"Zee, hey-" Jace sighed when I came down the stairs in the City of Bones, holding my jacket out for me, "Are you okay- what'd they do to you?"
"They couldn't do anything." I slipped my arms into the holes in my jacket, then looked at him, "The demonic tether that binds me to Jonathan is- stronger than anything they've ever seen before."
"Well, look- that doesn't mean we're out of options." Jace tried to give me hope regardless, "Look, you- you saw that illustration with me. Michael separated himself from Lucifer- that means there has to be a way."
I stay quiet for a few seconds, then looked at him, "Then- maybe we go straight to where it came from?"
Jace blinked, "Are you talking about Lilith?"
"Jace, let's be real- she gave me the rune, she's gotta know how to remove it." I huffed lightly.
"No- no." Jace denied, "Look, we just got rid of her, and it almost cost you your life, Zee- I'm not letting that happen again."
"I don't know what else to do, Jace-" I looked up at him, "When I saw Jonathan last night, I couldn't- do anything- it's like- I had no control over myself- I was being drawn to him."
"And after what happened with Aline, and the fire, Jace, I-" I breathed heavily and took a step, "It's this darkness- it's growing inside of me, and I-"
"Hey, hey, hey," Jace grabbed my face to catch my attention, "Hey, listen to me-"
"You are a good person." Jace assures me, caressing my cheek, "And there is no rune that's gonna change that."
-
"Hey, Young, he's gonna be okay-" Simon noticed the look on my face as we stood outside the Infirmary, where Magnus laid unconscious, and Alec quite noticeably worried.
"Simon, please- not right now." I messed with my hands, my voice low, staring at the ground, "Everything- around me- is falling apart- I'm gonna lose my mind-"
"Hey- hey." Simon got up and quietly said to me in a soft voice, "Hey, Young-"
"Simon!-" I spun and faced him, feeling nothing but anger boil within me, "I'm not in the mood for one of your stupid jokes to try and get me to feel better!-"
Jace's voice rang from behind me, "Zee."
I blinked a few times, not turning, staring at Simon.
"I'm so sorry." My voice fell quiet, as I took a step towards Simon but stopped myself, hugging myself instead, "I don't know what came over me-"
I swallowed hard, tensing up.
I knew exactly what came over me.
"Jace-" I turned and looked toward him, my eyes starting to burn with tears, "Please, we have to do it-"
Jace inhales, "Zee-"
"Please." I reaches and grabbed his face, my voice breaking, "It could be our only option- please, Jace- if you love me- I'm begging you, I need to know-"
Clary looks between the two of us, Isabelle and Simon staring at us as well, "Zee, what's going on?"
-
"I spoke to Catarina- she won't summon Lilith." Jace sighed, coming over to us at the table, "Too dangerous-"
Simon inhales, "Well, can we find another warlock?"
Isabelle shook her head lightly, "There's no one else we can trust."
"What about Zee?" Clary pointed at me, "Could you come up with a rune to summon Lilith?"
Jace remarks, "The runes were designed to give us the power to fight demons, not summon them."
"I mean- she could have a point." I lightly shrugged and looked at my boyfriend, "If I can bring back the dead- who said I can't summon a demon?"
"Okay-" Jace nods once, "Let's say we manage to summon Lilith- what's to stop her from escaping? Or attacking us?"
"The Malachi Configuration." Isabelle suggests, "It was built to contain greater demons."
Jace interjects, "Right, but- not the Queen of Hell."
I sigh, "We need a contingency plan."
Clary nods once, "A way to send her back to Edom if she gets loose-"
"The Mark of Cain." Simon throws out.
"Yeah, the Mark of Cain would be perfect-" Jace trails off, "If you still had it."
Simon looks at Isabelle, "Yeah, I don't, but Izzy and I both know someone that does."
"Do you think you can convince Cain to cooperate?" asked Isabelle, looking back at Simon.
"Well, I mean, it seemed like he liked me." Simon shrugs, "It's worth a shot-"
"Okay-" Jace nods again, "Let's say we summon Lilith, and we manage to trap her, and Cain is willing to help- the only problem is, how do we get her to talk to us?"
