposed to take your stele." he said.

Jace let out the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding before he stalked over to his desk and yanked open the top drawer.

"He's really thought of everything hasn't he." he said before he flung the stele across the room at Jonathan's face.

Jonathan caught it single handedly like Jace knew he would but was hoping he wouldn't, before he turned to leave, pulling the door closed behind him without another word.

Dinner with the Circle was just the nightmare that Jace had expected it to be.

Though he was in fact nearly starving, he couldn't really taste the food because he had dropped into a numb, apathetic-like state. It was the only way he could sit through it all and keep his sanity; although that was slowly dwindling.

His father had insisted that his sons sit at the head of the table with him, with Jonathan at his right hand and Jace at his left.

Hodge Starkweather, who apparently usually took his left hand, seemed deeply displeased when Jace took his seat, and Jace had had to bite down on his lip to keep from asking him loudly if it wasn't too late for them to do tradesies.

Though it was obvious that Jace was on Valentine's shit list, he still clearly outranked the rest of the Circle as he was sitting at his side.

Oh what an honor…Jace said in a high pitched teary voice in his head as he pushed his food around with his fork. I'd like to thank Lucifer, who spawned my father…You're the best Lucy! …God this is gunna be a long night…

The conversation at the dinner table spanned all sorts of uncomfortable subjects, but even Jonathan seemed like he wanted to get up and leave when the men started talking about women.

The Circle members were all roaring with laughter as a big man named Blackburn finished a racy story about a woman he had met in Spain who evidently had a mouth like a vacuum cleaner.

Jace reached his hand out for his glass of wine and unfortunately, couldn't stop the eye roll that happened as he took a drink.

Blackburn wiped his eyes and looked across the table at him.

"Oh what's the matter boy? Don't think it's funny do you?"

Jace met his eyes from across the table. He was sitting next to Jonathan, so he was pretty high up in the order, but Jace didn't really care.

"Oh I'm sure it was funny. The look on her face when you whipped it out must have been priceless…"

Jace's eyes sparkled as he raised his hand and held his thumb and index finger about an inch and a half apart. Then in a high voice he said,

"Oh, Dios mio, senior, que es tanpequeño como…taquito!" Jonathan choked into his cup of wine as he laughed loudly.

Blackburn's face flushed scarlet and Jace dropped his hand and said in his voice, a smile pulling up his lips, "No me gusta…"

Valentine flashed his eyes at Jonathan, who immediately stopped smiling and Blackburn looked over at him furiously with a look that said, 'Can you not control your kid?'.

Valentine responded with a smiling look that said, 'He is only a child, you put him in his place'.

Jace looked back over at Blackburn and raised his eyebrows; 'Go ahead and try…'

Blackburn gave him what he imagined was supposed to be a threatening look and Jace grinned in return; his eyes brightening even more at the man's foolishness.

"You think you know so much about women? You are just a little boy, I doubt you have even lost your virginity yet." he spat at him.

Jace smirked but didn't reply. "Well go ahead then, tell us of one of your female conquests if you think to match me."

Jace glanced at his father. Valentine took a sip of his wine.

"I would very much like to hear about your young lady from Alicante as a matter of fact." he said finally.

Jace stared at him. Valentine's eyes glimmered the way they did when Jace thought he truly wished to punish him. Jace dropped his eyes.

"If you insist." he said to his plate.

And then, still staring down, he began to describe for them all the girl that his father and brother believed was a lie he had created to save himself.

"She's short," he began in a soft, thoughtful voice. "Almost ridiculously short. But her energy and just the way she holds herself makes her seem twelve feet tall."

The table was quiet, all eyes on him as he was picturing Clary in his mind.

"She has bright red hair, like fire…" now Jace looked up, and the Circle members were drawn to the tone of his voice and his facial expressions as easily as they were drawn to his father's.

"And it bounces when she walks because she has this swagger in her step." Jace said with a grin, like he was seeing her walking in front of him at that very moment, enticing him with the sway of her hips.

"And she's got these eyes…so green you can still see them when she has them closed."

Jonathan looked across the table at him. Either he was the best bullshitter in the world or this girl was real and Jace was smitten.

"What's her name?" he asked him. Jace looked up, almost surprised, like he had forgotten everyone was there.

"Karly." he said, lowering his eyelashes a little as he said it. Blackburn chuckled.

"Hm, red hair and green eyes? Was her last name Fairchild?" he said as he flicked an amused glance over at Valentine. Jace followed his glance and saw that his father's face was completely blank.

"Uh, I don't know I never asked." Blackburn laughed again and finished his wine.

"Thatta boy. Don't need to know their names just get what you want from them and be done with em. You are your father's boy, I'll tell you-"

"Jace go to your room."

Jace didn't have to look at him to tell that Valentine was mad. He slid up out of his chair all too greatfully and started to the door.

"You too, Jonathan."

Jonathan made a 'what the hell did I do?' face but got up anyways, knowing from his tone as well that he should just do as he was told.

Jonathan pushed out of the door and found Jace standing there, his face in a frown, before he moved aside and let Jonathan walk past him.

Jonathan looked back over his shoulder and saw Jace still standing at the door, now with his ear to it and the same frown on his face. Jonathan came back and stood next to him for a second before reaching out and carefully pushing the door open a crack so they could see inside the room.

Valentine was staring across the table at Blackburn, who now knew he had done something wrong.

"Blackburn, do you not recall me saying that I never wanted to hear that name again?" he asked in a soft voice.

"What, still in love with her are you?" he joked halfheartedly. Valentine continued as if he hadn't spoken.

"And then you have the audacity to say it in front of my children…" Jace and Jonathan looked at eachother; this wasn't going to end well.

"Oh come now Valentine, I'm sure he didn't mean any disrespect by it." Starkweather said quietly. Valentine's eyes burned black as they settled back on Blackburn's face.

"Did you?" he asked in a cold, quiet voice.

"Of course not. I merely wanted to reminisce about Jocelyn. She was quite a woman."

For a long time, Valentine was silent. Then he stood up and walked to the mantle where he opened up a cherry oak box and removed a cigar and a silver lighter. He glanced back over at Blackburn as he closed the box, a bright gleam lighting his eyes and making him look younger.

"That she was." he smiled.

He took a few slow steps around the table, the cigar held lightly between his fingers.

"In some ways she was like the best cigar…"he held it up for all the men to see. "Exquisite. Dignified. And smooth to the touch…" the men chuckled as Valentine cocked an eyebrow.

Then he flicked the lighter on. "And when you lit her just right…" he placed the cigar between his lips and lit the end, puffing on it gently. "She'd stay hot until the very end." he said after he exhaled the plume of smoke.

The men all made appreciative noises except Blackburn, who was pouring himself more wine.

"It wasn't fair of you Valentine. To keep such a sweet little thing like Jocelyn all to yourself."

"Pardon?" Valentine had come around the table and was standing at his shoulder, still smoking his cigar with ease.

"I'm sure she was a little fireball. You should've sent her my way, I could've really made her burn-"

It happened so fast, no one had time to do anything but sit there.

Valentine reached down, his arms a blur, and snapped Blackburn's neck with a sick crack that sounded like a shot fired.

Jace couldn't stop his gasp at the sudden violence of it but luckily it was covered by the sound of Blackburn's limp form falling forward onto the table, the force of his head upsetting his newly filled glass of wine and causing a dark stain to spread across the table cloth like violet blood.

The Circle members were still with shock. Valentine puffed on his cigar.

"You couldn't have handled her." he said to the back of Blackburn's head.