A/N: Brace yourselves for a long one! I tried splitting this chapter in two, but it just didn't flow as well, so here we are.
Chapter Seventeen
"Oh, crap," said Magnus, flopping back into his chair. "I knew it. I knew something like this would happen."
They were in Magnus and Alec's apartment. Alec had taken the kids into the other room to play, leaving Magnus, Jace, and Clary in the living room. Clary drummed her fingers on the arm of the sofa, biting her lip as she watched Magnus.
"In my defense," Jace said, "I didn't mean to kill him."
"Intentions don't mean much when it comes to this kind of thing," said Magnus dryly.
"Why are they after him?" Clary asked. "What do they want?"
Magnus sighed. "Deaths always have a certain kind of power. Even when you kill a lesser demon, you're tipping the balance of power one way or the other. There are usually too many other demons for it to make any sort of difference, but killing a Prince of Hell upsets that balance. It's not supposed to be possible." He scrubbed his hands through his hair, sending glitter cascading onto the sofa.
"But he's not really dead, is he?" Jace said. "Won't he reform?"
"Yes, but Clary's rune completely disintegrated him," Magnus said. "It'll take him centuries to reform, and until he does, there's a lot of power up for grabs. My guess is that someone wants to harness that power. And to do that, they need his killer." He indicated Jace.
"What will they do if they get him?" Clary whispered.
"Your guess is as good as mine," said Magnus. "But whatever it is, it won't be good."
A door closed behind them; Clary glanced around as Alec walked toward them. "You guys look like you need coffee," he said.
"I'll help you," Jace said, standing up and stretching. He followed Alec over to the kitchen; Clary could hear them murmuring softly to each other. She blinked hard as she watched Jace's face light up in response to something Alec had said.
"Clary."
She looked back at Magnus; he had a shrewd expression on his face. "I know you're scared," he said gently. "I can't promise everything will be fine, but I'll do my best to help him."
"It should be me," said Clary quietly. "I made that rune. They should be looking for me, not him."
"That's not how it works," Magnus said. "Jace dealt the killing blow. And even if he hadn't, would you really rather they be coming after you?"
Clary stared down at her belly. "Tell me the truth," she said. "Do you think they'll kill him?"
Magnus was silent for a moment. "No," he said finally. "If they wanted to kill him, they would have already. They need him alive."
"For now," Clary said softly.
"Yes," Magnus said. "For now."
Clary wrapped her arms around her stomach. Her vision blurred. "I can't raise this child alone," she whispered. "I can't, Magnus. Not without him."
"With any luck, you won't have to." Magnus reached over, putting a hand on her knee. "Don't lose hope," he said in a low voice. "They haven't won yet."
Jace and Alec came over, each carrying two mugs of coffee. "Clary," said Jace softly, setting his mugs down as he sat beside her.
She shook her head, wiping her tears hastily away. "What can we do?" she asked Magnus. "How do we fix this? How do we stop them?"
"A good first step would be figuring out who this 'master' is that they all mentioned," said Magnus as Alec sat down beside him, handing him a cup of coffee. "I'm willing to bet it's the same demon who was after the Pyxis. Probably a high-up Greater Demon."
"That doesn't narrow it down much," said Jace.
"It's something," Clary said. She drew in a deep breath, knotting her fingers together to keep them from shaking. "It's a place to start."
"So back to researching," Jace sighed. "And here I thought we could finally let all the books in the library start to collect dust."
"You wouldn't be a very good Institute head if you did," Alec pointed out.
"It won't be as much researching as last time," Magnus said. "The most we could do is make a short-list of the possible demons. I don't think we'll know who it is until another demon tries to attack Jace."
"No," said Clary vehemently. They all turned to stare at her. "We're not just going to sit around and hope someone attacks Jace."
"I didn't say that," Magnus said gently. "All I meant was that researching will only get us so far."
"But you're right," Jace said. "The only way we'll know for sure who this demon is, is if we can get someone to talk."
"So we should use you as bait?" Clary said, furious.
"No," said Jace. "But if we can find a demon that's after me and lure it into a trap, maybe we could get some answers."
"That's literally the definition of using you as bait," Clary snapped.
"Clary's right," said Magnus. "It's not worth the risk. We don't know who this demon is or what he wants from you—"
"Which is exactly why we need to find out," Jace said. "We need to know what we're up against."
"We know what we're up against," Clary said. "We know enough to know that we shouldn't just be running straight at them!"
"I agree," said Alec.
