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Chapter Text

The hardest part of missing you is knowing you still roam the earth loving people who aren't me.

-Unknown

It had been a whole year. One whole year of trying to get back to normal.

Everyone felt it, whether or not they felt it in the same way. Clary’s absence had been weighing on them for a year now. And it hadn’t gone away.

Which was what led Jace to even proposing the crazy idea in the first place. He started with just Izzy and Simon. Mostly because they were the only ones in New York, and also because he figured he would need their support when he went to ask Alec and Magnus.

“That’s a new level of insanity,” Simon finally said. “And coming from the mundane turned vampire turned daylighter turned daylighter Shadowhunter, that’s saying something.”

Izzy’s lips twitched. “I’m with Simon on this, Jace. Besides, don’t you think the angels would just turn their wrath on us if we did accomplish that?”

“Screw the angels,” Jace said. “It’s been a year. Whatever Clary did—resurrecting Valentine, creating the alliance rune—don’t you think killing Jonathan should have canceled all that out? I mean, what else could she have done? Let him run around killing people? No, she saved them, she saved us. And for that, she was rewarded with memory loss.”

“And that sucks,” Simon said, crossing his arms. “You have no idea how much it had taken me to stop myself from dragging her to the Silent Brothers or—or Magnus, but I don’t because that could backfire on her.” He let his arms fall to his side. “I know how you guys felt about each other, but you didn’t know her as long as I have. At least you still have Alec and Izzy. Everyone I used to know… I’ve lost to the Shadow World. My mom thinks I’m dead. Clary doesn’t remember me. I barely get to see Becky anymore. I’d give a lot to go back to the way things were, but I can’t and it’s no use to think about the what ifs.”

Jace didn’t say anything for a while. “You know, I expected Alec to be the one I would have a hard time trying to convince.”

“Oh, no,” Izzy said. “You’ll still have a hard time with him. There’s no way he’ll approve of this ever.” She smirked. “And even less of a chance that he’ll let Magnus help you. Which pretty much means you’re doomed.”

“Please,” Jace said, looking Simon and Izzy in the eyes. “Please. Just… can you hear what Magnus has to say before you turn me down?”

“You said please,” Simon said.

Jace rolled his eyes. “I can’t believe you.”

“Alright,” Simon said with a grin. “But only because you said please. And,” he added quickly, “I’ll go along with this if you stop doing that boop boop when we’re training.”

Jace gave him a look like seriously? “You’ve got a month free of boops.”

“I’ll take it,” Simon said.

Izzy sighed. “Fine. We’ll go with you to talk to Magnus. They’re heading back here tomorrow anyway. I guess we can talk then.”

The idea was certifiably insane. Laughable even. And undoubtedly impossible. Nothing like it had ever been mentioned happening before and if it had been done before, Jace suspected it would have been something Valentine would have attempted even with his disdain for Downworlders.

When Alec and Magnus arrived—a great big portal in the middle of the Institute to announce their arrival—Jace wasted no time pulling them aside to his room and dragging Simon and Izzy with him.

“Absolutely not,” Alec said as soon as the idea left Jace’s mouth. “No way. You are not doing that. Not even for Clary.”

“Are you saying you wouldn’t do the same for Magnus?” Jace demanded.

Alec’s face flushed a light pink. “I’m saying that we can’t risk it. What you’re proposing has never been done before, Jace. As much as I would love to change a lot of things—” his face darkened as he said that “—we just can’t risk it. I mean, let’s say we did manage to—to time travel. What if something goes wrong and we end up in the middle of Valentine’s hideout? What happens when he tortures every detail about the future out of us?”

“I’d like to say I resent the fact that you think I’d let that happen, Alexander,” Magnus inputted. “As the one who would doubtlessly be casting the spell.”

Alec held up a finger. “That’s another thing. How do you know that this wouldn’t backfire on Magnus? It’s like you said, Jace. No one’s ever done this before. I can’t risk Valentine getting information out of us, nor can I risk Magnus’s life!”

Izzy leaned back against a wall and crossed one foot over the other. “Told you,” she said to Jace.

“Magnus, just tell me if it’s even possible,” Jace begged.

The warlock was silent for a moment. He seemed to be debating what to say while Alec frowned at him.

“It’s theoretically possible,” Magnus admitted. “And I can tell you it’s been an area of interest for the warlock community since… well, many, many centuries ago. I’ve thought about it before too.”

“So you could send me back,” Jace said.

Magnus sighed. “In theory like I said. There are many ways to approach time travel. A spell to slow down time around you so much that it moves backwards. Severing the mind and soul from your body and sending that back in time to your younger self’s body. Making a portal that transcends space and time. Good ideas in theory, but they all come with no small list of cons.”

Alec leaned forward. Even if he turned down the idea, he couldn’t say the theory didn’t intrigue him. “Like what?”

“Now you’re interested?” Magnus raised an eyebrow.

“Haha.”

Magnus held up his hands. “Alright. If you were to slow down time, you’d need a warlock with you to break the spell. The first problem is finding a warlock willing to risk their life like that. If the spell goes wrong, you’d both end up dead or going back through time for all eternity. The second problem is that you would essentially replace whatever version of you exists in the time you traveled to. The way the spell would work is protecting you from the changes of time, so Jace were to travel this way, he would appear as this version of Jace rather than that time’s Jace. Not so much a problem now, but in a few years if you attempted this, it would be rather obvious he’s not eighteen.”

“Okay, fine,” Jace said. “So that’s out. What about the other theories?”

“Severing the mind and soul?” Magnus asked. “Oh, there are a lot of problems there. One, that’s extremely dark magic and no warlock in his right mind would perform that for a Shadowhunter regardless of how friendly they are. Two, it would be near impossible to ensure that the mind and soul actually make it into the correct bodies. Three, by replacing the past mind and soul with a future mind and soul, you essentially kill the past mind and soul, so there’s some moral implications there. Four, you would erase the future you traveled from if done right. Again, moral implications. You’d be erasing billions of people from existence.”

Simon stared at Magnus. “Time travel is sounding less and less cool. Which is disappointing because it always looks cool in the sci-fi shows.”

“Hmm, yes, no time traveling police box or spaceships in real life,” Magnus agreed. “Though, the portal would be the closest you could get to that. Still, you run into problems there. By going the portal route, you wouldn’t be replacing your past self.”

“Meaning there would be two Jace’s running around,” Izzy said. “Which is one too many.”

“Hey!” Jace protested.

Izzy blew him a kiss.

“Yes,” Magnus said. “Two Jace’s. You’d have to be careful not to interact with your past self which means you would have a hard time changing anything. And, you’d be stuck there unless you had a warlock with you to open a portal back to your time. Which would be changed and you would have no recollection of the changes which is a problem in itself.” He paused. “And of course, you would have to focus on keeping anchored to your own memories. Otherwise, you become part of that world.”

“Like the alternate world Clary talked about,” Simon said.

“Exactly like that,” Magnus said.

Izzy frowned. “Wait. But then why isn’t that a risk with the other theories?”

“Because you don’t belong,” Magnus answered. “When Clary was in the alternate universe, both she and that universe’s Clary existed in the same body. However, our Clary didn’t belong in that world. Likewise, if there are two of you running around, in the past, only the past version of you belongs. In the other theories, there is only one of you, so you belong.”

“This is making my head hurt,” Simon groaned.

“What’s the best option then?” Jace asked.

Magnus sighed as Alec gave him a pointed look. “If I had to pick one? Severing the mind and soul. If you can live with basically killing your younger self.”

“I can do that,” Jace said. “So now what?”

“Now you torture yourself with what ifs,” Alec said. “You can’t do this. Did you not hear all the things that could go wrong?”

“Think about all the things that could go right,” Jace said. “I can get Clary back, maybe prevent this idiot from going to Camille—” he jerked a finger at Simon.

“Hey!” Simon protested.

“—somehow talk you out of proposing to Lydia,” Jace continued. “I don’t know, maybe I’ll lock you in Magnus’s apartment. Oh, I can prevent myself from touching the damn Soul Sword. That would be nice. Maybe get Hodge before he betrays us. I mean, really, Alec, this is a solution.”

“A risky solution,” Alec said. “Did it occur to you that the angels were the ones to do this to Clary? You’d be going directly against them—”

“Don’t care,” Jace said. “I want to get Clary back.” He gave Alec a look. “Come on, man. She deserves better. I mean, what? She’s an art student who draws vague images of our past?” He took out his phone. “Look at this one. That’s your wedding, Alec.” He held up the picture for Alec to see.

“Maybe,” Alec allowed. “But we just have to believe that she’ll remember again. Just wait—”

“I’m done waiting,” Jace said. He put his phone away and looked directly at Alec. “You know you’d do the same for Magnus or for Izzy. And I’m your parabatai. I’d stand by you.”

Alec looked at Magnus who shrugged. “Your choice, Alexander.”

“You have to make sure nothing happens to Magnus,” Alec said, looking back at Jace. “Okay? I mean, research this and make plans and everything. I don’t want anything to backfire on him.”

Jace broke into a grin. “Anything. I promise. No time travel until we’re absolutely sure.”

“You don’t have to do this,” Alec told Magnus.

Magnus smiled. “I know. But I do rather miss Biscuit. Things have gotten a lot less… exciting since she left.”

Alec snorted. “That’s one way to put it.”

“Don’t tell me you don’t miss running around sneaking injured Downworlders into my apartment,” Magnus said. “Or the countless demon fights on the streets of New York.”

“Those actually still happen,” Izzy volunteered. “Not the injured Downworlder sneaking thing, the demon fights in the streets.”

Alec gave her a look. “So how do we do this?” he asked.

Magnus made a face. “I have to contact Lorenzo and Catarina.”

“Lorenzo?” Alec asked incredulously. “I mean, I know he’s less of an ass now, but…”

“He’s still the High Warlock of Brooklyn,” Magnus said. “And I’m going to need help casting the spell. Perhaps I should call Tessa too,” he mused. “Might as well. I’ll need her for this.” He turned to face the group. “In the meantime, I suggest you all organize a timeline of events and figure out the best time to travel to.”

“The day we met Clary at Pandemonium,” Izzy said. “I mean, that’s when it all started, right? We can go home with her, protect Jocelyn from the Circle, and take them back to the Institute.”

“She ran out of there like the place was on fire,” Alec said flatly. “We freaked her out. Besides, that’s too risky of a place to start. We can’t risk messing that mission up. If something happens and we end up arriving during our fight with the demons…”

“Let me guess, bad?” Simon said. “So, I have a question. What happens to me if I go back? Because I’m a vampire right now. Daylighter. Whatever. If I go back, am I still mundane?”

“Well, not all of you can go back,” Magnus said.

“Excuse me?” Izzy asked.

Magnus sighed. “I can’t just send the five of us back like that. I’m not sure if you realize how much it will take for me to guide your souls and minds into the right bodies. Let alone keep them with their match. Two can go.”

“Jace and Simon,” Izzy said immediately. “They’re closest to Clary. Besides, then we can put an end to the love triangle, hmm? And the brother-sister thing too.”

“A good idea,” Magnus said. “Except the Daylighter. He can’t go.”

Simon’s jaw dropped. “What?”

“You said it yourself,” Magnus said. “We have no idea what it will be like for you. Not to mention the eternal question, Do vampires have souls? It could be that you return only as a vampire. You won’t have angel blood in your veins to make you a Daylighter. And if you just happen to be standing in the sun…” He made a poof gesture with his hands. “Good bye, Sherwin.”

Simon looked ill. “Oh. Time travel is sounding really not fun.”

“Jace and Alec then,” Izzy said. “They’re parabatai. It will be helpful to have them knowing about time travel. I mean, you do remember how weak your bond got? This could strain it further.”

“I can’t go,” Alec said. “I… I want to. Believe me, there are many things I’d like to do. But I can’t go back.”

Izzy gave him an understanding look. “Magnus.”

“I’m married,” Alec said. “To this Magnus. Not the past Magnus. We’ve been through a lot and if I just went back, I’m not sure I could wait around for my Magnus to show up. It’s not even a guarantee. I just… it would be like I’m cheating on my husband. I can’t.”

“It would be like I never existed,” Magnus reminded him. “I wouldn’t exist. You wouldn’t be—”

“I just can’t,” Alec said. “It has to be Izzy and Jace. Not me.” He let out a breath. “Just… try not to let me make the same mistakes.”

Izzy reached out and squeezed Alec’s shoulder. “Okay. Knock some sense into you before you propose to Lydia. I can do that.”

“This will erase both of us,” Magnus said.

“Till death do us part.”

“If you guys start kissing, I’m going to throw you out a window,” Jace said.

Alec threw him a dirty look.

“I’m going to contact Lorenzo, Cat, and Tessa,” Magnus said. He pulled some paper out of a drawer.

“Don’t go through my stuff!” Jace protested.

Magnus ignored him and scrawled out three messages, sending them up in flames and flying out the window. “They’ll be here tomorrow. Eight.”

“You know that for a fact?” Alec teased.

Magnus puffed out his chest. “I’m the High Warlock of Alicante, Alexander. Of course they’ll come.”

“You really like lording that over Lorenzo, don’t you?”

“Just a bit.”

Alec grinned and leaned over to kiss Magnus when Jace interrupted with a loud cough. Alec sighed and turned to look at Jace. “I’m going to kick you out of your own room,” he said flatly.

Jace made a face. “Gross. Use Simon’s.”

“Whatever,” Alec said. “Jace, Izzy, make a list of everything that happened between meeting Clary and the wedding. Lydia and I’s wedding, I mean. Whenever it is you go back to, it’s going to be then. Actually, I’ll help you with that. Simon, you help Magnus gather whatever he needs for this.”

“We should be able to get everything except one thing,” Magnus said. “Hopefully, Tessa can give us that tomorrow.”

Simon frowned. “Who’s Tessa?”

“Warlock,” Alec answered.

“And a dear friend,” Magnus added. “You’re actually related to her,” he told Jace. “Through her son James Herondale.”

“So my great-great-great grandmother is helping me time travel,” Jace said. He sighed. “Great.”

“You’re insane.”

“Not quite yet.”

“You’ve made many foolish decisions, Bane, but this takes the cake.”

“It’s Lightwood-Bane, actually.”

“Are you even listening to what I said?”

Izzy and Simon’s heads swiveled back and forth between Lorenzo and Magnus as they argued about the time travel spell. Catarina and Alec were both discussing the spell in low tones, occasionally Alec would point to a spot on the paper and say something. Catarina would frown and nod, then jot something down. Jace looked like he was seconds away from strangling Lorenzo.

Tessa was the only one who looked lost. She had arrived halfway through Magnus and Lorenzo’s argument which had mostly evolved into insults rather than an actual argument.

“Okay, enough,” Alec finally said. “Hi, Tessa.”

She smiled warmly. “Hello, Alec. Magnus, I’m sorry, what’s going on?”

Magnus gave Lorenzo one last glare before he turned to face Tessa. A bright smile graced his face and if no one had witnessed the argument before, they might have assumed he and Lorenzo were having a friendly chat.

“Tessa!” Magnus cried. “We were just having an exciting conversation about time travel.”

The smile fell from her face. “Time travel?”

“We’re going to send Izzy and I back in time to save Clary and hopefully stop Valentine before he can do much,” Jace said.

“That’s why you need me,” Tessa said, shaking her head. “Eidolon blood.”

“Eidolon?” Simon repeated.

Tessa grimaced. “Dear old dad’s an eidolon demon. I’m a shapeshifter. Change. If you’re attempting time travel, you’re attempting change. Eidolon blood is a pretty important ingredient here.” She sighed. “I’ll help you Magnus, but you have to promise to be careful.”

Magnus threw his hands up in the air. “Why does everyone keep making me promise to be careful? As if I’d do anything short of perfection.”

“Because we all know you,” Catarina said, looking up from her notes with Alec. “And you’re the last person to show restraint when it comes to complicated spells that help people you care about.”

Magnus paused. “You… make a fair point.”

“I’m sorry, why are you all acting like this is a done deal?” Lorenzo interrupted. “I for one, am not going to humor you in your quest to unlock the secrets of time. There is a reason no one attempts this kind of magic, and if something were to go wrong we would be sent to the Gard or sentenced to death or stripped of runes,” he said, gesturing to the Shadowhunters. “Or the angels—which in case you’ve forgotten are the ones who you are trying to outsmart—might smite us all! No thank you.”

“Think of it as paying Magnus back for saving all our lives last year,” Alec said.

“I cleared my debt when I joined the rescue party,” Lorenzo said.

“Then think of it as returning the favor I did when I got you out of that chameleon prison,” Alec said.

“That was Catarina,” Lorenzo pointed out.

Alec crossed his arms unamused. “And she wouldn’t have known if I didn’t tell her.”

Lorenzo sighed. “Fine. I’ll help, but I don’t like this idea. If the Spiral Labyrinth found out about this—”

“They’d kill us?” Tessa guessed. “Just like the Clave or the angels? Not much of an increased threat there.”

“Whatever.” Lorenzo eyed Jace. “Don’t mess this up. I like my life. I would like my life to be very much the same. I also would like to keep my boyfriend.”

“You and Underhill will be invited to Alec and Magnus’s wedding, don’t worry,” Izzy assured him. “Even if you have no idea why.”

“I don’t suppose I get a choice in the matter?” Magnus asked.

“No,” Izzy and Lorenzo said.

“How far back are you going?” Catarina asked.

Izzy cleared her throat. “I was actually thinking about that. While it would be amazing to go back to the day we met Clary because we could also save Jocelyn from Valentine, it’s not practical. I think Jace and I might be disoriented a little and depending on when that day we end up, that could be bad. But if we went to the day Lydia arrived, then any strangeness can be passed off as because of her arrival. It’s a good cover.”

