A/N: Yeah. Sorry for the long wait. It's been a rough time lately. With for death in the family in less than eleven months, and sick parents and in-laws. That and I´ve been drinking buckets (more or less literally) of coffee lately and apparently I can´t write while drinking it. And here I thought coffee was supposed to make you creative. One me it's the opposite.

Thanks for all your amazing reviews and for pushing this story over 200. You´re all fantastic =)

Thanks to my terrific beta's cboo2501 and Worm in the Apple. Every mistake there is belongs to me.

All recognizable characters are owned by Cassandra Clare and J.R Ward

Chapter 13

Come out, come out wherever you are

~C~

Clary stared down at her hands and took a deep breath to steady herself before she started telling them the whole story. How she´d felt as if she´d been watched, how Seb started showing up everywhere.

She could see from the corner of her eye how Blay shook from the effort of holding Qhuinn in place.

When she got to the part about what happened in the school hallway her guardian tore free from his fiancé's tight embrace, reached out to the coffee table in front of him, picked up the heavy crystal bowl that was sitting there and threw it at the wall across the room. It shattered into thousands of pieces, leaving a dent the size of a person's head in the plaster.

Clary jumped in her seat and turned her eyes on him.

Qhuinn breathed heavily and trembled with rage. His mismatched eyes contained so much fury that she cringed and had to fight back the urge to look away, even though she knew it wasn´t directed at her. "Why. The. Serious. Fuck have ya been keepin' this from us, nalla!?"

She bit her lip and raised her chin defiantly while trying to come up with an acceptable answer to his question. "I…Um…" she frowned at her own inability to speak coherently.

"Baby, relax," Blay spoke softly as he soothingly rubbed the back of Qhuinn's shoulders. "You know you´re not really mad at her…"

"Who the fuck knows at this point," Qhuinn spat. "I ain´t fuckin´ happy with 'er, that´s for sure."

Clary struggled to not show him how his words affected her, but couldn´t hide the flinch that ran through her body, as if he´d slapped her. Her cheeks flushed a deep scarlet, her instincts screaming at her to run to her room until he calmed down. Instead, she straightened her back and clenched her fists, her short nails biting into the palm of her hands.

"Qhuinn, you have to calm down," Blay didn´t raise his voice, but it hardened, like velvet-covered steel. "Now. You´re scaring her."

Qhuinn fisted his hair and tugged at it frantically. "She's the one that's fuckin' scarin' me! Don't ya get it?" he grabbed one of the remotes and threw it too, against the wall. "Fuck! Anythin' coulda happened to 'er and I wouldna have a fuckin' clue what the fuck's been goin' on!"

Blay grabbed him by his shoulders, spun him around – Clary noted that Qhuinn must've really been caught up in his own thoughts for that to happen – and got right up in his face. "Baby, I love you with all my heart, although you make it difficult most of the time. But right now, you have to sit down and shut the fuck up, before you´ll say or do something that you'll end up regretting," his words were laced with a warning.

"Kid agrees with me," Qhuinn sneered. "Don't ya Kid?"

Clary hadn't even glanced at Jace to gauge his reaction. She was worried about what she might see. However, at Qhuinn's question she dared a peek at him through her lashes.

Jace seemed to be staring unseeingly over her head. Suddenly, he jumped to his feet and heading towards the door. "I have to go."

Clary almost tripped over her own feet as she went to follow him. "Jace, wait!"

He stopped and hurried back to her. Gently he cupped her face between his hands. "I love you, Angel," he whispered and pressed his lips softly to hers. "Never doubt that. But right now, there is something that I need to take care of. I´ll be back as soon as I can, okay."

Her bottom lip started trembling and she sucked it in to her mouth. "But…"

"Kid's right, nalla," Qhuinn sounded calmer, but she could still hear the fury in his voice. "Things needs takin' care of."

She gnawed her lip indecisively, trying to figure out a way to stop him from leaving, but Qhuinn didn´t give her a chance to come up with a plan. "I´ll go with 'im," his tone stopped any objections before she could utter them. "Ya stay here with Blay, he'll take care of ya. I'll call V and Hollywood and get 'em over here too."

