"I need you to stay here, Clary," said Alec, out of breath from the fight. "I'm going to issue a call to the other Shadowhunters, and they'll come get you. This building isn't safe."

"But…Jace."

"I'll find Jace. Look, you're hurt and you don't have any weapons."

"I have my stele."

"That's hardly enough. Trust me on this one."

She wanted to argue with him, to plead. Anything was better than not knowing where Jace was, or if he was hurt, or if he was still…alive. No, she didn't want to think about that. She was looking at her sleeves which were torn to shreds and blood was dripping from one of them quite quickly. She didn't care. She wanted to fight, she wanted to —

When she looked up, Alec had already gone. He had slipped out so quickly and quietly. She felt a pang, from her heart and not her wounds.

"Alec!" she called out, but to no reply. She checked behind the curtain, but there was no sign of him.

She had a choice. Stay here and probably be taken home, to wait at the institute to find out how everything went down, where the Senator's wife was, and what happened to Jace. Or she could try and catch up with Alec.

The choice was simple. But her hand was bleeding profusely. She ripped off what remained of her dress sleeve, and tied it up so the bleeding would stop. It would do for now.

She ran after Alec. The backstage area was an endless maze of corridors and dead ends, her footsteps magnified in the eerie silence of it all. She wanted to call out to them but was afraid of attracting something else, something non human. She was unarmed, after all.

She was about to call off her search, after looking in yet another empty dressing room. The corridor was shrouded in half darkness, and her fear seemed to be getting the better of her. I guess I'll return back to the stage, do what was asked of me for once. The other shadowhunters were probably looking for her.

As she turned to leave the door at the far end of the corridor caught her eye. It was the dressing room of the leading star; the door was shut but light was seeping from under the cracks. Well maybe I'll check this last one, she thought.

As she neared closer she thought she heard sounds coming from inside the room, or maybe that was her imagination. But she definitely felt something. Trying to suppress all her fear, she touched the doorknob. This could be just another empty room, but all her senses told her otherwise. Gathering strength, she took a deep breath, and opened the door.

The sight of what she saw sent her head reeling, and it took all of her strength just to stand upright.

There, at the far end of the room, under the dressing table, lay Jace. And crouched on top of him was an Iblis demon.

Clary choked back sobs as she tried to plead with the demon.

"Please," she said. "Please. Don't hurt him." She was weaponless and alone. "Take me instead!"

She didn't know if it would work, but it was worth a try. Anything was worth a try. And she honestly, genuinely thought that if the demon killed her, and in the process stalled Jace's death and gave him a fighting chance, it was worth it. Because Jace was far more a valuable Shadowhunter than she'd ever be. Would the others even find them down here? In time to save Jace's life? The Iblis demon didn't reply.

It only stared at her, its cold dead eyes burning yellow as its claws closed around an unconscious Jace's throat. The demon tightened its grip on Jace. That was when Clary let out a shrill scream.

A/N: sorry it took me so long to get this up! it's been months, i know! i'll be faster with the next chapter, i promise. please leave reviews, they make me happy as a kitten! much love ^.^