This concludes Frayed! I'm so happy to have finally gotten her and so thankful for your support.

Given that I'm uploading this chapter very close to the 25th of October, I'm going to push the release date of Book 2 to November 25th because, after all, what's life without a little suspense, especially with the ending to this book...

Enjoy!

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"Where's your brother?"

"You think we'd tell you?" Clary scoffs, gripping the Book of the White tightly

"You won't have to" Valentine admits

"Stay away from them!" Simon yells, running for Valentine but he pushes him off easily, poising his blade to strike but Izzy reacts quickly, ensnaring her whip around Valentine's wrist but the electrum doesn't faze him and he throws her to the ground using the whip

Moving to go for Simon again, Jace's voice rings through the room and Valentine stops in his tracks.

"Stop! This time you're not getting away."

Other Circle members run towards Izzy and Simon, gripping them tightly, seraph blades pressed to their throats.

"Finally ready to kill your own father?" Valentine questions

"You abandoned me."

"I was protecting you." Valentine rebuts, "You weren't ready then, but you've grown. You've become the warrior I've trained you to be."

"You trained me well" Jace accepts, nodding

"And yet, I still have so much to teach you" Valentine adds, "I brought you here for a reason. Look, fight me, and watch your friends die."

Alec and Magnus are the next to be brought in, restrained and with blades tight to their throats and I feel the breath in my throat hitch. My boyfriend and best friend could die...all because of this man.

"Let them go!" I growl, striding further towards him, unafraid of the fact that my sleeper was unaware of the threat and that I was essentially defenceless without it

"Ah, my eldest daughter, the one I managed to watch grow, if only for a short few years" Valentine speaks and he sounds both disgusted and, strangely, wistful, "What you have become now, because of your mother, disgusts me. What kind of mother curses one child for the benefit of another?"

His words hit me like a solid wall not because of their harshness but because of their truth. He was speaking the words I'd thought to myself for weeks now. It was messing with my head.

"Oh, the potential you could have had" Valentine sighs, "But the minute you were born, I knew you were a mundani and oh, it disgusted me. A mere mundane child, mine?! Ludicrous. My first daughter, first child, a mundane. As a child of mine, that's worse then a Downworlder."

"What is insulting her like this going to achieve?" Jace snaps, his sword hadn't wavered an inch

"You are strong, my son, but they make you weak" Valentine spits, "And that is what I am attempting with your older sister, to make her strong because despite her horrendous nature, I can fix it."

"Fix it?" I blurt before I can stop myself, "Fix it how?"

"Don't fall for it, Camille!" Alec grunts but the Circle member holding him forces him to silence

"Intrigued?" Valentine leers, "Of course you are, you are my daughter after all."

"Let us go" Clary speaks up, "You can have the book. We won't be able to stop you without it."

"Ah, Clarissa" Valentine speaks, clicking his tongue, "So like your mother. Willing to do anything for those that you love. I'm touched, but...the book was never part of my plan. I want you to wake up your mother. I know that you'll both join us eventually. It's fated."

"Both? Us?" I speak up, "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, I have no doubt your brother and yourself will come with me tonight. All I'll have to do is await your mother and Clarissa, then we'll be a family again."

"What makes you think I would ever go with you? Tonight or any day?"

"I'll get to that" Valentine smirks, "It's not time to tell you what you need to hear...yet. But Jace...you ready?"

Jace actually hesitates, his eyes flickering to his friends, his family, in danger and back to Valentine, his blade bobbing on the air slightly, in the midst of deciding whether or not it was going to drop.

To everyone's astonishment, it did and he took a few hesitant steps towards our father, "If I go with you...promise me you won't hurt them"

"You have my word...if Camille comes with us, also."

"This is insane!" I shout, "Obviously, you know about my curse, you know I could pick off every single one of your cronies without breaking a sweat but you-"

"Only if Clary is in danger, thought, correct?" Valentine cuts me off, "And as you can see, she is not being threatened or harmed by me or anyone else, therefore...you can't do anything."

"How do you-"

"Know that?" Valentine finishes, "I know everything. Including how to break the curse held upon you...in a way that won't kill you, of course"

All sound fades from my mind, and I rush through my thoughts like in a whirlwind. The feeling of overwhelming anger and hatred and violence whenever so much as made Clary scream, the horrible feeling of losing complete control of my mind, my body, my decisions. The crippling fear that anyone could accidentally hurt Clary and I would reach the point of killing them.

