"Hey, Jace." Underhill's addressing caught my attention almost immediately when I was walking through the hall, "Alec promoted me to Head of Security-"

"And if you have a minute, I'd love to pick your brain-" I walked toward him to see Jace with his back to him, waiting for the elevator, "I guess that's a no-"

"Jace!" I rushed over to him, except he didn't turn at the sound of my voice, "Why haven't you been answering any of my texts? I've been so worried-"

"Jace?" I touched his shoulder to get his attention, as his head snaps toward me, his eyes wide, "Are you okay? Where have you been?"

Jace's words caught me off guard, "I have no idea."

-

"The last thing I remember, I was- I was fighting Jonathan in the club, but-" Jace said to me, as we sat in his room, as he stammered to try and remember, "But, then he must've knocked me out, but it was-"

"Jace," I stop him, "Jonathan isn't the Owl."

Jace looks at me, "What?"

"Izzy got him with her whip when we were in combat-" I told him, "The electrum- he didn't burn."

Jace trails off slowly, "But- then, the nightmares I've been having,"

"They're not signs." I ran a hand through his hair to fix it, "Jonathan is dead."

"Then that's good." Jace slowly got up, sighing, "Yeah, that's good-"

"Jace, what is going on with you?" I looked up at him, "Is it bringing you back from the dead? Using the wish-"

"No." Jace shook his head, "I'm- I'm fine."

"I can feel that there's something wrong." I got up, looking at him, "Jace, I'm so close to marching into Alec's office and telling him everything-"

"No!" Jace grabbed my arms, "Zee, listen, you need to swear to me that you haven't told anyone else about this-"

I began, "Not yet, but-"

"Zee, we've been through this." Jace cut me off, "You compelled the one wish from Raziel, to the Clave, that's the worst offense possible-"

"I know." I cut him off, raising my voice lightly at him, "I don't care-"

"Well I do!" Jace raises his voice back at me, his eyes locked in mine, "I am not going to lose you. I won't."

I stare at him, my voice lowering, "We need to get you some help- what if it's something serious?"

Jace swallows, "I promise you, I'm fine-"

"Then why don't you remember where you've been all night?" I crossed my arms, "Go on, Jace- what's your alibi?"

"I'm just tired." Jace's words made me huff, "I haven't slept in days-"

I stare, "Do you honestly believe that's all this is?"

"I just need to get some rest." Jace assures me, "And now that I know Jonathan is dead- I finally can."

-

"Hey, I got your alert." I walked into Alec's office, "Another Owl attack?"

"No- blood unit hit downtown." Alec doesn't look up, "Most likely a rogue vampire- I want you on this with Jace."

"How about Izzy?" I clear my throat, "Clary?"

Alec looks at me, "Well, why not Jace?"

"I don't think he should-" I slowly walked over to his desk, "He's exhausted- he's been overworking himself hunting the Owl, he hasn't slept at all."

"Are you sure this is about sleep?" Alec asks.

"Yeah?" I trail off, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"When you and Jace were at Lake Lyn, my parabatai rune disappeared." Alec folds his hands together, "There's a reason for that- what was it?"

"Alec-" I sigh, "I already told you- I don't know."

"Look- I know how much you care about Jace, how much you would do to protect him." Alec stood up, "But- if there is something wrong with Jace, something serious, you'd tell me about it, right?"

I cut the conversation short, swallowing hard, quickly leaving the room, "Izzy and I can handle a rogue vamp."

-

"That vampire left behind a lot of blood, but- not many clues." I sigh deeply when Isabelle and I searched the van when we were on mission.

"Maybe we'll find something out here-" Isabelle suggests when we step out, "Hey, are you sure Jace is okay?"

"He's just tired." My heart beat started to race in nervousness, "Why?"

"I've seen Jace tired before." Isabelle looks at me, "He's never missed a mission."

"I think- with everything that's happened recently is just catching up to him." I rub the back of my neck, "And with the sleepless nights- he hasn't gotten any better. He just needs some rest-"

I changed the subject quickly before we could go deeper into discussion, "So- who keeps calling you?"

"Someone who can't take a hint." Isabelle declines another call, putting her phone in her back pocket.

"A mundane?" I asked, "You're into a mundane?"

Isabelle explains lightly, "I gave him my number to get him off my back."

"Interesting." I trail off, "You wouldn't have given him your number in the first place if you weren't at least a little interested."

"Shadowhunters don't date mundanes." Isabelle said to me, before leading me to a clue, "So much for thinking our vampire only came here for blood bags."

"Is that part of his lab jacket?" I asked when she picked up the bloody piece of cloth, "If a vampire drained a mundane, you'd think we'd find a body."

"No tracking signal." Isabelle sighs deeply when she tried to track, "Body or not, our mundane must be dead."

-

"No point tracking." Isabelle said to me when she noticed me try to track the mundane again, "Our mundane's dead."

"I thought I'd give it another try." I lightly shrugged, looking at her, "Are you sure you're okay being in this neighborhood full of vampires?"

"I can handle it." Isabelle assures me, "Yin-Fen dealers know the dirt- if we play our cards right, we might be able to get a lead on this delinquent blood sucker."

"Well, we've got some time to kill." I brought up, "The mundane you're avoiding, is it because you're still hung up on Raphael?"

Isabelle sighs, "Let's just drop it-"

"You do remember who you're talking to?" I remind her, "Come on, Iz."

Isabelle gave in, "All the guys I've been with- sex was always a big part of it. With Raphael- it was about everything but that- I mean, he made me feel like I wanted so much more."

