At the last minute, she'd had to buy a new dress. The previous one she had intended to wear to Luke and Jocelyn's wedding party was too low cut. It had been bought in the express interest that it would be ripped off later in the evening in what would be her first time with Jace.
But he was stuck in the Bone City having his mind curled through by the Silent Brothers. And she had a glowing white rune on her chest. Not just any rune, either.
The Commitment rune.
She could not show up to her mother's wedding party with that thing out in the open. She couldn't even explain how she had gotten it. Absolutely no one was going to believe that she had done it to herself in her sleep. Hell, she didn't even believe that. There was no way in hell she was letting Jocelyn see the Commitment rune on her. She would immediately think she and Jace had eloped.
So, her original, virginity losing dress had been shoved in the back of the closet. Instead, she had gone to that store Isabelle fawned over, Trash and Vaudeville. She hastily chose a floor length, flattering green dress that matched her eyes and the shoes she had gotten for the first dress. It had all worked out very well.
The Commitment rune was covered. And then there was the Wedded Union rune. Stark white on her hand, glowing just like the other one. She had covered that one up with a lot of bandage wrap.
She had truly done a number on herself.
Clary, of course, looked like a million dollars. Her gold dress fit her perfectly and elegantly. She could have been a model.
Eliza's hands rearranged a vase of ivory flowers for the tenth time. All she could think about was Jonathan. And Jace. Mostly, though, Jonathan.
Jace was safe in the Silent City.
Jonathan was still in her head, haunting her dreams. She didn't know how to get rid of him.
Her eyes flickered up from the flowers. Clary was arranging another table across the room, but someone had captured her attention. Light blonde hair tinted faintly with green and skin the color of milk. The fey girl wore a pretty blue dress.
Even feet away, Eliza's lip curled. She crossed the room quickly. "Kaelie." She greeted the girl. "What a…surprise."
Kaelie looked her over, a half-satisfied smile on her face. "Even better. I have two Morgenstern sisters to converse with on the behalf of my lady."
The Seelie Queen. Somehow, she always managed to be around. "Your lady can-."
Clary cut Eliza off. "What does she want? We aren't on good terms with her."
Kaelie's all blue eyes glimmered, saying she had noticed. "She wants to know why the boy wears the ring of Morgensterns. He is no Morgenstern, he is a Herondale."
The boy?
Jace, Eliza realized. She meant Jace. "Sentimental value. You fey don't have much experience with that, I believe."
She seemed amused by her response. "There is no room for sentiment when you live forever. As I said, the morning stars are not his to wear. He belongs to the herons. I myself believe that birds in flight are better fitted for him than the descent from Heaven into Hell. Boys like him don't go to Hell."
She was growing very annoyed very quickly with Kaelie. "Is that what the Seelie Queen wants? To discuss Jace's familial matters?" She asked sharply.
Kaelie extended her arm, opening her hand to Clary. "This is for you, Clarissa Morgenstern." The object was small, a tiny bell of silver that had a chain loop on it. "From my lady."
Clary shook her head. Accepting a gift from the fey was never a good idea. "Gifts from your lady are heavy with expectation. I refuse." Clary told her.
"Go away now." Eliza added. "You've overstayed the welcome you were not extended."
Kaelie seemed annoyed with them as well. "She does not bother to gift you. She is summoning you. Soon, my lady believes, you will require her assistance. Should you ask, she will provide. You need only ring the bell and one of the Court will take you to the Queen." She explained.
"No, thank you." Clary replied. "I would never ring it." Kaelie said there would be no issue in taking the bell then.
Before Eliza knew it, Clary was taking the bell.
"Girls!" Eliza heard their mother yell. She turned, seeing that Jocelyn was coming towards them. "There you two are." Jocelyn brought each of them in for a hug. "You both look radiant." She looked around. "Where's Simon, Clary?" Clary shrugged, saying he would show up eventually. Jocelyn looked at Eliza, her eyes shifting down to her hand. "Oh, my God. What happened? Are you okay?" She reached for her hand, but Eliza jerked it back, putting it behind her back.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She had to lie. She couldn't tell the truth. "I was helping Magnus with some stuff and I added a wrong ingredient in a mixture. I'm letting it heal naturally, learning my lesson of observance." She added a crooked smile for authenticity.
