Herondales, Man (Jace and Clary's Daughter)

002

*Jace Herondale*

For an hour and a half, Cecily had stayed outside, seemingly stunned. She spoke when spoken to, she smiled and was friendly, but she wasn't Cecily. I knew my daughter well enough to know that, even if I hadn't spoken to he in twelve-odd years. Her friend, Jason, left quickly after they had spoken with Magnus and Alec, kissing her on the cheek as he left.

Charles and Lily, the Shadowhunters who were tasked with her guardianship, have been telling us everything since the last time we saw them six weeks ago. Clary was hanging onto their every word; I'd like to hear everything from Cecily personally. Her training's been going perfectly, Charles was telling me, and I couldn't be prouder. Lily, Clary, Jocelyn and Maryse had moved to the living room around the same time that Cecily had been acting strangely, and Charles, Luke and I have been talking of what would happen after tonight.

"Either way, you'll want to get to know her," Luke was telling me. "Let her make the decision for herself."

"I'm positive she won't mind, she's always known there was a 'possibility' that her biological parents would take her back." Charles added. "Of course, she doesn't know everything."

"Obviously," I said, not really paying attention. The only people left was a few couples; everyone with children of their own had left for the night. Cecily was sitting on a swing that Charles and I put into a tree when she was younger as a birthday present. Simon and Isabelle were talking to her, she seemed distracted. I craned my neck to see more, but it was too dark and we all left our steles at the Manor before we came; everyone but Clary, obviously.

"Go talk to her," Luke encouraged.

"That's a rather bad idea at the moment," Magnus said, he and Alec joining our discussion. Alec gave me a sympathetic look.

"Why would that be?" Luke asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"She's in shock," Alec said. I whirled on him, about to explode when he went on with his explanation. "Magnus took down the block in her mind."

"I only sped it up," Magnus hurried on. I was shaking with anger. "Jace, she was bound to notice it. She's getting use to everything. She read the books, it was only a matter of time."

"You-were-suppose-to-wait!" I ground out through clenched teeth.

"It was happening now." Magnus said. "If I left it up, she'd begin to hurt."

"So, she knows?" Luke asked. Charles had gone over and pulled Lily aside to tell her.

"She caught a glimpse of my eyes." Magnus said. "And Alec's Marks."

"And she put the pieces together," Luke concluded. Alec nodded. My chest swell with pride; she was smart. "Impressive."

"She also figured out who Clary and Jace were," Alce added. "That you two are her parents."

"Atta girl," I mumbled, turning to look at my daughter again. I saw Maryse go over and Isabelle and Simon move to the house. The last of the couples waved goodbye, and suddenly, it was house full of Shadowhunters.

Simon shot me a look and came over as Isabelle sat with the women. "So," He said carefully. "She looks just like you, Jace."

"She has Clary's hair," I said absentmindedly. Simon was right, of course, she looked like young, female version of myself. While she had Clary's red hair, it was curly like mine, I knew, even though it was straightened. She was tall, thin, muscular, and angled. She had Clary's small but distinct features. Her face was thin, with high cheekbones and thin but curved lips. Her nose was turned upward just a bit and her gold eyes were framed by thick, long eyelashes.