He kissed his fiancé and planted a peck on her temple before disappearing out the door with Jace one step behind him.

~J~

Jace half sprinted over to his car and started unlocking the door when Qhuinn's gruff voice interrupted him. "No fuckin' way, Kid. We're takin' the Hummer. Ya're in no shape to be drivin'."

Until then, Jace hadn't noticed the way he was shaking. He held his hands out in front of him and clenched his fists so hard his knuckles turned white. "I'm fine."

"Yeah," Qhuinn chuckled darkly. "Ya're so fuckin' fine that ya'll crash that car in to the nearest tree. I'm drivin', now shut up and get in the Hummer."

Jace glared daggers at the back of Qhuinn's head and calculated his chances of jumping into the driver's side of the Impala and driving off before Qhuinn could stop him. Deciding it wasn't worth the hassle, he shoved his keys back in his jean's pocket called the other guy every name he could think of under his breath as he did what he was told.

"Where to?" Qhuinn snarled and Jace murmured the directions.

He stared out the window, not really seeing the passing scenery. He was busy imagining what he was going to Seb when he found him. He felt acid churning in his stomach, wondering if he was to blame for what his 'friend' had done.

Getting girls had always been somewhat of a competition to Seb. If Jace so much as smiled at someone at a party, he'd swooped in and tried to 'steal' her away from him. Jace had never cared though, those girls meant less than nothing. And there were always more, just waiting for their turn with him.

Did that make him sound like a total dick? It wasn't his intentions, it was just how it had been. That is before Clary came back, of course. His Angel…

Was that was this was all about? Seb being pissed that he hadn't been able to 'steal' her from Jace?

Maybe…

"Don't even think 'bout it, Kid," Qhuinn growled from beside him.

"What?" Jace snapped. He wasn't in the mood for any cryptic pep talks.

"This…" Qhuinn gestured wildly with his right arm, almost hitting Jace in the head. "What that fucker did… That shit ain't on you."

Jace didn't even bother answering, he just kept staring out the window.

Qhuinn cursed loudly and slammed his fist into the dashboard. He grabbed the phone from between the seats and started violently pushing the buttons with his thumb. "Hollywood," he barked into the receiver, "find V and get to the house… I don't fuckin' care if ya're busy or not….I'm yo fuckin' boss and ya'll do everythin' I fuckin' tell ya to do… Then ya can go lookin' for another fuckin' job!" He ended the call and threw his phone into the backseat.

Jace started feeling nauseous and had to swallow repeatedly against the bile the threatened to rise up his throat.

"Yak in the car and I'll tie ya to the roof," Qhuinn grunted, his eyes on the road. "Got it, Kid?"

"Got it," Jace hissed through gritted teeth.

"Hey," Qhuinn's voice became softer, gentler as he glanced towards Jace. "I get that ya feel like it's yo fault and all, but it ain't. The one to blame is that fuckin'" he punctuated the word by slamming his hand against the wheel," coward." He took a deep breath and squeezed the wheel so hard that it was a miracle that it didn't bend under the pressure. "Prayin' on innocent, defenseless 'lil girls…" he muttered angrily.

Jace snorted and began laughing loudly at that.

The look Qhuinn gave him turned his laughter into chuckles. "What's so fuckin' funny?" he growled.

"Shit, sorry," Jace forced out between the chuckles. "Nothing about this fucked up situation is even remotely funny, but hearing you call her innocent and defenseless…" he shook his head incredulously. "That's not the words I would use to describe Clary."

Jace turned to face Qhuinn and relaxed noticeably when he saw the small smirk that spread across the giant's lips. Qhuinn might have been an excellent driver but it was still scary as fuck watching him control the Hummer, a vehicle that could put a tank to shame, while he fought to control his temper.

"Fuck, Kid," he even sounded calmer, "I fuckin' needed that." He signaled left and turned down on Seb's street.

Clary might've been a shell of her former self these past days, scared and jumpy, but she could never be considered weak. A small smile tugged at the corner of Jace's mouth, despite the currents of anger and shame that cursed through him. His Angel might not be able to take down the four behemoths she surrounded herself with, but he'd seen her in action at the gym. She wasn't defenseless by a longshot and he was personally involved in taking her innocence.

