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

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'And I remember thinking
Are we out of the woods yet?
Are we out of the woods yet?
Are we out of the woods yet?
Are we out of the woods?
Are we in the clear yet?
Are we in the clear yet?
Are we in the clear yet?
In the clear yet, good.'

- Out Of The Woods, Taylor Swift

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-*-*-*-*- Sophie -*-*-*-*-

As soon as Sophie led Miss Gray down the steps into the crypt, she knew something was wrong. Mr Branwell was studying a clockwork girl that Mr Herondale had brought in from the Dark House earlier. Mr Carstairs was too busy making sure Grace was all right to go with him.

 Masters Jem and Will were now talking to Mrs Branwell in the corner. Master Jem was slumped against the wall and was only staying upright thanks to Master Will holding him up. Sophie's heart twisted when she thought Jem was ill...but no, he didn't look ill, just extremely worried and almost shattered.

"...found her in the rubble," Mr Herondale was saying to Mrs Branwell. "She's in her room now but...we need her medicine."

"Was it that bad?" Mrs Branwell seemed shocked and shaken. "We only have enough for one more dose, Will."

"Put it this way," Master Will said grimly, "if she hadn't of fought off whatever the Magister used to get to her, we'd be having a very different conversation. We were lucky it was just the one body, though we are not convinced that it was because of...well you know who. But right now, her medicine is the only way to get her better. She's too weak to fight it off this time." Mrs Branwell nodded.

"Very well, you may use her medicine," she said. "It sounds like we've all had very close calls today." She turned and caught Sophie's eye. "Ah, Sophie, will you please go with Jem to Grace's room and help him tend to her. You know how to administer her medicine." Sophie did a little bob but inside her heart was beating rapidly. It was not often she was alone with Jem and when she was, she found it incredibly uncomfortable.

Master Will murmured something to Master Jem before bounding up the stairs. Sophie took Jem's arm and began to lead him up after Mr Herondale.

"I hope your sister gets better, Jem," Tessa said to him gently as they passed. He managed a weak smile and nodded. It was not often that Sophie felt jealously, but she did right then.

-*-*-*-*- Tessa -*-*-*-*-

Tessa was surprised when she found herself outside Grace's room. It was just before dinner and she was about to leave to go to the dining room but something had stopped her. She quietly knocked on the door and when there was no answer, Tessa opened it.

Inside, Jem lay asleep in the armchair by the bed where Grace sat up, drawing. She looked extremely pale and fragile, her eyes glowing bright red but fading. Tessa had no idea why her eyes were red but they terrified her. The Codex said that Shadowhunters were meant to be good, angelic. Something about Grace seemed the very opposite of angelic. But at the same time, something about her seemed vulnerable, kind and sweet. Tessa had never felt such mixed emotions about a person.

"Good evening, Miss Gray. What can I do for you?" Grace said, not looking up from her drawing. Tessa didn't quite know what to say as there wasn't a real reason why she was here.

"Oh, just Tessa please...erm... I just wanted to see how you were and...well if you have recovered from whatever happened," Tessa stammered. Grace cocked her head to the side.

"You hardly know me, Tessa," Grace said. "Why would you care whether I live or die?" Tessa was slightly taken aback by her bluntness.

"I do care even if I hardly know you," Tessa said. "Jem and Will obviously care for you a lot."

"So it is because of my brother and Will that you are here," Grace said, smiling to herself a little.

"Well, yes and no," Tessa explained. "I think you don't let many people in. Last night at dinner you shut Jessamine out but was quite happy to talk to Will."

"Everybody shuts Jessamine out," Grace said harshly, turning away.

"I have been observing Will and Jem over the last couple of days," Tessa continued, unable to stop, "and from what they have told me about you, I can tell that you are not the person you act like." Grace just stared at her.

"I don't act like it," she said quietly. "I don't have a choice sometimes. Tessa, I know that you want to understand us but let me give you some advice, there are some people you don't want to understand."

"Like you?" Grace sat there staring at the unfinished drawing.

"Yes," she said finally.

"Will and Jem don't think that," Tessa said. "So why are you trying to make me believe that?" Grace hesitated and glanced at Jem who had curled up on the armchair.

"You know about the Clave, don't you?" Grace said. "Well, they don't like me very much. They think I damage the Shadowhunter name."

"Why?" Tessa asked.

"Just wait a moment," Grace said, taking a deep breath to compose herself. Tessa noticed her voice was shaking, like she was scared of what she was about to say. "Jem told you that we were orphans. Our parents were killed in the Shanghai Institute by a demon. But that demon did a lot more to me and Jem than make us orphans-" She broke off with a gasp as she dived forward, tumbling to the floor, and was hit by a wave of spasms. Tessa jumped back in shock.

"Jem!" she cried. "Wake up!" Jem jerked his head up, his eyes wide.

"Grace!" he exclaimed. He knelt by her side and let her lean against him on the floor, her head nestled in his shoulder while she gasped for breath. "Tessa! I need you to get that bottle from the table," Jem shouted. "Tessa, quickly!" he added when Grace rolled to the side and started hacking up blood and the contents of her stomach. 

Tessa scrambled for the bottle and passed it to Jem who poured the liquid into Grace's mouth. As soon as it passed her lips, she relaxed, tears trickling out of the corners of her eyes. Their crystals flashed all sorts of colours: green, black, red and blue. They meant something to Jem and Grace but nothing to Tessa.