"Thank you," said Clary.
"With Jace," Alec finished. Clary stared at him. "But I'm also agreeing with you, Clary," he went on. "We can't just sit around and wait for something to happen. We have to take action."
"That's not what I meant! Magnus—"
She turned to him imploringly; he looked pensive. "It might be worth a shot," he said slowly, "if we're very, very careful."
"Jace," said Clary desperately, looking at him. "Please. Please don't do this."
"There's no other way," Jace said softly. "We have to know, Clary."
Clary looked at each of them in turn; they all met her with similar expressions of resolve. She closed her eyes, willing herself not to cry.
"If this is what you want," she said, looking back at Jace, "I can't stop you."
"You know I'll be careful," Jace said, reaching for her, but she pulled away.
"I don't know that," she said quietly. She pushed herself up, putting a hand on her belly to steady herself. The baby shifted inside her. "I'll meet you back home."
"Clary," Jace said, but she passed him without looking at him and left the apartment.
Clary cried the whole way back to the Institute. Some kindly old lady on the subway handed her a tissue and sat down beside her, patting her shoulder.
"It's the hormones," she said knowledgably.
"I'm not hormonal!" Clary screamed, before being horrified that she'd just yelled at an old lady. The woman didn't seem offended, to her credit. "I'm sorry," Clary said, mopping at her face with the tissue. "You're very kind."
"I'm sure everything will turn out fine, dear," said the lady, before getting off at the next stop.
By the time Clary reached the Institute, it was midday. Jace was sitting on the steps; as she approached, he got to his feet.
"Where have you been?" he asked. "I thought you would Portal back."
"I took the train," Clary said. "I wanted time to think."
"I was worried about you."
"Were you?" said Clary coolly.
"Clary," Jace said. "Don't be mad at me."
She gave a humorless laugh and pushed past him into the Institute. He followed her.
"Look, Magnus, Alec, and I made a plan. I promise you I won't be in any danger. I don't know how else I can try to convince you—"
"So don't," said Clary, continuing down the hallway without looking back at him. He was there in a flash, blocking her way. She stopped short. "Let me pass," she said.
"Clary, can we please talk about this?" he said quietly.
"What's there to talk about?" said Clary. "You've already decided."
He gazed down at her; he was standing so close to her that she could see the witchlight reflected in his pupils. "Yes," he said, "I have. But—"
"So then what's the point in talking about it?" Clary said.
"I don't want you to be mad at me," Jace said softly.
She shook her head. "I'm not mad, Jace. I'm just exhausted." She went to move past him, and he shifted in front of her, almost on instinct, it seemed. "Let me pass," she said again, quietly.
He held her gaze for a measured moment; then, dropping it, he stepped aside.
"Come on," she said. "We have work to do."
"Clary."
She looked up from the letter she was writing at the desk of the library. Jace, sitting at the table and surrounded by books, was watching her. "You've been quiet."
"I'm working," she said, turning back to the letter.
"Is that all?"
She sighed, scrawled her signature at the bottom of the letter, and folded it up. "The Consul needs this by Wednesday. And we have about fifty other things to do." She jerked her chin at the books. "How's research going?"
"All right." He pulled a piece of paper out from under one of the books. "I'm making a list, but it's like Magnus said. Research will only get us so far."
"Yes, I know," said Clary, with more tension in her voice than she had intended. Jace seemed to notice. He set the paper down and closed his book.
"Clary, I know you're worried," he began, but before he could finish, the phone rang. Clary jumped and automatically scanned the phones on the desk, but they were still and silent. She looked around, spotted her cell phone on the table by the couch, and wilted at the thought of having to get up.
"I'll get it," Jace said, but she had already heaved herself to her feet and crossed the room, picking up the phone. Tessa Gray, the screen read.
"Hello?" Clary said, putting the phone to her ear.
"Magnus told us what's going on," said Tessa without preamble. "Are you both all right?"
Clary bit back a sigh. "We're fine, Tessa. Thanks for checking in."
"Of course. And if there's anything Jem and I can do, just let us know."
"Thanks, we'll keep that in mind." She was aware of how stiff and formal she sounded. She exhaled. "How are things on your end?"
"Oh, the same as usual," Tessa said. "You know us, living that nice, quiet life."
"Yes, I envy you sometimes," Clary said bitterly. She could feel Jace's eyes on her; hastily, she changed the subject. "While I've got you, can I ask you something?"
"Sure," Tessa said.
"I want to ask Jem, too."
