Chapter 21

Jace's POV

"I'm sure she's fine, man." Alec tells me as I bounce my knee during the first period. Clary hasn't shown up for school today, and won't answer my phone calls. If it was anybody else, I wouldn't be concerned, but after the interaction between us and Jonathan over the weekend, I can't help but feel a bit uneasy.

"You don't understand," I start, but I pause before finishing. Clary would completely kill me if I told them about what is going on with her and her dad. I mean, just a couple days ago, Seelie threatened her, told her she was dead. Jonathan actually seemed concerned she'd make good on it, "Did something happen?" Alec asks me quietly. I glance around the classroom - none of our friends seem to be paying attention, all focusing on the task at hand, which Alec and I should be doing. I just can't focus.

"We ran into Seelie and Jonathan, and he was talking crazy. Clary and Seelie got into it, and then Seelie basically threatened Clary. After all that has already happened, I'm scared she is going to make good on it." I whisper in a low tone to my best friend, before we are quickly hushed by our teacher, "Wayland, Lightwood, shut up before I separate you."

Clary's POV

One hour prior

"Ready for round three, bitch?" I call out to Seelie as I exit my house. She is standing defensively next to my bike, her arms crossed over her chest. Jonathan definitely told her where I lived; snitch, "Actually, I think you have more important things to worry about than losing another fight to me." Seelie responds, and I can't help as my brow corks in confusion.

The confusion is only intensified as I get yanked from behind, lifted directly into the air. You would think it would be harder to kidnap someone in broad daylight in the middle of Brooklyn, New York, one of the busiest cities in the world. But nobody seems to be affected by me screaming bloody murder. My legs get grabbed as I thrash around in panic, a hand clamped over my mouth, and eventually, a blacked out bag replaces it, "Seelie," I scream out, "Seelie, I swear to God, if I ever see you again, I'll fucking-." My words are cut off as I get thrown into a vehicle, causing my bones to jolt. I hiss in pain as I feel myself get dragged by my ankles across a bumpy surface.

"Quit fighting." I hear a male voice snap at me as he pins my legs down, another pair of hands pulling my arms behind my back, "Really? It takes two of you to hold little old me down?" I taunt, which results in a knee coming into my chest, causing me to cough rapidly, "No talking."

My brother used to tell me when I was growing up that if I was ever kidnapped, I would annoy them into returning me. I guess it's time to see if he was right or not.

"Shut up kid, make this easier for yourself." A different male voice states, his grip on my wrist being replaced with rope, and I can't help the feeling of terror that rises up in my throat. The severity of the situation settling in as I no longer have any motion in my arms and legs, "Did my dad send you?" My voice wavers a bit at the question - fearing I already know the answer. Once again, I am rewarded with a painful smack to the chest. Seems like they are taking that 'no talking' rule pretty seriously.

I do my best to remain calm - to control my breathing and focus on the task at hand. I try to count turns, seconds, bumps, listen for noticeable sounds, anything to give me a clue on where I am going. None of these tactics seem to be doing me any good. I swear this is what people do when they have been kidnapped in movies.

When the car finally comes to a screeching halt, I am hoisted directly into the air by my immobilised extremities, bag still over my head, and I am thrown roughly down onto a hard, seemingly concrete floor. My head hits the ground with a painful thump, but I don't have much time to process the pain that is radiating through my body as I get dragged a few more feet. I get lifted into the air once again, just to be dropped into a chair, which makes me yelp.

"Take it easy Blackwell, we aren't supposed to hurt her." I hear one male voice say, "Well, maybe I would be kinder to her if she wasn't a pain in my ass." A second voice answers, "I've been called that quite a few times." I groan out, my head throbbing.

This earns a couple harder blows to my body, some in the chest, some in the stomach, basically anywhere they can get me. I go to fall forward out of my chair, but I find that my hands have been strapped to the chair behind me, and that there is nowhere for me to go, "Blackwell, enough! We don't need to hurt Valentine's kid. He's already gone off the rails, imagine what he would do to us if we left marks on his precious daughter." Sounds like out of the two, whoever isn't Blackwell is the voice of reason.

