Hey guys. No excuses. I'm getting right to the story enjoy -Jen
Valentine stood on the balcony off of his room, watching the city glow below him. Something was coming, he could feel it in the air. The Clave was still around, still a threat. He'd only been able to get them out of the city-his city. He'd killed a few of the members, not enough, but a few. They wouldn't beat him. They couldn't. He was too strong. He had Jonathan and Clarissa. He even had Jace, if he could get him to cooperate. There was still a bit of fight behind the surface, unlike Clary whose response to the rune was immediate. She couldn't fight him. She couldn't complain. She did his bidding. It was exactly how he wanted it. The next test was seeing if she could kill someone close to her. No, not Jace. Jace was needed at the moment. But someone she cared about. Someone she'd known most of her life. He'd have to think about that. Maybe he'd take a trip to her room while he had her on a shift. He could go through her drawings and figure out the next step.
The shifts… he hadn't wanted to give those to her, but he was getting anxious. They were beginning to see less and less of the demons in the city, less and less people actually and normally they had a few attacks at the wall, though he'd hid them from his daughter. There hadn't been one in over a week. That wasn't normal. Something was deffinatly going to happen and he was ready for it.
Simon sat on the roof of a small pub watching Isabelle as she paced back and forth in front of him. He was worried, because she was clearly visible to anyone down on the streets. "We should get out of here. It's getting late." Simon sighed. Isabelle ignored him. "Seriously Is-"
"We have to wait for them." She practically growled.
"You know how hard it is to get in and out of the city. Maybe-"
"no. don't you say that. Don't you dare say that." Simon put his head in his hands. They were waiting for a few of the old Clave members to appear. They'd gotten a message to Luke. However, they were two hours late.
"This is getting dangerous Is." Simon said. "We can't be seen." Isabelle ground her teeth.
"We aren't leaving." Simon stood up but upon seeing Isabelle's face dropped back to the floor. "30 minutes. We are leaving in 30 minutes." She didn't agree or disagree, just continued her pacing. Simon wanted to save Jace and Clary as much as anyone else but what was being planned was a bit nuts. The Clave had been attacking the Morgenstern Mansion in little bursts over the last four year. Each time had failed but they weren't done. They'd recently pulled back, trying to save what they had left of nephiliam and downworlders. It wasn't like they were excited to use to the downworlders but they'd realized there was little to no choice in the matter. They were now on the same side, because Valentines men were killing more of them than the Clave had been doing before all of this had happened. The Clave was doing one last attempt to get through the gate. They were going to use everything they had: Nephilliam, downworlders, everything. They were going to attack. Hard. Simon had no idea when this was planned but the first step was to get the leaders into the city. He really hoped they'd show up soon.
Jonathan walked slowly down the cobblestone path, biding his time until his father needed him. He hoped to have at least thirty minutes. He looked to make sure no one was watching, then opened the creaking door that lead to the barn. A servant was sweeping the hay. Or so he seemed. Jonathan walked over to his black Stallion, and rubbed the base from his eyes to his nose. "Castre." Jonathan said calmly, not looking at the man with the broom.
"Jonathan. Long time no see How's your sister?"
"A normal pain in my side. Do you have what I asked for?" Castre tsked, and set the broom down.
"Your horse needs a good brushing." He said as he opened the door to another stall. Jonathan understood immediately and walked over to the storage room. Valentine had eyes and ears everywhere. He had to be careful. He opened the storage bin that contained the horse brushes. At the bottom, was something wrapped in old parchment. He slipped it into his coat and grabbed a brush. He had some time to take care of his beauty.
Clary kicked a stone as she walked down the street. She was allowed out. Her father had let her. Yet, where was the happiness she should've been feeling? Why was she so down. 'Because it cost you Jace to get it,' her mind whispered. She sighed. No. She wasn't going to get angry with herself. She wasn't going to cry and kick and scream, not that she could anyway. She'd gone through way worse than Jace had, and she wasn't about to jeopardize her position with her father now. She refused to go through that kind of torture again. She continued her walk down the street only to be stopped moments later by a familiar voice. "Hey Clar!" She turned around slowly and forced a smile as Jared walked down the street. He pulled her into a hug. "You're out here all alone? That never happens!" Clary laughed.
"Yeah, Father decided to give me a chance." Jared nodded.
"Cool. I'm meeting some guys down at the bar. You wanna come?" Clary shook her head. She didn't want to drink. Although she knew that she could use some kind of break from all of the stress, she knew better. Also being around intoxicated guys wouldn't help her mood. It would be more like babysitting to her.
"No thanks. I'm good Jared."
"oh…. Well…" He looked around and sighed. "I'll walk with you then." Clary narrowed her eyes.
"I thought you were going to the bar." He shrugged.
"I could hang with those losers any day. I'd rather spend some time with you." Clary felt a blush creep onto her face.
"Really, you don't have to." She said. "I don't mind being alone." She started walking away but Jared grabbed her hand.
"No-wait! I-I'll walk with you, really. No one likes to be alone. It's not in our nature." 'It was forced into mine.' She thought. She shook his hand off.
"You can follow if you want. But I don't really know where I'm going. I'm just wandering." Jared smiled.
"Yeah. Cool." Rolling her eyes, she started walking again, Jaredvnext to her.