"Oh, okay. Let me go get him. Hold on just a moment." She seemed to have set the phone down; Clary could hear muffled voices on the other end. She moved over to where Jace was. He looked at her inquisitively as she put the call on speakerphone and set the phone down on the table.
A moment later, there was a scuffling noise on the other end. "We're both here," Tessa said.
"Hi, Clary," came Jem's voice.
"Hi," Clary said. "Jace is here, too. We wanted to ask you both something."
"Fire away."
Clary glanced at Jace. He cleared his throat. "We were wondering," he began, "if—if we could name the baby after Will."
There was a long silence on the other end.
"Oh," Tessa breathed finally.
"We'd understand if you're not okay with it," Clary said. "We just wanted to ask—"
"Yes," Jem said.
Clary blinked. "Yes?"
"Yes," Tessa repeated. "Yes, of course. We would be honored."
"The honor is ours," said Jace. "We know how special he was to you both."
"Thank you," Tessa said. It sounded as if she were speaking through a very tight throat. Clary heard her sniffle. "Thank you both."
"We should let you go," Clary said. "But thank you for calling. And thank you for letting us use his name."
"Of course," said Tessa. "And call me whenever, all right?"
"Okay," Clary said. "Bye. Bye, Jem."
"Bye, Clary. Jace."
Clary hung up, turning to Jace. "Well, I guess he officially has a name," she said.
Jace smiled. "That he does." He reached out to put a hand on her belly, but she turned away, going back over to the desk and setting her phone down. Her feet were aching just from standing for that long; wincing, she kicked off her shoes and stretched her toes.
"Come here," Jace said, beckoning her over to the couch. She wavered before going over to him and sitting beside him; he pulled her legs up into his lap and began to massage her feet. She sighed and sank into the cushions. "Better?" he asked.
"Much." She closed her eyes, stroking her belly lightly as the baby shifted inside her. After a moment, she felt Jace's hand settle on her stomach.
"Don't," she said, opening her eyes and pushing his hand off.
"Why not?" said Jace.
"Because I'm not your property," said Clary shortly. "You can't just touch me whenever you want."
Jace paused. "Okay. Sorry." He went back to rubbing her feet. "Is this okay?"
"It's fine." The sudden surge of anger drained out of her, replaced by that same heavy exhaustion. "I'm sorry. You can touch it if you want. He's your baby, too."
"No, you're right," Jace said. "It's your body."
Clary stared at him. "So do you think when he's out of me, you might actually give a damn about him?"
He froze, his jaw dropping. "What the hell?"
"I'm just asking," said Clary tonelessly. "You think you might care then?"
"When have I ever said I don't care?" Jace said, sounding furious.
"You haven't," Clary said. "But actions speak louder than words."
Jace flung himself to his feet; Clary's legs fell off the couch, and she had to grip the armrest to keep from falling with them. "You think I don't care?" he shouted. "What about when you thought you were having a miscarriage, you think I didn't care then? Or when Beelzebub possessed you and you almost died? You didn't see me then, you don't know how terrified I was—"
"Seems to me like the only time you care is when you think you're about to lose us," Clary said quietly.
Jace opened his mouth to respond, but at that moment, a loud beeping sound cut through the room; the Sensor on the wall had lit up, and a blinking red dot had appeared on the map of Manhattan on the wall. Jace looked at Clary; she raised her eyebrows. Setting his jaw, he went over to the Sensor and shut it off, staring at the map.
"That's a Greater Demon," he said. "It's close."
"Well, there you go," Clary said. "There's your opportunity. Go find out who wants to kill you."
He turned back to her; there was something unreadable in his expression. "Go," she said again, without any malice or venom; she was so exhausted that her bones felt as if they were anchored into the floor. "I'll be waiting for you."
He looked at her for a long moment, shifting his weight as if he wanted to run toward her, or perhaps away from her. He opened his mouth. Clary turned away. The moment was broken. He left the room without another word.
Clary closed her eyes, listening to the sound of his receding footsteps. She sank into the couch, waiting for tears to come—but it seemed that her eyes had finally dried up.
The building looked like it had once been a hotel, though it had seen better days. A sign on the door announced a severe case of asbestos, and the windows had been sloppily boarded up. Part of the top floor was crumbling.
Jace pulled out his Sensor as he approached, pushing a few buttons on it; it began to click softly, in a pulsating rhythm. Jace translated this to mean that the demon was within the building, on the first or second floor, and was probably a big one.
