"What did he tell you his name was?", Magnus asked, when everyone was sitting comfortably in the upstairs bedroom. The party was still going on downstairs, but no one of the company felt like partying right now. Magnus was standing in front of the window, Alec behind him. He hadn't left his side, since Magnus had looked so disturbed. Isabelle had made herself cosy on the bed, while Sue was standing in front of the door. She felt a little uncomfortable since the attack. As if Eli could come back any second. Or something else. She felt in constant danger. Only Jace's hand on her hip made it a little more bearable. She leaned into him as she answered Magnus.

"Eli."

Magnus scoffed.

"His full name is Eliphas. He is in fact a warlock. I haven't seen him for centuries. It's because he has done some incredible dumb things, one of which was trying to mess with a shadowhunter. This was at a time when shadowhunters were really…", Magnus trailed off, but everyone was happy to help.

"…pain in the asses?", Isabelle said.

"…more powerful?", Alec tried.

"…absolute fuckers?", Sue suggested.

Magnus shrugged.

"All of it. They banned him into hell. Said, this is where he belongs. He was down there in a cage sealed with shadowhunter blood. I have seen it. I thought I would never see him up here again."

Magnus looked like he was there again. In hell. No one said a word for a while.

"What do you mean with "sealed with shadowhunter blood"?", Sue asked a few moments later.

"It can only be opened with the blood of a shadowhunter, because it was sealed with it. The fact, that he is here in this world, hunting Sue, means two things: First, that he is freed from his cage in hell by a shadowhunter and second, he is under this shadowhunter's command, because Eliphas wouldn't do this without reason."

"You mean like some kind of demon, which was conjured?", Sue asked further.

"Exactly. You must know, Eliphas was an excellent assassin back in the days. He would have killed you easily, if he had wanted to. He hasn't gained his full powers and must be under the order of someone, who wants you alive – for now."

"I don't understand.", Sue said.

But Jace did. His grasp to her hip tightened all so slightly.

"The Raveners. The wild boar. We are being watched. Sue's being watched."

"The Raveners…", Sue repeated. "But I almost died. At this point they didn't want me alive."

"Maybe they took the risk. And they didn't think I would be there. Maybe it was the Ravener's mission to kidnap you.", Jace suggested.

Sue began to shake. She felt like falling and was once again glad that Jace was standing next to her.

"The dreams. Someone sent those to me.", she thought loudly.

"They wanted me to get away from all of you, so they could get to me."

Then it dawned on her.

"It was the clave. It must be. Who else would have the means to send dreams and command demons and warlocks to kill?"

Everyone was now talking at the same time. Sue's ears ringed. She didn't want to hear their arguments pro clave. She had known it all along. But on the other side, they were her friends now. And she was willing to trust their feelings. Jace turned her towards him and looked into her eyes.

"Believe us, Sue. This isn't the clave. We all know the one's running it. We would die for them. They would never do this."

"You might think that and trust them, but I do not. I am not saying, you need to part from the clave. I'm just saying let's not rule out the possibility from the beginning. And please don't think your words are unheard with me. I do trust you. It's just – so hard.", she whispered the last words, while looking into Jace's blue eyes. He nodded.

Everyone was silent. Jace caressed her shoulder lightly.

"What are we doing now?", Isabelle asked into the silence.

"We need the book as soon as possible. Sue needs runes for protection.", Magnus said.

"Well, then let's do this now.", Jace urged, but Magnus immediately shook his head.

"I need more time to prepare and gather strength. It will be hard for me to break through the cell's protection. And one of you needs to get me some books from the institute about the protections spells they use. This will give me an advantage. This will at least take us another week."

"Another week?"

Jace was almost desperate.

"What about asking the clave for the book?", Magnus suggested, but Sue shook her head violently.

"Over my dead body. And I mean it. I will be dead, if you tell them."

"Sue -", Magnus started, but she raised her hand.

"Don't, Magnus. And I know, that all of you are thinking this, but no. I am capable to make my own decisions. Either we are doing this secretly or we are not doing this at all."

Jace took a deep breath and looked at Magnus again.

"Ok, most important is that this will be successful. But when we need to wait, Sue will still be in danger."

Sue was relieved, that they accepted her decision.

"I have an idea about that.", Magnus said and made a movement with his hands. Out of blue sparks a key showed up and dropped into his hand. He tossed it to Jace, who caught it with a fluent movement.

"This is a key to a safe house. It is near New York. You can reach it without magic. If a shadowhunter is behind this, some sort of magic tracking is probably in use. They won't track you inside this safe house. You can take your stele, but it won't work within the house. We will contact you as soon as I am ready for the burglary."

"But Sue needs more. We need to find out who is behind this – clave or not - or she will never be truly safe", Alec added.

"Well, then let's do what we can do best. Hunting. Let's hunt down Eli and just ask him who is his employer", Isabelle suggested. For a moment everyone was stunned by her proposal.

"She's got a point", Alec chuckled lightly.

"I may have an idea about this as well", Magnus said and was already rustling through some books, which had appeared out of thin air in his hands.

"It will be a trap", he mumbled. All that time Sue had been silent. She was thinking hard as well. She had the feeling she needed to grasp her situation. Organize her thoughts, so they wouldn't overwhelm her. But she couldn't. It was all too much. What had happened just moments ago with Eli. She had almost been dead. What would have happened if she hadn't had the knowledge of the rune? Her breath quickened. Oh no. She felt a panic attack rose in her and she closed her eyes, trying hard to think of something – anything – else. Cute little puppies, cute little bunnies…

"You're ok?", Jace asked quietly near her ear. She shook her head subtle and took his hand. She had forgotten that she wasn't alone anymore. That she didn't need to hold back and didn't need to get through this alone. Immediately it got a little better.

"It's late. We will be going. Magnus, where exactly is the safe house?", Jace asked loudly.

Magnus didn't even look up from his book, came over to Jace and placed his hand on Jace's temple. Sue knew what he was doing. He had done it with her before as well. He was showing him an image of the location. It just took a few seconds and Jace began to smile.

"Looks good. I am taking my phone with me. I hope, this is working down in the safe house?"

Magnus just gave him a thumbs up, still not looking up from the book. Isabelle was still lounging on the bed and spoke up now.

"Magnus, can I stay here tonight? Mum is watching Stella anyhow. I am so very tired. I don't know what Lithir's brother got into my drink."

Again, a thumbs up.

"Ok, great. Guys and girl? Get out! I want to sleep!"