Much to Jace's disappointment, Clary and Simon had not banded their efforts together in the result of a pie. They hadn't even cooked, which he deemed blasphemous. They had, however, started a fire and laid out some of the food. A picking of bruised apples, granola bars, bread, and an assortment of nuts. Plus chocolate for a little dessert. There were two bottles of water and a bottle of dark colored wine.

Jace rid himself of his weapons and his belt. "Ooh, apples." He licked over his bottom lip and cozied up in front of the fire. He grabbed a green one and patted his pockets for a knife. Longingly, and with a tinge of regret, he glanced back at his dagger that was secured in his belt.

Eliza slipped a knife from her brace and handed it to him as she sat down. "Here." She sighed as he took the knife.

Smoothly, he cut the apple in two and handed the weapon back. She wiped it off before putting it back in the brace. When her hands were free, he put both halves of the apple in her palm.

"I thought you were going to eat it?"

Jace shrugged and reached for another. "It was the only green one." He told her. "And you only like the green ones." With that being said, he took a bite out of the very red apple in his hand.

She took a bite of one of the halves. "Did you guys find anything?" Clary asked them.

"There's a lake down at the end." Eliza told her. "Good source of fresh water. There's a bunch of runes at the bottom of it."

They hadn't lingered at the lake long. Just enough time to survey it, get a few drinks of the water, and leave.

Soon enough, Alec and Izzy returned. Both were flushed and sweating.

"What's wrong?" Jace was already getting to his feet.

"There's a door." Isabelle motioned back towards the direction they'd just come from. "It's a gate. Broken and-." She inhaled for a breath.

"Demons." Alec broke into her sentence. "Tons and tons of demons. They aren't headed here but they aren't far off either." He said someone ought to keep watch. "But there's a city, I think. A demon city…"

"And three moons!" Isabelle added helpfully.

Eliza and Jace shared a look.

"Good about the moons." Eliza spoke slowly. "If I remember correctly, there is a capital city. It's called Idumea." She was picturing one of the hundreds of passages she had read about Edom.

Alec and Jace, ever the pair, agreed to keep watch at the end of the eastern corridor. Jace swept down quickly and pressed a kiss next to Eliza's ear. "Goodnight, wife. Dream of me."

She swatted him away with a smile. She watched as he grabbed a seraph blade, then he and Alec disappeared down the dark tunnel. When she turned back to the fire, Simon was staring back at her. Confusion, etched with tell-tell knowing, was all over his face. She swallowed down a gulp and shook her head slightly.

Damn vampire hearing.

Clary and Isabelle were deep asleep. And they had been, peacefully so, for about ten minutes. Simon, for whatever it was worth, waited until exactly then to saddle himself beside Eliza.

"So." Even though the other two were asleep, he kept his voice quiet. "Any particular reason why Jace referred to you as-," he stopped himself as Isabelle rolled over with a sleep-ridden groan, "-his wife?"

She brought her knees up around her chest and folded her arms around them. Little pillars of smoke rose up from the fire before her, twisting tendrils that floated up into the domed roof of the cave. Looking at Simon, she wanted to lie. Instinct said to lie, preserve her secret with Jace for a little while longer. But she couldn't. She didn't think she had ever lied to Simon before and she wasn't going to start then and there. "You can't tell anyone, Simon. Not Clary or Isabelle. No one can know."

"Okay. I promise. My lips are sealed." He made a motion of pretending to zip his lips, locking them, and then throwing away a key.

Eliza liked that about Simon. Despite all that he had gone through, and the current circumstances, his sense of humor remained entirely unchanged. It wasn't a defense mechanism or a deterrent, he really just was funny sometimes. Were all mundanes like him?

In a quiet voice, she explained it all to him. The tunnel, their secret engagement, Jace's perhaps not-so-random thoughts, her own train of thinking, the piece of Sebastian's promise to destroy Jace which meant taking her from him. "I know what you're thinking." She laughed under her breath. He raised his eyebrows in question. "You must be thinking how absolutely insane I am to marry my boyfriend in a tunnel of Hell."

Simon said she couldn't be farther off. "It's romantic." He told her. "You both know what you want, and you aren't going to let anything stop you. Though, uh, for the record," the light from the flames danced across his pale face, "I'd like it a lot if you, you know, didn't die."

Her mouth opened for a heartfelt reply but all she heard was a scream. And it wasn't hers. Their eyes widened.

Eliza snatched her sword her from the ground and jumped to her feet. Both Clary and Isabelle fought their way into consciousness.

"Wha's goin' on?" Clary mumbled, rubbing her eyes. She looked between Eliza and Simon. "Simon, did you try to sing?"

Clearly offended at the implication that he couldn't sing well, Simon said no stoutly. He then told her that neither of them had screamed.

What if Jace or Alec-?

The thought was cut off as Alec ran from the tunnel into the cave. Breathing hard, blue eyes wide.