Jocelyn shook her head. "You need to be more careful. Who knows how badly those spells and potions can go wrong?" She pressed a hand against her cheek. "Is Jace coming?" She asked.
She wasn't sure if her mother actually cared whether or not Jace would come. Or even notice his absence when he never arrived.
"Maybe." Eliza answered. "He thinks you don't like him." She pointed out.
Jocelyn pulled a face. "I'm never going to like any boy my daughters are romantically involved with. When you're a mother, you'll understand." Eliza said it was different with him. It was Jace. "I know that. You love him. I loved your father the same way when I was your age." The admission was stunning, uncalled for. Jocelyn never spoke about Valentine. No one did. "I only want what's best for you, Eliza. I want you safe and happy. I know he makes you happy and I have never doubted for one second that Jace will keep you safe. I can see it when he looks at you, when he hears your name or your voice. That boy thinks you hung the sun, moon, and all the stars."
Before she could say anything, Jocelyn was walking off, disappearing into the crowd.
Clary looped her arm around Eliza's. "She's coming around." She said in a hopeful voice. "She might even let you sit with him at the reception."
They both smiled, laughing quietly as people began to surround them.
A waiter arrived, offering them a tray of full champagne glasses. Many, if not all of the waiters were members of Luke's pack. Clary declined, being only sixteen. At almost eighteen, an adult by Shadowhunter standards, Eliza accepted a glass. She murmured a thanks before he moved on.
The Ironworks building was already filling with people for the party. She spotted Maia, flanked by two other wolves. Maia spotted, waving half-heartedly, her orange dress rustling with the movement.
Both girls waved back. "Let's get to our seats." Clary suggested, pulling Eliza towards a different direction. By the time they got to their table, it only had two empty seats left. Alec and Magnus were sitting next to each other, dangerously silent. Simon, Isabelle, and Jordan were around the other part of the table, not speaking very much, or at all from what Eliza saw.
"We're at a party." Eliza told them, sitting down on Magnus' other side. "Everyone could at least pretend to look happy."
Magnus was fiddling with the ends of his white scarf, looking too bored for anyone's good. Alec's icy gaze was concentrated on something far away. "Where's Jace?" Alec asked without looking at her.
Eliza bristled. She hadn't really come up with a lie for him yet. She didn't want anyone but Magnus knowing where he was. "We're fighting." She said coolly. "I doubt he'll make an appearance."
Isabelle gave her a sad look. "You're still fighting? Geez, this getting old."
"You have no idea." Eliza muttered. Isabelle asked what happened to her hand, gesturing to the bandages tightly wound around it. "Oh. I was helping Magnus with something and got burned."
Magnus looked at her peculiarly. "I don't-."
"It was yesterday." She said darkly, eyes glinting. "Remember?" Please, for the love of all things, just go with it. "We were working on that one thing and I messed up the mixture."
You owe me an explanation, little Shadowhunter. "Yes. Not very good with your hands when it comes to magic." He rolled his eyes, annoyed with the mistake she had never made.
Hurriedly, Eliza finished her glass of champagne. As soon as another waiter passed, she traded it out for a full one.
"Jordan." Magnus broke the stifling silence that had encompassed their table. "I've been told you're a member of Praetor Lupus. What is the meaning of the medallion?" He pointed to the medallion around his neck. "It's curious."
The boy, whom Eliza had never met, but recognized as the singer from Simon's band, was not focused on their table. In fact, his eyes were trailing around the room. Following someone. She averted her eyes, trying to find who he was looking for. She saw Maia. She wasn't hard to find, her dress stood out. She was speaking to Jocelyn and Luke. She looked back at Jordan, his face slack with adoration.
Interesting, she told herself.
"Beati bellicosi." Jordan said absently. "It means, blessed are the warriors."
"If only." Eliza muttered, taking another drink.
Magnus looked at her from the side but said nothing to her. "I was good friends with your founder, Woolsey Scott." He said to Jordan. "He came from a well-respected werewolf family."
Alec made a noise in the back of his throat. "Were you just friends or did you sleep with him?" Alec asked darkly.
Eliza's mouth parted. Magnus' eyes widened. Everyone stared in shock. Alec was not the kind to speak so brazenly.
