Disclaimer: SOME of the dialogue in this chapter, all characters (but Grace and Philip), the main story line and settings belong to the magnificent Cassie Clare. Grace, Philip and my own story plot belong to me. The Infernal Devices do not belong to me.

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'What about us?
What about all the times you said you had the answers?
What about us?
What about all the broken happy ever afters
What about us?
What about all the plans that ended in disaster?
What about love? What about trust?
What about us?'

- What About Us, Pink

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-*-*-*-*- Grace -*-*-*-*-

The carriage rolled up to the Lightwood's house in Chiswick quite quickly, Charlotte having given Cyril orders to hurry. Grace peaked through the curtains to see just how grand it was. Will had told her that he and Tessa had come here to spy on Benedict during a ball but she doubted they would have seen this.

Grace was the first out of the carriage followed by Jem, who help Tessa down. Not paying any heed to the conversation between the Institute's inhabitants, Grace strode over to another carriage that was drawn up just in front of the steps of the house. Already, her stomach was twisting. It was the Blackthorn family carriage. Obviously Tatiana and her husband had decided to pay a call, which meant one thing:

Philip's brother was here.

Grace savagely yanked the door to the carriage open to banish her thoughts and peered inside. There was blood and slime on the seats and floor, as well as a trail of it leading out into the gardens. Grace crouched on the ground, examining the green-like slime.

"That's definitely demon residue," Jem said, coming up behind her. "But the blood..." They both knew what he was saying. Jem knew about Grace's complicated relationship with Philip. He had helped her buy the apartment for him, although he wasn't sure if it was a good idea. But he was kind enough to know that Philip meant something to Grace, even if she hadn't figured it out herself yet. Grace thought that Jem felt bad for how he had treated Philip during the weeks when she was asleep. Maybe this was his way of saying sorry.

"Do you think we should call for Philip?" Jem said in a low voice so the others couldn't hear. Grace pressed her lips together. She paid Philip a weekly visit and knew that he had recovered from having his Marks stripped, but she didn't want him here. He was no longer a Shadowhunter; he couldn't be here.

"No," she said, standing up. She was about to walk away but Jem caught her arm.

"Grace," he said in her ear. "It's his brother."

"They weren't close," she replied curtly. But her voice lowered. "Trust me, Jem. Please. I don't think he should be here." But she wasn't sure whether it was for his sake or her own.

Jem nodded. "All right," he said. "I trust your judgement." They re-joined the group and decided how to split up. Gideon and Gabriel were to go around the west side of the house while Will, Jem and Grace would take the east side, Cecily and Tessa with them. Henry would search the house for any clues.

Will lead the way into the gardens with Grace just behind him. Jem was watching their backs, as always. Tessa and Cecily brought up the rear, both refusing to stay by the carriages much to Will's annoyance. He was worried for both if them; it was very easy for Grace to tell.

"So, how big are we talking when Gabriel says a 'giant worm'?" Grace asked as she peaked cautiously around some rose bushes.

"Use your imagination, Gracey," Will said. "The word 'giant' might be a clue." There was a sudden crunch and Grace and Will whipped around, fearing the worst. Tessa had stumbled in her gold wedding dress on the gravel, and Jem had caught her, steadying her on her feet.

"Tessa," Grace sighed. "Perhaps you should go back to the carriages."

"No," Tessa said. "I'm not leaving you. Just because I'm not as good a fighter as you, doesn't mean you should send me away."

"I don't mean to offend you," Grace said slowly. She was only half paying attention. Something didn't feel right about this garden. She was missing something, but what? "I just don't think even Will could fight in a wedding dress."

"But I would be a radiant bride," Will pointed out. "Please, Tessa, and Cecily for that matter, go back to the hous-" The sound of running feet alerted the group enough for Will to stop talking.

Tatiana Blackthorn came running around the corner, tears streaming down her face. "Help!" She cried. "Please, help me! That beast made off with my darling Rupert!" She threw herself dramatically into Will's arms who spluttered and heaved her off him. Grace felt that awful cold twist in her stomach again. So Philip's brother was missing.

"Tatiana," Will said, trying to be serious. "What happened? Where is the demon and your husband?" Tatiana continued crying and sobbing, refusing to answer Will's questions.

"It just seized him and made off with him," she sobbed. "I screamed and screamed but it wouldn't release him."

