Sorry this is a little late everyone, I got a little caught up in my return to school. Hope you enjoy it!

Chapter Twenty-Three

Alec

Word had escaped the celebration ball and now everyone Alec was attending school with knew that he was friend-practically a brother- to Jace, future son-in-law to Valentine. Alec hadn't thought that people would care or notice, and he would be able to return to his lessons, as much a nonentity as before. His first day back, however, Alec found that eyes were following him and voices whispered about him. He wished that Isabelle or Jace was at his side now, if only to be a friend he could speak with. No matter where he turned, it seemed that people only wanted to stare and wonder at him. As soon as he took his seat in his first lesson of the day, he knew there was not going to be any escape from the eyes.

It went on for hours and all Alec could think of was how welcome Malachi's home would be later that day when he got back. He hated Malachi, and he hated being trapped, and he hated the way the man watched his sister, but it all seemed better than being the center of very unwanted attention.

Never thought I'd want to be back in Malachi's house, Alec thought bitterly as he sat alone in the small courtyard during their lunch break. He was picking over some cold food, thinking of the dark, foreboding walls that protected him from other people. But this place is miserable.

"Is that seat empty?"

Alec glanced up and saw Aline standing before him, her face politely curious, as if they weren't cousins. "Yeah," Alec shrugged. A few people were peeking over their meals at them, but the deceiving distance between Alec and Aline turned them off any speculation.

"Your day going well?" Aline laughed without humor. "Everyone tells me you look well."

"Do they talk that much?" Alec looked surprised. He was used to Isabelle being the center of attention-and he had been grateful for it.

"I swear, if I hear one more person tell me that, Did you know that Alec boy in upper class is related to Jace, Valentine's step son? I'm going to scream. Apparently, the fact that you're my cousin is lost on everyone."

"Better that way," Alec muttered. "No one suspects us of doing anything."

"Yes, well, speaking of doing things, I spoke with Clary yesterday." Alec noticed how uncomfortable Aline seemed.

"Any news?" he pressed.

"Well, Jace is more adamant about hurrying up," Aline whispered. "Clary was in a right state. I guess her father had done something…She wouldn't say, but Jace was furious."

"It'll have been bad then," Alec said thoughtfully, knowing how well Jace could control his anger. "Did they have anything to say though?"

"Jace said he is at liberty whenever he's with Jocelyn; he's going to confide in her our plans. He thinks that Jocelyn can convince Valentine to allow you and Isabelle over to visit. He's also sure that Jocelyn can escort him to the Gard, under some pretext to Valentine."

"We can trust Jocelyn?" Alec asked.

"I think so." Aline's voice held a bit of warmth in it. "The times I've seen her, she's been very kind and gentle to Jace. She is trying to protect Clary and Jace, but I think it's hard for her."

"Jace said as much," Alec agreed. "Should we be expecting an invitation out to the Morgenstern house soon?"

"As late as next week," Aline confirmed. "It seems like Valentine is becoming worse and worse towards Clary and he wants her out of his reach. Make sure Isabelle is ready."

Alec gave a hollow laugh. "Oh, she's ready." He saw how Aline looked away, her eyes downcast and to the side, and he realized how left out she must have been feeling. "Aline, you know we would ask you to come with us, but…it's so dangerous."

"You think I'm not up to it?" she asked sharply. "Jace just told me I wasn't in the right position to be a part of it. What's that supposed to mean?"

That you and your family aren't important enough to Valentine to not hurt you. He needs Clary to hold her mother, he wants Jace, and he needs Isabelle and I to keep Jace. You're just a friend of ours who can or cannot be used as necessary.

"Aline, you've got a family to look out for, and we'd never forgive ourselves if your mom or dad were hurt because of us." He gestured to himself. "Our parents are gone, Valentine took them. He is Clary's family, so he can't do worse to her than he is now. And Jace, Valentine won't even tell Jace his family name. We've got no one left we need to protect, but you, you've got an entire family Valentine could turn against."

"It doesn't mean I wish to be left behind," Aline moaned. "It doesn't mean I want to be his slave."

"You're safe this way," Alec pressed, and he knew Aline hated it, but he was right. "We're not going to abandon you, Aline, but this is something we have to do without attracting too much attention. We don't want anyone to know until it's too late for Valentine to stop."

"How are you planning to stop him?" Aline leaned closer, unable to help herself.

