Jace led the way to the infirmary. Alec, Magnus, Isabelle and Simon followed. Jace now had matted dreadlocks instead of blonde curls and a slight limp in his right leg. His coat was stained with copious amounts of what looked like mud and dried blood.

The infirmary was exactly the same as it had looked the last time he had visited. His wife still lay in the last bed on the left, still serenely placed under the life support spells.

Jace strode in, eyes only for Clary. Isabelle held the others at the door.

"Something isn't right." She whispered. "That isn't Jace."

"You're right. It looks more like..." Simon gulped.

"They're not even related!" Isabelle hissed.

"Well, the maniacal glint in the eye is the same." Alec added.

"Let's just go with it." Simon said. "I don't think he means any harm..."

"Hello, my love." Jace whispered, sitting at the bedside and leaning down to kiss Clary's forehead. "I've travelled a long way to see you again." The life support spells shimmered in a blue mist around her still form.

"Let's just see what he wants," Alec said, "and be prepared to use force if necessary."

They filed in the infirmary.

"You." Jace said, pointing at Magnus without looking away from Clary's face.

"What do you want, Shadowhunter?" Magnus drawled, rolling his cat-like eyes.

Jace smiled the same twisted, chipped smile and reached inside his coat to pull out a worn piece of cloth folded several times over. He tossed it at Magnus, who caught it and unfolded it.

"You're joking, right?" Magnus asked, brow furrowed.

"Jace, what is that?" Isabelle asked.

"Looks like a bunch of lines on a moldy piece of fabric." Simon said, adjusting his glasses as he peered over Magnus' shoulder.

"It's the rune cloth for an astral projection spell," Magnus said. "How the hell did you come by it?"

"Let's just say it's a long story and leave it there." Jace smirked.

"This is dangerous spellwork, you can't possibly-"

"You will do it. And you will do it now." Jace said quietly, pulling a dagger from his boot.

"If you think that a dagger will scare me-" Manus began.

The knife soared by Magnus' face by an inch, barely missing his left ear.

"I missed on purpose. Do not make the mistake of causing me to throw again." Jace said. He snapped his fingers and the knife soared back into his hand.

"Jace, what have you done?" Alec asked, shaking with anger.

"Nothing that you should worry your pretty little head about, brother." Jace smirked.

Magnus sighed and shook out the rune cloth, moving to the head of the empty bed next to Clary's and kneeling down on the floor.

"You'll need to lay down and cross your hands over your chest." Magnus said sharply, eyes unmoving from the cloth. Jace got up, catlike, and lay down on the bed.

"Like a mummy." Simon guffawed. Isabelle elbowed him.

"Oh, and by the way... If any of you were thinking about trying to kill me while I am still under the spell, I should tell you that I have protective runes on my skin that will burn you up before you even scratched my skin."

"Nonsense, there is no-" Isabelle began, but Jace pointed the knife at her.

"Don't test me." He said dangerously before laying down and crossing his hands over his chest.

"You'll have an hour." Magnus said, before dropping his head again.

The warlock began to mutter in another language, making some hand signs to go with it. After a moment he pulled a short dagger from his waist and cut his palm, smearing the blood between his hands and pressing it down on the cloth. A green fog seeped from the cloth, slithering around the bed and crawling up Jace's body, covering him in an emerald mist.

"He's under." Magnus said wearily, sitting back on his haunches and raising a shaking hand to his brow. Alec immediately went to his side, binding his injured hand.

"What is that spell?" Isabelle asked slowly.

"Astral projection is like sleep walking, except you're a ghost. You go to sleep and then walk right out of your body. It's very hard to do and takes an extremely high amount of energy, from the caster and subject both." Magnus panted.

"Why is Jace doing this?" Simon asked. "Doesn't it seem a little random?"

"He's trying to find Clary." Isabelle said softly. "He wants to find her ghost and bring it back to her body."

"Will she be okay?" Alec asked. "She's been gone a long time."

"To my knowledge, what Jace intends to do has never been done before..." Magnus said. "It will be difficult, Clary will be confused, perhaps unfindable."

"Well, I can't say that I can't blame him for trying. If I were him, I would do anything to get her back." Simon said.

"We all know Jace would do anything for Clary, but how do we know, judging by his hostile behavior, that he wouldn't harm one of us in the process?" Alec asked tiredly.

"All we can do is wait." Magnus finalized. "He's got one hour."