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Jace's POV
I woke up to loud banging on my bedroom door. I sat up blinking; Clary was rubbing her hands over her eyes lying in bed next to me.
"What time is it?" She asked groggily. I glanced at the clock; it was 8:06.
"It's just after eight." I mumbled.
Bang Bang Bang
"Are you guys up yet?" Izzy's voice called through the door. I didn't answer at first. I just waited to see if she'd leave.
Bang Bang Bang
"You're not having sex are you?" Izzy's voice floated through the door again.
"NO. GO AWAY!" I yelled. I flipped over and crashed face first into my pillow.
"Can I come in?" Her pushy voice shouted through the door again.
"What do want Izzy?" Clary said lazily as she started to sit up. I reached my hand up and grabbed her arm gently.
"Just ignore her." I mumbled. Clary laid back down.
"Alec and Magnus took your car to go play tennis. When they come back can Simon and I drive it?" I was only half registering the Ferrari that was in the driveway last night, but I was too tired to care right now.
"If you want to go somewhere just take my car Izzy. We're not getting up any time soon." Clay said as she nuzzled in next to me. I put my arms around her and pulled her close as I turned onto my side.
"No. I don't have anywhere I need to go specifically. I just…This is ridiculous." I could hear footsteps retreating away from the door. I took a deep breath and tightened my arms around Clary. She nuzzled her face further into my chest. I heard the click of the lock on the door and my eyes flew open. Clary and I exchanged the same disbelieving look as we both reached for the blankets at the same time and sat up. I had one arm holding the blankets at my waist, while Clary held them pulled up to nearly her neck.
"Knock, knock, knock" Izzy's voice called through the door as she opened it slowly.
"What the hell are you doing?" I snapped. Izzy rolled her eyes as she walked into the bedroom twirling a butter knife in hand.
"You wouldn't let me in."
"So you decided to pick the lock?" Izzy shrugged.
"It's obnoxious to sit there yelling through the door."
"It's obnoxious to have your sister wake you up from a sound sleep and then break into your bedroom." Izzy crossed her arms.
"It's not my fault you two sleep in until all hours. You're both missing a beautiful day out there by the way. Simon and Jordan are out running. Maia's at the grocery store. Magnus and Alec are playing tennis. You're the only ones that are still in bed." Izzy walked over to the computer desk chair and pulled it out and sat down.
"No. Don't sit down. What are you doing? You're not staying. It doesn't matter if we're still in bed. Who cares? Go away." I rattled off. You could hear doors opening and closing somewhere in the cottage.
"Alec told me that he's allowed to drive-" I cut her off.
"SHUT UP! Unless the cottage is burning down or someone has to be brought to the emergency room, there is no reason to wake us up or pick the lock. GO AWAY!"
"What the hell-' Simon started to walk into the bedroom, but stopped abruptly. Jordan crashed into him. Simon put a hand over his mouth stifling a laugh. Jordan glanced in the room, put his hands up in a gesture of surrender and walked away.
"Izzy…Baby…Do Clary and Jace look like they're really up for company right now?" Izzy shot Simon a glare.
"How come Alec gets to torment me relentlessly that I'll never get a chance to drive that Ferrari and yet everybody acts like I'm the bad guy? Clary you understand right?"
"Ferrari?" Clary said softly, her eyes on Izzy. Izzy looked from Simon to Clary, but then quickly to me. I just cringed. Not how I wanted Clary to find out. She looked over at me.
"What Ferrari?"
"Your father kind of sent me a Ferrari last night. I'm not keeping it though. I'm sending it back." Clary furrowed her eyebrows at me. Simon walked across the room and grabbed Izzy's arm.
"Baby. Time to go." Izzy ripped her arm free of Simon's grasp.
"No. I want to drive it. It's not fair he'll let Alec drive it and not me. I bet Alec's letting Magnus drive it right how. Is this because I'm a girl?" Izzy was looking at me, but my eyes were darting between her and Clary. Clary was just eerily quiet and she was looking at me with her eyes narrowed.
"I'm very sorry we bothered you. We'll leave you two alone." Simon said with a slight chuckle as he grabbed for Izzy's arm again. Izzy jerked her arm away from him.
"You're supposed to be on my side." She snapped.
"Izzy. I am on your side baby, but did you notice neither one of them were jumping out of bed to talk to you?..." Simon flourished his hand as a gesture towards the clothes scattered across the room.
"…or yell at you." He muttered under his breath.
"What?" Izzy snapped.
"We're naked Izzy. Buck naked…You can all drive the car. It's fine. Really. All I'd like is some privacy right now." Clary said in a creepy soft tone. Izzy's whole face lit up as she smiled and flew out of her chair. She rushed over to the bed and threw her arms around Clary's neck.
"I knew I could count on you Clary. You're the best. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." Izzy chanted. Clary rolled her eyes.
"Izzy, you know you're hugging me and I'm naked right?" Izzy backed away with her hands up in the air.
"Oops. My mistake…Love you!" Simon rolled his eyes and mouthed sorry as he ushered Izzy out of the bedroom locking the door behind them.
"You didn't want to go back to bed by any chance did you?" I asked softly, though I already knew we were up for the day. Clary shook her head.
"A Ferrari. He bought you a Ferrari?" She asked as she looked out into the room.
"Honey I'm not keeping it." I could hear the pleading in my voice. I didn't want her to get pissed off at me.
"Why would he even think to buy you a Ferrari?" She still wasn't look at me.
"He's trying to bribe me to convince you to move in with him. He mentioned yesterday getting me a Ferrari. I told him he couldn't bribe me, it's up to you whether you want to move in with him or not. I'm sorry I didn't tell you last night, it's just, well, I kind of forgot about it when I saw you in that hot little outfit." I gave her a puppy dog face and leaned over slowly and placed a couple soft kisses on her shoulder. She looked at me sideways and smiled slightly before she rolled her head forward dramatically. She made a soft groaning noise as she reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose.
"It's fine. I'm not mad at you. I just wish I actually could get to know my father. The only thing I know about him is he has a lot of money…" She dropped her hand and took a deep breath. She didn't look at me; she just off into space.
"…Why is he trying so hard to pressure me into moving in with him?" She collapsed back towards the pillows. I laid down next to her on my side propped up on one arm looking down at her. I pushed her hair back behind her ear as I gazed into her beautiful green eyes.
"I think he's looking at this all as a business transaction. He knows what he wants and he's just trying to figure out how to get it. He told me everything has a price tag, I think he's just trying to figure out what yours is." I shrugged. Clary gave me a skeptical look.
"I don't have a price tag Jace." She said rather irritated. I nodded and smirked.
"I know. I've searched your body thoroughly…" I raised my eyebrows up and down at her suggestively and she laughed and rolled her eyes.
"…I just don't think he gets that. The man doesn't exactly know how to interact with people. I can't say he was all that warm and welcoming to me." She closed her eyes as she shook her head dramatically side to side and made a small whimpering noise.
"No…I don't think he likes you that much…" She said as she looked up at me with her hair falling forward all across her face. I chuckled as I pushed her hair gently out of the way. She looked pitiful.
"… I got an earful about how my father thinks you're only marrying me because you and your father are con artists and your father swindled my father out of a large life insurance policy when he faked his death, and now you're just trying to swindle me and my father out of a whole bunch of money by pretending to love me." She rambled. I furrowed my eyebrows at her. I wasn't even sure where to begin with all the questions I had with that statement.
"What?" I snapped a little harsher than I meant to. Clary rubbed her hands over her face.
"I think my father was just trying to make me doubt you. I think he was mixing a little truth in with a lot of lies and just telling me an elaborate story." Clary dropped her hands from her face and looked up at me. She looked strained.
"You know I love you Clary. I-" She cut me off as she reached her hand up and placed it gently over my mouth.
"I know. I love you too honey." I broke out in a big smile as she moved her hand to my cheek. I loved it when she called me honey. I dipped down to kiss her lips softly. I took a deep breath.
"So, on that note, have you made up your mind yet?" She rolled her eyes.
"Part of me wants to just tell my father, no, thanks, but no thanks. The other part of me is still curious." She shrugged.
"Listen to the first part of you…curiosity killed the cat." The old proverb was out of my mouth before I could even stop myself. Clary chuckled. She reached up and ruffled my hair.
"Yeah, but, satisfaction brought it back." I should have seen that one coming. I chuckled as I brought my lips to hers again for another gentle kiss.
"So what are you saying honey? What do you want to do?" She shrugged.
"I don't know Jace. I feel like I just wanted to test the water and somehow I ended up pushed in the deep end with the sharks." I furrowed my eyebrows at her.
"Easy. So get the hell out of the shark infested water." She shook her head at me.
"Nothing about this decision is easy Jace. This is my father. If I'm going to write him out of my life I want a good reason for it."
"You mean besides the whole mafia thing?" She narrowed her eyes at me.
"I haven't seen any indisputable proof." I shook my head.
"Well, he hates me. He's disappointed you want to marry me. He thinks I'm going to ruin your reputation. Isn't that a good reason?" She rolled her eyes.
"I know it's hard to believe that not everybody loves you Jace. What man truly loves their future son-in-law at first, even if that future son-in-law is you?..." She smirked at me. I bared my teeth at her and growled playfully in frustration. She laughed.
