Age of Demons

Chapter 22 - Ashlyn

**A/N: Thank you for everyone who has stuck with this story so far! I love reading the comments—they always make my day!! This chapter is one of my faves. Ash and Jace don't get that much alone time in this hectic time of their lives, and this scene is kind of touching but also somber still as they reflect on what they've lost. Hope you enjoy it!**

Detroit Safe House

It was almost a full moon. It loomed above our heads, trapped in the dome of darkness covering the earth.

Jace's shoulder rubbed against mine, and I felt a thrill of energy zap through my body. It made me flush, and I was glad it was dark enough so he wouldn't see it.

Jace leaned back on his hands with his legs sprawled out in front of him. I held onto my knees, folded against my stomach. The slight breeze would have sent goose bumps along my skin, but the warmth of Jace's body next to mine kept the cold at bay.

"You surprise me, you know," Jace said, breaking the silence ever since we had made it onto the roof. Every building had some kind of access to the roof. It was the only place you could be outside and safe at the same time. And being that much closer to the moon made it magical too.

"How so?" A smile crept at the corner of my lips. Jace was a mystery himself. He was definitely the lone wolf type, used to doing things on his own and seeming to prefer it that way, but I could also sense a type of vulnerability about him too. I couldn't quite place what made me think that, though. Maybe because of his repressed memories, or the lost look that crossed his face when he talked about the past.

"I've already shown you the two sides of me, and yet you're okay that you're on this roof alone with me."

There it was, that vulnerability.

"You don't trust yourself?" We didn't look at each other. I kept my gaze on the moon, afraid that my thoughts would go blank if I looked at him.

"I'm just surprised that you trust me."

I didn't know what to say to that. So I didn't. Instead, I asked, "What's it like when the demon takes over?" I bit my lip immediately after. Nice job, Ash. Just push him further away from you.

Jace didn't answer for a couple beats. I dug my nails into my legs. This is why I didn't talk that often. I easily misjudged what I should and shouldn't say.

Jace's voice was silent, at first, when he replied, "It's like it won. Like it had finally taken over. I'm in its head. I see what it wants in that moment, I feel what it feels."

"What did you see?" I whispered.

But Jace used the same tactic I had used earlier. He changed subject. "Did you do this back at Deliverance too?"

At first, I was confused. Do what? Interrogate people? But then it dawned on me. The roof. I let out a breathy laugh. "Yeah. It was Leyla's thing actually. She started bringing me with her. I was the only other person she told." Then I said, a little quieter, "I hope she's going to be okay." Carter's death hurt me, too, and my chest ached painfully when I thought of him, but I knew it was so much worse for my friend.

"Didn't you say her family died from the demons too?"

I nodded. "They had survived at first, her father and sister. Her mother had died years before. It was after the first year living in Deliverance when they died. Adjusting to living with over a hundred people in one building and eating low-quality food, along with the mental load of our world changing, led to diseases and death. That's what she told me. Her father ended up... killing himself after her sister died from an illness from the food."

"So she's used to it."

"Like all of us," I whispered, not meaning to degrade what she had gone through but rather confirming the way of this world.

I felt Jace staring at me then, and I couldn't stop myself from tearing my eyes away from the moon and meeting his gaze.

I was almost surprised to see scarlet swimming in his irises under the moon's sparse glow. His expression was somber as he spoke, and I felt his words echo in my chest. "It's the age of the demons now. Where death rules."