Clary was tucked into Jace's chest later that night, his skin and muscles soft under her fingertips, but hard at the same time. His breathing was steady as he slept, his breath pushing her hair back whenever he exhaled. Being with Jace was always intoxicating, and Clary thought that she would eventually get used to it. But two kids and countless nights of lovemaking later, just one look can turn her insides to jelly.

But she was worried, extremely worried. She learned quickly that when demons say something is going down, it normally is true. There was never a good thing that came out of a demon's mouth, but if they said something, at least part of it was true, like rumors. Something true always started rumors, even if most of it was a lie. If only Emily knew what that other demon wanted to tell her, it would've helped Clary and Jace out tremendously.

Either way, it didn't matter now. And as Clary thought about it, sleep eluded her, even when she was wrapped in Jace's arms, wrapped in his t-shirt. She traced the fading runes on his chest, darker lines wrapping around lighter ones, twisting and curving. She recognized a few that she invented throughout the years, the curvature like a map across his golden skin.

"Clary," Jace mumbled, half asleep as she kissed just above his heart. His arms tightened around her, pulling her into him even more. "What's wrong, darling?"

She didn't answer right away. Instead, she leaned up and kissed him. He wasn't ready for it, but after a few seconds he responded quickly enough, his senses waking up and taking over. He rolled back, his arms pulling her up to straddle him, and he smiled into the kiss. Kissing Jace was always the best distraction for her. Everything faded when his lips were on hers. There were no other Shadowhunters, demons, vampires, or werewolves. It was just the two of them, smiling as they melted into one another.

Clary, reluctantly, pulled back enough to look into Jace's eyes. He kept them closed for a while before revealing the marveling golden irises to her. They were full of love, care, and lust and Clary had to place her hands on his chest to keep her from attacking him, where his heart pounded under her palms. He was beautiful, too beautiful, and it made it hard to even keep a conversation going sometimes.

"Jace," Clary said slowly, avoiding his gaze as she traveled her eyes down his chest, looking at the runes instead of him.

When she didn't continue, he frowned up at her. "What's wrong, love? You seem troubled."

She sighed and put her forehead on his chest. His arms wrapped around her, and she felt him kiss the top of her head. "Jace, I'm worried about Emily."

"Why? She's a Shadowhunter, our Shadowhunter, and she disarmed me yesterday during training. What is there to worry about?"

"She's our daughter, and that worries me."

"I don't understand," Jace said. His hand came under Clary's chin, pulling her head up slowly to look at him. "Love, is this because of me?"

That's something she wasn't prepared for. "What?"

"You remember how I was when we first met. I was compulsive. I didn't think straight or let anyone in." Clary knew he was right. And she loved the fact that he was able to open up to her like this. He never said any of those things to anyone else, including their kids. But as he spoke, she realized that Jace and Emily were extremely similar, and now that did worry her. "But I'm telling you the truth when I say that Emily can handle herself."

"But Leviathan–"

"Is our responsibility. He's not going to get to our family before we get to him, okay?" Jace cupped Clary's face in his hands and pulled her down to him. Her hands moved from his chest to beside his head, giving her better access for when he kissed her, but the kiss never came. He let her hover over him, their foreheads connected and their eyes closed. "Do you trust me?"

Clary nodded, too close to Jace to speak. She felt as if she was about to explode. She just leaned down the rest of the way, kissing him softly. He moaned and his thumb brushed across her cheek, and it was then that she realized a tear broke through.

"Clary, love, calm down," Jace said against her lips. "Our children are safe, I promise you. I'm not going to let anything happen to them."

"Jace, not to be a Doubting Thomas, but Max died in Idris and there was nothing you could do about it." He stiffened under her at the mention of Max, but she kept going anyway. "Unless we glue Emily and Michael to our hips, they can get hurt, and more than likely, they will."

Jace nodded and bit his lip. "I realize that."

"Then why do you keep saying that they'll be safe, when you know you can't guarantee that?"

Jace sighed and propped himself up on his elbows. Clary leaned back completely and actually slid off of him, taking the seat next to him. His right arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her into him like he couldn't stand not touching her. "Because I know Emily, and I know that she'd protect Michael with everything she's got. She isn't going to be okay with something killing her until she's ready for it. Until Michael is safe, she's not leaving us. And besides, she's too stubborn to be killed."

"Stubborn like her parents," Clary muttered with a smile and kissed Jace's cheek. "Like her father."