I struggle to catch my breath, feeling as if my chest is caving in around my lungs. Before I can recover any further, a rough hand grabs my neck, yanking my bagged head up roughly, "Come on Pangborn, live a little. You want to let our time with this pretty little thing go to waste?" Blackwell hovers above me, his other hand finding its way to my shoulder, and I can't help the bile that rises in my throat. I bite back the tears that prick in my eyes - finally coming to an understanding with myself that I am absolutely terrified.

Jace has to realize something is wrong right? If not him, my other friends would have to notice. They should know I wouldn't just not show up to school, and not tell them, right?

Jace's POV

Come lunch time, I still haven't been able to get any sort of contact with my girlfriend, and to say that I'm going a bit crazy would be an understatement. To all of my friends, I must seem obsessive, and over protective, but if they really knew what was going on, I bet they would be feeling the same way.

"Jace, dear," Isabelle says calmly next to me, her hand working its way softly over my shoulder, "I promise you; your girlfriend is fine. Maybe she woke up sick." Isabelle attempts to make me feel better, being the fifth person to do so today. Nothing they can say will make me feel better, "Ok, then why isn't she answering her phone?" I ask, crossing my arms and narrowing my eyes at everyone else at the table, "Ok, so how about this, she is sick and she is asleep. Just go to her house after school today, I can go with you, and we can go see that she is alive and well, ok?" Isabelle, once again, tries to comfort me. I take a long deep breath, putting my head in my hands, gnawing on my top lip anxiously.

"Jace," Alec looks at me with a pointed look, "can you come with me to the bathroom?" Alec narrows his eyes at me, "Are we girls now?" I reply with furrowed eyebrows, "No, but you should still come." Alec stands up from his seat, crossing his arms at me, begging me to challenge him, "Do you want me to hold it for you or something?" That earns me a smack on the back of the head from Isabelle.

Without another word, I get up from my seat, following behind my longtime best friend to the guys bathroom, "Seriously Alec this is a bit ridiculous." I say, but Alec just looks at me, his eyes narrowed still, posture rigid, "You need to tell me what's going on now. I have never seen you so concerned about something so common in your entire life. Whatever you and Clary are hiding, tell me now." I immediately gulp, "If I tell you, you can't tell anyone." Alec rolls his eyes, "I'm serious Alec, I don't want anything to happen to you. Clary's family is… complicated, and she has already been getting into trouble because of it, and I don't need anything bad to happen to you." I tell my best friend, which causes him to groan, "Jace, you're not listening to me, you are acting crazy, talking about people coming after you, thinking something is wrong just because you haven't seen Clary in twelve hours? Come on man," I'm quite taken aback by Alec's harsh tone.

"It's for your safety, plus you wouldn't believe me anyways." I respond, my tone matching him, "Jace," Alec sighs, obviously exasperated, and I can't help but cave under his inquisitive eye, "Clary's dad is in the mob." I spit out louder than I meant, "Alec, Clary's dad is in the mob, and is actively coming after her in an attempt to reunite their family." My voice is nothing but a whisper as I step closer to Alec, hoping that no passersby hear our conversation, "And I am worried that her dad finally got his hands on her." My temper flares as the words leave my mouth, admitting it sucked.

"Jace, that isn't funny." Alec crosses his arms, his eyes narrowing slightly, but upon seeing how strained I looked, not to mention the concerned frown on my face, "Oh," he steps back, dropping his arms, "you're being serious?"

"Deathly."

Clary's POV

I was helpless, and my father's goons liked to remind me of it. They removed the bag from my head, allowing me to see, but they told me that if I didn't keep my mouth shut, they would put it back over my eyes. I recognize them as Seelie's coaches, and the men who have been following me around town.

They have refused to let me have a moment of peace, whether they make a smart remark, drag a knife along my jaw, or put their hands on my body. Even though Pangborn made it clear he wasn't comfortable with harassing his boss' kid, Blackwell didn't seem to care one bit, enjoying the way I squirmed when his hands went lower than I was comfortable with.

"Ah, Clarissa." My father's voice causes the two men to take at least three steps back from me. At the sight of his silver-blonde hair, the smell of burnt wood and whiskey, I fight the urge to burst into tears. I haven't seen the man in over a year, and at our first reintroduction, I'm coughing up blood, tied to a chair, and have been freshly assaulted by one of his henchmen.

