Here it is^^ the 20th chapter!I'm sorry it took so long but I had to start it like five times before finding the right way (plus I have exams coming up shortly T_T)

Thank you for all the Alert/Favorites you guys are awesome!

I hope you like it,

Love, Lilly

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Chapter Twenty: Brave heart

Clary's eyes flew open.

Everything surrounding her was dark, motionless. She could feel the sweat on her forehead but it was like her arms were too heavy to move. She swallowed as her eyes adjusted to the darkness. One of her hands was resting above her head, tied to the headboard of the bed; Jonathan had wanted to make sure that she wouldn't try to sneak off and see Jace during the night.

The room was utterly calm, even Jonathan's breathing next to her was silent, as if he was dead.

If only, she thought.

Clary shivered. It was the first time in her life she had wished that someone she knew die, but again, no one she knew before would be capable of doing to Jace what Valentine and Jonathan had done. When she had come out of the room and saw Jace on the chair, with cuts and bruises all over his body, she had felt her heart shrink in her chest. Even now, it was beating slower than it should have and each beat awakened an ache to help her husband. She had never felt more scared and never felt stronger, but Clary knew she was tiny –and tied up to a bed.

Valentine and Jonathan had spent the entire afternoon with Jace. She could hear their muffled voices through the door, even after she had been dragged back inside.

"What have they done to you?" She whispered and as if, he could have heard her on the other side of the door, she heard Jace's chair move.

She pulled on her restraints to check how tight they were and winced as pain shot up her arm. She wanted to call out for him, tell him that she was okay, that she was more worried about him than he was about her. She started to look around, moving as carefully as she could to avoid waking Jonathan up.

There was only an old magazine on the bedside table, the curtains were too far away to be of any use –she was sure what she'd use them for anyway, her jeans with her belt was laying on a chair –also out of her reach, and there wasn't anything she could have used on the bed itself.

She sighed but didn't give up. Gracefully, Clary climbed out of the bed on the tip of her toes. She froze as Jonathan body turned toward her but after squinting into the darkness she concluded that he was still asleep. She crouched on the ground and, with her arm bent at a painful angle above her head she lied down on the floor and looked under the bed. At first, she could only see dust but after another few long minutes she detected a small bottle hidden behind one of the bed's feet.

A triumphant smile perked up her lips when the word soap detached itself from the bright blue package. She stood up and bent down her tied hand slowly pouring the gel on the tight fabric. And after only a few seconds, her hand had wriggled and writhed its way out of the bounds.

There wasn't any time to lose, she lightly ran to the door and yanked it open so it didn't creaked but keeping a hold on it so it didn't slammed against the wall. She closed it behind her the same way and turned.

Jace had his gaze fixed on her, boring into her head.

"How did you–"

She put a hand on his mouth and felt her heart raced in her chest. She stood up and quickly examined both Jace's restraints and his injuries. There were more cuts and more bruises than she had seen when they had brought him in. Now some burns extended on his chest and on his arms; she could see them through holes in his shirt. Against all odds, his face was fairly intact; she could only see a long cut on his cheek.

Without a word, Clary went into the kitchen and came back with a long pairs of scissors.

"It won't work," Jace whispered and her head snapped up toward the heavy-looking man that –she guessed– was supposed to guard Jace while Valentine was getting his beauty sleep. "These are manacles not your typical papier-mâché decorations."

Clary couldn't help but smile. Only her Jace could say things like that while being tied up and beaten.

She cut the plastic restraints which were holding his legs to the chair. "I'm not a complete idiot, thank you," she said.

"We'll talk about that later," he said.

"How am I supposed to break these?" she asked.

"I'm gonna guide you through it," Jace reassured her. "First, do you have a needle or a hair pin?"

"No," Clary said. "Don't move."

Jace looked at her and frowned. "Oh right. Sorry."

She disappeared in the kitchen again and when she came back she was holding a silver fork.

"Clary, honey, it'll never–" Jace stopped and watched as Clary bent down three of the fork's teeth. "You're pretty good at this."

"I have to be," she said. "I don't want to die here thank you."

Jace almost laughed. "Okay so you have to play with the point until you feel it clicked inside a keyhole."

"Wait," she said, "Okay I felt it."

"Good. Now slowly pushed to the right and then a tiny upward move, you should feel the tip lock into place."

There was a short snap and the manacles came off. Clary smiled proudly. "Not bad for a beginner, huh?"

But Jace was already moving toward the door. She carefully followed him, slightly disappointed that he didn't seem to have missed her as she had missed him. She could only think about kissing him.

Bad timing, she thought.

They were in front of the door when she tugged on his sleeve. He turned around with a frown, one of his hand still on the handle.

"Kiss me," she whispered.