City Of Bones

Chapter 23

Clary tried her utmost best to concentrate her breathing. The intense pain in her leg was growing worse and the blood seeped through her denim jeans. Her cheeks throbbed. The urge to lay there and fall asleep was incredible but she was still conscious, she still was aware of what had just happened and what was going to happen. Jace, her mother and others were in danger and she was possibly the only one with this piece of information.

Hodge stood at the same place across from her, clenching and unclenching his fists by his sides. He looked as if he was trying to make an important decision, his face scrunched in concentration. Clary wanted to yell at him, demand to know if he understood what he just did. He gave the sacred cup to Valentine and basically handed Jace's life to him. Clary's body trembled in anger.

"Hodge!" She exclaimed, breathing hard and he snapped his head to the side to look at her. She swallowed hard." Do you know what you've just done?" Hodge moved to the door.

"Stop Hodge! You killed Jace; you're the reason why he's going to die!" She screamed, holding back tears as she used the wall to pull herself up. The cup was gone; the one thing her mom trusted her with was gone.

"Valentine isn't going to hurt him." Hodge responded lightly and Clary wondered if he was being delusional.

"Jace's father is dead; he said Jace would be with his father," she further explained but Hodge shook his head.

"You don't understand." He snapped. "It's so much more complicated than that."

"Then enlighten me," Clary was on her feet now. "Tell me why you gave up Jace who trusted you with everything to have a curse, you probably deserved, be lifted off you. What about Alec and Isabelle?" Hodge glimpsed at her with sorrowful eyes.

"It saddens me that you are intertwined in this so deeply already. I wish that you would just leave her, leave this world. I would if I could."

"He has my mother," she whispered, stabilizing her feet.

"Then you have my condolences but know that Jocelyn was cursed the moment she met him." Hodge revealed and without another word, he turned and exited the Institute, only stopping once before the door to take a deep breath before exiting the building.

Clary groaned and threw her head back, choking back tears. Somewhere beyond this room Jace was being waken up roughly by Valentine to face his doom. Somewhere her mother's chances were ebbing away second by second, somewhere beyond this room Valentine was planning his next move and using the Cup for the exact reason her mother kept it away.

Here she stood, alone, with a cut in her leg and no idea where to start looking. It was as if the walls were crashing in on her and she lost her footing, slumping back down the wall onto the floor. She lay there in a crumpled mess, trying to find the strength to go on. She closed her eyes...letting the darkness wash her away-

"Clary!" A voice snapped her out of the darkness, her eyes flying open in astonishment. For a moment she thought she was dreaming, it was only a voice in her head trying to encourage her to go on. To her utter surprise, down the hall came Isabelle dressed in her shadowhunter gear. Her boots smacked the floor loudly. "Are you okay?" She demanded, leaning down beside her. Black spots filled Clary's vision.

"Jace..."She tried to say, fighting to keep her eyes open and tell Isabelle everything that just happened. A figure she couldn't make out appeared behind Isabelle's worried face.

"Where is he?" A, masculine voice asked and Clary recognized it as Alec. She saw Isabelle pull something out of her boot and the tip of a stele press against her skin. Within a few moments of tracing, Clary's vision began to clear.