She leaned against the wall, her eyes on Jace. They were in the living room of the semi-permanent Lightwood house. Jace was across from her, leaning on the window.
"I attend my little brother's funeral and miss all the fun. How typical."
She rolled her eyes. It was rather macabre of him to bring Max's funeral into the mix of the conversation.
"Jace." Alec said softly. Eliza looked at Alec, his worn figure sitting in one of the armchairs. "Please, don't."
Both of the boys wore white, the mourning color. She felt too out of place in her black pants and blood red coat. The boys' jackets had scarlet grief runes etched onto the fabric.
"Don't what, Alec?" Jace asked sharply.
She hoped they didn't bring themselves to an argument. It wasn't the day for them to be upset with one another. "You're mad. Don't take it out on Clary or Simon. They haven't done anything."
Simon leaned against the sofa. "I thought Projections couldn't do anything? How is it that Valentine managed to kill the Inquisitor?" He asked them.
"He's Valentine. He can do anything." Eliza said wearily. They all looked at her. "What? I know you were all thinking it. He managed to take down the wards on the demon towers, set fire to the Gard, and bring demons into Alicante. He used a Projection of himself to kill Inquisitor Aldertree. He managed to locate and steal two of the Mortal Instruments."
Alec sighed, but agreed with her. "I'm going to hate telling my parents this." Clary asked where Maryse and Robert were. "Still at the necropolis. They wanted to be alone."
"Where's Izzy?" Eliza asked. She hadn't seen her since they arrived at the house after the incident at the Hall of Accords.
"Her room." Jace answered. "She won't come out. She thinks that Max- she's blaming herself. She didn't go to the funeral."
Eliza bit on her tongue. "If it's anyone's fault, it's mine." She told them. "I shouldn't have left to find you guys."
Alec got up from the chair. He walked over to her and pulled her into a hug. "Don't say that. You couldn't have known. You helped Izzy before you left. You couldn't have helped Max, I don't think."
She could have though. If she would have told them who Sebastian was, who he really was, she could have prevented everything.
But someone still would have died. You know that. You knew if you told anyone who he was, he would hurt someone.
She had to keep telling herself that.
"Besides, this whole mess about Sebastian not actually being Sebastian might lift Izzy's spirits." Alec assured her. "She thinks that she should have known something was wrong with him. But none of us knew. He even tricked the Penhallows."
Jace was staring at her. "You didn't think anything about him was sketchy when you went on that walk?" He asked her. "He didn't say anything to you about Valentine? Do anything weird?"
She wrenched out of Alec's grip. She took out a knife, fiddling it between her fingers. "He didn't say anything about Valentine. He just kind of…I don't know, made me uneasy. And then Magnus told me that he showed up with Clary looking for Ragnor and I didn't feel right. I told Clary to stay away from him."
"None of this matters, anyway." Alec resigned. "Valentine is threatening to send a colossal demon army to the city tomorrow night."
Clary asked if he would really do it. If Valentine would actually destroy all of the Shadowhunters. All of his people.
"Clary, what makes you think Valentine cares about destroying his people?" Jace questioned. "He destroyed his own children, so I don't think he really cares about anyone else."
Both Alec and Simon seemed confused. Neither of them, she was guessing, had been filled in on the visions from Ithuriel.
"Magnus said he was trying to track Sebastian. He was using a tracking rune on some of the stuff in his room to try and locate him. But he said all the reading were flat."
Alec wondered what that meant.
"It means," Eliza sighed heavily, "the real Sebastian is dead. Our imposter probably got to him before the real Sebastian could get to Idris and killed him. He took his things and came here, pretending to be Sebastian Verlac." Alec paled. "The imposter is good. He managed to fool everyone into believing he was someone he wasn't. He wouldn't have left anything behind that would be able to point to where he is."
Jace agreed with her. "He would have taken anything that was of any value to him, anything we'd need to track him. A stele, hairbrush, stuff like that. Which majorly sucks because we could have probably found Valentine through him. No doubt he went running back to him and spilled the beans about Hodge's crackpot theory about the Mortal Glass."