"We need to free ourselves and Simon, Magnus, and Luke first." Alec wondered if anyone else could hear him. "From there, it's just to escape Valentine's power and try to amass an army."

"What if he finds out?" Aline glanced at a young man at the table next to theirs. Anyone could be spying for Valentine.

"Our hope is that he won't," Alec shrugged. "As long as Luke, Magnus, and Simon get free is all that matters. I'd like Isabelle to escape as well, and Jace could be useful, and Clary too…"

"You'd be useful too, Alec," Aline laughed.

"Maybe, but not like them," said Alec ruefully. "I'm not as good a soldier as Jace, nor as powerful with runes as Clary, and not in nearly as much danger as Isabelle. No, I just need to escape so Valentine can't use me to try and trap Jace."

"Can Clary…can she bind you and Jace again?" Aline knew of Alec and Jace's separation, and she had been shocked by the truth of it.

"She thinks so," Alec said uncertainly, and Aline knew, just by the tone of his voice, how much he wanted to have Jace back. "Jace trusts her ability to make runes, leastways."

Aline smiled reassuringly just as a bell rang, signaling the end of the lunch break and the start of afternoon classes. "Tell Isabelle I said hi."

Alec flashed her a smile and then turned to head back to class. He spent much of the next few hours barely paying attention, mulling over the latest news, that he didn't even realize when it was time to go home. All that seemed to matter at this point was that he was going to have to convince Malachi to let him and Isabelle visit with Clary and Jace. Though Malachi had certainly turned favorable toward Isabelle since their engagement announcement, he still eyed Alec as if he hoped he would spontaneously combust. He just hoped that Jocelyn could win Valentine over. He made his way slowly home, his thoughts still on Jace and Clary, and it seemed too soon he was walking past the study in his new home, Malachi giving him a sour look.

"Back so soon?" he said waspishly. "I would have thought you'd be struggling to catch up on the work you missed."

"I'm well enough ahead," he said blankly, keeping any anger from his voice. "I'm going to go see where my sister is. Is she taking her dance lesson?"

"I would think so," Malachi said sharply, and then returned to whatever work he had been attending.

Alec passed quickly upstairs and headed for the sound of music trilling softly from one room. When he peeked around the door frame, Alec saw Isabelle dressed in a ridiculously feminine dress: the skirt was long, composed of countless layers of tool that made the skirt float when Isabelle turned or jumped, and it tapered at the waist so that Isabelle's curves were more pronounced. She performed an elegant turn, but fell out of it harder than she meant. Emma's voice was just as loud and demanding as ever.

"You need to hold yourself, Isabelle!" She came out toward her, eyes sharp like a hawk. "You need to hold yourself up or else you'll fall too hard. I could have heard you downstairs."

Isabelle shot her a glower, but there was some warmth in it; it was the same type of glower she might have given him or Jace. "It's harder with the skirt."

"No excuses," Emma said firmly. "If you want to impress your audience, you must perform well."

"Not spinning, ballerina, princess then?" Alec asked, announcing himself with a small smile.

"Alec," said Isabelle, grateful for the escape from Emma. "Any news?"

"Bit of good and bad," he said, coming into the room and closing the door behind him carefully. He had long since accepted Emma as an ally. "I spoke with Aline today, and she said Jace is trying to work with Jocelyn to convince Valentine to let us come visit. If he's agreeable, that's when Clary plans to break the runes binding us to him."

"Will we run then?" Isabelle asked at once, all business.

"I don't know." Alec looked very uncertain, very scared. "I would think…but there's nowhere to run to without Luke and Magnus." Alec felt oddly lost without Magnus there, and he wanted someone to guide him, he wanted someone to tell him it would be alright.

"We'll hide in the forest," Isabelle supplied easily, as if spending days and days in the woods living like campers, were nothing to her. "It can't be that long until Jace can get the others free."

"Then how do we convince Valentine that we're respectable enough?" Isabelle asked, thinking that there was nothing about them that Valentine would ever approve of. "You know he hated our parents."

"Well, he's in love with Jocelyn, so I'm sure if she tells him she wants us there he'll let us." Alec thought of the way Jocelyn had looked at Valentine and he had smiled that warm, deep smile that he only had for her.

"Jocelyn seems preoccupied," Isabelle mused, brushing her skirt out. "Do you think she's going to help us when she's so busy trying to help Clary and Jace?"