“That’s a good idea,” Alec agreed. “But a lot of stuff happened that day.”

“The Forsaken attacks,” Jace remembered. “Hodge gets the ring to contact Valentine.”

“I died,” Simon added.

Izzy bit her lip. “Oh yeah. That’s when Raphael brought your body to us.”

“Hey,” Simon said. “I am surprisingly okay with becoming a vampire again. I just want to maybe not mess things up with my mom this time.”

“Keeping him a vampire is good,” Catarina said, nodding slowly. “And honestly, you might want to turn him into a Daylighter again. Think of it as a contingency plan if you can’t stop Lilith.”

Jace’s eyes flew wide. “Lilith! She could find out… everything from me.”

“Not if you don’t get yourself killed,” Alec said sharply.

“Come directly to me,” Magnus said. “If you do get killed in the fight. Hopefully, I’ll be able to separate you from the Owl. If not, I can at the very least put you in a stasis similar to Jocelyn until Lilith is no longer a threat.”

“You do actually have a plan,” Lorenzo said, looking mildly surprised.

“Half of a plan,” Tessa said. She frowned at Lorenzo. “I’m sorry. Who are you?”

“Lorenzo Rey,” Alec answered for the warlock. “High Asshole of Brooklyn.”

Tessa blinked. “You don’t like each other very much.”

“No,” Alec said.

“Not at all,” Magnus added.

“Nope,” Lorenzo said.

Catarina tried for a smile. “Isn’t it great to be working together?”

“Angel, help us,” Izzy muttered.

Probably not the best sentiment, all things considered, but if Lorenzo and Magnus managed not to kill each other, it would be a miracle.

The rest of the day was spent planning.

Magnus and Catarina spent hours drawing symbols on the floor of Jace’s room where they would be doing the ritual. Everything had to be perfect and since they didn’t have a master artist anymore, some of the runes and symbols had to be redrawn multiple times.

Lorenzo and Tessa busied themselves preparing the ingredients. According to Magnus, everything except the eidolon blood had to be mixed in a bowl in the middle of the circle of symbols he and Cat were drawing. Tessa’s blood would be the last ingredient to add before the warlocks took up the spell.

Jace and Izzy were going over the rough timeline of events they, Alec, and Simon had managed to piece together from memory and the Institute Archives.

“Raphael brings him by early morning,” Alec said, pointing to Simon. “So by the time you arrive back in time, it’s likely that you’ll already have found out about Simon. Lydia arrives as Valentine hours later. Maybe try to anticipate that so I’m not the only one she’s impressed with.”

“Except I’ll be with Clary the whole day,” Jace pointed out. “Because she couldn’t decide what to do about the mundane.”

“Not a mundane anymore,” Simon reminded him.

“Whatever.”

“According to the Archives, the Forsaken attack happened around ten that night,” Izzy reported. “There was an earlier attack at the Jade Wolf a couple hours after Lydia arrived. I’m not sure when, but Alec and Lydia went there around noon.” She hesitated. “Meliorn is arrested the next day. And so am I.”

“We still free Meliorn,” Jace said. “They’re going to arrest you, but Clary and I will be back with the Mortal Cup before that even happens. Once we find my ‘father’, I’m going to kill him and then give the Clave the Cup.”

“Don’t get cocky,” Alec warned. “Whatever Valentine has done, he’s still the man who raised you for years.”

“And Maryse and Robert finished the job,” Jace said. “And they did a lot better than Valentine. I can do it. I can.”

“Is everything set?” Tessa interrupted them. “Magnus is just finishing up.”

“Yeah,” Izzy said, taking a deep breath. “I think we’re good.”

“We’ve gone over the whole day,” Jace said. “Whenever we end up, we’ll be prepared.”

“You’ll need to clearly picture the time you want to end up in,” Magnus said.

“Right after Raphael brings us Simon,” Jace said.

Alec nodded slowly. “That’ll work. Picture that.”

“Got it,” Izzy said. “What do we do now?”

“After we activate the spell, you’ll need to step into the circle,” Lorenzo explained. “You cannot lose focus on your destination. There’s a failsafe. The spell can only take you back two years from today, but if you lose focus of your destination in time, you could end up two hours ago or the full two years ago or anywhere in between.”

“No pressure,” Simon muttered.

“Last chance to go back,” Tessa said.

Jace and Izzy locked eyes. “Let’s go.”

Tessa nodded. “Okay.” She picked up a knife and stepped into the circle to stand above the bowl of ingredients she and Lorenzo prepared. She sliced the palm of her hand with a hiss and let the blood drip down into the bowl. The blood sizzled as it landed. The contents of the bowl glowed orange. Tessa quickly backed out of the circle.

Magnus, Catarina, and Lorenzo took up a chant. “Dico potentiam autem Chronos. Et convertat rursus manus autem tempus. Ego repellam de consilio autem fata. Et mortale conscidisti necessitudines autem haec animarum. Mitto animo rursus propter tempus.”

Wind roared in their ears. The circle glowed to match the bowl. It was a poisonous orange looking color. A golden barrier rose up around the circle.

“Jace,” Tessa yelled over the chanting and the wind. “Step into the circle. Picture the time you want to end up in. Isabelle, follow him as soon as he steps into the circle.”

That was when everything went wrong.

As Jace stepped towards the barrier, his runes lit up with a gold to match. The lights started flickering and the room shook.

“Angels!” Simon warned.

“We need to stop!” Lorenzo called. His voice was strained as he tried to keep up the magic to contain the spell in the circle.

Magnus gritted his teeth. “Alexander! Pull him back!”

“I got it!” Jace yelled.

Alec cursed. “Dammit, Jace.” He reached for Jace’s arm and tried to pull him back.

“Let go, Alec!” Jace shouted. “I just have to get through the barrier!”

“You can’t!” Alec told him, tugging harder. “Get back, Jace!”

“No, Alec!”

“Yes!” Alec wrapped his arms around Jace and yanked his parabatai back with all the strength he had. Jace went stumbling back into Izzy who toppled into Simon who managed to steady them. The force of pulling Jace away launched Alec in the opposite direction. Straight through the golden barrier and into the circle.

“Alexander!” Magnus shouted.

“Alec!” Izzy screamed.

Alec’s eyes went wide. He met Magnus’s gaze and then disappeared in a burst of orange.

“Don’t!” Tessa cried as Magnus dropped his hands and dove for the barrier. He disappeared in the same burst of orange.

“Damn you, Bane!” Lorenzo yelled.

“Get down!” Catarina shouted.

A second nature instinct, the Shadowhunters immediately dropped to the ground. Tessa and Simon were still in various states of shock, but they recovered their senses quick enough to follow the Shadowhunters’ lead. Lorenzo and Catarina weren’t so lucky.

An orange flash lit up the room and the energy from the spell blasted outward, sending the two warlocks crashing into the walls. Then, it was silent.

Izzy was the first to react. “Is everyone okay?”

“Nothing magic can’t fix,” Catarina mumbled. She closed her eyes. “Maybe a small concussion. My wrist is broken.”

Lorenzo held a hand over a gash on his head. The wound slowly healed with magic, but it was obvious that the warlock was pretty drained of power.

“What happened?” Simon asked.

Tessa stared at the spot where Alec and Magnus disappeared. “They’re gone.”

“They weren’t ready to go in,” Izzy worried. “Will they even end up back in time or are they…?”

“I don’t know,” Catarina said. She was still sitting on the ground where the blast had knocked her. “I don’t know.”

“He shouldn’t have done that,” Jace said.

Izzy frowned at him. “Yes. He should have. You wouldn’t listen, Jace! Clary fought back against the angels’ resistance and look where that got her.” She looked at Lorenzo. “Is there any way to know for sure if they made it?”

Lorenzo sighed. He pushed himself to his feet. “Time takes time to harden. If they’ve made it back successfully, the world as we know it will cease to exist. Considering they could only have gone back two years, that could take a few minutes to a few seconds.”

“Seconds,” Tessa said quietly, peering out a window. “Look.”

Outside the window, things were fading away. People, trees, buildings.

“Guess we’re about to find out how the Avengers felt,” Simon said.

Izzy shot him an inquisitive look.

“Infinity War?” Simon said. “Thanos does that snap. Dusts half the population?” He shook his head. “I’m going to need to watch a lot of movies with you people.”

“Not much time for that,” Lorenzo said. He held up his hands which were already starting to fade. “I guess we know they succeeded.”

No one said anything else as they faded away and disappeared. As if they had never existed in the first place.

Chapter Text

I would rather spend one lifetime with you than face all the ages of this world alone.

-J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings

Alec opened his eyes. He remembered flashes of the disastrous attempt to time travel. It had all happened so fast.

The sound of a drink being poured—over a year of living with Magnus made that sound very recognizable—broke him from his thoughts.

“You know I have magic for that, right?” a familiar voice asked.

Alec looked up to see Magnus holding two glasses. But it wasn’t exactly Magnus. His hair for one was bleached on the ends, something Alec hadn’t seen Magnus do in a year.

He glanced down at the couch he was kneeling next to. It was stained with blood.

If I’ve gone back in time, Alec through, then this must be something I remember. Blood on the couch… What was that? Luke. It was Luke.

“Alexander?” Magnus asked when it became clear Alec wasn’t answering.

Alec cleared his throat. “I think you’ve exerted yourself enough for one day.”

“Drink break?” Magnus said, offering a glass.

Alec let out a breath, a smile pulling at the corners of his mouth. He dropped the bloody towel he didn’t know he was holding onto the couch and stood up. He walked around the couch and accepted the glass from Magnus.

Magnus snapped his fingers and a blue smoke appeared on the surface of Alec’s drink.

“To us,” he said, holding up his glass for Alec to clink.

Alec looked at Magnus. “To us,” he repeated, hitting his glass against Magnus’s.

Magnus’s eyes widened slightly in surprise. But he lifted his drink to his mouth and took a sip, Alec doing the same despite knowing the drink wasn’t his favorite.

Magnus choked. He coughed, spitting his drink out.

“You okay?” Alec asked.

Magnus set his glass down. He looked at Alec. “Alexander! It’s, ah, nothing. Just… don’t attempt dangerous spells while drinking.”

“Dangerous spells like time travel?” Alec asked. He bit back a smile when Magnus gave him a startled look like a kid who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“Exactly like that,” Magnus finally said.

“You came after me.”

“Of course I did,” Magnus said. “I wouldn’t send you alone.”

“What happened?” Alec asked.

“You managed to pull Jace back, but the momentum carried you into the circle,” Magnus answered. “So I went after you. Without my help containing the magic, the spell would have ended soon after.”

Alec let out a breath. “So instead of Jace and Izzy going…”

“It was us,” Magnus finished. “Yes.”

A ring interrupted them.

Alec pulled his phone out. “It’s my mother.”

“Well, I’d advise against telling her you’re here,” Magnus said. He picked up a new glass with a new drink and took a sip. “As I recall she’s not exactly my number one fan.”

“Yet,” Alec said. He answered the phone. “Hey. Hi, Mother.”

Magnus turned away to give Alec some semblance of privacy.

“Of course,” Alec said. He hung up the phone. “So apparently I’m needed back at the Institute soon.” He pocketed his phone. “But I do remember that I didn’t miss much when I fell asleep on the couch, so I’m thinking it’s not that urgent.”

“Are you sure?” Magnus asked, raising an eyebrow.

“One hundred percent,” Alec said.

The door to the bedroom burst open. Alec and Magnus started when they saw who was standing there. Really, they should have expected this. It was the whole reason they attempted this in the first place.

Clary hurried over excitedly. “Where’s Jace?”

“Clary,” Alec said in astonishment.

Clary gave him a strange look. “Uh, yeah. Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine,” Magnus said quickly. “Drink? Non-alcoholic, of course.”

Clary shook her head. “No. I just… I need to tell you guys something. Where’s Jace?”

“Here,” Jace said, entering the room. “Had to step out for a second.”

Alec’s stomach clenched. It was supposed to be Jace here. Not even here, here. It should have been tomorrow.

“I know where the cup is,” Clary declared.

Jace frowned. “Come again?”

“The tarot cards,” Clary explained. “My mom, she must have painted them years ago, but the Mortal Cup has to be hidden inside the Ace of Cups. The card looks exactly like it.”

Jace looked at Magnus like he was inquiring if that was possible, but Magnus didn’t notice.

Clary’s face fell. “Wait, why aren’t you guys happy about this? All we have to do is find… Dot.”

“If Dot had the cards when she was taken, we don’t have much time,” Jace said. “If Valentine gets his hands on the Cup—”

“We’d know,” Magnus said. “If Valentine started creating Shadowhunters or gained control of demons, it'd be like Beyonce riding on a dinosaur through Times Square. People would notice.”

Alec struggled to hide a smile.

“But he can control demons,” Clary insisted. “I’ve seen it.”

Magnus hummed. “Paying off a few demons is easy, especially since they rarely survive long enough to collect.”

“Still waiting on Valentine’s thank-you card,” Jace smirked.

“Opening the gates of hell,” Magnus said with a grimace. “That’s a little more tricky.” He and Alec exchanged a brief look, recalling Jonathan using the Morningstar Sword to do exactly that and the resulting sacrifice.

“Valentine doesn’t have the cards,” Luke said, walking out of the bedroom. “I do.” He was covered in gauze and bandages. “They’re in my desk back at the precinct. When Clary went missing, I went to the loft and I cleared everything out, 'cause I didn't want the Circle to track her.”

Clary smiled. “That’s great. This should be easy.”

“That’s what General Custer said,” Magnus said.

Alec glanced at him. “Do you ever not name drop?”

Magnus shrugged. “Alexander, what is the point of knowing famous people through history if I can’t name drop a little?”

“Just thought you said you weren’t one to name drop,” Alec said.

“Touche.”

Luke glanced between them. “Either way, Magnus is right. Valentine has spies everywhere, even in the NYPD. We have to be discreet.”

“Discreet?” Clary repeated. “You look like something out of The Mummy movie.”

Magnus tittered. Clary gave him a look.

“We’ll go in the morning,” Luke said. “Werewolf healing, remember?”

Jace shrugged. “That’s true.”

“This is nothing a couple hours of beauty sleep can’t fix,” Luke finished.

“Should make a plan,” Alec said.

Jace’s eyes immediately flew to Alec. “Wait. No, I don’t approve of this mission or anything? I mean, you’re on board with this?”

“We don’t need—” Alec cut himself off. He had been about to say they didn’t need approval, but considering he wasn’t the Inquisitor—yet—they actually did need approval. “It’s the Mortal Cup,” he said instead. “We can’t risk it falling into Valentine’s hands.”

“Couldn’t agree more,” Jace said.

“So we need a plan,” Alec said.

“You don’t need to overthink this, Alec,” Luke told him. “I’ll go in, grab the cards from my desk, and bring them out to Clary.”

“And if that goes wrong?” Alec prompted. Because that had been the plan. And it did go wrong.

“Why would that go wrong?” Clary asked.

Alec pinched his face. “Because things can go wrong.”

“No one except us knows about the cards,” Clary said. “It won’t be suspicious.”

“I’m just saying,” Alec said. “It’s the Mortal Cup. We can't take any chances.”

“I’m with Alexander on this,” Magnus said. “You’ll need some type of plan.”

Clary looked at him. “Wait. You could get it. Do your—” she waved her hands around trying to mimic Magnus’s magic “—and get the Cup.”

“You want me to go after the Cup?” Magnus asked, raising an eyebrow. “Me? Demons, warlocks, werewolves, vampires, seelies, and Circle members are after the Cup and you’re going to trust a warlock you met a day ago?”

“Can I trust you?” Clary asked challengingly.

Magnus shrugged. “Yes. Of course, that’s what a Circle member would say if you asked them too.”

Alec sent him a look. “Thank you for that.”

“Of course.”

“We can’t send Magnus in,” Jace said. “He’ll stick out like… well, like that.”

Magnus struck a pose. “I am fabulous.”

“And he has no reason to go to the station,” Jace continued. “I say we send Luke in. If that falls through, Clary and I can go in glamoured.”

“I’m going to head back to the Institute,” Alec said. “And I’m going to meet you at the station with Izzy for back up.”

“Excellent,” Magnus said, clasping his hands together. “And now, you get back to bed,” he ordered Luke. “I won’t have my talents go to waste if you keel over and die of exhaustion. The rest of you too,” he added. “I know Shadowhunters prefer to operate at night, but you’re seriously doing no one good if you’re exhausted. Especially since you’ll have to be awake during—horror—the daytime.”

“Haha,” Clary said sarcastically. “Come on, Luke.”

She guided him back to the bedroom despite Luke’s protests of “I can walk by myself.”

“Too bad. I’m helping you.”

That left Jace, Alec, and Magnus. The blonde Shadowhunter glanced at Alec. “Are you heading back to the Institute now then?”

Alec blinked. “What?”

“Are you heading back to the Institute?” Jace repeated.

“I, uh… Well, I was—”

“I think what Alexander means is he’s quite insistent on cleaning up my couch the mundane way so I don’t exert my magic any more than I already have,” Magnus suggested.

Jace’s eyes darted between them. “Huh.” He turned and followed after Clary and Luke.

Alec let out a breath. “Thanks.”

“Well, it must be quite strange to go from being the Inquisitor to a lowly Shadowhunter,” Magnus said. “And of course the fact that according to everyone else, we’ve only just met the other day.”

“Damn,” Alec sighed. “I forgot that. The memory demon. That was yesterday, wasn’t it?”

“That was yesterday,” Magnus confirmed.

