Her feet landed on the ground and she wobbled, regaining her balance. Her hair was wet, stuck to her face. She pushed the strands out of her face, tucking them behind her ears. She looked down, her clothes sopping wet. She was extremely glad that she had opted for the lightweight dress instead of jeans.
She quickly took off her shoes and shook the water out of them. She slipped them back on, shaking out the excess water in her hair.
"Izzy probably could have warned us that this way was going to be wet." Jace's voice startled her.
He was standing in front of her, arms crossed over his chest. Like her, he was drenched, but it didn't seem to be bothering him.
The little dirt corridor they were in wasn't exactly what she had expected from the Fair Folk. Moss covered the walls, glowing faintly to provide light. Just down the corridor was a curtain of vines.
She shivered, hugging her arms around herself. It was just as cold there as it had been in the water. "Do you want my jacket?" Jace asked, his voice a little kinder than it had been.
She bit down on the inside of her cheek. "Your jacket is wet." She retorted.
He said something under his breath that she didn't quite catch. He swiped his hair off his forehead. His white shirt was clinging to his skin, the black ink of his Marks seeming to burn through the material.
Clary dropped through the portal, landing ungraciously on her feet. Jace reached out and steadied her. "I didn't think we'd be travelling via pond portal." She admitted. "Izzy could've given us a warning or something."
Eliza laughed, agreeing with her. "Or at least told us to bring a change of clothes." She replied.
Something fell from the top of the corridor and landed against the ground with a definitive thud. Eliza looked down to see Simon lying on the dirt. His glasses had fallen to his feet. Clary reached down and plucked his glasses from the dirt, cleaning them off on her wet shirt. She helped him up and handed him his glasses.
"Thank you." Simon said in a quiet voice.
Isabelle finally dropped through the portal, spectacularly landing on her feet. She wore a beautiful grin on her face, staring back at all of them. She pushed her dark hair off her shoulders and straightened out her clothes. "How fun was that?"
Jace lifted his eyes, shaking his head. Eliza rung the excess water from her hair. "I'm getting you a dictionary for Christmas." Jace told Izzy. "You clearly don't know the meaning of the word fun."
"Especially after the whole ordeal with the dragon demons the other day." Eliza backed him up. "Okay, since you're the expert on the fey, which way do we go?"
Izzy leaned against one of the walls. She ran her fingers through her hair. "We wait. They come for us. It's all very formal." Clary asked how they knew they were there. "They'll know. Trust me." She assured her.
"So, how do you know so much about faeries?" Simon asked, his voice just a little too accusatory.
Izzy blushed, looking away from them. Eliza looked at Jace and was relieved to see that he had the same expression on his face as she did. Before either of them could ask Izzy about it, a faerie stepped through vine curtain.
Eliza didn't have too much experience with the Fair Folk. She knew they were dangerously beautiful and too cruel for anyone's own good. This was seemed to be no different. His hair was long, down to his shoulders, so black it looked almost blue. Something shimmered on his cheekbone and Eliza realized it was a leaf-shaped mark.
As he moved closer to them, she saw that his eyes were green. Brighter than that of her and Clary's eyes, green like the color of the vines he had just stepped through.
Isabelle moved quickly, pushing off the wall and running towards the man. She jumped into his arms, hugging him tightly. "Meliorn!" She squealed.
Eliza couldn't help but smile. So, that was how Izzy knew so much about the Fair Folk. She wondered if little Max would share the same affinity for Downworlders as his older siblings when he got a bit older.
Simon whispered something excitedly to Clary. Sternly, the faerie detached Izzy from his person and set her side. "Now is not the time for sentiment. The Queen has asked for an audience with the four Nephilim children." He spared Simon a disapproving look. "You know that mundanes are not permitted entrance into the Court."
Jace had a proud look on his face. "Someone could have mentioned that earlier." Simon bemused. "Am I just supposed to wait here until I mold into the wall and grow vines on my face?"
Eliza saw the look of amusement pass on Meliorn's face. "We could arrange that, if you wish." He told Simon.
Simon's mouth opened. "Don't answer that!" Eliza warned him.
"Simon is a friend. He can be trusted. I promise." Jace spoke. His words shocked all of them. "He fights by our side regularly." Simon, mouth open with shock, stared back at Jace. His eyes were wide.
"Once. Maybe twice, if we count when I got turned into a rat." Simon adjusted.
Clary grabbed Simon's hand, staring sternly at Meliorn. Her mouth was set in a firm line, eyes dark. "We don't go without him. If your Queen wants to see us, Simon comes with."