Jace

"Alright, now, keep your balance-keep your balance-and aim for the target. Just focus on the target, don't look down, and picture the blade leaving your hand and hitting the target. Think on it, Clary."

Jace watched as Clary tried to keep all this in mind, and he knew how hard it must have been for her. She wasn't nearly as graceful as a normal shadowhunter, and she didn't have the practical training most did. She stumbled constantly and her aim wasn't as true as he wanted. Under Valentine's supervision, she became unnaturally stressed and would fumble more and more, and Valentine enjoyed it. Jace, now allowed to train her as long as she was making adequate progress, found that she was willing to learn.

What she needs is more time and a gentle hand, not her father's anger and the threat of pain. He watched her throw another blade and it landed on the target, but not the bull's eye. If it had been Valentine supervising her, he would have struck her outstretched arm, and then chuckled while she rasped in pain. She needs to not be the daughter of Valentine.

"Try again," Jace said, unwilling to show his disappointment. Every time she failed was another opportunity for Valentine to punish her. "Keep trying, Clary."

"I do keep trying," Clary said. "I just can't get it right." She looked hopelessly at her hands and then stepped off the balance beam. "Jace, I can't do this. He'll come soon enough and see what I did and he'll never let us have the Lightwoods over."

"Just try again," Jace urged.

We have to have them over. We have to set them free. Isabelle and Alec can't go back to that man. Especially Isabelle. Jace felt his fingers itch, wishing he could be the one to take the blade and aim.

"Have you spoken to my mother?" Clary asked, reaching out for Jace's arm.

He took it and carefully turned her back toward the balance and her eternal struggle with the knives. "Yes, and she's trying to convince him that having the Lightwoods over would be nice. A dinner with Malachi and his wards."

"He agreed to go through with it?" Clary pressed, and he helped her back up onto the beam. "He separated you from the Lightwoods just to punish you. My mom would have to really push him-"

"She'll do it," said Jace, thinking of how desperate Jocelyn was to escape Valentine and the baby they might have made. "She wants this as much as we do. Now, come on, try again and again, until you can hit it. It's just about seeing what you want to see, hitting where you want to hit." Clary shot him a hopeless look but he came up to her side and positioned her with a gentle touch of his hand on her hip. "Breathe in as you draw your arm back, breathe out as you throw. Let yourself relax into the attack."

He watched as Clary drew her arm back and tensed a little, and he knew she wasn't going to hit her target. As expected, it lodged itself in the target, closer to the bull's eye than the last hit, but not close enough.

"This is hopeless!" Clary said, frustrated. "I can't do this."

"Yes, you can," Jace pressed, and he saw, pitifully, that Clary's eyes had flicked back toward the window of the study where she knew Valentine was. She had the look of a hunted animal, one that was waiting for the predator strike, a rabbit watching the skies for the hawk. "Come on, take aim and do it again."

Clary continued for another half an hour, and towards the end, though her strikes were not on the bull's eye, they were all grouped in one area. "At least you're consistent."

"I don't think Valentine will see it that way," Clary said bitterly, eyeing the collection of daggers in the target.

"You'd be right about that, little sister," said Jonathan, strolling along the path toward them and wearing his habitual smirk at the sight of Clary's poorly aimed daggers. "I'm sure he'd have a few choice words: incompetent, disgraceful, failure. He won't be pleased to see this."

"Don't you have somewhere better to be?" Jace asked, feeling that usual, confusing pang of deep hatred and companionably desire.

"Not really," Jonathan shrugged, and came up alongside his sister. Clary, short already, found that they were face to face now, and she suddenly couldn't hold his gaze. "My, my little sister, look at you. Engagement suits you so well."

Get away from her, Jace thought fiercely, thinking of Jonathan's mixed emotions toward to Clary. Stay the hell away from her.

"I've come to fetch you two; Valentine wants to speak with you." Jonathan's eyes flicked up to the target. "You're lucky he doesn't want to discuss this pitiful example of marksmanship."

Clary's eyes flashed up to Jace, looking for support and he found himself wishing he could hold her. "I'd rather stay here."

"It's not your say, by unlucky chance," Jonathan responded with a rakish smile, and then he wrapped his hands around Clary's waist and lifted her from her place on the beam. Shorter than him now, Jonathan could look down on her with a threatening stance. "You're both to come up and see him at once. Jocelyn too."