Alec rubbed his neck. “Izzy’s going to be all over me about that. How am I supposed to explain that, oh, I don’t have feelings for my parabatai anymore—never did. I’m actually in love with the High Warlock of Brooklyn—who she thinks I met a day ago—because, surprise, both of us are from the future and we’re actually married in that future?” He took the drink Magnus was offering him, downed it in one gulp, and winced. “What was that? That was awful.”

“Calming potion,” Magnus said, taking the glass back. “You needed it.”

Alec pulled a face. “Thanks.”

“Let’s look on the bright side,” Magnus said. “We get an excuse to spend lots of time together. Oh, and we can get married again so I’ll have two days to spoil you.”

“Or we could get married on the same day as before,” Alec said.

Magnus frowned. “But that’s boring.”

“It’s practical,” Alec pointed out. He cleared his throat. “But… Look, Lydia’s arriving tomorrow, right? So I’m supposed to propose to her tomorrow night, but I’m not going to do that.” He rubbed his face. “I should not be panicking about this. I’m a twenty-three—”

“Twenty-one right now,” Magnus said.

“—year old man who’s married to a male warlock,” Alec said. “I came out to my parents by leaving my bride at the altar to kiss you in front of the whole Institute. So really, I don’t even need to worry about how to tell my parents. I mean, we know they both… hate you. A lot. But they get over that.”

“Eventually,” Magnus said.

“Eventually,” Alec repeated. “Why am I stressed at all about this?”

“Because the Alec of this time is stressed out,” Magnus explained. “I mean that you’re aware of how you ignored your feelings around this time. You should be feeling this way, but due to our time traveling, you don’t. It might happen with other things, but the longer we stay in this time, the less it will affect us.”

“And you’re only mentioning this now?”

“Well I designed the spell to mostly protect Isabelle and Jace from these effects, not you or I,” Magnus said. “Besides, I figured they would come to me for help eventually. Then it could be a headache for not-me to explain. But since it is… You must have noticed how flustered you’ve been around me. That would be because without the time travel thing, Alec Lightwood was quite stammery around me during this time.”

“Shut up,” Alec grumbled.

“It was endearing and cute,” Magnus said. “Almost as cute as your adorable little snores.”

“I told you I don’t snore,” Alec said.

Magnus furrowed his brow. “No, I’m pretty sure you do.”

Alec blew out a breath. “Whatever. I’m going to rest now because I’m exhausted. But tomorrow, when you come for the Forsaken autopsy, we are going to figure out what to do next because Jace and Clary are going to run into Valentine within the next week and that’s a pressing issue.”

Magnus snapped his fingers. “Well, there you go. A nice clean couch for you to sleep on. And don’t worry about Valentine, Alexander. He’ll get his due.”

Alec sank down onto the couch. “I told you not to exert yourself.”

“You should know by now I’m a terrible listener,” Magnus said.

“I do know that.”

Magnus flopped gracefully onto the couch opposite Alec. “Goodnight, Alexander.”

Alec’s lips pulled up into a small smile. “Goodnight, Magnus.”

In the morning, Magnus offered them waffles. Also known as waffles casually stolen from some poor mundane’s house or hotel. Clary and Alec both took Magnus up on the offer while Luke and Jace declined, the latter saying he wasn’t hungry.

As they were going to leave, Magnus stopped them.

“Oh, Alexander,” he called.

Alec turned. “Yeah?”

“I was wondering, would you like to go out for drinks sometime?” Magnus asked.

Alec could hear Jace choking behind him and he could practically feel Clary’s gaze as she waited for him to answer, no doubt expecting a negative one.

“I, uh…” Alec cursed whatever it was about time traveling to his past that caused him to stutter around Magnus.

Think about the phone call, he thought. How did you respond to that?

“Yeah,” he finally managed to spit out. “Yeah, that would be nice.”

Magnus beamed. “Excellent. I’ll text you. Now off you go to save the day!” He ushered them out of the loft and shut the door.

Alec brushed past Clary, Jace, and Luke to the elevator. No one said anything until the elevator doors closed around them.

“I’m confused,” Jace finally said. “Did Magnus just ask you out? And did you just accept his offer?”

Clary elbowed him. “I think it’s nice.”

“It’s random,” Jace said. “And out of character for Alec. Izzy’s the one that goes out with Downworlders. Alec goes out with… actually, have you ever—”

“No,” Alec lied. It wasn’t like he could say he’d been on hundreds of dates with Magnus. “Is it a problem, Jace?”

“No,” Jace said, shaking his head. “No, not a problem at all.”

“Good.”

The elevator doors dinged open. Luke was the first one out. He seemed to be relieved to escape the conversation and the elevator.

“I’ll head back to the Institute to get Izzy caught up,” Alec said. “If you need back up, we’ll be on call.” He moved to start heading back in the direction of the Institute.

Clary ran after him. “Alec, wait!” She pulled his arm. “I just want to make sure you aren’t… This isn’t about what I said, is it?”

“What do you mean?” Alec asked.

Clary bit her lip. “About Jace. About how you, you know.”

Alec rolled his eyes. “No. It’s not about Jace. I don’t actually like him like that. Anymore. We’re just brothers. But I happen to know he really likes you,” he said. “So… don’t ignore how you feel about him. Jace is stubborn and kind of a jerk, but he’s happier since you…”

“Party crashed your lives?” Clary suggested.

“More like plowed into us like a trainwreck,” Alec said.

Clary smiled. “I’m growing on you.”

“In your dreams, Fray,” Alec said. He shook his head. “I’ll see you later. Go get the Cup.”

Clary didn’t lose her smile all the way back to Luke and Jace.

“What was that about?” Jace asked, watching Alec disappear down the street.

Clary looked back. “Not sure. But I think we’re starting to tolerate each other more.”

Jace snorted. “The day Alec shows an ounce of care for you is the day I go feed the ducks.”

“Feed the ducks?” Clary repeated. “Is that some Shadowhunter code?”

“If it is, I’ve never heard of it,” Luke said.

Jace scowled. “I hate ducks. They’re… I don’t know, but there’s something unnatural about them.”

Clary burst into laughter.

“Shut up,” Jace grumbled. He pulled out his phone which was ringing. “Hey, Izzy.”

“Where are you? Where’s Alec? Dad was just looking for him. He’s supposed to be filling out incident reports. I said I’d do it, but where is he?”

“We just left Magnus’s,” Jace said. “Alec’s on his way to the Institute now. Clary and I have a lead on the Cup.”

“You do? Where?”

Jace glanced around. “I’ll let Alec fill you in. Listen, there’s something strange going on with Alec. I don’t… He’s just acting weird.”

“Weird how?”

“Magnus asked him out,” Jace said in a bewildered voice. “For drinks some time.”

“A hot guy asked our brother out? Jace, are you sure you aren’t just jealous that Magnus called Alec ‘pretty boy’ and not you? Besides, I didn’t think Magnus was your type.”

“I didn’t think he was Alec’s type either until Alec accepted!”

“Alec what?”

“Exactly. I mean, I don’t care. Alec’s my parabatai and my brother. I’ll always love him, but—”

“You didn’t expect him to be so bold like that. Yeah, me neither.”

“You don’t sound surprised.”

“Alec accepting a guy’s offer for drinks and a date? No, not surprising. Accepting it in front of you and Clary? Yeah. Super surprising. But I don’t see how this is a problem. I’m proud of him for this.”

“It’s not just that,” Jace said. “It’s also the fact that he’s okay with this unauthorized mission.”

“Now that sounds off.”

“Just keep an eye on him,” Jace said. “I don’t want something bad to happen.”

“Okay. Good luck with the mission.”

“Thanks, Izzy.” Jace hung up the phone.

Luke led Jace and Clary as they walked up to the outside of the police station. Sirens wailed and officers roamed around. Luke turned to look at them.

“All right,” he said, “cards are on my desk. It shouldn’t take long.”

Jace started forward. “All right.”

Luke put up a hand to stop him. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. It’ll be easier to avoid unnecessary attention if I do this alone.”

“We’ll wait here,” Clary said.

Jace crossed his arms. “It sounded boring anyway.”

They watched as Luke headed into the building.

A while later, Luke still wasn’t back out yet.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Clary said. If Simon were here, he probably would have made a joke about quoting every Star Wars movie ever. “What is taking him so long?”

Jace leaned against one of the police cars. “I know a way we could find out. Just go in and see for ourselves.”

“Luke told us to stay put, so that’s what we’re gonna do,” Clary said. Her cell phone started ringing. “That’s probably him now.”

“I doubt it,” Jace said, eyes on something in the building.

Clary looked at the caller ID. Simon. It was like he had known she just thought about him. Clary hesitated before hitting decline.

“Just so I’m clear,” Jace said, still looking at the building, “he did mention something about trying to avoid attention, right? From the looks of it, he’s doing a terrible job.”

Clary followed his gaze to see Luke being escorted by a few other men. “Circle members?”

“No,” Jace said after a moment of looking. “Mundanes. Internal affairs officers.”

“You can tell all that just by looking at them?” Clary asked in disbelief.

“I can tell all that by reading their badges.”

Clary’s head whipped back to squint through the window at the IA officers. She couldn’t see their badges let alone read them.

Jace rolled up his sleeve and showed her a rune. “Better than binoculars.” He rolled the sleeve back down. “Luke had his chance.”

“Yeah,” Clary agreed.

“Let’s go.” Jace started towards the door.

“Wait,” Clary said. “Shouldn’t we call Alec and Izzy?”

“Yeah,” Jace said. “After we ask Luke a few questions.”

Clary frowned. “How are we supposed to do that? IA won’t let us near Luke.”

Jace smirked. “That’s why we go in glamoured.”

“Glamour doesn’t work on Valentine’s people,” Clary said.

“Don’t need it to,” Jace said. “We just need it to work on IA so they can’t see us. Shadowhunters talk to Downworlders working in the mundane world like this all the time. I promise you no one will think anything of it.”

Clary hesitated. “Fine.” She and Jace activated their runes and entered the police station.

“He’ll be down here,” Clary said, leading Jace to the interrogation rooms.

One of the doors opened and Clary peered in. It was the room Luke was in.

“—coffee or anything?” the IA officer was asking Luke.

Clary and Jace slipped in the room. Luke’s eyes followed them.

“Garroway,” the officer said sharply.

Luke looked back at him. “Coffee? No. No, I’m good.”

“Suit yourself,” the officer said, shutting the door as he left.

Luke picked up a tissue and held it up like he was wiping his nose. “Camera,” he muttered.

Jace unplugged the camera.

“Luke, what is going on?” Clary asked.

“I think I’m about to be the prime suspect in a murder investigation,” Luke answered.

Clary sighed. “What do we do?”

“Get the cards,” Luke told them. “In my desk, bottom drawer.”

“All right,” Jace said, heading for the door.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Luke said, halting him. “You can't glamour yourselves. I'm not the only Downworlder on the force, and we don't know who's working for Valentine. If anybody spots you…”

Clary grimaced. “We’d be leading them right to the Mortal Cup.”

Luke nodded. “Exactly. Better to assume that everybody has the Sight than gamble that they don't.”

The door lock clicked.

“Luke,” Clary said.

“I can handle myself,” Luke assured her.

The door opened. Clary and Jace snuck out as the IA officer came back in.

“Hey, what happened to the camera?” he asked.

Luke smiled. “I’ve asked the same thing for years.”

Alec entered the Institute and headed straight for his sister. Izzy was fiddling with one of the computer screens.

“Slept at Magnus’s place?” she asked, turning to face him.

Alec was taken aback by his sister’s choice of clothes before remembering this was still when she had decided to grow up to take some of the heat off of Alec. Not that it did much since Alec went along with the political marriage anyway and Izzy stopped dressing like their mother shortly after.

“Didn’t do much sleeping,” Alec said. “I was helping treat Luke’s wounds and then cleaning blood off the couch, not that Magnus let me do that for long. He magicked all the blood away despite having drained himself healing Luke.”

Izzy had a funny smile on her face. “And what’s this about a date?”

Alec stopped. “Jace called you?”

“Yes, he did,” Izzy said, dragging Alec out of the main area and down through the hallways for more privacy. “And I think it’s great. I guess that means no more moping about Jace?”

Alec gave her a look. “I did not mope. And… no. Besides, I realized that while Jace is great and all, I didn’t actually love him. Not like that. He was just safe because he was impossible and I wouldn’t have to deal with mom and dad.”

Izzy looked excited. “So what changed? I thought you’d be stuck as a single pringle for the rest of your life!”

“Single pringle?” Alec repeated. “Is that some mundane thing you heard from the Day—from the mundane?” He internally winced at his slip up. Simon wasn’t a vampire yet, so he wasn’t a Daylighter either.

“Nope,” Izzy said. “But you didn’t answer my question. What changed? Magnus? I mean, Jace said he asked you out and you said yes .”

Alec looked away from Izzy. “Maybe. I… I kinda like Magnus, okay? He made cocktails and we talked for a while. Then he asked me out before we left this morning and I said yes. Just don’t tell mom or dad yet.”

Izzy placed a hand on Alec’s shoulder. “Of course. I’ve kept this secret for years, Alec. You know I’d never tell anyone unless you said I could.” She hugged him. “I’m so happy for you, though. I think Magnus likes you too. Well, obviously, otherwise he wouldn’t have asked, but you know what I mean.”

“I do know,” Alec said. “Thanks, Izzy.”

She smiled. “This is nice.”

“What is?” Alec asked.

“Talking about personal stuff,” Izzy said. Her smile faltered. “I broke up with Meliorn.”

Alec wasn’t really sure how to respond to that. “You did? Why?”

“He was a bit much,” Izzy said, sounding indifferent. “Apparently, I need someone more Shadowhunter-ish.”

“Izzy,” Alec said, “I realize that you’re trying to take some of the family heat, and I appreciate it, but you can’t change who you are.”

Izzy nodded slowly. “No, I guess you can’t.” She smoothed out her dress and looked at Alec. “So what’s this about an unauthorized mission you actually approve of?”

“Jace told you that too?”

“Jace told me everything,” Izzy said. “Now, fill me in. What are we doing?”

“Waiting for Clary and Jace to call in case they need help with retrieving the Mortal Cup,” Alec said.

Izzy gasped. “They found it?”

“Hopefully, we can get it back to the Institute today,” Alec said.

“Just in time for you to go on a date,” Izzy said, winking.

Alec shook his head. “Haha. You’re hilarious. Are you going to be like this all the time?”

“Just when we’re alone,” Izzy said, sauntering down the halls. “I’m going to get dressed in case they need us.”

“Aren’t you already dressed?” Alec asked.

Izzy sighed. “Alec. A pencil skirt is not functional for fighting demons. I’ll need a pantsuit.”

“You sound like Magnus.”

“Hey, at least you know we’ll get along.” Izzy disappeared into her room.

Alec shook his head fondly. “Yeah. At least you do.”

Chapter Text

Make the plan, execute the plan, expect the plan to go off the rails, throw away the plan.

-Leonard Snart, The Flash (TV 2014)

“Really? In here?”

“Why not?”

“There’s got to be a better place.”

“No, here’s good.”

It was kind of disorienting to be invisible. Clary could see Jace and she knew he could see her, but at the same time, it was like looking at something that didn’t belong.

“Ow! All right.” Jace shimmered lightly as his glamour dropped.

Clary tried to undo the glamour again, but failed.

“You need help with that?” Jace asked.

“I can deglamorize myself, Jace.” She tried again. Fail.

“It’s ‘deglamour’,” Jace said.

“Whatever.” Clary tried again, succeeding this time. She tilted her chin up like she hadn’t just been struggling. “The cards?”

Jace gave her a patronizing look. “Right. How exactly are we gonna get them? I doubt we can make it out of this closet without drawing attention, let alone Luke's desk and you are covered in runes.”

Clary gave him a wide smile. “Don’t worry. I’ve got a plan.”

Jace raised an eyebrow. “A good plan this time?”

“90%,” Clary said. “Just follow my lead. Oh, and I apologize.”

Jace frowned. “Apologize for what?”

“The other 10%,” Clary said.

She led Jace to where Luke’s desk was. There were a few police officers milling around. Clary bit her lip to keep from smirking. Jace wouldn’t know what hit him.

She spun around. “You son of a bitch!” she said loudly, slapping Jace’s face.

Jace’s hand flew up to his cheek and he stared at Clary with an open mouth.

“Stop following me!” Clary said.

“Hey, what happened to being discreet?” Jace whispered. “Hmm?”

Clary pulled away. “Wait, what did you say? You cheated on me?” She really hoped Jace understood what she was doing because while it had been fun to surprise him with that slap, it wouldn’t be fun to have to run away without the Mortal Cup.

“I… Huh?” Jace gapped. “I did not,” he told the two police officers as he tried to push past them. “Whoa.”

“You will never see me at your crappy apartment again,” Clary yelled, storming over to Luke’s desk and opened a drawer. Detective Vargas walked in to stand next to her.

“That girl means nothing to me,” Jace said. “Nothing.”

“Is that the boyfriend that I heard so much about?” Vargas asked Clary.

Jace waved. “Hi.”

“Nope, not anymore,” Clary said. She closed the drawers of Luke’s desk. “I’m dumping him. Where is all of Luke’s stuff?”

“IA took everything,” Vargas said. “What are you looking for?”

Not the Mortal Cup, that’s for sure, Clary’s brain screamed.

“I, uh… I lost a house key and Luke normally keeps a spare in his desk, so is there any way I can get it?” Clary lied.

Vargas shook her head. “Uh, not till he's cleared.”

Clary’s heart dropped. “Cleared? Of… of what?”

“Oh, don't worry about it. We'll get it handled.”

“Oh.”

