Valentine's Arrow

5: 'Til Death Do Us Part

As Rebecca gazed at her reflection, she wondered what Izzy would say if she saw her wearing the dress. Probably something like, You know what would go great with that? A thigh sheath!

Never in a million years, Izzy, Rebecca smiled. Her heart contracted with a sudden pang of homesickness – where were Izzy and Alec? What were they doing now?

Suddenly sickened with herself, she pulled the dress up and over her head, cursing silently. Throwing the dress back onto her bed, she splashed some cold water over her face, and pulled on a fresh t-shirt and jeans. Doubtless Sebastian would be annoyed, maybe angry, maybe both, that she had not worn the dress, but she didn't care. To hell with what Sebastian wanted.

"You look quite dashing," Sebastian remarked in an amused tone as Rebecca clattered down the stairs. He was most likely being sarcastic, but she was too tired to retort or even shoot him a glare.

Clary arrived downstairs a few minutes later, wearing a shimmery velvet dress. Jace unhitched himself from his position against the wall. "I could point out that that's not a dress, that's underwear," he said, "but I doubt it would be in my best interest."

"Need I remind you," said Sebastian, "that that is my sister?'

"Most brothers would be delighted to see such a clean-cut gentleman as myself squiring their sisters about town," said Jace, grabbing an army jacket off one of the racks and sliding his arms into it.

"Nobody says 'squiring' anymore, Jace," Rebecca said. "Get with the times."

"It's called having 'class'," Jace replied smoothly. "None of which you seem to have, incidentally."

Rebecca almost smiled; bickering with Jace was the closest she had felt to being home in the past few days. She felt an arm sliding around her waist and jumped; Sebastian was standing next to her, a dazzling smile on his face. "You ready to celebrate?"

Prague at night was colder than during the day; Rebecca was extremely grateful for her jacket. There were no street signs or pedestrians around, and she wondered for the millionth time how Sebastian was so sure of the way. She would never have admitted it, but she was completely turned around.

A shallow flight of stairs led them down to a tiny square, one side of which was lit by a flashing neon sign that said KOSTI LUSTR."

What does that mean, 'Kosti Lustr'?" Clary asked.

"It means 'The Bone Chandelier.' It's the name of the nightclub," said Sebastian, sauntering forward. His pale hair reflected the changing neon colors of the sign: hot red, cold blue, metallic gold. "You coming?"

Walking into the club was akin to walking face-first into a signpost, which Rebecca had actually done on one occasion. Only this time, she was hit by loud music and bright lights, not a metallic pole. There was a DJ booth along one wall. Techno music blasted from the enormous speakers.

Someone gripped her wrist: Sebastian. Before she could pull away, he put his mouth close to her ear, speaking above the music. "Come on. We're not staying up here with the hoi polloi." He propelled Rebecca to the far end of the room, where yet another set of stairs led down into darkness. She glanced at Sebastian; he grinned, his face all angles and shadows in the harsh, focused light. "Easy is the descent," he said.

Rebecca shivered slightly, glad to feel Clary beside her.

The music downstairs had an even more insistent beat than the music upstairs. Here, everything was stone, the walls bumpy and uneven, the floor smooth beneath their feet. A massive statue of a black-winged angel rose along the far wall, its head lost in shadows far above, its wings dripping strings of garnets that looked like drops of blood. Explosions of color and light burst like cherry bombs throughout the room; every time one burst, it rained down a glittering shimmer onto the dancing crowd below.

However, the thing that caught Rebecca's eye – caught everyone's eye, in fact – was the massive chandelier in the middle of the room. True to the name of the club, it was made of bones – human skulls, femurs, and fingers.

And the dancers – most of them were werewolves, faeries, or vampires. Rebecca was surprised when they didn't pay any attention to them, and she was more than sure that the reason why had something to do with Sebastian.

Clary and Jace were lost to the dancing crowd almost immediately. Slowly but surely, Rebecca squeezed her way to the bar, hoping she could order a drink or something. It looked like it was going to be a long night.

If only she had just stayed put under the trapdoor, none of this would have happened.

SEBASTIAN

Sebastian pushed his way through the crowd after Rebecca. When he caught up with her, she had settled herself onto a stool behind the bar, and was ordering a drink from the bartender - a kelpie with deep blue eyes and bright green hair.

"Having fun?" he asked her, as the kelpie slid a glass of flaming liquid across the counter to her.

"Loads," she said flatly, examining the drink, which was giving out flames of bright blue.

"Ah, that's no way to be," Sebastian grinned, sitting down beside her. "You're at the best nightclub in Prague. Possibly the world."

"Yeah," she said grumpily. "Also, I've been kidnapped, Izzy and Alec are probably worried out of their minds, and I also lost my younger brother." Defiantly, she scooped up the drink and gulped it down, and emerged coughing.

"Firewhisky." Sebastian eyed the glass in her hand. "A bold choice."

Rebecca didn't say anything as she ordered another glass and downed it in one go. Sebastian, however, didn't order anything; he just silently watched her.

After downing her fifth glass, she flashed Sebastian a huge grin, and beckoned for him to lean closer to her. He did, until their faces were merely inches apart. Being this close to her was intoxicating - he could see every detail of her eyelashes. "This stuff is good!" she yelled, right in his ear. Sebastian jerked back involuntarily. But Rebecca didn't notice; she had turned, and was trying to catch the attention of the bartender. But Sebastian neatly plucked the glass out of her hand and set it down on the counter. "Rebecca, no," he said. "You've had enough."

Rebecca pouted, then leaned forward so her face was only inches from his. "You're very good-looking," she whispered.

Sebastian's stomach gave a strange lurch. "Thank y-"

Rebecca started to sway on her stool, and Sebastian caught her by the shoulders. "By the Angel, you're a lightweight, aren't you?"

She giggled, sliding her arms around him and resting her head on his shoulder. "You're nice," she murmured. "It's so nice to be here with you, Mark."

Sebastian's heart turned to ice.