"Don't worry about it." Isabelle assures him, "With the upgrades I made to the Malachi configuration, that shouldn't be an issue."
Simon turns, "I'll go talk to him right now-"
Isabelle follows, "I'll go with you."
-
"Uh- thank you for coming." I exhaled, looking at Cain, "I know how hard this must be for you-"
Cain slowly nodded at me, "I have spent centuries cowering in the dark- it was finally time to come into the light."
I gave him a small smile, before walking over to Jace, grabbing his hands and lightly pulling him to the side with me.
"What is it?-" Jace questioned, squeezing my hands.
"Thank you- for doing this." My voice was low as I stared into his eyes, "I know- I can be really pushy- and annoying sometimes, but- I love you-"
"If she knows anything about setting you free from Jonathan- we're going to find out, okay?" Jace presses a kiss to my forehead, making me relax lightly.
I squeezed Jace's hands once more before walking back over to everyone, "All right- I'm going to open a summoning portal inside the Malachi Configuration- once Lilith surfaces, she'll be trapped inside."
Isabelle instructs, "If she breaks free, use your vamp speed and act as our shield."
"I will do my best." Cain nodded once.
"Everyone keep their eyes open." Jace pulled out his blade, "Don't take any chances."
I exhale slowly, holding my stele tight in my hand, staring right at the Malachi Configuration.
I felt the familiar feeling that ran through my body whenever my rune ability would act, blinking a few times when my eyes fell onto the golden tube that was appearing in front of me.
Jace nods once at me, "Whenever you're ready."
"I got it." I exhale slow and began drawing the tune that I said in front of me, clenching my jaw lightly.
I shoved my stele into my pocket as the rune activated, Lilith appearing, trapped, breathing heavily.
I stared at her, "Welcome back-"
"So many familiar faces-" Lilith breathed out and looked between us all, "Son of Adam-"
Lilith looked at Jace, "My precious Owl- how lovely to see you both."
My jaw clenched as I took a step in front of Jace.
"And you-" Lilith looked at me, "The girl who stole my boy's heart-"
"Not intentionally." I shot back at me, "You put that rune on Jonathan and I- tell me how to get it off-"
"Why would I do that?" Lilith seemed angry, "Jonathan- that ungrateful bastard tried to kill me- as far as I'm concerned, you two deserve each other."
"Enough!" Jace stopped her, "If you're not gonna cooperate willingly, we're gonna have to make you."
Lilith hummed in amusement as Jace nodded at Isabelle, who walked toward the trap and pulled twisted one sword in the connection, as this hurt Lilith, who screamed in agony.
I hummed, walking over to the trap and crouched, looking at her, "Ready to talk now?"
Isabelle twists the sword again, as Lilith screamed, "There's only one way to break the bond between you two- you've heard of Michael and Lucifer?"
"Lucifer possessed the Morning Star blade, but- Michael had a sword of his own called Glorious." Lilith breathed heavy, "It was imbued with heavenly fire which gave it the power to purge demonic energy."
Isabelle repeats, "Heavenly fire?"
Lilith continued, "By stabbing Lucifer with Glorious, Michael was able to nullify the rune's power, and break the connection."
I stood up, "Where is Glorious now?"
"Nowhere." Lilith smirked lightly at me, "Glorious was destroyed the moment Michael pierced Lucifer."
"Its blade was shattered into a thousand pieces and lost to time." Lilith fake sighed, "There is no hope for you, Zee Young."
My heart dropped.
"No!" Jace was angry, as he went and twisted the sword again, "You put that rune on her, you're gonna take it off!-"
Lilith screams, "I told you, there's nothing I can do!-"
"Jace!" I interjected after a few of Lilith's screams, "Jace, stop- I think she's telling the truth!"
"Watch out!" Isabelle's voice came from behind us when Jace stopped, Jonathan swinging at Jace, who quickly caught it.
My heart stopped, "Jonathan-"
Jonathan looked back at me, "Hello, sister-"
"You stay away from her!-" Jace pushes Jonathan off, swinging his sword as they began swishing their swords at each other.