"Alec, what-?" Isabelle started.

"Jace." He and Eliza both said. His was informant, half-ragged by his uneven breathing. Hers was quiet, barely even a whisper. Their eyes met. She could see it in the blue of his eyes, pain. No doubt the same that Jace was feeling.

After sheathing the sword on her back, she took off running. Behind her, she heard Alec ushering Clary to come with them and to bring her stele. Eliza ran as fast as her legs would go. Her heartbeat thundered in her head. A thousand thoughts swarmed her mind and they all screamed JACE.

He wasn't dead. He couldn't be dead. Surely, she would have felt it. Alec wouldn't be so put together. He wasn't dead. He wasn't dead. He couldn't be.

It didn't take long to each the end of the corridor, not at the rate she was running. The night sky of Edom stretched out before her. It was a burning sky, only slightly darker than its day counterpart. Down below the charred plateau was a stretching desert. Her eyes scanned over the expanse, trying to find Jace in the darkness. At the closest edge of the desert, a column of bright gold fire was shooting up in the sky. Around it, the ground was burnt. The column roared, molding over any other possible sound.

Behind her, Alec stood. "Is that-?" She shouted with a motion to the fire.

"It is."

She glanced back at the mouth of the tunnel. Clary, Simon, and Isabelle were standing there. Isabelle was shielding Simon from the bright of the flames. Clary, drawing something on her skin with her stele.

"Clary," Eliza yelled, "with me!" Clary grabbed her by the arm and quickly etched a rune for fireproofing on the inside of her wrist. Eliza told Alec to stay with Simon and Isabelle. He nodded and clasped her hand. After giving one firm squeeze, he let her go.

Eliza nodded down towards the desert and then took off. She knew Clary was following along behind her, no need to look back. And really, how could she look back when a pyre of heavenly fire- her husband- was burning before her?

By the time they made it to the edge of the fire, she couldn't think straight. What the hell was she supposed to do? She didn't have any water to throw on him. The column was a fortress. A seemingly impenetrable force of molten gold, blazing red, green, and flicks of orange. From where she was standing, Jace was invisible. Or maybe not- No, don't go there.

The heat of the fire was unbearable. Her skin was slick with sweat, nose burning, eyes wet. She reached back and grabbed Clary's hand. Praying to Raziel and whatever other angels were tuned in, she walked with her sister into the flames.

All around her, flames danced. Clary's pyr runes seemed to work since the flames were around them and not on them. Her vision became blurs of gold and orange as she fought to find Jace. It was heavy fire, heavy like the bottom of the ocean. She closed her eyes and pressed on, the memory of drowning in the river too fresh in her mind. There was no angel or water sprite to save her here. She had to do the saving. Though the pyr rune was keeping her from catching fire, it did nothing to stave off the heat. If the flames wouldn't kill her, a heatstroke would.

Oh, how Sebastian would hate that. He had tried several times to take her life; hearing that she died in a fire would send him over the age.

She saw him then. Her angel of a boy-no, fiancé-no, husband!- her husband. God, was that weird to say. Husband. He was the very epicenter of the fire. Knees buried in the ash of the ground. His head was thrown back, the Adam's apple of his neck prominent. His eyes were half-lidded, rolled back. He looked as if- no, he was. He was sitting, waiting for the fire to consume him. Waiting for death.

Liquid fire, gold as his hair, poured from the palms of his hands. Streams of it ran across the ground. Places had hardened, those shining just as adamas did. Under him, the ground was no longer uneven and rocky, but smooth and gold.

Adamas. The heavenly fire that flowed from him was creating adamas. Golden and bright in a world of dark and dead things. Her angel poured heaven from his hands.

"Jace." She had to shout over the sound of the fire. He didn't move. Eliza sunk to her knees before him. She wanted to reach out and touch him but even she knew that was a horrible idea. "Jace!"

His head jerked forward in shock and his eyes burst open. They were gold, brighter than the fire than poured from him. "Lizzie-?"

"What the hell are you doing?" She yelled at him. "You made me a promise!" He was not allowed to leave first. He had sworn on the Angel himself.

"How are you here?" He shouted. She gestured back at Clary and then pointed to the fireproofing rune on her wrist. "Go back! Get out of here! It isn't safe!"

"I'm going to help you." She insisted. "Let me help you. Please." It was a quiet plea. One he didn't hear but he knew the shape of the words. The begging look in her dark eyes.

How to help him, she wasn't sure. He had never gotten very far in his meditations with Jordan. She wasn't one who was exactly great at keeping her cool. If only there was a way to take the fire from-.

Find a way to take the heavenly fire out of my boyfriend and put it in my sword.

Eliza glanced back at Clary. She was watching them, eyes shielding with her hands from the fire. She shouted for Clary to go back, leave the fire. If this backfired, she didn't want to kill her sister too. Clary shook her head. She wasn't leaving her. Eliza yelled and told her to go, everything would be fine. She would be fine. Hesitantly, Clary took several steps back before running out of the fire.

