The Mortal Instruments: City of All Things Again ~ DISCONTINUED ~

Chapter 3

Clary's POV

I woke up with a hand over my mouth, like they do in the movies to wake somebody up without them making any noise. Why wouldn't Jace want me to make any noise? I tried to get up and turn around to face him behind me, but the hand stayed clamped over my mouth. Weird.

I poked my tongue out to try and get him to lighten up a little. He didn't.

"Clarissa, that really is disgusting." I froze, immobilised by the icy voice reaching my ears. No. Please, Gods of Olympus, no.

He took advantage of my shock and drew two runes on my back. I felt them take effect as my tongue became tied and I lost the ability to move my body. He moved around the bed to face me. He couldn't be here could he? How had he got past the wards?

"Well, I have to admit, I didn't expect to get such a wet welcome when I finally saw you again. I thought that you would give your so-called brother a much more... loving reunion." He laughed without humour, a cold, icy laugh from the depths of hell itself.

"Anyway, I'll get to the point. I never wanted to be here anyway and this really is quite boring, to be perfectly honest. I just came to see you again. My old ex-sister. I expect that you got my letter and I'm not just speaking gibberish. I thought you would find it. You always seem to draw when you're scared or worried or happy or excited or... well, all the time really." He started pacing the room in front of me, as if he was reciting a well-learned speech for the hundredth time.

"I couldn't help myself but to drop in one more time before the war again. Just to make things official, you know? About how I don't care about you anymore and how I'm going to torture and kill all of you at the first opportunity and all that." I felt my fingers and my toes begin to tingle and slowly tried to regain the feeling in my entire hands and feet while remaining as still as possible so that Sebastian wouldn't notice.

"Anyway, I can tell that the runes are about to wear off and I can't be bothered to reapply because my speech has finished and I want to leave. This place is boring." He looked at me, dead in the eyes. I froze even more so than I already had. His whole eyes were black, no whites left at all. It was like he had been possessed by a demon. Then again, he was a full demon now. My real brother, Jonathan, was no longer there to hold him back. He was dead.

"Jace is coming by the way. Have fun." Sebastian disappeared into thin air, like he had just evaporated into a misty haze.

The door was slowly pushed open and a head poked around the edge of the door.

"Clary. You okay?" He walked over to where I lay, only just beginning to be able to use my arms and legs.

"Yeah, I think so." I muttered, already able to speak.

"By the angel, Clary, you look terrified. What on heaven, hell and earth happened to you?"

"Sebastian - he was here. Literally, two seconds before you came in he just... evaporated! He put some runes on back so that I couldn't move or speak. I thought that it was you, Jace! He-he-" I burst into tears. It was all too much. I couldn't even...

"Shhh... Clary, it's okay. I'm here now. Come on Clary it's okay." he wrapped his arms around me and I snuggled into his warm body. He was always warmer than me, which he always acted smug about because I always used it as an excuse to snuggle into him, whether I was cold or not. I was glad for his warmth now though, I didn't just take it for granted. He warmed me up from the inside out.

"It's okay. I'm okay. I'm fine." I rubbed my eyes and looked at my wondrous boyfriend, who I'm still pretty sure is actually an angel. He looked at me again.