His focus returned to the situation at hand when he realized that they were close to Seb's house. "That big, white one," he grumbled. All tension he'd just managed to get rid of returned tenfold.

Qhuinn's eyes practically bugged out of his head. "That's the fucktard's house? Holy fuck! It's 'bout the same size as the fuckin' Whitehouse."

Jace studied the white, three-story, brick building as if seeing it for the first time. The porch's roof was held up by thick marble pillars, giving shade to the wide oak double doors. The widows on the front was almost from the floor to the ceiling and the entire back wall on the house was made of glass. You couldn't tell from looking at it that it housed a deranged lunatic. A chill went down Jace's spine.

"That fucker lives here?" Qhuinn continued skeptically. "It looks like a fuckin' museum. No wonder he turned out all twisted and shit."

"You're not wrong," Jace murmured as he got out of the car and walked up to the front door to ring the doorbell.

Qhuinn fidgeted restlessly beside Jace as they waited for someone to come to the door. He raised his hand several times as if he wanted to pound on it but refrained.

After what seemed like hours they could finally hear the sound of footsteps echoing from inside the house. Jace wasn't surprised to be met by Maria's welcoming brown eyes.

"Jace," she smiled brightly while somehow managing to give Qhuinn a suspicious glare at the same time. "It's been too long."

Maria was the Verlac's housekeeper. She was of Mexican descent, but was born in the United States. Her English was better than most of the Americans he knew. Of course, her employees didn't know this, which she took full advantage off. She usually spouted some random words in her ancestors' native language, something Jace had been asked to translate more than once. He always found amusing him to just make some shit up and laugh behind their backs.

He caught her eyeing Qhuinn warily and grinned. "Qhuinn, this is Maria, the only person in this house who still has a soul," she snickered at that. "Maria, this is Qhuinn…" he hesitated, unsure of how to introduce him without too long of an explanation.

Qhuinn winked at her and reached out with his beefy hand. "I'm Kid's parole officer," he lied with a cheeky grin.

Maria chuckled and shook her head, her grayish curls flying around her wrinkled cheeks. "Now, why doesn't that surprise me?"

Jace scowled at the both of them and cleared his throat. Cocking a brow to remind Qhuinn of why they were there, he turned back to Maria. "We need to talk to Seb, is he here?"

She frowned and something glimmered in her eyes. "No, I'm afraid he isn't home."

Jace squeezed his eyes shut and fisted his hair, pulling at it in an agitated manner. Fuck. "Do you know where he is?"

She shook her head slowly. "No Jace, I'm sorry."

"Well fuck," he swore. "We really need to talk to him," he desperately wanted to kick something, preferably his former friend. Looking around his eyes landed on the large pillars, but he quickly decided against it. That would only end up hurting more than helping.

Maria shifted her weight from her left foot to the right, then back again. She pursed her lips and discreetly glanced around, as if to see who else might be lurking near the house and listening in on their conversation.

Qhuinn took a deep breath and forced himself to speak calmly. "Do ya know somethin', Maria? If not where he's at, do ya at least know when he'll be back?"

Her shoulders slumped slightly before she straightened her back out again and swallowed loudly. "Sebastian got into an argument with his parents about…" she lowered her voice to a whisper, making the two men lean in closer "…his unhealthy obsession with a girl from school…"

Icy fingers gripped Jace's heart.

"Oh really?" Qhuinn's voice reminded Jace of thunder.

"Yes," she nodded. "I thought he was staying with you," she told Jace.

"Well, you were wrong," he gritted out.

"When was this?" Qhuinn growled.

"Three weeks ago… he hasn't been home since."

~C~

Clary stepped out from her second shower of the night. Blay had convinced her to take one when she wouldn't stop checking the driveway in hopes of seeing the Hummer return. She got dressed in a pair of sweats and pulled one of Qhuinn's old college hoodies over her head. Then she twisted her hair up in a messy bun to keep it from getting the shirt wet.

As she walked in to the living room the heavenly smell of coffee came wafting in from the kitchen. "I'll take a cup, please," she called out and flopped down on the couch.