Eliza raised her eyebrows. Clary definitely had spunk. "Of course." Meliorn relented. "It cannot be said that the Seelie Court disrespects the wishes of our guests." His eyes moved between the group of them. "You may follow me." He turned, his boots lifting dust from the ground. He began walking down the corridor, not bothering to check if they were following.
Izzy moved quickly to be able to walk next to Meliorn. As she walked, she waved her hand behind her back, signaling for them to follow quickly.
Jace and Eliza shared another look. "Are you surprised, really?" Jace whispered. Quietly, she told him no.
"Are we-can we date faeries? Like, would the Lightwoods be okay with the two of them going out?" Clary walked close to Eliza, her voice low so Izzy wouldn't hear.
Jace shrugged. "I doubt they go out, Clary. I think they just stay under, or in. Whatever." He told her.
That didn't sound very warm of him. Simon even noted it. Out loud. "Sounds like you don't approve."
The corridor shifted into one that was lined with smooth stones instead of just dirt. Stone even made up the floor, shining as they walked.
"Not exactly." Jace replied. "I just don't want Izzy to get hurt. The fey aren't exactly known for ending their dalliances on a high note."
Just then, Izzy laughed. Her laughter echoed through the corridor. "You're so funny, Meliorn." She giggled. She lurched forward, the thin heel of her boot snagging in between two stones. Meliorn's arm jerked out, his hand wrapping around her bicep and keeping her from falling. He helped her stand upright.
"Your shoes are too tall." He told her, continuing to walk.
Izzy looked back at him with a dazzling expression. "What kind of girl would I be if I didn't stick to my motto? 'Nothing less than seven inches', that's what I always say." Meliorn turned to stare at her. His eyebrows were knitted together. "My shoes, Meliorn."
He continued down the corridor without her, mentioning that the Queen was waiting for them. Izzy waited with a pout on her lips as the others caught up to her. She turned to Eliza, a sad look in her eyes. "I forgot that the Fair Folk don't have a sense of humor."
Jace slipped his arm around her shoulders. "Debatable." He said. "There's this sweet nightclub downtown that I'm pretty sure is completely pixie and it's called Hot Wings." Izzy, Clary, and Eliza all shot him disturbed looks. "I've never been. I've just heard of it." He pulled away from Izzy, casting his eyes to the floor.
The corridor opened into a spacious room. The floor was made of a light-colored dirt, the walls lined with stone pillars covered in thin vines and brightly colored flowers. The room was bright, though there was no visible source of lighting.
It was full of Fair Folk. Some were playing a sweet melody, others were dancing along to the rhythm of the music. They seemed to float, feet never gracing the stone floor.
Wings, so many wings. Soft colors of lilac, blush, periwinkle. Eliza shuddered. Beautiful, but dangerous. Not so, she understood, unlike herself.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Clary stepping forward, moving towards the dancers. Both she and Jace grabbed Clary by the wrists. "Don't." Jace whispered softly.
"I wouldn't." Eliza warned her. "If you dance, it will be until you die." Clary looked between them, blinking slowly. Her eyes were slightly glazed, as if she had been deep in a dream. Jace took out his stele and traced a Mark onto Clary's arm. He pointed at the dancers, urging her to look again. Her face shifted as she looked back at the dancers. Her face paled. "Not everything beautiful is what it seems." Eliza murmured in Clary's ear.
Ahead of them, Isabelle and Simon were standing together, Izzy with a firm grasp on Simon's arm. They continued to cross the room, moving through a blue silk curtain to another corridor.
Izzy and Simon stopped. He was fiddling with the scarf tied around his eyes. Izzy must have used it to cover his eyes in the music room so he wouldn't be tempted. Clary stepped forward and untied the scarf, handing it back to Izzy.
"I didn't care much for the music." Simon said glumly. "Little too country-rock and roll mix for me."
Meliorn seemed offended by Simon's opinion. "You didn't care for our music?"
Clary interjected before Simon could really offend the faerie. "I think I liked it a little too much. Was that like, your version of a test? Or a joke?" She asked.
He observed her carefully, looking her up and down. His mouth was drawn and his eyebrows making a deep v shape. "The Nephilim are not so usually drawn to our glamours. Are you not protected?"
Eliza couldn't help but glare at him. "Trust me. My sister is protected." Her voice was as icy as the water in Turtle Pond had been. There was a glint in Meliorn's eyes, but he said nothing as he turned and continued to walk.