Jocelyn? Jace raised his eyebrow at Clary and then came forward and pushed Jonathan aside so he could escort Clary. She looked horribly uncomfortable with Jonathan so nearby. "Then we'll come."

"If Jocelyn calls you two come running, is that it?" Clearly, the idea that Clary and Jace liked Jocelyn, the woman who had abandoned him, disturbed him. He turned away from them sharply and headed for the house. "I do hope Valentine is going to end the engagement, seeing as Clary still can't fight. You're clearly not doing what you said you could." His eyes narrowed at Jace. "I, meanwhile, believe that I could have young Clary performing up to standard in a few month's time. I could master her."

Clary flushed, but the memory of Jonathan trying to kiss her seemed to stop her voice. First her father, now her brother, can't they just leave her alone? "It's not your say, by unlucky chance," Jace returned with a sneer.

"You really should check yourself around me, little brother." Jonathan shot him a searching look. "You and I both know that I have the upper hand where our relationship is concerned."

Clary looked to Jace quickly, and she saw his face was pale. "Regardless of the relationship you have with Jace, you don't have it with me. And if you really think teaching me how to kill is going to help you, go ahead and do it. I'd welcome the opportunity."

Jonathan checked for a moment, surprised by her viciousness, but then smiled easily. "You were always so sweet to me, Clary, I don't know how I could have grown up without you."

Clary rolled her eyes, but Jonathan's dark gaze held hers until she dropped her eyes again. They entered the house and followed Jonathan up the stairs and into the study where Valentine usually chose to work. Clary and Jace both checked at the door, only having entered the study when they were in trouble, but the soft sound of Jocelyn's voice was enough to urge them in. Valentine was leaning against his desk, arms crossed, speaking to Jocelyn who was seated in his chair, smiling her usual thoughtful smile. When she saw Jace and Clary, her smile widened and she winked lazily.

"Oh, good, Clary, Jace, you're here." She stood up, gesturing at the seats before the desk. "We have a surprise for you."

Clary leaned a bit closer, basking in the rays of her mother's warmth. "A surprise?"

Jocelyn shot a playful look at Valentine who raised his eyebrows. "You can tell them," he said with a shrug, and his eyes met Jonathan's.

"Since you two have been working so hard-" Jonathan snorted, but it could have been nothing more than clearing his throat "-we've decided that perhaps you could be rewarded. We've been speaking with Malachi and he has agreed to bring his wards, the young Lightwoods, over to visit."

Jace's heart leapt with the chance to see his siblings, and Clary, with his hand in hers, felt his pulse jump. She knew he was anxious to see the Lightwoods, and even more excited for the chance to free his friends.

"We're so pleased," Jace said smoothly, well aware that Valentine was watching him closely. "It's been so longed since I've seen my brother and sister."

"Excuse me?" Valentine asked sharply, his eyes snapping up to Jace's face in accusation. "Your brother and sister? I thought we both agreed you were never a part of that family; I thought you had accepted that your place was here, in the Morgenstern family?"

You thought we'd agreed? Was that the agreement we made when you almost killed Alec if I didn't go along with you? Jace felt a shiver of anger pass through him, and when he looked up he found Jonathan's eyes were on him, as if he could sense his parabatai's anger. "My place?" Jace asked, thinking of the days he spent pandering to Jocelyn.

"As our son," said Jocelyn quickly, and she rose out of the seat, waving him forward. Jace let go of Clary's hand regretfully and slouched forward. Jocelyn took his wrist, then his forearm, giving him a tight squeeze. "The sweet son." Jocelyn's suddenly seemed to remember that Jonathan-her real, living son-was in the room too. "My little boy and my grown soldier. What mother could have asked for more?"

"A daughter?" Jace offered.

"Clary knows I love her," Jocelyn said warmly, and she met Clary's eyes with that penetrating gaze. "Are you two happy?"

"Yes," said Clary. "When are they coming?"

"Oh, early next week," Jocelyn shrugged carelessly. "I hear Ms. Isabelle has been taking ballet lessons and she's going to perform a piece for us. Valentine, I really think Clary should take up dance; all this training can't be good for her. A little relaxation might be just the thing to help clear her mind."

Valentine looked sour while Jace restrained himself from laughing: Isabelle, dancing ballet? She was the last person he would have dared to think would put on a tutu and flit across the room like a fairy. Unless maybe Alec took it up as well.

"Clarissa has much catching up to do." Valentine flicked an unfriendly look at his daughter. "Besides, Jace can play the piano. We only need one artist among the children."