"What?" Alec questioned. "It was a legitimate question. I'm completely in the dark about your past."
Magnus' eyes darkened. "Do you plan to ask me if I've been romantically involved with everyone I mention from here on out?"
Eliza's eyes met Clary. They shared a nervous look. Eliza raised her glass, taking another drink. This was going downhill very fast.
"I knew Napoleon." Magnus continued. "He's one of the few people I've known that I haven't slept with."
Jordan looked up with interest. She wondered how much of the conversation he had actually heard while following Maia around the room with what she could only call puppy dog eyes. "So, it's actually true what they say about warlocks, then?"
Alec turned on Jordan, a rather rude look on his face. "And what would that be?" He sad through ground teeth.
Eliza finished her second glass of champagne.
"Alexander, you cannot be unpleasant to everyone who engages with me." Magnus' voice had that warning tone to it. He wasn't happy.
Alec asked if he happened to be putting a damper on Magnus' party plans. "Were you planning to flirt with wolf-boy here all night?" He snapped. "He's not bad looking, if you're into chiseled-model types."
She signaled a waiter, grabbing a third flute. Clary was looking at her, eyebrows downturned. Jordan seemed to understand Alec wasn't actually complimenting him but didn't appear to be offended.
"Or are you into girls tonight? Eliza looks great tonight." Alec was staring pointedly at her.
Magnus, who had buried his face in his hands, looked at Alec through his fingers. Eliza almost dropped her glass.
"Don't drag me into your domestic dispute. I have my own to be concerned with." Eliza said in a mild voice.
Magnus stared at Alec, eyes lit with displeasure. Maybe even anger. "I am offended that you would suggest that I would stoop so low as to flirt with someone else while I am in a relationship. With you."
Without another word, Alec forced his chair back from the table. He stormed off into the crowd. Magnus groaned, ducking his head towards his lap.
Eliza went to finish the third flute of champagne, but Magnus plucked it from her hand and finished it himself. "You've had enough, I think." He told her.
She gave him an indignant look and stood up from the table. She stalked off to find another glass. She spied a waiter with a tray full of filled glasses. She made a beeline for him, saying she didn't mine to take one of the glasses of his hands. He gave her a weird look but didn't object. He let her take a glass and then walked away.
"Drinking to forget or to not remember?" A familiar voice asked from behind her just as she was about to take a drink.
She turned, her cheeks bright. "Look what the wolves dragged in. Declan Kensley."
Her ex-boyfriend, who was an entirely different kind of species. Yes, a vampire. Yes, a gentleman. Put the two together and you came up with Declan Kensley.
He looked refined in a fitted dark suit, his hair curling down under his ears. "Miss Morgenstern, stunning as always." He took her hand, kissing it lightly. His hands and his mouth were cold as death. "You've injured your hand." He noted, nodding towards her left hand. "I thought the Nephilim healed quickly."
She said they did. "I'm learning a lesson." She supplemented the lie. She slowly took her hand back. "Can I ask you a question?"
"Of course. What troubles you?"
She looked around, hoping no one was listening in. "The other night, when you found me…what was I talking about? Isabelle wouldn't say."
His eyes skirted over her, glancing around the room. "I'm afraid you were quite delirious by the time I ran into you, Eliza. I couldn't hardly make out what you were saying." Her heart deflated. "You asked me to help you. I thought you wanted me to take you to the Institute, which was where I began to escort you, but then you, forgive me, but you began speaking madly about your brother."
Jonathan. She had figured as much.
"What was I saying?" She asked quietly.
He didn't look at her, which she found odd. Declan was the type of person who never broke eye contact while speaking to someone. "You told me to take you to him. You had to be with him, you said. At first, I thought you meant Jace, and I reminded you that I was taking you back to the Institute to him. You wore this unusual smile on your face and you said 'good, Jonathan and I can't be apart any longer'. And then you passed out."
She took a slow breath. She lifted her glass. The rim had barely touched her mouth when a movement at the doors to the terrace caught her eye. Golden curls that she would know anywhere. Her hand went slack, the glass shattering to the floor.
Several people turned to look at her.
"I have to go. I'm sorry." She told Declan quickly. "Thank you." She darted towards the doors.
Jace, where was Jace? Why was he there? He was supposed to be in the Silent City.