Eliza frowned. "What are you talking about?" She asked him. "What did he say about the Mortal Glass?"
No one had said anything to her about it.
"Hodge believed that Lake Lyn was the Mortal Mirror. He told us about it and I'm sure Sebastian heard everything." Jace explained.
Great, she thought, he'll have everything. All three Mortal Instruments. He'll be invincible.
"Don't worry. The Clave has a whole station of guards around the paths that lead to the lake. And they've set up wards to signal if anyone Portals there." Alec assured them.
That wouldn't stop her father. She knew that much and she hoped they did too.
"Why'd he stick around?" Simon asked. Eliza sat down on the couch, resting her head on the cushion. "I don't really get why Sebastian decided to hang around after attacking Izzy and Max. He knew he'd get caught. Why did he bother to come up to the Gard after you guys for me? I don't think he really cared about me." Simon wondered.
She leaned her head back, looking up at the ceiling. So many things she knew and couldn't explain. So little time until they were all dead as doornails.
"I think it was because of me." Clary said.
Eliza looked up. Both she and Jace were staring at Clary. "Oh yeah?" Jace asked. "Probably hoping for another hot date."
Clary's face turned red. "It was neither hot nor a date." She told him. "You saw how he was at the Hall. He kept trying to get me to go outside with him. He wanted something from me, but I don't know what."
"He could have just wanted you." Jace suggested. Her eyes widened and he said that wasn't what he meant. "No, like, he could have wanted to take you to Valentine."
Clary said that couldn't be it. "Valentine doesn't care about me. He doesn't even see me as his kid. He only cares about you and Liz."
She barked out a cold piece of laughter. Jace asked what she thought was so funny. She raised up from her lounging position on the couch. "I wouldn't be so kind as to call it caring, little sister." She told Clary with a cold look. Her eyes had since gone green again, but there was a hollowness to them. A creeping coldness that seemed reckless and dangerous. "Shall I read you the part in his journal again where dear old Dad admitted that he wished I had died?" She fished the journal from her pocket. "It's all right here." She tossed the book on the coffee table. "He said it himself. He wanted me to die down there and when I didn't, he wasn't pleased. He said that if I weren't his own flesh and blood, I would be dead by now."
"Liz…" Alec's voice was feather soft. Careful.
"Open it and read it. It's all in there. Every bad thing he did to me. Every disappointment. He knew. He knew one day he would test me and he knew I would fail. He said 'and when she fails, because she always does, she will die', Alec. I'm of no interest to him besides the fact that he'll kill me when he has the chance."
Alec's face fell, his blue eyes melancholy.
"Clary, you need to be careful." Jace changed the subject. "He wants you because of what you can do, what you did that night on the ship. Maybe it wouldn't hurt if you locked yourself in your room the next few days. Take a page from Isabelle's book."
Clary said there was no way that was happening.
"Hey guys, speaking of her, I think I should go talk to Isabelle." Simon mentioned casually.
Alec raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?" He inquired. "Her own family can't even get her to talk. Why would you be any more successful?"
Simon shrugged. "Might be because I'm not her family." He put his hands in his pants pockets, standing casually before them. She saw a faint white line on his throat, the place Valentine had shoved the Mortal Sword through his throat. "It couldn't hurt, right?"
"Simon, it's almost dark. We told Amatis and Luke we'd be back before sundown." Jace said he would walk Clary home and Simon could manage his own in the dark. Alec, not realizing Jace's sarcasm yet again, said it was because he was a vampire.
Jace asked Eliza if she wanted to join them and she said no. She didn't want to go anywhere. They left without so much as a goodbye and Simon disappeared to go to Isabelle.
"Tea?" Alec asked. She didn't even have to answer. She followed him to the kitchen and watched as he put a kettle of water on to boil. "Can I ask where you were? Before you came back yesterday?" He spoke quietly and carefully.
"Home." She said simply. With his confused look, she clarified. "I went to where I grew up. The cottage I told you about." He asked why. "I was reading his journal. I wanted to be alone when I read everything he really thought of me."