Jace beamed, like it was a compliment. "I still can't believe how everything worked out. From you," he leaned down and kissed her, "To the fact that we have two beautiful children," he kissed her cheek, slowly lowering to the bed, "and how we have the Institute to ourselves," finally she was on her back, him hovering over her on his elbows. Clary looked up at the man she loved, always loved, and couldn't believe how it happened either. Jace smiled down at her, his chipped tooth showing. "I love you Clarissa Adele Fairchild Herondale."

It was all she could do to not grab him and bring him down to her. "I love you too," and when his mouth crashed on top of hers, she was lost in it. She'd always get lost in it.

Simon's head was pounding as he made his way up the stairs of his home. It was a simple house: a three story wooden cabin with plenty of trees surrounding it along with bushes, roses, and an endless number of Isabelle's decorations on the front porch. The lights illuminated the flowers in a different way every time the sun faded at night. His eyes drifted to the sky involuntarily, looking up at the stars that were lighting the streets on the outskirts of New York City. It was wondrous, beautiful, and just what he wanted. He stopped in front of the door, debating whether or not it was hazardous to his health to enter. He could hear Chase and Isabelle yelling, and every time this happened, he got the brunt of it.

Even though he was weak from a lack of blood, he headed inside anyway. Luckily, being a vampire had some perks. He went straight for the kitchen in complete silence so he wasn't detected, avoiding the stairs that went up to Chase's room where Isabelle was in one of her moods. He grabbed a glass, the gallon of old blood that was in the back of the fridge and poured him a glass. He downed it quickly, the taste disgusting and metallic. He had gotten used to it mostly, but ever since he'd had a taste of it straight from the vein, nothing else really compared. And he doubted Izzy would offer tonight, considering she seemed to be more furious than an angry bull staring at someone dangling a red cloth in front of him.

He slowly made his way up the stairs, and stopped at the top. Chase's door was a few steps away, and he could clearly hear what was going on through the open doorway.

"She's the one that started it! I was at Pandemonium first and Emily thinks that she owns the place."

"She's Jace's daughter, what do you think she'd be like? I'm so sick of having to go over there constantly, talking to Jace about this. He finds it amusing, the fact that his daughter can break your arm on a whim. Chase, you're eighteen years old and Simon and I are sick of it."

Simon sighed, knowing just what they were talking about. He glanced down, past his gamer shirt and jeans, to the floor, debating on whether entering would be a good idea or not. With a shrug, he figured that he'd better not let them kill anyone, mainly each other.

He emerged from the doorway, to find Isabelle and Chase in positions that he wouldn't have expected. Normally when they fight because of the Herondales, they're all over each other. But now, Isabelle had settled in the desk chair across the room while Chase had found refuge at the head of his bed, his back against the headboard. Both looked up as Simon made himself known, and Isabelle smiled.

"Simon." The way she said his name always made him nervous and excited at the same time. When it came to Izzy, he never knew what to expect. But when she smiled and came up to hug him, he let out a shaky breath that wasn't necessary. "I'm glad you're here. We have a problem."

"So I've heard. Chase and Emily aren't getting along. That's nothing new," he said as she pulled away from the hug. When she cocked her head to the side, he answered her unasked question. "Clary called me and explained. "

"Naturally," Isabelle said with a hint of a smile.

"Of course she did," Chase muttered from the bed. "How do you stand her? The whole family is a bunch of egotistical, stubborn, snarky–"

"Enough," Simon said and Chase shut his mouth with a pout. Even though Chase now looked older than Simon, he still didn't mess with him. "What's your side of the story?"

Chase ran a hand through his brown curls, shrugging slightly. "I killed her demon that she apparently had claims on, and she broke my arm and hit me in the balls."

"Seems legit," Simon muttered. He turned to Isabelle, who had her arms wrapped around her torso. She gave him a curious look when he leaned in and kissed her cheek before whispering, "I'll meet you in our bedroom. I want to talk to him."

Izzy seemed confused, but nodded regardless and left. The door closed with a click and Simon leaned back against it, staring at Chase. His shirt was off, the runes dancing across his skin as he played with the golden stele in his lap. His head was down, like he was ashamed but he had a right to be.

"Care to explain?" Simon asked as he walked over to the bed, sitting at the foot of it.

Chase was quiet for a moment, before he reached for his phone on the bedside table. Simon didn't ask what he was doing and waited until Chase found what he needed and handed it to him.

A danger is approaching, young Shadowhunter. Lady Lilith is angry, and you'd be wise to stay out of the affairs between her and the Herondales.

"Does Jace and Clary know about this text?" Simon asked, a bad feeling hitting in the pit of his stomach.

Chase shook his head. "I never showed it to anyone. Someone sent that to me a week ago and nothing has happened yet. The only thing that caught me curious was when the demon tonight said he had a message for Emily. I thought that maybe it was just a prank of some sort, some vampires separating us for their own games, so killed him to stop something that was unnecessary."