"How do you want it?" Blay asked as he placed a tray of mugs, milk and sugar down on the table in front of her.

"Black," she tried smiling, but it didn't reach her eyes. "Like my soul," she added under her breath.

"Nah," she jumped as Hollywood's voice suddenly filled her left ear. Turning to him, he winked and casually threw his arms around her shoulders. "Your soul isn't black. A little grey, maybe. But whose isn't nowadays?"

She stared at him with wide eyes and mouth agape. She hadn't seen him sitting there when she walked in. "Where did you come from?" she blurted out.

He gasped dramatically and placed his big right hand over his heart. "How you wound me, my love. I can't understand how my delightful presence could go unnoticed."

"Hitting on the jailbait again?" V asked from the loveseat on the other side of the table.

Clary's head whipped around to face him, mouth still gaping. Seriously?! How the… could I miss them? They're freaking huge. I really need to get a grip.

"So what?" Hollywood shrugged. "In less than a year she's legal. Then she's fair game. I'm just softening her up for now. She'd be a great fourth or fifth wife."

She suppressed the urge to roll her eyes at his flirting, for once, not seeing the humor in it. She was saved from commenting as Blay came back, poured coffee into four mugs and took a seat next to V. "You should be grateful that Qhuinn isn't here to hear you speak about her that way."

"Yeah, whatever," Hollywood huffed. "Where is the big bossman anyway? He called and rudely demanded our presence and can't be bothered to be here himself?"

"You haven't told them?" Blay asked Clary incredulously.

"What?" Clary scoffed defensively. "I didn't even see them until a few seconds ago."

Something dark flashed in Hollywood's eyes. "Where is Q?" he growled out, baring his teeth.

"He drove off with Jace," she said softly, patting the hand that rested on her shoulder soothingly. They didn't need another explosion, not if it was going to be like the one Qhuinn had earlier.

"He needed to take care of something," Blay explained vaguely, taking a sip of his coffee.

V let out a string of curses so colorful that Clary could feel her cheeks warming. "Motherfucker! Bastard ass motherfucker! Cocksucking ass-bitch bastard motherfucker!"

"Tell me," Hollywood demanded coldly. "What did the little fucker with anger issues, that you stupidly call a boyfriend, do to you?" his grip tightened on her shoulder, forcing her to bite back the small yelp of pain that it caused.

"Sorry to disappoint you," she glared at him. "But Jace hasn't done anything."

"He better not," Hollywood muttered, lessening his hold on her but kept his arm in place.

Clary wrapped her cold hands around the coffee mug and pretended to listen to Blay as he filled them in on what had happened. However, all she was really listening for was the sound of the Hummer.

"You know, beautiful," Hollywood shook her shoulder gently to get her attention, "the wedding is just over a month away, and you know what they say about weddings…" he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Clary sighed. She knew what he was trying to do. He was trying to distract her, but she didn't want to be distracted. She just wanted Jace. "No. Please inform me…" she muttered sarcastically.

Before he answered a booming voice interrupted him. "Ya better think long 'n hard 'bout what ya're gonna say," Qhuinn growled. "I'd hate havin' to find 'nother head of security, feel me?" he crossed his arms over his wide chest.

"Um," Hollywood's smile looked strained as he fidgeted next to her uncomfortably. "I meant that people get married there, that's all."

Clary bit down on her lip to keep from laughing out loud at the expression on his handsome face, but a quiet giggle escaped anyway.

"Yeah, I'm sure you were," Jace scowled, glaring daggers at the arm still wrapped around her shoulder.

Clary jumped up from the couch and practically ran in to his waiting arms. She cupped his face and give him a quick once over, making sure that he was okay. "What happened?" she asked worriedly.

Jace let out his breath in a long exhale, tightened his hold on her, and rested his chin on top of her head. "He's gone, Angel."

"What do you mean gone?" she shrieked, taking a step back and turning her gaze on her guardian, accusation heavy in their green depths. "What did you do? Did you kill him?"

Qhuinn chuckled darkly. "Ouch, nalla. How little ya think of me. Nah, he's still alive…probably. He just ghosted from home 'bout three weeks ago and they haven't seen 'im since."