He should have called someone, he knew. Clary would probably say that this only proved her point that he was reckless. He felt a sharp stab of annoyance toward her; he wasn't a child, he could handle one demon by himself. And for her to say he didn't care...didn't she understand that he was trying to protect her? She might be content to sit back and wait, but he wasn't afraid to confront whoever was looking for him, and he wasn't stupid enough to let himself get killed.
At some point, he realized that he had been staring at the building for several minutes, steaming silently. He tried to shake his anger, pulling out his stele and carving Strength, Agility, and Endurance runes into his arm. Then he swapped the stele for a seraph blade, muttering, "Cassiel." The blade burst to life as Jace shouldered his way into the building.
The seraph blade was glowing just enough for Jace to make out the dusty lower floor of the hotel. It had been cleared of any furniture, leaving only a long counter at one end and a few broken chandeliers hanging crookedly at intervals along the vaulted ceiling. The rest of the lobby was empty, a gaping, open space that stretched further than Jace could see in the dark.
He advanced into the room and plunged the seraph blade into the ground. The wooden floor was crumbling and gave way easily, bursting up around the blade. Moving in a wide circle, Jace named another blade Jahoel and drove it into the floor at another cardinal point, repeating this with Remiel. The blades glimmered in the darkness, marking out three-quarters of a cross.
The Sensor grew hot against his leg at the same moment that he sensed something watching him from the shadows. Maintaining a casual air, he pulled his stele out and inked a Night-Vision rune into his wrist.
He saw the creature a split second before it lunged. He leapt out of the way, his stele nearly slipping from his hand. Something large and heavy slid toward him in the darkness, scraping against the rotten floorboards. He saw one of the seraph blades flicker as a shadow passed over it. Jace brought the last blade to his mouth and cried, "Nakir!"
It flared to life, casting a bright white glow through the room. The demon towered over him, a great serpent-like creature with shimmering black scales and a hooded head like a cobra. It lunged for him again, its hood flattening and its mouth opening to reveal sharp, foot-long fangs. Jace dove past it, planting himself in the middle of the cross he had created. The demon followed, as he had expected, slithering toward him with a low hiss. Jace stood his ground, holding the seraph blade at the ready—and as the snake reared its head, he leaped up into the air. He arced easily over the demon's head, landing behind it and plunging the last seraph blade into the floor. Then, before the demon could attack him again, he carved a single rune into the ground in front of the blade.
A grid of golden lines burst from the floor, shooting up toward the ceiling. The demon gave a loud hiss of pain as the end of its tail, hanging out of the formation, was sliced off by the rising walls of the cage. Jace watched as the walls of the Malachi formation stretched higher and higher, until they were brushing the ceiling of the room.
"My name," said Jace in a clear voice as the demon whipped its head around, flicking its bloody tail at the walls of the cage, "is Jace Herondale. But I'm guessing you knew that already." He tapped one of the seraph blades with his foot; a wave of energy rippled up the cage. "Try to escape, and you'll die instantly. So I suggest you start talking. I want to know who sent you and why."
The demon bared its fangs and made a strange, strangled hissing noise. It took Jace a moment to realize that it was actually speaking in Purgatic. He struggled to translate it, wishing he had paid more attention in his lessons.
The snake was moving; it slithered back in its cage, pressing itself as far back from Jace as it could without touching the walls, almost as if it were bracing itself for something. It was only then that he managed to decipher what it had said.
They are coming for you.
The floor rumbled; Jace only had time to draw his sword before the floor began to crumble beneath him. He shouted out, scrambling to regain purchase, but a great pit had opened in the earth, collapsing the floorboards around it. Jace managed to drive his sword into the ground just beyond the edge of the hole, using it to pull himself forward. But something had latched onto his legs and was trying to drag him backward into the pit. He twisted around to look, and his stomach dropped.
Three dozen black, skeletal demons poured from the hole in the earth, using each other as ladders to climb out of the hole. Jace kicked out, and the demon holding his legs released him with a shriek. He heaved with all his might; the floorboards splintered around his sword, but it was enough. He pulled himself out of the hole, scrambling to his feet just as the demons began to swarm around him.
He slashed out with his sword, stumbling back as the earth shook again. The hole in the floor widened, floorboards giving way with dull cracks as they tumbled into the void. Jace drove his sword through one demon, slashed the head off another; they were shorter than him, humanoid in figure, but he was outnumbered. He sliced another demon in half just as something grabbed him from behind, digging its claws into his chest. Blood spurted. He grunted and cracked his head hard against the demon's skull, feeling its hold slacken.
