CHAPTER NINETEEN

ALEC

"Okay," Magnus said. "You wanted to talk to me. So talk."

Alec looked at him, wide-eyed. Magnus had turned up that morning just before they were all scheduled to leave for Idris. Countless times, Alec had imagined just what he would say – but now that Magnus was actually standing in front of him, with his mesmerizing slit-pupil cat eyes, and his cool, sharp gaze, Alec couldn't think of a single thing to say. Besides, the news he had just heard was still sharp in his mind. "What?" he said finally.

"I assumed that was the meaning of all those phone calls," Magnus said. "And why you sent all your stupid friends over to my apartment. Or do you just do that to everyone?"

Alec cleared his throat. "Aren't you ever going to forgive me?"

"I-" Magnus broke off and looked away, shaking his head. "Alec. I have forgiven you."

"It doesn't seem like it. You seem angry."

When Magnus looked back at him, it was with a gentler expression. "I'm worried about you," he said. "The attacks on the Institutes. I just heard."

Alec felt dizzy. Magnus forgave him; Magnus was worried about him. "Did you know we were leaving for Idris?"

"Catarina told me she'd been summoned to make a Portal. I guessed," Magnus said wryly. "I was a little surprised you hadn't called or texted to tell me you were going away."

"Ah." Alec fiddled with the hem of his shirt. "There was... a bit of news we heard yesterday."

Magnus's brows furrowed slightly. "What news?"

Alec's breath hitched in his throat. "Rebecca's been turned into an Endarkened."

Magnus was silent for a moment. "Are you sure?"

"The head of the London Institute sent word." Alec's voice was ripped raw with anxiety. "Eyewitness accounts say that she was right beside Sebastian, the whole time." He ran a hand through his hair. "That's got to be the only reason, right? I mean... Rebecca would never do this, she'd never side with that murderer. Not after Max, and she still blames herself for what happened to him..."

"Alec," Magnus gripped his former boyfriend's shoulders. "Rebecca.... She is a strong girl. She will return. Just... don't abandon her. Keep your faith."

Alec gripped his hands. "What? You talk as if you know-"

"I don't," Magnus reassured him. "Go to Idris. You're safer there, but don't be trusting, and don't let your guard down. I need you to live," he breathed, and turned around, very abruptly, and walked away.

I need you to live.

Alec sat down on the frozen stone bench and put his face in his hands.

REBECCA

When Rebecca returned to the apartment, she found Sebastian waiting for her, his face unreadable. He wore red gear. His blessed iron sword was in his hands, and he was running a finger along the edge of the blade lovingly. "Where were you?" he said, his eyes flicking up to look at her.

"Out for a walk," Rebecca said. "Not a crime, is it?" She made for the kitchen for a glass of water, but in one fluid motion, he stepped in front of her, blocking her way.

"Meliorn has informed me that the Clave has called off its search parties for you," he said. "I guess they got tired of searching for you, huh?"

"I guess." She tried to maneuver around him, but he grabbed her wrist.

"Seriously, Sebastian?" Rebecca said, unable to keep the anger out of her voice. "Still miffed that you got your ass handed to you in London?"

"I did not get my ass handed to me." He pushed her away and strode towards the kitchen. "It was a mistake."

"Excuse me?" Rebecca knew she should let the matter drop, but her temper was always close to the surface these days. It was impossible to remain calm around Sebastian for long. Despite the fact that she was relieved that the London Institute, at least, was safe, she couldn't handle Sebastian sulking like a child about it. She followed him into the kitchen, about to say more, but she stopped as she noticed what he was holding.

"What's that?"

"A spoil of war." He held it up. It was a beautiful gold medallion, with the imprint of a wolf's paw and a pattern of leaves around the edges. The words Beati bellicosi were engraved at the top.

"Beati bellicosi..." Rebecca breathed. "Blessed are the warriors. That's the motto of the Praetor Lupus. What are you..." Suddenly it dawned on her. A dead weight dropped into her stomach. "You didn't."

