Oh My God! It's been almost a full months since the last time I've updated. I blame my procrastination. Anyway, I've just been so busy with school and getting things ready to go to college that time really got away from me. I promise I will update sooner, but the chapters might not be as long. I'm just saying. This is a warning. It's been a while since I've worked on this story so let me know if there's anything that could use some changing and what not. Anyway... please enjoy and review!

The gravity of being separated from the others has hit Clary hard. Her grief at not being with Jace, her soul mate, is making it harder for her to focus on the task at hand. Then, out of nowhere, a man appears before Clary with a proposition that could change her life forever... or end it. Will Clary get back to Jace and the others before it's too late for the world? What exactly does this mystery man want? Will Clary risk trusting him in return for learning who she is and what she can truly do? Read on to find out...

Chapter 22

For a while after I can't see Jace anymore, I'm stunned silent. I've never felt as empty as I felt just then. I didn't know this was what it feels like to be completely hollow inside. Being torn away from the one person I truly love hurts a lot. It hurts more than when I lost Jocelyn.

Jace is someone I want to spend the rest of my life with. Being torn away from him is the worst thing that can happen and it just happened. I look up at the bird demon that's flying leisurely through the red sky. Anger flares in my chest. How dare it? What right does it have to do this to me? Haven't I gone through enough already? Haven't I suffered enough? Haven't I lost enough?

I reach for the claw and pull at it with as much strength as I can muster. The bird demon lets out a screech and clenches harder. I grunt as the pain hits me, but I don't stop. I'm not going to let this thing get away with what it's doing to me.

The bird demon screeches even louder as its claw begins to withdraw from my body. I strain my muscles to their limit and the claw is released. I start falling.

When I look down I see the ground quickly approaching. I bend my knees and land in a hard crouch. A shock goes through my entire body, but I'm surprised I didn't break my legs. I landed a lot softer than I thought I would.

I grab my shoulder. I wish I knew how to do that rune thing Jace and the others did. Thinking about Jace sends a whole new wave of depression over me. I shake my head. I can't think about that now. I look up and see the Bird demon swooping down at me again. I set my jaw and get ready.

Before anything more can happen the bird demon dissolves as the red sky disappears as well. I let out a sigh of relief then wince at the pain in my shoulder. I look around and find a suitable building to hide in for the moment. I don't want to be caught outside by anything else at this moment.

I sit against the wall while trying to catch my breath. I need to find a place that won't turn into something out of hell when everything turns all red again.

When I move to get up a pain shoots through my shoulder and down my arm. I push my coat down to look at my shoulder. It's times like this that I really wished I new how to do those rune things those shadow hunters do. I know I'm one too, but I wasn't raised to be like them.

It looks like the bleeding is already slowing down. That's strange. I've always been a fast healer, but never this fast. A lot of things about me have been changing a lot lately. Maybe it's because I'm finally learning the truth about myself. The truth my parents kept hidden from me for so long.

I feel my face darken. Luke and Jocelyn knew about all of this and they didn't tell me anything about it. They knew how dangerous this world was and they left me blind. I clench my fist on my injured arm. I use the pain to try to forget about the betrayal I feel, but it's not working very well.

Knowing that they could have told me about all of this and warn me about what was out there could have helped me so much. I wouldn't be in this situation right now… okay, maybe I would be, but maybe the situation would be better. I would understand better why this is happening to me.

Then I remember that I've been separated from Jace and the others. It hurts my heart to think about him. Jace is my soul mate. I just know it. If he wasn't then it wouldn't feel this bad.

I reach for the stele at my belt. I lick my lips. I don't know if I can do this. Whenever Jace would draw that healing rune on me I ignored it like I do with most pain.

Okay. This can't be that hard. I have been injured enough times for Jace to use the rune on me enough times so I can remember it. I have a great memory. I just don't want to end up making the wrong symbol and then having my arm fall off.

With a deep breath I lift the stele up to my shoulder. An image flashes behind my eyes. It takes me a second to realize that it's the same rune Jace draws on me every time I get injured. My hand moves quickly as I press the tip of the stele against my skin near my wounded shoulder.