"Was it all as horrible as what you told us?"
She nodded. "Growing up, he tried to conceal it. I think I knew how much he didn't care for me. It was after the Malachi Configuration when it all became clear. The day he let me out, my twelfth birthday, that was the day I promised myself I would do whatever I could to stop him." Alec made a soft noise. "The journal just confirmed everything I thought about him."
"I'm sorry, Liz. I wish you had never gone through that. But if it's any consolation, you aren't any of those things he says about you. You're better than him by a long shot. You aren't a failure or a disgrace. You're one of the most loyal and dedicated people I know. You're one of the best."
She smiled at him softly. If only he knew what she really was.
The kettle began to steam and screech. She got two tea mugs from the cabinet and put bags in them. Alec poured water over them and they waited while the tea steeped.
"You know, before we came to Alicante, your mom offered to take me in." She told him.
"Really?"
"Mhm. I turned her down. I think Magnus and I are a good fit together." She looked at him discreetly. He hadn't said anything about Magnus in a while and Magnus hadn't said anything about him. "Also, she suggested that if Declan and I don't work out, you and I would be a great match." Alec laughed, picking up his cup. "Will you ever tell them?" She asked. "About Magnus?"
He took a slow sip. "Yeah. I want to. It's just that, I don't know. I don't want them to see me any differently or think of me differently. I mean, you heard what Sebastian said about me. We both know there are plenty of Shadowhunters who feel the same way."
She rolled her eyes. "That fake Sebastian dude was spewing a whole bunch of crazy nonsense, Alexander. Your parents love you immensely and I don't think that would change at all. You shouldn't feel like you have to hide who you are."
He looked at her over his mug. "Is that what you do?" He asked quietly. "Hide who you are? You don't talk a lot about what happened to you or how you feel. You do everything for everyone else. You don't let anyone see you, the real you."
She smiled. "Yeah, but I'm a lot better at it than you, Lightwood. Maybe one day, when all of this is over, and I feel safe again. I'll let you guys in."
He said that would be nice. "And hey, if things with Magnus don't work out, I'll let you know. We'd make cute kids, probably."
She laughed under her breath. "Are you…you know? Into both?"
He shrugged. "I don't know. But I know you're my best friend and I trust you with my life."
What a terrible decision, Alexander.
"Wake up." Someone's voice was hastily demanded. She stirred, flipping away from the voice with a groan. "Get up." The voice ordered. She groaned again, pulling the pillow over her head. "Damn it, Liz, get up." The pillow was yanked from the bed and tossed aside.
She sat up, a rude look on her face. Jace was sitting on the edge of her bed. "What the hell do you want? I'm sleeping." She pulled the blanket further over her chest. She was only wearing a thick materialled sport bra and shorts. Even in late September, the room at the top of the house they stayed in got warm at night.
"I wanted to talk to you."
She wanted to wring his neck. "It couldn't wait 'til morning? It's the middle of the night."
He said no. She realized he hadn't changed clothes from earlier. He still wore his white mourning clothes. He seemed dazed, not completely aware of himself.
"Jace, are you okay?" She asked. She reached for his hand and he drew away.
"I tried not to come up here. I told myself not to come. I haven't been able to sleep and there's no piano and I found myself coming to your room."
She frowned at him. He definitely didn't seem okay. "Tell me what's wrong. You only have trouble sleeping when something is bothering you."
He found something amusing in her words because he laughed quietly. "Only you know that." He mumbled, shaking his head. "You know what's wrong." When he looked at her, her heart wrenched. "Can I tell you something?"
"Always."
"I've come upon a realization tonight. It came from a thought I had, about you, actually." She didn't know where he was going with it and she wasn't sure she wanted to. Had hours of deep thought uncovered the truth for him? Had it realized there was no way they could be siblings, let alone twins? "I was thinking about the first time I ever saw you." What a thought. "It was at the dock, in May. It was windy out. I watched out for a few minutes, looking around the dock. You had this look on your face and it was like pure joy, relishing in the busyness of it all. Your hair was pulled back from your face. You were wearing a white dress."