The ground shook again as more of it crumbled away; through the horde of demons, Jace saw the edge of the hole creep ever closer to the Malachi configuration. The seraph blade flickered; then, before his eyes, it tumbled into the pit. The cage seemed to burst apart, the golden grid crumpling to the floor and dissipating into thin air. With a triumphant hiss, the snake reared, diving straight toward him.
The sharp ringing of a phone cut through Clary's sleep. She opened her eyes groggily, struggling to sit up; night had fallen, and the library was bathed in moonlight. The black phone on the desk was ringing. Clary pushed herself up and went to answer it.
"Hello?"
"Clary." The voice sounded strangely familiar.
"Yes?" she said.
Soft laughter came down the line. "I've missed you."
It felt as if someone had dumped ice water over her head. She could barely breathe.
"We'll finally be together, you and I," his voice said. "Jace is dead."
The phone slipped from her numb fingers, hitting the desk with a loud clatter; it fell and swung by its cord, spinning an inch from the floor. Clary opened her mouth to scream—and a hand clamped down over it, another arm wrapping around her waist.
"My sweet sister," Sebastian whispered in her ear. "I'm sorry it had to be this way."
She struggled against him, but he hugged her tight. "I'm not completely heartless," he said, forcing her head back so it rested on his shoulder. He kissed her forehead, and she flinched. "You can have Jace back. A piece of him, anyway."
Something rolled across the floor, coming to a stop at her feet; Jace's lifeless eyes, silvery in the moonlight, stared up at her from his severed head.
She screamed—and sat bolt upright, her eyes flying open. The rays of the setting sun poured through the windows, blinding her; for a moment, she flailed in panic, before her instincts kicked in and forced her to breathe. She fell back against the cushions, gasping; she could still feel Sebastian's icy grip on her mouth, could feel her forehead burning where he had kissed her. The baby was kicking; it was this, more than anything, that steadied her. She hugged her stomach, forcing cool air into her lungs.
Suddenly, there was a loud bang from the hallway, followed by rapid footsteps. Clary scrambled off the couch, looking around wildly for something she could use as a weapon—but a moment later, the library doors burst open, revealing Alec. Clary relaxed for a second before realizing that he was pale and out of breath.
"Where's Jace?" he said.
Clary stared at him, her stomach turning to ice. "You weren't with him? He said he made a plan with you and Magnus—"
"A plan?" Alec's eyes widened. "You mean he went to trap a demon? By himself?"
Her breath was coming out in short gasps. "I thought you would be with him!" she said.
Alec's eyes were dark with fear, but all he said was, "He's hurt. I need to know where he is."
Clary hurried over to the map on the wall, studying it and trying to remember. "Here," she said, touching a spot. "This is where he saw it. I'm sure."
Alec joined her. "I've been to a shop here," he said, indicating a street corner two blocks from where she had pointed. "I can get close enough. I need weapons, and a Portal—"
"I'm coming with you," Clary said.
Alec looked at her sharply. "Absolutely not. Jace will kill me."
"I don't care," she snapped. "I'm coming." She glared fiercely at him. Try and stop me, she thought.
After a moment, he nodded. "Okay. Gear up. Quickly."
Lightheaded with relief, Clary left the room as quickly as she could, heading down the hallway to the alcove by the door where they kept extra weapons and gear. She pulled on a jacket; it just barely stretched over her belly. Then she slung a belt around her waist and stocked it with a sword, stele, seraph blades, and daggers. Beside her, Alec was doing the same, slinging a bow and quiver across his back for good measure. Her heart was pounding, every beat against her ribs another second Jace was in danger.
They pushed their way through the doors, running down the steps and around the corner. Clary began to draw the runes for a Portal onto the stone side of the church.
"Please be careful," Alec said as the Portal burst to life. "If anything happens to you, Jace will murder me before the demon can."
"I'll be careful," said Clary. Alec touched the Portal, his brow furrowing in concentration. Then he reached out a hand to her, and she stepped through.
Jace barely managed to dodge the serpent's fangs; they struck the ground an inch from his feet, sending splinters of wood flying into the air. The demons screeched, scrambling out of the way as the snake reared its head again. Using the moment of confusion to his advantage, Jace slashed out at a few of them, clearing a path and forcing his way through. But there were still too many; they converged on him, pressing him back against one of the boarded-up windows. With a sudden spurt of inspiration, Jace reached above his head, gripping one of the boards and prying it off the wall with a screech of nails. Sunlight streamed into the room; half a dozen of the demons screeched as they turned to dust, but the rest of them slipped into the shadows, avoiding the rays of light spilling across the floor. The light just barely missed the snake; it pulled back against the opposite wall, slithering into the shadows.
