It was just after one in the morning. Her brain was still buzzing with excitement. She couldn't get the image of her mother out of her mind. Kind but hard green eyes, her lithe figure Marked by silver runes, her dark red hair a curled mess. Beautiful. That was the only word Eliza could conjure up for her.

Sighing heavily, Eliza got out of the bed. She trudged from her room down the hall to Jace's. He always left the door cracked, just in case. She quietly pushed open the door.

He was sitting up, a book in his hands. She watched the way his eyes flitted over the pages, absorbing every word. "I've been waiting on you." He said quietly, marking his place and shutting the book. He tossed it on the night table and met her eye. "Hungry?" He asked.

Was she hungry? It was too late (or early) to eat! She was exhausted. She wanted sleep!

"I'm famished myself." He went on. "Could use a late-night visit to the kitchen." He was out of the bed in a blink, beside her instantly. "Aren't you hungry, Liz?"

His voice made her stomach knot up. "I could do for some food." She said quietly. He grinned wickedly, grabbing her hand.

Their walk down to the kitchen was quiet. Jace grabbed the bread from the cabinet and plugged the toaster in. "Toasted peanut butter jelly sandwiches." He told her, not looking in her direction.

She hopped onto the counter as he got out the peanut butter and jelly jars. He tossed the peanut butter to her. She twisted the lid off and dipped her finger in, proceeding to lick the peanut butter off.

"You were out for a long time today." She looked up from the peanut butter jar. He still wasn't looking at her. His hands were gripping the counter, the corded muscles in his arm tensed.

"I wanted to be alone." She lied easily. The feeling in the pit of her stomach deepened. Lying was a second nature to her but she would never stop hating that she had to lie to him. Even if it was to protect him.

He turned to look at her, an unbelieving look on his face. "You wanted to be alone." He reiterated. "Why?"

She shrugged, putting the jar down. "This has been an adjustment, to say the least. I'm so used to the quiet, to being alone. Everything about this place, the Institute, New York, you, it's all so much sometimes that I feel as if I'm suffocating in the life of it all. Sometimes I go out, I wander the city, just to think and to breathe and be alone." She explained.

The toast popped out of the toaster, but he didn't bother tending to it. He moved to stand in front of her. He put his hands on her thighs. "We can always talk, if you'd prefer." He informed her. "I'm a good listener."

She glanced at the jar, sticking her finger in and covering the tip in peanut butter. "Maybe I don't need to talk, Wayland. Maybe I need…comfort." She suggested. She stuck her finger in her mouth, licking the peanut butter off.

"I'm a good comforter too." He murmured. "An above average one, at that."

She raised her eyebrows. "How kind of you to offer your services to me." She sighed, handing him the jar of peanut butter. "I think I'm satisfied for the night, though. Exhaustion has hit me quite suddenly." She hopped off the counter, her pale hair falling over her shoulders in soft waves. "Goodnight, Jace." She said quietly.

She got to the door of the kitchen when he called out her name. She half turned to look back at him. The peanut butter jar hung limply at his side. "I was being true about the offer. To talk. I want you to be able to talk to me about things. I don't want you to feel as if you must hide away. I want to know you and…I want you to know me."

Her lips spread into a very small smile. He was breaking her heart. He was tearing her apart. She would know him, know every bit of him. What made him tick, his favorite books, the way his fingers glided over the piano keys and everything that tore him apart on the inside. But he would not know her. Not the real her, anyways.

He would know Eliza Starkweather that was raised as a quiet young girl in Alicante who had something to prove, not the Eliza Morgenstern that had been whipped and trained by her father.

Maybe one day, he would know the real Eliza Morgenstern. The one who found the Mortal Cup, stopped her father and helped save the world.

One could hope.

Alec was a good Shadowhunter. He wasn't as good as Jace, but he was good. A good sparring partner.

"Jace has been keeping you on your feet." Alec noted as he jabbed at her.

She blocked his hit with her forearm, protecting her face. "He's a show-off, as Izzy said. He likes to prove he's better." She said. Jace was a great training partner, but his need to show-off inhibited her from really learning from him. She preferred Alec for training.

Alec grinned, agreeing whole-heartedly. "And here I thought the two of you were thick as thieves." There was a hint of something in his voice. Was it…jealousy? She said nothing of it. She knew better. "Am I wrong?" He asked her.

She said yes. "We aren't what the two of you are, Alec." She assured him. "Jace and I have some things in common that make us…friends." Friends was a nice word. And they were, friends. Nothing had happened between them. On several different occasions, something was on the brink of occurring, but never happened.