She stared back at him, wondering how he could have possibly remembered that. She didn't even remember that.
"And then, you looked at me. You saw me. You walked right over to me and said-."
"'I suppose you're my ticket to the Institute.'" She finished. Not her best one-liner. "You didn't trust me. I could see it."
He smiled back at her. "I was told never to trust a pretty girl."
She held in a laugh. "That didn't work out very well for you, did it?"
That was when he grabbed her hand. "I tried to not like you. I tried to hate you. I stayed up all hours of the night trying to pick you apart in my brain and find things to hate about you. It took me an hour to realize I was only finding things I liked." She swallowed hard. "I used to be so bad with girls. I used to want them and then I would know them and throw them away. It wasn't like that with you. I just wanted you more the more I knew you. And then you threw me away. I was so upset when Alec showed me that letter from Magnus that night. I was pissed at you for lying and for throwing away who you were, but most of all, I was pissed that you thought I would hate you. That I would never forgive you."
She bit on her lip, hard enough she could have drawn blood. "I did it to protect you, Jace. I didn't mean for any of it to happen. Believe me, I didn't want you to fall in love with me and I never expected to feel the same way."
"When Valentine came for us, the night we found the Cup, I woke up and you knew who you were again. You didn't seem surprised at all by him, by anything. I didn't want to believe that you had always known I was your brother or that you'd known Clary was our sister. But I realized that the whole reason I felt so drawn to you, the reason I felt like you were some missing piece of me, was because you were my sister, my twin. It all felt like some sick joke. I waited for the shoe to drop, for you to tell me it was all a lie, but you never did. I must have done something terrible in a past life to be punished like this, I told myself."
He had waited for the truth to come out and he believed that what he knew was the truth. But he was wrong. He wasn't Jonathan Christopher Morgenstern. He wasn't her twin brother. She didn't know who the hell he really was.
She leaned forward, the blanket falling off of her. She put her hands on his shoulders, looking him in the eye. "Jace, please listen. I've told you over and over again that we can't feel the way we do. We have to stop pushing ourselves like this, we can't keep blurring the line. If we don't, we're going to lose our only chance at this." He asked, in a small voice, what she meant. "We've only got one real chance to stay together, to be near each other, and that's by only being brother and sister. If we continue the way we are, we'll lose that too. We won't be able to be around each other. One of us would have to go away somewhere. We have to only be siblings or we can't be anything at all."
He leaned back just a little away from her. "So, I have to watch you fall in love with Declan or someone else? I have to sit back and watch as you get married and…I can't. I can't do that because every day, every single day, a piece of me will die."
She shook her head, her hands moving to his jaw. "No, no you won't, Jace. I promise. I swear to you that by the time I fall in love or get married, you won't feel anything for me at all, nothing but brotherly love. Real brotherly love." God, she hoped the lie didn't last that long. But would he even want her when the truth came out? She had wondered the same thing the last time, but this was different. "We have to pretend that we don't feel the way we do. It's the only way."
What came from him was a clear and precise no. A word as final as death itself. "I'm not going to pretend, Eliza. I'm sick and tired of pretending like I don't love you. I'm not going to act like I'm not in love with you, because I am. I have been since May. I loved you then, I love you now, and I'll love you until I die. If there happens to be a hereafter, I'll love you then."
Her breath hitched in her throat. She didn't know what to say. It wasn't as if they hadn't said it because they had. He had told her on several occasions. Her mouth was open, a small 'O' shape of astonishment.
"Maybe the demon blood makes us feel the way we do." He said. "But I know that there's human blood, too, that makes us feel this way. Demons don't love, they only want. There's a part of me that's human, but all of me loves you. And I know you have it in you too."
She couldn't find words. Even if she could have, she didn't know if she'd say them.
"I shouldn't have said anything." He said, his voice suddenly back to its usual fashion. Contemptuous and cold. Blocked off. Resigned. He stood up from the bed.