And there was a cure.

And Valentine had it.

And even if he didn't, my friends would still be saved.

I would still be with Jace.

"I'll go"

The outcry was stupendous and loud and burbling into one, yet I could distinctly seperate Simon horrified groan, Clary's terrified gasp, Izzy's soft, scared 'no,' Magnus' rushed, anxious 'Buttercup, no' and Alec anguished, horrified cry of my name.

It cut through me to hear the pain they were experiencing, to leave them alone, behind me. But if I didn't do this I'd get them all killed and I had been too selfish already.

It was time to be selfless.

"I knew you'd see sense" Valentine smiles brightly and for a second, I'm reminded of him in the alternate universe

"One thing" I hesitate, "Give me your word you and your sick followers will not harm one hair on their heads."

"You have my word, Camille, you do" Valentine assures me

"Okay" I exhale, stepping towards him, "Okay"

"Jace...Cami..." Clary's soft cries echo from her mouth and I don't dare to look at her, too afraid to change my mind

"I'm sorry, Clary" Jace whispers and, though it's even more painful, I turn to Alec and Magnus, mouthing Jace's words to them, a tear slipping down my cheek.

Magnus had begun to struggle more, but it was futile and Alec had an odd, empty look to him. It was both distraught and unfeeling. It was unbearable to see.

"Valentine is wrong!" Clary exclaims, "Jace, you're not like him. You're not! And Cami...he doesn't have a cure, he's lying!"

"You don't know that, Clary" Jace refuses, shaking his head, "You don't know that."

"And I can't let you die. Whether this cure is real or not, I can't let you die. Any of you" I cry, my voice breaking

"Let them go." Valentine commands and all of them are released from their bonds, the swords vanishing from their throats

Instantly, Simon runs for Clary, grabbing her arm before she can run to either of us, while Jace holds a blade in between Magnus, Izzy and Alec, who instantly tried to come for us as well

"Get back, get back!" Jace warns them, "Alec, I mean it!"

"I'm so sorry" I sob to Alec, tears streaming down my cheeks, "I'm sorry, I can't be selfish anymore."

Alec doesn't have time to tell me I'm the most selfless woman he's ever met or anything else to convince me to change my mind before the sound of the Circle members vanishing through the Portal alerts me and I feel Valentine grab my leather-clad arm, watching him grab Jace's and then it's like the world falls into slow motion.

Alec moving to run towards me. Me quickly turning to him, screaming to him to take care of my sister, that i would be fine, that I cared about him, that I'd miss him, that I was sorry.

Clary breaking free of Simon, running towards us, shouting for Jace, shouting for me.

Magnus, Izzy and Simon's looks of pure horror and confusion and sadness as we begin to melt into the Portal's edge

The last thing I see is Alec, listening to my words and heeding them, catching my sister in his arms, holding her back from following us while also semi-awkwardly comforting her as she cries into his arms, realising she's just lost the only other two family members she had left.

***

"Do you really think this is gonna work?" Clary whispers to Magnus, hovering close beside her mother's floating body

The fact that Cami and Jace had left was still pressing upon all of us though, in my selfishness, I felt as if I had been the one to lose the most.

My girlfriend, the one who'd fought so hard against me and I her until we'd finally managed to push through the barrier and be together - gone.

My brother, my parabatai, lost in a sick notion his father had spun him, that he was bred for evil, that his destiny was among murderers and criminals - gone.

"Let us hope" Magnus sighs, taking the white spell book from Clary's hands

I know it's difficult for Magnus, too, one of his closest friends, greatest achievements, had disappeared in the blink of an eye. I'd felt for a while that his connection to Camille had been faked, some kind of twisted ulterior motive because of her curse, a making of his own kind but watching his face fall when she disappeared through that portal...I could imagine it had been almost a copy of my own.

I struggled to push away the feelings of betrayal, of anger, away from me but they hadn't been forced to go, they'd chosen. Jace had believed he was born to be evil and Cami was too intrigued by Valentine's mentioning of a possible cure for her curse.

Magnus had begun the spell muttering and yelling in some ancient language no one but he could understand, his hand pulsing above the green shell of Jocelyn's cage, as if shocking her with electric paddles.

The green casing evaporated and Jocelyn began to fall but not before Luke caught her in his arms. "I got you."

"Luke..."

Hope and happiness returned to Clary's face, lighting it up like a billboard in Times Square as she watched her mother hug herself into Luke's chest.