"…Plus, you did ruin my reputation…you stole my virtue." I smirked. I kind of wanted to tell her that her father is a chauvinistic asshole that tried to pay me off to leave her, but I didn't want to upset her.
"Your father could at least pretend to be cordial. You can't tell me you honestly think the animosity he feels for me is purely because I'm fucking his daughter." She furrowed her eyebrows and gaped.
"Jace." She scolded. I chuckled.
"Would you have preferred it if I said because I stole your virtue?" I threw my voice as I mocked her. She chuckled slightly as she rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"I don't know what you expected; my father isn't even warm towards me?"
"Yeah and that's part of what bothers me. I just feel like he's up to something. I feel like whatever reason he wants you in his life has nothing to do with the way he feels about you?" I took a deep breath. She reached her hand up and put it gently on my cheek. I reflexively leaned into her touch.
"Don't worry, be happy." She said softly. I chuckled.
"You're not about to start singing are you?" She smiled.
"You love my singing voice." I smirked.
"I've been trying to figure out how to tell you my love, you're completely tone deaf." I said sarcastically. She gaped as she pushed against my chest.
"You're such an ass." She sputtered. I laughed as I brought my hand up to her face and led a trail with my fingertips from her temple to her lips.
"But you love me anyway." I said softly. She smiled as she took a deep breath.
"God only knows why." She muttered. I chuckled as I brought my lips to hers and kissed her gently.
"Alright. We can't spend all day in bed." Clary said as she started to get up. I quickly captured her under my body, propping myself up on my bent elbows, my legs straddling her waist. She smiled.
"Why not?" I whispered as I brought my lips to her neck and kissed her softly. When I pulled away she scrunched her face up and closed her eyes.
"Cause I think we're spending the day at my father's." I took an exasperated breath; that had to be one of the top things she could have said to completely get me out of the mood.
"Really?...Kill me now." I said sarcastically as I rolled off of her and onto my back.
"Or I'm spending the day at my father's?" She said in a questioning tone as she propped herself up on her side and looked down at me. I shook my head.
"No…we." I took a deep breath. Clary giggled.
"You sound like a confused French person." I chuckled as I reached my hand up and twirled a few curls of her hair around my fingers.
"So back to the estate for the day…Yippy." I said sarcastically. Clary bit her bottom lip.
"I thought maybe we'd spend the night tonight." She said hesitantly as she brought her hand up to her mouth and bit at her thumbnail nervously. I reached up and grabbed her hand away from her face intertwining my fingers with hers.
"Great. So you're in the deep end with the sharks and you've decided this is the best time to drop your guard and take a nap. If you don't drowned, maybe one of the sharks will get you. Very good plan." I said sarcastically. Clary took an exasperated breath.
"Don't come then." She snapped as she attempted to pull her hand free of mine and turn away from me. I held her hand and pulled her towards me, wrapping my arms around her waist. Our bodies were pressed together, her palms against my chest, my arms holding her tightly, but she was staring me down with an irritated look.
"Of course I'm coming. I'm not leaving you alone there for one second. I just don't want there to be any miscommunication between us. I'm perfectly content writing your father out of our lives. I feel like I've given him a chance and it didn't go too well. I'm ready to move on." Clary rolled her eyes at me.
"He's my father Jace, I just need more time to be sure." I nodded.
"Yes and I'm your fiancé so I'm very understanding of that irrational need, and I'm willing to make a deal with you. We can spend the day there and stay the night, but we're totally having sex in that great big king size bed." She shook her head slightly with an amused look on her face.
"How come I feel like you just want to have sex at my father's to prove some sort of weird point?" I winked.
"Because I do…He just pisses me off. I feel like being a little spiteful." I smirked.
"Great, we're not even there and you're already plotting how you could be spiteful." She rolled her eyes.
"I said I wanted to be a little spiteful. Having sex in a suite specifically assigned to us isn't being that spiteful. Now, having sex on the couch in the closed circuit library, that would be spiteful." She furrowed her eyebrows at me and shook her head.
"Why don't you just piss on the furniture while you're at it?" I chuckled.
"I'll think about." I said sarcastically. She made an irritated noise as she dropped her head forward into my chest. I stroked her hair and chuckled.
"You're really not a morning person." She lifted her head and scowled at me and I laughed.
"I'm not that bad!" She snapped. I laughed again.
"Oh yes you are." She glared at me.
"How come you're always so happy in the morning?" I smiled.
"I wasn't always so happy in the morning…but how could I be anything but happy waking up next to you?" She broke out in a smile and brought her lips to mine for a soft kiss. We exchanged a few more kisses before we ended up finally getting out of bed. A short time later I was in the kitchen in my running clothes having a granola bar and drinking a glass of water while I waited for Clary to get out of the bathroom. Simon walked into the kitchen.
"Hey."
"Hey…Sorry again about Izzy." I shook my head.
"Don't worry about it. My sister, my problem." He nodded.
"Thought you two would have gone back to sleep. You're practically nocturnal." I smirked.
"We're not nocturnal; we just like to spend a lot of time in bed." I said sarcastically. Simon shook his head dramatically and made an irritated noise.
"Dude. She's like my sister. Why be like that?" I chuckled.
"Anyway…it would have been nice to go back to sleep, but apparently we're spending another fun filled day at the circus today."
"Really? Going back to see daddy dearest? So, is she seriously thinking of moving in with her father?" I shrugged.
"I don't know. I don't think she knows. I tell her it's up to her and she gets agitated, so I tell her I think we should just cut him out of her life and she gets agitated. I feel like I'm wrong no matter what I say. I think the guy definitely has a screw loose, but I get that he's her father and I'm trying to be supportive. I don't know what I'm supposed to do here. I tried to look at the bright side of things yesterday and I don't even think it was worth the effort. Yesterday it was like she fixated on every little thing, she went on and on about a stupid book of matches forever. She's acting super sensitive and I think she's completely overwhelmed. She has a lot going on and she really doesn't need to deal with her father too right now. I don't really get why he has this crazy deadline; probably just another power trip."
"Did you try talking to her?" I furrowed my eyebrows at him.
"No. I tried ignoring her. You don't think that will work? Of course I tried talking to her." He shook his head slightly.
"Ok. I mean did you try listening to her. You're great at talking Jace, not so good at listening."
"What does that mean?" I snapped.
"Clary's not good at coming right out and saying what she really wants, sometimes you have to read between the lines. I'm not saying you need to be psychic, just listen to her. You're right though, there is a lot going on right now in her life, she probably is overwhelmed, but you can't help her by telling her what she should and shouldn't be concentrating on. You're trying to ease her worries by telling her what not to worry about, but that's not going to make her stop worrying. She's too stubborn and curious to ignore things; she'll just decide to stop telling you what's bothering her. She's fixating on a book of matches? Well dissect it with her, help her get to the bottom of what about those matches bother her. Maybe it's nothing, but what if it's actually something? If you make it seem like she's crazy for fixating on something you think she shouldn't fixate on, she'll go try to get to the bottom of the problem by herself. If it really was something, she's going to be all alone when she really does need you. You know how good she is at pushing people away Jace, don't give her a reason to shut you out."
Doors opened and closed in the hallway and a moment later Clary came into the kitchen. Before long we were jogging along the trails. I kept a painfully slow pace to jog alongside her, I could have really been speed walking, but I didn't want to insult her. About fifteen minutes to twenty minutes out, she decided she was going to turnaround. I hadn't even broken a sweat, and it was starting to warm up outside.
Clary's POV
"You sure you feel comfortable going back alone? I really don't mind. I can run back with you and then finish my run." Jace asked as we jogged in place. I shook my head.
"No it's fine. It will only take me like fifteen minutes or so to jog back, just keep going and get your jog over with. It's still early; we could go riding if you want before we go to my father's." Jace smiled.
"I'd like that." He gave me a quick kiss on the lips and took off at a much faster speed than we had been running before. I hadn't run very far back towards the cottage when I saw a figure up ahead coming towards me on the trail. I was hesitant at first, but than I heard my name being shouted.
"Clary? Hey is that you?" I finally recognized Pangborn Jr. jogging my way in running clothes. I felt my pulse start racing. Pangborn wasn't unpleasant to me exactly, except that whole fight at the club thing, but I didn't want to run into him jogging alone. Why the hell was he all the way out here? I fought the instinct to take off and I kept jogging. I doubted I could outrun him anyway. When he got over to me we both stopped jogging.
"What do you want?" I snapped. He stayed a comfortable six feet or so away.
"Nothing. I'm just supposed to watch you." I furrowed my eyebrows at him.
"What?" I snapped.
"Did that sound creepy? That probably sounded creepy right? Mr. Morgenstern has four of us out here and then there are two cars assigned to you. We're just supposed to make sure nothing happens to you or Jace. I thought you knew." I shook my head.
"Nooo…Why?" Pangborn shrugged.
"Beats me. I'm just following orders." I furrowed my eyebrows at him.
"Since when do you work for Mr. Morgenstern?" For some reason I just didn't want people to know he was my father, even if Pangborn worked for him. He chuckled.
"Let's just say I had limited options after the other night. My father told me it was either this or I had to enlist in the Army. I picked this. The hours kind of suck, but the pay is real good. I've been out here since five am. I get an hour break at nine though, and then I'm back on for four more hours before I head home." I rubbed my hands over my face.
"Your father made you work for Mr. Morgenstern because of me?" He shrugged.