“Clary, I’m sorry,” Jace called from the doorway. “I apologize. I just want you to know it only happened, like… two or… It just happened a couple of times and I am totally…”

“Shut up,” Clary and Vargas said.

“Babe, come on,” Jace said.

“Listen, you don't get to call her ‘babe,’ okay?” Vargas said. “In fact, you don't get to call her at all. Clary's done with you. You got it? Take him out,” she ordered the two police officers holding Jace.

“I have rights!” Jace called as he was pulled away.

Vargas gave Clary a sympathetic look. “Perhaps it’s for the best.” She nodded to Clary’s neck. “Matching tattoos. That’s… Big red flag.”

“Oh,” Clary said, laughing nervously. “This… It’s nothing.”

“Don't worry about it,” Vargas said. “I get it. You always fall for the bad boys, right? Oh, is that just me? Uh, right, right.” She laughed awkwardly.

“Uh… I really need that key,” Clary tried again.

Vargas shook her head. “I'm sorry, Clary, but IA has all of Luke's things in the evidence vault upstairs.”

“Oh.”

“Maybe I can help you find the one you lost. Did you check your bag?”

Clary looked down and made a show of looking over her bag. “Oh, my God! You're totally right. Thank you so much.” She laughed. “Bye.”

Clary dashed out of the room to find Jace. She caught up to him just as he was approaching the doors.

“You know what?” Jace asked. “I’m gonna bring Alec with me next time. I don’t think he’s ever slapped me in the face.”

Clary sighed. “I’m sorry, I panicked.”

“Someone call for backup?” Izzy’s voice chirped.

Jace turned around to see Izzy and Alec. “Yeah. What too you guys so long?”

Alec’s face flushed a light pink and Izzy smirked.

“Just a little brother-sister heart-to-heart,” Izzy said. “So where is it?”

“Where’s what?” Jace asked.

“The Cup!” Izzy whisper-yelled. “Alec said you had a lead on it.”

“We found it,” Clary said, “but then we lost it. We have to sneak back in the precinct to get it.”

“How did you lose the Cup?” Alec asked.

Clary frowned. “Hey, I thought we were doing good now.”

“That was before you lost the Cup,” Alec said. “What happened?”

“IA has it,” Jace said. “But it’ll be fine. We just need a plan. That’s all.”

“Can’t we just glamour ourselves?” Izzy said.

“We tried that already,” Jace said.

“Anyone working with Valentine will see right through it,” Alec added.

“Too bad Magnus couldn’t help,” Clary said pointedly.

“Like he said, you’ve only known him for a day,” Alec said.

Clary crossed her arms. “I grew up knowing him. Maybe I don’t remember it, but I’ve met him before. And says the guy who’s going out on a date with him. You’ve only known him one day too.”

“Two days now,” Alec said. “And that’s different. Besides, warlock’s don’t exactly charge credit cards. Not that you’d have enough on your credit card to afford Magnus’s prices.”

Clary’s phone rang. She sighed. “Not again. Just give me a second.”

She stepped away to answer the phone. “Simon, this is really not a good time.”

“Clary, where are you? This is an emergency.”

“Simon, are you okay?”

“I’m not sure. I haven’t been kidnapped yet today.”

“Simon, seriously, what's going on?”

“I think I’m sick. Like, really sick.”

Clary sighed. “Simon, remember that time you thought you had the bird flu? Okay, just stay off the Internet and you'll be fine.”

“Yeah, I know. But this time it’s different.”

Jace marched over and took the phone from Clary.

“Hey,” she protested.

“This time I’m really—”

Jace hung up the phone. “Simon’s little problem can wait. I’ve got a great plan.”

“Oh, there's a first.”

Jace laughed sarcastically. “Just follow my lead. Oh, and don't worry, in my plan, no one gets slapped.”

Clary shot him a dirty look.

They headed back in, Clary noticed that Izzy and Alec were nowhere to be seen.

“So, I was promised a great plan,” she said as Jace pressed the button to call the elevator.

Jace nodded. “We'll head up towards the vault. Alec and Izzy are handling the rest. All we have to do is wait for their signal…”

Both of them dashed around the corner as the elevator doors opened to reveal Alaric. When the werewolf was gone, they headed back to the elevator and slipped in.

“…and grab the cup,” Jace finished.

“He’s on our side,” Clary said.

Jace looked at her. “You sure? Isn't that the line he used when he kidnapped you?”

“Good point,” Clary said. “What now? We're supposed to climb the elevator shaft and waltz in the vault unnoticed?”

Jace reached up and pushed the ceiling panel up. “Now, why didn’t I think of that?”

Clary let out a short laugh. “Wait, you’re kidding, right?”

“Remember the binoculars?”

“Yeah?”

Jace showed Clary another rune design. “This one’s a Nyx rune. It’s like night vision. You can copy mine.” He paused. “You got it?”

Clary eyed the rune carefully. “Yeah. Why do I need night vision?”

Jace smirked. “You’ll see.”

Clary took out her stele and shrugged off her jacket. She reached to draw the rune on her right shoulder. She glanced back at Jace. “Um…”

“Feel free to ask for help,” Jace said.

Clary gave him a look. Jace pushed off the wall and took the stele from her, drawing the rune onto her shoulder.

“I, um… I think I can take it from here,” Clary said.

Jace finished the rune. “Where’s the fun in that?”

Izzy and Alec climbed up the stairwell and entered the police station. Alec groaned internally knowing what was coming next.

“You aren’t doing the distraction, are you?” he asked his sister.

“Nope,” Izzy confirmed. “I’ve decided to grow up, remember? No more distracting for me.” She glanced back at the female officer on duty at the information stand. “Besides, I don’t think I’m her type.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think I’m her type either,” Alec hissed.

Izzy patted his arm. “Don’t worry, it’s good practice.”

Alec sighed. “Yeah, I know, I know. For asking out Magnus. Whatever. You’re going to have to owe me for this.”

“How about I cover for you until you tell mom and dad,” Izzy suggested. She grabbed at Alec’s shirt and started undoing the top buttons.

“No thank you,” Alec said, buttoning them back up. “The button thing, I mean. Yes, thank you for covering.” He sighed.

“It’s easy,” Izzy said. “Come on.”

Alec slowly trudged towards the table. He put his hands down and smiled at the officer. “Hey.”

The officer didn’t look amused. “Can I help you?” she asked.

Say something flirty like you would say to Magnus! he screamed at himself. Of course, the thought of Magnus and flirting didn’t really do much to calm his nerves considering his body was telling him to go out and buy a heavy duty closet to hide in.

“You come here often?” he heard himself say.

Yeah, you really nailed it, Lightwood, he said sarcastically.

The officer gave him a look. “I work here. What can I help you with?”

Alec nodded. “Right, um… Right, right, right, yeah, um… Yeah, I'm just…” Screw you, Izzy. “I'm looking for some information. Oh, look…” He reached for the pamphlets off to the side, knocking the officer’s bottle of water over. “Oh, wow. I'm so sorry. Let me just get that.” He reached down to flip Izzy the security card as she walked past. “That's not… I'm so sorry. That's such a mess. Let me clean that up. Uh, it's not working.”

“Okay,” the officer said, pushing Alec’s hands away as he tried to help clean the water.

“Here, let me,” Alec said.

“No, I got it,” the officer said. “I got it. Just go. Go.”

“You sure?”

“Go,” the officer said more forcefully.

Alec grabbed some of the pamphlets. “Thank you so much.” He hurried off after Izzy.

Izzy giggled when Alec joined her.

“Never again,” Alec said lowly.

“You have to admit, that was funny,” Izzy said. She glanced at the door that would lead them to the power box. “Now, wait here and keep watch while I go shut down the power.” She slipped through the door and Alec waited for her to return.

When the lights went out, Alec had already activated his Nyx rune. Izzy came out seconds after.

“Let’s go,” she said. “We have to meet Clary and Jace out front.”

The Nyx rune proved to be helpful since night had fallen outside. Alec and Izzy were only waiting for ten minutes before Clary and Jace burst out of the precinct.

“There!” Izzy said, pointing at them. She and Alec hurried over.

“Did you get it?” Alec asked.

“Theoretically,” Clary said.

Alec frowned. “Theoretically?” He could have sworn Clary got the Cup. What had gone wrong?

“Yeah,” Clary said. She sighed. “I found the card. I just have to figure out how I reached into my notebook before. It’s… It’s not an exact science.”

“Oh.” Alec let himself relax slightly. “So… you have the card with the Cup, but you can’t access the Cup yet.”

“We can discuss this back at the Institute,” Jace said. “But right now, considering we just stole from the cops, I suggest we get back home.”

“Guys,” Izzy said. The red necklace around her neck was pulsing. “I think the mundanes might be the least of our worries.”

“Let’s go,” Jace said. He started walking briskly away from the station followed by Izzy and Alec.

“Guys, slow down,” Clary called. She hurried after them, running into an old woman and causing her to drop her purse. “Oh, I am so sorry,” Clary said, kneeling to pick up the purse. When she looked up, the woman snarled and her face turned into a demon.

“Grandma,” Jace said pleasantly. He pulled her close and ran a sword through her. The demon dissolved into dust.

“What the hell?” Clary asked.

“Language,” Jace reprimanded her. “Not in front of Grandma.”

“How did it find us?” Alec asked.

Jace shook his head. “I don't know… but she brought friends.”

“How can you tell?” Clary asked.

“It's like seeing through a glamour,” Jace explained. “You just got to pay attention to the details.”

“But I can’t see anything,” Clary said.

Alec interrupted them. “And we can have this conversation at the Institute. We gotta get out of here.”

“Hey, this way!” Clary called. She led them down around the building, away from the approaching demons until they reached the electrical room. “What’s the Unlock rune again?”

Jace kicked the door open. “Open sesame.” He gestured to the door. “Go.”

Clary entered the electrical room first, followed by Jace, Izzy, and Alec.

Alec nocked an arrow in his bow.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Jace asked him.

“Holding them off,” Alec said. “Take Clary back to the Institute.”

Jace stared at him. “No, if you're staying, I'm staying. We fight together.”

“Don’t be stupid,” Alec said. “If the demons get the Cup, we’re dead anyways.”

“I’m not leaving anyone behind,” Jace said stubbornly.

“You don’t have a choice,” Alec told him.

And wasn’t that the story of Jace’s life. Alec remembered saying these words to Jace the first time. Back then, all Jace had been doing was making choices. Choices to choose Clary over everyone else. It wasn’t until later than Jace never got a choice.

Jace didn’t get a choice when Valentine found them at Camille’s. Jace didn’t get a choice when Lilith’s Owl possessed his body. Jace didn’t get a choice when the angels took out their anger on Clary for the runes she’d drawn.

Now here Alec was, telling Jace he didn’t have a choice. The words felt slimy and gross, but Alec could handle himself. Jace had to get back to the Institute.

Clary interrupted them. “I know you guys are having a moment, okay? But we really have to go.”

“Don’t worry,” Izzy told Jace. “It’s not like this is the first time Alec has saved your life. I doubt it’d be the last.”

“Go,” Alec ordered them.

Jace held Alec’s gaze for a second before nodding. “See you back at the Institute.”

“See you then,” Alec said. He aimed his bow at the door.

Jace ushered Clary and Izzy down the hall. They went through another door, seraph blades providing the only light.

“Hold on,” Clary panted. “I’m sorry, Jace.”

Jace and Izzy stopped. “It’s okay,” Jace assured her. “We can take a breather.”

“No, it’s not that,” Clary said. She glanced at Izzy.

“I, um… I’ll scout ahead,” Izzy said. She walked further down the hallway.

“I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve put you through,” Clary said.

Jace shook his head. “You don't have to apologize to me, Clary.”

“Unfortunately, you can't stop me.”

Jace snorted. “Well, yeah, I’m starting to see that.”

Clary smiled. “Just… I've been so focused on trying to find my mom, I don't think I realized how much you've actually done for me. So, thank you.”

“Clary, I'm a Shadowhunter. It's kinda my job.”

“You… Your job?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, you’d do this for anybody?” Clary teased.

Jace pretended to think for a moment. “Maybe not Simon.”

Clary laughed. “Funny, I think he'd say the same thing about you.”

They started heading down the hall after Isabelle.

“You know, you’re not too bad yourself,” Jace said.

“Me?” Clary asked.

Jace nodded. “Yeah. You kicked some pretty serious ass back at the police station. At least, you got my ass kicked.”

“Thanks… I think.”

“Guys?” Izzy called. “It’s pulsing.”

They hurried over.

“Again?” Clary asked.

“Getting close,” Izzy said. “Let’s spread out.” She swung her sword and started in one direction. Jace and Clary fanned out behind her.

“Izzy, where is it?” Jace whispered.

“I don’t know,” she said. “It’s like they’re right here, but I don't see them.”

There was a snarl and a demon lunged out of the dark towards Jace. Jace reached up and caught the demon. He let go and swung the sword, dissolving it the same way he had done with the Grandma.

“Are you hurt?” Clary asked.

“I'll live,” Jace grunted.

Clary glanced warily at the spot where the demon had been. “What are those things?”

“Shax demons,” Jace answered. “They're like the bloodhounds of the Shadow World. They've been tracking us.”

“So what do we do?”

“The Institute’s only a couple blocks from here,” Izzy said. “We can’t lose them, but they won’t be able to track us if we split up.”

“But, I don't… I don't…”

Jace put a hand on her shoulder. “Clary, you'll be fine. Izzy and I will draw them away. No matter what happens, just keep running.”

Snarls echoed down the hallways.

“They’re coming,” Clary said worriedly. “Jace, I…”

“Run, Clary!” Jace yelled, pushing her away as the demons swarmed from the shadows.

Clary hesitated before taking off away from Jace and Izzy.

When Luke showed up, Alec breathed a sigh of relief. Sure, he could have texted Magnus where he was and the warlock would have dropped everything to help, but that would have been way out of character for him. He didn’t want to know what Jace or Izzy would do with that information.

He knew Luke was going to show up, it was just a matter of staying alive and killing demons long enough for that to happen. Which he had actually been starting to worry would be longer than he could hold out.

Then Luke the werewolf jumped in and tore two Shax demons in half. Alec let an arrow fly into a demon as Luke took care of two more. The Shadowhunter and werewolf duo made quick work of the demons.

“You okay?” Luke asked once he was back to his human form.

Alec nodded. “Fine. Couple scratches.” He used his stele to activate his iratze rune. “Should heal quickly. Do you need—” he stopped himself. Luke wasn’t a Shadowhunter yet. Honestly, Alec didn’t know if Luke would get to become one if he and Magnus made all the changes they wanted to—the changes Jace and Izzy wanted to.

“I’m good,” Luke said quickly, filling the awkward silence. “Where’s Clary?”

“She ran ahead with Jace and Izzy,” Alec answered. “I stayed behind to hold the demons off. Give them time to get Clary back to the Institute.”

Luke took off at a sprint in the direction Alec gestured to. It was expected. Clary was as good as Luke’s daughter.

Alec jogged after Luke. He thought about the Shadowhunter turned werewolf turned Shadowhunter. Luke was supposed to go on to date Alec’s mom. At least, that’s what happened in the original timeline. Now, Alec was planning to save Jocelyn, something he thought he personally owed to Clary considering he had been the one to kill Jocelyn in the first place.

But hadn’t Luke and Maryse been happy together? Luke might be happy with Jocelyn, but would Maryse find someone else? Alec hated this. This had been another reason why he hadn’t wanted to be the one joining Jace on the mission.

Alec almost crashed into Luke who had stopped.

“Clary!” Luke called.

Clary whirled around and held up her seraph blade. “Get back! How do I know you’re Luke?”

Luke held his hands in a placating gesture. “I got you spray paint for your birthday.” When Clary lowered her sword, he asked, “What happened?”

“Uh, demons,” Clary said. “Long story. Um…” she took a shuddering breath. “Where’d you come from?”

“Jail,” Luke answered. “I ran into Alec. Said you might be down here. Thought you might need some help.”

“Apparently not,” Alec said. “Looks like she took care of it.”

“Shouldn’t we get going or something?” Clary asked. “More demons could be coming, right?”

Luke gave her reassuring smile. “Oh, don’t worry about it. I got the pack on the lookout. If there’s any other demons, we’ll take care of them.”

Clary let out a laugh. “Look at you, leader of the pack.”

“Well, you know, it has its perks,” Luke said. “Shall we?”

Clary started. “Yeah. Right.”

“Thank you,” Alec told Luke.

Luke nodded. “Just keep the Cup away from Valentine.”

“That’s the last thing we want,” Alec said. “The Cup will be safe for now. Until we figure out what to do next.”

“So I was thinking about what you said,” Clary said as she and Alec walked back to the Institute. “We aren’t giving the Clave the Cup yet?”

Alec glanced at her. “You want the Cup to use it as leverage to get your mom back, right?”

Clary’s hands tightened around her bag where the card with the Cup was. “How did you know that?”

“Not that hard to figure out,” Alec said. “You’ve done everything to try to get her back so far. Why would now be any different?”

“So you aren’t mad? Or maybe planning to grab the Cup from me before I can do it?”

Alec stopped walking. “Clary. We don’t see eye-to-eye a lot. But I’m not heartless. If it was someone I cared about, I’d probably do the same. As Shadowhunters, we’re taught that emotion clouds judgement. Because it does. Doesn’t mean we don’t have it or that we don’t act on it. So if you’re going to do this, you’re going to need help. You don’t have to do this by yourself.”

Clary stared at him. “Thanks. Alec.”

“Yeah, well, I actually like you sometimes,” Alec said.

“I actually kinda like you too,” Clary said with a strange smile on her face. “You know, I wish we started out like this. Overbearing older brother and—”

“Annoying little sister?” Alec finished.