Lowering her down, Jocelyn looked around the room, acknowledging her surroundings, her eyes that resembled Cami's so startlingly, passing across me, an unknown face she didn't recognise but the minute her eyes landed on Clary she wasted no time in enclosing her in a hug.

"I've missed you so much"

"Oh...I'm so sorry I didn't tell you about your past"

"What about cursing Cami? Are you sorry about that?" I blurt before I can stop myself, anger building within me. Jocelyn had yet to notice her eldest daughter was even missing, let alone acknowledge she should be here somewhere

"How do you-" Jocelyn begins but stops herself in her tracks, her eyes swivelling the room again, finally noticing the absence of her eldest daughter, "Where is she?"

"She's gone" I growl, but it doesn't hold the threat it was meant to for my voice breaks

"She's with Valentine."

***

"Join me!" Valentine commands to the hundreds of black-clad people standing before him, "And my son, my daughter!"

Valentine had brought us to a ship, somewhere in the middle of the ocean, untraceable, and any dull, buried hope I'd had of a rescue was extinguished the second I'd taken a look around the exposed decking, the menacingly dark water, the imprints of Clary and Alec's faces still very much painfully present on the backs of my eyes.

"Pledge me your loyalty! Together...we can preserve our race and rid the world of the demons who plague it. You are the chosen ones. The new breed of Shadowhunters!"

An echoing cheer reverberates among the crowd and I look across to Jace, his eyes were closed softly, he looked pained.

I know how he feels.

"The cure" I speak up once the crowd dies down, the rally over, "You told me there was cure, Valentine, what is it?"

"Patience, dear, it's right in front of you" Valentine smirks, waving the Mortal Cup in front of my nose, "This is your answer, of course, the Mortal Cup."

Jace's attention is caught and he spins to face us, eyeing the cup cautiously, "The Cup can't break curses, it can only control demons and turn mundanes into Shadowhunters...if they're lucky."

"You just said it, my son" Valentine smiles, "The cure to Camille's curse is to drink from the Cup, become a true Shadowhunter. It's the only way."

The whole deck goes silent, the blood pumping in my ears horrendously loudly.

The only way to break my curse, to cure myself of this constant, unbreakable burden was to drink from a sacred object that could potentially kill me?

"You're lying" Jace snaps instantly, "Cami, don't trust him, what if this is just his way of thinning out opponents?"

"Kill my own daughter?" Valentine scoffs

"You've done worse" Jace reminds him, "You said so yourself, she's a mundani, a fate 'worse than a Downworlder' right?"

"You miss the point, son" Valentine sighs, "Drinking from the Cup with change her, she will become a Shadowhunter worthy of the Morgenstern name and, if I'm correct, which I'm certain I am, her power as a Sleeper-Mundani turned Shadowhunter will be unprecedented. She will be almost more powerful than I."

I don't hear any of the words he's speaking, all the 'extra power' crap going in one ear and out the other. All I could think about was that there was a cure.

"It's truly a win-win situation" Valentine continues, "Of course, if she dies, it will be most unfortunate but there is no blood more worthy of angelic gifts than Morgenstern blood and so I trust she will be more than fine. Of course, dear daughter, it is up to you...in the end."

His closing sentence hangs in the air like a threat, the hidden meaning ringing behind it like a bell - choose to drink from the cup or I'll kill you myself.

A cure.

Becoming a Shadowhunter.

Becoming someone worthy of the Lightwoods' approval.

Potentially dying for it.

It was decision I had to make carefully.

But I'd already made my choice and I know there are going to be a whole lot of people who aren't going to like what it is.

***************

So...that is the final chapter of BOOK 1!!!

I can't believe I've finished this book like...how the hell?

Yes, there will be a second book which will explore the cliffhanger I left you guys on ;) and delve further into Cami's future, especially now you know the 'cure' is to drink from the mortal Cup and become a proper, fully-fledged Shadowhunter.

Do you guys think Cami will drink from it just to break her curse or do you think she'll question Valentine's judgement, choose not to drink because she doesn't trust him?

What do YOU think her choice is?

Also, I'm DEEPLY sorry that there wasn't a whole lot of Alemi moments in this book and that it took SO LONG to get to them being in a relationship and then they didn't get to explore it cause Cami was taken by Valentine but I PROMISE there will be a lot more in Book 2 because the basis for their relationship was been formed :)

I'm currently writing BOOK 2 now, so stay tuned!

Happy Reading!! xx