A/N: welcome back! Here's chapter 5 for 'ya – no spoilers, but I think you'll like it.

Disclaimer: Cassandra Clare owns the characters/world/etc

When we return home, we go straight down into the basement. Somewhere we aren't too often in this house. It's where we keep extra weapons, which we don't usually need since we all have our favourites in our rooms.

I strap extra sheaths to myself and fit them with daggers, along with two seraph blades across my back. I zip a jacket around myself and gloves over my fingers for warmth and pick out a new pair of boots. We sit around the table in the middle of the room, mostly quiet. I bang my boots around against the edge of the table to stretch and wear them a bit.

"They weren't really thinking of us," Iz says. "Not afterwards." It's exactly what I had thought about while we were at the Gard. Our parents weren't thinking of the consequences being us.

"They thought they were right," Jace says.

"Everyone does," Alec murmurs under his breath.

"Sed lex dura lex," I say. The Law is hard but it is the Law. "The point is that I don't think Jonathan took the cup, he has nothing to gain from it. Maybe if we can prove that, they'll let him back, they won't-"

I cut myself off. I can't even think of the torture he'd go through getting his marks stripped.

Iz meets my eyes apologetically. She's the one who put the idea in my head just yesterday.

"What?" Jace asks, oblivious as I was.

"They'll strip his marks," Iz replies for me, as I duck under the table to put on the boots.

"Maybe we'll find some answers on our way," I say, zipping up the boots to my knees. "I say we start at the Morgenstern Manor. He's bound to be there."

"Good idea," Alec says when I pop my head back up. "Hopefully we don't have to look anywhere else. I'm not spending the rest of my stupid life in Idris."

None of us mentions that our parents will have to, despite what their trial may conclude.

I get up and strap my bag across my shoulders. "We should leave as soon as we're ready. I'm heading out to the stables." On the way back, the other thing we discussed was transportation, and our horses seemed like the best option.

Jace grabs his bag. "I'll go with you."

We walk at a moderate pace over to the stables. Our horses are taken care of by the Starkweather family. They take care of a lot of horses for other shadowhunter families. But with our families' long standing wealth, our horses have a private stable off the main one. There are few people that are hanging about and stare wearily as Jace and I pass by.

"How're you feeling?" Jace asks.

"Fine?" I'm not sure what his question is getting at.

"I meant the cut on your side, but I suppose the question was quite vague."

"Oh, that," I say. "It's fine. All healed up now."

We reach the stable and I wait until the door is shut tight behind us. "I hadn't realized we'd be stuck here forever," I say quietly.

"I'd thought about it, but I didn't think they'd enforce it… or use it against us."

"Well it's a pretty good incentive, because there's no way I'm training little shadowhunter kids for the rest of my life."

Jace laughs a little and passes me a saddle. "What did you want to do?"

I shrug. "At least go out and fight something real."

"Ever thought about how we're the best one's out there and we've never been sent out anywhere?"

"No - I guess I never really did… at the academy I never had to try. It was mostly about annoying my brother as much as possible, causing trouble with Iz, training with you. I didn't realize our lives were this complicated."

As I turn to my own horse, I scratch at my forearm, my skin there feeling dry and sore. I pull up at my sleeve to look at it and immediately roll it back down.

"What?" Jace asks. Obviously I didn't hide it very well.

I pull up my sleeve to show Jace. Before he can say anything, I start talking in a whisper. "I had this weird dream last night; it was in the Morgenstern Manor. Jonathan was there looking through pictures. And then when he left there was this voice and I took out my stele and drew this, but it was just a dream, I don't understand-"

Jace closes his hand around my forearm and pulls my jacket sleeve back down. "Do you know what it means?"

I shake my head no. "But I'm gonna figure it out; we're going to Morgenstern Manor, there has to be something there."

"Do you think Jonathan is really there?" His voice holds something behind it; something accusing.

I pull my arm from his grip. "I want my brother back. I want a life. I want to know what the hell is going on in my brain. If I have to figure it all out in the next three days then I will. We're not at the academy anymore, okay? I'm not just thinking of myself here."

"Who said I was against you? You're not the only one with weird stuff going on in your brain-"

"Of course I think Jonathan is really there. It obviously wasn't just some ordinary dream," I gesture to my covered arm.

"What do you think it does?" Jace asks.

I shrug. "I think it's tied to what we're looking for."

The door to the sables bursts open, scaring the horses. Not Jace and I, we heard Iz and Alec bickering from about a mile away.

"Jace, would you please tell your parabatai that one little tube of lipstick is not going to affect anything?"

"It's taking up space for another vial of holy water!" Alec argues.