In the newly-lit room, Jace could see the outlines of more windows lining the walls of the room. He flicked sweat away from his brow and threw himself forward, shoving demons out of his way, hacking them apart as he pushed his way further down the length of the room. He reached another window and wedged his sword behind the boards, levering them off the wall. More demons turned to dust, but there was no time to celebrate. The snake was steadily pushing its way toward him, flicking demons out of the way with its mangled tail. On his other side, the demons packed together, blocking his way to any more windows. Half the room was lit, but the other half remained in shadow, protecting the demons. Jace backed into the light, letting it bathe him in its orange glow—
Orange.
His heart skittering, Jace glanced out the broken window; the sun hung low in the sky, brushing the top of a building. As he watched, the rays of light on the floor began to fade, one by one. The demons inched forward—a moment later, the sunlight disappeared.
They rushed forward in a wave, and they were upon him in seconds. He backed away, slashing out without any real strategy or technique; they were pulling at his clothes, his hair, trying to grasp any part of him. He swept his sword across them in an arc, dispatching them as quickly as they came. They surrounded him.
Then, all at once, pain exploded in his side. He went down with a cry as hot blood spilled from his torso, clamped between the snake's jaws. It whipped him away from the horde of demons, flinging him toward the opposite wall. The air rushed out of his lungs as he hit it hard. Stars burst in his vision, almost obscuring it; through the blur, he saw the snake flatten its hood. He struggled to stand up—he'd dropped his sword somewhere, and his seraph blades were gone—the snake lunged—
And jerked suddenly to the side, hissing in pain. Jace blinked at it blearily, catching sight of something protruding from its side. As he watched, another arrow flew at the snake, driving into its neck. It collapsed to the floor, and a blur of red and black rushed at it with a scream. Metal flashed; ichor erupted from the demon's throat, its head severed from its body. It crumpled.
Jace forced himself to sit up; the effort made his head spin. Struggling to focus, he saw two figures running toward him. Alec—and Clary.
Even in his disorientation, fear bubbled in his stomach. "Clary—go—" he managed.
"Shut up," she snapped. Behind her, Jace could see the army of demons pressing forward, the snake no longer in their way. Clary glanced over her shoulder at Alec; he nodded and moved to stand in front of them, nocking another arrow in his bow. Deftly and methodically, he began to shoot down the demons as they rushed forward.
Clary dropped to her knees beside Jace and ripped open his gear jacket, then the shirt beneath it. Blood gushed from two wounds the size of quarters, one between his left ribs and the other to the left of his navel. Jagged purple lines branched away from the edges of the wounds, already halfway across his torso. "It missed your heart," Clary said, "but it must have been venomous. I can't heal you, or I'll seal the venom in."
"Clary," Jace said weakly. He was beginning to lose feeling in his toes.
"I told you to shut up," she said. She pulled out her stele; Jace could see her hands shaking. "Think, come on, think..." she whispered.
"Clary!" Alec said. She looked up, and Jace followed her gaze. There were still a couple dozen demons left, advancing; Alec had run out of arrows. He tossed his bow aside and pulled out his sword. "Get him out of here!" Alec shouted, running forward to meet the demons.
Clary squeezed her eyes shut. "Think, think..." she muttered. Her eyes flew open, and she half-fell on Jace in her haste to scrawl a rune across his torso, one he didn't recognize. It glowed a pure, shimmering white; Jace watched as the purple lines receded, snaking back into the wounds. His blood seemed to turn black, venom dribbling down the side of his body. With trembling fingers, Clary inked iratzes next to each wound, and they began to close up. Clary bent over him again, tracing out the beginning of a blood-replenishment rune—but suddenly, Alec cried out. Looking past Clary, Jace saw Alec stumble back at the same moment he felt pain lance through his parabatai rune.
Clary had gone pale; she pressed the stele into Jace's hands. "Stay here and give yourself amissios and iratzes," she said, speaking quickly. "When you're strong enough, get out of the building. We'll come and find you."
"Don't go," Jace gasped out, but she had already pushed herself to her feet and run toward the battle, her red hair streaming out behind her. He watched her draw her sword in an arc of flashing steel.
