Paradise Regained

-10-

Clary and Jace were spending the night cuddling together on the couch in the living room. Everything has been going considerably well. You could almost say that they had forgotten about the possible dangers. The young couple was happy - being around each other made them feel like they were walking on clouds.

At the moment, they couldn't be happier. Little Isabella was sound asleep in her nursery. And they were just happily talking and enjoying each other's company.

The bliss was abruptly interrupted. Clary winced in pain and sat up straight rapidly.

Jace furrowed and asked, concerned.

"Hey, what's wrong? Are you alright?"

Clary looked at her arm, where letters were starting to form.

"It's Jonathan."

The girl looked at Jace and back at her arm. Big bloody I MISS YOU was now visible. The sight of it made her stomach flip.

Worried, Jace grabbed her arm, and immediately his face went pale. "That son of a bitch." He muttered angrily and shot up to get his stele. He brought it to Clary's neck and activated her Iratze.

"He's twisted, sick." Jace spat out. "What is the matter with him?" The young shadowhunter started to pace back and forth, swearing under his breath.

Clary's stomach flipped. Seeing Jace worry over her made her feel uneasy. She got up from the couch, grabbed his hands into hers, and looked into his golden-blue eyes.

"Maybe you should tell Alec. About Jonathan and I. They should know. He might be in New York. They might be in danger."

"I won't tell him about you. Not just yet. It's better if no one knows for now." He let out a breath he was holding for a long time. "I will send him a fire message."

Smiling at her boyfriend warmly, she nodded and left him alone in their living room.

Hearing tiny whimpers coming from her daughter's room, she tiptoed in and checked on Isabella.

Seeing the baby adorably stir around in its sleep, she felt the urge to draw her. So she sat down quietly beside the crib and proceeded to sketch.

The dim light made by an old bedside lamp threw gentle shadows on Isabella's face, making her features more prominent. Clary started to add more detail to her sketch. Looking at the child so intensely made her realize how alike they look.

Isabella's head was covered with a soft mop of coppery-red ringlets. On her angelic, pale little face, gentle freckles were starting to get more visible by the day. The baby's lips were rosy and nicely shaped - like her mother's. One difference that Clary could see were the eyes. Hers were green, whereas Isabella's were light blue.

Although seeing so many similarities between herself and the baby, Clary could still see Jonathan in her precious little girl.

She was well aware that Isabella had traces of demon blood, and the only thing that could be done about that was raising her daughter well. It scared the hell out of Clary. The possibility of her failure made her shiver.

Whenever these kinds of thoughts would come, she would try to repeal them, but they would creep back in anyway.

The young girl stopped drawing and was now staring at her sleeping daughter, lost in her thoughts.

Jace placing his hand on her shoulder made her snap back into reality.

"Hey, I just got a message back from Alec." He said with a mustered calmness.

"What did it say? Are they alright?"

"Everybody is fine," Jace stated calmly. "but they suspect that Jonathan might have gotten inside of The Institute."

Clary's face dropped.

"They had a visitor, some guy named Daniel. He left very suddenly and was acting weird. According to Alec anyway."

"He didn't do anything? Nothing or nobody disappeared?" The girl asked worriedly.

"No, but Alec noticed that right before he disappeared, he was wandering the hallway where my bedroom is."

"He probably tried locating you."

"Probably."

The room became silent. Just for a moment, the silence was broken by Clary's quiet sobs.

"He's trying to find us." She looked from her daughter to Jace. "If he succeeds, he will show no mercy to you. Or her."

Grabbing her small hands, he kneeled down and looked into her watery eyes.

"He won't get either one of you. I promise. We will find a way to separate you from him, and I'll kill him."

"I'm just so scared for her, for you." Her voice was breaking.

"I know, love." He said, placing a soft kiss on her lips. "It will be okay. I won't let him harm Isabella, and for me... you don't have to worry."

"If only it was so easy..." She looked down and was staring at her feet.

"Baby..." Sighed Jace. "I know you probably don't want to be alone. But I have to get to The Institute as soon as I can.

Clary tried to interrupt him and protest but, he cut her off.

"Alec gave out a kill order. I have to go there and make it so he changes it to capture alive."

Clary exhaled loudly. Jace was right. She did not want him to leave, but it was necessary.

"Okay...you're right. You should go. I can make you a portal right now if you want. "

The boy looked at her with kind, smiling eyes and pecked her lips.

"Thanks, baby. Just let me get ready real quick."

After Jace portaled back to The Institute, Clary got slightly overwhelmed.

As she watched him disappear through the portal, she couldn't shake off the thought of him never coming back.