Clary grinned. “Yeah.”

“We’ll get your mom back, and you’ll have a long time to spend with her,” Alec said. “And I’ll help you. I owe you that.”

“You owe me that?” Clary asked. “Wow.”

“I just mean that…” Alec ran through every possible reason he could have to owe Clary.

Not his actual reason—Jocelyn’s death. He’d sound like a lunatic if he told Clary he wanted to save her mom because he’s the one that kills her in a few weeks. But what other reason could he have for owing her?

“Um, ever since you got here, Jace and Izzy have been breaking the rules,” Alec said. “More than usual. I don’t do that. But… I’m trying to relax and live for myself as Izzy keeps begging me to do. I don’t know if I would have accepted Magnus’s offer if it wasn’t for you.”

Clary’s eyes lit up. “Oh! Well, you shouldn’t blame me. That was all you, Alec.” She sighed. “I’m sorry about what I said about Jace the other day. That was wrong. But I’m really happy for you now. I hope this works out.”

“It will,” Alec said quietly. “Clary?”

“Yeah?”

“You know I haven’t told my parents yet, right?”

Clary nodded. “I won’t say a word, Alec. Just know that whatever they say, I have your back.”

“This is getting to be too much,” Alec said. “I’m feeling too many happy feelings around you now.”

Clary burst out laughing. “Really?”

When they reached the Institute, Jace was running around barking orders.

“—on high alert,” he was saying. “I don’t care what anybody else says, I’ll take full responsibility. Right now, Clary is the only thing that matters.”

“Jace!” Clary called.

Jace turned around to look at her. “Clary.”

Clary hurried over and wrapped her arms around Jace. “I did it. I got the Cup.”

Jace pulled back. “I don’t care about the Cup,” he said, looking her in the eyes. “When I came out of the tunnels, I didn’t see you. I was worried something might have happened.”

Alec tuned out their conversation to look at Izzy. “Are you okay?”

Izzy smiled. “Nothing a little healing rune couldn’t fix. What about you?”

“Luke and his pack pulled through,” Alec said. “They’re taking care of any remaining demons and Luke found me. Helped me out. We found Clary, then her and I came back here.”

“And you didn’t kill each other?” Izzy asked in amusement. “Shocker.”

“Hey,” Alec said. “I don’t hate her.”

“High praise,” Izzy said. Her jaw dropped. “Angel.”

Alec looked over at Clary and Jace who were locked in a passionate kiss. He made a mental note to talk to Magnus about somehow figuring out Jace isn't Clary’s brother. That would save them a lot of trouble down the road.

“Finally,” Izzy muttered. She glanced at Alec. “You really like him.”

Alec frowned. “Huh?”

“Magnus,” Izzy said. Her eyes flicked over to Clary and Jace and then back to Alec. “I know what you said and everything, but… I guess I didn’t see it until now. There’s no jealousy or shame or anger in your eyes anymore. And I know we haven’t known Magnus very long, but I don’t know. I think that just proves you have something special. To connect like this in such a short time… I’m happy for you, big bro. And please let me pick your outfit for the date.”

Alec bit back a grin. “Alright, Izzy. You pick the outfit.”

Izzy cheered. “Yes! Who knows? Maybe you’ll actually pick up some fashion sense from him.”

Alec thought about how he’d spent the past year married to Magnus and in that time, he hadn’t managed to get any fashion sense. Disappointing according to Izzy. Disappointing and adorable according to Magnus.

“I doubt it,” Alec said.

From Magnus: I thought my idea was clever, but I didn’t think you’d actually accept.

To Magnus: Why wouldn’t I? More time to spend together. Or is that just torture now?

From Magnus: Haha, you remember that. If I recall, we have a rather busy week ahead of us. So I was thinking Friday night?

To Magnus: Friday night is good. Don’t forget about the Forsaken tomorrow.

From Magnus: Always business with you.

To Magnus: Sorry.

From Magnus: Mmm, I love that about you. I’ll see you tomorrow, Alexander. Try not to propose to beautiful Clave envoys.

To Magnus: Tempting, but I’m married. Or should be married. It’s confusing. And it’s strange to be sleeping alone. No, that’s not an invitation to Portal over.

From Magnus: You’re no fun.

To Magnus: Goodnight, Magnus. I love you.

From Magnus: Goodnight, Alexander. I love you too.

Chapter Text

Never let your circumstances drive you into spending your energy trying to impress people who you believe would judge you for every single thing that you do. Moreover, why should you waste your energy and time on people who are not willing to let you be your true self?
― Edmond Mbiaka

Clary and Jace stared at the Mortal Cup—now out of the tarot card.

“It looks just like a wine glass,” Clary said.

“That wine glass saved your life,” Jace told her.

Clary met his eyes. “What if… what if I hadn’t gotten the Cup out in time? That demon…”

“But you did,” Jace said. “First rule of Shadowhunting… when something explodes, just keep walking. Never think twice. Never look away.”

“And what’s the second rule?”

A flash of silver as the Cup was pulled from their hands. Izzy caught the Cup as her whip brought it to her. “There’s nothing a Shadowhunter can’t do in heels,” she said.

Clary went over to take the Cup back while Jace made his way over to where Alec was standing at one of the monitors.

“Alec, what are you doing?” Jace asked. “You can stare at this monitor all you want, they need angel blood to get past the wards. You know that.”

Clary returned the Mortal Cup back into it’s tarot card hiding place.

“No Downworlder can come into the Institute,” Jace finished.

“Not without an invite by a Shadowhunter,” Izzy added.

Alec turned around. “Valentine is a Shadowhunter. We have to make sure he can’t get his hands on the Cup.”

“Wait,” Clary said, holding up a hand. “You want to give it back to the Clave? No. Not after everything we went through to get it. Alec, you said—”

“We’re not giving it back to the Clave,” Alec interrupted. “But we do need to put it somewhere safe. Just until we figure out what to do with it. Follow me.”

He led Clary over to the training area and knelt down to open his personal safe. This time, Alec hoped the Cup would actually stay there or at the very least his siblings would come to him instead of stealing it like they did before.

“Thank you,” Clary said as Alec placed the Cup inside the safe.

“You are full of surprises, Alec,” Izzy said, observing them.

Alec turned and stood up. “Mom and dad wanted us to turn over a new leaf.”

“Please tell me this isn’t your rebellious phase kicking in late,” Izzy said. “Because I’m glad and all. Finally! But we shouldn’t bargain the Cup on that.”

“We aren’t bargaining the Cup on anything,” Alec said. “And it’s not a rebellious phase.”

Clary dialed a number into her phone. She waited a minute, face falling when the person obviously didn’t pick up the phone. “Simon, sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner,” she said.

Alec froze. The vampire.

That was probably something Alec and Magnus should have discussed. When the plan had been Jace and Izzy going back in time, they were supposed to end up on this day, Simon getting killed by Camille couldn’t be helped at that point. But Alec and Magnus had ended up a day earlier. They could have prevented it.

Sure, Catarina had said that it was probably a good thing to keep the same, and Simon himself had said he wouldn’t mind becoming a vampire again. And it would be nice to not have to look out for the mundane who undoubtedly would remain part of the Shadow World. But it was Alec’s job as a Shadowhunter to protect mundanes from the demons and Downworlders. He knew what Camille was planning to do with Simon. He could have easily put a stop to it. Alec had failed to save Simon.

“Been crazy busy,” Clary continued to leave her voicemail. “We found the Cup. I have so much to tell you. Call me back.”

A beeping interrupted her call. Alec said nothing as the monitors showed something rapidly approaching.

“What…?” Jace said, frowning at the screen.

The proximity alarms started blaring.

Jace leapt to his feet. “There's something outside the perimeter.” He looked at Alec. “Don’t say it.”

“Wasn’t going to say anything,” Alec said.

“What’s happening?” Clary asked.

Izzy studied the screen. “Looks like someone’s trying to break in.” She started towards the doors of the Institute.

“Could be the Circle,” Jace grumbled. He followed after Izzy.

Alec hesitated before going after them. His quiver materialized on his back. “Come on,” he muttered to Clary who picked up a seraph blade.

They crept through the dark towards the spot where Alec knew Raphael to be carrying Simon.

“Don’t move,” Jace called, sword at the ready. Alec held up his bow with an arrow nocked, but he doubted he’d need to shoot it.

A figure holding a large object stepped out of the shadows. Raphael looked stoick and serious as ever. Simon’s head lolled towards the group of Shadowhunters.

Clary took a sharp breath. “Oh my God, Simon!”

“Get him to the annex,” Alec said, voice steady. He avoided looking at Simon’s lifeless body. “Now,” he added when no one moved.

Clary had a hand pressed over her mouth. “God, Simon. I…”

Alec reached out and pulled her back. “Come on. We need to get him out of here before anyone comes looking.”

Izzy was silent as she led the way around to the annex. For a while, the only noise was Clary’s labored breathing.

Finally, Jace spoke up. “People will be wondering what we found outside the perimeter.”

“I’ll go,” Alec said. “I’ll tell ‘em we didn’t find anything. Nobody will come down here.” He looked at Clary. “Clary. I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault,” Clary whispered. “You didn’t know.”

That was like a punch in Alec’s gut. “I’m sorry,” he repeated. Then he headed back out of the annex to go report back to the Institute.

When Alec was gone, Raphael said, “I might be a vampire… but I was raised a good Catholic.”

“The vampires breached the Accords,” Izzy said. “Killing Simon is grounds for war.”

“The vampires were not behind this,” Raphael said pointedly. “Just Camille. She attacked Simon on her own.”

“And how do we know you're telling the truth?” Jace asked.

“I could have gotten rid of him,” Raphael said, “but instead I brought him here. I don’t want trouble with the Shadowhunters.”

“Smart decision,” Jace said.

“I warned the mundane to stay away,” Raphael said, “but Camille gave him a taste of her own blood, and like an addict… he came back wanting more.”

Clary’s blood boiled. She wondered if Raphael could sense that. “The only reason Simon ever tasted Camille’s blood is because of you. You kidnapped him! You drug him to Hotel Dumort. You… you delivered him to Camille!” she shouted.

“I never meant for this to happen,” Raphael said.

Clary looked back at Simon’s body. “Simon. Simon, please come back, please!”

“There is a way,” Raphael said.

Clary paused and glanced at the vampire. “A way what?”

Raphael gave her an emotionless look. “A way to bring Simon back.”

“You can do that?” Clary asked, hope filling her chest. “How? How?”

“He’s a fledgling,” Raphael explained. “It’s a state of transition. Your friend can be resurrected.”

Jace shook his head. “No. Clary, no.”

Clary ignored him. “So I could have Simon back? Alive and breathing?”

“That’s just it,” Izzy said. “He won’t return alive or breathing. He’ll be a vampire.”

“And not the sexed up, romantic kind,” Jace said. “The ugly, bloodsucking, coffin-dwelling kind.”

“That’s offensive,” Raphael said, looking mildly annoyed.

“Really?” Jace said sarcastically.

“Coffin implies wooden box.” Raphael gave Jace a smug look. “We have caskets now. They’re made of 14-karat gold.”

“My bad,” Jace said, not really sounding very sorry.”

Raphael glanced out a window. “It’s almost sunrise. Simon must be turned into a vampire tonight or staked through the heart.”

“And if I do neither?” Clary whispered.

“His soul will be trapped for eternity,” Raphael said. “You have till sunset to decide. The clock is ticking.”

Izzy glanced at her phone. “I… I’m so sorry, Clary. I have to go. It’s Alec. He says our parents need to speak with us.” She looked at Jace. “He said they want you too, but you should stay with Clary. We’ll cover for you.”

Jace nodded. “Thanks, Izzy.”

Alec and Izzy met outside the Head of the Institute’s office.

“—how the Clave handles things,” Robert Lightwood’s voice said.

“What’s going on?” Alec asked as he and Izzy entered the room.

Maryse gestured to the couch. “Sit,” she ordered them.

Alec resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Always orders with his parents. At least, before the divorce and Maryse’s deruning.

“It’s no surprise Jace isn’t here,” Robert said.

“He got held up,” Izzy said. “Said to start without him.”

“I’m sure he has a good reason,” Maryse said lowly.

“Your mother and I,” Robert began.

Maryse gave him a sharp look.

Robert sighed. “Okay, I requested a meeting at the Clave to inform them that the Seelies are siding with Valentine.”

“And the Clave denied it,” Maryse finished.

Alec didn’t particularly like the Seelies. He especially didn’t like the Seelie Queen.

I speak on behalf of the Downworld… For far too long, the Downworld has depended on the Clave and your Institute to protect us from men like Valentine. It’s time we learnt our lesson and started fighting for ourselves… The answer, Shadowhunters, is no.

There were Seelies he didn’t mind. Meliorn had been amazing when Jace and he had been aligned with Clary’s alliance rune. But the Seelie Queen just reminded Alec of watching his boyfriend—well, then ex-boyfriend—walk away from him.

“What do you mean?” Izzy asked in Alec’s silence. “They don’t want you coming to Idris?”

“There are rumors that local Shadowhunters have been interfering in Downworld affairs,” Maryse said. “But you two wouldn't know anything about that, right?”

“Nada,” Izzy said the same time Alec said, “Nope.”

Maryse didn’t really look convinced. “Since all this happened here in New York, under our command, they are concerned with our devotion to our job and the cause.”

“But we’re the Lightwoods,” Izzy said.

Think that’s kinda the point, Alec thought.

“Remember,” Robert said, “the honor isn’t in the name… it’s in the deed. The Clave is sending an envoy.”

“Who will be coming to observe us,” Maryse cut in.

“And to gather information about Valentine to report back.”

“But really to scrutinize our leadership,” Maryse said, “so I beg of the two of you, don’t do anything that would cause the Clave to lose even more trust in us.”

Alec assumed that meant not going out on dates with dastardly warlocks that your parents don’t know you’re dating.

As soon as Izzy and Alec were out of earshot of their parents, Izzy gripped Alec’s arm tightly.

“Tell me you aren’t going to text Magnus and cancel,” she said.

Alec pulled his arm free. “What?”

“The date,” Izzy said. “Tell me you aren’t canceling your date.”

“I’m not canceling the date,” Alec said dryly.

“When is it anyway?”

“Friday night,” Alec answered.

Izzy squealed in excitement. “Oh Angel, I’m so excited! I think I’m more excited than you.”

“I think you are too,” Alec agreed.

Clary listened to Simon’s voicemail. “Clary, I really need to talk. I think I’m turning into a vampire. I’m scared.”

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t there,” Clary cried. “This is all my fault.”

“Clary, this isn’t your—”

“No, it is!” she interrupted Jace. “If it weren’t for me, Simon would have never even known about the Shadow World. He would never have been kidnapped by vampires. He wouldn’t have met Camille. He would… He wouldn’t be dead.”

“A fledgeling,” Raphael corrected. “He’s in transition.”

“And now I am left with two,” Clary took a shuddering breath, “two reprehensible choices. And I can’t figure out which one is worse.” She sighed and looked at Raphael. “If I, uh, if I bury Simon, what are the risks?”

“Clary, no,” Jace said firmly. “Absolutely not.”

“Jace, I need to know!” she snapped.

Raphael paused before answering. “If Simon is buried and he doesn’t emerge, he would be trapped under the earth—starving for eternity.”

Clary’s hands flew to her mouth. “Oh my God.” She took a minute to compose herself before asking, “And, uh, if I… if I stake him?”

“He’ll die a human death,” Raphael said. “It’s painless, as far as I know.”

Clary reached out for Simon. She took his hand gently. “Simon, I’m so sorry.”

Alec would like to have said that he was not jumping at every quick movement, but that would have been a lie. He was anticipating Lydia’s Valentine disguise arrival, and he had no idea if it would be happening the same time as it had before.

“Alec, you think you could get my stele back?” Max asked.

It had been strange seeing Max looking so young again. And jolting. Alec vowed that if Sebastian—Jonathan, whatever—made his way to the New York Institute for whatever reason, he would not touch a hair on Max’s head. Literally.

“They took it away because you nearly burnt down the Mumbai Institute,” Alec said fondly, walking down the stairs to the Ops Center.

“How many times do I have to say it was an accident?” Max complained.

Alec brought his brother to a halt before the hallway leading to the doors of the Institute. He knelt down to be at eye level. “Look, Max,” he sighed. “Somebody very important is coming to visit. All right? You think you can stay out of trouble for just a couple days? If you do, I promise I’ll get your stele back.”

While Alec didn’t necessarily agree that they should shape their lives around looking good for other people, he also believed that at the current moment, Max having a stele was a fire hazard for the Institute. Not that much would change in the coming months.

The doors opened before Max could respond. Valentine—or what looked like Valentine—strided towards them. Alec picked up his bow, drew back an arrow, and fired. Lydia as Valentine dodged the arrow and caught it in one graceful move. He could hear the exclamations of the other Shadowhunters behind him. None of them moved to do anything though.

Lydia took out her stele and deactivated her glamour rune. She looked unimpressed.

“That reaction time was abysmal,” she said, walking forward until she reached Alec. “Except for you. I’m Lydia Branwell, envoy from the Clave.”

“Alec Lightwood,” Alec introduced himself.

“Well, good job,” Lydia said briskly. “At least you would have gone out fighting if that was really Valentine. Of course, you might have survived if your fellow Shadowhunters had done anything except stand there.” She brushed past Alec. “Maryse,” she called. “The Clave has ordered me to take temporary control of this Institute.”

Maryse and Izzy walked down into the Ops Center.

“Wait a minute,” Maryse said. “Nobody informed us.”