Eliza turned back to him, running her hands through his hair. "Do you trust me?" She met Jace's gaze.

"With my life."

Good.

She took Eosphoros from her back. The rubies glinted in the light of the heavenly fire. With her free hand, she grabbed him by the shoulder and yanked him towards her. "Liz-."

"Kiss me. Just close your eyes and kiss me."

He closed the gap between them, sealing his mouth onto hers. He tasted of ash and blood. His skin, burning from fire inside him, radiated heat towards her. She moved her hand, holding on to the line of his jaw. She didn't mind as the fire sparked between their lips. Had he felt it, he would have jerked away from her as usual. But he remained still. Eyes closed, breath soft and relaxed as he kissed her.

Her eyes stayed open. He looked peaceful like this, an expression he only achieved in sleep. She tightened her hold on her sword, tightened her hold on Jace, and shoved the blade through his stomach.

His eyes flew open. Pain etched so fervently on his face. She held him tightly, grimacing as he stilled.

"It's okay." She whispered. "It's all okay." The hilt of the sword burned in her hand, but she refused to let go. She waited, letting her fingers caress down the plane of his cheek before she carefully pulled the sword from him.

Around them, the fire began to die down. Orange burned down to yellow and flickered away like fading Christmas lights. They burned down until the earth killed them and all that was left was a charred circle of pitch. Smoking embers of red lit the circle and smoke rose in a clouded haze up towards the sky.

"You're okay." Eliza murmured, placing the sword on the ground.

He stared back at her, wide-eyed like fawn. "What did you do?"

She shook her head softly and told him not to worry about it. She placed the sword back in its sheath and got to her feet. Extending her hands, she pulled him up with her. She glanced back behind her. Clary was standing at the edge of the charred circle. Feet away, Alec, Isabelle, and Simon were watching in a close-knit line.

"Like I said," Eliza kissed the corner of his mouth, "smokin' hot husband."

The corner of his mouth quirked up genuinely. It was at that moment when Isabelle came hurtling into Jace. With lightning reflexes, he caught his sister in his arms. He held her tightly, as if he had never expected to get to hug her again. Alec and Simon were running after her and came to a halting stop. Jace reached, Izzy still in his arms, and grabbed his parabatai by the hand.

Simon went for his best friend, enveloping Clary in what could only be called a bone-crushing hug. Isabelle detached herself from Jace and grabbed onto Eliza. The hug startled her, but Izzy was an easy person to hug back. She hugged and hugged hard.

She spied Alec wrapping his arms around Clary.

"That was crazy. Seriously." Izzy stepped back.

Eliza muttered that she had no idea.

Jace and Simon were staring at one another. Simon's arms were open, expectant of a hug.

"No way," Jace stated plainly, "I am not hugging you. Even if I just almost died."

Simon grinned back at him, arms still outstretched. "You're missing out." He told him. "I give great pity hugs."

That floored Jace. He caught Eliza's eye and gestured profoundly at Simon. "Pity hug! He thinks I need a pity hug!"

Eliza fought off a wide smile. "You did just set yourself on fire." She reminded him casually.

Alec cleared his throat, drawing the attention of the five. Jace looked at him expectantly. "So, can either of you," he looked pointedly between Jace and Eliza, "explain to us what the hell just happened?"

Jace's face paled significantly as the others stared back at them. Simon crossed his arms over his chest. Jace explained that a shape-changing demon attacked him, wearing the form of someone he had hurt while bound to Sebastian.

Eliza's brow furrowed. That must have happened after she left them. Jace had never harmed anyone except for those vampires- and especially Edward Delancey- it had always been herself and Sebastian to do the killing. She had been under the impression that the only person he had harmed after her departure had been Declan.

Jace told them that the demon had been taunting him and he lost his control over the fire. It was, he confessed, something he'd been struggling with since they arrived in Edom. The demon dimension was making it harder to control the fire. Too much Hell for someone made of so much Heaven.

"Liz got me to cool off." Jace tried the joke. "All good now."

Izzy seemed well on her way to not believing a word Jace had just said. "That's it? We're just supposed to believe that you're okay?" She demanded. Her words edged on frantic. "You just almost blew yourself up, Jace! I thought you were going to die! I thought Sebastian had come and you were about to kill yourself trying to kill him."

Jace put a comforting arm around her. He assured her that nothing like that would happen. The heavenly fire was now perfectly under control.

Simon blinked. "And we're just supposed to trust you on that?"

Jace and Eliza shared a look. "Trust us." Eliza told Simon. "It's under control."

"I think," Alec paused thoughtfully, "that we've trusted Liz and Jace this far. We can trust them on this too."

