Author's Note: This chapter contains metions of torture and captivity.

Chapter Eleven, Part II

Jace yelled as Clary was ripped from his hands once again.

Pain clouded his vision as something tore at his back, and the memory of Sebastian's whip crashing down on him, over and over, endless and burning, made him curl in on himself. The demon above him growled and hissed, but Jace couldn't move, frozen on the floor in agony, clutching at his throat as if he couldn't get enough air down into his lungs. The demon rolled him over onto his back, and Jace's bleary eyes saw raised dagger-like claws.

He needed to get up, to get to Clary, to get them out of this hell hole, but he couldn't move. God, he couldn't move. He needed more air—he felt like he couldn't breathe—it was too crowded, too bloody, too much—

And just as the demon brought its claws down over Jace's chest, while he laid there frozen and gasping, an arrow pierced its neck. It fell limp over top of Jace, its weight crushing into him, before it burst into ashes.

Another figure loomed over him. Simon?

He grabbed Jace, pulling him effortlessly off the ground and tucking him under his right arm, Izzy still under his left. Jace was always still shocked to witness how strong Simon was now that he had vampiric strength.

"Can you walk?" Simon asked, and Jace, still half out of it, did not respond.

"Jace?" Simon pressed, pulling them over to lean on the wall.

"I'm…fine…" he managed to grumble, pushing Simon off of him, but he nearly collapsed again without his support. Magnus seemed to appear out of nowhere. "This is the last of the strength I can give you if you still want me to portal us out of here," he groaned, and repeated the spell he'd done earlier as he laid a hand on Jace's shoulder.

The energy boost was just what he needed. Jace's vision immediately solidified, the double images he was seeing sliding back into a single picture in front of him. The pain on his back—well, the pain everywhere—subsided, just enough that he could stand on steady feet.

"Thanks," Jace panted, "I won't waste it. We have to get her out."

Magnus slumped from exhaustion, but Simon nodded. "Go find her. Magnus and I will go make a portal. You, Maia, and Alec can stay to get Clary. But, Jace. Please hurry…Izzy needs help." Simon's grip on Isabel tightened as he spoke, as if she might crumble to ash like one of Sebastian's demons. Jace nodded, and turned to look the direction Clary was taken, deeper into the maze of halls and rooms. "Okay," he said, and then again, more determinedly, "okay."

Maia came from around the corner, in human form now, a bloodied slash in her side, her hair frizzed and curling everywhere. She wheezed as she stopped next to the group, Aled just behind her, and for now, it appeared they had managed to kill all of the demons and Endarkened nearby. Simon swooped Izzy into his arms bridal style so he could carry her and run at the same time. Magnus moved to follow him after a brief exchange with Alec, and just before they departed, Simon turned back to Jace. "Jace…don't let that bastard hurt her again."

Jace nodded, expression hardening, and he grabbed his seraph blade from where it had landed on the floor before sprinting down the hall.

He expected to run forever in this mad, confusing mirror-house, where everything looked the same and the halls and turns went on endlessly, looking for Clary—and he would find her, he would, he had to—but as soon as he rounded the next corner, he stopped.

Because there was Sebastian, right at the end of the hall.

Holding a knife to Clary's neck.

Jace heard the clack of Alec notching an arrow behind him. Maia growled and razor sharp claws pierced the skin at the tips of her fingers. Jace looked to Clary, but her eyes were closed tight, her chin pushed up to avoid the edge of the blade, her hands gripping Sebastian's arm across her chest tightly. Jace splayed his hands at his side, shifting the weight on his feet. "Sebastian…" he said slowly.

Sebastian laughed, the sound crazed and manic. "You all don't know when to give up, do you?" He gripped Clary tighter, and she winced at the movement. Jace was certain her back was killing her, especially pressed so close to the rough fabric of Sebastian's jacket. He wondered if that monster had used the same demon metal tipped whip he'd used on Jace as on Clary.

Jace had seen the lashes when they were reunited—they were hard to miss with the ridiculously tight and open dress she was wearing. Sebastian must have made her wear it, and Jace's spine crawled at the idea, his mind unpleasantly recalling the sound of her screaming.

"Let her go," Jace commanded. "I'll stay if that's what you want. You can kill me, torture me, anything, just—just let her go." His voice was steady—he meant every word—but Sebastian only sighed, his black eyes rolling playfully. "Again with sacrificing yourselves for each other. That bit is getting old. You know, Clary made that deal with me just a little while ago."

Clary at last opened her eyes and glanced bravely at Jace, and though she didn't say a word, her expression told Jace that Sebastian wasn't lying, that she didn't regret it, that she would do it again if it meant him safe. But Jace was already shaking his head. He wouldn't be able to live with himself knowing she was trapped with that monster, suffering by his hands, enduring God knows what, just so he could be safe. No, he didn't want that. He wouldn't allow that.