"You just screamed at it?" Grace said. "You did nothing else to save your oh-so-precious husband?"

"Tessa," Jem said, shooting Grace a warning look. "Perhaps you should assist Mrs Blackthorn to the front of the house."

"No, no," Tatiana wailed. "Don't leave me alone and unprotected." Grace rolled her eyes and trudged on through the gardens, allowing Tessa and Jem to sort out Tatiana before Grace lost her temper.

Recently, she'd had to be a lot more careful when it came to controlling her emotions. There had already been a few more incidents where she had somehow set fire to things just by touching them. It was mostly when she was angry, but it scared her more than anything. It was best to try and stay as passive as possible.

But she wasn't Jem. Calm just wasn't in her nature. Why couldn't she have inherited her father's gentle and easy personality? It would have made everything so much easier. Instead, she had her mother's fiery determination and fight. Yes, there were times when she was glad for that, but there were always others when she wasn't.

Grace rounded the corner of the house and into the Italian garden. It looked in pretty good order, despite the lack of gardeners in the past few weeks to care for it. After checking that the garden was clear, she took a step forward to move on.

Boom!

Grace was thrown off her feet as the fabled giant worm exploded from the ground. She slammed onto her back as earth tumbled around her having been launched into the air. The worm rose before her, thrashing about and screeching in the sunlight. It was the colour of decaying flesh and definitely smelt as bad. A painful, high pitched sound was ringing in her ears as she caught her breath but she saw Will, Jem and Cecily run around the corner.

"Grace, move!"  Will yelled as the worm crashed down, its teeth whirring. Grace managed to roll to the side painfully, just missing the worm by millimetres. She sprang to her feet and whipped out a short sword, slicing at Benedict's side. It screamed and buried itself in the dirt again.

Will and Jem raced to her side as they surveyed where the worm had gone. "Are you all right?" Jem asked, cupping his cool hand around Grace's cheek, his silver eyes examining her for injury.

"Yes, I'm fine," Grace said, drawing away and not meeting Jem's gaze. "Thanks for the heads up, Will." Will just nodded.

"Where did Benedict go?" Cecily asked as she walked through the headgerows. "He can't have gone far."

"Probably gone to eat up the rest of his son in-law," Will muttered. Grace bit her lip. So Rupert was dead then. God, how was she going to tell Philip?

"It  is probably trying to discern how to attack us next," Jem said, watching his surroundings carefully. "Where are the Lightwood brothers? They said-"

The ground exploded again right in front of Cecily. Will, Jem and Grace ducked to avoid the huge chunks of earth that rained down on them but in the panic, Grace could hear Will shouting at Cecily to run.

But Cecily didn't do as she was told. She had drawn one of her seraph blades, shouting at the worm and ordering it to back away. Benedict suddenly reared back then shot forward to snap up Cecily in its jaws.

"Cecily!" Will cried, starting forward but Grace was faster. She ran, hurdling a hedge and slammed into Will's sister, knocking them both to the ground and narrowly missing the worm's teeth.

"Grace!" Cecily said, her tone furious. "That was unnecessary!"

"And that was a stupid risk to take!" Grace shouted. "You need to learn to-" She didn't get to finish her sentence. Movement blurred in the corner of her vision. She shoved Cecily hard and sent her rolling away before diving the opposite way herself. The worm's jaws smashed into the ground just where the two girls were a moment ago.

Grace rolled to her feet but found herself staring right into Benedict's round, white eyes. She went for her sword, ready to slice Benedict to ribbons but a terrible voice filled her head.

"Yanluo," the worm hissed in Grace head. "We meet again. It has been such a long time."

"No," Grace whispered. She could aleady feel the pounding in her head, signalling Yanluo's presence. "No, no, no, not now. Please, not now."

"Do not speak to me, fowl creature,"  Yanluo replied. Grace couldn't help it. The words just spilled out of her mouth. "You failed the Magister, my only way to freedom. You deserve nothing from me."

"I give you fair warning, Greater Demon of Edom," Benedict screeched. "You shall be expelled from this Earth soon enough. If you do not act soon, you will never be the powerful King of Hell that you once were."

"What would you have me do?"  Yanluo asked. Grace was paralysed. She couldn't move, despite screaming at herself to run.

