ʜᴇᴀᴠᴇɴʟʏ ꜰɪʀᴇ ~ ᴛᴍɪ

Chapter 23 - Name Held High

"Yes or no?" 

"Allison..." Jace said hesitantly, his golden eyes wide. The coldness inside the ship had seemed to have doubled and Allison had to hide her shiver.

"Yes or no?" She asked again, her voice surprisingly calm.

She had laid down with her eyes closed, letting the iratze do its work when she heard Jace talking. Followed by a demon's snarl.  She struggled to stay silent and get up. But her vision spun and she couldn't move. God, her shoulder was like a ticking time bomb. But she could Jace's part of the conversation. Everything. At last, she heard the sizzling sound of burning flesh, along with an inhumane shriek. Using all her willpower, she staggered to her feet, hiding her whimper. As she neared Jace, who was on his knees with her other axe, he muttered Agramon. The fear demon. Valentine has certainly been busy.

But a single word from his earlier mutterings had given her a spark and made her stand. The blood replacement rune had done its work, but she knew her shoulder bone wasn't healed. She wouldn't survive a fight.

"Yes," 

The agony that she felt in her shoulder felt like a love pat compared to what this word did to her heart. 

Jace's voice seemed distant as he spoke. "We were talking and the Inquisitor asked me to find you. And—"

"Don't," She mustered some strength to speak. "Not now." She didn't want to know how Imogen had...no she won't accept it now. Now was not the time. "We need to find Clary. Simon and Maia if they are alive. I almost changed the Sword back so we have some time. We should try to get back the Sword and the Cup too."

"I'll find them," He said from behind, his voice suddenly so soft. "You should get on a boat—"

"Don't talk to me like that," she snapped at him, hating the pity from his eyes. "Screw you,"

But she didn't wait for him to respond and strode forward. She heard Jace curse as she made for the ladder at the end of the catwalk. "Let me go first," Jace stopped her and clambered down with one of her axes. But she didn't look at his face. And she drove her thoughts away from Imogen. And George who was alone on the deck with the demon. She had to finish her job now, nothing more.

 The effort of clambering down one-handed cleared her head. Her shoulder still throbbed, each move brought pain. But she was too slow. She hated that she couldn't move faster. Hated that she let that fucking demon best. Hated everything. She even kicked off Jace's helping hand and dropped down from the last rung. They found themselves on a second narrow catwalk that ran along the side of a vast metal chamber. There were dozens of other catwalks laddering the walls and a variety of pipes and machinery. Banging sounds came from inside the pipes, and every once in a while one of the pipes would give off a blast of what looked like steam, though the air remained bitterly cold.

"How did you almost change the Sword back?" Jace asked slowly as if testing her patience.

Surprisingly, she was glad for the change of subject. "Valentine gave me a crash course on how to control the fire. I tricked him into handing me the Sword for a moment. I tried to use the Heavenly Fire to change it. But it was too much to fight against." She looked around. It was a labyrinth down here; there was no way to know which direction they should go. "Maybe if I had another chance, I'll change it." Jace nodded, as he turned to climb down the next ladder but stopped short. He was staring at the metal floor. 

"Blood." He said. Allison noticed a dark red smear on the metal floor. She scraped the toe of her boot through it. It was still damp, slightly tacky. Fresh blood. Partway down the catwalk, she saw another spot of red, and then another a farther distance away, like a trail of breadcrumbs in a fairy tale.