"How many Downworlders do you think live in New York?"

"I don't know," Magnus said. "But they're not all your responsibility."

"But you are."

Magnus smiled. "I can take care of myself."

"Maybe. But this is different. You may have lived through the fall of Rome, but even the Dark Ages couldn't have been this dark."

"Alexander…I know things may seem bleak, but…nothing was as devastating as seeing you standing on that ledge."

"It was the magic. I would never, never-"

"I know. I know. But magic can't create fears. Only bring them out."

"Magnus…"

"You don't have to explain yourself. I've been through it myself. Just promise you'll tell me if things ever get that bad."

Shu opened the door behind them to find Jace and Clary running in.

Magnus saw them and rolled his eyes. "Don't you people have phones?"

"We need your help," Jace said.

Shu took Clary's hand and saw that the flesh was beginning to burn, char, and die. The infection seemed to have overtaken all of Clary's fingers and was spreading up her hand fast.

"La Chair Brûlée," Shu declared. (Pronounced: La share broo-lee-A)

"I'm guessing that's not a dessert?" Clary said.

"It means 'The burnt flesh,' in French," Magnus explained. "It's an old blood oath spell."

"Then it must be Iris," Alec concluded. "She said you owe her a favor."

"At Max's party, she said I have to find Madzie," Clary remembered.

"Then we'd better start looking," Shu said. "We can get rid of the pain, but that's about it. I'm afraid once the magic reaches your heart…"

"So if I don't find Madzie…"

Magnus looked away and Shu looked down with a sigh.

"I'm dead."

"No…" Jace muttered. "No, there has to be a cure. There has to be something we can do to stop this."

"Can't we force Iris to undo this?" Alec suggested.

"I wish it were that easy," Magnus said. "But blood oath spells are completely binding. Even Iris herself can't reverse it now."

"The entire Downworld is most likely gonna go after Clary," Shu said. "Kill her and the Soul Sword can't be used anymore. They'd rather make the hard choice of killing one than risking millions."

"And you're going to go and protect her?"

"Her goal is to find Madzie. If Valentine manages to raise that girl, he'll have a fully willing Warlock on his side. The least I can do is find the girl and stop the blood oath. Everything else after that is up to Clary. If she gets killed, she gets killed. If she survives, she better start taking responsibility and hiding herself properly. Valentine takes her alive, there'll be little we can do about it."

"Lucian has called us to a meeting as representatives of the Warlocks. Raphael and Meliorn are also going to be there. He probably wants to discuss a peace treaty."

"Oh, that's going to go well. Lucian might be willing to stand down, but his pack might not be. He's pushed their trust one too many times, and when the whole Downworld is definitely at stake, it's not gonna be easy to pull anyone into a ceasefire."

"Well, we might as well try, at least."

"Remember, no bias towards knowing Clary. We have to keep the remaining Warlock's safety in mind. As if they needed any more reason to hate us for hanging around Shadowhunters so often and being the most notorious giving us a bit of jealous customers."

"We can be civil about it."

"Right then. Let's go."

Meliorn was the last to arrive at Maia's empty bar, escorted by two soldiers.

"Meliorn," Luke greeted. "What happened to your face?"

He referred to the marks and vein-like scars stretching across the left of his face and neck.

"My punishment for helping Clary Fairchild into one of the Queen's realms," He said simply.

"Well that doesn't sound encouraging," Shu mentally sighed.

"Nope," Magnus agreed.

"I hope Luke has a plan here."

"Well, it's good to see you," Luke said.

"I'd say the same, but sadly, I'm incapable of lying."

Shu smiled. Yep, Seelie in a bad mood.

"Shall we get this over with?"

"Careful," Magnus warned. "Seelie armor-"

"Means war," Luke finished. "I noticed."

Raphael and Shu looked around to the Seelie and the Werewolf. Things were going to get rough.

"So I assume you all know why I called you here."

"We've heard rumors," Shu admitted.

"Well, unfortunately, the rumors are true. Valentine wants to use the Soul Sword to decimate the entire Downworld, and he needs Clary to activate it."

"And you have a plan?" Raphael asked.

"Well, we can't defeat Valentine on our own. But together…maybe we have a shot."

"Whatever it is, we can't have him get to Clary," Magnus reminded them.

"I agree," Meliorn said. "But on behalf of the Seelie Queen, I'd like to propose an alternative. Execute Clary Fairchild on sight."

Magnus took a careful breath. "Care to rethink that?"

"You'd be rotting in the City of Bones had she not insisted we save your life," Luke reminded him.

"Then consider this my way of returning the favor," He said. "By killing her, I'll be saving you from yourselves. This counsel is biased. You've all allowed yourselves to become too involved with the Shadowhunters. Joselyn Fairchild. Alec Lightwood. And you."

He looked over to Raphael, who shifted nervously in his seat.

"You've been seeing Isabelle, haven't you?"

Everyone except Shu looked to him curiously.

"What are you talking about?" Raphael asked.