"I had to." Sebastian stuffed the medallion into his pocket. "Someone had to pay the price."

She felt sick, but she swallowed it down. "How many?"

He shrugged. "Fifty or sixty. Don't know, really."

"Fifty or sixty..." She clenched her fists, fighting against the tightness in her chest. What had she gotten herself into? Did she really have the strength to see this through? How long would it be before she snapped? Or worse, became like Sebastian?

Sebastian seemed unconcerned with her reaction. As she stared at him in shock, he cocked his head to one side. "I think they're ready."

"Ready? Ready for what? What are you talking about?"

Sebastian smiled. It was nothing like the warm smile she had seen at the Santa Monica aquarium. This one was plain evil, and it sent a shiver up her spine.

"We're going to meet your dear family, of course."

A Portal spat them out on a volcanic plain, with a line of distant mountains in the horizon. White snow dusted the ground: thick in some places; crisp, thin ice in others. Deadly sharp rocks sliced through the ice and snow, along with the bare branches of hedges and frozen moss. There was no moon. Stars pricked the sky here and there.

"Where are we?" Rebecca said.

"This... this is the Adamant Citadel." Sebastian's voice was high with excitement, his face alight with a mad, feverish glow. He raised his sword – which had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and all around them, the Endarkened appeared, as if they had simply melted from the shadows. They were dressed in their usual black and red gear and were armed.

"Tonight, we take over the city of the Iron Sisters," Sebastian said. As he spoke, shadows dotted the plain across from them – about fifty of them. It was too dark to make out their faces, but she knew they were Shadowhunters. Rebecca felt a hollow ache in her chest. She longed to be there, fighting alongside the Shadowhunters, fighting to protect the Adamant Citadel, not to destroy it.

Sebastian pressed a sword into her hand. "Paratus es, regina meis?"

Rebecca swallowed, and accepted the sword.

The battle was a bloodbath. Rebecca had been in one before, but the memory seemed almost hazy. She could only remember flashes of it - pain, the blood that drenched her clothes, and Alec's and Izzy's faces, white with fear. Fear for her life. She separated from Sebastian at the first opportunity, trying to keep the Shadowhunters alive. Even though there were less than half that number of Endarkened, they seemed to be struggling.

A blonde woman stumbled towards an Endarkened as he dispatched a Shadowhunter with a stab of his sword.

"Jason!" she cried out. "Jason, please stop!"

The Endarkened stiffened and turned.

Oh god, no. Rebecca tried to push her way towards the blonde woman, stopping only to slice off the hand of an Endarkened who had been raising his blade to strike a Shadowhunter before him. He turned, his face twisted in fury, but the Shadowhunter behind him made short work of him. Rebecca surged forward.

The blonde woman was sobbing. "You don't have to do this." Her seraph blade dangled loosely in her hand. "Come with us. They're working on a cure. We'll fix you-"

Jason the Endarkened paid no attention. He lifted his sword, but before he could bring it down, Rebecca was there. She slashed viciously with her blade, slitting his throat. He collapsed silently.

The blonde woman screamed. Rebecca turned to her and caught her as she staggered. Her eyes locked onto Rebecca's, and recognition dawned in them. "You!" she screeched.

Rebecca wrapped the blonde woman's fingers around her blade. "They cannot be saved, understand? Now pull yourself together."

She stared at the sword in her hand. "But why..."

"Just go!"

Despite Rebecca's best efforts, too many Shadowhunters were crumpling like rag dolls around her. Too many seraph blades going dark forever. Too much blood.

Foolishly, she let her sword arm go limp, too horror-struck by the carnage around her, and too weighed down by the guilt that reared behind her like a great, ugly monster. That was when she felt the cold kiss of a blade against her throat.