By the time she got to the doors, he was gone. Maybe she hadn't even seen him at all. Surely, they weren't done with the ritual already.
"Liz, what are you doing?" Alec's voice came over her. "Are you okay?"
She turned back, blinking at him. "Yeah." She replied quietly. "I'm fine. I thought I saw Jace is all." She regained herself, staring at him with a hard look. "Are you okay is the question?"
His face faltered. For a second, she saw the hurt in his eyes. "Probably not."
She gave him a sympathetic look, holding his hand. "I'm only going to tell you this once, Alec, so you'd better listen to me. Magnus is crazy about you. Only you. He has a past. Everyone does. If Jace could get past mine, you can get past his. I promise."
Alec smiled softly. He nodded his head towards the doors. "Go see if it was him. You looked scared to death."
She dropped his hand. With another approving look from Alec, she pushed open the doors and went onto the terrace.
Out on the terrace, it was cold. She closed the doors behind her, wishing she had a shawl or something to cover her arms. The tiki torches that burned were not supplying any warmth to the air, clearly only existing for aesthetic purposes.
Save for herself and Jace, the terrace was empty. His back was to her. She could see he was wearing a dark suit, realizing that she had never seen him look so formal. There was a scar on the side of his throat where Simon had bitten him so long ago. She had a similar one on her wrist from him. And a worse one on her throat from Raphael.
"Hey, handsome."
His head turned, his eyes landing on her. He greeted her with one of those beautifully easy grins of his. He headed for her, circling his arms around her and pulling her in for an embrace. She could feel his nose against her hair, hands warm on her back.
"Is it done?" She asked, pulling away from him. "They said it would take longer."
He shook his head, curls falling over his forehead. "It was easy." He told her. "I told them to hurry, I had to see my girl in the dress she kept talking about." His girl, her heart fluttered. "Is this it?" He held her at arms-length, looking her over. "You look gorgeous."
"Thank you, but no." She told him. "I didn't think you were coming, so I wore this instead of the other one." That was a special dress, reserved just for him.
His eyes sparkled. "Hold on. This isn't the dress?" She said no, unsure of what he was going on towards. "You in this dress…It's doing something to me. What the hell were you planning to do to me in the other dress? Give me a heart attack?"
She smiled up at him. "I guess you'll just have to wait and see." She shivered, pulling her arms over her chest. It was much warmer inside. "Let's go back inside. It's too cold out here." She took his hand, heading to pull him towards the door.
He remained still, halting her. "Let's just be alone for a minute. I want to talk to you."
She felt her smile dissolve into a frown. "Okay? Is something wrong?" Please say no. Please just tell me that all you wanted to say was how much you love me. I can't handle any more bad news.
"I finished going through the box. Stephen Herondale's box." His father. The father he had never known. "I didn't feel anything. I don't think I can. He doesn't seem like a real person to me. Not like Valentine."
She looked at him. "Jace-."
He talked over her. "Do you remember what I said?" He asked. "About feeling like two different people?" She said yes quietly. "If I were Jace Morgenstern, would you still feel the same about me? Would you love me?"
"I don't know what you mean."
His eyes had darkened. "If Valentine had done to me what he did to you. To Sebastian. Would you still love me?"
She didn't know what to say. She didn't know where it was coming from. "Jace," she said slowly, "if he had done that to you, made you what I am, you wouldn't be you. And as long as you're you, I'll love you. Hell and high water. It doesn't matter what your last name is. Lightwood, Herondale, Morgenstern." She paused, thinking the last one over. "Though, if you start going by Morgenstern, we might get some looks."
The corner of his mouth twitched, though not with amusement. He looked almost disappointed. "Do you know who I am?" He asked. "Because I don't. I look like Stephen Herondale, but I act the way Robert Lightwood taught me and I talk the way I learned from Valentine Morgenstern. So, I try to be who you think I am. I know you believe in that person, whoever that is and that's enough to make me believe I can be who you want." He spoke very precisely, as if the words had been turned over by his mouth time and time again. He had, she understood from this, thought long and hard about his identity and still came up with nothing.
