Plot[edit source | editbeta]
Simon returns to his home, on the same night as their encounters with Lilith;only to find that he is barred from entering. He attempts to reason with his mother and inquires about his sister Rebecca, but no avail, as his mother believes he is not the real Simon, and thus has murdered her real son. Simon receives a call from a distraught Clary who explains that Jace has gone missing and is untraceable.
Two weeks after the events of "City of Fallen Angels"; Jace, last seen with Sebastian, is still missing. The Clave has been questioning Clary using the Mortal Sword, forcing her to reveal all that she knew, as it compels her to tell the truth. Clary and the rest of the group, desperate to find him, solicits the Seelie Queen for help when the Clave are about to drop the investigation after no leads on Jace's whereabouts. At first it's slightly challenging to get the queen to agree to help them and when the queen is accidentally offended, the queen casts an illusion to make Alec appear elderly, much to his horror. After Clary reasons with the queen, Alec is returned to normal. The Queen then agree to help, but demands the return of two Faerie rings which allow the wearers to communicate telepathically. Clary, desperate to find Jace, agrees. Later, when searching for the rings in a Shadowhunter library, Clary sees Jace and Sebastian enter and, while hiding, observes them conversing like old friends before leaving with some books. Shocked and distraught, Clary flees to Simon, Isabelle and Alec, explains to them what she saw, while crying. The group then contemplates what this could possibly mean and what might be wrong with Jace.
That night at Luke's home, Clary wakes up to find Jace lying next to her, holding her. Jace informs that he has returned to ask her to come with them. He also tells her he sensed her in the library and that he still loves her. While Clary is crying, Jace kisses her, but they are interrupted by Sebastian. Furious upon seeing him, Clary demands that Sebastian get out of her room and then decides to reason with Jace who again tries to persuade her to join them. They are interrupted by Jocelyn's screams as she discovers Sebastian in her home. A fight breaks loose, in which Luke is stabbed and severely wounded by Sebastian. As Jace and Sebastian (literally) disappear, Jace mouths to Clary that he will be back for her. Jocelyn decides that she and Clary should move into Magnus Bane's house for their own safety. Predicting Jace's move to come back for Clary, Magnus reluctantly agrees. After an argument with her mother, in which Jocelyn compares Jace to Valentine and says that Jace and Clary are not meant to be, an enraged Clary then storms off into her room to be alone. While there, she then Portals out to meet Simon at their usual diner. After some contemplation, Clary decides to join Jace and Sebastian with the intention of spying on them, whilst using the Faerie rings to communicate with Simon. Over time, Clary realizes that Jace is possessed and is acting much like Sebastian rather than himself.
Meanwhile, everyone else is trying to think of a way to kill Sebastian without killing Jace; they are tied together with Lilith's magic, meaning one cannot be killed without killing the other. Isabelle and Jocelyn go to the Iron Sisters for help and learn that the connection between Sebastian and Jace can be broken using a blade of Heaven, which can only be given by an angel. They come to a solution when Simon suggests summoning Raziel. They agree that Simon should do this because he has the Mark of Cain, which protects him from physical harm. Clary learns from Sebastian that he intends to make a second Mortal Cup with the power to kill all greater demons. Later, Jace manages to revert to his true, non-possessed self for a short time when the rune that is used to control him is temporarily severed due to a fight he took part in earlier (the wound wasn't felt by Sebastian because the blade was covered in angel's blood) to explain Sebastian's plan to Clary. Jace tells her that Sebastian wants to use Lilith's blood to create an army of dark Shadowhunters using the second Mortal Cup. The two then kiss and almost have sex in his room, but while Clary is willing and wants to, Jace stops before they can go any further, implying how he wants their first time together to be under different circumstances (not when he can change back into "him" at any moment, and won't be able to remember what they had done afterward). Sometime after this, Jace reveals he is going to turn himself in to the Clave for his crimes while under possession, believing it to be the right choice. Desperate for Jace not to risk his own life, Clary reluctantly calls out to Sebastian to stop Jace from leaving. Sebastian then heals Jace's severed rune, reverting Jace to possession.
Meanwhile, Simon and the others travel to Luke's farmhouse to summon the angel Raziel. There, Raziel gives Simon a blade of Heaven named Glorious, but in return demands the right to strip Simon of the Mark of Cain. Simon agrees and Raziel takes the Mark away, rendering Simon no longer protected. Clary is searching Sebastian's room when she finds her faerie ring and tells Simon Sebastian's plan, and to come to the Seventh Sacred Site. Sebastian catches her when she is halfway through explaining, but manages to get the important information across before she is forced to smash the ring, to prevent the Seelie Queen (who knew Clary would keep the rings for herself, and had been telling Sebastian Simon and Clary's conversations) telling Sebastian about Glorious. Sebastian and Clary then begin to fight, ending with Clary drawing an unfinished Opening run on the apartment's wall. Clary and Sebastian travel to "The Seventh Sacred Site" to create an army of new Shadowhunters. Sebastian summons Lilith and mixes her blood in the second Mortal Cup, then demonstrates his creation by forcing Amatis to drink from the Cup. Simon, Magnus, Alec, Isabelle and Shadowhunters from the Clave then arrive and Sebastian's dark Shadowhunters meet them in battle.
Clary then tells Sebastian that the rune she drew was not an Opening rune, but a rune that destroyed the apartment the instant they left. Sebastian then tries to force Clary to drink from the Infernal Cup. Luckily, she is saved and manages to escape Sebastian's grip. Simon gives Glorious to Clary, who tries to hunt down Sebastian. Unable to reach Sebastian, Clary uses the Angel blade and stabs Jace, believing that it won't kill him as his heart is more good than evil. Jace is set alight, leading the other to believe that he is dead. Clary goes into hysterics, refusing to believe Jace is dead and begins to cry.
The battle ends when most of Sebastian's dark Shadowhunters have been killed, and Sebastian flees. Clary sees that Jace is not dead after all, detecting a heart beat, and his family takes him back to the Institute in order to heal. Some are skeptical that he is the "real" Jace, but Alec confirms that it is him, saying how a part of him no longer feels "missing" (referring to their parabatai connection and how a part of him felt "missing" while Jace had been possessed). After some days of pleading and begging, Clary is finally allowed to see and speak with Jace. She then learns that after being stabbed by Glorious, he now has sacred fire inside him, preventing people from touching him, as doing so will result in them being burned, sans Clary who seems unaffected. Magnus breaks up with Alec because Alec considered Camille's offer (which he hadn't told Magnus about) to take away Magnus's immortality and actually considered shortening his life, even though Alec ultimately refused the offer. Alec tearfully pleas for another chance, but Magnus firmly says that while he loves him, he cannot forgive him for considering to shorten to his life at all. After giving him instructions to take his things out of his apartment, also saying he never wants to see Alec or his friends and family ever again, the two share one final kiss before Magnus reluctantly walks away, leaving a heartbroken and distraught Alec behind. After setting out to kill Camille for causing Magnus to break up with him, Alec discovers Maureen instead, revealing to him that she has killed Camille in order to gain leadership over her vampire clan by vampire law.
Maryse shows two of the Silent Brothers (Enoch and Zachariah) a pair of angel wings, and a note from "Jonathan Christopher Morgenstern" with the word "Erchomai", which means "I am coming", which she found on the floor of the Institute library.
Cover[edit source | editbeta]
The Cover shows Clary and Jace