She didn't think, she only moved. She reached and grabbed his wrist, turning him back towards her. "Don't go." She said softly. "This time tomorrow we could be fighting for our lives or could be living under Father's firm rule. Or dead." She thought of the words her father had scrawled in the journal. How he wished for her to die in the prison he made her. How he knew she would fail and he would finally be allowed to give her the justice he thought she deserved for not being the monster he wanted.
And that was what she didn't understand.
He made no real difference between she and Jonathan. Not in their younger years. He had treated them equally, completely so. Only as she grew older did she notice the change. He favored Jonathan more. But even with their father's favor, Jonathan was still vile and wrong. He had become the monster.
What had gone wrong with her? Why had Jonathan been a success and she a failure?
He looked down at her. "I couldn't sleep because I wanted to be here with you. I wanted to spend what could be our last night with you."
"Okay." Was all she said.
"And I won't touch you. I swear. Not even if you want me to. Like you said, it isn't right. It's so many kinds of wrong, really." He was rambling. "How much can one night matter in a person's life, anyway?" He asked.
Considering it could be their last, a lot.
"Okay." She repeated.
He looked down at her, annoyance flashing in his eyes. "God, Eliza. I can't-."
"Jace." She spoke, her green eyes seeming to shimmer. "Get in bed. It's late. I'm tired, you woke me up."
A crooked smile graced his beautiful face. He let her hand fall and went to the door, shutting it quietly. She sat and waited, watching him shred his jacket to the top of the dresser. He took off his belt and took off his shoes. Quietly, in only a way Jace could be so quiet, he moved to the bed and laid down. She adjusted to make room for him.
Lying on his back, he looked at her. She got comfortable next to him.
Every part of her felt like it was on fire, just being next to him. Her nerves were on edge having him so close. She let out a sigh and when she looked over again, his eyes were closed.
Her heart panged with an unfamiliar sorrow. "My greatest sin." She murmured. Never again would it be this way. Never again would she be able to see him the way he was then, vulnerable and so close. Because when the sun rose the day after next, she knew she would be dead.
When she woke, Jace was gone. She looked around the room but didn't see him. His things were gone.
She got up from the bed and moved to the window. It was still dark out, but she could see deep in the horizon where the sun was beginning to come to life again.
"Good. You're up." His voice startled her.
She turned from the window, letting the curtain fall back into place. He was wearing the same clothes from the night before. Did he ever change?
No, you idiot. You know he feels like what happened was his fault. You know him better than anyone.
"Are you going somewhere?" She asked. "It's barely dawn."
He tossed her an apple. Green, the kind she liked. "We're going somewhere. Hurry up and get changed. Get weapons too."
She didn't bother asking where they were going. He turned around to let her change in privacy. She switched out her pajamas for the same dark pants she'd worn the day before and a dark long sleeve shirt. She grabbed a light jacket and put it on and then pulled her boots on, lacing them tightly. She grabbed her sword, adjusting it on her back. She put two seraph blades on her belt and snapped the braces around her wrist. Each had a knife in it and she put her last three on her belt.
"Let's go." She said, taking a bite from the apple.
They crept out of the house with a quiet carefulness, even though no one else would be awake for hours. She finished her apple, discarding the core to a disposal bin.
They walked towards the center of the city. "Where to?" She asked.
"Hall of Accords." He replied easily. She thought that was the quickest he had ever answered one of her questions. "I thought of something and we need to see Luke."
They approached the Hall. Jace left her next to the doors and he peeked into the doorway inside. She could hear murmuring voices, many people talking at once. She heard a deep voice excuse themselves. Jace made his way back down the stairs to join her.
Just after him, she watched Luke come outside to them. "Jonathan, Eliza. I'm surprised to see you here." Surprisingly, Jace didn't object to being called Jonathan for once.
"Yes, well, you know what they say about the early bird and the worm." Eliza quipped sleepily.
Luke smiled grimly. "Are you here for the Lightwoods?" Jace said no. "Is Clary okay?" They both said yes. "Okay, you two, what's going on?"
She watched Jace peer past Luke into the Hall. "Are you making any progress in there?"
Wearily, Luke said no. "They don't want to give in to Valentine but they also don't want Downworlders to hold Council seats. The Downworlders won't fight with Shadowhunters unless they're represented on the Council."
