Months. It had been months since I'd so much as seen him. Well, it'd actually only been a day in real time, but it'd been months for me.

"Time," he gasped, breaking the kiss briefly. "How much time?"

"Huh?" I asked attractively.

Jace gently tapped the silver circlet that I still wore. "How long before you have to go back?"

"Tomorrow."

He raised his eyebrows and smirked. "So you're here all night?"

"I'll hit you."

But he just kissed me again. They were playful, quick kisses that made me giggle.

"Jace!"

He'd moved on to kisses along my jaw.

"Jace, stop! Stop!"

He nuzzled my cheek before backing up half a step. He was smiling and looking adorable. "I'm really glad to see you."

"Trust me, I'm glad to see you, too," I assured him, "but right now, we should go check and see how Luke is doing. It's been a while, Magnus should be done by now, right?"

Jace suddenly grew somber again and cleared his throat. "Right. Let's go."

Clary's eyes followed us the instant we entered the room. "Luke's going to be fine," she said. The poor girl sounded exhausted.

I nodded to show that I'd heard what she'd said.

"And you're sure he'll live?" Simon asked an exhausted looking Magnus.

The warlock was slumped in the chair I'd left my cloak on, eyes closed, smoking a blue cigarette.

"Yes, I'm sure," he said tersely. "I'm the High Warlock of Brooklyn; I know what I'm doing." Magnus opened his cat-like eyes so that the fell on Jace, somehow still managing to not notice me. "Which reminds me that I'm not exactly sure what it is you think you're doing, calling on me every time one of you has so much as an ingrown toenail that needs clipping. As High Warlock, my time is valuable. There are plenty of lesser warlocks who'd be happy to do a job for you at a greatly reduced rate."

Clary let out an audible gasp. "You're charging us? But Luke is a friend!"

"Not a friend of mine," Magnus pointed out. "I met him only on the few occasions when your mother brought him along when your memory spells were being refreshed. Did you think I was helping you out of the goodness of my heart? Or am I just the only warlock you happen to know?"

I could feel Jace getting tense beside me. "No, but-" he cut himself off.

"Magnus." It was my turn to step up. "You're the only warlock we're friends with. That's why we keep bothering you, but if it's payment you want, I do have the resources of the Seelie Court to back me up."

He stared blankly at me. "My Shadowhunter! Why did no one tell me you were here? This is wonderful! Now I don't have to keep towing around Loverboy. I don't know how you stand it, he's either cleaning and moving all my stuff around or being obnoxious."

"I can't, Magnus." I sighed. I had one night to be back with my friends and I didn't want to waste it trying to explain everything to everyone. "The Queen hasn't let me go completely; she expects me back tomorrow."

Magnus raised one sparkling eyebrow and cast a look between Jace and myself. "Just one night together and you're wasting your time talking?"

Now it was my turn to get tense. "I don't like what you're implying, warlock," I snapped. "You have no business commenting on anyone's relationships unless they're dangerously unhealthy. I know you think you're so damn clever with your little comments and insinuating things but it's just rude! Honestly! And yes, I'm probably a lot more upset about this than I should be but I'm a little bit on edge from being locked up underground for months! If you want to make jokes about someone's relationships, why don't you make them about yours and Alec's?"

And that, my friends, is an example of going much too far. I immediately looked towards Alec, regretting my outburst.

"Why would you say something like that?" he hissed in an unsteady voice.

Jace frowned. "Alec, it's fine that you're dating Magnus."

The blue eyed boy displayed a perfect example of a jaw twitch. "We're not dating."

"Oh?" Magnus asked. "So you're just this friendly with everybody, is that it?"

"Magnus." Alec was pleading and I desperately wanted to remove everyone from the room so that the warlock and the awkward Shadowhunter could have some privacy.

"Alec," Jace stepped towards his parabatai, "it's fine. It's all fine. I don't care!"

Alec turned a terrible shade of grey. In an attempt to be comforting, Jace had said what was literally the worst thing possible given the situation.

"I really don't care," Jace repeated.

Magnus had an awful, humorless smile on his face. "Oh, I think he believes you about that."

"Drop it," Clary said before anyone else could speak. "Just let it alone."

"Let what alone?" It was Luke, wonderful, not dead Luke.

"Luke!" Clary and I shouted in unison, both rushing forward to crouch by the side of the sofa.

"Do you remember what happened?" Clary asked as I said, "How do you feel?"

Luke gave me a look that was clearly supposed to mean "How do you think I feel?" before responding the Clary's inquiry. "Not really. The last thing I remember was going out to the truck. Something hit my shoulder and jerked me sideways. I remember the most incredible pain – Anyway, I must have passed out after that. The next thing I knew I was listening to six people arguing. What was all that about, anyway?"

"Nothing," we all chorused innocently.

