Valentine's Arrow

2: Poisonous Guilt

CHAPTER TWO

REBECCA

Rebecca sat against the headboard of the bed, running Sebastian's words over and over in her head. Did he plan to kill her? To turn her over to his side? To use her to get to her family?

She was shaken out of her reverie by Clary, who was sitting cross-legged on the bed in front of her. They were once again in the blue-walled bedroom. "Do you have any idea what Sebastian meant?" she said, as if continuing a conversation they had just been having. "When he talked about his plan?"

Rebecca shook her head. "None."

Silence settled on them for a few minutes. Clary absently picked at the threads in the bedsheet.

"By the Angel, what do we do?" Rebecca burst out suddenly. She sprang up from the bed and began pacing the room. "This is insane. Sebastian is a complete lunatic."

Clary bit her lip. "I have something that might help."

Rebecca stopped and stared. "What is it?"

Clary simply wiggled her fingers at Rebecca in response. Rebecca didn't know what she was supposed to be looking at until she spotted a golden ring on Clary's finger - one that definitely hadn't been there before. "Is that the..."

"Faerie ring, yes," Clary confirmed.

"What about the other one? Weren't there two of them?"

"I left it with Simon."

"So he knows you're here?"

"Yep."

"Does it work?"

"Yep."

Rebecca raised her eyebrows. "I bet the Seelie Queen is going to be all sorts of pissed."

"To Hell with the Seelie Queen," Clary replied, and they immediately burst out laughing.

A knock sounded on the door and the laughter died immediately. Clary let her hand drop and shot Rebecca a tense look. It dawned on Rebecca that they couldn't let Jace find out about the faerie ring either; now that he was completely under Sebastian's control, they couldn't trust him anymore.

The door swung slowly open, and Jace looked in at them from the doorway. "I hate to interrupt your repartee, ladies," he said graciously. "Could I borrow Clary for a minute?"

"Sure." Rebecca got up to leave, and as she passed Jace in the doorway, he gave her a brilliant smile, as if nothing was wrong, as if all was right with the world. She tried to return it, and failed.

The living room was empty. Rebecca sank into the sofa in front of the coffee table, examining the various video games scattered around. She supposed that all she could do right now was play nice - especially since Jace and Sebastian were now bound by mind and blood. Cut one and the other bleeds.

"See anything you like?"

The voice almost made Rebecca jump out of her skin. She turned around to see Sebastian looking down at her with his usual charming smile.

"Looks like the two lovebirds are holed up in your room," he continued, sitting down beside her. He lazily put his legs up on the coffee table, scattering games and controllers.

"It's not my room," Rebecca muttered irritably.

Sebastian simply chuckled at her reply, resting an arm on the sofa behind her. She shifted forward slightly, feeling anxiety curling in the pit of her stomach.

Then he suddenly sat up. "Seeing as we have only each other for company..." He turned to look at her, mischief clearly written on his face – it looked so familiar that Rebecca's breath hitched in her throat. He looked so much like...

She forced herself back to the present. "...would you like to see the weapons room?" Sebastian was saying.

If it means I can kill you, yes, she thought. But even as the thought crossed her mind, she knew it wasn't possible; fantasizing about it was the only form of catharsis she could safely partake in. Out loud, she said, "Sure." Her voice was strangely hoarse.

She was pretty sure Sebastian had said they were going to the weapons room, so when he led her to the master bedroom instead, she was confused.

"Nice," she said sarcastically. But it wasn't far from the truth. The master bedroom was nice, with a huge rosewood bed occupying most of the space. The windows were artfully tinted a dark blue, overlooking a canal. Her heart gave a momentary squeeze - it reminded her of Alicante.

"Not so fast, darling." He tapped the side of the wardrobe. It slid away, revealing a set of stairs behind it. Sebastian cast a smirk over his shoulder at Rebecca as she came up behind him.

"You're kidding. Secret stairs?"

"Well, not so secret anymore."

She shook her head in amazement. "Why are you showing me this? I could just grab a knife and kill you."

"You could," Sebastian said. "But you won't."

And he was right. Rebecca wouldn't do anything that would put Jace's life in jeopardy, and he knew it. And he was also enjoying the turmoil that was going on inside of her - her love for her brother warring with her hatred for him.

She followed Sebastian as he took the stairs two at a time, emerging into a wide room with a polished wooden floor and high walls. All manner of weapons hung from the walls, just as they did in the training room in the Institute - kindjals and chakhrams, maces and swords and daggers, crossbows and brass knuckles, throwing stars and axes and samurai swords. Training circles were neatly painted on the floor.

"Pretty impressive," Rebecca admitted. "Where did you get all of this stuff?"

Sebastian appeared not to hear her question as he crossed over to the far wall, where a single, large sword hung. It was sleek and shiny, and looked very much like a regular sword, except that the blade was made of what looked like black metal. It was intricately carved with runes of speed, strength and accuracy. Sebastian lifted it from its hook and ran a finger along the blade edge. "This is a special blade I had made," he said. "Blessed iron, fortified with runes." He held it out to her. "Try it."

Warily, Rebecca took the sword. It was surprisingly light, and the grip was expertly fitted. For some reason, she was reminded of the night demons had attacked Alicante. She felt a bitter, metallic taste in her mouth - the taste of blood.

She closed her eyes.

Screams and shouts of terror. The roars and grunts of countless demons. The smell of smoke as Alicante burned. The rotting smell of demons in the air. And - worst of all - the darkness that had blinded her as she had entered the kitchen in the Penhallows' house, looking for Max, only to be greeted by Sebastian.

She barely noticed that she had been gripping the blade with her other hand, her palm pressed against the edge. Feeling a sharp sting on her hand, she opened her eyes and looked down to see that blood was seeping from a huge cut in her palm, spattering to the floor in fat red drops.

Sebastian was looking at her with slightly narrowed eyes. Seeing him standing there, she was suddenly filled with a white-hot rage so intense she could feel her eyes burning. She wanted to hurl the blade right into his chest and watch as the life left his demon-black eyes. She wanted him to hurt as badly as she did every day, with guilt crawling through her veins like poison.

But she did none of those things. Instead, she said, "I'm going to get an iratze," and left the room as fast as she could without actually running.