"Something like that, but hey, could be worse…My body Blackwell got a job too. I don't know if you remember him. Hopefully we'll get to work together a lot. He's out here somewhere. We have the same schedule today." I took a deep breath.
"So you and Blackwell have to work for Mr. Morgenstern as some sort of punishment for the fight at the club? What happened to Kaelie and Seelie?" He shrugged.
"Not really sure. First thing they teach you is to not ask questions; that part I got down good…I know Kaelie said Mr. Fey was fired though. They packed up and left town. I heard they put the cottage on the market too." I shook my head.
"So you don't know what you're watching out for?" He shrugged.
"We're just supposed to watch you and Jace. Make sure you're safe. Shit like that." I rolled my eyes.
"Great. So now there are people that will be glued to me 24/7." He nodded.
"Pretty much." I noticed Pangborn's eyes darting from me to somewhere behind me and I glanced over my shoulder to see what he was looking at. I noticed another guy jogging towards us not far away.
"Sebastian get a job too?" I said sarcastically. Pangborn shook his head.
"Not as far I know. It's actually not that easy to get a job working for Mr. Morgenstern. You really have to know somebody on the inside. My dad got me in and Blackwell's dad got him in. Sebastian doesn't have anybody to vouch for him…Actually, he stopped returning my calls once he heard I was working for Mr. Morgenstern. I think he skipped town…" He said with a shrug.
"…but you know who else just started working for Mr. Morgenstern? Gray…Not sure how he got in, but he was at my orientation." I furrowed my eyebrows at him.
"Gray? You mean like Nate? Tessa's brother?" He nodded, but before he said anything else the other guy jogged over. He was wearing running clothes and sunglasses. He continued jogging in place. He was definitely ten or so years older than Pangborn. More of a runner's body than the football player's body Pangborn had.
"Hey dumb ass, you're paid to be invisible." The man said in a stern voice. I shook my head.
"It's fine. He was just saying hi quick." The man was obviously still looking at Pangborn. He reached out and grabbed Pangborn's upper arm roughly and led him a slight distance away, out of earshot range. They seemed to speak for a brief moment.
"Yes Sir." Pangborn said militantly as he took off. The man inclined his head slightly.
"Ma'am…Ready to head back?" I just rolled my eyes.
"Whatever." I sputtered. I picked up a light jog. The guy was obviously running slowly to keep my pace.
"Are you going to just run with me now?" I snapped.
"You call this running?" The guy said sarcastically.
"I'm sorry. Is my snail pace too slow for you? You're like a foot taller than me and your legs are longer than mine, but yes, I call this running." He sighed.
"You know you ran faster yesterday?" I furrowed my eyebrows and looked at him sideways.
"You were watching me yesterday too?" He shook his head slightly.
"I ran with you yesterday." I looked at the man closer. The short blonde hair, the sunglass, the build. God it was the same guy.
"Oh…it's you…" I said in a disgusted voice. He snickered.
"…I ran faster yesterday because I was trying to run away from you. Why didn't you tell me you worked for Mr. Morgenstern? You scared the shit out of me." He glanced at me sideways.
"I don't work for your father." He said evenly. It took me a second to register, I had said Mr. Morgenstern, but he said my father. He also said he didn't work for him.
"Wait. You know Mr. Morgenstern is my father?"
"Yep." He said matter-of-factly.
"Yet, you don't work for him?"
"Nope."
"Pangborn works for him."
"That kid? Yeah, I got that." He said sarcastically.
"How come you know Mr. Morgenstern is my father when nobody else seems to?"
"Hump…Let me see. Besides the fact I knew you when you were barely out of diapers…You're the spitting image of your mother, you're the right age, and suddenly you're the new BBF of Valentine. It adds up."
"Well aren't you smart…You knew me when I was a little? You knew my mother? What are you like a friend of my family's then?"
"Not so much anymore. I'm probably your father's least favorite person right now."
"Why?"
"Well, for starters, because he's probably worried I'm going to find you and tell you all his dirty little secrets. That I'm going to try to turn you against him…Which is exactly what I plan on doing." I furrowed my eyebrows at him.
"Wait, you know my father? Like really know him? You know his secrets?" He nodded.
"I know a lot, which in your father's eyes, makes me a very dangerous person. Knowledge is power."
"Then why did Pangborn just leave when you came over?" He shrugged.
"Cause he's an absolute idiot."
"What?"
"He's obviously green. He has no idea who you are. He has no idea who I am. He was just standing there chatting it up with you like old chums. I'm surprised your father put newbies on your security detail. A couple of these guys look like it's their first week on the job." I chuckled.
"It is." He nodded.
"See. These nitwits don't even know what they are doing. The first thing they teach you is that you're supposed to be invisible. All I needed was to look the part and say the right thing. I knew he'd take off like a jet. A lot of this job is confidence. You act uncertain and they'll eat you alive."
"You know he said the first thing they teach you is not to ask questions." He glanced at me sideways.
"What are you suddenly an expert? I didn't know I was going to be tested." He said sarcastically. I glared at him.
"You have this patronizing tone. It's not becoming." He chuckled ever so slightly.
"Now you sound like your father…I can't tell if he didn't want to draw excessive attention to you, or if he's not certain yet how concerned he should be. Sorry, but after this little rendezvous I'm not making things easier for you. I'm just running out of opportunities to talk to you." I furrowed my eyebrows.
"Why do you think this is going to make things harder for me?" He glanced at me sideways.
"Just trust me. Your father's going to have a conniption fit."
"Well then thank you for that…" I said sarcastically.
"…So, if you're like my father's enemy or something, shouldn't these guys running around the woods right now rush to my aid to protect me from you?" He shrugged.
"They aren't really supposed to interfere for no reason. Plus, you don't exactly look like a damsel in distress. If I was trying to do you harm they should rush to your aid, but they're more here to observe and report…That kid, he isn't hooked up to a radio, but at least one of these bozos should be. The kid's probably keeping close enough to watch us, but also trying to look for somebody else right now. I'm sure he'll look for his supervisor, or a buddy. He can't think for himself, so he'll want somebody else to tell him that he did the right thing, or that he should get some back up. I figure we've got maybe ten more minutes. I did a survey of the area and it looks like they've got five guys out here. The runners aren't armed, they rely on their strength. All I have to do is out maneuver them, be stronger than them, or be smarter than them. I'm not concerned. I'll be long gone before they get anybody out here that could touch me." I glanced at him sideways I just had so many questions right now.
"Ok…just let me get this straight…you use to work for my father, but you don't anymore?" He nodded.
"Yeah. You could say that. I wasn't one of these all brawn and no brains jackasses though."
"What did you do?"
"What I did was…more complicated than I have time to explain." He shook his head.
"So what do you want?" I snapped. He looked thoughtful.
"I need your help with something, but right now I want to help you. Give you some wisdom and guidance."
"Oh yeah…Well go on then Yoda." I said lazily. He glanced at me sideways
"Yoda? Really?" I rolled my eyes at him.
"Just tell me what you want to tell me already."
"You spent the whole day with your father yesterday, what did you think?" I furrowed my eyebrows at him.
"First of all, how do you know I spent the day there? Second, why do you care?"
"I know people…I was hoping you would be running for the hills by now, but somewhere between the major renovation of the whole third floor east wing, the Ferrari in your driveway last night, and your new security detail this morning, I got a little concerned you were giving into your father's charms. Planning on moving into the castle?" I rolled my eyes.
"It's not a castle!...I don't know what I'm doing…Not that I should be talking to some complete stranger about this in the first place. Who are you anyway?...You know what? On second thought, I don't care. It doesn't matter. I don't think I'm very comfortable talking to you. My father won't be very happy to find out his enemy is trying to…what…recruit me or something? I think it's time for you to go." He sighed heavily.
"You know what? I don't care…I went through a hell of a lot of work to keep you away from your father Clarissa. Just because I'm his enemy doesn't mean I'm yours. If you want to know the truth, part of the reason I'm his enemy is because of you." I furrowed my eyebrows at him.
"What's that suppose to mean?" He shook his head.
"I helped your mother escape."
"My mother left with Luke, just the two of them."
"Did she now? You must have a better memory than me." I rolled my eyes.
"Why would you help her? Why would you care?"
"Because…Ok…For right now, I'm your uncle…I think we might we able to help each other, but it's very important that you maintain absolutely no association with me. As far as anybody else is concerned you don't know me; I've never talked to you. You just need to trust me." I rolled my eyes.
"Says the random stranger in the woods…What does that even mean for right now I'm your uncle? If I'm going to talk to you, I want to see you. Take off those sunglasses. I want to be able to pick you out of a lineup later." He scoffed.
"What's my crime?" I shrugged.
"You're creepy. I'm sure I'll think of something.' He glanced at me sideways.
"Well if you're going to be like that, I'm definitely not taking off my sunglasses." I rolled my eyes.
"Urgh…Fine…So if you're my uncle, why don't I remember you?" He shrugged.
"It's not my fault you have a terrible memory." I shook my head. He's so sarcastic.
"I've met you before though?" He nodded.
"Yeah, but before a week ago, the last time you met me you were like four or five." I shot him a glare.
"You expect me to remember someone I haven't seen since I was like five?" He shrugged.
"I like to think I leave a lasting impression, but considering you didn't remember you had seen me yesterday, I guess not." I shook my head.