"That you'll have to work out for yourself," the worm said, a strange, twisted laugh coming from its mouth. "But I can kill your little Shadowhunter host."

-*-*-*-*- Jem -*-*-*-*-

Jem didn't know what to think as Grace just stood frozen in front of the giant worm, their gazes locked. Neither of them were attacking. They just stood there, not moving an inch. Desperately shouting at her to move, Jem ran, trying to distract the worm and get its attention away from his sister.

What was she doing? Why wasn't running? He felt sick with fear. It was a fact that Benedict never liked Grace, but did he hate her now as a demon? Surely he would be trying to kill her if he did hate her now as much as he did then. Unless... Jem's stomach contracted. This was Yanluo's doing. It had to be.

"Will!" Jem yelled, desperate to get his parabatai's attention. "Will, help!" But Will couldn't hear him over the worm's screeches. He was too busy trying to get to Cecily who was still on the floor after Grace had saved her.

"Come on, Grace!" Jem shouted. "Snap out of it! Fight it!" Suddenly, the worm let out a hissed and charged down at Grace. A knife in his heart twisted. "Grace!" He screamed. Jem ran, grabbed hold of her and yanked her back towards him just as the worm dove back into the ground, disappearing under the surface.

Grace and Jem tumbled together over the grass until they came to a stop near a marble statue. Jem stood, holding his sister by the shoulders and forcing her to look at him. It was what he feared. Her eyes were glowing a vicious red.

"What on Earth were you doing, Grace?" He asked her but not angrily. He threw his arms around her. "By the Angel, you scared me to death."

"I'm sorry," she whispered, shaking in his arms. "I'm so sorry. It was talking to me. The worm was talking to me. It was talking to Yanluo. I couldn't stop it. Jem, I think-"

Cecily screamed as the worm burst from the ground again, knocking Will off his feet. Obviously dazed, Will couldn't seem to move as the demon wrapped its tail around his waist, pinning him in place. Will struggled and looked up at Jem.

"Will!" Jem cried. Fear washed over him all over again. He snatched up his sword-cane and threw it in Will's direction. It rolled next to his hand and Will seized it up to defend himself. But it was too late. The worm was already attacking.

Thunk!

Out of nowhere, an arrow embedded itself into the demon's tail. It screeched and reared back, releasing Will from its deadly grip. Grace and Jem ran forward simultaneously, each grabbing hold of Will and dragging him away from the worm.

"Will, Will, are you all right?" Jem asked. In reply, Will shook himself out of the Carstairs' siblings' grip.

"Cecily," he said, scanning the gardens. "Get off me! Get off me! Where's Cecily?" The group turned back to the worm which the Lightwood brothers were now battling after coming from the west side of the house. Gideon was slicing away at its flesh while Gabriel was shooting arrow after arrow, although neither of them seemed to be having that much of an effect.

Jem turned to Grace who looked pale but determined. "Can someone explain to me why Cecily is half way up a tree?" She asked. Jem watched at Will snapped his gaze to the tree his sister was climbing.

Before Jem could stop him, his parabatai went charging yet again into battle. Grace cursed next to him. "Once this is all over," she said, "I'm going to kill him." And with that, she sprinted to follow him.

Jem sighed. Why did he have to be the sensible one? It was hard work keeping one of them out of trouble, but two? Really? He drew a seraph blade and followed his siblings.

-*-*-*-*- Grace -*-*-*-*-

Getting to Cecily was harder than they thought. The worm was thrashing about, knocking over Shadowhunters with its tail. Not to mention that statues and bushes were flying everywhere as the worm ripped them up during the fight. The air was thick with dust, making it hard to see and breathe.

Grace slashed at the worm's tail with her short sword, cutting a deep gash but not quite severing it. The worm screeched, whipping around to face her. Grace dropped into a roll to avoid its teeth, clearing the way for Will to finish off the job and hacking off its tail.

Both of them were covered in burning inchor but ignored it. Grace spotted Jem slicing with his blade before disappearing again for another attack. The Lightwood brothers worked seamlessly as a team, taking it in turns to distract the worm while the other attacked. They were starting to turn the tables until Cecily leapt from her tree and straight onto the worm's back.

"What the hell  is she doing?" Will yelled. "She's going to get herself killed!" Grace made a noise of frustration. That girl never thought anything through. She jammed her sword into her belt.

