"Luke, I've been through all the Institute archives, and there's no record of a greater demon that matches this one." I set down the sketch I had drawn of the demon I saw, "I don't know what else to do."

"Ithuriel said the Owl has a master." I continued, sitting down on my bed, "This has to be who it is-and, if it's powerful enough to kill an angel- who knows what else they're capable of?"

"I have to let everyone know-" I began to say.

"You do that, and it unravels everything about Raziel and the wish." Luke cut me off, "That's a one way ticket to the Gard-"

"That doesn't matter." I snap back at him, "I don't care if the Clave locks me up, Luke."

"Well, I do-" Luke shot back, "And what about Jace?"

I huff, "What about him?"

"He carried that same lie." Luke reminded me, making me sigh, lHe'll be in trouble just like you-"

I groan just lightly, "And the last thing he needs is for his treatment to be interrupted-"

-

"I'm finally back to myself." Jace's voice made me stop in my tracks, my head snapping towards the sound, seeing him stood in the Ops Center with Alec, Isabelle and Clary, "Whatever the Silent Brothers did, it was a success."

Clary asks, "So- you're finally cleared for duty?"

"Yes, I am." Jace nodded toward her.

"Jace!" I rushed over to my boyfriend and threw my arms around him, "Hi- you're okay-"

Jace barely hugged me back, letting go of me within seconds, making slight hurt to rope into my expression, "I'm fine-"

"I'm- glad you're alright." I tried to shake it off, swallowing hard as I noticed he and I had been left alone, as our friends had stepped to the side, "I've been worried about you-"

"That's nice of you- but, I'm doing fine now-" Jace shortly said to me, his expression giving me a weird vibe.

I grabbed his hand slowly and pulled him into the hall with me so I could tell him about what happened with Ithuriel, "Uhm- I need to talk to you-"

"Me first-" Jace cut me off, pointing at me, "I don't think we should see each other anymore."

"I-" His words made me have to do a double take to hear him correctly, "What?"

"I've been doing a lot of thinking, and- I really don't see why I liked you in the first place." His words were like knives to my heart, "I'm bored-"

"Bored?" I stammer, "You're- bored?"

"You kept me entertained for as long as you could, and you know what- I give you props for that." Jace put a hand on my shoulder, "But, I think we're better off friends."

"Jace- what?" I couldn't help the tears burning in my eyes, "You were the one chasing after me-"

"And that's what made you so interesting- because of the whole hard to get game you played- but, now? I don't find much interest in you." Jace gave me a flat smile, "Sorry-"

I stared at him, a tear falling from my eye, as he walked away from me without another word.

What the hell just happened?

Alec noticed me crying, walking toward me, "Hey- are you alright? What happened?"

"Jace, he just-" I pointed, but then shook my head, walking away from Alec, trying to hold back more tears from falling.

-

"It all happened so fast." I told Magnus as I had given him my sketch to see if he could give some insight, "That's the best I came up with-"

"I've seen a lot of demons in my day, but- never this." Magnus admits, staring at the drawing.

"The last thing I remember, it touched its claw to my chest." I told him, "I still don't know why it didn't kill me."

"Powerful demons often leave an imprint, traces of their unique energy." Magnus sets down the drawing, "If I can tap into the spot where it made contact with you, perhaps we can get a better sense of what we're dealing with."

I nodded, watching as he used his magic to do exactly that, only to pull his hand away, red magic sparking at his finger tips, "Magnus? What is it?"

"This energy signature, it's- the same as the one that corrupted the ley lines." Magnus looks at me, "It seems that we're chasing the same demon."

"Okay." I blankly say, "What do we do?"

Magnus grabs the drawing and folds it, using his magic to write something on it, before sending it flying, making me look at him, "What are you doing?-"

"I'm sending a message to an old contact." Magnus explains, "He has access to information far beyond my resources- hopefully, he's willing to help us identify the beast."

"Oh." I pause, "Okay."

"Biscuit?" Magnus notices my tone, eyeing me, "Is everything okay? Did something happen?"

I looked up at him, then sighed through my nose, "Jace, uhm- dumped me."

"What?" Magnus blinks, "I'm so sorry-"

"No, it's not even that-" I sigh again, pinching the bridge of my nose, "It's the way he went about it- I mean, he was so careless with it- he basically told me I was merely just entertainment to him- I mean, I looked him in the eye and he stared at me like I was just a stranger."

"That doesn't sound like Jace-" Magnus trails off, but gets cut off when the message comes back, "Oh, we're in luck. Brother Zachariah says he's willing to meet- tonight."

-

I looked around after waiting a few moments at the meeting spot, "So- where is your friend?"