Eliza's nostrils flared as they started walking again. Simon said something quietly to Clary and Eliza only heard a muttered response. Izzy joined them, talking to them about something intimate that Eliza didn't particularly care to hear.
"Hot Wings?" Eliza asked Jace.
He gave her a sheepish look. "Only a couple times. Alec didn't seem as into it, though." He admitted.
She snorted at the image of Jace dragging Alec to a pixie nightclub and the pained expression on Alec's face as he tried to enjoy a night of what Jace considered fun. Jace was definitely correct, he and Izzy really had different definitions of fun.
They reached another curtain, this one made of dark green vines, dark amber droplets embedded in every one. "The Queen is through here. She has traveled from the northern Court to inquire about the recent death of a child and to see about the foresight of a war." Meliorn told them.
There would definitely be a war. Eliza only hoped that the Seelie Queen would fight with them and not against them.
Jace went through the curtain first and Eliza followed him. Clary and Simon ducked through after them and for safe measure, Izzy went last.
The room didn't look as Eliza had expected. It was simply plain, pale fabrics hanging on the wall. Will-o'-the-wisps were in jars, providing dim lit to the room. A woman sat on a couch, a group of faeries surrounding her.
"My Queen." Meliorn bowed. "The Nephilim you requested." He waved his arm to present them to her.
The woman sat up straighter. Her scarlet colored hair fell around her shoulders in deep waves. She had blue eyes, clear as glass, so bright that Eliza could see them from across the room. "You have brought a mundane." Her voice was as sharp as her gaze. Her gaze, which she had settled on the Shadowhunters.
"My lady, our sincerest apologies." Jace put himself between them and the Queen. Eliza was surprised at how soft his voice was. He spoke delicately and carefully. "He is protected by us. We brought him for safe measure." He explained to her.
The Queen was staring at Jace, a perplexed expression on her face. Her head was tilted, clearly interested in whatever he had to say. "Bound by a blood debt. How intriguing." She mused.
"He saved our lives." Jace affirmed. Not exactly the truth as to why they had brought him, but that wasn't the point. "I hope you understand the case, my Queen. We have all heard that your beauty is matched by your kindness," Eliza did not want him to finish his sentence, "which means you must be extremely kind." He had finished it exactly the way she had hoped he wouldn't. Although flattery and charm were his strong suits, she didn't think those would fair well with the Seelie Queen.
However, the Queen smirked at Jace, her body moving forward. "Well, Jonathan Morgenstern, your charm is matched only by that of your father." Eliza heard Jace suck in a breath. She gestured to the cushions on the floor near the couch. "Come sit. Eat and drink. We have much to discuss and it will go over much better if you are all well rested and with full stomachs."
Jace licked his bottom lip, hesitant. He couldn't deny the Queen, but he couldn't accept any food or drink. Eliza stepped forward, putting a hand on Jace's shoulder. She smiled graciously at the Queen. "Sitting would be wonderful." She told the Queen. "It has been a long day."
Meliorn led them to the cushions and watched as they sat down. Eliza situated herself in between Jace and Clary. Simon sat on Clary's other side and Izzy next to him. It felt great to finally sit and it helped that the cushions were extremely comfortable.
A pixie with blue tinted skin came to them, a serving tray with five cups on it. Each of them took one. Simon looked ill as he stared at his drink. The liquid shone gold, pink rose petals floating on top of it. Simon put his cup down, sucking his lips in. The pixie asked if he wasn't thirsty and he told her that the last faerie drink he had accepted hadn't completely agreed with him.
Eliza put her drink on the ground beside her cushion. She saw Clary take a rose petal out of her cup and roll it between her finger and thumb. Jace put his hand on Clary's wrist, whispering something to her.
"So, Meliorn has told me that you believe to have knowledge about the death of our child last night." The Queen said. "Though, I must say, we already know who it was." She continued. Eliza's head jerked up. They did? "It was a vampire, of course. Our child was drained completely of blood. Have you brought us the name of the vampire who committed the crime? Or are you willing to testify against the whole of the New York vampire clan?"
Eliza said no immediately. At that time, siding against the New York clan meant also siding against the London clan. Which meant, putting Declan at risk. So, no matter how much she hated Raphael and wanted him to suffer, she couldn't put Declan in danger.
The Queen stared back at her, clear blue eyes wide with bewilderment. "No?" She repeated, the word thick with question.