Once I finish I pull the stele away from my skin and watch as its magic works. It's healing my wound, but it's still going to hurt a little while it heals.

I pull up my coat over my shoulders again and stand. I look out the door. I honestly don't know where I'm supposed to go. It's completely lifeless here as far as I can tell. The only other living person I've seen, besides my ground, was that girl from before.

Maybe if I can make my way back to where I saw her then maybe I can find the others. I feel a dull ache in my chest at the thought of seeing Jace again. I don't know if I will even be able to find him. I've lived in New York for such a long time, but with the condition it is in at the moment, it will be nearly impossible without some sort of miracle happening.

Of course miracles wouldn't be that farfetched at this point. I'm an ex-assassin angel hybrid. Not to mention my father is a werewolf and my mother is a shadow hunter. All of this, minus the assassin part, I had no idea was true until just recently. Just thinking about it now makes me sort of pissed off.

I roll my shoulder and barely feel any pain at this point. Those runes really do come in handy. Maybe I should ask Jace later about teaching me about runes. Maybe Jace can teach me more about demons too. Seeing that I really never studied them in length. Only enough to satiate my curiosity.

Maybe Jace- no… I need to stop thinking about Jace. No matter how much I want to keep him in my thoughts. God! I didn't know it was going to be this hard being separated from him. I love Jace so much being away from him is causing me to have a mini panic attack. I can't afford to do this right now. I'm in trouble and I need to focus.

I take a few deep breaths to settle my nerves before walking out of the building. I look around quickly before heading off down the street. I stay close to buildings. If I go into a building even when it's all messed up when everything gets weird again, then the chances of being snatched by a bird demon goes down drastically. Common sense.

I keep my eyes open and constantly look everywhere to spot anything out of the ordinary. Not like the entire city is in worse shape than a ghost town.

After walking for a few hours I come to the conclusion that this city is deserted. I haven't found any signs of life other than myself and that girl. I know Jace and the others are here somewhere, but it's going to be difficult finding them.

Suddenly the sky starts to turn red again. I look around and dive into what looks like a diner. I go behind the counter and watch as the walls start to ooze blood and become like flesh. A shiver runs down my spine. I don't think I'll ever get used to that.

The bird demons appear in the sky once again. They're searching for me. I just know it. That means that I'm in some serious danger. Especially since I'm by myself.

Usually I would think I have better chances by myself because there are no other people to mess up my plans. This time it's different. This is a different kind of dangerous. I didn't know about the different danger before I got into all that underground stuff from a while ago. Luke knew it was dangerous and let me go anyway.

Again anger fills me. I shake my head. I can't let myself get caught up in that kind of thinking. It will just make me distracted. I look down when I feel something move across my ankle. I swallow hard when I see it's some kind of leech. There are a bunch of them around me.

I keep absolutely still. I don't know what these things are capable of. As far as I can tell, they could end up being my doom. I never thought I would be thinking this pessimistic. Honestly.

The leech crawls off my ankle leaving behind a trail of what looks like blood. I take a deep breath then jump up and over the counter. The leeches shoot off after me. I grab a table and hold it up to stop some leeches from latching into my face.

I throat the table at some leeches near the door then make a breath for it. The moment I'm outside the bird demons swarm me. I pull out the seraph blade. "Raziel."

The seraph blade glows with an angel light. I swing at the nearest bird demon. I duck down when I feel another one coming from behind. I keep swinging until I hear a screech pierce the sky. All the other bird demons swarm to get away. One knocks the seraph blade from my hand.

I curse and turn to get it, but the screech gets louder. I look up and see that bird demon that carried me away from my friends… and Jace. Anger fills my entire being.

The bird demon comes directly at me. Its claw is out and ready to grab me to carry me away. I stand my ground. There's no way I'll be able to get any progress done if I have to deal with this thing every time I this red sky thing happens.

Seeing that I'm not moving, the bird demon rushes in faster. I know that look in its eyes. It doesn't matter if it's a demon or not. That look in that demon's eyes can only be described as cocky. If anything, arrogant. It doesn't think I have a chance. Well I'll show him. There's more to me than meets the eye.