"I'd recognize that perfume anywhere."

"Then you're no different from the rest of us."

"I'll admit I know her charms better than anyone. But unlike you, my feelings never affect my judgement."

"My judgement's fine. If Clary has to die to protect our people, so be it."

"Killing Clary is not entirely out of the question," Shu agreed.

"You're not seriously considering this," Luke demanded.

"As the oldest one in this room, I am. Killing on sight seems harsh, however, if Clary falls into the hands of Valentine I would kill her without hesitation to save the rest of the Downworld. I love Clary like a daughter, I watched her grow up just like you, Luke. And I know that if we ask her and her alone - no one else influencing her and no one answering for her because they don't want to lose her - if we asked Clary Fairchild if she wanted to give her life for the sake of all Downworlders, I know she would say yes. Why don't you ask her how she feels about this? Because this is her life against all of our people. I am a nice person, Lucian, I hate the Clave for making stupid decisions just because it's 'the law,' and they'd snuff out anyone who questions their authority, but even I have to consider what is at stake here. If we can find a way to stop Valentine before he gets his hands on Clary, we can keep her alive, but if we can't and Valentine has even the slightest chance of catching her, we kill her. Deal?"

"What do you think you're doing?!" Luke demanded.

"Buying time," Shu said firmly. "There was going to be no way to convince the Seelies or the Vampires to not hunt Clary. If I make myself look like I'm willing to do so as well, they trust me and my judgement skills enough to make a deal. Obviously you and Magnus were never going to be able to convince Meliorn that you were willing to turn on Clary. Raphael did so because he had his honor on the line, and he has helped the Shadowhunters too many times to convince the Vampires to do so again. You are on the same uneven ground with your pack and you know it. I am not enlisting the aid of the other Warlocks. I'm having them stand down and leave the rest to me. We go along with Meliorn and gain his trust as those who are going to stand beside him to save the Downworld. Because that is the best we can do right now. I've lived for thousands of years, Lucian. I've dealt with Greeks and Romans, I've dealt with kings, queens, Shadowhunters and Downworlders. Trust me. This is the only route we have."

Luke sighed. "Get to her first."

"I will try. Right now, be careful that you don't lose any more trust than you already have. Keep being too adamant about helping Clary, protecting Clary, not killing Clary, and people will begin to doubt you. Your pack is already questioning you, and I don't think Maia is going to keep respecting you if you're willing to throw her in a storage closet when you know she's claustrophobic."

"You know about that?"

"I heard. The only thing that's keeping your pack in check is the fact that you're their alpha, but I am willing to bet someone is so close to challenging you."

"I hear you. I know."

"I hope so. Now I'm going to try and find Clary before anything else. We also have that blood oath to worry about. Oh geez. That girl is one piece of work."

"You're just noticing this now?"

"I've tolerated it up until now. She's finally managed to wear this immortal down. She is something, all right."

"You said you know where Izzy is?" Alec asked as he walked into the apartment.

"Well, not exactly," Magnus said.

He paced back into the room from the balcony.

"You know, I expect this from Aldertree…but not from you. What's going on? And why do I seem to be the last person to know about it?"

Magnus sighed and turned back to Alec. "A couple days ago, Shu and I saw Isabelle trying to buy Yin Fen from a certain reprobate Warlock at the Hunter's Moon."

"Are you sure it was her?"

He nodded with a sigh. "We asked her what she was doing, but she told me that she was undercover."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"She's an excellent liar. It wasn't until this evening that I put it all together. Something Meliorn said at the Downworlder meeting. I think she's getting her fix straight from the source."

"Where is she?"

Alec rushed head first into Raphael's place, beating down any Vampire that got in his way.

"Trouble in paradise?" Shu asked.

"Was this ever paradise?"

"True enough. Don't let him kill Raphael. In the state he's in, I have no doubt he'd do it with his bare hands. Hurry up."

"I know. What about you? How are things going?"

"I'm heading to Clary's location now, but there are plenty of other Downworlders I'm trying to avoid. Oh, look. She and Simon are being all lovey-dovey on the top of a van. In plain sight. Ugh. That 1%. Gotta go."

"Me too. See ya."

Magnus rushed in to find Alec punching Raphael as hard as he could on the floor. He held his hand out, his magic grabbing Alec's fist as Raphael began to bleed.

"Alec, stop!"

He pulled Alec off of Raphael and he stood in a huff. "This is my family. If you had told me about the Yin Fen none of this would've happened."

"I didn't know," Magnus pleaded.

"You knew enough! We're leaving."

He grabbed Isabelle's arm and dragged her off, his sister wobbling on her feet.

Raphael stood, his cheek bleeding from Alec's assault. "I wasn't lying about what I said. There's something about her…I haven't felt this way in a long time."

"You're so hooked on her blood, you can't separate your feelings from your addiction."

"Isabelle and I are no different from you and Alec. And I thought you of all people would understand."

