The mortal instrument : Jace§Clary (Romeo~Juliet)

Aftermath

Chapter 19

It had been nearly three months and summer was fast approaching and there still wasn't any word of Jace. Alec Lightwood had ridden out to the Morgenstern's estate after Jace as soon as the battle was over and had found Sebastian unconscious, bleeding, and tied up, but no sign of Jace. Sebastian's wounds were taken care of and he was now securely imprisoned in the Silent City in a very secluded area that very few people knew the location of. Clary had visited him once, while he was still unconscious and hadn't seen him since. See didn't want to. All Clary wanted was to forget the several months and everything that he had tainted.

Clary was sitting in the garden with an open book sitting at her side. Her right hand was wrapped firmly around the ring that was usually nestled against her neck right above her collarbones. She heard a shuffling of feet and turned her head to the left.

"I thought I would find you here." Luke smiled down at her and he joined her on the newly green grass.

"Luke." Clary smiled a little and hugged the man that was like a second father to her. "I thought you weren't coming for another couple of weeks."

"Yes, well, I wrapped things on my end sooner than I thought and decided it wouldn't hurt to come out here early." Luke replied. Clary hadn't seen him since they had imprisoned Sebastian. After the war, many of the higher ups had had to go to Alicante and take care of business, which is where Luke had been for the past three months. Clary's father had been coming and going, but Luke had not had the luxury of coming for a visit until his work was done.

"It's good to see you." Clary's smile was forced this time as she thought back to how Luke had said he would help try to find Jace when Clary's father hadn't deemed it of the top priority. She turned her attention back up to the sky, where she had been staring only moments ago before Luke had interrupted her thoughts.

"He's fine you know," Luke said softly and Clary turned her head back to him. "Jace is fine, we would know if he wasn't."

Luke was referring to Jace's parabatai bond with Alec and how, while Alec couldn't fine him, knew that Jace was alive and well. The rune was still black and the bond was still intact. But that knowledge didn't seem to help calm Clary, some days it almost made it worse.

"I know, but it doesn't help." Clary answered. "I just, I wish I knew where he was. Why he hasn't come back."

Luke put an arm around Clary and pulled her into his side. Clary immediately through her arms around him and dug her head into his chest. She didn't cry because she had no more tears to cry, but she did breath in the sent that was Luke and found comfort in it.

"I don't know what the boy is thinking, but I'm sure he has a reason for staying away for as long as he has."

"Or he's changed his mind."

"I may not know the boy well, Clary, but I did have the chance to talk to him a few times in camp. The most important thing to him in this world is you and he would never let you go." Luke said kindly, talking into her hair.

"Do you like him?" Clary asked suddenly, abruptly realizing that it meant a lot to her of what Luke's opinion was of him.

"Yes, I like him. That doesn't mean that I wouldn't hurt him if he hurt you, but he is a good young man and I think he will one day be a very good leader."

Clary was relieved. It was one thing that Valentine didn't like Jace, but it was a completely different thing if Luke didn't like him as well. She could manage one father figure disliking the man she loved, but not both of them.

"I'm glad." Clary looked up at him.

"Now," Luke said, pulling away a little, "how about we go for a ride?"