"Three second head start and you didn't try to run?" Jace said the moment he came out the portal, "I'm disappointed."

"What's the point?" I look at him, huffing lightly, "You're just gonna catch me again anyway, right?-"

Jace smirks, then pushes me forward, "Let's go."

I stopped, facing him, "Did you hurt my friends?-"

"Did you hurt them?" I asked again when he doesn't answer me, "Answer me!"

Jace stares, "I don't take orders from you."

"But- you do from Lilith?" I scoff at him.

Jace's words made me roll my eyes almost instantly, "She is my Queen."

"Bold thing saying that to your ex girlfriend." I stumbled when he pushed me forward to keep walking, "We can run all you want- it won't be long before the guards from the Clave get to us."

Jace held onto my arm, "That's why I activated your Anti-Tracking rune-"

"Let me talk to him." I stopped again, looking at him, "Please."

"Give him back to me- just for a minute." I was weak for just a moment, "I can't lose him again-"

"There is no version of this where your Jace wakes up and comes home." Jace leaned close to my face, his eyes locked with mine, "You belong to Lilith now."

-

"Come on." Jace pushes me for what felt like the hundredth time, "It's not much farther now."

"You keep saying that-" I greeted my teeth, shoving him back for once, only for him to push me onto the ground, next to a shattered beer bottle and a ton of cardboard boxes.

Good thing he did so.

I secretly grabbed a shard of glass when he stopped, "Get up."

"Give me a minute." I breathed heavily, squeezing the shard in my hand, "I haven't stopped moving since Valentine's interrogation-"

"Well, you're gonna need your stamina-" Jace pulled me onto my feet, activating my stamina rune for me, a rush filling my body, my eyes slightly wide, before he pulled me along, "Let's go."

-

"The prodigal sister has arrived-" A woman said to me, one that I could connect to as Lilith, "The family resemblance is striking."

I scoff lightly when Jace finally let go of me, my eyes falling onto her, "To tell the truth, I just don't see it."

Lilith presses her palms together, "You're a sassy one, aren't you?"

"Sorry for the delay, my Queen." Jace held out the rib in both of his hands, "Valentine's rib."

"All that matters is we have everything necessary to begin." Lilith slowly took it from him, placing it on the glass of the sarcophagus, as the rib slowly melted into it, my eyes taking glance of the body inside it.

Jonathan.

"My Owl is going to need his energy." Lilith slowly turns, before heading over to Jace and smashing her lips into his right in front of me, my heart shattering at the sight, but, my expression remaining hard.

"Thank you, my Queen-" Jace exhaled slow when they pulled away, looking towards me, noticing the expression on my face, "Is that- jealousy?"

My jaw clenched, glaring at him, as Lilith waves her hand, "Leave."

"Anger isn't a good look on you." Lilith looked at me when Jace walks away, "Neither are those clothes-"

"Get her cleaned up and into a change of clothes for her brother's rebirth- perhaps something blue." Lilith tells one of her minions, "That's what your kind wears when the lost return, isn't it?"

-

"So, tell me-" I began when they brought me back to the main room of the apartment, "Raising Jonathan from the dead- is he really worth all the murder?"

"The things we do for our children." Lilith began, handing her cup of tea off, "Besides, the mundanes killed by my disciples will do far more for this world in death than they'd ever do in life."

"And yet you need me alive- so, how does that work, exactly?" I place my hands on my sides, "I mean, you can't really just borrow my heart."

"Oh, I'm afraid that's exactly what it's like." Lilith looks at me, "But- the heart isn't what you think."

"Jonathan needs to share your life force in order to breathe again, so- I might hold him once more." Lilith tells me, "Losing Jonathan- hearing him call for me with his final breath was the single most painful moment of my very long life."

I stare, "You say that like you care for him."

"Why wouldn't I?" Lilith tilts her head.

I scoff lightly, "Demons aren't capable of love."

"A failing of frail human imagination." Lilith took a step towards me, "Demons live, we die, we feed, we lay- why wouldn't we love like you?"

She continued, "I need to care for Jonathan like you and your father never would."

I glare at her, "If there's one thing that Valentine and I can agree on, it's the fact that the world is a much better place with a monster like Jonathan dead and buried-"

Lilith slapped me right then and there, making me grunt lightly, two bars flying out and locking my ankles and wrists together before I could make a move back at her, "My son is not a monster!"

-

"The fire alarm just went off downstairs." My head turned at the sound of Ollie's words, "The mundanes are evacuating the building."

Jace seethed, "There's no fire-"

"Luke Garroway is leading a strike team from the Institute." Ollie confirmed his words, a glimmer of hope and relief filling my chest at the sound of her words.