He sounded indifferent as he spoke, but the deep furrow between his brows showed that he wasn't unaffected by her accusation. Her throat burned with guilt and she had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Clary reached out a trembling hand to him, pleading for forgiveness, but Jace's next words pulled her attention back to him. "That's not all," he grumbled and wrapped his arms around her waist.

V got to his feet in a fluid motion, Hollywood a beat behind. Their fists were clenched so hard that their knuckles turned white as bone and they wore matching thunderous expressions on their faces. "Okay," V was first to speak. "I get the feeling that we're missing something here…"

"Yeah," Hollywood seethed. "Tell us what the fuck's been going on."

With a deep sigh Clary told her story for the second time that night, with the occasional interruption asking her to elaborate something she said. When she finished Qhuinn told them about what happened at Seb's house.

She looked up at Jace, fear for him and anger for the situation making her voice shaky. "You said, 'that's not all'. What else is there?"

He shot Qhuinn a sidewise glance, as if asking for help in what he was about to tell her. When he merely got a shrug in answer, he cleared his throat a couple of times and spoke softly. "Their housekeeper, Maria, kindly offered…" he glared at Qhuinn, suggesting that the 'offer' wasn't given that freely as he made it sound,"…to let us check out Seb's…"

"Ya mean the soon-to-be-dead-asshole-cowered," Qhuinn interjected.

Jace cursed under his breath over the interruption. "…room, and we found…"

"The fuckin' creep had pictures of ya coverin' every fuckin' inch of his walls," Qhuinn blurted out before Jace had the chance.

Jace threw his hands in the air and shook his head. "Fuck it. I'm done. You," he pointed a finger at Qhuinn, "can tell them the rest."

Qhuinn grinned, again shrugging. "There's nothin' more to tell."

Hollywood hurried up to Clary, putting his hands on her hips and pulling her out of Jace's arms. He pressed her against his chest, knocking the air out of her lungs with an 'oomph'. Pushing her face into the crook of his neck, he palmed her ass. "My poor beautiful girl," he crooned and stroked her back. "That's nice company you keep," he scolded Jace gruffly.

Qhuinn yanked her out of Hollywood's arms and handed her back to Jace, ignoring her muttered 'I'm not a package, you know'. "Now, here's the deal. V, ya talk to Kid. Get numbers, what car he drives, license plates, whatever ya need. But, ya do it first thing tomorrow, yeah?"

V nodded once, headed for the door, ready to leave. Then Qhuinn turned towards Hollywood, who stiffened when he was met by the heated anger in his boss' eyes. "And you," Qhuinn stabbed his finger in Hollywood's chest. "If I eva' catch yo hands anywhere near my daughter's ass eva' again I swear I will fuckin' tear yo arms off and beat ya to death with 'em, feel me?"

Hollywood swallowed loudly and nodded jerkily, before hurrying after V.

Clary's eyes filled with tears, but she blinked furiously to get rid of them, not wanting to alert Qhuinn to his little slip-up.

His expression softened as he turned to Clary. "Everythin' good, nalla?"

The grin she gave him lit up her face and made her cheeks hurt, but she didn't care. "Everything is great, dad."

~J~

Jace stepped out of the shower with a relieved sigh. Fuck that felt good. It had been a long day, and the only thing he wanted now was to get to Clary and cozy up on the couch with her. Or her bed… he felt himself harden instantly. But the couch felt safest, for now. Grabbing a towel and rubbing himself dry he loosely tied it around his hips and strode in to his bedroom.

It had been eight days since she'd told them everything about Seb, eight days since he and Qhuinn had paid the Verlac residence a little visit, eight days without a single trace of that psychotic SOB.

Bile rose in his throat when he thought back to the day he and Qhuinn had gone through Seb's room. It had been the first time Jace had ever been in there. He'd been to the house before, but never actually inside Seb's bedroom.

There had been pictures everywhere.

On the walls, in the closets, in the desk drawers, on the ceiling above the bed…

Jace shook with the need for violence as he could only imagine what Seb was doing with those.