"Honesty, I think I'd rather keep my dear sister over you, Jace. We are going to have so much fun together, aren't we, Clarissa?" Sebastian hissed, shaking her a bit as he spoke, and though Clary's face remained stern, he could hear the choked whimper that escaped her lips.

Anger boiled inside him, a hatred more pure and potent than any he'd ever felt, and he opened his mouth to speak—to curse at the man toying with them, to fall to his knees and beg he let her go, to say anything that might turn this situation around—but Sebastian spoke first, tone harsh instead playful now. "Lightwood, I would lower your arrow. And Jace, tame that dog…I do believe I am the only thing holding off the many demons crowding behind you."

Jace, Alec, and Maia—now full wolf—each turned to see the demons eagerly gathering, fighting amongst each other for a spot in front, no more than ten feet away and waiting for commands. Alec's hand shook, but he lowered his weapon after a glance from Jace. Maia, however, did not change back, but her hackles lowered a fraction as Sebastian eyed her, appearing unthreatened.

A million things raced through Jace's head at once, so fast that all of the remaining pain in his body was tuned out. He had to save Clary. He couldn't let her be taken again.

But why hadn't Sebastian just grabbed her and ran, before Jace ever arrived to see him holding a knife to her throat? They could have been long gone by now, portaled away to some place no one could ever find them. Was he waiting for something? Did he just want to rub it in Jace's face that he'd lost?

Jace's only option seemed to be charging straight for Sebastian, but that might end with Clary getting hurt. Then again, if Jace was correct, Sebastian didn't want to hurt her. He was clearly okay with inflicting torture, but he didn't want her dead. He wouldn't really slide that knife across her carotid. Right?

It wasn't much to go on, and the unpredictability of Sebastian's nature might trump the idea that he was too obsessed with Clary to kill her, but it was all Jace had. He needed to keep him talking. At least until he figured something out.

"You won't hurt Clary. You want her as your queen." As much as Jace wanted to spit the final word with disgust, he kept his voice even, confident, testing the waters. He tried to catch Clary's eye, but she was looking fixedly at the wall, eyes shining with held back tears.

Sebastian laughed. "You know what, Jace? You're right."

Jace was so focused on the situation in front of him, that he didn't notice the demons shifting closer behind them until Maia growled out a warning. Sebastian clicked his tongue and a black portal, like the one he used to take Jace and Clary, appeared just behind him.

At the sight of the swirling black doorway, Jace's heart leapt into his throat, and he instantly took a step forward, ready to lunge for Clary. But Sebastian pulled back just the slightest, shaking his head and angling the knife up until she gasped. Jace's brows furrowed in frustration, but he stopped where he was. He wouldn't be able to pull Clary away from her brother in time, but he might be able to jump through after them. He just needed to take a few steps closer….

"How about this?" Sebastian said, face hardening to match Jace's as he shuffled around, sheathing the dagger and moving Clary tightly under his arm, so he had a free hand. Clary looked no more relieved without the blade at her neck.

With his now open hand, Sebastian reached inside of his jacket and pulled out a large, jeweled cup. Jace recognized it immediately.

"The Infernal Cup," Alec gasped, and Sebastian nodded, lifting his arm. Clary's eyes widened and she tried to get away, hands clawing frantically at the arm trapping her, bare feet kicking at his shins, but she couldn't slip free. Then he pressed the lip of the chalice to her mouth.

"Now, Jace, you are correct in that I would never really hurt little Clarissa—I do want her by my side. However, whether she is turned or not, I don't particularly care."

"No," Jace gasped, "ple—"

"Say your goodbyes," Sebastian said in a sing-song voice. Pressing his thumb hard into her jaw, Clary's mouth was pried open. She let out a guttural cry in protest, trying to turn her head away, before the oozing, black liquid was poured down her unwilling throat.

"Alec!" His parabatai's name was all he needed to say, and an arrow flew over Jace's shoulder and sank into Sebastian's. The blow knocked him back a fraction of a step, but he only laughed. "I've already won," he said, clutching Clary tighter as she began to choke, black fluids bubbling past her lips to run down her chin, and her eyes rolled as she jerked violently in his arms.

A million thoughts raced through Jace's mind, but as he lunged for Sebastian, one trumped all of the others.

I'm too late.

Then, in the blink of an eye, the portal slammed shut as Sebastian stepped through it with Clary, and Jace's hands only grabbed hold of empty space as the love of his life disappeared into thin air with a final scream of pain.