Her tongue ran over her bottom lip. "Do you remember what I told you a long time ago?" He stared back unwaveringly, waiting for her to continue. "I told you that I've always known who you are. Even before we met, I had known you." Her hands moved up to cup his face. The ends of his hair tickled her fingers. "I've known you in my heart and soul, Jace. You may not know who you are, but I do. It doesn't matter what last name you choose to bear, that isn't going to change who you are." She needed him to understand that.
Even before she had lain eyes on him, she had known Jace. How his mind worked, his secrets, his life. She had known all of him before knowing the color of his eyes. And after meeting him, she had known more. What made him tick, the meticulous fashion his fingers played over the piano when he couldn't sleep, his favorite books. She had known all of him when he had known the fake version of her.
"I know a way to fix this." He told her. He stepped back and her hands fell to her sides. He took her left hand and stopped. "You're hurt?"
She shook her head. "No. Not anymore. What are you doing?"
He turned her arm over, revealing the paled skin of her wrist to the moonlight. She could see the blue-green veins woven under the skin, the faded silver remnants of past runes. "I'm binding us together." He said it so carelessly that she was sure she hadn't heard him at first.
"Wait, what?" He repeated his words, producing his stele. Her vision flashed and suddenly, Jonathan was standing in front of her, carving a rune onto the back of her hand. And then it was Jace, looking at her expectantly. "We're too young." She said. "And we are not getting married on the terrace while my mother's wedding party is happening inside."
His eyes lightening with a momentary amusement. "Not marriage runes, but it will be permanent. You said that we were meant to be together, Lizzie. Hell and high water."
She hesitated. There was no doubt in her mind that they were going to be together until the end. So why did this sound like such a bad idea?
"Lizzie."
"Okay."
He drew her closer, holding her arm in one hand and his stele in the other. She watched his face as the stele pressed into her skin. His eyes were dark with deliberation, mouth pressed with concentration.
Dizziness began to swirl in her head. "Jace," her voice sounded far off, "stop. I think I need to sit down."
"I'm almost done." He said sharply.
"Jace." She tried to focus, but even he was blurring in front of her. She looked down, her eyes narrowed as they tried to focus on the rune. Something about it didn't seem right. It wasn't the rune for love or commitment, not even the Wedded Union rune. She knew the last two all too well, they were carved into her. She didn't recognize this one.
She looked back up at him. He had pocketed his stele. "I didn't lie." He sounded like his was trying to assure himself of that. "I didn't lie to you, Lizzie, but I'm sorry."
"Sorry?" She could barely hear her own voice. What did he have to be sorry about?
The ground was rising up, a cloud of darkness closing in around her. Something caught her as she fell forward, the darkness taking over.
When she woke up, Jace was not Jace. In that, she meant that he had a void look on his face. His eyes were emotionless as they stared at each other.
"Get up."
She put herself in a sitting position. Rather unceremoniously, she had been put on the floor. "What did you do to me?" She inspected the rune he had Marked her with. Still, she did not know its unfamiliar lines and angles. A small movement of her eyes brought the horror that her bandage had been taken off. "Jace-."
"Get up." With his words, he produced a knife. It had a bone-made hilt. Usually she believed knives were pretty. This one was ugly as sin.
She stood up, her bare feet prickling against the cold tile floor. Where had he put her shoes? As soon as she was standing, he grabbed her by the elbow. Holding her close to his chest, he marched her from the empty room.
He took her to another mostly empty room. Except this one was occupied by two people. She immediately recognized one of them as Simon. The other, a woman with short dark hair and sunglasses, stood in the middle of a summoning circle. She had her hand placed on a clear glass coffin. From where she was standing, Eliza could see a body.
She felt nausea roll over her.
She could feel the tip of the blade against the side of her throat.
"Love is not a weakness." She heard Simon say. "It's a strength."
Wrong, she wanted to tell him. You are so wrong right now. I loved, I loved too hard and this was where it got me. Kidnapped by my boyfriend, knife at my throat.
"It is." The woman looked right through Simon, her gaze landing where Eliza and Jace were standing.
She saw Simon turn and recognize them. Simon seemed just as confused as she was.
"I did just as you told me, Lady Lilith. I brought Eliza to you, just as you asked me." She heard Jace say.
Lady Lilith?
With a cold feeling, she strained her eyes. There, in the coffin, floating, she saw him. Jonathan.
