As I slog my way through the crowd and out the door to the alleyway behind the club, my mind continues to run in circles, going over everything Magnus said.

My mother had cursed me.

With something bad enough that caused me to start dying when I got to close to the most powerful parts of it.

Did she really want me to stay away from this so badly, she would risk killing me?

"Jace" Izzy's voice echoes and Jace turns back, sighing as he watches Clary and I moving through the room like zombies

"Guys, we have to go" Jace urges us

"We're catching our breath" Clary spits, stilling just outside the closed door

"You know what? This is great!" Alec growls, "And not only did Magnus not get the girl her memories back, or give Cami her answers, he scared her into thinking she's been cursed by something! And he took the fucking necklace! This is fantastic-"

"Alec, 'the girl' - her name is Clary and I highly suggest you keep your voice down" Jace threatens

"Of course all you care about is Clary!" Alec barks, "Why should I keep my voice down? What, are you afraid I'm gonna upset her? Camille is terrified right now, that warlock told her she was cursed, that her own mother ordered him to do it, and all you care about is Clary's feelings?"

"Alec" I murmur, my voice hoarse

"No, you know what? We've risked our lives again and again for these girls, and where has it gotten us?" Alec snaps, "Nowhere. We're no closer to getting the Mortal Cup, and we've lost the Institute's necklace!"

"Hey, we're right here!" Clary snaps, breaking through her zombie haze, her anger rising, "And I don't care about your damn jewellery. Look, I'm sorry you're going to look bad in front of your bosses, okay? But our mother is still missing and our last chance of finding her just vanished into thin air!"

"Clary, it's gonna be fine" Jace starts

"No, it's not" I whisper, shaking my head, "People are dying because of me...because of us. And Magnus? He's gone, he's taken Clary's memories and the answers to my questions with him and he told me I'm cursed. With what? God knows and now I may never know because Magnus will never come out of hiding again, not while Valentine is after him"

"Cami" Clary breathes, coming to my side, "I'm so sorry, I should've taken Magnus up on his offer when I had the chance, at least then you would have some answers. Because of me, we have nothing"

"No, Clary, you did what you thought was right" I comfort her, "I don't blame you"

"You should!" Clary hisses, "I blame myself"

"Clary, Camille is right, you can't blame yourself for-" Jace begins but, again, Clary cuts him off

"No! Now, not only will I never get my memories back, my sister will never get to know what she is, never know what's happening to her and it's my fault!" she screams, throwing her fist down. Jace catches her hand, pulling something small from it.

"You give up way too easily" Jace sighs, taking the object and holding it in his hand

"What is he doing?" Clary groans

"He's tracking Magnus" Alec informs us, "Be quiet and keep your distance."

"How? It's just some stupid button I pulled off his blazer-"

"A button that belongs to Magnus" Izzy interjects, "Jace can pinpoint his location using that."

A flare of hope sparks in me and I stand straighter, noticing Alec do the same as well.

As the hope ignites in my chest, the memory of Alec defending me properly reaches my brain. He defended me. He cared about what was happening to me, how scared and confused I was...

But he didn't seem to like that feeling.

"No" Jace huffs, turning back to us, frustrated, "The signal's not strong enough. Magnus must be blocking the track, let's do this, Alec"

Alec makes his way towards Jace and I frown.

How could Alec help?

"Do what?" Clary asks before I can

"Parabatai tracking" Izzy explains as Jace puts the button between his and Alec's hands before entwining them together, setting himself in front of Alec, "When parabatai's track, their power grows stronger. Jace and Alec are gonna track Magnus together."

They both stare into each other's eyes, concentrating as a small flurry of orange mist circles their entwined hands.

"Yeah, this whole parabatai thing seems oddly intimate, if you ask me" I frown, watching as their stare deepens

"You don't know the half of it" Izzy sighs

Suddenly, Jace pulls away from Alec and Alec blinks rapidly, stumbling backwards slightly.

"Got him."

***

I keep my seraph blade close to me as we creep through the abandoned-looking warehouse, Alec close by my side, bow in hand.

