The Morning Star (TMI City of Lost Souls AU)

Chapter 11 - Celebrating Destruction

Clary went to Jace's room as soon as she got back and opened her mouth to say something when she saw him asleep with a book lying open on his chest. She loved to look at him when he was asleep, the most unguarded nearly anyone would see him. All the hard lines on his face were soft and the burning gold of his eyes were resting. She slipped off her heels and quietly walked in, crawling in bed next to him. Lying on her side, she watched his chest rise and fall slowly, his golden hair partially resting over his eyes. She reached out and slowly brushed it out of the way, causing him to wake up.

"Morning," He spoke groggily, turning on his side and running his fingers through her hair.

"Morning? It's actually getting kind of late, or at least it was in France." Clary laughed until Jace sat up on one shoulder and looked at her intently.

"France? Why were you in France?"

"Dinner with Sebastian, you knew that. He wanted to tell me the plan."

"And that's all you did in France? Eat dinner?"

"Well, yeah, you know I wouldn't do anything else, I-" Clary blushed, confused by Jace's sudden irritation.

"No, no, I mean you didn't run any errands for him, did you?" He scanned her face for an answer before she even opened her mouth.

"Oh, well. We delivered the adamas to Sister Magdalena, but then we came straight here." Jace's shoulders relaxed and he turned to lie on his back.

"Okay, it can be dangerous and I don't like not being with you when you do these things, I knew Sister Magdalena was in France, I should have known he was going to do that. So that means you're okay with this? You understand why we're doing it?" He turned his head to look at her, his eyes almost pleading.

"Yes. It's probably needed to be done for a while," Jace smiled realizing Clary was on their side, "Sebastian wants to get rid of the corruption of the Clave and I can see that it needs to happen-"

"The corruption of the Clave? Well yeah, I guess this would fix that in a sense, Sebastian had just never worded it like that to me." He chuckled to himself, making Clary uneasy. Why did he sound surprised? What did Sebastian not tell her?

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear," Sebastian was standing in the doorway with a smile, "Are you two ready? We're going to celebrate Clary joining us. We're going out."

Jace shrugged and hopped off the bed, pulling Clary up with him. "Alright, we'll meet you downstairs in 15." Jace flashed him a smile and Sebastian groaned like a child complaining.

"Jace, I'm bored. Hurry up." Sulking, he turned around and left the room.

Jace turned back to her, "Alright. So what are you going to wear?"

***

It had been over 15 minutes and Jace was still trying to help her find something to wear. He had opted for his usual jeans and a gray v-neck t-shirt with a black leather jacket. Clary, on the other hand, had no idea what to wear. Jace must have known where Sebastian was taking them, but he wouldn't say anything. Sebastian called from downstairs, clearly growing impatient, while Jace looked oddly amused.

"Here, just wear this and come downstairs." He stood up and strode towards the door, throwing an article of black clothing at her. Clary took a look at what she was holding in her hand and shook her head.

"Oh no, Jace, you cannot be serious! Jace-" But he had already left, laughing to himself. "Great." She murmured to herself. She went into the bathroom to splash water on her face. Her makeup had held up alright, smudged a little darker now. Her hair, however, had begun to curl again and she had no intention of fixing it. Back in her room, she pulled on the sad excuse for a dress that Jace had given to her. It fit tight to her thighs, reaching far above her knees. The front came just above her chest, straps going across her shoulder to a lacy open back. She stared at herself in the mirror, she looked older. Almost slightly curvy even. She never thought of herself as looking like a woman the way Izzy did, but this was the closest she had come. She still was not going to wear stilettos though, she felt empowered enough without risking a broken ankle. Instead she opted for her black boots and headed downstairs.