"Oh, God." She muttered. "Oh, God. Oh, God."
"Thank you." The woman said. Her voice was familiar, a pin-prickle in Eliza's brain. "I seemed to have worried about your use for nothing."
Eliza tried to pull from Jace, but it was no use. He held too tightly, and each movement pressed the knife closer to her throat. "What did you do?" She shouted at the woman. "What the hell have you done?"
She didn't know who she was yelling for. Jace? Jonathan? Simon?
"Simon, explain to dear Eliza." The woman said placidly.
Simon shook his head, saying he had no idea what was going on.
It all clicked. The dreams, the voice. The demon influence.
"You." Was all Eliza could say at first. "You're the one who's been sending the nightmares. You've been making us think we're crazy. You were in my head."
Lilith smiled genially at her. "You have such an easy head to get into, my dear. It really was no trouble at all." Eliza asked why, what was the point of it all. "Can't you see it, dear? The glorious end to all this trouble is now coming to a close. I was in need of two boys, these two boys to be specific. And all I had to do was get you here. With you, I can make them do anything. Jace Herondale loves you fiercely and trusts no one else, although you have made quite the liar of yourself, haven't you?" How did she know that? "And of course, Simon. The Daylighter. He loves your sister so much, as much as you do. When it comes down to it, he will sacrifice his life for yours, or else your sister will hate him forever."
Eliza swallowed, feeling the knife's tip slink into her skin. "Simon." She said slowly. "Don't say anything." She warned him. "Jace won't hurt me." She wasn't so sure.
Lilith seemed amused at her trust in him. She instructed Jace to cut her, only to bring forth a small amount of blood. She said it was blood too precious to be spilled. Before she knew it, the knife was sliding down the edge of her throat. With its sting, she felt the warmth of blood on her neck.
Yesterday, Jace had talked of killing himself should he ever hurt her. And now, he had cut her because some demon bitch had demanded it.
"You were right, Eliza." Lilith told her. "His dreams came from me. I know him almost as you do. I Marked him as mine and now completely, he is mine. Mind, body, soul."
"Are you in love with him?" Eliza deadpanned. "Is that what this is about? You want me dead so you can have my boyfriend?"
Lilith laughed, shaking her head. "I will never want you dead, dear. You are far too important. I need you to allow Simon to give his blood. And I needed your boyfriend willingly to give himself over to me. Which he has done." She took her hand from the coffin. "You know the rules of magic, I know you do. There is a balance to be restored. One boy was brought back by the Light, another must be brought back by the Dark. Simon must die so that Jonathan can return to us."
Jonathan.
She looked again at the coffin. Her brother was in there. Dead. Did he look how she had first dreamt him? Rotted flesh and dead eyes. Or did he look as he had the last time? Alive and whole.
Lilith spoke of him fondly.
Return to us.
She now recalled where she had heard the voice before. In a dream. Welcome home, my daughter.
How could she have been so stupid as to never realize? "Lilith." She turned the name over. "The Lady of Edom." The Greater Demon who had given her blood so that Valentine could create warriors for his cause. Warriors that came in the form of his two children. "Your blood runs through my veins. You let him make me into this."
Lilith looked at her the way Jocelyn sometimes did. It made her stomach roll. "Eliza," she said coolly, "that is no way to address your mother."
Eliza bristled. "I have a mother. And she isn't you."
"That woman? Please." Lilith scoffed. "She abandoned you. She never loved you. But me? Oh, my child, my love for you has never wavered. It has only grown stronger. After all, I was the one who gave you life. Both times."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Eliza asked sharply.
Lilith abandoned Jonathan's coffin, taking a step towards them. "Let her go, Jace." Immediately, Jace's arms fell from around her. "Come here." Lilith beckoned her into the summoning circle. Like a fool, she obliged. Lilith pulled her towards the coffin.
Jonathan's torso was naked, his skin a creamy white. His chest was still. He didn't look dead, he only looked like he was sleeping. On his chest, just where his heart was, were two Marks. One was a scarlet color, like she had seen in her dream. Next to it, was the same Mark she had on her chest. White, not black. It had an odd glow to it. There was another on his left hand.
Wedded Union and Commitment.
She wanted to throw up.
