Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. This past semester was insane, and I've just now caught myself a break. For those of you still tuned in, enjoy! Fingers crossed that more will come soon!
"That?" Jace cried, staring at the ring in Imogen's hand. "How?"
The violet-eyed girl just smiled. Then she stood up and went toward the opening in the hedge wall. Jace jumped up and followed her.
"Where are you going? We're stuck in a maze," Jace pointed out.
Imogen took Jace's hand and pulled him along as she began through the maze. She walked confidently as if she'd walked this very maze hundreds of times before. Every step was sure. Every turn was definite. The two Shadowhunters finally reached the end of the maze. There stood a grand mansion of white and gray stones. It would have been a castle if it had towers and a mote, Jace thought. A large stone patio extended from the house with a canopy of flowering vines draped over it. If this was the back of the house, Jace couldn't wait to see the front.
Imogen tugged on the sleeve of Jace's jacket and pointed up at a balcony on the third floor of the house.
"Up there?" Jace asked. Imogen nodded. "Alright, get on my back." Imogen obeyed. Jace ran toward the house and then jumped. As if carried by an angel's wings, the two flew upward and landed softly on the balcony. Imogen immediately darted for the door and slid it open.
"Imogen, wait!" Jace called, but Imogen had already disappeared into the house. Jace sighed and followed. When he stepped through the door, he found himself in an enormous bedroom. He would have guessed it belonged to a princess. He felt small standing in the room. Expensive furniture was spread across the room. The canopy bed was large enough to fit all of the Lightwoods plus Jace and Clary. Imogen had opened a dresser and began digging through it, frantically tossing out clothes as she searched for something.
Jace raised his hand to catch a piece of clothing before it could hit his face as he approached the dresser. In his hand was a lacy, black and purple bra. Jace held it up to his chest. "How does this look?" he asked Imogen, but she didn't answer. "What are you looking for?"
Imogen turned around and took Jace's stele from his pocket. She held it up, waved it in his face, and then placed it back in his pocket.
"A stele? That's what you're looking for? You're going to steal one?"
Imogen shook her head and pointed to herself.
"You? Yours? Wait, your stele? This is your room? This is your house?" Jace goggled stupidly at Imogen, who nodded and went back to her search, digging around in the large oak desk and diving under the bed to root through more junk.
Jace held up the bra. "This is your bra?" He stared at it for a minute, and then grinned devilishly. "Nice."
Imogen finally scrambled out from under the bed, her eyes filled with joy. She held out a crystal stele. It had a soft green tint when the light hit it. Imogen hurried to Jace and held out the stele to him.
"Why are you giving this to me?"
Imogen pointed to herself.
"Yeah, I know it's your stele. You just told me." Then Jace realized she was pointing to her mouth. "The silencing Rune? You want me to undo it?"
Imogen nodded urgently and pushed the stele into Jace's hand. Jace stood behind Imogen and brushed her hair away from her neck. He placed the tip of the stele against her skin and took a deep breath. His hands trembled as he traced a complicated Rune to undo the complex silencing Rune. As soon as the Rune was undone, another one appeared, but it was different from the first. Jace undid that one, as well as the next two that appeared. He finally exhaled the breath he had been holding. Did it work? Would Imogen finally be able to speak? What did her voice sound like?
"I…I think I'm done," Jace said softly.
Imogen drew in a deep breath, but didn't say anything. She didn't turn around either. Jace stood where he was for a few tense seconds, not sure what to do.
"Imogen?" Jace reached out and touched her shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"Jace?" Imogen slowly turned around so she could look Jace in the eye. "Jace," she said again.
"We did it!" Jace shouted, picking Imogen up and spinning her around. Imogen laughed and cried as she threw her arms around Jace's neck and kissed him on the cheek. Grinning, Jace did all he could to hid the blush in his cheeks.
Jace stepped out of the shower and dried himself off with a big, fluffy, white towel. He wrapped the towel around his hips and walked out of the bathroom into the large bedroom beside Imogen's. He found Imogen standing at the dresser holding a picture frame in her hands.
"Were you waiting for me?" Jace asked. When Imogen looked up at him, Jace looked down at his towel and added, "Am I overdressed?"
Imogen chuckled and rolled her eyes. She placed the picture frame back on the dresser and walked toward the door. "Sorry, I'll leave you to get dressed."
