Indie's POV

Nathan's fingers trace circles on my bare shoulder, spreading tingles and warmth. I look up at him, my nose gently knocking his as our lips brush. A small smile tugs at the corner of his mouth and I know that this means he's happy- a small smile from Nathan Dale is a big deal.

"I'm sorry for leaving that night .." I whisper as I brush my fingers along his jaw, his rough stubble tickling my palm. "I'm sorry you lost your parents and Rosa because of my mistakes. I promised Zan I would keep an eye on Jordan and I failed him - I failed everyone."

Nathan swallows thickly and pins some hair behind my ear, shaking his head. "You should not feel guilty anymore, Indie. What's done is done. Jordan was not your responsibility." His hand moves to the small of my back as he guides me closer to him - tucking my head under his chin.

"Have you heard anything ... from him?"

"From Jonathan?" Nathan breathes. I nod and then he shakes his head. "No. The bastard didn't even show up to her funeral."

I swallow. Rosalind had been besotted with the young Morgenstern, following him around like a lost puppy since she was eleven years old. He basked in the attention and was able to make Rosa do anything he pleased. If she had been alive still, no doubt she would have turned against her family and the rest of the shadowhunter world. She would have done anything for him.

"Maybe in a way .. she's safer wherever she is, away from him." I stroke Nathan's hair gently. "We both know she wouldn't have survived with him for long."

Nathan shrugs. "If I had known about her infatuation with him, their relationship would have ended long before her death." He clears his throat and sits up - looking around for his clothes. "She was only a child. He tricked his way into the heart and mind of a child."

I sit up, the covers pooling around my waist and I wrap my arms around him from behind - my cheek pressed against his back. "Technically, I was a child when we met."

He turns his head with a small smile. "Yes, but I'm not a psychopathic murderer, Indie," He chuckles and his laugh is like music to my ears.

"Maybe not the murderer part," I tease and he laughs again softly, pinning me down on the bed and beginning to tickle me relentlessly.

Jace's POV

Her hand is dwarfed in mine as we walk - our arms swinging slightly. I look across at her and admire the way her hair has been wrestled into a neat braid and her green eyes take in everything around her. She's so beautiful.

"Stop staring," she mutters with a blush and I smirk.

"Why? I'm only admiring the view."

She rolls her eyes and pushes open the door to Jordan's apartment building - hips swaying as she takes the lead. I close my eyes briefly and take a deep breath before following.

We take the elevator up to the sixth floor and then walk down the long corridor to Jordan's apartment. He's waiting at the door, his eyes landing on the backpack that I have slung over my shoulder and he nods.

"We better hope that's enough," He grumbles before leading the way in. I let Clary go in first, my eyes narrowing slightly as I take in everything to make sure there's no danger. My first instinct will always be to protect her.

Jordan leads us to his living room - a cramped room stuffed with a flea-ridden sofa bed and an ancient TV. A bookshelf stands in the corner with historical books stacked on top of the each other. I'm instantly drawn to it. Even though Jordan is a werewolf and always will be - he's determined to keep a little bit of humanity within his life.

In the corner sits Simon Lewis, his skin pale and his eyes dark. The hunger in his eyes isn't threatening or dangerous. The hunger in his eyes is desperate and sad. Becoming a vampire has ruined Clary's best friend.

"Jace?" Clary asks, holding out her hand and I reluctantly pass her the backpack - not wanting her anywhere near the vampire .. or any male for that instance. "Thank you."

I watch as she walks to Simon and kneels down in front of him, unzipping the bag and pulling out a bag of the O- blood we had to steal. Clary felt guilty for taking so many donations. I don't. If Simon's hunger drove him to drain innocent humans - they were going to need many more blood donations than we were taking to stop him from becoming a murderer.

"Clary," I warn but it's too late. Simon snatches the bag from her with a growl and drains the bag, puncturing the plastic with his fangs. Clary is shocked but not scared - standing her ground - and, without a word, she hands the next bag to him.

I turn to Jordan who rubs the back of his neck and sighs.

"How's he been?" I ask.

"He's been keeping me up all night. Keeps whining for Clary."

Narrowing my eyes slightly, I turn my attention back to the two. Simon's eyes have lightened considerably and he's now talking quietly to Clary. My Clary.

She places a hand on his knee comfortingly and smiles up at him - a smile that I wish was directed at me instead of this leach. I swallow back the bile that rises in my throat and push down the jealousy that clouds my sense of judgement.

Luke's POV

"What are you doing?" Maryse demands, her eyes blazing with anger. "You better not be calling Clary, Luke, or I swear I'll-"

"You'll what?" I growl. "You can hardly expect me to keep this from her, Maryse."

"We have to," she snaps and snatches my phone from my hand. I gape at her.

"Why?"

"Because you know what will happen if she finds out." Maryse sits down with a sigh, rubbing circles into her temples. "She'll want to leave. And Jace, Zan, Alec, Indie and Izzy will go with her. If Alec goes Magnus goes. If Zan goes, Jordan goes. If Indie goes, Nathan goes. If Nathan goes, his brothers go. The Dales and Jordan Kyle do not mix." She pauses."We may as well throw in a vampire or two and we've got ourselves an army. They're only children, Lucian."

I stare at her levelly and approach her desk quietly. "We were only children, Maryse," I mutter.

"And look where that landed us," She laughs bitterly. "Clary's absence broke my family, Lucian. Now, don't get me wrong, I love Clary like she was my own but -"

"-then why must you insist she does not know?" I interrupt.

"I must protect everyone, Lucian," She murmurs."And it's in everyone's best interest that Clary doesn't find out that we know where Jocelyn is."

A/N:

ALOOHHHHAAAAA! It's been A YEAR since I last published a chapter. A YEAR! That's WAY too long. But I'm BAAAACCCCCKKKK!

When you're 16 in the UK, you take big exams called GCSEs at the end of high school (I had 22). These are kind of like SATs I think and they are STRESSSFULLLLLL. But mine are ALL OVER. These exams have taken over my life for the last year with mocks and coursework as well but now I have a two month summer to do whatever the heck I please before sixth form (two years between high school and university). And I missed writing SO. MUCH. So I thought it was about time I came back and it felt so nice to complete this chapter!

I'm not the type of writer who can produce chapters every week on a certain day on command but I promise to be more frequent with my updates now I have a lot more free time. I'm even thinking of starting a new story on my Wattpad account, so if you want to keep an eye out there for it, you can.

All of my work is unedited so sorry for any mistakes!

FAVOURITE. COMMENT. FOLLOW.

(Shout out to those who have come back to this story after a year - you're saints)

THANK YOU!
Izzy xoxo