Get up, said a sharp voice in his head, clearing his mind. He tightened his grip on Clary's stele and, bending his wrist awkwardly, managed to finish the rune she had started. He felt his heart begin to beat a little more strongly, pushing the new blood through his veins. At the other end of the room, Alec and Clary had managed to beat the demons back; sword clattered against bone as they dispatched the last few. The room fell silent.
Through the shadows, Jace saw Clary sag against the wall, her chest heaving. Alec sheathed his sword and went to her; he could hear them murmuring to each other. After a moment, Clary straightened, stowing her own sword away. They split apart, Clary walking to the other side of the room and Alec coming toward Jace.
With a great effort, Jace pulled himself to his feet, leaning heavily against the wall. In a flash, Alec was there, dragging Jace's arm over his shoulders. "What the hell were you thinking?" he demanded. "We had a plan! You were supposed to call us!"
"I thought I could handle it," Jace mumbled. He swayed on his feet, pressing into Alec.
"Of course you did," Alec said bitterly. "Clary was right. We should have left it alone if this was how you were going to 'handle it'."
"She shouldn't be here," Jace said.
"Neither should you," said Alec sharply.
Jace grunted as Alec pulled him up a little straighter, causing a dull pain to shoot across the left side of his body. "You shouldn't have brought her," he said. "She could have gotten hurt."
"She didn't exactly give me a choice," Alec said irritably. "And if you don't want her to get hurt, maybe you shouldn't put yourself in situations where she feels like she has to come save you."
Before Jace could respond, Clary called from across the room, "Alec, can you come take a look at this?"
Shooting Jace a dark look, Alec wrapped his arm around Jace's waist and began to help him across the room. "I'm fine, I can walk," Jace said. Alec surveyed him for a moment before letting him go; Jace swayed slightly, but began to put one foot in front of the other. They made their way over to Clary.
She was kneeling at the edge of the pit, staring into the abyss. Jace felt a wave of vertigo as he looked down into the hole that seemed to reach all the way to the center of the earth.
Clary pointed toward the bottom of the pit. "Do you see that?"
Jace squinted. "No."
Clary glanced at him. "I was talking to Alec. And you should move back, if you faint you'll fall right in."
Jace set his jaw, but retreated slightly from the edge of the pit. Alec knelt beside Clary. "It looks like something's glowing down there," he said.
"It was brighter a minute ago," said Clary. "It reminds me of a Portal." She turned to look at Jace. "Was this here when you got here?" Jace explained how the floor had opened up, giving way to the demons. Her brow furrowed. "Demons just...crawled out of this hole?" She turned to Alec, who was examining the edge of the pit. "Do you think they were hiding underground or something?"
He shook his head. "A Sensor would have caught them. Whatever happened here, it's nothing I've heard of before."
"Will you ask Magnus?" Clary said.
"Yeah," said Alec. He straightened up. "I should get back to him, actually. I had to rush out in the middle of dinner, the boys will be worried." Jace felt a small stab of guilt.
"They shouldn't be," said Clary. Her back was to Jace, but he could hear the hardness in her voice. "They know you'll always come back to them."
Jace opened his mouth, but something in Alec's expression stopped him from speaking. He didn't look uncomfortable, as Jace might have expected from such a pointed statement; instead, pity was written all over his face.
Clary shifted; both Alec and Jace moved to help her up, but she got to her feet by herself, turning toward Jace. He had expected her to glower at him, but what he saw was much worse: she was crying. The guilt grew heavier in his stomach.
Alec took an uncertain step toward her, but she shook her head. "You should get back to your family," she said softly. She reached out and squeezed his hand before heading back toward the door.
"I think you owe her an apology," said Alec quietly.
Jace leaned back against the wall. "I know."
"And the next time you're about to do something incredibly idiotic," Alec said, "maybe call me first. Although I think we'd all prefer it if you just didn't do idiotic things. But given that Isabelle once called you 'Jace King-of-the-Idiots Herondale,' I'm pretty sure we've all come to expect it of you by now."
"Did she really call me that?" said Jace, curious.
"She will after I tell her about this," Alec said. Jace grimaced. "Now go talk to your wife."
They went over to her together. Alec gave Clary a quick squeeze on the shoulder and Jace a sharp look before heading out the door.
"Clary," Jace said. She didn't look at him. She was trying to unzip her gear jacket, which had gotten stuck right above her belly. After a moment of watching her struggle, Jace took pity on her and went to help. Together, they managed to get it unzipped. Clary pulled it off and drew in a long, deep breath.