"Magnus' lair is right behind that fence" Jace gestures to the wire fence above us

"Extravagant, fancy Magnus lives in a warehouse?" I scoff, back to my normal self. The hope that had sprouted had now blossomed with the knowledge of Magnus' location and I felt less zombified, and grateful for it.

"Not exactly" Jace concedes, "Warlock glamour"

"Something's wrong" Izzy warns, "It's far too easy to get this close"

"His protective wards must be down"

The sound of a sword slicing through flesh alerts us to the presence of more people. We all look to the fence, watching as a man with a circle rune slices into the back of a warlock, dropping him from the height and down to the floor by our feet.

"Valentine found Magnus" I growl, gripping my sword tighter as we run forward, towards Magnus' glamoured home

"Daddy!" A girl cries, running towards the body that was just dropped to the floor, "Daddy?"

It breaks my heart to see the girl kneeling by her dead father. I slowly walk towards her, not wanting to startle her. My eyes rove the area, but everyone's disappeared.

"Daddy, get up, please!" the girl begs, a shadow falling over her...

I see the Circle member instantly and dash in front of the girl, landing a slightly feeble kick to his side just before he can slice the girl's head off.

The girl runs behind me and I stick my arm out in front of her, keeping her behind my body as I ward myself with the sword.

Where was that cool instinctual haze thing when I needed it?

"Camille Fairchild" the Circle member speaks and I scowl at him, jaw clenched, "Valentine will be so pleased to see you"

As the man lunges at me, I lean back, trying to defend myself but I don't need to. The crack of Isabelle's whip echoes through the air as it lashes out to reach him. He grabs it before it can strike him but he doesn't have time to pull Izzy forward before Jace appears by the fence, throwing a dagger at him.

The man groans in pain before falling to the floor, lifeless.

"Thanks for that" I exhale

"Any time" Jace winks, "Hey, what happened to that cool thing you do? Where you kill vampires in the blink of an eye?"

"I have no idea" I admit

"Stick close to me" Izzy instructs, and I nod in confirmation, "It's safer if we stay together"

"It's okay" I comfort the trembling warlock girl, "I won't leave you alone, I swear"

She nods fearfully, clutching her hand tightly in mine and I smile at her, trying to comfort her. She smiles back the tiniest of smiles, but squeezes my hand, letting me know that it helps.

***

"Magnus" I call, holding the girl by the shoulders.

The fight, for now, was over and we had all convened in Magnus' apartment to help the wounded warlocks.

Magnus turns his head and the girl launches into his arms. Magnus smiles down at the girl before pulling away, "Go join the others, my dear. This is no place for a little girl. Go."

"I heard what you did for Zoe" Magnus praises, "You risked your life without hesitation to save a young warlock child."

"She was a just a girl and she was in trouble" I utter, "I had no choice. What else was I supposed to do?"

"You always have a choice" Magnus reasons, "You and your sister are not like the others, Camille Fairchild. Most Shadowhunters protect Downworlders out of sense of duty, but you saved young Zoe because of what was inside your heart. You are more like your mother than you will ever know."

"A mother who cursed me" I scoff, hugging myself close, "Magnus, please, don't hide from this battle. It's not going to work. Look what has already happened...Valentine found you once, he'll find you again. We need to work together. Clary needs her memories back. Please, help us."

"You're standing before the one person who can tell you what you are, what this curse is...but all you're concerned about is your sister's memories, her safety...why?" Magnus questions, looking incredibly intrigued about the answer

"She's family, my sister" I shrug, "I care about her more than anyone in this world, why should I let my own selfish desires get in the way of protecting her?"

"Interesting...very interesting" Magnus hums. I frown in confusion, but he doesn't elaborate, "Very well, I will help your sister, as a thanks for what you did for Zoe. I will summon the demon, but your sister must make the demand."

"Okay" I agree quickly

"Not so fast..." Magnus warns me, "Retrieving her memories will not be easy."

"I will do whatever I have to do" I assure him, "And so will Clary"

"All right, but we're not safe here" Magnus notes, "The lair's location has been compromised"

Magnus turns to address the rest of the room,

"Hold tight, everyone, we're about to move"