"And here I thought was going to get laid," Jace muttered. Imogen shook her head as she left the room. Jace went over to the dresser and picked up the picture Imogen was looking at. Smiling back at him was a young man, about the same age as Alec, with blonde hair and eyes like bright, blue pools. He was very good-looking with a boyish face and a warm, but brilliant smile. He carried on his back a dark-haired, violet-eyed girl who clung tightly to his shoulders and laughed as the photograph was taken. Jace recognized the girl as Imogen, but in the photograph, her eyes were brighter, her dark curls shone with a heavenly luster, and her face was much fuller. Jace put the picture back and picked up the other two that sat on the dresser. One photograph depicted the same young man with his arms around Imogen and kissing her on the cheek. The other photograph was of just Imogen sitting in a garden of white day lilies. Jace looked back to the picture of the young man kissing Imogen on the cheek. This had to be James. A familiar twinge pulled the muscles in Jace's chest. The last time he had felt this way was when he saw Simon holding Clary's hand. Jealousy. It wasn't a feeling Jace encountered very often.
Jace shook the feeling off and put the pictures back. He opened the dresser and picked out a clean set of clothes. Once dressed, Jace stared at his reflection in the full-length mirror. He had chosen a pair of faded jeans and a black button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. It suddenly dawned on him that he was standing in James Gallagher's bedroom. Although Imogen had given him permission, Jace suddenly felt uncomfortable wearing James's clothes. He'd also used James's shower and looked at his pictures of Imogen. He felt as if he'd stepped into someone's memory, uninvited. Jace quickly put his boots back on and left the room. He poked his head into Imogen's room, but she wasn't there. He wandered around the rest of the third floor and found only bedrooms and closets. He walked down white marble stairs to the second floor where he found more bedrooms and storage closets. Still no Imogen. Jace continued on and found himself in the middle of where the grand marble steps slit. The steps clung to the cream-colored walls to his left and right, curving around a great marble statue. Though he was standing behind the statue, Jace could tell it was a statue of the Angel, his wings spread behind him and his arms wide open as if waiting for an embrace. Jace turned to his left and walked down the steps. He swept his fingers across the banister and picked up a thick layer of dust. He brushed off the dust on his jeans.
"Imogen?" Jace called.
"I'm in the library," Imogen called back.
"Where? I'm at the stairs."
"Go right, past the parlor, through the living room."
Jace followed Imogen's directions and walked past the parlor. He stopped and gasped as he stepped into the living room. It was an enormous room with deep red walls and high ceilings. A large brass chandelier hung over the center of the room. Armchairs and couches were artistically placed around the room atop a thick black rug with intricate gold detailing. Along one wall was a large, black granite fireplace. A row of intricately carved red candles lined the mantle. Above the fireplace hung a column of swords from the mantle to the ceiling. Portraits of various members of the Adair family hung around the room along with various weapons. Jace stopped at one of the portraits. A middle-aged couple sat on a luxurious red leather loveseat. Both were tall and slim with black hair that didn't show any signs of graying. They had sharp, bright eyes: the man's green, and the woman's violet. Behind the woman stood a young man in his twenties with dark hair and green eyes and his arm around a pretty redhead whose belly was round with child. On the young man's other side stood Imogen and James. Jace spent a long time staring at the portrait of Imogen's family. She had it all – a beautiful home in Alicante, a family, a fiancé. But it was all torn away by Valentine. Valentine, the monster that threatened to destroy the Shadowhunters. Jace's hands curled into fists as he silently swore to himself that he would avenge every Shadowhunter who has died at the hands of Valentine. He took a deep breath and walked away from the portrait. He went through the other door of the living room, which led into the library.
Imogen stood on the opposite side of the room from Jace with an open book in her hands. She looked up when he entered the room and gasped, dropping the book. Jace winced as the sound of the book smacking down in the hardwood floor boomed throughout the library.
"You look like you saw a ghost," Jace said.
Imogen picked up the book with trembling hands. "For second, I thought I did," she muttered. She climbed up the ladder and put the book back in its place.
"Really now?" Jace enquired, crossing the room. "Do I remind you of someone?"
"Yeah, someone I used to know."
"James Gallagher?"
Imogen suddenly lost her grip on the ladder. Jace rushed forward and caught her. Imogen was tense and pale.
"How do you know that name?" Imogen demanded as Jace set her down.
"The Lightwoods told me when I showed them your ring."
Imogen leaned back against the bookcase, biting her lip and folding her arms tightly across her chest. Suddenly her hand flew to her mouth as she tried to stifle a sob.
"Imogen," Jace murmured, reaching out to touch her.
"Sorry," Imogen said softly, brushing past him. "You just remind me of James."
"What was he like?"
"Jace, not now."
"Tell me about him."
"Jace, stop it," Imogen said, more loudly than she wanted to. "Sorry. I can't… Please, don't ask me about James right now." Imogen walked quickly out of the library and disappeared.