He gave her a questioning look and jabbed again. She blocked again. "You don't sound sure."

Her leg went out, swiping his from under his body. He fell on his ass with a loud thump. "I'm sure, Alexander. To him, we may not even be friends. You know how he feels about me." She did detect the layer of hurt in her voice. She was sure he'd hear it too.

Alec stood up, putting his hand on her shoulder. "Yeah, I do. And it isn't what you think, Eliza. Contrary to what he thinks, Jace cares about you. More than…probably more than a friend cares about another friend."

Yes. There was jealousy in his voice. But it wasn't malevolent at all. Just wistful.

Eliza smiled uneasily, brushing the idea of Jace wanting her away. "Round two?" She asked Alec. "I could kick your ass again."

Alec smirked. "Bring it, Starkweather."

August

She wasn't nervous as Hodge pulled her into his small room by the library and shut the door, locking it. She wasn't nervous as Hugin stared her down, his beady black eyes looking like portals straight to Edom.

"Your father grows impatient." He said quietly.

She snorted in amusement. "Grows? As if he's never been impatient before? What an amusing thought." She replied dryly.

Her father's middle name should have been Impatient.

Hodge didn't find her remark quite as funny as she did. "He writes me often, wondering where you are on your task. Why you haven't found it yet. You've been here for nearly four months. He expected you to be done. He- we both wonder where you go when you leave for hours."

Now Hodge was making demands of her? Could things get any worse?

She bit her tongue as kindly as she could. She took four deep breaths before replying. "It's taking a bit longer than expected, I know. You'll have to assuage his worries. I had to assimilate into my new environment, gain the trust of my peers. That takes time. I must train with them and go on hunts, make them feel as if they know me and I'm their friend. And then find time to look for the Cup, find and follow leads, weed out the wrong leads. If he wanted it done quickly, he should have sent Jonathan." Her voice grew acidic towards the end of her rant.

It wasn't that she was jealous of her brother. That wasn't possible. And it wasn't that she despised him, she only despised what he was, what their father had made him.

Hodge began to speak, but instead shut his mouth. After a few silent moments, he spoke again. "Very well. I shall write to him tonight and tell him that you're gaining progress. Slowly but surely. I'll tell him that you've gained the trust and friendship of your peers. I'll assuage him as best I can. But you had better hurry. You know how he can be."

She grimaced. The scars on her back proved that more than anything. She said nothing as she left his small room and exited through the library.

Her small hands were fists at her side, clenched tightly in anger. She was taking too long. But good plans of betrayal took months' time.

She hoped Hodge was convincing enough for her father.

Everything, and she meant everything, was falling to pieces.

Magnus was in Tanzania. He had had to leave earlier than thought. Which meant that she wouldn't get to see her mother for a few more weeks. She couldn't very well waltz to her door. What if Clarissa saw?

Her mother had made it clear she needed to wait on her.

Eliza knocked her head against the wall.

"You okay?" Izzy laughed, walking into the library.

Eliza straightened immediately. She looked at Izzy, an awkward smile on her face. "Yeah. Of course. Jace just gets unbearable sometimes." She replied uneasily.

Izzy would believe that. Everyone knew how Jace could be.

Izzy smiled comfortingly. "What did he do now?" She asked.

"He just…the way he acts sometimes. He can be kind at one moment and then incredibly rude the next." Eliza said quietly. It was the truth. Jace had an unusual way about him. His moods were nearly unpredictable. If he was in a good mood, the entire Institute was beaming. But if he was cross…the world might as well have been in flames with him.

Izzy scoffed at her. "You've been here since May and you're just realizing that he can be a complete ass? Where have you been, Eliza?" There was a playful smile on the younger girl's face.

"I've known for a while. He was so cruel when I first came. He's changed." She admitted. "He's warm and kind." She didn't realize how her face brightened when she spoke of him, how her lips turned up in a brilliant smile as she thought of him. "But sometimes, he gets in one of his moods and he's quite sour again. I don't know how you've dealt with him for so long." Her voice was weary.

She wasn't only tired of Jace's changing moods. She grew weary of the lies and deceit. And overall, she was plain worn out.

"He cares a lot about you, Eliza." Izzy finally said. "Jace does. He won't admit to anyone, probably not even himself. But it isn't hard to see."

First Alec and then Izzy? The two of them had to be delusional. Sure, there had been several instances where she and Jace had been alone and things had nearly…transpired between them.

She had wanted his trust, needed it. And sure, maybe she had wanted him to want her. She couldn't count the nights she had wondered if he was thinking of her; she couldn't count the times her stomach had twisted at the way he looked at her, the glimmer in his golden eyes.