"Whatever…So when you say you're my uncle, do you mean my mom dated you and I thought of you like an uncle or something?" Not that I remember my mom ever dating, but she had specifically told me that her and my father were both only children. He chuckled slightly.
"No, Luke had two sisters." I rolled my eyes.
"Luke did not have any sisters." He shook his head.
"Really? Thanks for letting me know. So who the hell was that woman I was married to?"
"Stop patronizing me!" I snapped. He shook his head.
"You're just like your father. You know that? You like to think you know everything, but you don't…Luke left his family, left everything for your mother. He had two sisters." I rolled my eyes.
"So you're really my uncle then?" He shrugged.
"You could say that. Your mother was married to Luke and I was married to one of Luke's sisters, but now they're both gone, so I'm not sure. I don't know if I'd get too comfortable calling me uncle, you might change your mind." I furrowed my eyebrows at him.
"Why?" He shook his head.
"Clarissa-" I cut him off.
"It's Clary. Just Clary. Don't call me Clarissa. You sound like my father. He's the only person that ever called me that. I guess Starkweather does too." I muttered the last part.
"Fine. Clary, it's just…It's complicated."
"It's complicated? You can't tell me why I wouldn't want to call you uncle because it's complicated? You're so weird…Whatever…I thought you were going to help me?"
"I am going to help you. You're walking a dangerous line, prancing around with the Morgenstern ring on, tea at the mansion, but back to the cottage every night for bedtime. You're trying so hard to get a little glimpse at your father's life, but you're really not prepared for the consequences of what you're going to find. You're in danger, more danger than you could even fathom, and you've put all your friends in danger as well. You're just like every other kid your age, you think you're invincible, but you're not; you think you can handle anything that comes your way, but you can't. Plus, unlike all those other foolish kids, you're quite literally risking your life with how thoughtless you're being. You want to know the truth, I can help point you in the right direction to get those answers you want, but I can help keep you and your friends safe while you're trespassing in enemy territory. Of course, after I'm done helping you, you're going to have to help me."
"What kind of danger am I in?" Though, I was pretty sure he was referring to my father.
"See, that's part of the problem, you don't even know what you're dealing with. That's why you need me…and I need you too."
"What are you asking? What do you need me for?" He glanced at me sideways.
"I'll let you know."
"I'll let you know. It's complicated. Well god, why wouldn't I leap at that opportunity of helping you? You're not telling me anything. You have to give me something." He took an exasperated breath.
"Once upon a time I use to work for your father ok…" He cracked his neck.
"…I didn't ask a lot of questions and I kept my head down. Unfortunately, I made a couple of choices that weren't in your father's best interest, and I paid dearly. I lost everything. I mean everything that mattered to me. I lost…" He took a deep breath.
"…Everything…Anyway…When you cross your father, he doesn't just go after you, he goes after everything you ever loved, you ever held dear. He leaves a path of destruction a mile wide. You're walking right into that path Clary. You might think your father is a good man, but he's not. He's not the man you want him to be. I know you miss Luke, but your father will never be the man Luke was. You might think because you're Valentine's daughter that will keep you safe, keep your loved ones safe, but it won't. All you're doing is painting a big bull's-eye on the backs of everybody you care about. I want to help make sure you don't lose everything like I did." Every word that came out of his mouth made me think of a million questions to ask him, but I really didn't know if I could trust him. The only thing I was sure of right now was that it was just as likely this man was lying to me as it was that he was telling me the truth.
"Ok…I get you hate my father and you think he's a bad man. You're not exactly the first person I came across that wasn't all too fond of him, but thanks for the warning. I'll keep it in mind." He took an exasperated breath.
"Well the difference is I have first hand knowledge…You know this isn't the first time I ran into you Clary. I stopped you from taking that car at the auto shop and I was there at the bar too. I asked you for a light…" I suddenly connected his voice to the man at the bar. He looked so different. Could he really be the same guy from the auto shop too? Those guys had different color eyes, different color hair. All of those men looked different. Why go through so much?
"…Your father is getting suspicious though. I took a big risk intervening at the auto shop and I set off a lot of alarms. The only thing working in my favor there was that you weren't the target, and had you gotten in that car, well…it wouldn't have ended well…for a lot of people. I'm sure I've caused some confusion; I use to work for your father, so he might think I was just there to look out for you, or he might think that Tweedledee and Tweedledum were mistaken. I think he knows better…odds are he thinks I'll reach out to Jonathan, but that's exactly why I can't right now. If your father thinks I'm talking to you, things are going to get dicey. I'm putting you in danger, but I'm gambling that your father won't retaliate against you directly. If I was reaching out to Jonathan though, your father would strike back directly, he might even kill him." A million things started rushing through my head.
"Why did you intervene at the auto shop? What was going to happen? When you say Jonathan you mean Jace right? Why would my father want to hurt Jace just because you talked to him? I'm so confused."
"It's complicated."
"Why do you keep telling me everything is complicated? Do I look stupid or something? If you just explain it to me I'm sure I'll understand. That car at the auto shop, you kept me from taking it right? It belongs to my friend. I need to know if something is going to happen to him." He took an exasperated breath.
"Clary, I just don't have time to explain everything to you right now. Come with me. I'll explain-" I cut him off.
"Um…No…I'm sorry, but I'm not going anywhere with you. Just tell me now." He shook his head.
"We don't have the time. That kid we ran into earlier has probably already contacted his supervisor about me. Valentine is probably already on his way with reinforcements. I can't be caught here. They'd kill me. You can trust me Clary. I won't hurt you. Come with me." I was torn. I wanted to talk to him, hear what he had to say. Yeah, he had an annoying sarcastic sense of humor, but it wasn't disconcerting at all, it reminded me of Jace. Plus, there was something about him that was hard to explain that just made me feel safe, comforted. Though Jace would go crazy if I just left with some guy I ran into in the woods. That went on the list of very very colossally bad ideas, worse than when I went off into the woods with Sebastian.
"Even if I did believe you, and I don't know if I do, I can't. Jace would kill me if I just up and left with some guy I met in the woods, even if you do claim to be my uncle."
"You realize saying Jace would kill me is you being figurative, me saying your father's men would kill me, is me being literal?...Come with me."
"No. I'm still not convinced you're my uncle or that you even mean well. You could be some serial killer or rapist or something." He shook his head.
"Really? After everything I just told you, you're going with a serial killer or rapist? Clary, I'm like twice your size and ripped. You'd be dead if I wanted you dead and if I just wanted to take you away to rap you it would take me two seconds to knock you out. I can't exactly prove I'm who I say I am right now, I have pictures I could show you, but they aren't on me. I want you to come with me, but as hard as it might be for your suspicious little mind to comprehend, I really don't mean you any harm."
"You still haven't given me any reason why I should trust you?"
"You have to trust somebody and I haven't given you any reason not to trust me. Valentine on the other hand, if your mother told you half of what she knew and feared, I'd bet you already waver on if you can trust him. Plus, you'd be living with him right now and he'd be announcing to the world you were his daughter if you really trusted him." There was a lot of truth to that.
"I didn't say I trusted him either. I trust Jace, and he'd go crazy if I went anywhere with you. I'm sorry. I'll hear you out, but I'm not leaving with you."
"Not here, not now…Trust me…Please." I took an exasperated breath.
"Saying please isn't going to make me trust you any more. I'm sorry. I can't help you if you don't work with me." He stopped abruptly and grabbed my arm bringing me to a stop as well.
"Clary…" He dropped my arm and took a deep breath. He shook his head and took his sunglasses off. I had a feeling he took them off without thinking considering he already made a big deal about not taking them off. I was only a foot or so away from him. With his glasses in one hand he took his other hand and rubbed his thumb and forefinger into his eyes for a moment. Then he put his hand on his head and grabbed on to a handful of hair. He had black eyes, and it was more apparent now that he was a bit older, late thirties, early forties. Those eyes, they nagged in the back of my head, I've seen those eyes. This man, I felt like I've seen him somewhere, but I couldn't place him. Maybe he was being truthful when he said I knew him when I was a child.
"…Your father wants you in his life…at that mansion…for a purpose. He's more determined than ever. I don't know what he wants from you, or what he's up to, but I can guarantee it's not good. I'd also bet Jace isn't part of the equation…Do you honestly think your father is going to let you walk out of his life? He renovated a whole wing of his estate, bought you all sorts of thing, do you really think that's all just in case you say yes? He's making it look like you have a choice, but you don't, you just don't know it yet. He might still let Jace leave, but I have a feeling he already has a plan for him. Jace isn't just going to walk away from you anyhow. He's also not going to sit back and obey your father's orders either. No, Jace will act out against your father, not just for himself, but for you. Even if you can keep Jace's temper under control, keep him from confronting your father, do you really think you'll be able to keep him from doing what he thinks is right once you have children? A man will die to protect the women he loves, but he'll kill to protect his family…Now you got Jace into this mess darling, and you're going to help me get him out of it before you get him killed." I sucked in a staggered breath. The thought of Jace being in danger was terribly upsetting. The fact that he was in danger because of me was even harder to bear.
"Then tell me what I'm supposed to do!" I snapped.
"Well, the first thing I need you to do is convince Jace to get as far away from here as he can. He should minimally go back to the city, go stay with the Lightwoods, go anywhere that's not here."
"I don't know how you expect me to convince him to leave…You think he'll listen to me when I tell him a stranger I ran into in the woods-" He cut me off.