"It wasn't any vampire." She told the Queen. "It was my father, Valentine." She spoke so that her voice was even and confident.
The Queen smiled at her, teeth showing. She didn't much care for the smile, it sent chills down her spine. "And how do you know this?" She questioned sharply.
Eliza sat up straighter. She felt the weight of several gazes on her. "Several reasons. For one, I know the head of the New York clan and although he is annoying and quite rude, Raphael wouldn't be so careless with killing. Especially if those kills were other Downworlders."
"This has nothing to do with the fact that you are involved with Declan Kensley, the head of the London clan?" Eliza swallowed the lump in her throat. How did she know about Declan? The Queen gave her another smile. "Oh, yes, Eliza Morgenstern. I know all about your torrid affair with Mr. Kensley."
She locked her jaw, narrowing her eyes. Jace nudged her with his elbow sharply. She unlocked her jaw. "This has nothing to do with my relationship with Declan. This has to do with the fact that last night while my brother and I were locked in the cells under the Silent City, our father slaughtered the Silent Brothers and stole Maellartach, our Soul Sword."
"I have no cares for slaughtered Nephilim. What do you believe this has to do with my children? We fey have no need for a sword that forces the truth."
Eliza bit her tongue. Being smart with the Seelie Queen would get them nowhere. "Of course." She said in a sweet tone. "We believe that Valentine is attempting to convert the Soul Sword into becoming demonic rather than its seraphic nature. He needs the blood of Downworlders to do so."
The Queen leaned forward, eyebrows raised. "Shall this conversion require more blood of fey children?" She asked curtly.
"No." Jace interjected. "He has all the fey blood he needs." She smiled, saying that it was no more concern of theirs what other blood he needed.
The Queen leaned back, satisfied with the silence she had sentenced. Isabelle asked if she wanted revenge on Valentine for murdering a fey child. "In time." She replied. "Our revenge does not have to be so immediate. Unlike you, we have all the time in the world."
"He is creating an army." Jace told her. "One made of demons."
"Your responsibility as Nephilim is to take care of that, is it not?" Jace murmured a yes. "Then, that is not our concern either. You hold your power over us, we Downworlders, because you spend your time slaying demons."
Eliza was quickly growing annoyed with the stagnant nature of the conversation. If they kept on like this, the Queen was never going to help them. "We only thought that if you were to know the truth, that you would agree to help us." Jace told her.
Again, she leaned forward, closer to Jace. Her hair rippled over her shoulders, looking like a waterfall of blood. "We grow exhausted of fighting wars for you. We are under no oath to shed blood for your causes."
Before Jace could speak again, Eliza gave him a sharp look. "If you don't help us, you will all die." She told the Queen. The Queen asked if she was going to kill them. "No. My father will." She said smoothly. "Fifteen years ago, he tried to eradicate Downworlders. You believe that he won't do the same again if he gains the allegiance of the Soul Sword? He will be more powerful than ever." The Queen stared back at her. Eliza felt chills grow on her neck, but she didn't sway. "When he gains his power and puts an end to Shadowhunters and then he comes for you, don't forget that we came here. Do not forget that we warned you."
No one said anything. Not Jace, not Izzy or Clary or Simon. Not the Court. Even the Queen remained steady and silent.
She felt Jace's gaze on her and she risked a glance at him. His golden eyes were hardened, mouth set in a firm line. The Queen picked up her silver chalice and took a long drink. Eliza shifted her weight from one side to the other.
The Queen put her chalice back down. "You show no duty to your own blood. Here I had thought that mortals obsessed over their families." She saw Jace duck his head out of the corner of her eye. "Is this a lie, perhaps?" She questioned. "Love can make any mortal a liar."
"No one could love him. He's a monster." Clary snapped. Jace hadn't looked up from his lap.
"Is that so?" The Queen mused, though her face didn't match her voice.
Jace's head snapped up. "They say that the bonds of family are like that of vines. We all know that sometimes, vines are bound so tightly that they kill."
She swallowed. The deadly vines of family. Vines that had killed her grandparents, vines that had put her mother in a coma.
"Deadly enough that you would willingly betray your own father for the good of your Clave?" Jace said yes immediately. The Queen laughed, the smile staying on her face even after the cold laugh had died away. "I am sure that Valentine never thought that his little experiments would turn against him."
She looked over at Jace to see that he was already staring at her. His brow was furrowed. So, he didn't know what the Queen meant either.
"What does that mean?" Izzy was the one to ask.