Izzy suggested that before they enacted whatever plan they had, they could inform the rest of the group. "Just for, you know, strategy purposes. Preparation and what not."

Lightly, Jace began to laugh. Anything, he said, for her.

She had been trying to get through to Magnus the entire trip. Any time her mind was clear or they stopped to break, rehydrate, reapply runes, or eat. Each time, her mind automatically tried to reach Magnus. And each time…

Nothing.

"There. All reapplied. Go forth with new energy." She patted Clary's arm affectionately.

Ahead of them, Alec and Jace were talking animatedly. From behind, Simon and Isabelle were also engaged in a conversation of their own.

"I haven't seen you apply a single energy rune since we got here." Clary observed, voice old with wisdom and sneaking knowledge. "You have to be exhausted."

She would have been exhausted. Just like rest of them, with tired eyes and weary limbs, dark circled eyes and long drawn faces. She would have been exhausted if she were like them. If Edom weren't the place where so much of her came from. The darkness of her blood recognized the evil of the dimension and rejoiced. It brought forth energy and an alertness that she was unusually grateful for. An advantage she was sure Sebastian rejoiced in as well.

The slight amount of sleep she had received was a definite bonus to the energy the dimension gave her. It hadn't been exactly peaceful, but it hadn't been a fitful nightmare either. Alec and Isabelle had resigned to keeping watch to allow Jace a little while of rest. She knew he slept the entire time. He had never moved or stirred once. Peaceful and calm with his arm thrown over her waist and the other tucked behind her head, he fell asleep with her fingers dancing through his hair.

He was newly rejuvenated; or maybe just ready to get home. Either way, he sprinted across the lands like a mad man. When the thread from his tracking spell led a new way, he was hot on the trail. Half the time, he didn't bother waiting for them.

Eliza's eyes slid over to her sister. They both took after their mother. Eliza with her tall, slender build, long eyelashes, and graceful hands. Clary was graced with Jocelyn's fiery red hair and brilliant green eyes and artist's skill. Both girls possessed Jocelyn's fierce independence, strong-will, and bold heart.

"It's the demon blood." She admitted quietly. "This place doesn't affect me the way it does the rest of you. I feel…better here."

"That's not good." Clary warned her. "That's…" her voice trailed in search of an appropriate word, "really bad, actually."

Eliza snorted. "No kidding."

Clay's eyes darted away. They honed on the distance. Hastily, Clary drew a Farsighted rune onto her arm and peered further at whatever she seemed to see.

"What are you looking at?" Eliza asked.

Clary threw her hand, pointing out on the horizon. Something glimmered there, far out behind where the desert stretched.

"What do you think?" Clary inquired. "Do you think it's that city that Alec and Izzy saw?"

Idumea. The capital of Edom. Eliza said it was possible. Jace called up to them, demanding to know what they were caught up staring at. Clary yelled down and said they saw the city. She barely had the rest of the words out of her mouth when Jace took off in the direction she was pointing.

Alec immediately took off after him.

"Great." Eliza groaned. "More running."

Clary grinned. "Thought you weren't tired?"

"I'm not." She said defensively. "But that doesn't mean I like running."

The two sisters were careful in the slippery descent down the rise of sand they'd been standing on. Moving too quick would mean one or both of them would fall down and slow the entire mission. And embarrass themselves. By the time they hit the flattened earth, they were both running off after Jace and Alec. The definitive stomp of Simon and Izzy running behind them.

Jace and Alec were at full speed. They were headed straight for a drop in the desert- a place where it either fell away entirely or sloped down to another plateau. All of a sudden, the two parabatai stopped just before the drop off.

Eliza skidded to a stop behind Jace, catching at his shoulders. He held her back with his arms to keep her from going any farther. Alec inhaled a sharp breath, expression clouded. She leaned forward to catch a glimpse of Jace's expression.

It was the same one he had worn at Valentine's funeral. Solemn melancholia for the valley below. She finally turned her attention to the valley below, her own breath catching.

Alec and Isabelle had been right. It was a city. At least, it had been once upon a time. The ruins were misted by fog. Ash coated each available surface. The remains of the buildings were just piles of dilapidated stone. Some had clearly been houses, others shops or meeting places. And among it all, shining bright under the grey ash, were cracked pillars. Familiar, unsettlingly so. Her vision flashed and she saw it all like new. Rolling green hills, precious white flowers, cobblestone streets filled with Marked people. Standing guard over them, the demon towers.

"Is this…?" She murmured.

"Alicante." Jace supplied. "Somehow…I think so."

Alec, his voice unbearably quiet, suggested they go down and look around. For something, anything. Maybe nothing. Perhaps he too felt the great longing to be back home and wandering around the ruins of this imposter city was going to have to do that feeling justice.

Their group was slow as they descended down onto the city. Slow and silent. The closer they drew to the city, the harder it was to say it was not Alicante. Other than the fact that this version was decimated, it was the place they knew. Familiar streets and places, all turned to stone and ash.

