Valentine's Arrow

31: Hanging by a Thread

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

REBECCA

It turned out that the fastest way to reach Sebastian was through the Accords Hall itself. Rebecca cast the Tracking rune on her wrist a dark look as they hurried through the Hall. They had debated for several minutes whether they should double back through the Accords Hall, or climb around it, and had finally agreed that going around would take too long - the ruins were spread out far too wide, and clambering over them would have taken them twice as long.

She almost didn't realize that they had already reached the heart of the Accords Hall. In their world, a large fountain in the shape of a mermaid stood in the center of the room. Here, there was a raised black marble structure, and on top of it, a statue of a man, holding aloft a thin, iron rod. Near the hilt, there was a large, embedded red stone, which seemed to glow of its own accord.

"This must be Jonathan Shadowhunter," Clary said wonderingly, gazing up at the face of the man, which towered six feet above her.

"Then that would be the skeptron," Jace said, pointing to the iron rod. He clattered forward, up the steps to the statue, and before anyone could cry out warning, he had grabbed the hilt.

There was a loud, grinding sound. Then absolute silence.

"What-" Rebecca started to say, and then stopped as she felt a cool tingling on her neck. A second later, what looked like giant flying grubs shot out of the doorway they had just come through, heading straight for them.

Though there were easily a dozen of them, they were still no match for Rebecca's ruthlessness, Jace's speed and Alec's aim. In a short time, they all stood, panting slightly, gazing at the lifeless bodies of giant grubs that littered the ground.

But Isabelle hadn't been as lucky as the others, who had escaped with nothing more than minor bruises. One of the demons had sunk its teeth into her leg, and blood had started to pour from it. Rebecca could immediately tell that the bite was poisonous. Alec had desperately tried to trace iraztes on her skin, but they had all faded away, leaving nothing but faint white traces. And her leg was steadily getting worse.

Rebecca had stood there, watching in sheer desperation, desperately trying to hold back tears. Alec was on his knees beside her, and Jace had turned to Clary, wide-eyed. He had begged her to do something, anything, and Clary had come through.

She had created a Portal and sent them back to the cave they had spent the night in. As they stepped through it, Rebecca had already begun to sense more demons on the way.

But Isabelle didn't get any better. Clary had tried iratze after iratze, but it didn't seem to work. The poison was too strong. The events of the past few minutes ran through Rebecca's mind as she stared at her dying sister, her clammy hand clasped tightly in Rebecca's own. Her eyes were fluttering, and she was taking great, rasping breaths. Rebecca knew it was only a matter of minutes.

She didn't think she could stand to lose someone else after Max. She had promised herself that she wouldn't let it happen, and here they were again. If she lost Izzy too... she didn't know what she would do.

"Something has to help!" Simon shouted suddenly, his voice echoing off the walls. "You're Shadowhunters; you fight demons all the time. You have to be able to do something-"

"And we die all the time!" Jace shouted back at him, and then suddenly crumpled over Isabelle's body, doubling up as if he'd been punched in the stomach. "Isabelle, God, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry-"

"Move," Simon demanded, and suddenly, he was on his knees next to Isabelle, pushing everyone else out of the way.

"What are you doing?" Rebecca's voice was a snarl, but she didn't care at that moment – Isabelle, her sister, was dying, and everything and everyone else could go to hell.