The Queen didn't even bother to look at her. She kept her gaze fixed on Jace. "We keep secrets, ours and others'. The next time you see your father, little Morgenstern children, make sure to inquire about the nature of your blood."
"If that is your desire, my Queen, it shall be done." Jace said.
She grinned at him, noting that he was charming, but a liar nonetheless. "I will make you a promise, Jonathan Morgenstern. A promise to you and you alone. If you shall ask your father that question, I will grant you all the aid I can, should you decide to rise against him."
"You are as generous as you are lovely, my lady."
Eliza looked away, rolling her eyes. "If that is all, we're done here." She announced. She stood up, smoothing out the skirt of her dress. Jace stood after her, Izzy, Clary, and Simon following his suit. Izzy moved swiftly across the room, speaking intimately with Meliorn by the vine curtain.
"Before you go," the Queen stood, "one must stay." She was taller than Eliza had thought of her.
Jace had stopped himself by the doorway. "Excuse me?"
She pointed at Clary. "She drank. That means she is ours. You know our law, Shadowhunter." Clary insisted that she didn't drink anything. Eliza said that the fey could not lie. Jace suggested the Queen may be mistaken. "That I am not. Her fingers, she has licked them clean. Has she not?"
"Blood." Clary told them. "A sprite bit my finger and it bled." She explained. Clary walked to the door but was held back by an invisible force. "Oh no."
A lump had stuck itself in Eliza's throat. Clary couldn't stay in the Seelie Court. She wouldn't allow it. "What do you want?" She bit towards the Queen. "A trade? I will stay in place of my sister."
The Queen looked amused; Jace did not. "Liz, no."
"I am curious." The Queen purred. "We are not often visited by young Shadowhunters such as yourselves. We share the blood of angels, you know."
"But no blood of hell." Jace remarked.
The Queen's eyes lit up. "You grow older each minute, Jonathan Morgenstern. Soon, you will die. Is that not hell in its own?"
Eliza couldn't hold her tongue anymore. Jace's sweet nothings towards the Queen were most unhelpful and Clary was not staying in the Court. "You won't gain any knowledge of the Nephilim by keeping my sister. She has no formal training, she knows next to nothing." She gave Clary a sympathetic look. "I, however, have been trained since before I could walk. If you want to study a Nephilim, you will accept my offer."
Instead of looking at her, the Queen was staring at Clary. "You are wrong, Eliza Morgenstern. Your sister, Clarissa, is perfect for me. Your father has bestowed special gifts to her, different than those he gave the two of you. I should like to keep her."
Eliza choked on her own breath. Keep her? She wasn't keeping Clary, if Eliza had to kill the Queen, she would.
"He's never given me anything." Clary insisted. "Nothing but a sperm donation." Spunky and crass. Eliza truly did like her little sister.
"Incorrect, Clarissa. He gave you a gift, one of words which cannot be spoken." She glanced at Jace. "Just as your brother was bestowed of the Angel himself. And your sister," the Seelie Queen's eyes darkened as she looked at Eliza, "hers is the gift of Edom itself. Valentine gave each of you a gift before you came screaming from your mother."
"He didn't even name me. He hates my name." Clary told her.
"You have been lied to, my lady." Jace told the Queen. "My sisters and I, we are not special."
She laughed, shaking her head slowly. "Young Jonathan, you are not unaware of the fact that you are not normal." She surveyed the Shadowhunters in the room, blue eyes quickly moving over them. "Do you not know?" She murmured.
"All I know is that neither of my sisters are going to stay in the Seelie Court." Jace snapped at her. "You have had your fun. Let us leave."
Eliza stifled her laugh. Jace may have been working her last nerves as of late, but he was protective until his last breath.
She hated the grin that the Queen gave Jace. "She may be freed. For a kiss." Clary asked if she wanted Jace to kiss her. The Queen did not hold in her laughter. Once she started, the whole Court joined her. "Unfortunately, no. That kiss will not set you free, Clarissa Morgenstern."
Isabelle suggested that she kiss Meliorn. The Queen said that no kiss of anyone in the Court would free Clary. Isabelle said that she wasn't kissing anyone else. Simon moved closer to Clary, grasping her elbows. She glanced back at Jace, who wasn't even looking.
"Not that." The Queen interceded before Simon could kiss Clary. Isabelle said if she had to, she would kiss Simon, if that was what it took to get them out of the Seelie Court. "That will not work either."
"I'm not kissing you, Simon." Jace told the mundane. "I'd rather stay here and rot forever."