I bend my knees and flex my hands. I wait for just the right moment and my body reacts on its own. My arm pulls backward then whips out. My fist connects with the bird demon's chest with more force than I thought I was capable of.

My eyes widen as the bird demon's chest is completely crushed then thrown back farther than I can tell. For a second I just stand there, staring at the bird demon that isn't moving in the distance, before looking down at my fist. That should have caused some kind of damage, but it didn't. my hand is perfectly fine.

I blink a few times before walking over to where the bird demon lies. I get there after a minute of walking. I can't believe it landed this far away. It looks completely destroyed. I look at my hands. There's defiantly more to me than I thought myself.

Does this have something to do with the angel blood? That must mean that Jace is going through something very similar to this. What exactly did Jocelyn let those people Circle people do to me? Whatever they did they did exactly the same to Jace and now I'm really starting to get pissed off.

This just adds to my arsenal. I'm sure Jace is already thinking of ways to use his new and unexpected powers to his advantage. I should me thinking of it too. I just need to figure out how my new powers work.

Looking down at the bird demon again I know I need to learn to control this. It could seriously potentially hurt someone if I'm not careful. I clench my fist and head back to where my seraph blade was thrown. I can't find it. Well that's just great.

I sigh and rub the back of my neck with my hand. Then I start walking down another street. I seriously don't know where I'm going. All of this doesn't look familiar. Damn it. How am I supposed to get around? I need to get back to the others.

As I'm thinking this the sky turns back to normal… wait, no it's not. It fades to a dull black and white. Before it was pretty bleak, but this is different. Bleaker. Colder.

I look around. There's a strong feeling of being hunted coursing through my body right now. I've had this feeling before. I've been hunted plenty of times in the past, but it was never something this malicious. This is the first time I've felt something like this. Maybe this is how all my past targets felt before I took it out.

Slowly, I turn in a full circle. When I get back to where I started there is a dark shape a few feet in front of me. I take a few steps back. I narrow my eyes and watch as this dark shape takes on the form of a large man.

Then a tall man in a black trench coat and black cowboy hat stands in front of me. His face is tilted downward so I can't see his face. I tense my body. Ready for a fight if it's needed. "Who are you?"

The man tilts his head up, but I still can't see his face properly. "My, my. A feisty one. I, little lady, am what you call a Seed. A master of the Saplings. The name's Nordic."

I try not to let my confusion show on my face. "What is a Seed? And what are Saplings?"

Nordic lifts his head even more so I can see his face now. I keep my blank expression on like I've practiced for so long. "A Seed is an equivalent to Greater Demons in your world. Demons are not quite as abundant as in my world so they're the best you got. In my world, we Seeds are on top. The Saplings are our minions."

"How is this supposed to effect me?" I ask, bored.

Nordic smirks, his burnt skin crinkling. "You have a great poker face. I didn't even see you flinch when you saw my face. Anyway, we are the regulators or the demon world. Recently, things have been getting pretty nasty. Not too long ago an extremely power and ancient demon escape from its prison and entered your world."

An image of the demon he speaks of enters my mind. I take a deep breath. "What about it?"

Nordic continues speaking. "I need to get it back in its prison or destroy it. Having it go on a rampage and destroying the human world will disturb the balance and bring down the demon world with this one. It has stolen an entire nest of Saplings making it all the more dangerous."

"Why are you telling me this?" I clench my fists.

"Because you and the chosen ones are the only people who can stop it," Nordic answers seriously.

My hands unclench for a moment before once again turning tense. "So this all goes back to that prophecy. Honestly, if you knew it was going to happen then why not do something about it?"

Nordic reaches up to tilt his hat. "Because, little girl, it was going to happen no matter what we did. If we left it alone it would obviously have come to pass. If we had done something we would have made a mistake and helped the prophecy come true. Sometimes doing something to prevent an event is the road to helping it happen. If that makes sense."

"It does… so what am I supposed to do about it?" I frown slightly.