“The Clave doesn’t need to,” Lydia said. “And, to repeat myself, it’s temporary.” She walked to one of the monitors, touching the screen with her stele. “Nothing’s been decided yet. But I do need full clearance in order to assess how this Institute is running.”

Lydia looked over at Alec. “Where is Clary Fairchild?” When no one answered, Lydia looked around and then back. “I would hope someone here knows.”

“She’s in the field, training,” Alec lied.

Lydia walked up to him. “You’re telling me she’s just… out and about in the streets of New York? Valentine’s daughter?”

“Isn’t she also your cousin?” Izzy asked sharply, tone barbed with sarcasm.

Lydia looked back at her. “Distant cousin.”

“She’s with Jace,” Alec said.

“The same Jace Wayland who decided to lead an unsanctioned raid against the vampires?” Lydia asked. “I've read reports.”

Maryse’s face tightened. “Jace might be unconventional, but he's our best soldier. If he's with Clary, then she's in good hands.”

“I hope so,” Lydia said. “And for your sake, all of New York. All of your jurisdiction better be well protected.” She continued to go from monitor to monitor.

Alec stepped out into the hallways leading to the rooms. He took out his phone.

To Magnus: Lydia just arrived.

Magnus’s reply was almost instantaneous.

From Magnus: Did you shoot her? I quite liked her.

To Magnus: Just thought I’d let you know.

“Who are you texting?” Izzy asked, sneaking up on Alec.

Alec shut off his phone. “What?”

A knowing smile crept up Izzy’s face. “Magnus?”

“No.” Izzy gave Alec a look. “Maybe.”

She grinned. “I’m rooting for you.”

They headed back towards the Ops Center.

“I’m not a fan,” Izzy said, eyeing Lydia.

“Jealous?” Alec asked.

Izzy scoffed. “No.”

Alec’s phone buzzed with a text.

“Maybe,” Izzy said, reminiscent of her brother’s answer seconds earlier. “How the hell did she catch that arrow?”

Alec checked his texts. Izzy peered over at him. “Magnus?”

“No,” Alec said. He went over to the screen where Lydia and Maryse were. “I have something you need to see. Something attacked the Jade Wolf.” He transferred the pictures to the screen.

“The werewolves’ headquarters,” Maryse said in astonishment. “Where did you—”

“Where did you get these?” Lydia interrupted.

“Leader of the New York wolf pack,” Alec answered.

Lydia studied him carefully. “You’re friends with Lucian Graymark? An ex-Circle member?”

Maryse looked uncomfortable. “How about we send Isabelle and Alec to investigate? I’m sure this is linked to—”

“Valentine,” Lydia said. “I need to see it for myself.” She turned to leave. “Are you coming or what?” she called to Alec.

Alec followed after her.

They didn’t talk much on the way to the Jade Wolf. Alec only spoke up to give Lydia directions to the restaurant. To be honest, Alec didn’t really know how to react around Lydia. She wasn’t the same person he had become friends with following their disastrous wedding that didn’t happen, she was the uptight, all-business woman that he had proposed a political marriage to only hours after meeting her.

Finally, when they reached the docks, Lydia spoke up.

“I can see why all the girls in Idris are clamoring to meet you,” she said.

“What do you mean?”

They wove through shipping containers.

“Rumor has it you’re looking to settle down,” Lydia said. “Get married.”

Alec grimaced. “Damn it.”

“Let me guess,” Lydia said. “Not your idea?”

“Nope.”

“My parents tried to set me up, too,” Lydia said. “But I forged my own path. Married the love of my life… John Monteverde.” She turned melancholy. “Together we were going to run the Lisbon Institute. And then John was killed. Everything was ripped away. My love, my dream job…” She stopped outside the Jade Wolf. “Piece of advice? In this line of work, the only thing worth falling in love with is the work itself.”

“Maybe,” Alec said. “But if there’s no one to love, what are you fighting for?”

Lydia looked surprised. “I never thought about it that way.” She gave Alec a small smile. “So I’m guessing there’s someone? Part of the reason you aren’t happy about the marriage thing?”

“You could say that,” Alec said. He headed into the restaurant.

“Alec,” Luke greeted him.

Alec nodded. “Luke. Where is it?”

“Here.” Luke brought them over to where the Forsaken lay on the ground.

Luke and Lydia squatted down next to it. “It's got some characteristics of a Forsaken,” she said. “It was human. It was runed.”

“I don’t know,” Luke said, rubbing his wrist which was wrapped. “It was more focused, more determined. It attacked like it had a plan.” He stood up. “Plus, a normal Forsaken wouldn’t have been so hard to kill. It took five wolves to take that thing down. Never seen anything like it.”

Lydia nodded. “We’ll take the body back to the Institute,” she said, standing up, “do a full autopsy.”

“Oh, hold up,” Luke said. “I get that I called you. Actually, I called Alec. But what I didn’t want is someone to come down here and just take over.”

“Kinda her thing,” Alec said.

“Look, I know I can come across… abrasive,” Lydia said. “But we’re all on the same side here.” She looked between Luke and Alec. “Can we agree on that? The Institute has the resources to find out what this thing is.”

“We have an expert forensic pathologist,” Alec allowed. “Highly trained in all the creatures of the Shadow World.”

Lydia looked at Luke. “Do you have one here?” She glanced around. “In this, uh, Chinese restaurant?”

“Fine,” Luke said. “You win. Just let me know what you find.”

“If Valentine was behind this,” Lydia started.

“He was,” Luke said. “No question. It’s definitely his work.”

“What do you think he’s after?”

“Honestly?” Luke asked. “Me.”

Lydia looked at him. “So you think Valentine’s going after ex-Circle members?”

“I don’t know,” Lukesaid. “It might be kind of personal. We have a complicated past. But of course, he could be going after the old crew. I’m sure Valentine has a grudge against anybody who turned against him.”

“We’ll put extra wards on the Institute,” Lydia said.

“Hodge and my parents.” Alec was sure he had an unreadable expression on his face. “Yeah.”

“We need to make sure no magic was used to make this,” Lydia said when they had gotten the Forsaken body back to the autopsy room in the Institute. “I’ve called the nearest High Warlock to come in to consult.”

Alec bit back a smile. “Magnus Bane.”

“Do you know him?” Lydia asked.

“Little bit,” Alec said, really trying to fight back his smile now.

Lydia smiled. She looked excited for the first time. “I actually can’t wait to meet him.” She gave an embarrassed laugh. “My great ancestor Henry Branwell worked with Magnus Bane to invent the Portal. My family remembers him with high regards.” She paused. “What’s he like?”

Alec blinked. “Uh, well, he’s, uh, he’s… quite magical. I mean, he’s really good at magic. Um, he’s very eccentric, but he’s powerful and smart. He cares about who he helps.” He trailed off when he saw Lydia’s expression. “What?”

Lydia shook her head. “Nothing. Just… what you said earlier when I asked if there was someone. Guess I have my answer.”

Alec flushed. “Excuse me?” When Lydia raised her eyebrows, he deflated. “That obvious?”

“Just when you’re talking about him,” Lydia said with a wry smile. “I won’t say anything though, don’t worry.” She looked up at him. “Must be a great guy for someone like you to fall for him though. I just mean that you’re a Shadowhunter,” she added.

Alec nodded. “Yep.”

“You know, I don’t care that your parents are ex-Circle, right?” Lydia asked. “Your family has always had a strong alliance with mine. They’ve been a powerful force in the Shadow World and praised for their devotion.”

“I know,” Alec said. “They’re different now. I know that.” His phone buzzed.

From Magnus: I’ll be at the Institute soon. If a handsome Shadowhunter wanted to escort me to the lab, I wouldn’t be opposed.

Alec shook his head with a laugh.

“What’s that?” Lydia asked.

“Nothing,” Alec said quickly. “Well, it’s not nothing. Um, Magnus said he’ll be here soon and he was asking if I’d meet him.”

“You should,” Lydia said with a smile. “Alec, I wish you could see yourself. When you talk about Magnus… I don’t know, your face lights up and this extra weight on your shoulders just disappears. You go meet him at the entrance, I’ll get Isabelle.”

“You’re amazing, Lydia,” Alec said honestly. “Thank you.”

“If you don’t mind me asking, does anyone else know?”

“Izzy does,” Alec said. “And Jace and Clary. And Luke too, I guess.”

Lydia nodded. “Well, thank you for telling me. I know I kind of surprised the answer out of you, but thanks for trusting me with the rest.” She let out a breath. “Now. Go find your warlock.”

Alec smiled as he left the room.

To Magnus: I’ll be there.

Magnus was not nervous because he was going to be seeing his boyfriend—husband really, but no one knew that—for the first time since that night healing Luke. He absolutely was not worried that in the span of twenty-four hours Alec had managed to un-time travel himself, leaving Magnus with a stuttering, closeted Shadowhunter. Although that version of Alec had been quite endearing and adorable, Magnus preferred not to have his heart thrown through a blender again.

So it was a relief to walk into the New York Institute to see Alec waiting for him.

“Alexander,” Magnus greeted.

Alec looked up with a small smile. “Magnus.”

“Lightwood,” someone called.

Magnus looked over to see Raj. He almost greeted him with a “Dear Raj” before remembering he didn’t quite know Raj yet.

“Lydia Branwell just sent your sister down to autopsy,” Raj said, looking at Alec and ignoring Magnus. “She’ll be waiting for the warlock.”

“The warlock has a name,” Alec said coolly in what Magnus liked to call his I’m-a-leader-don’t-mess-with-me voice. “It’s Magnus Bane. And I’m taking him there now, thank you.”

Alexander Lightwood was incredibly hot when he got all authoritarian like that. Magnus very much wished they were back in their own time. He very much doubted the Shadowhunters of New York would appreciate what Magnus wanted to do to Alec right now. Not that they were all much better in the future, but it was a start.

“Right this way,” Alec said to Magnus in a much more pleasant voice. He gestured to the elevators.

As soon as the doors shut behind them, Alec pulled Magnus into a long, slow kiss that Magnus melted into.

“I miss you,” Alec murmured.

“The feeling is mutual,” Magnus said.

“Friday,” Alec said. “Before or after our date. That’s when I’m going to tell my parents.” He gave a nervous laugh. “You know, I never had to actually tell them? I just… kissed you at my wedding to Lydia. I have no idea how to do this.”

“You could always invite me over for a light makeout session in the middle of the Institute,” Magnus said, trying to sound nonchalant. “I’d make that sacrifice for you.”

“I know you would,” Alec said. “But I want to tell them. And then, I will sneak out of the Institute to sleep over whenever you want. By the way, Lydia knows about us. Apparently, I’m some lovestruck idiot when I talk about you.”

The elevator doors dinged open.

“I don’t know if I want to be in the same room as you when Izzy sees you,” Alec admitted.

“Too late!” Izzy’s voice said. She ran down the hall towards them. “Hi, Magnus.”

“Lovely Isabelle,” Magnus said graciously.

Izzy grinned. “So? How’d you get this guy to agree to a date?”

“Natural charm,” Magnus said.

Alec rolled his eyes. “Have fun with the Forsaken body.”

“Oh, we will,” Izzy assured him. “But we can multitask. I still have to grill Magnus about his intentions if he wants me to let him date my brother.”

“If you love me, you won’t do that,” Alec said.

“It’s because I love you, Alec,” Izzy said. “Come on, Magnus. Bodies to cut open and questions to answer.” She skipped off down the hallway.

“I’ll try to direct her attention to the bloodwork,” Magnus promised Alec. “As for you, don’t get any ideas about heroically slaying Forsaken or proposing to girls you’ve met today.”

“I’ll try not to,” Alec said. He checked the hall to make sure there was no one coming and then gently kissed Magnus. “See you later.”

Chapter Text

Note to self: Never leave home without glitter.
― Adrienne Kress, The Friday Society

Izzy shooed all the other Shadowhunters out of the autopsy room.

“We need some space,” she said.

Magnus watched the couple of Shadowhunters clear out of the room. He turned to Izzy with raised eyebrows. “I’m assuming this is part of the grilling of intentions.”

“Well our parents don’t know about Alec,” Izzy said, stepping around to the other side of the Forsaken body laid out on the table. “He has told you that, right?” she asked, prodding at the body. “I mean, you’re okay with that? You won’t say anything until he gives you permission right?”

She looked up from the body and gave Magnus a serious look. “I don’t want my brother hurt. I know—and he knows—how our parents will react. He’s been scared of that for a long time. I mean, before you, Alec never considered going on a date with anyone. He likes you. He likes you enough to do this and I think he likes you enough to tell mom and dad. And considering you’re a guy and a Downworlder, he’s risking a lot. I just hope you appreciate that.”

“And I do,” Magnus said. “I won’t force Alexander into anything he doesn’t want.”

Izzy’s lips twitched. “You’re the only person who can get away with that, you know. Alec would kill anyone who called him his full name. Just not you.” She nodded to the body. “So, any magic used on this?”

Magnus started. “Hmm? Right.” He, of course, knew there wasn’t any magic and he would have told Izzy that much, but he had a feeling that even Shadowhunters knew that warlocks needed to actually use magic to detect the presence of other magic. At the very least, he couldn’t very well set a precedent that he knew by looking at the body. That had the potential to backfire very, very badly.

He waved his hands over the body, blue magic scanning for sources of other magic. Magnus had to admit, time was a fickle thing. Time travel wasn’t attempted for many reasons. He had listed out the reasons associated with the methods, but there were other factors. One being the butterfly effect.

Yes, the Forsaken were not magically altered originally, but Magnus and Alec had most certainly done different things since their arrival in this time. That could have affected Valentine’s plan with the Forsaken.

Then, of course, there was the exact opposite of the butterfly effect. The fact that time wants to happen. Even a big change could have no effect on the outcome of their mission which had begun as preventing Clary from getting deruned by the Angels. Even if Magnus or Alec physically restrained Clary from drawing her runes, the Angels might simply find another reason to derune her.

Magnus needed to stop thinking about this. It was giving him a headache. This was why he had wanted to leave that headache to whatever the Magnus Izzy and Jace would have run into would be called. Alternate past-Magnus?

Though, that raised the question of if that would just be him without memories of the future. Another headache in and of itself.

“You almost done?” Izzy asked.

“Patience is a virtue, my dear,” Magnus told her.

“Come on,” she said. “I want to get my hands on that thing.” She stood to the side of Magnus, peering over the head and sighed. “Putrefaction. It’s decomposing.”

Magnus lowered his hands. “Well, there’s no signs of magic. Perhaps it’s something in the bloodwork.”

Izzy nodded. “That’s a good idea. I’ll check that when I’m done with the autopsy.”

“And I will deliver the preliminary findings,” Magnus said.

“Magnus,” Izzy called. “I wasn’t kidding earlier. Alec likes you a lot. I do too. So it would really suck if I had to kick your butt.”

The fact that this was said while Isabelle Lightwood cut into the Forsaken body did not help to make that statement any less terrifying.

“What, no training?” Magnus’s voice startled Alec out of his thoughts.

Alec looked up from where he was sitting on a bench in the training room. Magnus—impeccably dressed as always despite having come straight from an autopsy—was walking towards him. He stood up. “Magnus. I was just… I figured you’d be coming here whenever you finished.”

“True,” Magnus admitted. “I was, however, expecting to see glistening abs and muscles. And expecting to perhaps admire the handsome man working out?” He gave Alec a hopeful look.

Alec grinned and shook his head. “You’re incorrigible.”

“I try my best.”

Alec’s phone beeped. He looked down. “They’re going to the cemetery. For Simon.” He sighed and put his phone away. “I feel weird, you know? I’m supposed to condemn vampires turning mundanes without consent, but… Simon did give consent. In the future. To me. Well, to Izzy and Jace, but still. We could have prevented that.”

“On the bright side,” Magnus said, “once Camille is locked up by Raphael, I am free to sneak over to her apartment and take the Book of the White for myself. Once Clary returns with her mother, I can wake Jocelyn.”

“Which means Jace no longer gets captured by Valentine,” Alec realized.

Magnus nodded. “Exactly.”

“And Jocelyn can try to kill Jace sooner,” Alec added. “How are we going to prove Jace isn’t Jonathan?”

“Oh, by planting seeds of doubt like Are you sure Valentine isn’t the kind of sociopath that kidnaps children and claims them as his own to drive a wedge between them and his daughter’s budding relationship? Because he’s also the guy who doesn’t have a problem experimenting on Shadowhunters, Downworlders, and mundanes, ” Magnus said. “That kind of thing. So naturally, I will perform a quick Are you the mother? test on Jace and Jocelyn which will come back negative because, well, she isn’t the mother. Problem solved.”

Alec thought about it. “Huh. Yeah. I guess that works.”

Magnus hesitated. “Alexander, I was thinking about something earlier. It hadn’t occurred to me until recently, but I fear we may have overlooked two important things in our time travel discussions.”

“Great,” Alec sighed. “What?”

“The Butterfly Effect for one,” Magnus said. “Any change we make, no matter how small, can change the course of time. This conversation for example. It never happened. Not like this anyway.”

“So we could be causing worse problems for ourselves,” Alec said. “We can deal with that. And the other thing?”

“Time wants to happen,” Magnus said. “This would be the opposite of the Butterfly Effect. Our changes, no matter how big, don’t change the course of time. Clary still ends up how she ended up and that leads us back to here. Though I’d like to think we could convince Jace to wait for Clary to remember again.”

Alec frowned. “So all this could be for nothing?”

“Potentially,” Magnus said. “I’m not sure how time travel works. This is one of the reasons it hasn’t been attempted before. It could be one or the other, it could be a combination of both. I believe it would be more towards the latter, but I could be wrong. We won’t know until…”

“Until something bad happens,” Alec finished. “Like Camille escaping?”