The ashen, charred stone was withered by acid rain. The gates that surrounded the city shriveled by it. The canals, no longer filled with murky or clear water, but foul-looking dark colored moss. Where the Gard should have been, there was a heavy blanket of fog. Did this Hell-version even have a Gard? It should have been visible even beneath the fog, even just a little so.

The one thing that remained eerily the same was Angel Square. It was the least destroyed of everything. The Hall of Accords stood tall and proud, as it did back in their own dimension. It was, naturally, different here. Dark gold metal rather than white stone. Isabelle was brave in taking that first step up the stairs of the hall.

Their footprints, as they followed her, lifted the ash and dust to reveal the true gold nature of the stairs. The double doors at the top of the steps were engraved with several panels of images. The words underneath the images were scribed in an unfamiliar language.

"Can you translate?" Jace asked Alec.

His parabatai shot him a dangerous look. "Clearly, I'm the only one of us who ever listened to our language lessons."

Eliza took extreme offense. "Excuse you." She huffed. "I speak nine languages. It just so happens that…this isn't one of them."

Alec shook his head wearily and ran his fingers over the panels. They listened attentively as he explained the panels. The first was a history; people in long robes who shrank in fear as a monstrous claw from above reached for them. The figures were humanoid (or maybe just plain human) who inherited Edom before the demons took over. Alec's hand slid over to the next panel and each of them gasped.

The Angel. Their Angel. Raziel rising from the waters of Lake Lyn, hands supplying Mortal Instruments.

"What is this place?" Izzy mumbled under her breath. "How do they have our Angel and our Mortal Instruments?"

Alec worried his bottom lip as he continued on. The demons came into the world and the Angel created the Shadowhunters to battle against them. "But something went wrong." Alec reported. "Here, the Downworlders offered to help the Nephilim and they refused. The Downworlders joined the side of the demons and together, they slaughtered the Shadowhunters. Simon asked how that could have been possible. "They hadn't developed seraph blades yet. They were just using regular weapons. But here," Alec pointed to an image of a woman holding a long rod, "they created this…skeptron to help them, but it didn't work." Alec frowned as his hands ran over the panel that showed the dead Nephilim. "The asmodei took over this world and burnt the sun. The world turned to fire and it filled with ash. The demons killed anything that could move and breathe."

Clary nudged Eliza with her elbow. "Lilith said-."

"I know." Eliza said shortly.

Izzy asked what they were talking about. "What did the great demon bitch say?"

Woefully, Clary reported that in the vision Ithuriel had given them, Lilith spoke of the asmodei. She told Valentine that, upon using her blood on an unborn child, the child would be extremely powerful. More so than the Greater Demons, mightier than the asmodei.

"What are asmodei again?" Simon lifted his hand. "That part wasn't really clear."

"The children of Asmodeus." Eliza told him. There was a sharp, bitter taste in the back of her mouth. "Asmodeus is one of the nine Fati, a Prince of Hell. They're-."

"Unstoppable." Jace finished. "They have the ability to destroy angels."

Simon audibly swallowed. Alec said the asmodei were extremely powerful. The destroyed the world they were in and left the scraps for the less powerful demons. He read carefully over the last panel. With a sick look on his face, he told them that what was the Accords Hall in the their world, here served as a remembrance tomb for all the livings things that had once lived in Edom.

"Are we in our world?" Isabelle was frantic. Was this the future? Had the Seelie Queen tricked them?

"No, she didn't." Jace said. "Edom seems to be a mirror world of ours. It's a version where Shadowhunters weren't strong enough to fight off evil." Simon said it was kind of similar to some movie called Planet of the Apes, where apes took over the world in the future. "Unless we stop Sebastian, this is our future." Jace grumbled.

At that, he pushed against one of the doors and it screeched open. The sound was nails against a chalkboard. Jace took out his sword and motioned for them to wait before he slipped through the opening of the doors.

Eliza took out her own sword. Even in the dull light, the blade of the weapon seemed to glimmer slightly. She exchanged a look with Alec, and he nodded in response. They went in after him first, she with her sword our and Alec with his bow drawn. The other three followed in after.

The inside was worse for wear. The glassine roof done in for, crystal shards all that were left. The marbled floor was cracked in places, stained with a dark rust color in others. Blood, she realized.

Jace spun on his heels. At the sight of them, his expression turned cloudly. "What part of me telling you to wait did you all not understand?"

"Apparently, the waiting part." Eliza said dryly.

"And you really didn't say anything." Clary added helpfully. "You just sort of," she provided the same gesture he had used, "motioned it."

Jace said that it still should have counted. Alec reminded him that the six of them were a team and Jace was not their leader.

"Check this out." Isabelle called out to them. She had moved on further into the room. She was standing at the base of a statue that was centered in the room. Save for the statute and the six of them, the place was empty.