"Will!" She shouted. She gestured to him, then the worm and then upwards. Will nodded in understanding, backing away and preparing himself. Grace looked up and the worm and blew some hair out of her face.

This was a very bad idea, she thought but before she could convince herself not to do it, she ran at Will. She used his knee as a boost then place her other foot in his linked hands as he propelled her up. Grace landed on the worm's back and nimbly ran across it, holding her arms out to keep her balance. She just caught sight of Jem's shocked and panicked face as she ran.

Maybe it was better to ask forgiveneas than permission when it came to her brother.

She made it to Cecily who was stabbing a tiny dagger into the worm, as if it could do any damage. "Cecily!" She yelled. "This is a stupid idea! Get off with me before you get everyone killed!" Will's sister turned. She opened her mouth to make an angry retort but Benedict twisted his head around, opening his huge jaws. Grace's heart lurched into her mouth. She dropped into a crouch and swept her leg around, kicking Cecily right in her stomach. Cecily tumbled off the worm and disappeared.

The worm, instead of eating Cecily, sank its jaws into its own flesh. Inchor that spirted out from the wound splattered Grace's arms and face. As if sensing weakness, the worm snapped at her, just catching her left shoulder with one of its teeth as she fell back. She cried out in pain, gritting her teeth and ignoring the huge tooth protruding from her shoulder.

Grimacing, Grace drew her short sword and stabbed it through the worm's neck. It screeched and thrashed but Grace held its head up with all her strength. Her shoulder was in agony but this was the only way.

"Gabriel!' She screamed. "Shoot it!" Gabriel had notched an arrow and was aiming it but wasn't shooting.

"What are you waiting for?!" Will yelled, his voice raw. "Kill it!" Gabriel looked conflicted and scared.

"Just shoot it!" Grace shouted. Gabriel took one long look then let the arrow fly. It embedded itself into the worm's eye. Benedict let out one last screech then flopped forward, slamming into the ground. Losing her balance, Grace fell forward, dropping into a roll then rising to her feet, the worm dead behind her.

"Grace!' It was Jem, scrambling towards her. He put a hand on in her shoulder, steadying her on her feet. When he realised that Grace was swaying too much, he helped her to sit on the ground.

"That was extremely stupid," Jem told her, giving her a severe brotherly look. "Brave, but stupid."

"I agree," Grace said. Jem gave her a funny look.

"There must be some demon poison in that tooth if you're agreeing with me," he said worriedly. "Speaking of that tooth... This is going to hurt."

"What's going to hu-" Grace cut herself off with a cry of pain as Jem yanked the tooth from her shoulder.

"By the Angel!" She gasped. "A little warning please!"

"As I recall," Jem reminded her as he applied his steel to her shoulder. "You did exactly the same thing to Will in the warehouse a few months ago." Grace grimaced partly because of the memory of extracting shards of metal from Will's back, and partly because the steel was burning her a little too much.

"I know you hate the steel," Jem said softly.

"I'm fine," she said, watching the puncture hole close up where the tooth just was. "You worry too much."

"I know," he said quietly. "It's just...now that you've woken up, I don't ever want to lose you again." Jem gave her a smile and squeezed her hand. Oddly enough, the gesture reminded Grace of when they used to train in Shanghai. Whenever Grace had fallen from a jump, or cut herself on a knife, Jem was always there to patch up her wounds.

He was always there. Always.

He helped her to her feet. Will and Gabriel appeared to be having an argument with Cecily in the middle, holding her wrist which was clearly broken. Grace felt slightly guilty having been the one who kicked her off the worm in the first place.

"Look at those two," she said to Jem. "They're arguing over who gets to draw an iratze on Cecily."

"They've always fought over everything," Jem said. "But-" Suddenly Jem doubled up as if he'd been punched.

"Jem?" Grace asked, laying a hand on his shoulder. He tried to wave her away but that's when the coughing started. Blood splattered over his chin and hands as spasms racked his body. His knees buckled and Grace caught him as he slipped to the ground.

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Hello you lovely lot!

So, as I have been planning this chapter since the moment I started writing 'Cursed', I decided to make it 3000 words long ;). So yeah, an extremely long chapter for you which I hope wasn't boring.

What do we think about Benedict's and Yanluo's conversation? How is Grace going to react?

Vote and comment as always!

Love y'all!