"Without my blood, you and Jonathan would not be here. God cursed me so that none of my children would be born to life. When your father summoned me and asked for my blood, how could I say no? I had birthed demons, but no true children. And so, I gave my blood and from it, you and your brother sprang forth." Lilith explained, placing a hand on her shoulder and another on Jonathan's coffin. Her hands were cold. "And when your father, the fool he was, murdered you, I brought you back. When Jace murdered your brother, I used all in my power to preserve him for this moment. I am owed your brother's life, as I was owed yours."
She turned, looking at Lilith. This was the dark force, the evil, that had restored her to life. This was the demon whose blood tainted her own.
"How could you save me and not him? What made the difference?"
Lilith's eyes shifted, her gaze moving from Jace to Jonathan. "There are many mysteries in life and death, Eliza. The powers of Light and Dark do not function the same, not always. For you to live, I made a sacrifice. If you give a life to the Dark, the Dark will give one in return." Lilith had killed someone, sacrificed some poor soul to the power of the Dark, just to restore Eliza's own life. "Before I could do the same for Jonathan, Jace had been brought back by the Light. I saw an opportunity in his resurrection. You see, when the Light is given a life, then Death is owed a life. I am owed Jonathan's life by Jace's resurrection. We are owed his life."
"I don't want his life!" Eliza pulled back from the coffin. "I don't care how many dreams you send me or what you Mark me with, I will never want him to breathe again."
Lilith's hand jerked out, grabbing onto Eliza's wrist. Her fingernails dug into the skin. "Don't worry, you will." Her voice was cool and even. "Don't you see it, Eliza? From the ground, his blood calls to you. From death, he still comes to you. You were bound in life by the blood of me and the water of the womb. You were meant to be bound in death, in your father's own foolish way. I brought you back and now I must do the same for Jonathan."
You really don't have to, Eliza thought to herself, the world would be much better off.
"You are bound to each other now, in this state. Half alive and half dead. I saw to it myself. I helped you bind yourself to him. When Jonathan rises, he will be yours and you his."
To Eliza, this sounded completely crazy. It sounded like Lilith wanted them to be in love and to get married. Why else would she Mark them with the Wedded Union and Commitment runes?
"You're crazy." Eliza stated plainly. "If your big plan is to bring him back so we can get married, I'll stop you right now. I'll jump from that window before that happens."
Lilith shook her head, saying she never intended for that to happen. "I, as everyone else, am aware of your fondness for Jace Herondale. But I am more than aware that you and Jonathan belong at the sides of one another, through every stage of life. What you Marked yourself, and Jonathan with, are the demonic equivalents of your marriage runes. They mean not the same when infused with demonic power. Worry not, dear one, you are free to marry whom you choose."
"Oh, good. I'm glad that option is open still." Eliza replied dryly.
"You aren't their mother." She heard Simon pipe up. "You're delusional. They already have a mother. Her name is Jocelyn. She loves Eliza the same way she loves Clary."
Eliza whipped around, shooting him a deadly glare. "I said to stay quiet." She hissed.
Lilith, though, didn't seem to mind. "A mere surrogate who left them behind once they became too difficult. But I watched them grow up. I saw the contempt that woman held for them. They are more of me than they could ever be of her. My blood grew strong in them and made them stronger than any Nephilim could ever hope to be."
The same blood that made it possible for her to jump to and from impossible heights without injury. To move at a speed other deemed inhuman. It enhanced her senses and reflexes and made her one of the best Shadowhunters that had ever lived.
And yet, it had its fall backs. It made her rash, quick to anger. It boiled inside of her and created a need to kill she couldn't satisfy. It made the slick motion of stabbing something feel like opening a present on Christmas morning.
"Jace. Step into the circle." Lilith called him. Like an obedient servant, Jace came. As soon as he was over the line of the circle, the border lit up red. A spot of red glowed through Jace's thin white shirt and for a moment, she thought he had been stabbed. Or shot. But she could see the outline of the rune through the material, seeing that it was the same as the one on Jonathan's chest.
Lilith had bound Jonathan to both of them. To Eliza, only because they were made the same. And to Jace, simply because he had been fortunate enough to be brought back to life.
"Daylighter, you must give your blood. Give your blood or I will kill Clarissa Morgenstern."
