Chapter 16

Isabelle watched Simon as he slept deeply on her bed. Although he was a vampire with acute senses, nothing had woken him so far, so she decided to just let him be. She exited her room, leaving the door slightly ajar, to see what Clary was up to.

"Hmm?" Clary said after Isabelle knocked.

"Can I come in?"

Without waiting for an answer, Isabelle opened the door. Clary sat with her fiery hair in a messy pony tail, and a large drawing in front of her. Charcoal lay strewn across the floor, and a long line of it ran down her cheek.

Stepping closer, Isabelle peered at the drawing. This must be the map that Alec was talking about, she thought.

Everything was so small and detailed; Isabelle couldn't understand how Clary had managed to complete this in such a short amount of time, even with her awesome talent. The map almost took up the whole floor.

"Do you like it?" Clary asked.

"It's beautiful." Isabelle said in awe. "To bad Sebastian lives there. The bastard."

Clary chuckled. "Yeah…It's done now. All we have to do is go in and get Jace."

Isabelle admired Clary for her optimism, even if it was fake.

"Do you want to show Alec?" Isabelle inquired.

"Yeah."

Clary stood up, dusted herself off, and dragged the drawing down the stairs. She struggled with it; it was almost as tall as she was.

When they arrived downstairs, Alec and Tessa appeared to be having an intimate conversation. They stopped talking as soon as Clary bustled into the room.

"It's done." Clary said proudly, stepping back to admire her handiwork.

Alec went to stand beside her. "Wow. That's impressive."

"Yeah." Tessa agreed, eyes watering.

Just then, Isabelle heard footsteps down the hallway. Tearing her eyes away from the page, she said. "Oh, hey Simon. You finally—" she faltered when she saw who was actually standing before her.

Magnus Bane waved at them, though this took some effort with the large duffle bag and sleeping bag he was holding.

"Knock, much?" Alec said, clearly trying to look annoyed.

"Sorry." said Magnus.

"What's with the duffle bag?" Clary asked.

"I thought we could have a sleep over." Magnus beamed while Alec rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on! It will be fun. It's getting late, and we don't know how long Tessa's going to take while we hold down the fort. So, why not have fun while we're at it? Besides, I brought my dragon pajamas." He winked at Alec.

"That sounds like a great idea!" Isabelle exclaimed.

They would have so much fun, she thought. They could play truth or dare, do facials, play pranks on Alec…

As Isabelle's thoughts drifted towards sleepover plans, Clary, Tessa and Magnus worked out the logistics.

"I don't see why not," said Tessa.

"Yeah, and Simon and everyone else can come too." Clary added.

A few minutes later, it was decided: All of them would meet at the institute at 8:30 and wait for Tessa, Jace and Rebecca to come back.

Isabelle excused herself and started upstairs. She had to tell Simon the good news.


Jace had just finished marveling at Sebastian's map when the door opened. He froze while Sebastian squeezed through the crack, an armful of large brown bags in hand.

"Oh, hey Jace." He said. "What brings you to my office?" He seemed to be in a good mood, which meant that he'd just done something terrible.

"Oh, nothing." Jace tried to sound nonchalant. "Just hanging out. What were you doing all of this time?"

"I don't know, made some alliances with demons, told Garrick to set up the wards, etcetera. And I got groceries." He held up his bags.

Jace took one from Sebastian and prowled through it until he found an apple. "What wards?" He asked, food still in his mouth.

"Well, I figured I should get some protection, just in case someone tries to get into the palace or something. That way, no one can just portal in here." He smiled. "They should be up by 10:00. Then, no one will be able to get in, and no one will be able to get out."

Jace grimaced and cursed under his breath. It was about 6:30 now: his friends now only had three and a half hours before things got a lot more complicated. He had to warn them.

Sebastian's eyes drifted from Jace's eyes to his right hand, and in an instant his expression turned from cheerful to cold. In Jace's grasp lay the map, rolled up and ready to put away.

"What is that? Sebastian asked. With lightning speed, he crossed the room and snatched it from Jace's hand before he could respond. Unrolling it, he looked it over and glared. "Were you snooping?"

"No," Jace couldn't understand why Sebastian was so upset. After all, he had given Jace the run of the palace. "It was just sitting there." Jace lied smoothly. "I got curious. If you didn't want me looking at it, you shouldn't have left it in plain sight."

"I didn't leave it in plain sight." The other boy said. Though he spoke at a low volume, he was practically trembling with fury. "You were looking for it for some reason. You were looking for it all along. You were lying to me all along."

How could Sebastian have jumped to such conclusions, Jace thought. Obviously, he was blowing things way out of proportion.

"This isn't that big of a deal," Jace said, taking another bite of his apple. "Jesus, chill out."

"Look me in the eye and tell me you're not lying to me."

Jace looked him square in the eye. "I'm not lying to you." Easy, he thought.

"I knew it!" Sebastian exclaimed. "I'm not an idiot, Jace." He walked toward him, until Jace could feel his warm breath on his face. "My hearing is more acute than any Shadowhunter alive, even yours. I can hear your heart rate increase when you lie. And your heart's been beating pretty fast lately."

Jace tried to think of a way to deny it, but his mind drew blank. He decided to just keep his face expressionless until Sebastian finished ranting.

" I thought I could trust you." Sebastian went on. "At first, I did. But then, I started listening to your heart. Why did I trust you, Jace? Why did I think that I could finally have a friend?"

Jace tried not to make a smartass remark, but he couldn't resist. "Maybe," he said coldly. "You are an idiot."