"Fuck you!" I scream, unable to stop myself, "You had me kidnapped, you worthless piece of shit, you had my career messed with, you attacked my brother, you have lost your mind!" The words tumble out of my mouth, tears streaming down my face as I do so, "So what, now that you're all big and powerful you get to decide you want me back?" Valentine walks towards me, his eyebrows raised like he is actually listening to me, "You called me a disgrace the night before you left, a terrible daughter, a letdown, among other things. You don't get to walk in here and take me back, run my life again just because you think you have the right to. You know what Valentine, I hate-." I will never get to finish my long winded screaming match with my father, as he backhands me with his ringed knuckles across the jaw, stopping the words from falling off my lips, flooding my mouth with the metallic taste of blood.

"You don't speak to your father like that, little girl." Valentine's tone is patronizing as his dark eyes pour into mine and a sickening smile curls on his lips. I take a deep breath before spitting the blood that has gathered in my mouth into the face of my dickhead father.

Valentine very quickly reacts, taking one of his large hands and reaching forward, grabbing me roughly by my neck and squeezing, cutting off the airflow in my lungs. I gasp for air, thrashing violently in my chair, kicking my legs towards him in a pitiful effort to get him off of me, "Here's the deal." He hisses into my face, "I will give you a week to choose, you rejoin our family, making us whole again, or you don't, and face the consequences that come with that." Valentine lets go of me, finally, and I drop to the concrete floor with a loud bang, the chair snapping beneath my weight, my head hitting the ground hard with a thud.

"Alright, let her go, she knows what she has to do." Valentine addresses his two henchmen, before stepping back into the sleek black car he pulled into the dimly lit garage. He waits for his men to untie me. The two yank me to stand on my unstable knees, pulling the painfully tight ropes off my legs. I don't understand why he is just letting me go, he went through all this trouble getting me here after all. He could've just taken me- reunited our family- he didn't need to give me this sickening choice.

Pangborn leaves me without another glance, joining my father in his vehicle, but Blackwell seems to have some unfinished business with me, "See you around, pretty girl." I fight the urge to smack him upside the jaw, anger and fear still coursing through my veins as Blackwell slaps my ass on his way past me, making me jump.

I watch as my father and his suits leave me behind, biting back tears in the cold building. I refuse to cry as I rush out of it onto the sidewalk of busy New York City. Nightfall has already sprung, and the temperature has dropped several degrees; I also don't have any idea of where I am. Jace must think I am dead.

The thought of Jace sends me scrambling, patting my pockets down, and pulling out my shattered smartphone. I'm surprised they didn't take it from me. I can't help but bitterly wonder if they were new to their job, or if they were just bad at it. I hurriedly dial up my boyfriend's number as I lean against the building wall, "Clary? Thank God, are you ok?" The blonde panics over the phone, and I can't help the tears that burst forth, sliding down my face, "I, uh, don't know where I am." I tell him, a sob crawling its way up my throat, "Can you come get me?"

"Yes," answered he, not even bothering to ask any questions, "are you near any street signs?" I look around, narrowing my eyes at the green sign across the street, "118th." I tell him, my voice stuffy, "I'll be right there." With that, he hangs up the phone.

I slide down to the filthy sidewalk, letting the tears fall silently as I put my head in my hands. Those walking past stare at me, probably thinking I'm just another cracked up homeless person.

Jace does stay true to his words, getting to me as quick as he is able too, "Clary," Jace crouches down in front of me, his hands finding mine. I can't bring myself to look at him, the tears still falling, panic still sitting heavily in my chest, "Clary, baby, it's ok, you're alright." Jace lifts me up to my feet, his hands still gently wrapped around my wrist. His eyes rake across me, my face, my neck, my hands; he has to notice the cuts and bruises.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm ok." I nod to him, not convincing either of us, "Ok, sure, let's get you home, yeah?" His eyes don't leave the rope burns on my wrist. He leads me to a black car, driven by Isabelle, with Alec riding passenger. I can't help but wonder if he told them what was going on.

I wordlessly climb into the back seat next to Jace, and Isabelle pulls back onto the main road, hopefully taking me somewhere where my father can never find me. Jace puts his arm lightly around me in a comforting gesture, but it only makes my heart sting and the tears to flow harder. In a last ditch effort to make myself feel better, I press my face firmly against Jace's chest, and I sob.