"He should be here." Magnus says, before his eyes landed on me, "Biscuit- I'm sorry about Jace."

"It's okay." I lightly shook my head, crossing my arms, "I'll get over it. I just- didn't think he'd do that."

Magnus then goes quiet, my head snapping towards him, "Oh my God- I'm so sorry."

Magnus looks at me, "What?-"

"I'm so sorry, I've been so focused on my own problems- I didn't even consider you." I sighed lightly, "Are you okay? I can tell something's going on-"

I knew something was going on.

Because Alec had told me about their fight.

"Alec and I had a fight." Magnus opened up and looked down, "A bad one- we both said some things we didn't actually mean."

"I'm sorry." I put a hand on his arm, "But- you're Alec and Magnus- there's nothing you two can't work out- you'll come back from this."

Magnus gave me a small smile, "I hope that's true."

"Magnus Bane-" A voice caught our attention, a man suddenly stood a few feet away from us, "It has been too long."

"Indeed, it has- I'm sorry to call on you like this." Magnus agreed and apologized, then introduced him to me, "Zee, this is Brother Zachariah."

"Cool-" I nodded slow, "I've heard that name before-"

"I know I appear unlike the others, but- that is a tale for another day." He noticed my expression, then handed Magnus a book and a scroll, "These texts contain information on long forgotten demon forms, they may hold a clue to your creature's identity."

His mouth hadn't moved at all as he spoke, freaking me out slightly, "You understand, if the Brotherhood discovers I helped you with this-"

"No one will know you were here today." Magnus swears to him, "Thank you for your assistance."

Brother Zachariah nodded, "Any friend of Will Herondale is a friend of mine."

"Herondale?" I suddenly repeated.

Magnus adds in so I wasn't confused, "We both were close with Jace's ancestor."

"Brother Zachariah, I know I shouldn't ask this, but- did you help with Jace's treatment?" I hesitantly questioned, "He's been acting differently since he got back."

"We received his treatment request." He replied, nodding once, "I would have been happy to oversee it."

"What? Would have been?" I repeated his words, "What do you mean- would have been?"

His words made my heart stop entirely, "Jace Herondale never came to the Silent City."

-

"If he wasn't in the City of Bones, then where the hell was he?" I thought out loud when Magnus and I portalled outside the Hunters Moon, "He lied about the City of Bones- about his treatment- everything-"

Magnus assures me, "I'm sure there's an explanation, maybe even a good one."

"Magnus, I'm his best friend- dating or not, we're supposed to be in this together- no matter what-" I ran my hands through my hair, "Something's not right with him- I can feel it-"

"Wait." Magnus began to think, "You said Jace was acting cold towards you earlier? Detached? As if he didn't have any feelings for you anymore?"

"Well, I don't know, Magnus, he dumped me." I cross my arms, "So, yeah, I'd think so."

"Around the time that Jace was preparing to go to the Silent City, a woman came to see me." Magnus explains, "She requested an elixir that would make a person fall out of love-"

I stare, "Out of love?-"

"There was something off about her." Magnus thought out loud, "I couldn't put my finger on it right away, but what if she was simply masking her power? What if she was the demon that attacked you, disguised in human form?"

I inhale, "You really think that's possible?"

"To complete the potion, a sliver of soul was required from the object of affection." Magnus mentioned, "And you wondered why that demon only touched you, instead of just- killing you."

"This doesn't make any sense-" I covered my face for a moment, "Why would this woman give this elixir to Jace?-"

Magnus exhales, "We need to find him-"

I pulled out my phone, dialing Luke's number, where he answered within seconds, "Hey, kiddo."

I cut to the chase, "Luke, are you at Hunter's Moon?"

"Yeah." Luke replies.

I question, "Is Jace there?"

"He just left a couple of minutes ago." Luke told me, "Why? What's wrong?"

-

"Stop!" I shouted when I skid to a stop around the corner, catching the Owl over Ollie, possessing her.

I threw my kindjals at him the moment he looked up, Ollie starting to seize on the ground as he dodged one kindjal, then sent the other one flying towards me.

Magnus uses his magic to knock it to the side, covering me as he began to try and use his magic against him, only to be flung back by the magic that came from the Owl.

Luke shows up, shooting the Owl three times before he could make a move on me, as he grunted.

He snarls, his glamour slowly fading away, my heart aching in pain at the sight of Jace, revealing himself as the Owl, "Oh no-"

authors note:

kinda a shitty chapter, but hey skskskf whatevs

technically- they broke up. but, technically- they aren't broken up ? who knows where they stand now

but, vote and comment loadsss