I began rushing toward them, but Simon quickly grabbed my arm, "Zee, wait- remember what happens when you get close to him!-"
"Simon, he's going to hurt Jace-" I tried to pull my arm out of his grasp, "And it'll be my fault-"
Simon resists, "Zee, you can't!"
One by one, Jonathan fought Clary, Jace and Isabelle was Simon forced me to stand by and just watch.
And one by one he took them down.
Within moments, Isabelle was against the pillar, groaning in pain, Clary was on the ground, and Jace and Jonathan were still going.
But, the moment Jace had the upper hand, Jonathan spoke to his advantage, making Jace hesitate, "You hurt me, you hurt Zee-"
Jonathan pierced his sword into Jace's shoulder, a gasp leaving my lips as he shoved him to the ground and started making his way to Isabelle, "Jonathan, stop!"
"Izzy!" Simon left my side and immediately ran over by Isabelle the moment Jonathan grabbed her and sunk his fangs into his neck.
A gasp left my lips, gripping my now wet neck, feeling exactly what Jonathan was feeling.
Simon pulled back and threw up Jonathan's blood, as Jonathan fell to the ground, holding his neck.
I was so out of it, I didn't realize that Lilith had been convincing Cain to let her out until Simon shouted, "Cain, don't listen to her- she's just trying to manipulate you like before!"
"You have my word." Lilith lied, "I promise."
"Forgive me." Cain pulled one sword out.
"Stop!" shouted Simon, who ran toward them but gets swung back by the mark on Cain's forehead, as Lilith and Cain disappear.
I stumble lightly, rubbing my neck, my eyes landing onto Jonathan, who had shouted for me, "Sister- help me!"
I breathed slow, staring at him.
He needed my help.
I needed to help him.
I slowly grabbed out my stele, my eyes glued to Jonathan's.
"Zee, no-" Jace's voice sounded, breaking me out of the trance I was in, "Stop!-"
I drew the portal rune, trying to keep focused on Jace and not Jonathan's power over me, pushing the rune towards him, sending him off to the sub levels, in a cell at the Institute.
I grip my stele tight and rushed over to Jace, falling onto my knees next to him, using his Iratze to heal him, "I'm so sorry- are you okay?-"
"Zee-" Jace grabbed my hand, staring at me, "Where did you send him?-"
I exhale through my nose, "Where he belongs."
-
"Those restraints will stop him from hurting himself." Jace exhales, an arm around me as we looked at Jonathan in his cell, "As long as he's here, you'll be safe-"
I linked my fingers with his, pulling him with me and around the corner, "Jace-"
Jace looked at me, standing in front of me, squeezing my hand that I held in his.
"When we were out there- there was a second where I felt- the need to help Jonathan." I looked down and played with his fingers, "I was close- but, then, I heard your voice."
"It snapped me out of it." I looked up at him, "The same thing happened with Aline, the fire, and today in the Infirmary- every time I get close to the edge, you pull me back."
Jace watched me, "What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that our love is stronger than him." My voice was quiet, staring at him, "I love you."
"I love you-" Jace grabbed my face and pressed his lips into mine, pulling me closer and into him.
My hands were on his chest, his arms wrapped around me when he pulled his face away lightly, leaning his forehead against mine, "I hate the idea of you being connected to that monster forever- you shouldn't have to endure that."
"Hopefully, she won't have to." Isabelle joined the conversation, making me slip away from Jace and look at her, "Do you remember when Lilith mentioned heavenly fire?"
"Yeah, it's what gave Michael's sword the power to purge demon energy." Jace looked at her.
I question, "What about it?"
"The sentry who was killed, he said the words heavenly fire in Latin before he died." Isabelle told us, "Alec and I asked mom about it and apparently, it's the name of an off-the-books Clave program."
"Wait-" I stepped closer, "You think someone at the Clave knows about Glorious?"
Isabelle nodded lightly, "It's possible."
authors note:
this was kind of a shitty chapter, my apologies
but zace has my heart
thank you for 46k !!
go read redamancy !!
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