As Simon and Jace taunted each other with words, Eliza felt the steel gaze of the Queen settled on her. She looked at her. The Queen had a half-amused, half-cruel look on her face. Her eyes twinkled as they stared at each other. "The kiss that will set you free is the kiss you desire most, Clarissa Morgenstern."
Eliza didn't want to look away from the Queen's face, but she was afraid of what she would see if she turned away. "Why?" Jace asked, his voice as sharp as the knife in Eliza's heart.
"They're siblings." Simon reminded everyone. "Brother and sister."
Eliza wanted very much to speak up, to tell the truth. It was the time to tell everyone that they were entangled in another of her lies, this one spun by Valentine. Jace was not Valentine's son, not of Morgenstern flesh and blood.
But, no matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't. Her father would know, somehow, some way, he would find out. She would pay for it. Whether he hurt her directly, or hurt someone she loved, she would pay. She couldn't let him hurt anyone else, even if that meant feeling the stabbing pain in her heart right then and there.
"It's a trick." Simon told Clary. "You don't have to."
Eliza forced herself to turn around to look at them. "Yes, she does. If she doesn't, she must stay here."
"It's just a kiss." Isabelle assured him. He asked if she would kiss Alec if the Queen wanted her to. "Of course. I'd make out with him if it meant not being stuck in the Seelie Court forever."
"Isabelle is right, it's only a kiss." Jace finally spoke. He moved deftly towards Clary, stopping just in front of her. He put a hand on her shoulder, sparing a glance at Eliza. Before their eyes could meet, she turned away, instead looking at Simon.
He wore the same pained expression that she was doing her best to hide. The words that Jace and Clary exchanged were quiet, lost upon her as she focused all of her attention on the strangled look Simon had.
His dark eyes somehow got darker and his anger molded into…heartbreak. As much as she wanted to, she didn't look away. She knew they were kissing, her sister and Jace.
She knew that she shouldn't have felt the way she did, a mess of anger and sadness, a little of despair mixed in. There was Declan, she had Declan. Wonderful and doting and overprotective, sweet-natured Declan. Declan who insisted on courting her and calling her "his love" and paying for everyone's food.
But Declan was not Jace. She couldn't deny that. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't deny how she still felt about him. As long as it was her secret and hers alone, it didn't matter. As long as no one else knew, it would be fine.
"Was that enough for you?" Jace's voice drew her out of her own head. "Are you satisfied?"
"Quite so." The Queen replied.
Eliza's heart felt the way Simon's face looked. Izzy asked if Clary could go. Clary moved to the door, nothing stopping her from stepping through the doorway. Clary, her voice small, said they needed to go before it got too late. Simon replied curtly, saying maybe it already was.
Eliza set her jaw. She turned her attention back to the Queen. "Thank you for the audience. We look forward to receiving your aid."
The Queen gave her a gracious smile. "I am sure you do, Eliza Morgenstern."
Meliorn led them through the Seelie Court, taking them back to the park. The whole trip, he never spoke. He didn't even say good-bye to Isabelle before falling back into the moon's reflection in Turtle Pond.
"Consider that over." Isabelle muttered. Jace choked out a laugh. "Let's get back. It's cold. We might all die." Clary said that going back to Brooklyn would take forever. "Well, no one is at the Institute. We can go there. You guys can change there, too."
Jace nodded thoughtfully. He said that he needed something from there anyway. "It's okay." Clary told Isabelle. "Simon and I can just catch a cab back to Brooklyn." Her voice sounded hopeful.
Eliza looked past Clary. Simon was nowhere to be found. "He's left, Clary." She said softly.
Clary whipped around. Her head moved quickly as she surveyed the area for someone who wasn't there anymore. Clary took off running, shouting his name.
She saw Clary stop and heard her yell for Simon again. Just seconds later, her shoulders slumped in defeat. Eliza's heart dropped.
Poor Simon.
She bit down on her lip, pushing away thoughts of what exactly Simon had seen. Intimate enough to make him leave without a word to anyone. Her eyes burned with tears she didn't want to let fall.
Jace's hand slipped around her wrist. He tugged gently as Isabelle started towards Clary. She turned to look at him. His eyes were soft, pleading and wide.
He opened his mouth, but she shook her head. She didn't want to hear whatever he had to say, she couldn't. "Don't, Jace. Please. Just don't." She whispered.
"Liz." He begged.
She jerked her arm away just as the tears began to fall. She blinked them away, turning her back on him and walking the other way.