Lilith slowly walked over to us, her words confusing me, "Is the Daylighter with them?"

"Why do you care if Simon's here?" I look at her.

"Keep them away from my boy- and avoid the vampire." Lilith ignores me, "Kill the rest."

-

"There's no use-" I said to Lilith when she started to walk over to me, after letting out a painful scream, making me realize that she had lost Jace as her minion, "Jace is coming for you- I know he is."

"Let him- let them all come." Lilith pulled a piece of my dress to the side, pushing her nail into my skin, "I bet Jonathan can't wait to see them again."

My eyes went slightly wide at the pain that erupted in my skin when she started to carve a rune into my flesh, the burning and stinging becoming too much before I let out a pain filled cry.

She lifted her nail, her eyes locking with mine, as she backed away, "As you live, so shall my son."

She turned, walking back toward the sarcophagus in which held Jonathan, blood filling the lines she had broke into my skin, my breathing heavily.

"Hey-" Simon's whisper sounded the room when he suddenly appeared in front of me, my eyes instantly widening, "Miss me?-"

"Of course-" My eyes stayed wide when he pried off the bars that were tightly around my wrists and ankles.

Simon grabs my wrist, "Let's get the hell out of here!-"

"No, wait!-" I stopped him, whispering, "We can't let her bring my brother back to life-"

Simon questions, "Sebastian?"

"Jonathan." I shook my head at him.

Simon was confused, "Two brothers?"

"Same guy." I replied to him.

"Oh- cool, cool, cool." nodded along Simon, looking at me with question, "So, what's the play?"

I point, "Lilith is afraid of that mark on your head."

"But- it's defensive, not offensive." Simon gestured, "We'd have to get her to make a run at me, but- she's smarter than that, isn't she?"

"Not when it comes to her son, she isn't." I thought, then sighed, "Ugh- I need a stele-"

"Uh-" Simon pulled one out of his pocket, "Alec thought you might say that."

-

"Get away from Jonathan!" I finally spoke to get Lilith's attention, stood with my stele hidden.

Lilith slowly turns to face me, seeing that I was no longer in her restraints, "Why would I do that?"

I held the stele to my neck with a small smirk playing at my lips, "As I live, so shall your son."

"You wouldn't." Lilith stared at me, as I slowly pressed the stele into my skin, piercing right through it, making her start to rush towards me.

I pulled the stele away from my neck and drew my sun rune onto my palm, quickly blasting her back with it, making her shout, "Foolish child!-"

"Simon!" I signaled, keeping her place as he rushed over to the sarcophagus, "Do it, Simon!"

Simon acted, slamming his fists against the glass of the sarcophagus, making Lilith leap to her feet when the sun rune finally gave out, "No!-"

Lilith launches herself toward him, making Simon's mark react, sending them both flying in opposite directions with a blast.

Lilith flew to the floor.

Simon flew towards the window.

I dropped the stele in my hand, immediately rushing toward the window and past Lilith when he fell through the window, shattering the glass, "Simon!-"

My heart beat was racing as I tried to get to the window, only to stop the movement I was jerked to a stop by a hand grabbing my arm.

I slowly turned my head, my eyes falling the wet hand into the sarcophagus, realizing that it was Jonathan.

Slowly, Lilith pushed herself up to her feet, her eyes glued to Jonathan's hand on my arm, until her skin started to glow red and her body started to jerk.

Then, she blew up.

-

[ third person pov ]

"Zee!" shouted Jace when he bursted through the door of the apartment he had been in countless of times; only to see nothing but a few flames and complete emptiness.

His heart was racing.

Jace's eyes fell onto two hands grabbing the ledge, watching as Simon Lewis pulled himself onto the room, looking disoriented, his eyes wide and filled with tears, "My mark- there was an explosion-"

"Hey-" Jace rushed over to him and grabbed his shoulders, assuring him when he tried to pull back,
"It's me- it's me."

"Where is she?" Jace stares at Simon, breathing heavy, "Where's Zee?-"

"I killed her." Simon's words made Jace's heart shatter, "Zee's dead."

He then took a few steps back.

Looking around repeatedly, tears burning in his eyes at the thought of her being gone, with the way they left things.

Just the thought of her being gone alone.

It killed him inside.

And he hadn't ever felt that kind of pain.

authors note:

i feel so badddd.

like first they're separated by the possession, and now only did they break up because of it, now they're separated because she's gone-

they just never get to be happy sksksksf

i feel like this was a shitty chapter, but it's okay lol

anyways, thank you for 32k !!

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