a/n: Hey everyone! So this chapter is only kind of an update. What I want to do is make an author's note that I'm sure will be read but since ffnet doesn't allow a/ns-as-chapters I decided to also post an excerpt of chapter 7 to cover my ass. The other reason I'm doing that is because I feel bad for A. how long I've made you wait, and B. what I'm about to say, which is: I'm rewriting GUP.

You can read about why I made this decision on my Jace blog (joancamilla dot tumblr dot com) but the short version is: I don't enjoy writing this story anymore, and I haven't for a long time. I'm unhappy with what I've written so far. I'm hoping that if I start over I can start being excited about Jace again, because she's a character that is very close to my heart.

The new story will be posted as a separate story, under the name Smoke and Mirrors. The plotline as it stands up to this point will probably largely stay the same, but the writing itself will change. One change I plan on making is shorter chapters with quicker updates, not by removing content, but by breaking it up. (Writing long chapters is one of the things I forced myself to do despite hating it.) Additionally, future plot points may be altered.

If anyone would like me to personally inform them when the new story is up, you can shoot me a message and I'll make a note to do just that. I hope you guys will stay along for the ride but if you're done then I completely understand, and wish you all the best. Thank you for supporting this story as it stands now.

And now here is part of chapter seven. I supposed you can consider this a preview/promo for the new story, as well as a peace offering.

The walk through the woods back to the parking lot wasn't long, but it was long enough for Jace to slip into her head, and she was startled when she came through the trees to find Adrian leaning against her truck.

"Adrian?"

He jumped and looked over at her, looking as startled as she did.

"Jace. Hey."

"Hey. Um, Aiden said you were heading home…?"

"Uh, yeah. I just, I left my jacket…" He jerked a thumb at her car.

"Oh. Yeah. Yeah! Sorry." Jace went around and unlocked the driver's side door, then hit the button to unlock the passenger seat. Adrian opened the door, but didn't grab his jacket; just waited for her to hop into the driver's seat before clearing his throat.

Jace looked over at him curiously. "What's wrong?"

Adrian was slightly unsettled that she immediately assumed something was wrong, but it was fair enough, considered how he was these days. "Nothing, I just...you're heading to...that one town, right? A couple hours away. With the...walls…"

Jace's mouth twitched in a smile. "Jericho."

"Yeah, that one. I just…" he swallowed and almost backed out, but then pushed ahead. "I wondered if I could tag along."

Jace hesitated. Admittedly, she'd been looking forward to a break from...well, Adrian, as horrible as that sounded. But then, she could see why Adrian himself would need a break too. Probably more than she did.

She nodded finally. "Sure. But I'm-I was planning on leaving now. So maybe we could go by your apartment and you could pack a bag and then we'll go?"

Adrian visibly relaxed as soon as she said that he could come. He nodded quickly and hopped inside the truck. "Absolutely. It won't take long, I pack quick, I promise."

Jace nodded and started the truck. She opened her mouth to say something, but she wasn't sure what to say, so she closed it, biting her lip, and kept her eyes trained on the road.

She almost didn't hear him when he mumbled "Thanks, by the way," a few moments later.

"Anytime."

A/N: Okay so I have no idea if this is common knowledge or not but I'm gonna throw it in just in case: the reason Adrian refers to Jericho as the town "with the walls" is because in the Bible, Jericho was a city surrounded by walls. Joshua (prophet, took over after Moses kicked it) decided that this was the first city the Israelites would conquer (after their 40 years of wandering the desert).

So God told them to walk around the city walls once a day for six days, in a specific procession, and on the seventh day to circle the city seven more times and then just fuckin shout at it and blow their horns at it and the walls will fall down, and they did. The Bible is a wild ride tbh and I'm saying that as a person of Abrahamic faith.