"I see…"


"… and now the Queen is training me to be her ambassador to the Clave," I finished explaining, conveniently leaving out the whole I-can-do-magic part of the story. "The only reason I get to be here now is that I'm presenting myself at the Institute tomorrow."

"I don't like it," Luke announced. He yawned massively before continuing. "Why do the Fey need a Shadowhunter?"

"I don't really know," I admitted.

Suddenly, Simon leaped to his feet. Earlier, between Luke waking up and me telling my story, Simon and Clary had disappeared for a bit and when they'd reappeared, everything felt a tad awkward. So I guess it wasn't that surprising when Simon made a lame excuse about having to get home and left, being chased down by Clary.

Alec quickly followed Simon's leave and left. The rest of us, however, seemed to be spending the night.

Clary excused herself and went off to bed almost the moment she stepped back inside from speaking with Simon. Luke, utterly spent, was soon asleep on the couch and Magnus was still glowering about the whole Seelie Court situation so when Jace suggested that we could go sit out in the back yard, I jumped at the opportunity.

The night air was slightly chilly and I found myself wishing I'd brought my cloak, as much as I hated the stupid thing. Jace sat down on the edge of the porch and I perched next to him, hoping to steal some of his warmth.

"Isabelle thinks she might have found a way to break the Seelie Queen's claim on you," he announced without preface.

My heart stuttered for half an instant. "She does?"

Jace seemed uneasy. He wasn't fidgety, but abnormally still as if he were concentrating very hard on his breathing. "It's a crazy idea and we don't know if it'll work. We're still looking and I want you to know that this is not my idea and that I'm only mentioning it because it's a singular possibility."

I linked my arm through his. "It can't be that bad."

"Marriage," he blurted out. "We could get married."

What.

"But we're seventeen," I pointed out. "We can't get married."

He visibly relaxed beside me. "Exactly."

The city sounds were all around us, the lights flooding the sky and creating a permanent, artificial dawn. I wanted to see stars. It then occurred to me that I wanted to see the stars from Idris someday. Maybe not tomorrow, or next week, but sometime in the future. And maybe, just maybe, Jace would be with me the first time I saw those stars.

"Jaci?" His voice was low.

In response, I just slipped my hand into his and leaned against him.

"I love you," Jace said quietly.

oMy heart raced and my face felt hot and I found myself smiling hopelessly. "Jace?"

He turned to look at me.

"I love you, too."

He grinned at me and laughed, almost nervously. It was the first time I'd ever seen Jace without any façade. There was something wonderful and brilliant about that smile and there was even a touch of shyness in it and I could feel my heart melting into a puddle. This was Jace. This was the person Jace would've been without an abusive father, the person he really was.

"You know," he said after a moment, "there was a part of me that thought you wouldn't say it back."

"Because obviously I hate everything about you," I said sarcastically.

"Shh…" Jace put his free hand over my mouth. "You'll spoil it."

"Spoil what?" I mumbled through his fingers.

"The moment."

"I will bite you," I attempted to say, but it came out all jumbled.

He laughed. "What was that?" He took his hand away from my mouth so I took the opportunity to kiss him.

"Nothing." I grinned at him.

His smile slowly faded and his expression grew serious. "Jaci, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about."

He was taking this new topic more seriously than when he'd half-suggested we get married. I was concerned.

"I found something… of yours." Jace turned his attention to my hand that was still in his. "And I can't say that I understand it… and I don't know what to think. Honestly, I'm not sure if I shouldn't turn you in to the Clave."

I think my heart stopped for a moment, and not in a good way.

"I found a book." His eyes were on mine now. "It has everything that's happened recently in it, and it goes into the future, too. It's even right, I've been paying attention.

"But want to know the weirdest thing about this book? Everyone is in it, except you. That is where things get off. You don't exist in the book. So I just want to know, where the hell did it come from? Why do you have it? Why aren't you in it? And most importantly, why the hell am I in love with Clary in it?"

I don't know why I did what I did then except that maybe I was just afraid. Instead of answering any of his questions, I started speaking in Seraphtongue (that's what I'd decided to call the weird language thing I could do). It was a long speech, and complicated. Jace didn't interrupt, not like he could, though. It was magic.

At the end of it, he stared at me blankly for a second before saying, "Isabelle thinks she might have found a way to break the Seelie Queen's claim on you."

It had worked. I'd completely blocked Jace's memories of anything to do with the book and in doing so, had erased our conversation from earlier.

"Is that so?" I blinked rapidly to keep any tears from falling.

I'd managed to erase the part where Jace told me he loved me, too.

"It's a crazy idea and we don't know if it'll work. We're still looking and I want you to know that this is not my idea and that I'm only mentioning it because it's a singular possibility."

"It can't be that bad." I already knew what it was.

"Marriage," he blurted out. "We could get married."

"But we're seventeen," I pointed out. "We can't get married."

He visibly relaxed beside me. "Exactly." And then he tensed up again. "Exactly!" He grabbed my face and kissed me quickly. "I have to go!"