"Clary you can't. You can't tell him about me at all." I was really starting to get upset and agitated.
"You want me in the center of this mess while Jace is as far away from here as possible? It doesn't make sense to me. You say you care what happens to me, but how come I get the distinct impression you care a hell of a lot more about what happens to Jace? Who are you?"
"I told you, I'm your uncle." I shook my head at him.
"I don't buy it. Who are you really?"
"If I told you you'd never believe me Clary."
"Try me."
"Will you promise to help me if I tell you?" I shook my head.
"No, but I promise I won't help you if you don't tell me." He took an exasperated breath.
"You really want to know?"
"Of course I do. I wouldn't have asked if I didn't." I snapped. He closed his eyes for a long moment before he opened them and spoke.
"Well, in another life I was Jace's dad." I gasped.
"Jace's dad? You're telling me you're William Herondale?" Luckily I was already quick to make the connection that he wasn't related to me by blood, otherwise my world would have completely fallen apart; he said he was married to Luke's sister. He shook his head.
"No. I'm not Jace's biological father. He's dead. His name was Stephen by the way. Stephen William Herondale. I'm Michael, Michael Wayland. At least I use to be.
"Well I thought Michael was just as dead?" He shrugged.
"Obviously not just as dead." He said sarcastically. I rolled my eyes.
"So now I'm crazy. I see dead people." He made an irritated noise.
"I'm not really dead Clary. I faked my death." I shook my head.
"Why?"
"It's complicated. You think you have questions now, wait, you'll have a lot more later." Of course I found myself thinking about what my father said about Michael being a con artist. If this was really him, and he was really alive, that con artist thing was sounding more and more possible. Not that for one second I thought Jace was involved in anything, but this guy may be bad news.
"There you go with it's complicated again…You know what, I'm sorry, but I still can't help you. I should go." I took a step forward.
"Clary, just wait a second…" There was urgency in his voice. I stopped and look up at him.
"…What did he say about me? I imagine your father already has reason to believe I'm alive after that stunt I pulled at that car shop. He's really good at telling convincing lies. I bet he's already attempted to discredit me to you. I just want to know what he said. You weren't that surprised when I told you who I was, so either you really don't believe me at all, or you do believe me and you just want nothing to do with me." I didn't really have any reason not to tell him; I might as well give him a chance to defend himself.
"He said you're a con artist. That you swindled him out of a whole bunch of money when you faked your death, which you obviously did, and now you and Jace are trying to con me." He nodded.
"Really? That's the best he could do. Ok. I want to tell you a story, but we should keep moving…" I nodded. He put back on his sunglasses as we picked up a jog.
"…The money Jace got when I died was from a financial institution, a private life insurance policy. So if anything, I defrauded a bank not your father. You know that estate that your father lives in belongs to the Wayland family? Your father's mother, Seraphina, her maiden name is Wayland. She was my father's sister. She was supposed to oversee that property until I was 21. That's when my trust would be available to me. Sure she let me have a little chunk of money on my 21st birthday, but most of the inheritance is tied into that estate. My father died when I was seven. I was raised by Seraphina after that. I spent the better part of my childhood in that house with Valentine. Seraphina and her husband raised us side-by-side like brothers. When I got married they wanted me to live in the mansion, like Valentine and Jocelyn. We would all live there together. I didn't want to. I knew what they were like, but I didn't want that life for me, for my family. They built the manor house for us and at first I thought it was great. It was the most freedom I'd ever had. Valentine ultimately wanted more responsibility, more action, so he and Jocelyn ended up moving to the Morgenstern family home in Chicago and I stayed around here. I was a kid really. The fact the mansion belonged to me was never spoken of. Though, legally it did. I didn't even find out that house was mine until after I was engaged, when I went to sit down with our lawyers to draft a prenuptial agreement and my own will. I didn't say anything after I found out; though I'm sure my uncle was aware I had been informed. I knew it would have been unheard of for me to challenge my uncle, to attempt to kick everybody out of my own house. My uncle was powerful and boy was afraid of him. Of course, I made sure to keep my will updated and in the event of my death, the property was to go in trust to Jonathan…to Jace. When Jace turns 21, that property belongs to him. Well if I were really dead anyway. The only way your father's going to let that happen is if you and Jace are married, and I don't know, maybe that's why he wants you to move into that house so bad. I'm sure he's already working overtime to assure Jace doesn't figure out any time soon that the whole estate belongs to him. That includes much of the cataloged precious family heirlooms…So, the real person trying to con you right now is your father. You can figure out by contacting a lawyer that that property doesn't belong to him, though, it's probably a really good idea to keep that information to yourself for right now." I was just staring out into oblivion as I gaped in astonishment. That was a lot to take in.
"You mean, everything belongs to Jace?" He shook his head.
"Not everything. A big chunk of it is Morgenstern money, but the land, the house, and the heirlooms, they all belong to Jace. Well, when he turns 21 next year anyway. The new money is Morgenstern money. The old money though, that was Wayland money. Once upon a time that was all legitimately earned money. I saw your father on the Forbes list. He's got what 22 Billion dollars or something? I'd say about a quarter of that, maybe less, is clean old Wayland money. That would depend on the appraisal value of a lot of those antiques mind you. The rest of it is dirty Morgenstern blood money."
"So is it true? Is my father involved in organized crime?" He nodded.
"Yeah. That's always been the Morgenstern family business. They weren't that prominent of a family though until your grandfather married your grandmother. The money she inherited really gave them a foothold to advance themselves. It helps that Valentine seems to have an unnatural knack for what he does. He's been very profitable over the last twenty years." I was trying to wrap my head around everything he was saying, but something nagged at me. If my father was this horrible person involved in organized crime, how the hell did Michael fit in the picture? Michael said he worked for my father, but what exactly did he do? I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I came to an abrupt stop and he stopped reflexively. I furrowed my eyebrows at him.
"You said you worked for my father once upon a time. What did you do?" I said softly. I asked the question, but I didn't want to know the answer. He was my father's cousin, lived under the same roof as him for a good part of his life; I really doubted he was my father's accountant.
"It's complicated." I swallowed hard.
"Michael, my father is a horrible man and you worked for him. Why?..." I pried.
"…And don't you dare tell me it's complicated one more time!" I snapped.
"Clary, he was my cousin. His mother and father raised me. It was how I was brought up. It took a little while for me to recognize what I was doing was wrong. I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of. I've hurt a lot of people. I don't expect you to understand and I don't expect you to forgive me. I've got a lot of skeletons rattling around in my closet and I'm sure some of them will come out before this is all over. There is no way to explain, to justify, why I did what I did, but I don't think it's too late to do the right thing. I want to end this. I want your help."
"What. Did. You. Do?" I annunciated each word. I didn't want to know the answer.
"Clary. Some things are better left to the imagination." I felt my heart start to race.
"What did you do?" I asked just above a whisper.
"Clary you don't want to know!" He snapped.
"Just tell me what you did!" I snapped back. He shook his head.
"No! Just leave it alone." He said firmly. I could feel my heart hammering in my chest. There was a short silent pause.
"You killed people didn't you?" I said softly. I bit my bottom lip nervously. He opened his mouth like he was going to say something and exhaled as he closed it again. I took that as confirmation.
"They were bad people though, right?" I asked softly. He scratched the back of his head.
"Mostly." He said softly. I took a shallow, staggered breath.
"You're going to kill me. If I say no, you'll kill me. If I say yes, you'll kill me when this is all over with." I muttered more to myself than to him, as I took a step back. He was shaking his head adamantly.
"No. I would never hurt you Clary. I came to help protect you, protect Jace. Remember I'm your uncle, I'm Jace's dad." I shook my head slowly.
"You never came around. I don't remember you at all. We're not like family. You're here for Jace, but not for me."
"I told you before it's complicated. You haven't seen me since you were little, and even then I couldn't come around that often. You have no idea how hard it was to work for your father and still try to keep in contact with your mother and Luke. I lost my family. I lost them all. I had to leave Jace to protect him. You're right I'm here for him now, but I would never hurt you. If it came down to it, I might be able to convince Jace to forgive me for leaving him, but I know he'd never forgive me if something happened to you and I could have prevented it." I shook my head slowly.
"I don't believe you. I don't believe you at all. You don't care at all about what happens to me-" He cut me off.
"Of course I care about what happens to you." I shook my head.
"No. You're a killer. That's why you're here isn't it? You want to kill my father. You want me to help you." He kind of nodded, kind of shook his head in an indirect way.
"It's a lot more complicated than that. If one shot to the head would have done it, I would have killed him a long time ago. I need to bring them all down." He said rather causally. My eyes got big as I started to panic. This conversation was quickly deteriorating. Any comfort or safety I felt with him before was now gone. I took an involuntary step back. I realized I was way too close to this man.
"I can't help you. I can't do this. He never did anything to me. This is wrong. I don't know why you'd even think to ask. This is so wrong." He took an exasperated breath.
"The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything. Your father is a dangerous man. You have no idea the kind of person he is, and the kind of things the Morgenstern family has done. Yeah I'm no saint, far from. I did a lot of messed up things when I worked for the Morgenstern family. I've got a whole hell of a lot of sins to make up for, but at least I'm trying to make amends. You're going to look the other way, do nothing, because you think this has nothing to do with you. You're already in the dead center of whatever the hell is going on, you just don't know it yet. One day soon you're going to wake up and it's going to be crystal clear what your father is doing and nobody is going to be there to help you." I shook my head.