Without another word, Sebastian took Jace by the arm and began to drag him back to his room. Jace struggled, but even he was powerless against Sebastian's brute strength. Sebastian moved with lightning speed and in seconds, they were back to Jace's room, where Rebecca sat alone by the fire. Sebastian threw Jace hard across the room, and Jace's head hit the wall as his body slid down it.

He blinked and shook his head once. "Dammit."

"What the hell just happened?" Rebecca asked.

Jace looked blearily back at her. "Sebastian and I aren't besties anymore."

At that point, Jace remembered something. Somewhere, in the back of his mind, he knew that there was something dire that he needed to do. But he just couldn't put his finger on it. Instead, he slipped out of consciousness.


At 8:30, everyone had arrived at the Institute. They'd all decided to change into their pajamas, and sure enough, Magnus emerged in red silk ones with green dragon print. The vampire boy—his name escaped Tessa now—wore blue checkered pajama bottoms and a plain, white, over-sized T-shirt that said THE CAKE IS A LIE in all capital letters.

"Are you ready?" Alec asked, handing her a pair of Jace's clothes. He looked openly concerned, and it again surprised her to see such naked emotions on a Lightwood's face.

She looked over at Clary, who was drawing an intricate rune in the far corner of the library. Her fiery red hair stood out against her sky blue night gown with penguins on it.

"Yeah," Tessa said, accepting the clothes. "I'm ready."

She took them into the bathroom put them on, and welcomed the Change. When she'd first started, this had been painful. But now, Changing into another person was as easy as putting on a different shirt. The memories were the hard parts. Images flooded through her head, and she grasped the countertop in order to keep from falling over. She felt as if she knew everything about him, as if she was him. She felt the pain being manipulated, over and over again, and the joy of seeing Clary's face.

Finally, she brought herself to stand up straight and looked in the mirror. Sure enough, Jace's face stared back at her, and she noticed certain similarities between him and Will. The hair and eye colors were completely different, but they had similar facial structures, though Jace's mouth was a little narrower. Will had had a more bulky frame, where Jace's was slender but still muscular.

Tessa finally stepped out of the bathroom, still trying to get used to her knew body. "Okay everyone. I'm ready to go."

She took her eyes off of her shoes and faced her pajama-clad crowd. She met gaping faces with mouths hanging open.

"Oh my god." Clary said, a mix of wonder and something else on her face.

The only person who didn't look the least bit surprised was Magnus, who smiled with satisfaction. "See? What did I tell you guys?"

He walked over and put two hands on Tessa's shoulders, though it was kind of awkward now that she was in Jace's body.

"You can do it, Tess." he told her.

"Umm…okay." She replied.

Without a word of reply to anyone else, she jumped into Clary's portal.


Tessa had gone through portals only twice before, and each time it had been unpleasant. After what seemed like ages of falling, falling through nothingness, she landed with a thump on a hard wood floor.

Dusting herself off, she stood up and took in her surroundings. The green walls looked familiar, even though she had never been here before. Out of the bedroom door and to her right, she knew from studying the map and Jace's knowledge, was the path that she could use to pass Jace's room—giving him the signal to escape—and distract Sebastian.

She crept out of the door and advanced down the hallway. Turning the corner, she ducked into a small, dark tower, with a winding staircase that led to the dungeons, where Jace's room was.

When she made it down the steps, a thought hit her as she neared the room: she wasn't supposed to be here. She could practically feel the pain of being thrown against the wall of the cell as Sebastian trembled with fury. She peered into the room and saw Jace lying unconscious on the floor.

"What are you doing out, Jace Lightwood?" a voice said.

Tessa whirled to meet the eyes of a boy no older than she was, with curly brown hair and grey eyes. She looked down and saw his clawed hands. A warlock, she thought. A memory came to her. The warlock, Garrick, had been disguised as an old man while Sebastian and Amatis ransacked a bridal shop. Then, he'd helped kidnap them.

"Um…Um… nothing! I—I just—" she stammered.

Think, think. What would Jace do in this situation? She asked herself.

"Sebastian has informed me that you are no longer allowed to wander from your room." Garrick said mechanically. "And I am given orders to punish you severely if I catch you venturing outside of your limits."

A ball of blue fire materialized in his hand. Tessa decided to call upon her warlock powers before she remembered something: she no longer had any warlock powers. She now was in the body of a Shadowhunter. So she did the only thing she knew how to do.

She punched him.

Her fist—or Jace's fist—connected with his jaw before he could hurl the fire at her. His head whipped sideways and hit the wall with a crack. As he slumped to the ground, Tessa smiled. Jace was stronger and faster than any other Shadowhunter she'd inhabited.

"How did you get out?" A boy with white-blond hair stood before her, trembling with fury.

Sebastian. The name came attached with many emotions. She registered pity first, but the feeling was overridden with pure, unadulterated hatred.

Looking past her, he saw Garrick crumpled on the floor. "Is he okay?"

"I don't know." Tessa replied, adopting Jace's sarcastic air. "Does he normally just lie on the floor like that?"

"What did you do to him?"

"Nothing." She lied smoothly. "He was like that when I got here."

"Come with me." Sebastian commanded, taking her arm. Looking back at Garrick, who now moaned on the floor, he said. "Garrick, resume your duties."

Resume your duties. What duties? As Sebastian pulled her to his office, she received another memory: Garrick was putting up wards that would be done by 10:00. Then, it would be much harder to escape.

There was no way that she could warn the others, and Jace couldn't do it while he lay unconscious. The truth was inevitable: all hell was about to break loose.