But she didn't want this. She didn't want his love and affection. She could break his trust. She couldn't break his heart.

As always, her pale blond hair looked white. An undeniably attractive trait she had inherited from her father. Her fingers worked nimbly through her hair, knotting it into two thick braids that fell over her shoulders and down her chest. Vivid green eyes stared back at her in the mirror. Eyes granted by her mother. Her lips were a slash of vibrant red on a canvas of fair skin.

She recalled Jonathan in her mind. His black eyes, swirling holes of darkness. His hair the same pale blond as hers. The two of them shared their hair, among few other things. They both had that tall and slender look to them. They shared the soft porcelain skin that so often graced the Morgenstern family. The same high cheekbones, granting them a regal sort of beauty. Both twins had long and thick eyelashes. Slender and graceful hands.

It mostly seemed that the only starkly noticeable physical difference between the two of them was that Eliza's eyes were a forest of green and Jonathan's were a dark hole of black. No, there was more. Jonathan retained more muscle on his body, looking more like their father as he grew older. Eliza was smaller, her body lither than his. Jonathan's mouth was thin and tight; Eliza's small and full.

They both had the same jagged and thick scars on their backs.

Her face pinched in the mirror as memories of being hit with that infernal whip cut her mind. She bit the inside of her cheek fiercely and pushed the memories out.

There had been a knot in her stomach since Jace told them of the demon whispers at Pandemonium. She didn't feel good about it in the least.

The dark Marks on her body stood out boldly against the pale color of her skin. Her finger traced the old silver remnants of the runes past on her arm.

She tightened the bright red leather top, making sure it wouldn't fall off but also wouldn't bother her breathing. She laced her boots tightly. It wasn't customary gear, but this wasn't a customary night. At least, they were hunting an ordinary demon: An Eidolon, a shape-changer. Most demons liked pretty girls to hunt, especially the shape-changers.

Izzy and Eliza usually served as bait. Hence, the red leather top and black leather pants. She demanded attention that warm August Sunday night.

She grabbed her short-sword and slid it into the sheath on her back. She made sure her stele was carefully contained in the band on her right bicep. Green eyes scanned over her room a last time, making sure she had everything. Satisfied, she left the room, closing the door softly.

Her feet went quietly over the old floorboards as she made her way to the weapons room. Alec, Izzy and Jace were there already, each blessing their own seraph blades.

"Didn't think you were ever going to make an appearance." Jace said curtly.

She said she wouldn't miss it for the world as she made her way to the table. She took two deactivated seraph blades and laid them on the table. She took out her stele and blessed the blades, naming them Peniel and Puriel. She slid the dull grey tubes into the holsters on her thighs.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the indiscreet look that Jace and Alec shared. Alec had his what-have-you-done-now look on, showering Jace with the withering glare. Jace wore the ever present nothing-at-all simper.

Eliza rolled her eyes and went straight to the knife table. She picked out two small throwing knives. Her stele moved gracefully over their thin blades, etching out runes.

"Jace, go talk to her!" Alec hissed. Poor boy, she laughed to herself, he thought he was being quiet.

"I didn't do anything to her." Jace grumbled.

She slipped the two knives into the silver metal bands on her wrists. She secured them tightly.

"Why else would she be acting like that, if you didn't do something to piss her off?" Izzy intervened.

Eliza turned to face them, her braids whipping over her shoulders. "Enough." She groaned. The three of them looked at her, eyes wide. "Jace hasn't done anything. Yet." Jace smiled in triumph at Alec and Izzy. "I don't feel right about going out tonight. There's a feeling in the pit of my stomach. Like…like everything is about to change and it may not be for the better."

Jace gave her a look she didn't quite know how to interpret. "So, you're nervous?" He grinned crookedly. "You've been on several hunts now. You'd think you'd be used to it."

Her face turned to stone. It was one of his days. Her full mouth set into an annoyed line. "I'm ready to leave. I'd like to get this over with."

Izzy was wearing a floor length white dress, lace sleeves covering her arms. She wore a ruby pendant around her neck. The around of her eyes was covered thick with charcoaled eyeliner. "Damn." Izzy whistled. "We look hot. If only the mundies could see us." She sighed wistfully.

Jace frowned at her statement. "Let's go." He said darkly.

They gathered their weapons quickly and stalked towards their hunt.

Jace grabbed her arm, letting Alec and Izzy enter the club first. "Eliza."

Her face pulled down. She was trying to pull from him, in every way she knew how. He couldn't want her. She didn't want to hurt him more than she had to. "We need to go inside." She told him.

