The Other Morgenstern

(City Of Lost Souls) Chapter Twenty-Nine: Italy

Skylar sat on her bed playing with the Seelie Queen's ring on her finger. She closed her eyes trying to see if she could get in contact with Isabelle, she had given the other ring to her parabatai. "Skye?"

"Oh thank god, Isabelle. I was starting to worry that I made a mistake." 

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah...I have to go."

"Be careful." Skylar opened her eyes and stood up. There was a soft knock on the door, "Come in." Skylar said softly hoping it wasn't Sebastian. Jace walked into her room, he leaned against her door frame. "What's up?"

"Let's go on a date. We've gone out before but never an official date."

"A date?" Skylar repeated and chuckled. "You want a date?"

"Yes I do actually, of course with yours truly." Jace said and winked. "Watching me play Scrabble is enough to make most women swoon. Imagine if I actually put in some effort."

"I love watching you play scrabble." Skylar said, he held his hand out.

"Come on beautiful, we're in Italy.  Venice. One of the most beautiful cities in the world. Shame not to see it, don't you think?" Skylar took his hand and Jace pulled her closer to him. "Or we could stay in?" He whispered.

"And do what?" Skylar asked, Jace smirked and leaned closer.

"Anything."

"So I can swoon watching you make a triple-word score?" Skylar asked ruining the mood. 

"You read my mind, Is there no filthy wordplay you can't foresee?"

"Jace...I can see it in your eyes when you have dirty thoughts."

"So, niney-five percent of the time." Jace said, Skylar looked up at him and chuckled.

"Ninety-five percent? What about the other five percent?"

"Oh, you know, the usual—demons I might kill, runes I need to learn, people who've annoyed me recently, people who've annoyed me not so recently, ducks."

"Uh oh ducks?"

"Those thirsty blood sucking beast." Jace said, she chuckled and kissed his cheek. "You find that amusing?"

"Sort of, I think ducks are cute."

"Well then...I feel betrayed by my own girlfriend."

"Oh come on Jace, they're just ducks." She said, he gasped dramatically and pulled away from her. "I have changed my mind. Let's forget about this date."

"No! Ugh come on Jace!" He smiled "Let's go."

~

"What the hell are we going to do? My parabatai has left with her insane brother and has taken control of my brother." Isabelle said and started to pace. "What if they hurt her? Or use her?" Alec shook his head quickly, Magnus sighed.

"Even if Jace is being controlled, he's in love with Skylar and he wouldn't hurt her." Alec said

"And Sebastian is fond of his twin sister, she's the only one who's actually cared for him when they were children." Magnus said and looked around his apartment. Books everywhere, ripped out pages, his apartment was a mess and he hated it. Ever since Jace and Sebastian had vanished, they had been looking into it but now that Skylar has left. Magnus has gone mad looking for away to get her and Jace back safely.

"What about what we talked about before?" Jocelyn suggested, Isabelle sat back down and grabbed her coffee mug. 

"There's a reason the ritual of the Mortal Instruments was so complicated. Angels act at the behest of God, not human beings—not even Shadowhunters. Summon one, and you're likely to find yourself blasted with divine wrath. The whole point of the Mortal Instruments ritual wasn't that it allowed someone to summon Raziel. It was that it protected the summoner from the Angel's wrath once he did appear."

"Valentine managed to summon angels..." Alec said, Magnus nodded understanding what he was trying to say.

"Yes, Valentine also summoned a very minor angel. And it never spoke to him, did it?Never gave him a sliver of help, though he harvested its blood. And even then he must have been using incredibly powerful spells just to bind it. My understanding is that he tied its life to the Wayland manor, so that when the angel died the manor collapsed to rubble." He tapped a blue-painted fingernail on his mug. "And he damned himself.Whether you believe in Heaven and Hell or not, he damned himself surely. When he summoned Raziel, Raziel struck him down. Partly in revenge for what Valentine had done to his brother angel and to his daughter."

"Seraphina! She can help right? S-Serpahina sees Skylar has her daughter and once she knows about this t-then she can help right?" Isabelle said and looked at everyone, they all stared at her and stayed silent until Magnus cleared his throat.

"Isabelle's right, Seraphina will help in a blink of an eye." Magnus said and poured more sugar into his coffee. "Looks like we're summoning Raziel's daughter." They all nodded in agreement, Jocelyn turned to face Isabelle. 

"Have you talked to Skylar?" She asked and Isabelle nodded looking down at the ring she wore. 

"She's fine and safe." Isabelle said reassuring Jocelyn.

~

"I can't believe you did that!" Skylar said and pushed Jace lightly, he chuckled as they walked into the apartment. Sebastian stood there talking to two girls, one gave Skylar a glare. "Are you picking a fight with me?" Skylar asked glaring back at the girl, Jace smirked.

"Uh-oh." He mumbled and crossed his arms. Sebastian glanced at his sister and then at the dark haired girl.

"Lo suggerisco di smettere lampante a mia sorella." Sebastian spoke Italian to the dark haired girl who rolled her eyes. He leaned closer and smirked. "Oppure ti ammazzo." He whispered into her ear, the dark haired girl froze and gulped. Jace and Skylar exchanged looks and left.

After getting changed into something more comfortable, luckily Sebastian knew what his sister liked but Skylar found it slightly creepy. She wore sweatpants and a black tan top, she crawled onto Jace's bed and smiled. Jace looked away from his book and smiled when he saw Skylar crawling over to him. He put his book on the nightstand, Skylar laid her head on his chest and closed her eyes trying to hear his heartbeat. Ever since her body had been slowly changing, her runes had turned gold (She uses a glamour to hide them), the two huge scars on her back and now she feels that her heart beats faster than usual. She had come to the conclusion that she was turning into an angel. Jace smiled and looked down at her, he kissed her forehead gently. "Skye...there's something different about you." He whispered into her ear, Skylar pulled away and looked at him.

"What?"

"Your eyes...they're brighter than usual." Jace pointed out and stared into them. "I've always noticed how dark and light your eyes get depending on what;s going on."

"Oh, well if you must know. I'm very happy to be here with you." She said and leaned in closer to his face. 

"How happy?" He asked and smirked. She pressed her lips against his, he quickly kissed her back and deepened the kiss. Jace slowly pulled away after a little bit. "So what do you want to do?" He asked

"Sleep." Skylar said and smiled. He gave her the seriously-Skye ? look, she had teased him and he wasn't so pleased. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer, his chin on top of her head. He had always teased Skylar for being short, it was something he found cute.

Skylar was surprised how warm Jace was, it was odd. She glanced down at his hands and smiled. His skin pressed against her skin, she was meant to be happy but how could she be truly happy to be with him. This wasn't her Jace, he looked and acted like her Jace. The moment she gazed into his eyes and he looked back into hers, she can tell it wasn't really him. Their bond had become numb, she couldn't feel him anymore. She can feel his warm breath against her skin, it sent shivers down her spine. Skylar looked down at his hands again, her fingertips softly traced the faded scars.