Eliza need only glance at the statue to know who it was. She had seen his face thousands of times in books. The man wore armor, the old and heavy kind. The chest plate was decorated with a large set of angel's wings. His weapon, a long rod, she recognized as the skeptron. It had a glittering red jewel at the tip. His face was clear-lined, his stone gaze firm and hard. The downturn of his mouth was cruel.

"It's him." Eliza breathed. Her index finger grazed over the foreign engraving at the base of the statue. "Jonathan Shadowhunter." Her father had shown them hundreds of pictures of the first Shadowhunter. "This says first and last." She read the engraving. Shadowhunters really hadn't lasted long in Edom.

Alec read off the inscription under Jonathan Shadowhunter's name and title. "Listen: 'And he who overcomes, and he who keeps my deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and I will give him the Morning Star.'" Simon asked what in the world any of that was supposed to mean. Alec told him that Jonathan Shadowhunter clearly thought the skeptron would save them from the demons and allow him to rule the world.

It was an idea not at all like the man they had grown up reading about. Their version of Jonathan Shadowhunter had been selfless and relentless in his fight against the demons. Right until the end. No talk of world domination.

"When he said Morning Star, did he mean Morgenstern?" Clary asked in a whisper.

Eliza said no. "He couldn't have. It would have been something else. Heavenly fire, maybe. Or perhaps Lucifer. They called him the light-bringer, the Morning Star."

Jace examined the skeptron that the statue was holding. There were scuff marks on the rod. "Look, this must be the real skeptron. It's been used; it isn't just part of the statue." Isabelle said the red jewel looked to be the same material as her pendant. "I want it." Jace decided.

"Absolutely not." Alec replied immediately. "It's part of the statue."

"Is not." Jace said quickly. "It isn't even attached to it." Izzy agreed with him. It looked like the statue had been made first and then the weapon placed into the hand. "See?" Jace taunted. "I'm right."

"Guys, maybe we shouldn't-." Clary paused her words as Jace climbed up the base of the statue.

Something churned in Eliza's stomach.

Simon jumped up in front of Jace to prevent him from climbing up any higher. "Hold on. I think this is a trap!" Jace blinked at him. "I've been in plenty of campaigns in games-."

"What?" Izzy asked.

"You know, Dungeons and Dragons." Clary informed her.

"This isn't a game, Simon." Alec sighed.

The feeling hit again. Something wasn't right… "Maybe we should listen to Simon." She suggested to Jace. "Just once."

Simon's look was grateful. "This is a trap." He insisted to Jace. "Anytime a team in D and D comes across something like this, it's always a trap."

Jace beckoned Simon closer. Eliza drew a breath, relieved that he seemed like he was actually going to listen. But then he dropped his sword in Simon's hands and continued to climb. His boots scuffed against the stone as he climbed further up the statue.

"Jace Herondale, get down right now." Eliza ordered him.

He ignored her demand and continued up. He rested once he reached the chest plate of the armor. Taking a breath, he reached across the arm of the statue and secured the skeptron in his grasp. As soon as he had it in his grasp, the red stone at the top of the weapon lit up and sounded off like an alarm.

Eliza winced as Jace jerked and fell down from the statue. Like a cat, he landed on his feet. The stone's light grew brighter, covering the room in a dark red glow. The alarm sounded louder and louder.

Simon thrust the sword back into Jace's hands. "I hate when you're right." Jace shouted at him.

"We need to leave!" Alec roared over the noise. "Before-."

Isabelle's own red pendant began to flash violently. And they all knew what that meant.

Demons.

Overhead, a horde of airborne demons appeared. Pallid colored bodies lined with suckers. Shark-like teeth filled the mouths on both ends of the demons. Each had several rows of short wings. Each wing had a razor-sharp talon. As they appeared, the skeptron's bloody light vanished and the hall was once again bathed in a sickly yellow hue.

"What in the Angel's name-." Eliza's soon-to-be disgusted comment was cut off by Jace's scream for them to book it out of there.

It was too late. All around them, the demons landed. They made sickening wet sounds as their bodies collided with the marble flooring. The rotten smell of demon overpowered the area. Putrid, like burning garbage.

She heard Jace shout Clary's name and the sound of Isabelle's whip slashing against moist flesh. The harsh hiss of Alec's arrows being loosed all around. From behind Isabelle, a demon ran towards the girl. She was too busy laying it into another to notice. Eliza pulled one of the knives from her wrist brace and launched it. The knife embedded itself into the back-facing mouth. She watched it disappear behind rows of jagged teeth. The demon teetered forward and collapsed just behind Izzy. It was from Edom; it didn't disappear after death.

Which meant her knife was lost to her. Another good weapon gone in the name of the good fight. What a shame.