He nodded, saying they did. "Where've you been lately? You've been distant." There was a little hurt in his voice. She withheld a grimace.

"I need space. I told you that I needed to be alone sometimes." She reminded him. The look on his face tore at her heart. She sighed, her resolve faltering. Her hands went to cup his face. Her smile was soft and reassuring. "You are my greatest sin, Jace Wayland." She wanted to kiss him. To finally feel the warmth of his lips against her own, his body pressed against hers. "Now, we've got a demon to catch." She tore her hands from his face, steadying them at her sides.

His face fell and a millisecond later, it was stone. "Yeah. Come on."

She followed him into the club. Lights flashed over the room. Dry-ice covered it in a haze. The raw life of the Pandemonium Club never failed to take her breath away. She loved the feeling of it, the adrenaline of just standing in the building.

"We should try to blend in." Jace's voice was determined. She agreed in a quiet voice. It was in an instant that his hands were on her waist, spinning her to face him. His grip became tight, his forehead against hers.

"Jace." She hesitated. Her voice was thick. She tried to make her eyes go anywhere but his. She tried to scan for Izzy or Alec, but the dark gold of his eyes sucked her back in. "We really shouldn't…The demon…"

His tongue darted out, swiping over his bottom lip. "Earlier, you said things were going to change tonight, for the worse. What if…what if it's for the better, instead?" She'd never heard his tone before. He was, almost nervous sounding. "Do you remember that day we talked in my room? And I told you about the falcon, what my father said to me?" Her eyes wandered, and she said yes. "And do you remember when you asked if something had changed my mind about my view on love?"

She was going to vomit. He couldn't really be saying what he was about to.

"Yes. I think so." She murmured.

His hands travelled up her sides to rest on her neck. Heat radiated from him, like he was the sun. She would have believed it, with his golden eyes and halo of golden curls that rested atop his head.

"Eliza, I-."

Her eyes drifted from his face. Not too far from them, she saw Izzy, drifting through the room. Her white dress billowed around her. She looked like an ethereal sort of entity. Eliza looked past Izzy to see a boy with electric blue hair and a wooden stick in his hand. Watching her.

A little too intensely. For a moment, only half a second, Izzy's gaze met Eliza's. A confident and knowing smirk played the younger girl's lips. She knew.

Eliza looked away, back to Jace. "Izzy's got it. The demon. He's locked on her. We'd better move."

She was thanking the Angel himself for granting her an exit. Jace's mouth turned down. "Liz-." He started before stopping himself. His jaw set. "Another time." He decided. She said of course.

Izzy began moving, almost like she was floating. As she moved, the blue-haired demon moved behind her, his eyes trained on her with a sort of hunger only demons possessed.

Jace was away from Eliza, his absence bringing a cold and hollow feeling to her. She checked herself for her weapons. Undoubtedly, she still had all of them. She spotted Alec in the crowd, moving towards the back storage room.

The demon was following Izzy, lost in her enchantment of beauty. And as he followed her, Jace and Alec followed him.

Jace and Alec stopped at the storage room door. For a moment, they spoke to each other. After their short exchange of words, Jace looked back at Eliza. One swift nod of his head towards the door was her signal to move in.

She pushed her braids onto her back and started to cross the room. Her eyes were hard set as she slid past mundanes. In no time, she was standing next to Jace and Alec.

"Oh, surely you boys weren't waiting on me." She simpered. She noticed the way Jace' jaw was hard set. He didn't say anything, he only pulled out one of his knives. "Right then." Eliza squared her shoulders. "Let's go kill a demon." She smiled brightly.

Jace opened the door and let her inside. He slipped in behind her and Alec followed.

They entered the room to find Izzy standing over the boy, who was lying on the ground. Izzy's electrum whip was curled around his ankle.

Izzy smiled back at them. "I got him for you." She seemed to glitter with triumph.

Eliza walked over to Izzy. Her red lips formed a smirk at the demon boy. "The blue hair is an exciting touch." She told him. "I like it."

Alec grabbed the boy and shoved him against one of the concrete pillars that held the roof up. Alec's slender hands worked to tie the boy to the pillar with a wire. Jace walked to stand in front of Izzy and Eliza.

"Well, are there more of you or not?" Jace asked him, his stance rigid.

He wriggled in Alec's bind. "More of what?"

Jace liked to play with his demons before he killed them. And Eliza hated to admit that she enjoyed doing it as well. She also cared to admit that Jace became increasingly attractive when taunting demons.

"You know what we are. Don't play games." Jace told him. "Eliza." He called on her.

