Stronger Than Heaven

Chapter 7

"Jace, what is this?" Alec hissed. "What is going on?"

"Jace? Who is this man?" asked Clary, a tinge of nervousness in her voice.

Jace swallowed. "This is Alec... he's-he's my parabatai."

"Your what?"

"My brother, Clary," said Jace. His face had turned pale and instantly, Clary knew this couldn't be a good thing. "Alec, how did you find me?"

Alec's face was a mixture of emotions. He was staring at Clary like he'd just seen a ghost and then back to Jace with such fury that his breath started to quicken. The rune on Clary's wrist caught his eye and instinctively, he grabbed her arm.

"How did you-"

Clary jerked her arm back. "Don't touch me-"

"Alec," Jace interjected, holding a hand up. "Careful. She doesn't remember who you are."

"Clearly, she remembers you and she's somehow a Shadowhunter again?" Alec interrogated, his frown and confusion deepening. "And you didn't bother telling me about this? Like you can hide it and all will be well? Jace..."

There was a pause as Jace racked his brain. All he came up with was a feeble, "I don't know."

Alec raised a finger at the both of them. "Listen. I'm going to ignore this whole situation right now because we need you Jace. The attack on the LA Institute has gotten worse and they're under siege. I have been trying to contact you but you're obviously busy so I had to track you down."

Jace's demeanor changed and he was suddenly alert. He grabbed Clary's hand as they moved away from the crowd and out of earshot of anyone. "How bad is it?" he asked quietly

"We need to get there right now. Magnus is waiting for us at the bottom of the hill with a portal," said Alec. He glanced at Clary - still with the same disbelieving expression mixed with anger. "Clary, you're going to have to stay here."

Clary nodded, speechless and unsure of what was going on.

"Jace, we gotta move-"

Suddenly, a loud screeching noise pierced through the air and a gust of strong wind nearly had Clary flying backwards. Something was coming at them - something large with spindly tentacles protruding from its body. With it were several smaller versions of the creature following close behind as it skittered towards them, leaving behind a trail of black ichor.

Gasping, Clary jumped back and looked around at the crowd in a panic. To her surprise, everyone was completely calm and going on like nothing was happening. Right - the glamour, she thought to herself.

"Shit," Jace muttered under his breath, taking his stele out and activating his glamour rune. He threw the stele to Clary who, to her surprise, caught it with ease that she'd never known before. She instinctively knew what to do and glided the heavy metal across her new glamour rune on her shoulder.

"Clary, run to Magnus! He can protect you!" Alec shouted above the screeching as he and Jace went into fight mode.

Clary, confused as to who he was talking about, blindly ran down the hill, looking around frantically for ... who? A Shadowhunter? A mundane? "Magnus!" she called out, her eyes searching the crowd for someone, anyone who could see her while glamoured.

A man in dark slacks and an emerald green blazer turned, his eyebrows furrowed. He had dark spiky hair, painted nails, eyeliner, and rings of all kinds on his slender fingers. And she thought Krystal was eclectic.

"Magnus!" she called out again, running towards him.

"Biscuit?" he said, his confused expression turning into one of shock.

Behind her, Jace and Alec were running down the hill as the smaller creatures chased after them. Jace jumped in the air, gracefully suspended as if he were flying and sliced through one creature with his sword. He landed on his two feet silently and continued running towards Clary and Magnus. Alec had a bow and arrow which he had aimed behind his shoulder, easily killing several creatures before they reached him. The two of them moved with so much fluidity - like two warriors in their millionth fight together.

"Magnus, open the portal!" Alec yelled out. "We don't have time!"

Magnus nodded and glanced at Jace before motioning to Clary. "I'll explain after!" Jace replied. "Kinda a long story, but right now we need to get to the LA Institute."

Magnus snapped his fingers and waved a hand in front of him. Clary gasped as the air seemed to split in two and a large dark purple void opened up right in front of her.

"Jace, hurry!" Alec called out. "Magnus, take care of these stupid buggers," he said, motioning to the few remaining creatures that were coming at them.

Jace paused at the portal, the look on his face unreadable as he turned to Magnus. "Please. Take care of her."

Magnus nodded. "You know I will," he replied softly, no questions asked.

Before either Alec or Jace could step into the portal, one of the small creatures dove for Clary. Instinctively, Clary screamed and jumped back - right into the portal.

"Clary!" Jace called out, his eyes widening and reaching for.

"Jace!" she screamed, her arms reaching for him. Their fingers grazed slightly while Magnus tried desperately to close the portal, but it was too late.

She was gone.