"I'm sure the Clave loves the idea of having Downworlders on the Council." Jace said darkly.
"It doesn't matter whether they like it or not. They just need to like it more than they like going into a fight they can't win."
"They aren't going to come to a decision by midnight." Eliza told Luke. "You know how they are."
"Give them a deadline." Jace added on. "It will help more than you know."
She saw the slight smile on Luke's face. "I've summoned as many Downworlders that would listen to me. They'll be at the North Gate at twilight. Hopefully, the Clave will agree to fight alongside them and allow them into the city. If the Clave doesn't agree, the Downworlders will turn and leave." Eliza said twilight seemed a little late. "I tried. We may make it Brocelind by midnight."
"Do you think the Clave would be more fearful or inspired by the sight of all those Downworlders at the gate?" Jace asked.
"Both, more than likely." Luke answered honestly. "I know that most of them are more closely associated with Downworlders like the two of you, from working at the various Institutes. It's the members who have always been in Idris that concern me. I'm hoping that them seeing the Downworlders reminds them of our vulnerability."
Jace lifted his head to look at the Gard. Part of it still smoked and it was in ruins. Eliza let out a soft sigh. "Luke, I don't believe that anyone needs to be reminded of that anymore." She said quietly.
"We came here for more than just a polite conversation." Jace said, his voice suddenly more urgent.
"I was unaware." She replied smoothly. "I was dragged from my bed and forced along."
Luke cleared his throat. "What is it?"
"If I tell you something, it's in confidence." Jace told Luke.
What was going on with him? What had been so important that they'd had to come to the Hall early in the morning? What wasn't he telling her?
"Why me?" Luke asked. "Why not the Lightwoods?" Jace said it was because Luke was in charge, whether he realized it or not. "Okay…"
"Also, because Clary will listen to you clearly when you explain where we went."
Eliza turned sharply to look at him. "What?" She whispered. "What are you talking about?"
Jace gave her a sad look. Once again, he had tricked her. Into what, though, she wasn't yet sure.
"You're going to have to explain to Clary why we're doing what we're doing." Jace continued on. "We're going after Sebastian. I know how to find him, Luke. We're going to follow him until he leads us right to Valentine."
She took several steps back, nearly falling down the stairs. Both Jace and Luke reached out, grabbing her arms to steady her. She ripped away from them. "Are you serious right now?" She hissed. "Go after him? Jace, you have no idea-."
"How do you know how to find him?" Luke cut her off, looking back to Jace.
It was not the first time she had wanted to wring Jace's neck and she didn't doubt it would be the last. He had a bad habit of tricking her into things.
"Magnus showed me a tracking spell a while back, while I was staying with him." Oh, had he? He'd never showed her any kind of spell. "I wanted to try and find Valentine using his ring but it didn't work." Luke told him that he couldn't do a tracking spell. Neither of them could. They weren't warlocks.
"I'm not using a spell." Jace corrected himself. "I'm using tracking runes. The same kind Inquisitor Herondale used on me to follow us to Valentine's ship. We just needed something of Sebastian's to make it work."
Eliza frowned at him. "Jace, he didn't leave anything of value behind. We've been through this already."
He grinned madly at her. He finally knew something she didn't. The weasel. "Actually, I have something. I found a thread that's soaked in his blood. It worked. I already used the runes."
Of course he had.
"Okay, look." Luke sighed. "I understand where you're coming from, but the two of you can't just go running off after this guy. Especially if he's going to lead you to Valentine. They're dangerous."
Something clicked inside of her. Maybe it was her mind finally coming to life, being roused from sleep as the sky turned pink. Or maybe she was losing her mind.
"So are we." She told Luke. "We were both trained by Valentine. We're the best Shadowhunters of our age, everyone knows it. If anyone can do this, it's us."
Jace looked pretty proud. "You can't stop us." He said simply. "I mean, you could try, but that isn't a fight you'll win. And you know it."
Eliza crossed her arms over her chest. She stared up at Luke, determination on her face.