She stepped forward, letting the boy take her in. She watched the way his eyes scoured over her body, taking in the way the tight leather of her pants stretched over the shapes of her legs, how he saw tightness of the red leather halter and how it accentuated her chest perfectly. And she saw him skittering over the runes, the dark blacks and the silvers.

"I thought we liked playing, Jace." She smiled wickedly at the demon. "I do love games." She said in a sultry voice.

"You are Shadowhunters." The demon spat.

Eliza's grin grew bigger, darker. "We got you." Jace breathed. Jace put his hands in his pockets and glanced at Eliza. "Ready to play?"

Eliza's eyes darkened as she stared the demon boy down. His face was taut with pain and was that…fear? "Oh, I'm always ready." She murmured.

Jace seemed to relax at her eagerness. He lifted his hands and crossed them over his chest. He began pacing back at forth. Eliza stood, her hands on her hips, shoulders tense and square.

"Are you going to answer my question or not?" Jace asked the demon. "I want to know if there are more of your kind with you."

The demon struggled. Eliza got the faintest whiff of ichor. "I told you I didn't know what you were talking about." The demon reminded him darkly.

"Demons." Alec spoke, now by Izzy. "Jace means demons. Please tell us you know about demons."

Eliza knew Jace was growing bored. And fast. The boy turned to face away from them. "You know about demons, don't you sweetheart?" Eliza said softly to the demon. "You'll tell us everything you know about them." Her voice was a deadly mixture of sweet and demanding.

"Demons are oft described as hell's denizens. We Shadowhunters tend to describe you as malevolent beings-." Jace's instructional was interrupted by Izzy.

"Jace, that's enough I think." Her voice was tired. Eliza believed she was the only one who enjoyed Jace's hunting antics.

Alec sighed heavily. "Izzy's not wrong, Jace. I don't believe anyone here needs a demonology lesson."

Jace's smile was the smile of a predator. Eliza squatted next to the demon, running her hand through his hair. She didn't like the coarse nature of his blue locks. He shivered as her finger ran down his cheek. When the demon looked at her, her eyes glinted black.

"Alexander and Isabelle believe that I talk too much." Jace told the demon. "What do you think?"

The boy stayed silent. Eliza watched the way his mouth twitched, as if he were thinking incredulously hard. Eliza's fingers were in his hair once more. She gripped the thick locks tightly and shoved his head into the pillar.

"Answer his questions." She hissed. "Or I'll be the one asking, and you won't like my methods." There was a darkness in her voice that she couldn't put a name to. It made her feel good. And she knew if a darkness made her feel good, it was most certainly bad.

The demon smirked at her. "Oh, I think I would like your methods."

Her lips parted, clearly surprised by his response. She glanced back at Jace. He waved his hands. "By all means." He told her. "See if you can get somewhere."

Eliza released his hair from her grip. She fiddled with the band on her wrist, producing a small knife with a thin blade. She held the knife carefully, stroking it down his cheek. "You see, Jace likes to play with words. I like to play with sharp objects. He wants to confuse you into giving yourself to us. I want to convince you." With a sharp suddenness, she sunk the knife into his thigh.

He howled out, his arms tight against his restraints. "Bitch!" He shouted.

She yanked the knife out and he screamed again. She wiped the blade against his pants, getting the ichor off. "Tell us what we want to know." She muttered against his cheek.

He turned, his mouth close to her ear. "I'll eat you first. Savor every bite of you."

She jerked away from him. She stood up, her green eyes dark with anger. Her breath was heaving, chest rising under the red leather top.

"I have information." The boy groaned. "Information on Valentine."

Time stopped. The air thickened in the room. She felt all eyes on her. She was especially aware of Jace's gaze, boring into the demon. "That's funny." She finally said after a few tense moments. "I know for a fact he's been dead for fifteen years." She told the demon. "So, what can you tell us that we don't already know? Is he back as a ghost? I love ghosts." Her smile was wide and deadly.

Jace's hand was on her shoulder. Reassurance, she thought. "It's messing with you, Liz. It's trying to get in your head. Fill you with lies and distract you."

She nodded, sliding the knife back in its sheath. "Kill it." Izzy spoke from behind them. "The thing is useless."

Jace seemed to agree with her, as he pulled one of his seraph blades out. He murmured a name and the blade sprang to life. "Eliza? The honors?"

Her eyes fluttered down to the blade and she shook her head.

The boy went alert at the sight of the seraph blade. He wrenched back and forth. "He's back! Valentine is back!" He shouted at them. His eyes settled on Eliza. "I can tell you where he is!"