"I suppose I'll be performing for you?" Jace asked with a measure of dislike in his voice. He hated having to do anything for Valentine.

"Oh, I should think so, though I don't know what yet. Jonathan, you always have such fine selections, I'll leave it up to you t decide." Jonathan beamed at his father and then switched his dark gaze back to Jace.

"I'm sure I can choose for myself," Jace growled and he slipped free of Jocelyn's grasp but stayed by her side. "I meant to ask, Jocelyn, is there any way we can go out into the city soon? I've been feeling a bit…cramped."

Jocelyn's eyebrow raised in quiet understanding. "Yes, yes, of course. Maybe the day after the Lightwoods come to visit."

"I'd like that," Jace agreed. It would be difficult, but Isabelle and Alec could pretend they were still bound to Valentine, just for a short time. "Do you mind if I take Clary back to lessons?"

"Yes, I do," said Valentine loudly, and he moved carefully toward where Clary was. "While I have no doubt her knife throwing is excellent, I think it is time to turn back to her area of expertise: runes."

Clary shot Jace a plaintive look and he moved in her direction. "I stay with her then."

"Unnecessary," Valentine said swiftly. "You can get dinner ready."

Get dinner ready? Jace thought furiously, grinding his teeth. That's what I get to do, get dinner ready?

"I'm not much of a cook," he said petulantly.

"I'm sure you can work something out. Try baking," Valentine said, and his eyes gleamed in their usual way before he turned angry. "There should be some fresh fish."

"I'd like Jace to stay with me," said Clary a little louder.

Jocelyn opened her mouth to speak but Valentine was faster. "You have your entire life to spend with him, Clarissa, your entire life for him to distract him from your work. You will stay here and show me your rune work, and when we are done, as if you have pleased me, you will join us for dinner."

Clary

Much later that night, after rune work, after dinner-a very sparse, blanched affair-Clary found herself curled on her bed, while Jace read from a demonology textbook in French, forcing Clary to translate. She was slow, but she was finding a way, and Jace smiled at her when she stumbled through a sentence, mispronouncing a verb.

"Jace, stop reading," Clary ordered, tossing herself back on the bed. Jace looked up at her and she smiled sadly. "I don't think I'm going any farther tonight. Can we talk about…something not in French?"

The names seemed to have a strange effect on Jace, and he glanced swiftly to the door, checking to see that no one was watching. "What is it?"

"I'm just tired," Clary sighed, and she waved him over. "I feel like Valentine is constantly watching me, looking to see if I'm sneaking around, listening for me. What if he finds out?"

Jace had settled on the bed and then reached out, taking Clary into his arms. She shrank into him, welcoming the bedroom and privacy they now shared. "And what will he see? See you practicing your runes? See you speaking with Isabelle and Alec? See you hating him even more?" Jace chuckled and managed to press down some of his own fears. "He will see you doing as you've always done. You have nothing to fear."

"What if he sees you or-or my mom and-"

"He loves your mom, Clary, and he needs me alive," said Jace and he kissed her gently, running his hands through her hair. "He wants a family as he pictured it, and it includes your mother, and me, and Jonathan, and now you. He won't want to lose all those things."

"Just because he doesn't kill you doesn't mean he won't hurt you." Clary thought of Jonathan staring at her hungrily. "It doesn't mean he won't punish us."

Jace must have known something of Clary's thoughts because he leaned back so she was lying in his arms and said, "Clary, are you afraid of Jonathan?"

Yes. "I'm afraid…but not of what he'll do to me. I know it sounds strange, but I know he won't really hurt me physically. But I think he might hurt you."

"You said he tried to kiss you," Jace said evenly.

"He did." And a lot of other things. "But you said that's just the connection between you and him, right?"

Jace drew the blankets up around them. "I don't know what it is anymore. I feel like sometimes he knows my thoughts. My emotions, at the least. And he uses it against me like some game."

"He won't hurt me, Jace. Not in any real way." Clary trailed her fingers over Jace's cheeks and then kissed the bottom of his chin. "He's just trying to scare me, I think."

"What exactly do you consider to be a real way, then?" Jace asked sharply. "Every time I see him around you, I feel like he's one step away from attacking you and-and…"

"Whatever Jonathan is," said Clary firmly, "he's not a complete monster. He's just trying to deal with the emotions you and he share."