"I don't care how determined the two of you are to play heroes, I can't-."
"Don't say that." Eliza snapped. "I'm not a hero."
"Neither am I." Jace said.
"The two of you aren't thinking clearly. You need to think of how this affects the Lightwoods, and Clary." A strange emotion crossed over Jace's face. She herself hadn't had the time to think of everyone their little journey would affect. "Think of Magnus, and Declan. Even if nothing happens to the two of you, you need to think about it."
She thought of Magnus. His little dove. He had been her first real friend in New York. The first person to know who she really was and he had accepted her for it. He loved her for it. And Declan. She cared so much for him, but never the way she cared about Jace.
"When I think of Magnus and Declan, I think about the fact that they're Downworlders. A warlock and a vampire. I think of how much my father hates them, not just for that reason, but because they're close to me. I think of how he threatened to kill both of them. I won't let that happen, Luke." She told him.
"I remember very clearly what it was like to be seventeen, you two. I know that you think you have the power and the responsibility to save the world but-."
Jace cut him off. "Do you really look at us and just see two ordinary seventeen-year-olds?" He inquired. Luke said no with a sigh, nothing about them was close to ordinary.
He had no idea.
"All right then." Jace decided. "Your plan is a good one, Luke. You need to bring the Downworlders in and fight him off as much as you can. But we all know that he's going to expect that. The one thing he may not see coming is us tracking Sebastian, following him. Don't you think that if we can pull something over on him, we should try?"
"Even so, it's a lot to put on two kids."
Jace's eyes were bright. "It has to be us." He persisted. "Only us. Valentine may let us get close enough to-."
"To what?" Luke urged.
"Kill him." Eliza said it as if she had just suggested they go get coffee or lunch. It hadn't bothered her at all to say it. Both of them looked at her. "Valentine won't let me near him." She went on. "But he might let Jace. It's perfect, you see? Jace can distract him, get close to him, and then I can do what I've wanted to do for five years. Kill my father."
"And if she doesn't, I will." Jace told Luke.
Luke looked between them, searching them for something she didn't know. Maybe sizing them up, actually wondering if they had what it took. "You think you could actually do it? Kill him?" He asked them.
She walked up the stairs toward him. "You told me last month at Renwick's that I could. You told Valentine that you really believed I would kill him, or at least let you do it." He had ruined her life, made her something deplorable. He had threatened the people she loved most. She wouldn't just kill him. She would destroy him.
"Is this the part of the conversation where you tell us that we shouldn't kill him because patricide is reprehensible offense?" Jace asked Luke.
Luke stood in silence for a long few seconds. "You have to understand the severity of this." He told them. "What you're doing, the decision you've made. You're going off to hunt your father down and kill him. You're severing all of your ties to the people who care about you the most, the people you love. If you're going to do this, you need to be sure that you won't fail when it comes down to it."
Jace and Eliza looked at each other. Valentine had trained them, he had made them into the perfect soldiers. If anyone were capable of killing him, it would be them. Mostly, she knew, it would be her.
Valentine had discarded Jace and told she and Jonathan that Jace had been too soft for what he wanted. He had told her the same thing. The difference was, she understood, was that she had demon blood in her. Jace didn't.
"Yes." Jace said. "He made us what we are. We can do it."
Luke sighed, shaking his head. "The two of you, you've done well." He said. "He put the two of you through hell and you've become the better because of it."
Above them, birds flew, chirping. The sky was becoming blue with the coming of the day. "We should go." Jace stated. Luke asked if there was anything they wanted him to tell the Lightwoods. "It's better if you don't. Just let them figure it out on their own. If they find out you knew, they'll blame you. Besides, I left them some notes."
He had put a lot of thought into this, she realized. It wasn't some spur of the moment decision. It was premeditated.
"Why are you telling me if you couldn't tell them?"
Jace shrugged, looking around. "Just keep us in mind when you're finalizing your battle strategy. If we find him, we'll let you know."
"We'll be the backup plan." Eliza said.
Something flashed in Luke's eyes as he looked back at them. "He would be proud of both of you. If he weren't the kind of person that he is."