In a flash, Eliza's knives were lodged in his biceps. Her eyes were a dark color, nowhere close to the forest green they usually were. The demon shouted in pain, wordless cries. "You can't tell me anything I don't already know." Her voice was hot, lava flowing over a hill, on its way to destroy a town.

She bent over him, snatching the knives out in a cruel fashion. She wiped his own ichor on his cheeks and sheathed the small knives. "All of you demons seem to know where Valentine is." Jace said coolly. "All of you bastards want to tell me where he is." He seethed.

"I'm sorry?" Eliza's voice had turned cold. "What do you mean by that?"

His body went stiff. Slowly, he looked at her. "There were a few nights we went out without you. We couldn't find you. And there are some demons who seem to think that Valentine is back from the dead."

She felt like falling. She locked her legs and swallowed hard. They couldn't know. "Give it." She held her hand out. He stared back at her. "Jace, the blade." He made no move. "Jonathan Wayland, give me the seraph blade." He handed it to her. Her grip was tight on the weapon.

"He wants you!" The demon shouted at her. "He's coming for you!"

She spun the seraph blade in her hand and pointed the blade at him. "Yeah? Say hi to him in Hell for me."

It happened in a blink. A small girl darted out from behind one of the pillars, her hair bright red. "Stop!" She screamed. "You can't!"

Eliza's green eyes widened at the girl before her.

Clarissa.

Her sister.

The seraph blade fell to the floor, her hand limp at her side. What the hell?

Every other person except for Clary had a look of stun on their face.

"What. Is. This?" Alec broke the silence. His blue eyes travelled from Clary to Jace to Izzy to Eliza and back.

Eliza quickly replaced her expression with a blank one. Jace stood up straight. He eyed Clary carefully. "This is a girl, Alec. She is a girl, just as Isabelle and Eliza are girls." Jace inspected Clary carefully, his eyes roving over her. "A mundane; one who can see us."

Eliza wanted to say no. Clary was one of them, she just didn't know it. "Well, I'm not blind." Clary retorted.

Jace leaned to pick the seraph blade up. "Yes, you are."

"Leave." Eliza finally spoke. The words barely left her mouth. Clary turned to look at her. The same green eyes. Jocelyn's eyes. "Leaving is in your best interest. Go." Eliza was amazed at how much she sounded like their mother.

"And let you kill him? I don't think so." She was pointedly staring at the blue haired boy. The boy she didn't know was a demon.

"Why do you care what happens to him?" Jace asked her, the seraph blade spinning between his fingers. "He's just a lowly demon."

Clary's face pinched. She clearly had no idea what Jace was talking about. "You can't just kill people." She told him.

Jace sighed, growing bored. "No, no you can't. Which is great news for you because this boy is a demon. One greatly skilled in looking like a person."

"Enough." Eliza's voice cut through the air. Jace looked back at her. "She can't know anymore." She had to leave. Clary could not know anything else about the Shadow World.

Clary crossed her arms over her chest. She had a defiant look on her face. "I've called the police already. They'll be here soon."

Eliza cocked her head to the side. A liar. Well, they had that in common. Alec called her bluff. Out of the corner of her eye, Eliza spotted movement.

Just as she turned, the demon sprang free, crying out. He lunged at Jace, knocking him to the ground. The demon tore at Jace with metallic claws. Eliza heard something hit the floor. Izzy was screaming.

Blood, Jace's blood, tipped the demon's claws. Jace's arm went over his face as the demon slashed at him.

Izzy's whip cracked down, hitting the demon on the back. Eliza flinched at the noise the whip made. The scars on her back seemed to burn.

The demon rolled to the floor. Jace grabbed the seraph blade. He shoved it into the demon's chest. Black ichor spurted from the wound. Eliza watched with blank eyes as the demon writhed on the floor.

Her eyes jumped to Jace as he stood. He roughly yanked the seraph blade from the demon's chest.

"The Forsaken will take all of you!" The demon shrieked.

Eliza disregarded the comment, stepping over his writhing body to be closer to Jace. She didn't care that Alec and Izzy were there, she didn't care that her sister was there or that the demon was dying on the floor.

Her hands were on his neck, her skin white against his. She made him look at her, her eyes searching his. "Are you okay?" She whispered. "No, of course not. You're bleeding everywhere." She laughed quietly.

"Liz…" Jace glanced at the ground.

She put one of her hands over his chest, the blood flowing over her fingers. "Shh. We need to get you to the Institute. Alec, help me." Alec was at Jace's side instantly, lifting his arm. He began inspecting the wound on his arm. "You'll be fine." Eliza assured him. "Good as new in a few hours."

His hand found her waist and he steadied himself.