Clary's green eyes were alight, her grip unwavering on the blade held against Rebecca's throat. Seeing her, Rebecca had the strange urge to cry. "Hello, Clary," she said quietly.

Clary didn't reply. Rebecca didn't think she trusted herself to. The steel against her throat was now burning, as cold and as hot as ice - it was a seraph blade. All of her instincts screamed attack! but she forced herself to stay still.

"I swear, I'm not an Endarkened," Rebecca said.

"And I'm just supposed to believe you?" Clary said, trying to sound scornful. "You-"

She was interrupted as a slender, black-clad Shadowhunter with bright hair, moving so fast it was like watching fire spring from ridge to ridge in a forest, raced across the rocky plain. Only in this case the forest was Sebastian's army, Endarkened falling one by one. Falling so quickly, they barely had time to reach for their weapons, much less raise them. And as they fell, others began to fall back, confused and uncertain, so that Rebecca could see the space that was being cleared in the middle of the battle, and who stood in the center of it.

Jace.

JACE

Jace hurtled through the air, collided with a Dark Shadowhunter, and rode the Endarkened One's body down to earth, dispatching him with a vicious scissoring blow. Somehow, he had acquired a second blade; he wasn't sure where. Everything was blood and fire singing in his head. Jace had fought before, many times. He knew the chill of battle as it descended, the world around him slowing to a whisper, every movement he made precise and exact.

The Dark Shadowhunters didn't seem to feel much fear, and they died without screaming. The one in front of Jace, though, had his face twisted with fear-

"Really, Andrew, there's no need to look like that. I'm not going to do anything to you," said a voice behind Jace, sharp and clear and familiar. And just a touch exasperated. "Unless you don't move out of the way."

The brown-haired Shadowhunter darted hastily away from Jace, who turned, already knowing what he would see. Sebastian stood behind him. He had arrived seemingly out of nowhere, though that didn't surprise Jace. He knew Sebastian still possessed Valentine's ring, which allowed him to appear and disappear at will. He wore red gear, worked all through with gold runes - runes of protection and healing and good luck. Gray Book runes, the kind the Endarkened couldn't wear. The red made his pale hair look paler, his grin a white slice across his face as his gaze scanned Jace from his head to his boots. "My Jace," he said. "Been missing me?"

In a flash, Jace's swords were up, both tips hovering just over Sebastian's heart. He heard a murmur from the crowd around him. It seemed that both the Dark Shadowhunters and their Nephilim counterparts had paused their fighting to watch what was going on.

"You can't actually think I missed you."

Sebastian raised his eyes slowly, his amused gaze meeting Jace's. Eyes black like his father's. In their depths Jace saw himself, saw the apartment he had shared with Sebastian, the meals they had eaten together, jokes they had traded, battles they'd shared.

He had subsumed himself in Sebastian, had given over his will entirely, and it had been pleasurable and easy, and down in the darkest depths of his treacherous heart, Jace knew that part of him wanted it again. It made him hate Sebastian even more.

"Well, I can't imagine why else you're here. You know I can't be killed with a blade," Sebastian said. "The brat from the Los Angeles Institute must have told you that, at least."

"I could slice you apart," Jace said. "See if you can survive in tiddly wink-size pieces. Or cut off your head. It might not kill you, but it would be fun watching you try to find it."

Sebastian was still smiling. "I wouldn't try," he said, "if I were you."

"Why not?" Jace growled through clenched teeth.

Sebastian inclined his head, and someone stepped out from behind him, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. It took Jace a few moments to realize who it was – Rebecca. The sight of his sister made Jace freeze in position. She, too, was wearing red like Sebastian, and she walked with the sort of confidence you couldn't fake. Her eyes – black as night – glittered, empty of expression.

Something tightened in Jace's chest. He'd always been able to tell exactly what she was thinking – whether she was angry, frustrated, sad or happy. She was an open book. But not anymore. The girl who stood in front of him was a stranger.

"Because," she said, "you'll have to get through me first."