Disclaimer: Cassandra owns all, except for those children!

Chapter 9

Time:

*Jace POV*

As I drove home thoughts of what Valentine Morgenstern had told me raced through my mind. This Circle was the same Circle as the first, led by the same man.

"Jocelyn and I were raised out here, we had been untouched by the Clave until they started getting greedier for more power. They tried to take our lands, and people, and they had been succeeding until a few of us fought back. At first the group was small, just Jocelyn, myself, and about eight of our closest friends. We would find out where the Clave was going to attack and evacuate everyone. We would ambush their trucks, and eventually gained real weapons to fight back with. As we grew stronger, people started to join us, and we were able to be equal in power with the Clave. When they realised that we wouldn't stop fighting they made a deal with Idris forces. They said they would stand down, that Idris could remain free, and all contact between the two would be severed. On one condition," Valentine had said. His face had grown sullen as he said this.

"So long as Idris offered up the original Circle, the rest would be left in peace. For the longest time everyone denied the offer and the war continued. The war lasted about six years, Jocelyn and I were only sixteen when it had started, just like most of the first Circle, and five years into that war Jocelyn found out she was pregnant. We had a son. Jonathan Christopher Morgenstern, born February 17, 1992. He is 28 years old now, and I haven't seen him since was barely even a year old thanks to the Clave.

"Jocelyn and I had gone out, leaving Jonathan with Jocelyn's parents. It was the first time we had been able to have alone time, what with raising Jonathan and leading the Circle, but when we got back," Valentine had choked here, his fists had clenched until his knuckles were white as snow and his eyes were shut tightly. After a few minutes he had managed to continue, "When we got back, our house was burnt to the ground, two charred sets of adult bones and a soot covered note laying in the remains. 'We gave you time, but you ignored our offers, so here is a new proposition. You surrender yourselves up and we will let your son free, or you can die as a family. The choice is yours, you have 24 hours,'" Valentine's teeth were grinding at this point and his dark eyes were like flood gates restraining back the tides.

"As you can guess, Jocelyn and I surrendered, but instead of killing us they forced us to stay as a lesson. They wanted everyone in Idris to know that even the strongest can be tamed. But the worst part is that they kept our son, dangling his life over our heads if we didn't conform, if we didn't break. They treated us like we were their dogs, and there was nothing we could do about it. All I want is for my family to be safe, happy, and you helped make that possible. You got my daughter out, and for that I will forever be in your debt, but even so there is still something I need from you," Valentine had said, his cool and collected front back in place, "I need you to help me get my son back."

I was just pulling into our driveway, and I could feel the guilt at what I had to do settling in when I saw Clary's face peek through the living room curtains. "Oh and Jace, one more thing. Don't tell Clary or Jocelyn about the circle, and most definitely don't tell Clary about Jonathan," Valentine had said just before I had shut the car door behind me to drive home. This isn't really a lie, now is it, I mean Clary doesn't even know she has a brother in the first place so there is no way this is a lie. I repeated this in my head as I walked up to the front door.

After it was opened I was bombarded with my children. Lil throwing her small form at my chest, Noah jumping from behind and onto my back, and Ethan wrapping himself around one of my legs. It took all I could to not stumble over from their sheer force. Clary stood with her arms crossed, leaning against the wall as a warm smile lit up her face.

My heart both sunk and soared at the sight. By the Angel how can I possibly keep anything from her. I was sure to crack, but then Valentine's words returned to me, "I know it'll be hard, but not telling her is for the best. She'll be mad once she finds out, but I know my daughter. She'd break if she found out. We need to wait until the right time. That's all I'm asking of you for now, is time."

Authors Note:

So I dodon't really have much to say in this authors note other than I hope you like the direction I'm taking this in and thank you for reading! I love you all!

-Haybell