"Where do you think you're going?" Izzy's voice was hard as rock.

Eliza ripped her gaze from Jace. Izzy was standing in front of the door, blocking Clary's way out. Izzy's whip was wrapped around Clary's wrist.

"Jace could have died because of you." Izzy snarled.

Clary yanked on the whip in vain. "You're all crazy." She huffed. "When the police get here-."

Jace laughed softly. Clary looked back at him. Eliza had her arm around his waist, his good arm draped over her shoulders. Her small hand was pressed against his chest to try and slow the bleeding. "The police won't care." He told Clary. "There's no body for them to concern themselves with."

Clary finally looked at the ground. There wasn't a body at all. Nothing to prove that the blue haired boy had existed at all. She looked at him, an incredulous look on her face.

"When they die, demons are sent back to whatever dimension they came from. In case you were wondering."

"She wasn't." Eliza grumbled to him. "She doesn't need to know anymore, so keep your mouth shut."

Jace looked down at her. "She knows too much already."

She knew he was right. Clary had seen them, watched them kill a demon. Eliza was sure their mother would kill her.

Izzy asked what they should do with the girl. Jace quietly said to let her go. Izzy, though clearly disagreeing with his decision, let her whip fall from Clary's wrist.

"I think that Hodge would like to speak to her, since she can see us." Alec said. "Maybe we should take her to the Institute with us."

Eliza's eyes flashed. She turned to Alec, glowering at him. "No." She growled. "She is not returning with us." Clary could not know anything else about them and Hodge certainly could not know about her existence.

"Eliza is right. She's a mundie." Izzy said icily.

Jace gently pulled away from Eliza. He walked close to Clary, his eyes thin with question. "Tell me true, little girl, have you ever walked at night with a warlock or talked to the vampires? Perhaps you've dealt with demons, the truly monstrous looking ones." Jace's voice was soft, the way that a rolling storm cloud as it sat, waiting to wreak havoc.

The door of the storage room was opening. Jace turned away from her, returning to Eliza's side. Her already blood-stained hand once again went to his chest.

"Clary?" A male voice said. It belonged to a boy about their age and one of the club's bouncers. "Where are the knife guys?"

Jace shrugged as Clary looked back at him. "It was a mistake." Clary said thickly.

Isabelle giggled. Clary's eyes met Eliza's. Eliza lifted her bloody hand and made a motion, signaling for Clary to keep quiet. Her eyes were pleading, please don't say anything. Please forget this.

As soon as they got back to the Institute, Eliza shoved Jace to the infirmary room. She forced him to sit on the bed. "Take off your shirt." She told him. She took off her wrist bands that held her knives, as well as the belt holster that contained her unused seraph blades. She removed the sheath and short-sword on her back, laying it all on an empty bed. She'd have to return her things to the weapons room later.

Jace's eyebrows quirked up instantly. "Well, Eliza, if you want me to get naked so bad, you should have said something earlier." Without ease, he shed his bloody shirt, tossing it to the floor to not stain the bedclothes.

"Don't be cheeky." She mumbled. Her stele was in her hand in a blink, working healing runes and blood flow slowing runes over his body. Once she was finished, she put her stele back up. "I'll go get you some clean clothes and you can go ahead and shower."

His hand was on her wrist, warm and insistent. "Liz…It's another time."

This again? Very well, she thought, I'd best entertain him. "I suppose it is." She smiled. "What did you want to tell me earlier?"

He pulled her down to sit next to him on the bed. His hand was ever so present on her knee. He opened his mouth, as if he had something to say but couldn't quite find the right words to say it. "Damn it all to hell." He muttered.

She frowned at him. What exactly was he trying to tell her?

And then his hands were cupping her face and he was kissing her. She felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her. She stared, eyes wide open. Just as she felt him begin to pull away, she did what she shouldn't have and deepened the kiss.

Jace was clearly surprised at her action, just as much as she was. He was pulling her closer to him, his movements urgent as if they couldn't get close enough. Her hands gripped his shoulders, his travelling to her back.

"No." She whispered against his mouth. "We can't." She pulled away from him, his hands falling from her body.

His eyes darted over her face, his hands limp on the bed space beside where she sat. "What's wrong? What did I do?"

She shook her head fiercely. "It's not…you didn't do anything wrong."

The heat of the moment had worn away, leaving her frazzled. It had been enough to make her forget about the demon talk for a while.

The demons. Clary. Valentine.

She scrambled from the bed. She needed to talk to Hodge.

"Liz? Liz, I have to tell you something." Jace's voice was full of defeat. "I want you to know that I-."