Magnus grimaced. “Let’s not think like that.”

Alec gestured to the report in Magnus’s hands. “We should get that to the Head. Lydia, I guess.”

“I wonder if I will score bonus points with Robert and Maryse if I hand it to them,” Magnus mused. “Perhaps I should do that.”

“Don’t think that will do much,” Alec said, a small smile on his face.

“No, I thought not,” Magnus agreed.

Alec and Magnus paused outside the door to the Head of the Institute’s office. They could hear Lydia speaking with Robert and Maryse inside.

“The Clave has spoken,” Lydia was saying. “They will be taking full control of the Institute.”

“I’m begging you,” Maryse said. “You can punish us, but our children did nothing wrong. They’ve worked so hard—”

“I’m sorry, there’s nothing I can do,” Lydia said. “With everything that’s happened here in New York, plus your history with the Circle, and now Valentine’s return, the Clave believes the Institute’s at risk.”

“We’ve been trying to stop Valentine,” Robert said angrily. “What had the Clave done? The answer is nothing. He’s growing in strength. They’re more concerned about removing us from the Institute.”

“Robert,” Maryse said lowly.

“The law is hard, but it is the law,” Lydia said matter-of-factly.

Alec saw Magnus mouth the words and roll his eyes. He bit back the smile threatening to grow.

“We will await the Clave’s instructions,” Maryse said as Alec walked in. Magnus trailed behind him.

“Preliminary results,” Alec said.

“No magic was used to create the Forsaken,” Magnus said.

Lydia stood up. “You’re Magnus Bane?” At Magnus’s nod, she stuck out her hand. “Lydia Branwell. You worked with my ancestor Henry Branwell.”

“Henry and Charlotte,” Magnus said with a smile. “Yes, very dear friends. I have Henry to thank for introducing me to glitter.”

Alec choked. “Seriously?”

Magnus looked affronted. “Glitter is very important, Alexander. I very much so cherish that day.”

Maryse and Robert seemed to be at a loss to see how well their son was getting along with a warlock and how eager Lydia seemed to be getting the chance to speak to Magnus.

“You remind me of Charlotte,” Magnus told Lydia. “First female Consul. Very capable leader. I should introduce you to Tessa one day. Charlotte and Henry took her into the London Institute though she was a warlock.”

Lydia smiled. “I’ve heard so many stories about that time. They were fighting these automatons, right?”

Magnus nodded. “Will, Cecily, Gideon, Gabriel, Sophie, Jem…” he trailed off. He shook his head. “I’m all too happy to recount my dashing adventures with the Shadowhunters, but I suppose you’ll be wanting the report.”

“Yes, please,” Lydia said, holding out a hand.

Alec took the report from Magnus and handed it to his mother. Then he headed out of the room.

“Lovely meeting you,” Magnus told Lydia. “Robert, Maryse. A pleasure as always.” He turned around and went after Alec.

“I had to,” Alec said. “I had to let them know I didn’t blame them for being in the Circle before. I know they did bad things, but…”

“They’ve changed and you wanted them to know you knew that,” Magnus said.

“Sound crazy,” Alec said. “I could just tell them.”

“It’s not crazy,” Magnus assured him.

“So I have Lydia’s ancestor to blame for your glitter fascination?”

Magnus scoffed. “Just because you don’t appreciate the beauty of glitter.”

“I think Tessa and Lydia would get along,” Alec said.

“Oh undoubtedly.”

Clary watched Jace set Simon’s body on the ground in the cemetery. She was aware of Raphael’s eyes on her, waiting for her to make her decision. She wasn’t aware of anything else until Jace’s voice broke her from her thoughts.

“What do you want?” he asked harshly.

Clary turned to see the vampire Camille standing a few feet away between the headstones. She looked smug, cool, and confident.

“I want my property back,” Camille said, sounding irritated.

“Simon is not your property,” Clary snapped.

Camille sighed. “If you’ll just hand him over, I’ll be on my way.”

“You heard Clary,” Jace said, coming to stand shoulder to shoulder with Clary. “You’re not laying a hand on him.”

“Fine,” Camille said. “I tried to do this the nice way.” She snapped her fingers and a dozen vampires sped in around her.

Clary took a step back. “Jace.”

Raphael stepped forward. “I'm glad you brought everyone here to witness your demise,” he said. He looked around at the other vampires. “Camille killed this mundane. Now, I have all the proof. She's been breaking the Accords for too long now. He's the evidence we need to show the Clave what Camille has been doing.”

Camille laughed. “Are you trying to overthrow me?”

“No,” Raphael said with a fake smile. “I already have.”

“Don’t listen to him,” Camille tutted. “Raphael doesn’t know the first thing about leading. You need me. I've given you everything you could want. All the riches. All the pleasures you could desire.”

“By breaking the law,” Raphael added. “Which will only destroy us.”

“We can fix this,” Camille insisted. “If we just get rid of the body, this mundane means nothing.”

Clary gritted her teeth. “Means nothing?” she repeated, stalking towards Camille. “Over my dead body.” She wound back and socked Camille in the jaw.

Camille hissed in shock.

Clary smirked as she headed back towards Jace.

The vampires surrounded Camille and then they were gone.

“Clary,” Jace said. “It’s time.”

Raphael held up a shovel in one hand and a stake in the other. “Which will it be?”

Clary’s eyes darted between the two objects. She reached with shaking fingers to grab the shovel. Raphael’s lips curled into a smile.

“Here,” Jace said, taking the shovel from Clary. He started digging into the dirt.

Clary was grateful for that. Her hands were shaking and she didn’t think she’d be able to dig a very good hole like that. Instead she knelt down next to Simon and pulled out a scarf from her bag.

“When your grandfather gave you this at your bar mitzvah, you, um,” she took a shaky breath, “you told me how much it meant to you. It was a symbol of the day you became a man.” Her voice cracked and her eyes watered. “Simon… Simon, no matter what happens… no matter what… you become… you will always be that man to me.”

When Jace was done digging the hole, Raphael picked up Simon’s body and placed him at the bottom of the hole. Jace offered Clary the shovel. She got one scoop of dirt in before she stepped back, shaking her head.

“I can’t,” she said. “I can’t. Jace, can you…?”

Jace nodded and took the shovel back. He scooped more dirt back into the hole until all Clary could see of Simon was the tip of his nose and the tips of his shoes. She started sobbing, hand over her mouth getting covered in tears, saliva, and mucus, but she didn’t care.

It only took a few minutes before Jace had the hole completely filled in.

“Now what?” she whispered.

“We wait for him to emerge,” Raphael said.

Clary sat besides the patch of fresh dirt. Jace squatted next to her.

“That mundane's a fighter,” Jace said. “He survived the vampires at the Hotel Dumort. He survived the werewolves at Jade Wolf. He survived accounting… for whatever that's worth.”

A smile crept up Clary’s face. “He is a fighter, isn’t he?” She looked up. “Look, I know you think emotions cloud judgement… and that whole falcon story, I… I don’t think I’ll ever be able to wrap my head around that, but… all of that contradicts the first rule of being mundane.”

“What’s the first rule of being mundane?” Jace asked.

“It’s that love makes you stronger,” Clary said, eyes on Simon’s grave. “It was my mother's love for me that made her betray Valentine and steal the Cup. It's love that makes you fight harder for what you want.”

The ground above where they had buried Simon started rumbling and shaking.

“It’s happening,” Raphael said. He carried a large duffle bag over with him.

A pale hand broke the surface of the dirt followed by a head and the other arm. Clary watched with horrible fascination as Simon dug himself out of his grave. His breath was raspy and growling.

Raphael pulled packets of blood from the duffle bag.

“Simon,” Clary said. “Simon, it’s me. It’s… it’s Clary.”

Simon stared at her for a second. Then he hissed, baring his fangs. Clary screamed and Jace pulled her back.

“Once reborn,” Raphael said, “you emerge hungry.” He tossed a blood pack at Simon.

Simon tore it open and poured it over his mouth. Most of the blood spilled onto his shirt and face.

“Very hungry,” Raphael added, almost sounding amused. He tossed Simon another pack. “Drink up.”

Simon tore that one open too. Clary watched her friend in horror.

“Alec,” Maryse called walking into the training room where Alec and Magnus had gone to talk. She gave the warlock a startled look. “Magnus Bane. What are you still doing here?”

“I was—”

“We were talking,” Alec interrupted sharply. “Did you need something, mom?”

Maryse’s eyes stayed trained on Magnus. “Privately.”

“Just wait down there,” Alec said, gesturing to the stairs leading back to the Ops Center.

Magnus looked between Alec and Maryse. “Right.” He headed down the stairs.

“Why are you talking to that warlock?” Maryse asked as soon as Magnus left. Alec was pretty sure she hadn’t bothered to make sure Magnus was out of earshot.

“Because he’s actually really nice to talk to,” Alec said. “What did you need?”

Maryse took a deep breath. “Alec,” she said calmly. “I was thinking about something. The envoy is now in charge of the Institute— our Institute.” She paused. “The Branwells are an excellent family and we’ve been allies for some time.”

Alec had a sinking feeling about this conversation.

“If you and Lydia were to marry,” Maryse said, “we would keep control and our family name—”

“No,” Alec said.

Maryse looked like Alec had slapped her. “What did you say?”

“I said no,” Alec said. “I’m not marrying Lydia. She’s nice, but I don’t have any feelings towards her.”

“You’ve never been like this, Alec,” Maryse said. “You’ve always put your duty first.”

“I am putting duty first,” Alec said. “You know, it actually took a long time, but I finally understood. I have a duty to myself too. And if I’m not taking care of me, I can’t take care of anyone else. I won’t marry someone for a political alliance. That’s not fair. To me or Lydia.”

“Am I interrupting?” a voice asked.

Alec and Maryse turned to see Hodge standing there with a wooden stick. He was dressed for working out and training.

It was hard not to feel anger when he saw Hodge. The man had betrayed them to Valentine, had struck Lydia hard enough to knock her unconscious, and had handed Valentine the Mortal Cup. But he was still the cool uncle type figure that Alec had grown up with.

“No,” Alec said. “We were just leaving.” He stalked off down the stairs to where Magnus was waiting.

“What was that about?” Magnus asked.

Alec gritted his teeth. “Mom wants me to marry Lydia. Guess if it’s not my idea, it’s her’s. I told her I wouldn’t do it, but I don’t think this conversation is over.”

“I’m proud of you,” Magnus said. “The old Alec wouldn’t have said no. You’ve come a long way since, well, now.”

“We all have,” Alec said, glancing back at his mom.

“She’ll come around in due time,” Magnus reassured him. “You know that.”

“I just wish that was now,” Alec said.

The sounds of fighting reached his ears.

Alec’s eyes widened. “Hodge.”

“What?” Magnus asked, startled.

“Hodge, the Forsaken,” Alec said. His quiver materialized on his back and he grabbed his bow. “Come on!” He took off without waiting for Magnus.

When Alec got back into the training room, Hodge was on the ground with the Forsaken warrior above him ready to bash his brains in. Alec loosed an arrow into the Forsaken’s back which didn’t do much. He sent another one into the Forsaken’s chest. Again, that didn’t do much.

The Forsaken swung at Alec, sending him to the ground.

“Alec!” Magnus called, rushing in. His hand flew up, blue magic freezing the Forsaken in place.

Hodge got up and grabbed the Forsaken’s head and twisted, snapping its neck.

“Oh my God!” Izzy’s voice cried. She pushed past Magnus and knelt besides her brother. “Alec, are you okay?” Her eyes landed on the Forsaken’s body. “Oh my God.”

“I’m fine,” Alec said, sitting up. “Just a little beaten up. Bruised. I’m fine.”

“What were you thinking?” Magnus asked exasperatedly. “Running after it alone.”

Alec was breathing heavily as he got to his feet. “Hodge,” he said by way of explanation.

“Silly, self-sacrificing Nephilim,” Magnus muttered.

“What is going on here— Alec!” Maryse shouted.

Alec groaned. “I’m fine. Hodge got more beat up than me. Besides, Magnus stopped it. Good thing he stuck around,” he added pointedly.

Hodge raised an eyebrow and glanced between Alec and Maryse, clearly sensing some level of dislike at the moment.

“I didn’t figure it out until too late,” Izzy said, still looking worried. “They have angel blood. That’s how they could bypass the wards.”

Magnus moved towards the spot the Forsaken had come through. He held up his hands and a wall of shimmering blue magic appeared where the hole was. His back was to Alec, but he was sure Magnus’s cat eyes were blazing. The blue magic disappeared.

“That should do it,” Magnus said. He turned around. “Nothing else will be able to get in that way. I have to advise you to update your wards though. If Valentine can send one Forsaken in…”

“He can send more,” Izzy finished.

“I can make the adjustments to the wards,” Magnus offered.

Alec cut in before Maryse could say anything. “You’ll have to talk to Lydia. I don’t think she’d mind that.” He winced.

“You’re arm,” Magnus said, starting forward.

Alec waved him off. “I’m fine. Just… talk to Lydia about the wards. Okay?”

“I’m coming back afterwards,” Magnus said. “Then I’m going to heal that.”

“Okay.”

As Magnus left, Hodge spoke up. “Are you two friends now?”

Izzy’s hands flew to her mouth to hide a smile.

“In a manner of speaking,” Alec said.

Maryse’s lips thinned.

Simon breathed erratically, eyes darting around the dark graveyard. He looked at Clary in a panic. “Clary. What’s happening?”

“You, um, you died,” Clary said.

“I what?” Simon asked. His eyes landed on the blood packets. “What’s this?” He picked one up and immediately stumbled back. “That’s blood!” His hands flew to his mouth. “Oh my… Oh my…” he choked. “Why can’t I say…”

“God,” Raphael supplied. “It’ll take time to regain the ability. There’s a lot you will need to learn.”

Clary watched as the reality of the situation finally dawned on Simon. He looked utterly horrified.

“Oh my… Damn it!” Simon yelled. He hit the dirt. “Am I… Am I a vampire?”

Clary nodded silently. “Yeah.”

“Clary, tell me… tell me this isn’t real,” Simon begged. “Tell me this is not really happening!”

“I’m sorry,” Clary whispered. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry!”

“I’m… I’m… I’m repulsive!” Simon yelled.

“No, please,” Clary cried. “Please don’t say that, okay? You're still the same, Simon. You're the same Simon I've known my whole life. The same guy who… who loves sci-fi. And who can recite every line from… from every Nicolas Cage movie.” She started tearing up. “The same Simon who carried me over the Brooklyn Bridge when I lost my shoe, okay? Listen…”

“No, Clary, I’m not!”

“Yes, you are, Simon!” Clary shouted. “You are the same Simon! You are my best friend!”

“I’m not,” Simon said. “I’m nothing more than a monster.”

Clary’s heart shattered. “No, Simon, you—”

“Stay away,” Simon said, scrambling up and backing away from Clary. “Please just… stay away.” He sped off through the darkness.

“Simon…”

“I’ll look after Simon,” Raphael said. “You have my word.” He ran after Simon.

Clary watched them go. “What did I do? What did I do?”

“Come on,” Jace said gently. “We should get back to the Institute. Raphael can handle Simon.”

“No, Jace, I just… I need to make sure he’s okay,” Clary said. She took a deep breath. “Can we please go after them? I… I know we might not catch up, but I need to try.”

Jace nodded. “Okay, Clary. We can go after them.”

They caught up to Raphael in an alley.

“I swear, if that kid ruins one more jacket,” Raphael muttered.

“Where is he?” Clary asked.

Raphael looked up. “He’ll be back.”

“You just let him go?” Jace asked incredulously. “You said you’d look after him.”

“I can’t do that until he’s ready,” Raphael said.

“What does that even mean?” Clary asked desperately.

“It means he’s where everybody goes when this happens,” Raphael said. “His own personal hell.”

Clary gasped. “I… I did this. I put him there.”

“If it helps, he doesn’t even remember it was you,” Raphael said. “Those first minutes… a complete blank.”

“But I have to tell him the truth,” Clary said.

“Once you rein him in, he’ll be walking, talking proof to the Clave that Camille broke the Accords,” Raphael said. “In fact, as a new leader—”

“Okay, just stop!” Clary said. Simon was her friend, not some power card for Raphael to use. “I don’t care about your vampire politics! We have to find Simon.”

“We will,” Jace assured her.

“He’s out there, he’s alone… scared… he’s hungry,” Clary said.

Raphael turned to leave. “Give me a call when he turns up. He’ll need my help.” The vampire dashed off into the night.

“I think we’ve had just about enough of your help,” Jace said scathingly. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

“What are you doing?” Clary asked.

“Getting reinforcements,” Jace answered. “Alec, I need you.”

“It’s Izzy. We need you. There’s been an attack at the Institute.”

Jace turned the phone on speaker. “An attack?”

“Valentine created a Forsaken that went through the wards.”

“That’s not possible, Izzy,” Jace said. “Nothing can get through the wards. They’re—they’re warlock spells to defend against all Downworlders.”

“Not this one. It had Seelie blood with angel properties. Jace, it went after Hodge and Alec.”

“Are they okay?” Jace asked. “Is Alec—?”

“They’re banged up, but they’ll live. Magnus was there. He helped. Hodge killed it. It was after the—”

“The Cup,” Clary finished.

“Izzy, I’ll be there as soon as I can,” Jace promised. He hung up the phone. He started running down the street with Clary trailing after him.

“Stop,” Clary called. “Stop.”

Jace slowed down, but he kept walking. “Valentine attacked my home. Alec’s injured. We’ve got to go.”

“I can’t,” Clary said. “You know I can’t. Simon’s in danger—”

“So what about Alec?” Jace asked. “It’s not safe out here, Clary.”