"If you truly believe that…see if you still feel the same when you're not getting high."

"There you are, Jace!" Shu called. "You…found Madzie."

"Clary!" Jace called.

"Jace!" Simon shouted.

He helped Clary off the top of the van and down over to Jace, who had Madzie's hand in his.

"Madzie…" Clary muttered. "Madzie, you're okay."

"Step back, boys," Shu ordered.

Clary kneeled down to Madzie, and the two of them began to glow with a red aura swirling around them, and Clary's hand began to heal.

"I told you, didn't I?" Jace asked Simon. "I couldn't have saved her without you."

"Obviously," Simon said. "Thank you for…you know. Everything."

Jace nodded.

Madzie then held her hand out and a portal appeared.

"Madzie, what are you doing?" Clary asked.

"Clary!"

Shu ran up and grabbed her before Madzie waved her hand and the portal engulfed them.

Clary and Shu woke to an amusement part around them, filled with the usual cages with Downworlders inside.

Madzie was standing above them, and Shu tugged at her foot to find an enchanted shackle and chain holding her and Clary each by the ankle.

"Just great," She muttered.

Valentine walked over and kneeled next to the young Warlock.

"Well done, Madzie. Your nana is gonna be so proud of you. But you still have a lot more to do before you can see her, okay? So run along."

Madzie nodded and skipped away.

"Hello again, Clarissa."

Clary took the opportunity to stand, as only her foot was chained to the ground.

"You must still hate me for what happened to your mother. I don't blame you. Joselyn's death will always be my greatest regret."

"If you have any shred of humanity left, you would stop this," Clary said.

"My humanity is what keeps me going. The angels designed the sword to rid the world of demons. I'm just ensuring it fulfills its true purpose."

"Magnus? Magnus, can you hear me? Magnus!"

Shu kicked her foot out against the chain, causing it to pulse with energy, but it held firm.

"I can't feel him. What the hell?!"

She kicked her foot out again, but all she was doing was causing the metal to dig into her skin.

"Dammit…"

She dug through her pockets, but she'd been disarmed, and she couldn't summon any weapons with her magic disabled.

She sighed.

"Might wanna plug your ears, darling," Shu warned.

"What? What are you gonna do?" Clary asked.

"I've been captured many times before, and I can tell you that I've gotten desperate on more than one occasion."

She kneeled down to her chain and then held her wrist to the metal. Then, her ulna began to sear with a white glow and the smell of burning skin and muscle filled the air. She screamed from the pain, but managed to draw a rune on the chain and kick her foot so that the chain snapped. She panted as she let her wrist's glow die away, and moved her other hand to her injured wrist to heal it, her magic returning.

"You…have a stele in your wrist," Clary realized.

"Long story, girl. I'll get your chain in a minute. It's magic-proof too, but my runes are plenty strong enough to break it, so just hang tight."

"No. No, you can't just-"

"Clary, I'm not gonna argue with you over a little pain for me in exchange for getting you out of here and saving the rest of the Downworld. Now shut up and let me work my magic."

She moved to the chain holding Clary's ankle while Clary looked to the sound of footsteps approaching.

"Jace!"

"Clary!"

He surged forward while Shu's wrist glowed again and she bit her lip from the searing pain.

"Where's Valentine?" Jace asked.

"I don't know. All the Circle members just left in a hurry."

The chain snapped, and Shu stood, healing her wrist once more. "You're welcome, Fairchild. I'm trying to send a SOS to Magnus, but my magic's still recovering."

"Thanks. Now we have to get out of here before Val-"

"Going someplace?" Said person asked.

Jace surged forward to attack, but Madzie waved her hand and Jace was frozen in place.

"I didn't think so. She's strong for her age, isn't she?"

"Madzie," Clary said, moving forward to kneel. "Hey, please…please, let Jace go."

"Now why would she do that, hm?"

"Because you wanna hurt people. People like Iris."

Madzie hesitated for a moment.

"Don't forget. This is the mean person who got your nana in trouble in the first place," Valentine said, kneeling down to her. "Now, if you wanna see Iris, you have to be a good little girl and do exactly what I say, okay?"

"You're the one who sent Iris to get into trouble," Shu snapped. "You threatened to make sure Madzie never saw her nana again, and so Iris went and did what you told her, went and got herself in trouble because she cared for Madzie. Now you're blackmailing that girl for a problem you caused and saying it's all out of generosity."

She waved her left hand and Jace suddenly moved again.

Then, Simon suddenly ran up from behind and punched Valentine. "Clary run!"

He was a Vampire, but he still didn't have the hang of his powers, nor much fighting skill in general, so Valentine quickly overpowered him and held him in a chokehold.

"Brave and stupid. Sweetheart, save your magic for what's to come. It's time to go."

Madzie held her hand out and a portal appeared behind them.

"I'll see you soon, Clarissa."

"Madzie, stop!" Shu shouted.

"Simon!" Clary called. "Simon, no!"

But they backed through the portal and they were gone.