She glared at him, her eyes dark. Her pale cheeks were tinged red. "Oh, Jace, enough! Leave it alone, please." She left no room for argument on his part as she stormed out of the room.

Her feet were thunderous as she made her way through the Institute. Hodge was in the library, Hugin on his shoulder.

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Hodge asked, looking up from whatever he was working on. Probably a letter to her father.

She slammed her hands down on the wooden desk, the green no longer evident in her eyes. "Is he here? Is my father here?" She was quiet, just in case someone was near. Hodge said nothing. "Start talking, Starkweather."

Hodge put his pen down. He sighed very heavily, as if the information weighed on his entire existence. "Yes. He's here. And he is quite livid with you."

She could imagine. "Rightfully so, I believe." She murmured, the scars on her back burning. "Did you even try to assuage him?" She asked.

Hodge said no. "I honestly didn't see a point in aggravating him further. He told me to tell you that he would deal with you after he had the Cup."

So, she still had time. Enough to do something to stop him. "I'd better be on my best behavior then." She said coolly, leaving the library.

Her heart was racing. She didn't pay attention to where she was going, only that she was going where she needed to. She wound back at the infirmary room. Jace was still on the bed, gazing up at the high ceiling.

"Jace." She announced herself. She walked over to the bed. "Say it." She told him.

He sat up, unsure of what to do. "Say what?"

She sat herself on the bed. Her eyes peered into his. "I don't know." She said truthfully. "Whatever you were going to tell me earlier, I need you to tell me now." Before everything changed. Before the world went into flames.

Jace bit on his bottom lip. He was quiet, refusing to look at her. "I love you." He said, his voice a whisper. "I'm in love with you."

She hadn't wanted him to be. It made everything worse. But if felt good. Knowing he wanted her. Knowing he loved her. She forced herself to remain placid and stoic. She stood up, her hands clenched at her sides. She choked back her response and turned, walking quickly away.

Late that evening, she was in her own room. Her mind wouldn't- no, couldn't turn off. She kept replaying the incident at Pandemonium. The Eidolon claiming her father had returned from the supposed dead, Jace revealing that he had heard similar claims from other demons, Clary bursting in.

Magnus, I need you. Things are dire. I'm afraid.

She felt a sort of comfort deep in her mind. Was he…Was he sending her a psychic hug?

No. I need you back in the city. Right now. Even in her head, her voice was urgent.

What is it, little dove? Concern coated his voice. I'm not quite done in Tanzania so unless it's an emergency, it will have to wait.

He's here. He's in the city, somewhere. My father is in New York. He's angry and I'm afraid, Magnus.

He was quiet for a few minutes. She wondered if something had happened to him or happened to their link. Maybe he had severed it, decided to protect himself. She wouldn't blame him if he had.

What are you going to do? I don't believe he'll be happy with you.

She shook her head. Eliza snatched her pillow and put it over her face. I don't know. He's ruthless and evil. He'll want whatever information I have on the Cup and he'll do anything to get it. He'll hurt Alec or Izzy. He'd hurt Jace, if he had to. And I would tell him, I know I would if he even mentioned hurting them. I'd tell him everything, even about my mother and my sister. I must protect them. I don't know what to do, Magnus.

Silence met her again.

I have an idea. Magnus replied after a long while. She had almost given up on him. She asked what it was. I can put a block on your memory. Take what I need, make it so that you don't know what you know. I can change reality for you.

You must. If it keeps them safe, all of them, I will do whatever I must.

I'll be home in two days. Get your affairs in order.

She didn't say anything else. She considered two days plenty of time to figure something out. To figure anything out, really. She pushed the pillow off her face and got out of the bed. She walked quietly to Jace's room and nudged the door open.

He was fast asleep, the blanket half off of his body. She crawled into the bed beside him. He stirred, turning towards her. "Hi." He mumbled, half asleep.

His arm fell over her waist, pulling her close. "Jace, do you believe in forgiveness?" She whispered.

His eyes fluttered open. They were the color of a hazy gold. "Guess so. Depends." She asked what it depended on. "What's being forgiven. I'd forgive someone over a disagreement or something small. But lies, big lies, I don't know. And I'll never forgive the men that killed my father."

She sucked in a breath. She wanted to tell him that the man he thought was his father was alive. Alive and in the city. But she couldn't. No, not yet.

"Why?" He mumbled.

She didn't reply. She buried her face in between his neck and shoulder. "Can you just be quiet and hold me?" She asked. He pulled her a little closer, not saying anything. His breathing steadied, and she knew he was asleep. "I'm sorry." She murmured softly. "I'm sorry for letting you love me."