"I don't know…I just…I don't know…If that day comes…I don't know…Maybe I'll find you." I heard my voice waver with uncertainty. He made an irritated noise.
"Clary, that day is right around the corner and odds are I'll be dead if you just sit around and wait for it to come. You're Valentine's daughter, he might not hurt you directly, but he'll torture or kill Jace just to prove a point. Don't you get that? If you sit back and wait you're putting Jace in more danger, that's all you're doing." He snapped. I could feel my eyes burning. This was getting to be too much for me. We weren't that far away from the cottage, maybe a quarter of a mile out. Part of me wanted to just sprint back, but a small part of me was petrified he was telling the truth.
"What in the hell do you want from me? I'm not going to kill him, even if he did something to me, even if he did something to Jace, I couldn't kill him, he's my father and I can't just kill somebody." He shook his head.
"I don't expect you to kill him, calm down. Right now, you can just be a distraction. Act like you're making a real effort to get along with your father. Get as close to him as you can. Go to that ball Friday. If he's focused on you, hopefully he won't notice what I'm up to. Once I have all the details to my plan worked out, I'll let you know what else you can do." This was too much. I was overwhelmed. I started to shake my head slightly.
"I'm sorry." I took my chances and started to run as fast as I could. I didn't get far before he grabbed my arm bringing me to an abrupt stop.
"Clary, I'm telling you the truth. You have no idea what you're going back to-" Michael stopped talking and looked off to the side of the trail towards the sound of a noise. It sounded like a combination of twigs breaking and coughing and gasping. All I could think of was that it sounded like a person trashing on the ground and gasping for air. Michael dropped his hold on me and didn't even look in my direction as he jetted off the trail and towards the sound. Though a few seconds ago I was trying to make a run for it, I found myself running after him. It sounded like somebody was hurt, it could have been anybody, which meant it could have been somebody I knew. I immediately recognized Nate as he lay on the ground. Michael was applying pressure to a gushing wound to his chest when I came up along side of him. Nate was coughing up blood.
"Clary?" Nate said as he coughed again. Michael took off his shirt and pressed it hard to the wound on Nate's chest, he gritted his teeth and flinch in noticeable pain.
"Nate!" I shrieked.
"What happened?" Michael asked. Nate coughed again. He looked like he was trying to sit up.
"I don't know. There was a guy. I didn't see-" He brought his fisted hand to his mouth in a coughing fit as he collapsed back towards the ground. Blood sprayed across his fist and misted back at his pale face.
"Easy. It's ok. Stay still." Michael said in a soothing voice. Nate was looking up at me silently and Michael followed his gaze. I hadn't even realized I was slowly taking one step after another backwards until Michael looked up at me.
"Clary, get over here and help me." He snapped. I couldn't even imagine how shocked and terrified I looked right now. I had never seen so much blood. I found my feet carrying me over to Nate, but I couldn't really listen to Michael, if he was even still speaking. I knew Nate was badly hurt; his light blue shirt and his white shorts were heavily coated with blood. I collapsed to my knees as I scooped up his hand. He returned the pressure and kept his gaze on me. My mind flashed through the memories of Nate and I as kids, riding bikes, playing in the snow, and my little crush. Nate was my friend, at one time my best friend.
"Is he going to be alright?" I asked in a small voice, my eyes never leaving Nate's. Michael didn't answer. I felt a shiver go through my body. I could barely register the warmth of the tears slowly trickling down my cheeks. Though through the years we'd drifted apart, we laughed and talked like no time had passed when I saw him the other day at Kay's bonfire. I remembered him comforting me so many times, not just at the bonfire, but as a child, every skinned knee and stubbed toe. He always knew what to say, what to do, to make me laugh, to make me feel better. I felt overwhelmed with distress for him. Somebody had done this. My first thought was that he was stabbed, but I really didn't know.
"Does it hurt terribly?" I whispered. He shook his head slightly.
"No. Not anymore." He said softly. I didn't take my eyes off his.
"Is that a good sigh?" I asked softly as I bit my quivering bottom lip. I had a feeling it wasn't.
"It's the adrenaline coursing through his body." Michael said evenly.
"I'm sorry Clary. I'm so sorry about everything-" He said weakly before he let out with another fit of coughing and his whole body trembled. I shook my head. I wasn't sure what he was apologizing for, but whatever it was didn't seem important right now.
"Shh…Don't worry about it. It doesn't matter."
"Clary…Clary…Listen to me…Hold his head up…Over here…Lift his head so he doesn't choke." Michael barked. I moved my body so Nate's head lay in my lap, his hand still holding on to mine for dear life.
"I don't want to die." He said softly as a single tear rolled down his cheek.
"Don't think like that. Hold on Nate, you'll be alright." Though I really didn't know how much I believed that.
"I use to have the worst crush on you." He said softly with a slight smile touching his lips. I smiled with tears trickling down my cheeks.
"Oh, you tell me now?" I let out a single awkward laugh and he coughed.
"I just wanted you to know." He said softly. I could feel my lips turning down as I tried to suppress the tears. A slight whimper escaped. There was a tightness in my chest, a physical pain.
"To be honest, I use to have a little crush on you too." I said just above a whisper as I tried to force a smile. The corner of his lip curved up slightly. He reached a shaking hand up and his fingertips gently touched my cheek.
"I know…but you got over me. I don't think I ever got over you." He said softly. He dropped his hand slowly. I didn't know what to say. It was quiet for a minute as we just looked into each other's eyes. He looked scared, so scared and it made him look younger somehow.
"I feel cold." He said weakly.
"What can I do? Tell me what I can do?" I said softly.
"I'm just…happy…you're…here." He said slowly in a very weak voice as a couple more tears trickled down his cheek. I knew he was slipping away.
"I'm right here Nate. I'm right here." I squeezed onto his hand even tighter, but I could feel his pressure on my hand weakening, until no pressure at all was being returned.
"Nate…Nate…Nate." I could hear the panic in my voice. He didn't respond. I held his hand in both of mine, as though if I squeezed hard enough he would squeeze back. His eyes were still glued to mine, but they looked empty and lifeless. Michael reached up and gently closed Nate's eyes; a gesture so simple, yet so meaningful. He was gone, dead. My whole face scrunched up and my chest tightened as I tried to hold myself together.
"Goodbye Nate." I whispered as I whimpered and gasped for air. I sucked in a staggered breath as the flood gates really opened and the tears just started to stream down my face. I needed Jace. I needed him so much right now. I needed him to hold on to me and never let go. For a moment the only noise was the sound of me weeping. I was feeling increasingly numb, emotionally numb, this was all too much. My breathing became more regular, but the tears just wouldn't stop.
"Clary…Clary!" Michael snapped as he grabbed hold of my arm and jerked it with force. I finally pulled my gaze from Nate's face. I was bewildered and grief-stricken. I had never seen anything so traumatic before in my life. Even when my mother and Luke were in the accident, they weren't like this, they weren't covered in blood. I had never seen life leave a person's body before. He was alive and talking and now he was dead.
"Clary it's not safe for us to stay here." I nodded slowly barely registering the words he was saying. He stood up and reached a hand down to me. I gently laid Nate's hand across his chest as I returned my gaze to his unresponsive face.
"You're just leaving him here?" I whispered.
"Darling he's dead. What do you want me to do? I'm not God." I found myself momentarily distracted by the blood covering my hands. My hands were completely red.
"Who would do something like this?" I said softly, my eyes glued to my blood covered hands.
"I thought this kid was one of your father's men earlier, but-" I cut him off without thinking.
"He was. Nate worked for my father." I whispered as my eyes returned to Nate's motionless face.
"You're sure?" Michael asked. I nodded.
"Yes." Michael took a deep breath.
"This is bad. Not many people would be so bold to deliberately strike at your father in his own territory. Your father is going to go ape shit. We've got to get the hell out of here." I glanced up at him. He was shirtless, blood on his hands and up his arms, some on his torso as well. There were streaks of blood along his shorts, where he attempted to wipe off his hands no doubt.
"But, Pangborn, you said he'd tell somebody. You said my father would come with reinforcements." I whispered timidly. He looked down at me.
"Yeah, but I haven't seen anybody, have you? I can't bring you back to the cottage. If there are reinforcements there, they'll be there for me." I nodded.
"Then we wait here?" He shook his head.
"We wait and we'll be sitting ducks. We've got to move." There was a quiet moment where we just looked at each other. I had tears streaming down my pleading face and he looked at me with a torn expression. Then footfalls could be heard on the trail a short distance away.
"Wait…Do you hear that? That's probably one of my father's men right now." I started to stand and he grabbed my arm and yanked me back down as he crouched down beside me.
"Shh…Don't do anything stupid. That could just as easily be whoever did this." He whispered harshly. He took a deep breath and looked in the direction of the noise.
"Maybe it's Jace. I could just walk a little closer to the trail and get a better look." I said quietly. Michael looked back at me with furrowed eyebrows.