Jace smirks. "I'm with Alec on this one, sorry."

"Clary?" Iz looks at me with pleading eyes.

I laugh. "I'll I'm gonna say is that there's probably plenty of room in someone's pack for a vial of holy water or lipstick."

Iz takes the measly vial of holy water from Alec's hand, opens up her pack, and drops it in.

Alec rolls his eyes. "Just saddle up."

The stables are right on the edge of Alicante's protection field of the towers; unfortunately, they don't look towards Brocelind Forest, so we're forced to bare the stares of the shadowhunter population as we walk our horses down the city's streets to the front gates of the city.

To my surprise, Consul Penhallow is there to see us off at the front gates.

"Clary, could I speak with you a minute?"

My thoughts are nothing but suspicion; wondering what she wants from me. But I hand my reins over to Jace, who takes them with a worried look. When Consul Penhallow leads me away from the others, I fight the urge to cross my arms over my chest and settle for my hips.

"I know you're not my biggest fan right now, Clarissa," she says. "But you have to know that your mother and I were great friends once, when we went to the academy…"

When she trails off I become annoyed. "What do you want?"

"I don't want to believe that your brother took the Cup. And if he didn't, I'll fight for him against the rest of The Clave. I don't wish any harm upon your family."

I watch her eyes as she speaks; they're full of worry and concern. "How do I know you'll do that? The entire Clave want to see my parents dead, and I'm sure they'll want Jonathan's marks stripped. You can't fight the majority."

"I can't promise you anything. Just because I am the Consul doesn't mean I can control The Clave. But I can give you this." She takes out a sheath holding a shortsword. It's hilt is engraved with stars, the end of the blade peaking from the sheath glints in the retreating sunlight. "A Morgenstern blade," Penhallow continues. "Part of a matching set; your mother sent me to find them after she was imprisoned, wanting you and your brother to have them when you each turned eighteen. But this was the only one I found in the Manor. I think you should finally have it. Maybe it will bring you luck."

I take it and strap on the sheath. "If I know anything about my family's past, it's that we don't have much luck," I mean to walk away then but stop myself. "Thank you."

She only nods and we turn away from each other.

"What was that about?" Isabelle asks as I take my reins back from Jace.

"Nothing," I reply, not wanting to explain.

Each of them eye the new blade at my side but say nothing, sensing I don't want to discuss it.

We let the horses start at a normal pace, not wanting them to tire before the long journey to the manor. With the horses, we should make it to the edge of Brocelind Forest a little after dark, where we'll camp until the sun comes back up.

"Okay so what do we do if Jonathan isn't at Morgenstern Manor?" Isabelle asks.

"He's there," I say before anyone. "Where else would he be? There's nowhere else in Alicante he would have reason to go to."

"The rest of us don't know of anything outside of this place if we don't find him there," Alec says.

"I know, Alec," I say probably a little too harshly. "You have a better idea?"

"I didn't mean-" he huffs, "nevermind." I hear his horse come from behind me and trot a few yards ahead.

I roll my eyes.

"Clary," Isabelle sighs from beside me.

I look over at her. "What?"

"Jonathan isn't just your brother, he's ours too. We're all worried and want to get him home, okay?"

She doesn't give me the chance to answer as she leaves my side and rides ahead with Alec. Not that I could reply with anything, anyways, because a pounding starts in the base of my skull.

"Angel help me," I whisper too low for anyone to hear. But my horse slows as my attention goes elsewhere, I squeeze my eyes shut and try to breathe evenly. The rune on my arm I don't recall drawing stings.

A flash of the Morgenstern Manor library.

"Are you okay?" Jace asks from beside me.

I open my eyes and realize we've stopped, Jace and I. Isabelle and Alec are still moving up ahead. I immediately get my horse moving again. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"That was a horrible lie." Jace's horse rides steady beside mine.

"Why does it matter? It's not like I can do anything about it. We're looking for Jonathan, it's almost dark, we're not even to Brocelind Forest yet, and we need to be back in two days. I care about my brother not being stripped of his marks, whatever else is going on is just going to have to wait."

"Only you would make a situation wait, like a disobedient animal."

It's odd; the tension around us snaps and we're both laughing until our sides are in pain, making incoherent jokes and laughing even harder. The horses don't like it very much, but we don't notice.

Then, as we come to the top of an incline, Brocelind Forest awaits us at the bottom, dark and looming. The sun finishes it's final descent behind the horizon and only our witchlights illuminate the world around us. I glance behind me once to find a faint glow just caressing the horizon; the City of Glass is far behind us.

I turn back to Brocelind Forest. If one thing has ever scared me, it's the forest. A demon? A rogue downworlder? No problem. A dark forest holding Angel-knows-what? Scary.