"Thanks," she said. "Do you have my stele?" Jace handed it to her, and she began to iratze the small ichor burns on her arms.
"Clary, can we talk?" said Jace quietly.
"I don't know what there is to talk about, Jace," she said. Her eyes were shimmering, and she finished off the iratze a little more lopsidedly than normal. "No matter what I say, you don't seem to want to listen to me."
"I'm sorry, okay?" said Jace. "I really am. This was stupid, and reckless, and it won't happen again. I swear."
Clary gave a hollow laugh. "Except it will. You just can't stop yourself, can you?"
"Look, I underestimated how bad it would be," Jace said. "Next time I'll bring people with me, and I'll be more careful, I promise."
Clary closed her eyes. Tears spilled onto her cheeks. "I am so sick of your empty promises," she whispered.
"It's not an empty promise," Jace said. "I was in over my head this time, but next time—"
"I don't want there to be a next time!" Clary exploded. "Do you really think this is about you not being able to handle a battle? It's about the fact that every time you walk out the door, I don't know if you're going to come back! It's about the fact that I still have nightmares about you being killed, it's about me having to invent a brand new rune on the spot to save your life, it's about me being terrified out of my mind that I'm going to have to raise this baby alone and I'm going to have to explain to him why his dad decided fighting demons was more important to him than his own son!"
Jace stared at her, his mouth half-open. She was breathing raggedly, tears pouring down her face.
"I—" His voice stuck in his throat. He tried to clear it. "I just wanted to protect you."
"But we would have been fine, Jace," said Clary, and he had never heard her sound so helpless. "We were safe in the Institute. You were safe. You didn't have to deal with this, you could have let other Shadowhunters do it, or you could have followed the plan with Magnus and Alec. So why didn't you?"
"Because..." He felt at a rare loss for words. "Because I thought I could handle it."
"But why did it have to be you that handled it?" said Clary softly.
"Because—they're after me," Jace said, the words tumbling out of him. "I don't want anyone getting hurt because of me. And after you...when Beelzebub..."
"God," Clary whispered. "This again." She passed a hand over her eyes. "So was that an empty promise too? When you said you'd stop blaming yourself for everything?"
"I'm trying, Clary," said Jace, digging his nails into his palms. "But after everything you went through to protect me from Beelzebub, just for someone else to start attacking me...I just want it to be over. I want to find them and kill them and put it all behind us."
Clary was silent for a moment. Then she said, "Do you know why dealing with Beelzebub was so hard for me? It's because he was attacking my mind. He turned my worst fears into my reality, and he made it impossible to escape. That's what you're doing to me, Jace. The minute you put on your gear, my brain goes into overdrive coming up with a thousand scenarios for how this next battle will go, and nine hundred and ninety-nine of them end with you dying. But then you come back to me, and I trick myself into thinking you're safe, only for you to leave again. It's exhausting, Jace."
"But I come back to you," said Jace. "Every time, I come back to you."
"You almost didn't," Clary whispered. "You would have died today if we hadn't shown up."
"I..."
It dawned on him that she was right. Even if the snake hadn't killed him, the venom had spread through his body so quickly; if Clary had gotten there even a few minutes later, he would have already been dead. He stared at Clary. He had known, from the moment he met her, that he would die for her—but if he had died today, it wouldn't have been for her. It would have been for his own arrogance, his own pride. And his arrogance and pride had put her in danger too.
"You're right," he said softly. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
Her face softened. They reached out to each other at the same moment; he gripped her tightly against him. "I'm sorry I caused you so much pain."
He felt her stroke his back lightly. "I know."
After a long moment, they broke apart. He brushed her hair away from her face; it clung to her wet cheeks. "I don't know how to protect people if I'm not fighting," he whispered. "I don't know what it means."
"Just stay with me," she said, rubbing her thumb across his cheek. "As long as you're safe, I'm safe." She put a hand on her stomach. "We're safe. All of us." He laced his fingers with hers. "We're a team, Jace," she said. "We have to work together, like we worked together to kill Beelzebub. We're going to figure this out too, and no one is going to get hurt. Okay?"
He exhaled; it felt as if something inside him were loosening, as if it had been knotted all this time and he had never even known.
"Okay," he said.
And they walked hand in hand into the night.
A/N: If you've enjoyed this chapter, please leave a review! As always, thanks for reading.
~4L