Alec kept the demons at bay, flying arrows to and fro. They kept the demons back and injured enough so that the team of Jace and Isabelle could finish them off. Clary followed after them, using her dagger left and right to fend off the beasts. Even Simon was using his vampire strength to throw them around.

A demon came from her right, a flap of wings and the sound of teeth against teeth. She took out her sword and slashed. The front-facing mouth slid off the body. It didn't keep the demon from whirling around. The other mouth was a mash of skittering and suction. "God, you guys are ugly." Eliza jammed the sword forward and up. It broke through the roof of its mouth and the demon went limp.

She felt the next one before she saw it. A cold tear against the back of her shoulder. She spun back; one of the wing talons was red with her blood. Or black-was her blood black? No, blood was red. Ichor was-.

It jumped out towards her. While it was in the air, she plunged her sword through its stomach and pushed forward. From above, ichor and internal organs rained. She shielded her face and moved before what was left of the demon fell on top of her.

Somewhere, Izzy screeched.

All the demons had been killed and the alarm had ceased. But Izzy…she was lying on the floor, whip limp around her wrist. Blood pumped mercilessly from a huge half-moon gash that gnarled her left thigh. Her lips fluttered, chest heaving as she tried to catch several breaths.

Alec shouted for his sister and let his bow fall to the floor as he ran to her side. Alec dropped down to his knees beside her and pulled the upper half of her body into his lap. He fumbled getting his stele from his pocket, her name a repeated whisper on his lips.

Simon's hand was curled around Jace's elbow. She thought maybe to keep him still, but she soon realized it was to keep him standing.

The harsh tear of Izzy's gear cut through the silence. Eliza silently gagged at the picture of her leg. It was shredded completely. Blood pulsating around the torn skin and she swore she saw the muscled tissue underneath.

Alec's hands shook as he drew several iratze onto the uninjured parts of her leg. Jace was pale, entire body still, face blank. Eliza sheathed her sword and moved; she knelt down on Izzy's other side.

"Let me." She murmured, taking the stele from him. Alec's attempted runes had already sank down into the skin, leaving only silver memories behind in their place. Eliza was quick and efficient, marking over each spot with a fresh healing rune. Her hands were steady, breath held. But each one, just as Alec's, disappeared.

A memory flashed in her head. Not so long ago, the positions had been switched. It was Alec who had been hurt and no iratze would heal him. Jace cradled him as Izzy watched and Eliza tried (and failed) to fix him. The Silent Brothers hadn't been able to help. Only Magnus saved him.

Except they had no idea where Magnus was. Or if he was even alive.

She squeezed her eyes shut and pushed it all away.

Magnus. Magnus, please. MAGNUS!

Her mental pleas were met with a blank void. Magnus wasn't there. She wasn't sure if Magnus even was anymore.

When she opened her eyes, Alec was staring at her. His eyes were impossibly blue, unnaturally bright. Begging her to save his little sister. He had already lost one sibling.

"Wings." Simon said suddenly. "More are coming. We have to go. We need to get out of here."

Eliza glanced down at the wound on Izzy's leg. The flow of the blood had begun to steady. But the wound had made no progress in healing. At all. When Alec got to his feet, he had her cradled in his arms. She had gone limp. "We can't run. They're too quick." Alec hissed at him.

Both Jace and Eliza turned to the same person. Clary.

"Clary, please." Jace made it a habit a long time ago to never beg or plead for anything. He hated it and refused. Even if he needed it. But this time, it wasn't for him. It was Isabelle. His sister, for every intent and purpose. Isabelle who was so brave and bold. Isabelle who was dying in her older brother's arms.

"Please." Alec's voice broke.

Clary looked from Alec to Jace to Isabelle. Finally, her gaze landed on her sister. Eliza had Isabelle's blood on her hands and demon ichor on her face. There was a strange look on Clary's face, one Eliza didn't see from her often. Fear. Because in the moment, Clary rarely showed fear. She just jumped right in, each and every time.

"You can do it." Eliza urged her softly as she got to her feet. "You don't have a choice."

Clary wouldn't let Isabelle die. She turned and ran back towards the nearest wall. As she did, Eliza moved to Alec. She still had his stele in her hand. He watched her try several more iratze on Izzy's leg. Each one faded away as quickly as she had drawn them.

"Liz-." His voice crackled as he said her name.

She looked at him through her lashes and she continued more healing runes. "Alexander." She said harshly. "Don't. She's going to be okay."

"Let's go!" Clary shouted at them.

Eliza jerked her attention back to Clary. She had created a Portal on the wall. She waved them forward to the Portal. Eliza shoved Alec and he ran through, disappearing on the other side. Simon ran after him. Jace caught Eliza by the hand and had her halfway through when she grabbed onto Clary's wrist. With a final tug, they went swirling into…wherever.

Jace groaned under her as she landed on top of him. Clary fell next to them. Eliza pushed herself to her feet and looked around. Clary had sent them back to the cave they had spent the previous night in. Jace still had Alec's bow secured in his other hand as he rose up.

