Daylight filters into the room uninvited. Believe when I say I could spend a lifetime lying here in Jem's arms, his chest moving up and down slowly with every unconscious breath. Although he still sleeps, there is contentment in the contours of his face. Happiness that we are finally together, happiness he is free, no longer bound by the oaths of the Silent Brothers. I close my eyes again, just enjoying the warmth emanating from my love. I sincerely hope I spend the rest of my life waking up in the morning in his embrace. Until he died.

The thought strikes me, reverberating painfully inside my mind. I'd told Jem I could accept his death, but it is a lie. Will's death had cut part of my heart away. When Jem dies I fear there will be none of my damaged heart left. No matter how far I try to push it out of my head, it will always be there. I can never escape it. Falling asleep on that thought was never going to be easy, but the easy beat of Jem's heart convinces my mind we still have a lot of time in front of us. Perhaps the years won't go by like minutes.

A startling ringing sound jolts me out of my sleep again. It is a foul sound, intrusive and unrelenting. Jem stirs beneath me. "I really should have switched that off," he says, still half-asleep, and he reaches for the mobile. I really do detest the metallic sound it makes; it doesn't even compare to the sound of a bow on strings.

"Hello?"

"I... Well, I suppose I could..." I hear the reluctance in his voice. "For Jonathan? Of course, we'll be there in a few hours."

He looks at me, his eyes ambivalent. "I'll have to ask her... Goodbye, Magnus."

"Magnus? Magnus Bane?"

"Yes." There is a hesitancy in his voice. "He wants to meet with us in regards to the New York Institute."

I frown, remembering the last time Magnus and I had spoken.

"Jem... There aren't any Herondales at the New York Institute, are there?"

He moves away from me, gathering his clothes. His voice is a little constricted when he says, "No, just the Lightwoods, and of course Clarissa Fairchild."

"Valentine's daughter."

"Descendant of our Charlotte," he replies, chastising me slightly. He obviously thought well of the girl.

I bite back a sharp answer; there is no point judging her before we even meet. "So we're going to meet them, then?"

"If you want to," There is a certain tonelessness to that answer. He doesn't seem overly happy about the fact I am going.

And so that automatically makes me want to resist. "I'd like to."

His breath rushes out in a hiss. "Fine then. Jonathan Herondale lives there with his adoptive family."

I flinch, but know I cannot back down now. "I want to meet him Jem."

"Of course you do," he says, exasperation written over his face. He rests his forearm against the wall, and ducks his head against it. "You're only setting yourself up for more hurt, Tessa."

"Please, James Carstairs."

He looks up at me once more. His dark eyes soften. "Okay, Tess. Just keep in mind, Will and Jace are two separate people."

"I know," I say, with determination in my voice. "Come here, Jem. I loathe to see you so tense and distant. "

He smiles wearily, but moves closer to embrace me. "Oh, Tess," he murmurs. "What I wouldn't do for you."

With that said, he takes my arm gently and guides me back to bed. I raised my brows enquiringly, and he grinned and said, "Tessa, this is no sane waking hour."

We remove his clothes again and spend the rest of the morning there, alternating between periods of activity and periods of sleepy warmth.

Firstly, don't hate me for taking so long to post another chapter- my main aim is foremost to revise for my exams, and secondly to work on An Undying Love. Hope you like it, and of course this is set quite a bit after the events of CoLS, so Jace, Clary etc. are probably in the middle of a war with Sebastian. CC mentions a world of fire and blood, I now feel like I'm quoting an Inspector Calls, so it will perhaps take some time to think about how to write that.