"I came here because you are obviously more sensible than the other chosen ones. You are the one the prophecy speaks of specifically. Though you can't win without the help of the others, it's obvious you have a greater part to play. Now, I'm here because I wish to offer my services."

I narrow my eyes in suspicion. "Why would you want to help me? You're a demon, a Seed, but a demon none the less."

Nordic removes his hat and runs his gloved hand over his scarred head. "You see, this demon that escaped was my ward. I know you will have to fight it at some point. Maybe not now or soon, but eventually. You will need my help to do it though."

"I thought you said only the chosen ones can help me with this demon," I throw back.

Nordic holds up his hands. "I know what I said. I mean that I can help you understand your powers better. You'll need them to fight this demon. In turn you can help the other angel hybrid who you are obviously so fond of. If I'm not mistaken, you're soul mates. How sweet."

My defenses go up when Nordic mentions Jace. "How do you know that?"

Nordic grins so wide I can see his destroyed skin stretch with the strain. "It's quite obvious. When two angels mate they give off a glow. There are only two half angels in existence and you two are it. There really couldn't be anyone else for the two of you. It was a given."

I bite my lip in contemplation. Then I look up. "I have super strength for some reason. I don't know if that's the angel blood in me or the werewolf blood. Or maybe a combination of both."

"Werewolf?" Nordic arches an eyebrow.

I think about telling him then decide on it. "My father is a werewolf."

Nordic's face lightens into one of understanding. "I see. So that's how they got pure angel blood in you without having to put demon blood as well to balance it out. It was natural so you didn't go insane. It was a miracle it worked on the other hybrid. The chances of it happening twice were really low. You got lucky."

"What are you talking about?" I frown.

Nordic sighs and holds up a finger. "Seventeen years ago a woman named Celine Herondale conceived a child with Steven Herondale. They were apart of the Circle. I'm assuming you know who they are…"

I nod.

Nordic continues. "They allowed their leader, Valentine, to use their child as an experiment. He injected angel blood into the child when Celine was just a few months into her pregnancy. Valentine waited another month to inject more without using demon blood to balance it out. Because of this the child was given more angel blood than its unborn body could take. It was becoming an angel in essence."

I start to understand. "They needed to balance it out with demon blood."

Nordic nods a yes. "Exactly. The thing is that there was so much angel blood in the child that it burned out all the demon blood before it was born and was left as a hybrid. What he is now. The other half is human. Unlike him, you are half werewolf."

"What does that mean for me? What's the difference between us?"

Nordic shakes his head and replaces his hat. "Nothing much. Just that you were born with the blood you needed to keep you in balance. This other hybrid probably has a bit more angel blood than you, but that's to be expected. Now, that only means it balances the amount of power between the two of you. He needs an edge over someone born as half werewolf."

"This isn't a competition," I scowl.

Nordic laughs heartily. "Perhaps not to you, but everything is a competition to us demons. Now, I'm going to tell you the name of a book and you will be able to find it in that secret room of yours. It is in the language of the angels. Do you know how to read that?"

I nod. "Yeah. Luke taught me."

"Luke?" Nordic gives me a look.

"My dad," I clarify.

Suddenly something else comes to mind. Something I haven't thought about in a while. Nordic sees the look on my face. "What is it now, little girl?"

I scowl at him then speak. "A while ago I learned that my blood burns demons when it touches them. I'm assuming that's because of the angel blood. Now, the other angel hybrid said when his blood touches demons it doesn't burn. What does that mean?"

Nordic rubs his chin. "Well, it's very possible that his blood never actually touched a demon before. Even if it seems like it would have. His blood should have the same effect as yours. Perhaps even more so. Though, it is very possible that the demon blood that was injected into him could have neutralized or put it into hibernation. I can't be sure. Either way, you should be able to figure it out once you finish your training. That is if you survive."

I sigh and rub my forehead. "Fine."

Nordic nods then looks at his wrist like he was wearing a watch when he really isn't. "Alright. I'm going to tell you the name of the book. You will go in the secret room quickly then come out with it. Then I'm going to take you to the demon world."

I'm immediately caught off guard. "Wait, what? Why?"