"Seriously? Does that sound like a bright idea to you? You're willing to risk giving away our position for the slight chance that's Jace? We are in the woods next to a dead man that was most likely killed very deliberately in an attempt to get to you. Yeah that could be one of your father's men, could be Jace, but do you need me to draw you a picture of what's going to happen to you, what's going to happen to us, if you're wrong?" He snapped. I heard an odd muffled noise and Michael shouted out in pain through clenched teeth as he retracted his arm that was just holding mine. There was blood rushing down his arm from a nasty looking wound just above his elbow, a gunshot I would guess. There was a blur as a man ran towards us and Michael jumped up off the ground in front of me, but I could barely concentrate on what was going on.
"What the hell?...Agramon?" Michael said as he clutched his injured arm to his chest. I recognized Agramon from the auto repair shop. He stopped several feet away. He held a gun pointed at Michael.
"Michael?" He questioned as he tilted his head to the side quizzically.
"Yeah…but, hey…your boy here wasn't me…I swear. I found him that way…Ask her." Agramon laughed an unsettling laugh.
"Here we are at a miraculous reunion and you're getting all defensive with me. Don't waste your breath. I know you didn't do that Michael…because I did." Agramon sounded sinister.
"You idiot. You just signed your own death warrant. That kid worked for Valentine." Michael snapped. Agramon scoffed.
"It's really not a smart idea to call a man with a gun an idiot Michael…Don't you know better than that? I'm well aware that little bastard worked for Valentine. When I was hired it was considered an honor to call yourself an employee of Mr. Morgenstern, now they're hiring every incompetent reject that comes along."
"You know that kid was here to protect her? What was the point of killing him?" Agramon chuckled as he shook his head.
"Go home Michael…or go wherever it is you hide when you're pretending to be dead. You've been out of the game for way too long to get back in it now. You'll get yourself killed. Speaking of which, you might want to do something about that arm of yours before you bleed to death."
"What the hell are you doing? Is this some sort of mutiny?" Agramon laughed. I couldn't see exactly what Michael was doing, but he pulled something from his shorts. He had some sort of rope in his hand, the drawstring from his running shorts I guessed. He was tying it around his upper arm.
"You've been dead for what, ten years? I can't see how any of this is really your concern. Why don't you just run along and go back to being a ghost? I don't have any vendetta against you."
"Sure. Sounds good…Come on darling we're leaving." Michael took a step back and reached a hand down towards me, while Agramon shook his head.
"I don't think so Michael. I didn't go through all that trouble to let her walk away with you. She's coming with me." Agramon winked at me.
"Why do I have the feeling you're not here to bring her back to Valentine?"
"I don't know, maybe you're psychic…It's been so nice catching up, but we've got to go…Come on sweetheart. We're leaving."
"She's not going anywhere with you Agramon."
"Now Michael, this quarrel isn't with you, but if you get in my way, it will be." Michael took a half step sideways, completely stepping between me and Agramon.
"I can't let you hurt her."
"Who said I was going to hurt her?" Michael shook his head.
"I know you better than that. It's written all over your face Agramon…I don't know who put you up to this, I don't know what they're paying you, but you have no idea how high Valentine's regard is for this girl." Agramon laughed.
"The way I hear it his regard is high for the young lady's fiancé, your son is it? The girl is just important by association…I see that look of paternal concern flashing across your face…Don't worry, your little boy is perfectly untouchable, for right now anyway. He's not exactly making friends too fast. You probably should have taught him better manners, or maybe I should blame the Lightwoods; it's not like you were around while he was growing up." Michael shook his head.
"Agramon this is wrong. Whatever you've been told, forget it-" Agramon chuckled as he cut Michael off.
"That's so sweet. You're trying so hard to protect your son's fiancée. He is terribly attached isn't he? It's almost disturbing. I'm sure you don't want to see him go through what you went through when Amatis died, completely understandable. I imagine it's very hard to lose the love of your life. How come your family always seems to suffer terrible heartbreak Michael? So much death. What's that funny little expression you use to say about love and loss? I loved someone and I got them killed and now I'm sad." Michael took an exasperated breath.
"It's the girl Valentine's interested in, not my son. I swear-" Agramon cut him off again.
"Michael I asked you a question. I want to know your stupid little saying or you can watch me put a bullet through her pretty little stomach."
"To love is to destroy, and to be loved is to be the one destroyed." Michael growled through clenched teeth. Agramon smiled.
"That's it. I live my life by it really. Nobody talks like you anymore. Rather unfortunate." Agramon sounded so casual you'd never know he was holding a gun on us.
"Agramon, this is Valentine's daughter." Agramon glanced around Michael at me for a moment and quickly looked back at Michael.
"You almost had me there Michael. Very good try. I have to give you credit for creativity. Unfortunately I'm afraid you're out of time." I heard the muffled noise I had heard before and Michael's hands flew to his stomach as he stumbled backwards a step. I just knew Agramon had just shot Michael in the stomach. The next several things happened so quickly I wasn't even sure if I could follow them. The next thing I knew they were in a physical struggle and a short moment later the gun was lying on the ground next to me. Michael had so much blood on him, that I wasn't sure what was his and what was Nate's. I could hear my own frantic screams, but nobody seemed to be paying any attention to me. I could barely register Michael yelling at me to run, to get back to the cottage. Agramon had Michael pinned to the ground, but I'm sure the gunshots to Michael's arm and stomach were greatly debilitating. Agramon had his hands around Michael's neck. Michael was trashing and pushing against Agramon, but he was clearly losing the struggle. I couldn't bring myself to run, even though I knew that's what Michael was yelling at me to do. They weren't far from me, ten feet maybe, with Agramon's body clearly covering Michael's. I looked down at Nate's body and I thought of how Michael had tried to save him. I thought of how he had gotten between Agramon and me, how he was trying to protect me even now. I felt safer with Michael than with my father's men, and I couldn't leave him here to die. I didn't trust Agramon at all, and I knew he'd kill Michael and I knew I could never outrun him.
I carefully moved Nate's head off my legs and crawled the short distance to the gun that lay just a couple feet away from me. I curled my blood covered fingers around the grip as I lifted it and pointed it towards the back of Agramon's body. I hesitated just a moment as Michael's hands dropped from Agramon's neck, his trashing ceasing. I heard the muffled sound of the gun, the noise I wasn't sure of before, a silencer attached to the barrel. I barely registered I pulled the trigger, but Agramon arched his back with a loud yell. He turned towards me cursing and yelling. I had no idea how many times I pulled the trigger, but at some point Agramon fell to his knees, a look somewhere between agony and rage on his face. He slumped forward landing across my legs and causing me to fall backwards from the impact. The gun fell from my heavily trembling hands. I couldn't even move. I was traumatized and scared to death, not to mention much of Agramon's weight now lay on me. There was so much blood everywhere. I had never registered the click of the empty gun after the last bullet was fired, or the slide that was locked back. I moved my eyes from Agramon's motionless body to Nate's to Michael's. Using all my strength I managed to get my blood drenched lower body out from underneath Agramon. Between pushing on Agramon and trying to roll him off of me, his blood now heavily coated my body. I crawled the ten feet of so slowly over to Michael's still unconscious body; not nearly steady enough to stand. I couldn't tell if he was dead, but I could tell he was bleeding a lot from his stomach. He also had so much blood on his face and torso, but I just couldn't tell if he was bleeding from anywhere else. I didn't really know first aid, but I took my shirt off, leaving just my sports bra on. I pushed it into the wound in Michael's stomach like I had watched him do earlier to Nate. I pulled Michael's head into my lap and rocked him gently begging him quietly to wake up. I just had this overwhelming fear I was going to watch him die before my eyes just as I had watched Nate.
Jace's POV
When I returned from my run I noticed a couple of black cars in the driveway. I had seen Blackwell on my run and I knew there were some guys around keeping on eye on things, but I had a nagging feeling something was wrong. I just wanted to see Clary right now. I needed to see her. I needed to put my arms around her and know she was alright. I always run with the key to the cottage tied to my shoelace just in case, but the door was already unlocked. A shiver went through my body as I opened the cottage door and saw four men dressed in black and Clary's father in the living room. They appeared to be having a discussion. I walked through the kitchen and down the hall to my room. I happened to notice the bathroom door was open and the bathroom was empty. I opened my bedroom door and glanced in. There was no sign of Clary in my room, but before I knew it someone was right behind me. I half turned to see Starkweather with a very serious look on his face.
"When was the last time you saw Clarissa?" He said in a firm voice. I felt my chest tighten.
"Why?" I asked hesitantly. I could hear the conversation in the living room and now it sounded more like an argument. I was pretty sure I could hear Clary's father talking rather angrily in an elevated voice. I walked out of my bedroom pushing passed Starkweather, ignoring his attempts to question me. I walked down the hall and into the living room where Clary's father was talking rather sternly to Pangborn. Pangborn looked somewhere between pale and green. He looked like he was seriously uncomfortable and might pass out or throw up at any minute. Clary's father turned his attention to me when I walked into the room.
"Jace, do you know where Clarissa is?" He asked in a firm voice, but not nearly as harsh as he had just been talking to Pangborn. I swallowed hard.
"I'm not sure…Why?" He completely ignored my question.
"When was the last time you saw her?" He asked in an assertive voice. I shook my head slightly.
"What's going on?" I snapped.
"You're wasting time Jace. When was the last time you saw her?" He asked a bit harsher than last time.
"Why should I answer your questions, when you're not answering mine?" I snapped. Clary's father walked up to me with a very irate look on his face. He's a big man and he looked very ominous, I couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.