"It's all right, Gracey," Jem whispered in Grace's ear. "It's all right. I've got you. I'm here. I'm not going to let you go."

"I just want it to go away, Jem," she sobbed. "Please make it go away. I can't- I can't do this anymore."

"Shh shh I've got you," Jem soothed. "If I could make it go away, I would within a second...but I can't."

Tessa felt like she was intruding on something very private. It was only now did she really understand what bonded Jem, Grace and Will together. She thought she understood because of her own brother, Nate who was missing. Tessa was extremely worried about him, and thought he would be too for her. But watching Jem now with Grace, she had trouble believing that Nate would do the same thing for her.

"I'm fine," Grace said, wiping away the tears. "I'm fine now."

"Are you sure?" Jem asked.

"Yes, you can let go of me," she said, her voice now firm. "Jem, let go." Jem released her and she wiped her mouth on her sleeve. "Thank you, Tessa, for helping me," she said to her. Tessa nodded, unable to speak.

"It's time for dinner," Jem said, running his hands through his hair. "I think we could all use some cheering up."

"I'm starving," Grace agreed. Jem sighed.

"The only reason I'm letting you out of bed is because there is no way I can convince you otherwise," he said. "Why did you inherit the stubbornness trait?" He let Grace use his arm for support and they walked out of the door, Tessa watching behind them.

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

"I swear by the Angel, Will, that if you don't stop straightening that gasolier right now I will chop it off the wall," Grace said to Will as he stood on top of the counter.

"Nonsense, Gracey," he said. "James, is that straight enough?"

"It was straight before you touched it," Jem said mildly. Grace looked at her brother. Just a few minutes ago, he was holding her on the floor in her bed room while she threw up everywhere. It was trying everything it could to get her to give up; that's why she was hit by the spasms. If she lost control of her body, it hoped she would lose control of it. But that wasn't going to happen.

"William Herondale, I believe that the gasolier is now straight," Grace sighed, sitting back in her chair.

"What are you doing up anyway, Gracey?" Will asked.

"I was hungry," Grace said with a shrug. "The medicine helps."

"You still don't look-"

"I am perfectly aware of what I look like, William," Grace said with a smirk, "and I can say it's a lot better than you right now." It was true though. Grace looked and felt awful. But she refused to let it beat her. That was the real reason she was at dinner and not curled up in bed.

"Now that is just simply rude," Will replied. Suddenly Henry burst in, exclaiming that he had finally got the Phosphor right. Before Grace could do anything, Henry turned the device on. The room was plunged into darkness, only to be illuminated by Grace's witchlight stone which she pulled out of her pocket. There was an enormous crash as Will fell off the side board. Charlotte shrieked with surprise as she came back into the room. "What are you doing, Will?"

"Straightening the gasolier," Will replied. "Until Henry  turned off all the lights."

"I guess we will be eating by witchlight," Grace muttered. Charlotte turned to her.

"And what are you doing out of bed, Grace Carstairs?" she asked sternly.

"I was hungry," Grace lied again, ignoring Will's look and Jem raising his eyebrows.

"I could have had Agatha bring food to you," Charlotte said. "You've had quite an ordeal, Grace. You need to be resting."

"I'm fine," Grace said. "I've had my medicine and well... I don't think we need to worry about Tessa anymore. No offense, of course."

"She is still a Downworlder, Grace," Charlotte said. "You know the laws the Clave made for you."

"Yeah, but she's my friend. In the Clave's eyes making friends with Downworlders is breaking the law for anyone," Grace shrugged, leaving it at that.

They sat down to eat. Grace listened as Charlotte told them about Mortmain and agreed straight away with Jem when he said he made his money from opium. Henry told her that Will had found a metal girl called an automaton after they had found her at the Dark house. Then it was her turn.

She explained where she had woken up and how she fought the metal men. The last bit was harder to explain. She admitted that she asked Will not to mention the demon medallion to anyone, especially Jem. She then told them how the automatons used it to try and draw it  out. Then someone had stopped them. Grace told them how it was clear that they worked for the Magister but he stopped the automatons before it was too late for Grace. Afterwards she had lost consciousness so she didn't know what she did.

All through her story, she didn't look at Jem but she could imagine the look of betrayal on his face. Both Will and Grace hadn't told Jem, the two people Jem thought he could trust. Grace felt really bad but she wanted to protect her brother as much as she could. She felt even worse when her crystal was glowing a faint green with a twist of blue. Jem was hurting and was feeling sad because of her.

"So that's what happened to me," she said.

"Why didn't you tell us, Grace?" Charlotte asked. "We could have helped you."

"Will went back to destroy the medallion but...the Magister must have got it before Will could," Grace said.

"I'm sorry, but why is this medallion so important?" Tessa asked. "I understand it hurt you, Grace, but I'm not sure why. No one has explained to me why your eyes turn red or what happened to you. I think I deserve to know." Everyone was silent but looking at Jem and Grace.

"As I said before, Tessa," Grace said finally. "There are some things you don't want to understand."

"But I do want to understand," Tessa said. "You've all helped me and you are still helping me now to find my brother. I want to help you in return." Grace sighed and looked at Jem who nodded.

"Come with me," Grace said.

"Grace, you don't have to do this," Will muttered. "You don't have to tell her everything. In fact, you shouldn't tell her everything."

"She should know what she is up against, Will," Grace said. "She doesn't need to know the rest." Tessa stood and followed her out of the room.

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