"So- why end it?" I asked before thinking, "Never mind- stupid question."

"We thought we couldn't be together without being tempted by our old habits." Isabelle answered anyways, "But, Raphael and I, there's something about us that just- fits."

"Izzy, your instincts are always spot on." I looked at her, "If you and Raphael fit- then you fit. But, just be careful with it-"

My voice faded slowly when I felt the tracking start to work, making Isabelle ask, "What's wrong?"

"I just got a tracking hit on our missing mundane." I said to her, "He's not dead-"

"Not yet-" Isabelle said, before I started running in the direction the tracking lead me, her right by me.

-

[ jace's pov ]

"You were supposed to take care of the girl." A woman's voice came from behind me as I stood alone at the Waterfront, "Why isn't it done?"

"Sorry, what girl?-" I turned to face a woman I had never seen in my life, "Who are you?-"

She stares at me, before raising her hand, saying one word, and one word only, "Sleep."

My head dropped low, my eyes closing for a moment, before I opened them and looked back up at her.

"I told you to take care of the mundane captured by the Shadowhunters." She said to me, "What broke you free of my order?"

"Zee." My voice was low and raspy, "You may be strong, but- my love for her is stronger."

"So, she's the reason that I can only control you when you sleep." She took a few steps toward me, "I knew Zee was dear to you, why do you think I've been torturing you with dreams of you and Jonathan killing her?"

"But- clearly I underestimated the power of your love." She began, "Where is she?"

I reply, "On assignment."

"Good." She nodded slowly, looking away, "Your love for me will be stronger."

"Complete your mission." She ordered, her expression tense, "I'll take care of Zee."

-

[ zee's pov ]

"Tracking signal's on fire." Isabelle addresses when her and I headed down the stairs, getting closer to the mundane, "The mundane must be close."

"That might not be a good thing." I pulled out my kindjals, as her and I headed to the lower floor, armed and ready for anything, looking around.

"Looking for something?" The mundane we had been looking for revealed himself from behind a shelf, snarling at us, showing us that he had been turned.

"We don't intend on bothering you long, we know you're thirsty and don't plan on becoming your lunch-" I tighten the grip of my kindjals, "Who turned you?"

Isabelle asks, "Where's the vampire who killed you?"

"Just take us to your sire." I said after her.

"Not a chance-" He growled at us, before throwing himself at the both of us, as I quickly dodged, Isabelle getting him with her whip, the whip wrapping around his neck.

I took this to my advantage and stabbed both kindjals into him, as he completely faded between the both of us, as I nodded once at Isabelle, who smirks, "Nicely done."

"Thanks-" I began, but shut up the moment I heard a pained, echoing scream, "What was that?"

"Upstairs!" Isabelle shouts when we heard it again, the both of us running up to the roof, trying to open the door but it was locked, her eyes widening, "It's Raphael-"

The both of us kicked the door in, running out onto the roof to see Raphael chained on the ground, being exposed to straight sunlight as the sun rose, his screams loud and bloodcurdling.

"Raphael!" Isabelle ran to him as we quickly freed him of his restraints, "Get him out of the sun!"

"What happened?-" I asked Raphael after we pulled him into the shade, his breathing heavy and tears down his face.

"I tried to get a lead on the vampire- I tried to take her down on my own." He was out of breath, "But, she got the upper hand-"

I questioned, "Who is she?-"

Raphael exhales slow, "I don't know."

-

"What's happening?" I asked Alec and Magnus when I caught them in the hall, after the Institute's system had gone down, sending us all frantic, "What's going on?-"

"We are not sure." Magnus admitted to me when we came to a stop, Underhill and Lindsay coming towards us.

Alec questioned, "How long has the system been down?-"

"Less than two minutes." Underhill replied.

Lindsay adds in, "Hopefully it was just a glitch."

Alec and I exchanged glances, thinking the same thing before Magnus and I chased after Alec's long strides, the three of us going down to the sub cells to check on Morgan.

Alec swung open her cell door when she laid there limp, crouching by her, "No-"

"What's going on?-" I asked Magnus when Morgan suddenly jolted up while he was using his magic to examine her, "Is she okay?-"

Magnus stares at her, "She's free of all demonic possession-"

"Where am I?" Morgan was out of breath.

"Hey, you're okay." Alec comforts her, "You're okay-"

-

"Jace?" I walked into his bedroom after the briefing, shutting the door behind me, "Hey, you missed the alert-"

"I was worried that-" My words faded when my eyes landed on my boyfriend, who sat on his bed, tears down his face, his hair a mess, gripping onto his necklace.

"Jace-" I walked over to his bed immediately and sat in front of him, grabbing his hands, "Honey, what's going on? What happened?-"

More tears fell from his eyes, as I squeezed his hands, "Come on, talk to me-"

"I was walking back from- from the Jade Wolf, and-" Jace's voice was heavy from crying, sniffling lightly, "I don't know how I got here, Zee."

I stared at him, my heart dropping, "Jace-"

"Zee, I think I'm-" Jace's words made my heart shatter into a million pieces, "I think I'm losing my mind."

Without another word, I pulled him into my chest, holding him tight, letting him cry in my embrace, doing the best I could to try and comfort him.

I couldn't bear losing him, so I brought him back to life.

Turns out I was going to lose him either way.

authors note:

the ending of this chapter kinda broke my heart, like it's just so sad sksksksk

but, zee and jace sksksks I feel like their connection is deep in this chapter cause they're trying so hard to keep a hold of each other, but obvi lilith isn't letting that happen ahahahkdndmg

but, thank you for 29k !!

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