"Jace, I'm asking nicely and I don't do that often." He spoke evenly, but he had this look in his eyes that was much more intimidating than usual. I swallowed hard.
"She was jogging on the trails behind the cottage with me. I saw her about forty-five minutes ago." I tried to keep my voice level, though I was getting increasingly nervous and pissed off that nobody was quick to give me information, and though I'd never admit it, her father was terrifying right now. I knew Startweather was standing behind me, though I couldn't see him. The door to the cottage flew open.
"Starkweather?" The man called as he searched the room.
"What?" Clary's father snapped.
"Sir." The man said hesitantly as his face paled noticeably. He swallowed hard. Clary's father just stared him down.
"We've recovered the two cars." His voice wavered as he spoke. Clary's father looked at him expectantly. The man just shook his head slightly. In a quick instant Clary's father's hand went out and he punched a hole in the wall behind the kitchen, I swear everybody in the room flinched, including me.
"Somebody better find Clarissa and bring her back now!" Clary's father growled. The man was out of the cottage in a second followed by Pangborn and Starkweather. I was left alone with Clary's father and two other men dressed in black that stood near the door. I was starting to get increasingly concerned with the way everybody was acting. I would have expected her to get back before me, but under normal circumstances I wouldn't have been that worried if she wasn't. Yesterday she went for a long run and I got back before her. I didn't pass her on the trail, but she could have decided to jog a little in the other direction. I had a key tied to my laces, but she didn't. If she got back and nobody was home to let her in, she could have decided to keep jogging, I wasn't sure. That's what I would do; I'd check the trail leading the other way. I started towards the door, but Clary's father put a hand lightly on my arm as I walked by him.
"Don't…If she's out there, my men will find her." I had never heard him so soft spoken, he almost sounded compassionate.
"You don't think she's out there?" I said hesitantly. He shook his head.
"No." He said simply as he dropped his grasp. He walked across the room towards the door. His sudden calm demeanor gave me back my confidence. I wanted to know why he was so alarmed; I wanted to know what he knew.
"Wait. What the hell is going on?" I snapped. I crossed my arms. I could feel my pulse racing. I wanted to be out there looking for Clary if she was missing, and I wanted answers.
"That's what I'm trying to determine." Clary's father said evenly without turning around.
"Don't you know anything?" I snapped. As he reached for the door it opened and Maia and Jordan were on the other side. Jordan's whole face fell as he took in the room, he looked annoyed. Maia looked like she had been crying. They both hesitated. Clary's father put his hand on Jordan's shoulder.
"Where are your companions?" He asked quizzically. Jordan looked at his shoulder where Clary's father's hand lay and looked up at him with furrowed eyebrows.
"My companions?" He questioned as he swatted Clary's father's hand from his shoulder. Clary's father made an irritated noise.
"The others…Mr. Lightwood, Ms. Lightwood, Mr. Bane-" Jordan cut him off.
"I don't know. Maia and I went out to get breakfast. I don't know where anybody else is."
"The Toyota out there belongs to Clarissa, does it not?" Jordan nodded.
"Yeah."
"You drive the Jeep, so that only leaves the Ferrari, am I right?" Jordan shook his head.
"No. Jace has a BMW too."
"I'm only interested in which vehicles are currently at your disposal. The BMW is still at my estate." Clary's father sounded more like he was talking to himself than that he was speaking to Jordan. Starkweather came up behind Jordan and Maia.
"The Ferrari Starkweather, it only seats two, correct?" Starkweather nodded.
"Yes Sir."
"Find the other children." Clary's father said as though he were deep in thought.
"Too many missing for only one car Sir?" Starkweather asked evenly.
"Yes. It would appear so." Clary's father glanced into the cottage at me before returning his gaze to Jordan.
"If you haven't yet noticed, you're missing four, but that Ferrari only seats two. Something else to ponder." He pushed by Jordan and Maia and walked out of the cottage with Starkweather right behind him. Jordan and Maia walked into the cottage.
"What the hell?" Jordan muttered. Starkweather came right back into the cottage. Jordan and Maia stood frozen just inside the doorway.
"Mr. Morgenstern is offering you the opportunity to accompany me back to the estate. You may take some time to pack. The police have been notified of the situation and you will likely need to give a statement when they arrive. I'll let you know when I am getting ready to leave if you choose to take Mr. Morgenstern up on his invitation." He said evenly before he turned around and walked back outside with the other two men. Maia, Jordan, and I were left alone in the living room. Maia and Jordan walked over towards me.
"Where is everybody?" Jordan asked. I just shook my head. I was just realizing I had no idea where anybody else was, which meant it looked like Clary's father and all his guys came into the cottage on their own.
"I don't know…Maia what happened?" Maia wiped away her tears.
"Bat said it's…just awful…they're…dead…they're all…dead." She stuttered out as she began sobbing. Jordan put his arms around her as she cried into his chest.
"Who's dead?" I asked hesitantly.
"Not who, what. The horses. There was a big fire at the stable last night." Jordan said as he shook his head slightly. He had a heartfelt look on his face. I swallowed hard.
"All?" I asked softly. Jordan nodded.
"I'm sorry." I could only partially register what he was telling me. I was too worried and upset over Clary to concentrate on losing Wayfarer.
"Why the hell is Valentine here? Where's Clary?" Jordan asked as he glanced around. I rubbed my hands over my face.
"He's here because she's missing." I mumbled.
"What?" Maia snapped.
"What do you mean missing? When and where exactly did you see her last?" Jordan had this serious look on his face; I could see the cop coming out of him. I shook my head and looked down in thought as I spoke.
"I saw her like forty-five minutes ago, maybe closer to an hour now. We were jogging on the trails, but she hasn't come back yet. I just got back not long ago myself, maybe ten minutes ago. I mean I would have been a little concerned, but she didn't have a key and if nobody was here to let her in, I would have probably just figured she decided to run longer or something. Her father was here when I got back though, with all these security guards and he's acting like something huge is going on, and he's not telling me anything. Now they're talking about the police, but I don't have a clue why. Clary was missing for hours the other night and the police wouldn't get involved. I can't believe they're getting involved after such a short time just because she's Mr. Morgenstern's daughter. Something's going on; he's just not telling me what." I rattled off. I took an exasperated breath.
"Go Jace." I furrowed my eyebrows and looked up at Jordan.
"What?" He took a deep breath.
"He offered to let you go with him right? That's what that guy just said. You want answers; you want to figure out what's going on, your best chance is to go with him." I just looked at Jordan.
"You're recommending I leave with the mob?" I said quietly; more because I was suddenly feeling emotionally drained than that I was attempting to whisper.
"Well, you don't seem all that afraid of them. If somebody really was so stupid to kidnap Clary, I hate to admit it, but Valentine has a much better chance of finding her than the cops do" He said gently. I took a deep breath. I couldn't even think about Clary being kidnap, the thought was too much to handle. I couldn't start jumping to every horrible conclusion; I would just drive myself crazy. I needed to think about something else before I completely lost it.
"So where the hell is everybody else?" I muttered.
"Maybe Will picked up Magnus and Alec or something. I'll text them." Jordan pulled out his phone and started typing away. I could hear sirens, but I didn't register immediately that they had anything to do with Clary missing.
"Hey…Come on." Jordan said as he pocketed his phone, grabbed my arm, and towed me towards the door. He looked like he was in thought. When we got outside there was one black sedan left in the driveway with Starkweather standing next to it alone. I was taken aback by the number of emergency vehicles that pulled into the driveway and parked along the street. Starkweather was quick to approach the cops and before I knew it I had a number of officers over by me asking me a million questions. I was the last person to see Clary, so clearly I was a person of interest. Jordan stayed close for awhile as I was drilled with question after question. I ended up going inside to get a picture of Clary for the cops at one point. I had no idea how long I was being questioned, but it felt like forever. One cop would leave me alone for a few minutes and then another cop would come over to me. Some seemed nice and attempted to console me, while others seemed abrasive and badgered me with questions. I couldn't tell if they just wanted all the information they could get, or if I was a suspect at this point. Maia and Jordan stayed with me the majority of the time, but when I went inside to get the picture, Jordan snuck off. The cops weren't quick to answer any of my questions, so I still felt completely in the dark about what was going on.
A panic worse than I had ever experienced before filled my entire body as I saw a stretcher with a body bag on it emerge from the woods. I ignored the cop yelling at me as I took off towards the stretcher. I pushed two paramedics out of the way as I unzipped the bag with shaky hands. I didn't know Blackwell very well, but I still recognized his lifeless face. I collapsed to the ground overcome by a combination of relief and the realization of how serious the situation was. Suddenly the police being here made more sense. Based on how Clary's father had acted, and all his men being here earlier, I had a strong feeling he already knew about this before he left. I wondered what else he knew about that he hadn't told me. Jordan and Maia were soon by my side and I was being yelled at by one of the police officers waving handcuffs in my face. I couldn't even think or speak right now. Jordan was trying to talk to the cop, but I couldn't register anything he was saying. I was going completely out of my mind. I needed Clary back. I couldn't take much more before I knew I'd completely fall to pieces.
Albert Einstein:
"The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything."
Bobby McFerrin:
"Don't Worry, Be Happy"
Sir Francis Bacon:
"scientia potentia est" (or "scientia est potentia" or also "scientia potestas est") often claimed to mean organized "knowledge is power".