Jace dismounts his horse. "We should camp out here; a little way from the forest."

"Good idea. Who knows what goes on in there at night?" Isabelle says.

I don't argue. And when Alec and Jace volunteer to be on watch first, I fall fast asleep.

Morgenstern Manor. I know I'm dreaming but it feels real. Like I'm not actually asleep, like another part of my mind is here.

"Your brother needs you." A voice radiates from somewhere.

I'm back in the library, staring at the wall I came through last time. The bookshelf that covered a doorway.

"You will need to decide," it says. "Help your brother or me."

"Who are you?" I ask. "What do you want?"

"Your brother will be the death of you."

Anger boils inside me. I don't want this… thing inside my head. Telling me what to do, what to think. "What do you want?" I ask again.

"I want nothing from you Clarissa. I only want you to see the truth."

"That doesn't make any sense… and this!" I roll up my sleeve to reveal the rune. "You did this! Why?"

"I did not."

"You did! Who are you?"

"You must decide," the voice repeats. "Your brother needs you, find him in the manor, your mark will help you."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

Suddenly the entire manor begins the shake. I have to cover my head to keep a book from knocking me out as if falls off the top of a shelf.

I snap awake. Witchlight glows around me, stars above me, but the rest is so dark, I can hardly make out the trees of Brocelind Forest.

"Clary?"

I jump at Jace's voice. Forgetting him and Alec took watch. But just a little ways away from Jace, is Alec fast asleep.

Jace shrugs when I look over at Alec. "I'm not gonna wake him up if I don't have to… you okay?"

"Always." But I don't bother making it seem like I might be telling the truth.

Jace nods, and turns back to watching the dark stretching out around us.

Needing the extra help, I take my stele out of my pocket and draw a rune on my arm. When the burning fades, my eyes are enhanced and adjust to the dark. Instead of going back to sleep, I sit beside Jace, our arms pressed together.

"I don't think it's just Jonathan in the manor," I say quietly, as if talking any louder might disturb something in the darkness.

His shoulders shake, I turn to see him smiling. "I should've known."

"Going for Jonathan, staying for answers."

"I'm in."

"Really?"

Jace meets my eyes. "Could I really let you figure it out on your own? I want to know what's going on with me, too. You're dad said we've got to stick together, so that's what we'll do."

I smile up at him. "Thanks, Jace."

He smiles back for a second and then it disappears. "Did you just draw a rune?"

"Yeah… I couldn't see out in the dark."

His brows scrunch together.

"What?" I ask. "It wasn't a freaky one, if that's what you mean-"

"No… I just don't seem to need one. I don't really ever seem to need those runes."

I lace my fingers through his, one simple movement with our arms pressed together. "We'll figure it out."

"Just don't get yourself killed, okay?"

"Touché."

My head falls to rest on his shoulder and I feel his lips press against my forehead, making a tingle go down my spine.

"I don't really blame Jonathan for leaving," Jace says. "It'd be nice to escape it all, just for a minute."

I sigh. "I just wish we knew what will happen when we get back… Jonathan, my parents, Robert and Maryse."

"Yeah, mine are already gone so I don't have to worry about much."

I sit up. "Jace, I-"

"Don't apologize. Maryse and Robert, your parents; it would hurt just as much. You just have to get over it when you've got nothing left."

"You're crazy if you think you've got nothing left, Jace." His eyes change, and my hands find themselves against his jaw. "You've got Iz, Alec, me. We don't know how much longer our parents we'll be around, but never forget about us."

My hands slip down to his shoulders but I feel his against my face, now. He leans forward, until I feel our breath mingling in the small space between us.

"I wouldn't dare," Jace whispers.

And we close the space between our lips, let them meet in the middle.

"ANGEL HELP US!"

Jace and I break apart as the sound of Izzy's voice.

Alec startles awake, drawing a dagger out of a side sheath. "Wha-? Iz there's nothing here!"

"Jace and Clary were like, sucking face or something!"

I sigh. "We were just kissing."

Alec whip his head around to us. "Wait, what?"

Isabelle's face looks as if she saw a demon carcass for the first time. "When in a thousand years would you two ever kiss- wait… by the angel, I can't believe none of us ever saw this coming."

"I'm so confused," Alec groans.

"It's so obvious!"

Jace squeezes my hand and then lets go before saying, "I think we might have a bigger situation on our hands at the moment..."

I follow his gaze towards the forest to find a group of maybe thirty vampires looking straight at us. Then without anymore warning, they attack.

a/n: thanks for reading y'all! Review, follow, etc. so I can find motivation to keep writing this thing lol