"The clan leaders would know if this was vampires," Simon explained. "They don't want to start anything with Jace's family, and it's obvious that whoever sent this is holding a serious grudge. And as for Lady Lilith–" Simon paused, just the name making him want to throw up. Every memory he had of Lady Lilith was worse than awful, terrible really. In fact, if he saw her again, he'd probably rip her heart out then and there. "She's dangerous."

"I know," Chase said in a low voice. "My parents told me the stories about her taking over Jace, using you to get Jonathan back alive. I remember all of what they told me, and that's what terrifies me."

Out of all the years that Simon had known Chase, not once had he openly admitted that he was scared of anything. Even Emily, someone who caused him more pain than anyone or anything else on the planet, didn't scare him. In fact, it just fueled his fire to get her back. But as Simon looked at Chase now, he could see the fear.

"Do you want me to come with you tomorrow morning?" Simon asked. "We could both head to the Institute and I can talk to Clary and Jace about the Lilith matter. You just need to focus on your training."

Chase nodded slowly, although it was obvious he didn't like the idea. "Do I really have to train with Emily? Is it that necessary? I'd rather have the silent brother's poke through my brain than have a conversation with her."

Simon just smiled and nodded, ruffling Chase's hair like he was a four year old. "You'll work it out. If I could learn to deal with Jace, you can learn to deal with Emily."

"What do you think that was about?" Alec asked as he walked to the closet he shared with Magnus, pulling the tie off around his neck as he went.

Magnus just plopped on the bed, glitter falling all over the sheets but he didn't seem to care. Alec kept thinking back to their conversation with Emily. It worried him. She had something else on her mind when they were talking, something other than Karrie's safety.

"Magnus?" Alec called his name and when Magnus still didn't answer, he wadded the tie up and threw it at his boyfriend. Magnus jumped when it hit his face, and grabbed it, looking at it with a confused expression. "What's wrong?"

"Emily," he answered matter-of-factly. "And Jace and Clary."

"I understand Emily," Alec said as he crossed the room to sit by his boyfriend on the bed. "I figured something was up that she wasn't telling us, but what about Jace and Clary? I didn't see anything out of the ordinary."

"It's nothing that they did."

That made Alec even more confused. "What are you talking about?"

Magnus sighed and dropped his head. "Alec, there's been rumors going around that Leviathan is in New York. There's been talk around the downworlders. Some have spotted him about a month ago, others more recent. But he disappeared before they could actually get a good look at him. And a little birdie told me that Clary and Jace are the ones on the case of hunting him down. But from what I observed tonight, they're not in a hurry about catching him, if they're doing anything at all."

Alec recoiled, confusion spreading across his face. The fact that Jace and Alec weren't parabatia anymore still bothered him but Jace always kept him in the loop of the Shadowhunters. When Alec became immortal, it stripped him of his marks as well. He wasn't even Nephilim, but that didn't mean he didn't fight for the greater good.

But apparently things changed. "And they didn't tell us? He didn't think that telling me, Isabelle, anyone was a good idea? I don't see why Clary would keep it from Isabelle either. Does Jocelyn know? "

Magnus shook his head. "I doubt it. Clary is persistent on keeping her mother out of Shadowhunter affairs nowadays. And as for Luke, I'm afraid he's keeping secrets as well."

"Like what?"

"I don't know for sure. I know it has something to do with Conan, Maia, and Jordan, although I don't know what it could be exactly."

Alec was quiet for a moment, not sure what to say. This was getting a little overwhelming. If Leviathan was out of the realms and in New York City, things could get messy extremely quick. And he wouldn't put it past Jace's family to keep it completely confidential. In fact, he expected it. Who knew how many fights they've been in that neither him or even Jocelyn knew about.

"Do you think it's all connected?"

Magnus seemed to think about it for a moment. "I think it's nothing we need to concern ourselves with." Alec opened his mouth to protest, but Magnus leaned forward and quieted him with his lips. After a few minutes, Magnus pulled back, smiling at his boyfriend in a way that made Alec's knees weak. He was suddenly very thankful that they were seated on the bed. "We can worry about it in the morning. And it's probably nothing important. Lately, when it concerns you, I've been known to overthink certain things," Magnus insisted. He took the tie Alec had thrown at him earlier, wrapping it around Alec's neck seductively and winked at him as he pulled Alec towards him with the cloth. "Why don't we distract you for a while?"

Alec nodded enthusiastically, and couldn't have had a better distraction as Magnus kissed him again.