Alec had laid Isabelle on the ground. He knelt beside her. She was barely breathing, her body still and pale. Jace moved and dropped down beside Alec. He ran his fingers through the dark locks of Isabelle's hair.

She heard Simon whisper something to Clary. Saw Clary move from her space and sit down next to Izzy's near-lifeless body.

Eliza went to stand by Simon's side. He loved Isabelle. Maybe he had never said it, or maybe he had. Maybe he didn't know or maybe he did. But he loved her. And he was suffering in her pain. Eliza grabbed on to his hand. He was cold, as all vampires were cold. But there was something human about him, not just his ability to walk in the sun. He squeezed her hand, hard. So hard it was painful, but she said nothing of it. If he needed to break her hand, so be it. Bones didn't take that long to heal.

They watched, both dead quiet, as Clary pushed her stele into Izzy's wrist. Swirling black lines appeared on the pale skin. Izzy made a noise, her body twitching. It was an iratze, she realized. One more powerful than the rest of them could have made. Izzy's back arched as she gasped for a breath. And then she fell back against the floor. The rune faded into the skin; dark colored blood pumped from the wound.

Clary looked back at Eliza, her eyes frantic. Her runes never failed. They always worked. "I can't."

Jace and Alec still had their attention glued to Isabelle. Without lifting his gaze, Jace said that the demon poison was blocking the runes from working. Alec's stare caught on Clary. He begged her to try again. Another iratze. Or a new rune. She had done it before. She could do it again. She had to do something.

Simon jerked against Eliza as Izzy took several gasping, uneven breaths. "You have to do something!" He roared at them. He yanked free of her hold. "Shadowhunters face demons all the damn time! Something has-."

"Shadowhunters die all the time!" Jace thundered back at him. As soon as he said the words, he doubled over and crouched over her body. Her name fell from his lips over and over.

Eliza's heart clenched.

Simon shoved past them and knelt down next to Isabelle. "Get out of the way." He told them.

"Get away from her!" Alec shouted at him. "You aren't her family and-."

"I'm aware." Simon's fangs appeared. He didn't show them often and she thought he looked strange when he did. Without them, he seemed normal. The same old Simon. The fangs brought a dangerous, wild look to him. Which, she supposed, was right because he was a vampire. Simon Lewis was no longer a mundane and had not been one for a long time.

He bit down on his own wrist, tearing the skin. Blood poured from the wound. Jace backed away from them, his eyes never leaving Simon's figure. Simon slid his bleeding wrist across the ribboned wound of Isabelle's leg. His blood mixed in with hers, a mess of red and red.

"What the hell are you doing, vampire?" Alec demanded, his teeth ground together. He moved to stop him, but Eliza was quicker. She grabbed Alec by the shoulders and held him back. "Let me go!" He tried to move. Alec was strong, but he had never been a perfect match against her strength. "That's my sister!"

"Alexander," she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, stilling his thrashes, "let him do this. I've heard that it works in some cases." Her voice, a honeyed mixture of stead and serenity, washed over him. "Let him help her."

Izzy jerked up. Her leg twitched violently. Simon lifted his wrist and let his blood waterfall down onto the wound. The torn skin of her thigh worked towards the split sides, pulling itself back together. Pink skin grew, blanketing over the wound. Eliza released her hold on Alec and backed away.

Her eyes flashed open and landed on Simon. She looked down at her leg and back at Simon. It was healed, the wound gone. All that remained were a series of little faint white scars. Simon stared down at her. The gashes on his wrist had closed. His skin was paler than usual. His veins were black underneath his skin. Blood stained his mouth. It streaked the sleeve of his shirt and his collar where it had dripped down from his mouth.

He pressed his wrist back to his mouth.

"Stop!" Isabelle jerked up. "Don't, Simon!"

Clary grabbed on to Simon's wrist. "She's okay. Look at her." Simon did. She was awake, being fawned over by her brothers. Clary led Simon away. She sat him down against the wall and his eyes blinked slowly until they closed completely.

Eliza rubbed the sore spot on her shoulder where the demon had cut her. The pain was dull, barely there.

"You're bleeding." Clary came up behind her. "Do you want me to fix it?" She nodded and shrugged off her gear. Clay was silent for a few seconds. "Uh, Liz…are you sure you were hurt?"

She frowned and turned her head. "Yeah." She said thickly. "One of the talons got me. Why?"

Clary had her stele ready, but it was nowhere close to Eliza's shoulder. She was holding it limply in her hand. "There's nothing here. Just some mostly dried blood. I don't see a cut or anything."

Eliza reached back and ran her hand against the back of her shoulder. Caked blood scraped against her fingertips, but Clary was right. There was no cut at all.

"Oh. Uh," she swallowed and readjusted her shirt, "I must have just imagined it or something. Nevermind."