Eliza's head jerked. She made a noise in her throat.
"He can't swallow my blood. He's dead." Simon told Lilith.
Her heart was racing. Simon had to give his life to bring Jonathan back. If she let him, Clary would never forgive her for letting Simon die. But if he didn't, Lilith would kill Clary. And Eliza would never forgive herself.
"She's my sister. You can't kill her." Eliza said to Lilith. "I'll hate you, more than I already do."
Lilith made a clicking sound with her tongue. She seemed bored by the whole affair. "I don't care whether you hate me or not. All I care about is bringing Jonathan back and I will do whatever it takes." She turned her attention back to Simon. "You must bite him. The fluid in your fangs will bring him back to the point where he can drink your blood. You will give my son back to me."
"I still don't understand!" Simon said. "You can't bring the dead back to life!"
"You can and you will. I have done it once and I will do it again." Lilith sighed. "We have said this in front of you, how can you not understand?"
Simon, poor Simon. He had not been allowed into their circle of secrets. He didn't know. "Simon, we didn't tell anyone." Eliza walked to him. She wrung her hands in front of her. "It was only the three of us: me, Jace, and Clary. At Lake Lyn, when my father used the Angel's Sword against Jace and I, we died." Simon's eyes widened, repeating what she had said. She nodded. "Right through the heart." She told him. "But when you summon the Angel, you are allowed to ask him for one favor. Clary asked him to bring us back. He brought Jace back. And-."
"And I brought Eliza back. And now, I am owed a life. Since Jace lives, so shall Jonathan." Lilith finished. "Now, we may finish this. Jace, the one who was first returned, is in the circle. Eliza, the one bound in life and death, is in the circle. And the Daylighter, who will restore life, is in the circle." Her voice had lowered to an almost chant-like tone.
Simon mentioned that Clary wasn't even there. Lilith couldn't hurt her if she wasn't there.
That was when she saw her. In the dark corner, alone. Standing straight as a rod, her mouth closed in a firm line. She was still wearing the gold dress from the wedding party. Her hair had fallen down. Blood was matted on her temple.
"Clary." Eliza whispered. She clenched her hands into fists, looking to Lilith. "How did you get her here? What did you do to her?"
Lilith shushed her. "She is unharmed, for the most part. Held only by a simple body-binding spell and a quietening spell. Your father used something of similar means on her once before. I had Jace bring her here while you were unconscious. He is such a loyal young man."
Jace nodded in agreement, his eyes blank. "You were in trouble." He told Eliza. "That's how I lured her from the party. You were in trouble and needed her help." Her heart pulled. Even his voice was void of emotion.
"Your sister loves you so much." Lilith added. "It would be a shame for her to die here tonight."
Eliza closed her eyes.
Clary, her quick wit. The same eyes and red hair as their mother. They shared eyes, the three of them. How, only on seeing a picture of Clary, Eliza had felt the burning need to protect her little sister. Her sister, who had killed a Ravener with just her hands and a Sensor. Who had always defied Valentine. She had run into a hotel of vampires to save Simon's life. She had blown up a ship. She could create runes from nothing but her mind and bind Shadowhunters to Downworlders in alliance. Clary was special and not just because she had the blood of Ithuriel in her veins.
She had to protect Clary, as she had always done, as she would always do. Jocelyn would never forgive her. Luke would never forgive her. She would never forgive herself.
Even if Clary never forgave her for letting Simon die, at least Clary would be alive.
When she opened her eyes, Simon was looking at her. Clary was looking at her. So were Lilith and Jace.
"I'm sorry." She barely whispered it, but knew he heard it.
He nodded and she knew he agreed with her. They had always been in understanding over one thing: Clary.
He stepped into the circle. "I'll do it."
Lilith waved her hand over the coffin and the lid disappeared. Eliza could see her brother floating inside. His hair moved with the liquid. He was missing a hand. Lilith had bandaged the stump.
"Come and bring life to my son." Lilith beckoned him towards the coffin.
As Simon passed her by, Eliza reached and slid her hand across his. A simple gesture between two people who had never been close. Simon leaned over and she saw his teeth sink into Jonathan's throat.
She winced, turning away. Her eyes found Clary's. Betrayal was written all over her sister's face. But Eliza didn't feel sorry at all.