"Because putting your life in danger is the only way to truly bring out your powers," Nordic grins widely and dangerously. "Then when you have it down you can pass it on to your soul mate."

My hands start to shake. "The demon world…"

Nothing like that had ever come to mind before. Just the thought of it really is terrifying. I've seen what damage just a few demons can do, but an entire world of them is in a class of its own. Taking on a challenge like this to control my powers is more dangerous than anything I've ever done.

I make up my mind and turn to Nordic with my resolve shining in my eyes. "Alright. I'll do it. Tell me the name of the book."

Nordic grins wider. "It's called Guide of the Sacred."

I nod then look down at the necklace around my neck. I haven't been paying much attention to it lately, but I know what I have to do. I grab my knife and cut my finger. I notice Nordic take a step back. I press my bloody finger against the miniature doors.

They glow faintly until it's even brighter than a seraph blade. There's a flash and before I know it there's a set of huge double doors in front of me. I notice them opening. I look back at Nordic. Then back at the doors. I walk inside.

At this very moment the only thing on my mind is searching for the book. Is called Guide of the Sacred. I can only imagine what's in there. It better be worth going to the demon world. I rub my forehead with my hand and walk over to the bookshelves to begin my search.

It takes me a while to finally find the section that refers mostly to angels and those sorts of things. I look around trying to find the book, but it's pretty hard. There are so many of them.

Finally, my eyes land on a book near the end of the last shelf. It looks old and worn, but I get a sense of warm power coming from it. I walk over to it and pull it off the shelf. I open it to the first page. There it is. In angel language. Guide of the Sacred.

Now that I have it I can go back outside. I don't know how long I've been in here, but I know for sure that the time I spend in here will be the last time I have any sense of peace and safety. Not that I felt it before hand, but still.

When I go back out Nordic is still waiting for me. He smirks when he sees the book in my hand. "Good. You found it. Once you get into the demon world you'll learn exactly what's in that book. Right now I want to explain something to you so listen closely because I don't like to repeat myself. Got it?"

I nod once.

Nordic crosses his arms and adopts a serious face. "Alright. As you know demons are quite ruthless. They won't stop and take pity on you if you just so happen to be captured by one. That means you're not allowed to be captured by one. Are you skilled?"

"Yes."

Nordic nods slowly. "Good. That means this will be all the more easier for the both of us. I don't have to go through the tedious work of training you. Now, you must understand that where you are heading is like a living hell. This world is dominated by demons, but humans have lived in that world since the beginning of time. They are quite sneaky. Which is why the demons haven't wiped them out yet."

I cross my arms. "How long do I have to stay in that world?"

Nordic rubs his hands together. "Until you have a good handle on your powers and until you figure out how to get out."

"You're not going to take me out of there?" my frown deepens.

"Of course not," Nordic grins maniacally.

My heart starts beating faster than before. "That means I'm on my own. Well, it will be like old times. Only this time I'm really going to hell. I don't understand how my life could have taken such a turn… Alright. When do I head off into this horrible demon world."

Nordic snaps his fingers and a portal appears next to him. "As soon as you would like. This is a portal into the demon world. As soon as you step through it the portal will close. This is a decision you do not want to take lightly. The chances of you getting out alive are very low. Make sure this is something you want to do."

I bite my lip and stare at the ground. This may not be the only way to get to know my powers better, but it's probably the best. I'll be in a life or death situation. That will force me into using my powers. On top of that, I'll get more experience fighting demons. That will most likely come in handy if and when I get back.

With my mind made up I look up at Nordic. "Alright. I want to do this. I may not make it out alive, but I've been in enough of those situations to know to at least try. Who knows. I might just make it out alive."

Nordic nods and gestures at the portal. "Take care, little girl."

I close the doors to the secret room close and have it return to the necklace around my neck. I look up at the portal and step forward. I tuck the book into the back of my pants. Then I make sure all my weapons are where they're supposed to be. I flex my fingers to relieve some of the tension there.

Finally I step forward and stare straight into the portal. I let out a deep breath and step into the demon world.