City of Redemption

Prologue: An Unexpected Visitor

June 2011

Isabelle Lightwood was having a thoroughly awful day.

First, there'd been that stupid Eidolon they hadn't been able to catch. They'd been so close.

So.

Close.

Then there'd been the whole thing with Simon having to stay in Idris for an extra two weeks. Stupid trainees. She'd been looking forward to seeing him again. Furiously, she whipped a dagger at the target. As it struck wood, a deep toll echoed through the training room. The Institute doorbell. Eagerly, she bolted to the door. Maybe something good was finally going to happen. She yanked the door open-

And screamed.

Standing in the door, in a Burberry jacket and black jeans and blue Nikes, was Jonathan Christopher Morgenstern.

Not Sebastian, since his eyes weren't black.

Jonathan.

Last time she'd seen him, he'd been lying on the floor with a blackened hole in his chest. Heavenly fire had left him nearly dead. He'd died in Jocelyn's arms, but not before he'd helped rid them of the Endarkened. His body had been burned, his ashes scattered in Lake Lyn.

Now he stood in front of her, very much alive, looking not a day older than he had when he died. His pale skin was slightly tanned, darker than it had been when he'd been Sebastian. His jade green eyes studied her with a quiet curiosity. Of course he was curious. He hadn't seen her in three years. Izzy's mouth opened and closed, no sound escaping but a quiet gasp. He breathed in nervously, shoving a hand through pale blond hair.

"Hi." She didn't answer him. "Could you get my sister?" She still didn't answer him. Jonathan sighed. "Yes. I'm alive. I still look seventeen. Now can you get Clarissa?" She blinked at him. Muttering something uncomplimentary under his breath, he shoved past her and started up the stairs. That snapped her into action.

Izzy darted in front of him. As she passed him, she caught a faint whiff of rain, wood smoke and... laundry detergent? "You aren't going anywhere," she told him in a hard voice. He opened his mouth to protest, then closed it again. Instead, he leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. Izzy stared him down, waiting for him to cave. He didn't.

"Does Clary know you're alive?" she asked.

He hesitated. "Maybe."

"She doesn't, does she."

Jonathan sighed again. "No one knows I'm alive except you right now, but if you would move aside, I can change that."

"Shouldn't you have at least told one person?"

He raised an eyebrow. "I have. You."

Izzy glared. "Not quite what I meant."

"Yeah, I know." Jonathan regarded her with some amusement. "It isn't as if I've had time to-"

"Jonathan?" A quiet, shocked voice came from behind them.

They both turned, glancing up at Clary. Izzy saw Jonathan swallow hard. Clary's eyes were wide, vulnerable. She definitely hadn't known about her brother. Jace appeared behind her, and froze. He braced himself against the wall.

"What the hell?"

Jonathan held his hands up as if to ward them off. "If you give me the chance, I can explain. Actually, I can't," he amended after a moment. "Sorry."

Clary looked like she was about to faint, and Jace was pale as a vampire. Neither of them said a word. Izzy glared at him.

"Talk."

He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably. "There isn't much to tell, really. I appeared on the side of the Interstate and hitched a ride here. From there, finding the Institute and all of you wasn't all that difficult." There was a ghost of a smile on his face. "You lot don't exactly lie low."

"You're alive." Clary's voice was hoarse. She sounded equal parts horrified and hopeful. "You're really alive?"

"Yeah."

"And you're Jonathan now? Not him?"

Jonathan's eyes hardened. "Definitely not him. He's dead."

She leaned back into Jace. "My mom doesn't know yet, does she?"

"If she knew, I think you'd hear her screams from Idris."

"Not funny," Clary said, staring daggers at him. Jace stepped forwards as if to embrace him.

Then Jace punched him.

Jonathan staggered back in surprise as Clary cried, "Jace!"

"How dare you show up here." His voice was eerily quiet. "How dare you just spring this on us. She grieved for you, you asshole! Your whole family did! Were you even dead or was it all a trick?"

Jonathan bit his lip, suddenly looking very young and very tired. "I was dead. I went to Hell. I burned in the fires there." He looked Jace in the eye, eyes like green flames. "It was never a trick."

Clary threw her arms around Jonathan. His eyes went wide in surprise. To be honest, he looked more surprised at her hug than Jace's punch. Awkwardly, after a few moments of stillness, he patted her back.

"You can stop hugging me now," he said over her head. Clary mashed her face into his grey shirt and held on tighter. "Clary?" Jonathan gave Jace and Izzy a look that read, Help me. Jace smirked at the other boy. Have fun, he mouthed, turning to leave. Izzy patted Jonathan on the shoulder.

"It'll be over soon," she assured him. "Stay strong." Jonathan glared at her. She blew a kiss at him and sauntered off. As she left, she could just make out the murmur of voices in the hallway. That's good, she thought. The two of them needed to the time to figure things out. After all, their life was probably about to get a whole lot more interesting.

Especially once the Clave found out Jonathan was alive.

As Izzy re-entered the training room, she felt the first flicker of unease. Why had Jonathan, of all people, come back from the dead? Things like that didn't happen, at least not without a price. Something else was happening, something bigger than them all.

And she had a bad feeling Jonathan was only the beginning.