"I'm sure." Eliza said coolly.
"I wish you luck, Luke." Jace told the man. "Ave atque vale." Hail and farewell.
"I should hope that this won't be a final farewell." Luke replied. Behind them, the sun was coming up. Jace looked up at the sky and a brief ray flashed over his face. "Jace, you remind me of someone I knew a long time ago."
Jace's head fell with a slow intensity and he made eye contact with Luke. His mouth was twisted in a sour fashion. "Valentine. I remind you of my father."
"That isn't who I was thinking of." Luke said softly. "Not at all."
Jace turned away from him and she knew he didn't believe Luke's words. So many times, he had been compared to Valentine. Even she was guilty of noting the resemblance. She hated to admit it, but it was there. For years, Valentine had his hooks so deep in Jace. There was bound to be some trace of him within Jace.
"Let's go. We don't have a lot of time." Eliza told Jace in a quiet voice. He began to descend the stairs of the Hall. Eliza looked back at Luke. She stopped, waiting for Jace to be far enough away that he wouldn't hear her words. "Luke, if I don't come back…" His eyes were dark as he looked back at her, concern wrought on his worn features. "tell my mom that she was right about me, about what I am. And tell her that I forgive her, for everything."
For September, it was still warm out. She almost regretted bringing a jacket along, but she knew that when night came, she'd be more than thankful.
"You could have told me. You didn't have to be all secretive." She told Jace.
He made a noise that sounded awful close to a scoff. "Honestly, I didn't think you'd want to come. I know how much you hate Valentine, but I also know how much you're afraid of him."
She swallowed, rolling her shoulders. "You didn't think I'd want to help kill the person who killed your little brother and finally get revenge on Valentine for everything he's done? Maybe you don't know me so well after all."
He smiled dryly. "We know each other better than anyone else and you know it."
He was right. They understood one another on a level she couldn't comprehend. They worked well together, the way one Shadowhunter fought alongside his parabatai. Jace and Alec fought alongside each other in perfect harmony. As far as mentally, though, they couldn't be more different.
She and Jace thought in the same manner and that was the same way they fought.
Maybe that's why it's so easy for everyone to believe he's your brother, she thought. She wondered about Jonathan. If anyone ever found out who he really was, what would they think? Would they believe that she and Jonathan were brother and sister? Twins? After realizing what Jonathan had done, the person he was, would they think of her the same way?
"We're here." Jace told her.
They were at the stables. She felt foolish for expecting to run around on foot. Their task was a little too time-sensitive for walking. Jace seemed to know exactly where he wanted to go and she didn't mind following. He led her to a stable with Verlac engraved on the nameplate. He opened the stable door and calmed the horse down.
Without words, he saddled the horse. She watched him hoist himself onto the horse and then he extended his hand down to her. She grasped his hand and he pulled her atop the horse. She wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her cheek to his back and the stallion took off from the stables.
She had never been on a horse before, but she could tell Jace had. Something about it felt freeing, like nothing could touch her. It was the same feeling she'd had when flying the demon energy bike above the city.
It took around two hours to reach the destination Jace had in mind. The ruins of the Wayland manor fell upon them. It seemed that, when the manor went up in flames, the misdirection wards that Valentine had placed had also fallen away.
Looking at the heap of crumbled and burnt stone, Eliza wondered if Fairchild manor looked so similar.
Jace called the horse to a stop and he pulled something from his pockets. A stele and a piece of thread. "Where did you get a stele?" She asked. Clary had lost his the last time they had been at the manor.
"Borrowed it from Alec. Didn't think he'd mind." He admitted. She peered over his shoulder, watching him close the thin piece of stained thread in his hand and carve a rune on the back of his hand.
She sat back, waiting, wondering what he could be seeing. She took the appearance of the estate. It was dreadful post-explosion. It hadn't been too warm the last time she had seen it. Hearing Jace speak so fondly of it, she imagined it had been a beautiful place to grow up.
Jace jolted in front of her. He looked back, satisfaction evident.
"I know where he is."