By the Angel

Chapter 22

I'm still staring at the ceiling as I finish divulging every last detail of that night.
"It took me hours to crawl back to Simons and by then I had lost so much blood, I was basically dead. Luckily for me, Magnus and I  are the same blood type. "
More like siblings than ever before.
He had to donate so much he made himself sick in the process. I'm forever grateful to him for that along with so many things.

I sit up to look at Jace, he's been so silent, "this is what made him spare me, " I say running my finger along the base of my neck, "this star-shaped birthmark is the only reason he didn't finish the job."

I take a deep breath gathering what I'm about to say, "which means one of two things. Either he's afraid of Valentine and honestly had no idea I was his daughter or he was following his orders. I'm inclined to believe the latter."

I more than believe it, every bone in my body knows he was the mastermind.  He was the one behind my almost demise. There isn't a single person that wants me dead more than him or at all.

"What is it about this mark that made him freak out?" I ask almost to myself.

He leans down to kiss the star-shaped blemish. "I don't know, " he says "but if it saved your life it's my new favorite thing about you."

"Oh, you had a favorite thing about me?"

"I have several," he says smirking.

"So name a few, " I say grinning. I don't know how he does it, I just relived the worst night of my life and he makes me feel as if it never happened. I've been stuck in the past for so long but he makes the present worth staying in.

"Well, " I love the way you crinkle that adorable nose of yours, " he says flicking it gently. "I love how strong you are, when I first met you I could just sense it about you, you carry this badass aura around you."

"Well, as you now know, I haven't always been this way, I don't think you would have liked the weak girl I was before." 

He's already shaking his head as if I've just said the most ridiculous thing he's ever heard, " You've always been brave, I wouldn't call the girl who stood on top of the school cafeteria when she was nine to dump a cup of hot soup on her tormentor weak."

"How on earth did you find out?" Wait are you stalking me...again?" I ask laughing so loud I fear the entire house might hear my cackling. Maybe it's not in the best taste to be joking about a stalker when I literally have one but I don't care.

For me laughing helps and Jace Wayland can bring it out of me like no one else can.

"Well let's just say my loss in leather jackets are Magnus's gain. And not like you? Clary Fray, there isn't a single version of you I wouldn't like. "

And I can't imagine a version of him I wouldn't want to be with. "You know everyone is going to think we're moving too fast," I say a little worried about how serious this is getting. I'm afraid if we continue to move this fast one of us will get burned out by the other and it won't be me.

"Well, " he says in a husky voice, "I've never much cared what others thought, in fact only you."

I smile as I look into those liquid gold eyes, "I've never cared about anyone else's opinion either until this hot guy crashed into my life telling me what to to do." I say as I poke him in the chest, I try to ignore the hard muscle underneath my fingertips but it's not an easy feat.

"I'm sorry about that Clary, I must have seemed like a damn nut job, running down the damn aisle about to pummel Salvador, changing schools, asking you to drop the fight. You just make me crazy."

I rest my head on his chest, basking in the feeling of Jace. "I never thought you were crazy just... persistent and a part of me thought you just wanted to spy on the competition."

"Didn't even care about the fight, just you, " he says nuzzling my hair.

His words bring another smile to my face as I continue, "that day you followed me to my class and helped me through my... ordeal, changed everything for me. I realized you weren't just here to spy on me, you really cared. So I let myself feel everything I had been bottling up, trying to hide even from myself. So yeah I've always been crazy about you to Jace Wayland, I just wasn't as obvious about it."

I don't want him to feel like he was crazy or is because if he is then so am I. I might be regardless.

"Yeah, I'm definitely transparent when it comes to how I feel about you."

"I love that about you, Jace, I've never been good at that. At letting others in but you just make it so... impossible to ignore. You tore down all my defenses, the walls I had up surrounding my heart, everything."

He grins, " you think I was? Before you, no one thought I had feelings, I began to wonder myself and then this bombshell of fire walked into my life and it felt like a grenade went off inside my chest, my heart. From then on I never had to wonder because it was obvious. It's like I was experiencing every single emotion others go through in stages all at once."

"That's why we're perfect for each other Jace. We would suck with anyone else."

I can feel the muscles in his chest ripple as he starts laughing that musical laugh I've grown to love. "Well I know I would, there is not a single person out there for me more perfect than you, I knew it the second I saw you which is why I lost my mind. You're just... incredible Clary."

"I know I'm amazing but it's nice to hear someone else think so to for a change. Once your mind is conditioned a certain way all your life it's hard to change your perspective. You're pretty incredible yourself Jace."

"Clary, " Jace says quietly as he wraps his arms around me. "I want to kill your father, I've never wanted to harm someone more in fact."

"Well maybe we can take him out together," I say only half joking. I want to end his life just like he almost had done to me but he's not worth it. At least that's what I have to keep telling myself over and over.

His eyes take on a heated intensity, " I'm seriously considering it."

"No, Jace just no, trust me I want him dead but he isn't worth the prison sentence."

"If he ever lays a hand on you again, I'll end him, Clary, I don't care about the consequences."

"Well, I do, whos going to protect me out here if you get thrown in jail?"

His lips turn up then, " as if you even need protecting, I see what you did there Fray trying to pretend you need me so I won't go after your father, it's only working a little."

"I can take care of myself but it would break my heart if you weren't around to try and do it for me, I do need you, Jace, " the words sound as ridiculous out loud as they did in my head but it doesn't make the statement any less true.

He wraps his arms around me as I snuggle closer to his chest. "It's terrifying how much I need you Clary Fray, but it's a fear I can no longer live without."

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Published 3/10/19