"Fuck!" he cursed and grabbed a pair of boxers from the dresser. He quickly got dressed in dark blue jeans, a black t-shirt and a hoodie, the same green shade as Clary's eyes. His mind went over the part they hadn't told her. He and Qhuinn had made the decision that she didn't need to know about the pictures that looked older than the rest, like they had hung on those walls longer than she'd been back in town. Those particular pictures were taken before she'd left in the first place. Most of them were printouts from the school's online yearbook, but they looked more faded than the others. What had scared him the most had been the two photographs from before her move. He hadn't taken them and he was sure that none of their friends had either.

Jace growled. He really hoped he would get his shot at Seb before Qhuinn and his people took over. Just the thought of him being anywhere in the same town as Clary made him desperate to inflict damage in any way possible. The thought that Seb had actually touched her made Jace practically homicidal.

His phone rang with the familiar ringtone and he relaxed immediately, a small smile grazing his lips in wonder at the effect she had on him. "Hey Angel," he said, amusement coloring his voice. "Can't wait to see me, huh?"

"Well, no…or yes," she giggled. "Qhuinn wanted you to know that he and Blay have to leave early to get to their dance lesson on time. He also wanted to know how fast you can get here."

Jace snorted. The giant taking dance lessons. He would pay to see that and hoped that someone had the decency to film it. He couldn't believe the lengths the older man was going through to make his fiancé happy and their wedding day perfect.

Who are you kidding? You would do that exact same thing, and more.

"I can leave right now," he grabbed his keys from the nightstand. "Should be there in fifteen minutes. Probably less."

"Oh, perfect," he could hear her smiling. "I'll tell them to go ahead. See you soon. Love you, bye," with a few adorable kissing noises, she ended the call.

Jace half jogged to the front door. Alec caught up with him just as he grabbed the handle.

"Hey, mind giving me a ride? I'm meeting Mags at the mall."

Jace hesitated. He didn't like the thought of Clary being alone for even a second more than necessary. "I…" he shook his head, feeling stupid. If he sped he could still make it to her house in time. The mall wasn't that far out of the way. "Sure, if you're ready to leave now."

"Great," Alec smiled gratefully. "Let me just…"

"No, Alec," Jace sighed. He was impatient to get to Clary's house and it was making him jittery. "Now, or not at all."

"Okay, okay," Alec huffed and grabbed his jacket. "What's got you in such a hurry, anyway?"

Jace slid his arms in to his own jacket and exited the house. "Clary's alone right now and I want to get there as soon as possible." They'd found Seb's car in an alley behind the gym earlier that day. Hollywood was watching that, while V had other stuff going on, leaving her unprotected.

"Shit," Alec picked up the pace, now running to the car. "Why didn't you say so? Come on."

Jace chuckled at his brother, despite the anxiety that made his chest ache.

The first couple of minutes of the drive was spent in silence, until Alec decided to ask Jace the question that had been bothering him the last few days. "So… how much do you blame yourself?"

Jace merely shrugged and kept his eyes on the road.

Alec sighed. "Everybody's feeling guilty. You, for being friends with him. Izzy, for not speaking up more about what as psycho she always thought he was. Simon, for not listening more to her ranting…"

Clary's ringtone interrupted Alec and Jace frowned down at the console between the seats where he'd placed his phone. It wasn't like her to call again so soon after they'd spoken. She wasn't the clingy type.

"Maybe she just wants you to pick up something for her," Alec suggested helpfully.

"Mmm," Jace agreed absentmindedly. "What's up, Angel?" he answered the phone.

No one spoke on the other end of the line. Maybe she butt-dialed? He was about to hang up so he could call her back when he heard a voice that stopped his heart and chilled his blood.

"Hello, Pepper. Alone at last."

A/N: Yeah. I really suck. But worry not my lovelies, the next chapter is being beta'd as we speak. So hopefully you won't have to wait too long for the rest =)

Oh, and I started with that Twitter thingy. I mostly writes stupid crap, but if you wanna check it out it's the same as mu username here. Leave me a short message so I know how you found me.

And, as an extra bonus: Everyone who leaves me a review will get a (unbeta'd) teaser for the next chapter. So make sure to be signed up, signed in and able to receive PMs =)