“Okay, did you forget how I single-handedly battled a Shax demon to protect the Cup?” Clary asked.

“No, I didn’t,” Jace said, “I was just… I was gonna say—”

“That I have a lot to learn, yes,” Clary said, “but I don’t know what else—”

Jace stopped and grabbed her arm. “Clary, you’re right, okay? You’re right.”

Clary blinked. “Did you just say I’m right?”

“Don’t get used to it,” Jace said. “Look, maybe Luke can help you find Simon. Werewolves are really great trackers.”

“Of course, yeah,” Clary nodded. “Good idea.”

Jace reached a hand up to cup her cheek. “Just promise me you’ll be careful, okay?”

Clary nodded. “Jace, we still have to talk about—”

“Us.”

Clary gave a nervous laugh. She glanced at Jace’s lips and they both leaned forward to kiss.

“Excellent talk,” Clary said when they pulled back.

Chapter Text

Choices made, whether bad or good, follow you forever and affect everyone in their path one way or another.
― J.E.B. Spredemann, An Unforgivable Secret

When you choose an action, you choose the consequences of that action. When you desire a consequence you had damned well better take the action that would create it.
― Lois McMaster Bujold, Memory

Alec figured that Magnus was actually serious about healing his Forsaken wound and normally, he wouldn’t have a problem with his boyfriend healing his injuries. It was just that normally, Magnus wasn’t updating all the wards around an entire building which Alec imagined was pretty draining. So he decided to follow Magnus around to make sure healing his arm wouldn’t take too much out of Magnus.

The spot they were at now was in the Ops Center. Robert was there too. Blue magic swirled around the wall as Magnus added to the wards.

“Are the wards solid now?” Robert asked. “Nothing will get through?”

Magnus snapped his fingers causing the blue to disappear. “Even my magic has limits,” he said. “The wards won’t hold off that Forsaken attack. But my protections will slow them down.”

“Extra time is priceless,” Robert said.

“Say that after you get my bill,” Magnus said.

Robert almost smiled. “Lydia will take care of that.” He walked off down the hall.

Magnus immediately moved towards Alec. “May I?”

“You sure you’re not too drained?” Alec asked.

“It’s cute that you think something like magical fatigue would stop me from healing you,” Magnus said. He waved a hand. His magic looped around the bandage around Alec’s arm. “I’d leave that on until the wound fully heals. An hour or two tops.”

“Thank you,” Alec said.

“Anything for you.”

Alec smiled. “We can do this, right?”

“Safeguard the Institute?” Magnus asked. “Yes.”

“No, I mean, fix time,” Alec said. “Stop Valentine, stop Jonathan, stop Lilith, save Clary. We can do that.”

Magnus smiled up at him. “Of course. We were woefully unprepared, yet we’ve managed to secure the Cup and start Sheldon on his Daylighter path.”

“One of these days you’re going to slip up and use his real name,” Alec said.

“And what a wonderful day I’m sure that will be for Sherman.”

Alec grinned, shaking his head.

“Meliorn?” Izzy’s voice called. “What are you doing here?”

Alec looked over to see his sister rising from her computer and hurrying over to her ex. “Oh crap,” he muttered.

Magnus turned. “What is it?”

“Meliorn’s about to be arrested,” Alec said. “I’ll handle this.”

“I should finish the wards anyway,” Magnus said.

“You didn’t finish before you healed me?” Alec asked, not quite surprised. He shook his head. “Whatever.”

Alec ran down the steps towards Izzy and Meliorn. He noted Raj was there too.

“The Clave called me in for some kind of conference,” Meliorn said.

Izzy hugged him, but Meliorn didn’t hug back.

“I’m so happy to see you,” Izzy said.

“Spare me,” Meliorn said. “Your fire message clearly stated you never wanted to see me again.”

Izzy backed up. “My family—”

“Despises Downworlders?” Meliorn finished. “That’s common knowledge.”

“That’s not true,” Izzy insisted. “And even if it were, I’m not like that.”

“I’m not here to talk about us,” Meliorn said. He looked over Izzy’s shoulder to see Lydia. “I believe that’s your Clave envoy.”

Lydia walked over with a guard on either side of her.

“Isabelle, please step aside,” Lydia said. “Meliorn, the Clave has ordered that you be placed under arrest.”

“What?” Meliorn asked.

Izzy looked outraged. “What for?”

“Soliciting state secrets from a Shadowhunter on behalf of Valentine Morgenstern,” Lydia said.

“What secrets?” Alec cut in. “How to get into the Institute? Everyone in the Shadow World knows you need angel blood to get inside uninvited. It’s not top secret.”

Lydia sighed. “I admire how you believe the best, Alec, but I don’t have a choice here. Guards.”

The two guards with Lydia dragged Meliorn out of the room. Raj followed after them.

“Have you lost your mind?” Izzy asked.

“Me?” Lydia asked, brushing past Izzy. “You’re lucky you weren’t arrested along with him.”

“What are you talking about?” Izzy asked, following after her.

Lydia came to a stop. “It's our understanding that your long-standing relationship with the Seelie, Meliorn, may have led to the disclosure of state secrets.”

Izzy’s jaw dropped. “What? No! Meliorn told me how to get into the Hotel Dumort so that we could save a mundane.”

“And you told him nothing in return?” Lydia asked. “Nobody is blaming you for the attack. Meliorn and the Seelies were likely working with Valentine all along.”

“They aren’t,” Alec said. “But they will be if we wrongly hold one of their own prisoners.”

“Valentine has been murdering Downworlders and draining their bodies for months,” Izzy said. “He probably killed those Seelie scouts and used their blood—”

“Do you have proof?” Lydia interrupted.

“Do you?” Izzy said back challengingly.

“I have orders,” Lydia said. “That’s all. I never wanted any of this.”

Izzy shook her head. “I don’t believe you for a second.” She stalked off.

“She has a point, Lydia,” Alec said. “Valentine could have killed a few Seelies to get their blood. We know the scouts were killed. It could be theirs.”

“I feel bad,” Lydia said. “Really, I do. But I can’t disobey my orders. I’m sorry, Alec.”

“Me too,” Alec said. He turned to head back and find Izzy.

She was pacing the training room, face flushed with anger.

“Hey,” Alec said, heading up.

“Did you talk some sense into her?” Izzy asked.

Alec tested his left arm. The wound was almost healed thanks to Magnus. “Tried to,” he said. “She can’t do anything now.” He pulled a punching bag out and tested a few blows with his left arm.

Izzy scoffs. “She calls Meliorn in and arrests him, then acts like it’s all out of her hands.”

Alec sped up the punches.

“You’re going to hurt yourself,” Izzy told him.

“I’m fine,” Alec said. He rubbed his arm. “Magnus healed it.”

Izzy grinned. “Aww, did he kiss it better?”

“First of all, that’s disgustingly unhygienic,” Alec said. “It was pretty infected. Second, we were in the middle of the Institute.” He sighed. “Look, Izzy, don’t blame Lydia. It was the Clave that gave the order, not her.”

Izzy’s smile disappeared. “Are you sure about that?”

“Hey,” Jace said, running up the stairs. “You all right?”

“Fine,” Alec sighed.

“Magnus healed him,” Izzy supplied.

“Cute,” Jace said. “I just spoke to Robert and Maryse. They’re being sent back to Idris.”

“What?” Izzy asked.

“Yeah,” Jace said grimly.

Izzy looked at Alec. “Another order from Lydia?”

“Who’s Lydia?” Jace asked.

“She’s in charge of the Institute,” Izzy explained.

“She’s what?”

“Temporarily,” Alec added.

“And now she’s convinced the Clave that Mom and Dad aren’t doing their job?” Izzy asked.

Alec shook his head. “That’s not it. Mom and Dad were members of the Circle.”

“What?” Izzy gasped. “But they don’t have Circle runes.”

“They made a deal with the Clave and were pardoned,” Alec said. “But that’s not the point. Valentine is back. The Circle is rising. They’re under suspicion.”

“You’re questioning their loyalty?” Izzy asked.

“No,” Alec said firmly. “I’m just telling you what happened. It… it makes sense for the Clave to be suspicious of ex-Circle members.”

“Robert and Maryse took me in,” Jace said. “They raised me as one of their own. I know what kind of people they are.”

“We all do,” Alec said. “I told you, I don’t think they’re working with him.”

“You must be Jace Wayland,” Lydia said, entering the training room.

Alec started. It had been a long time since Jace had been a Wayland.

She stuck out her hand. “Lydia Branwell. You’re quite the legend back in Idris.” She dropped her hand when it became clear Jace wasn’t going to shake it.

“Don’t believe everything you hear,” Jace said.

“Oh,” Alec said, turning to Lydia. “If my mother comes to you about… arranging something, please say no.”

Lydia’s eyes widened. “Did she say something to you?”

“Not very subtly,” Alec grimaced.

“Are we missing something?” Jace asked.

“Mom wanted me to propose to Lydia,” Alec said.

Jace choked. “What?”

“Unfortunately for Maryse, I don’t think I’m Alec’s type,” Lydia said. “And I actually like Magnus. I’d hate to take you away from him.”

Izzy looked irritated. “Wait. She knows about Magnus?”

“I’m not going to say anything,” Lydia said. “Isabelle, I know you’re upset about Meliorn, but I am sorry—”

“If you were sorry, you’d let him go,” Izzy said flatly. “You’d stand up to the Clave.” She marched out of the training room.

“Your sister is upset,” Robert told Alec. “How’s your arm?”

“Why is everyone so worried about my arm?” Alec muttered. “It’s fine. Magnus said he’d heal it, and he did. He said he’s not adding that to the cost of the wards by the way if you’re worried about that.”

“So you are… friends,” Robert said.

Alec stopped. “Is that a problem?”

“Magnus Bane is an interesting choice in friends,” Robert said, not really answering the question.

“Why? Because he knows you and mom from your Circle days?” Alec asked. “That’s what Izzy’s upset about, by the way. She didn’t understand why the Clave is sending you back to Idris.”

“Did he tell you?”

“Nope. Figured it out myself.”

Actually, it had been Lydia who let it slip, but seeing as Alec had been the one to drop that in the Jade Wolf, it wasn’t like he could blame her this time.

“I’m not mad at you or mom,” Alec said. “You’ve both changed. Jace and Izzy can see that too. It was just a surprise.”

“We wanted you to be better than we were,” Robert said. “You are.”

The corners of Alec’s mouth lifted. “This where you say mom’s hounding you about her suggestion that I marry?”

Robert sighed. “I’m trying to talk to her, Alec.”

“I’m not getting married.”

“I know,” Robert agreed. “I’m not here to make you. I’ll talk to your mother.” He walked off down the halls.

Alec stared after his dad. He appreciated the sentiment. Being supportive of Alec’s choice not to marry for political advantage. It just would have carried a lot more weight if Alec didn’t know that Robert was cheating on Maryse. Knowing the future kind of sucked sometimes.

He headed down to the Ops Center where Jace and Izzy were watching a computer monitor.

“Hey,” he said. “What’s going on?”

“Lydia’s interviewing Meliorn,” Jace said.

“This is insane,” Izzy said. “We have to put a stop to this.”

“Yeah, well, enjoy Portaling back to Idris with Mom and Dad,” Alec said.

“Meliorn is here because of me,” Izzy said.

“Alec’s right,” Jace said. “There’s nothing we can do to stop this interrogation.”

Izzy gave him an incredulous look. “You’re on Alec’s side now?”

“Okay, look, there are no sides here,” Alec interrupted. “I agree with you, Izzy. I don’t think Meliorn did anything wrong. But the fact is that Seelie blood was used and whether or not it came from the dead Seelie scouts, the Clave needs to know if the Seelies are on Valentine’s side.”

“Meliorn might have some important information too,” Jace said. “Let’s just see how this plays out.”

They watched the screen, showing Meliorn sitting on a couch in front of Lydia.

“Forensics don’t lie,” Lydia was saying. “Tell me what you know about the blood in the Forsaken.”

Meliorn didn’t look angry at all. He looked utterly calm as he answered. “Have you considered that the blood in the Forsaken came from our dead scouts? Scouts sent to help you hunt for Valentine. Why do you think we would side with a murderer?”

“Seelies always play both sides,” Lydia said.

“You should talk to your own people about playing sides,” Meliorn said.

Lydia leaned closer. “Excuse me?”

“You have no idea what I’m talking about, do you?” Meliorn asked, clearly amused. “If only Shadowhunters had a better relationship with us… Downworlders, you’d know that Valentine’s daughter has the Cup.”

Izzy looked at Jace and Alec. “Still think we should let this play out?”

“We have to get the Cup,” Jace said.

Alec grabbed his arm. “No. Lydia will have people tossing the Institute looking for it. She’ll probably expect us to know where Clary put it. We can’t have it on us. It’s safe where it is right now.”

Izzy frowned at him. “Okay. Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad you’re backing me, but who are you and what have you done with Alec.” Her eyes widened comically. “Oh my God, are you possessed?”

Alec flinched back. “What? No. I’m not possessed.”

“Well then what do we do?” Jace demanded. “We can’t let them get the Cup. Clary’s risked everything to find it.”

“They’re going to be busy searching the rooms,” Alec said. “Once they don’t find the Cup, they’ll look for Clary. Send her a picture of the Blocking rune and tell her to put it on.”

Jace quickly snapped a picture of his rune and sent a message to Clary. Then he dialed her number.

“Hey, what’s with the picture?”

“Draw it,” Jace ordered in a low voice. “Now. It’s a Blocking rune. It prevents anyone from finding you using Shadowhunter tracking.” He paused. “Clary, the Clave heard you had the Cup. They think you’re working with Valentine.”

“Oh my God. Why would they— Wait, Jace, is the Cup secure?”

“It will be,” Jace promised. “You need to get to someplace safe. Someplace the Clave would never look. I’ll find you.” He hung up the phone and looked at Alec. “Now what?”

Alec looked up to see Lydia walking with Meliorn and a couple guards. Lydia turned into the Ops Center while the guards took Meliorn past and down the hall.

“Now I’m going to try to convince Lydia not to do what she’s about to do,” Alec said.

“What is she about to do?” Izzy asked.

Alec didn’t answer. He headed towards Lydia.

“Alec!” Izzy called, marching after him.

“Lydia, don’t,” Alec said.

“Where are you taking him?” Izzy demanded.

Lydia sighed. “To a holding cell. And a guard unit will transport him to the Silent Brothers.”

“You can’t do that!” Izzy protested as Jace joined them.

“It’s not up to me,” Lydia said. “The Clave made the order.”

“That could be a death sentence to a Downworlder,” Jace said.

“Are you trying to start a war with them?” Izzy asked. “Meliorn’s told you everything he knows.”

“You don’t know that,” Lydia said. “Maybe we haven’t asked the right questions. Seelies often skirt the truth. If he has information on another terrorist attack, it is our responsibility to get it.”

“Let me talk to him,” Izzy pleaded.

“That wasn’t exactly helpful in the past,” Lydia said.

“But he may not know anything,” Jace said.

Alec wished he could snap his fingers like Magnus and send his sibling far away from Lydia. He knew he could maybe manage to convince her to stand down, but certainly not if Jace and Izzy were attacking her at every chance they got.

“Can I talk to Lydia?” Alec said. “Alone,” he added, looking pointedly at his siblings.

“Fine,” Izzy said, glaring at Lydia. She stalked off back to the Ops Center.

“Keep an eye on her?” Alec asked Jace.

Jace nodded. “We’ll be waiting for you.” He followed after Izzy.

“You don’t approve of this,” Lydia stated.

Alec shook his head. “Not really.”

“I thought you might,” Lydia said. “I expected Isabelle not to like it. Jace too. But not you. Look, Alec, I don’t need to defend myself to you, but do you think I’d be sending Meliorn to the Silent Brothers if I thought there was another way?” She sighed. “You heard about how my fiance… died.”

“Demon attack in Rio,” Alec said. “Details were never released.”

“We’d gotten intel about a demon threat at Carnival,” Lydia said. “The demons were reportedly at this club in the favela. But we had no idea how many there were. We got word of a warlock on their payroll, so… we brought him in. My team wanted to make him talk. Whatever it took, they were willing to do, but… I wouldn't allow it. I just couldn't stand by and watch the torture.”

“Good call,” Alec said.

“I thought so too,” Lydia said. “But it was the wrong call. We went in blind. And there had to have been a hundred demons. The whole raid went sideways, and… John…” she trailed off.

“That’s how he died,” Alec said.

“If only I just had the guts to do what needed to be done,” Lydia said. “I can't make that mistake again. We rule with our heads, not with our hearts.”

“Lydia, every mission has the potential to be our last,” Alec said. “It’s great that you don’t want that to happen to anyone ever again, but the ends don’t justify the means. Don’t do this.”

“I’m sorry, Alec,” Lydia said. “I really am. But I have to. Please understand.”

“Had to try,” Alec said. “If you’re doing this, let me go on the mission. At least I can make sure Meliorn gets there safely.”

Lydia nodded. “Alright.”

Alec turned back to go to Jace and Izzy in the training room. Izzy was shoving weapons into a duffle bag.

“She won’t call it off,” he explained to them. “Do you know where Clary is?”

“Just texted her,” Jace said. “She’s with Simon at Dumort.”

Alec knelt down and opened his safe. He handed Jace the tarot card with the Cup and Clary’s necklace. “Give these to Clary,” he said. “I’m going to join Lydia’s team to take Meliorn. Then you’re going to get to him before we reach the City of Bones.”

“How?” Izzy asked.

“No idea,” Alec said honestly. He knew they teamed up with the werewolves and the vampires, but he wasn’t sure about the how. If he had to guess, it was something to do with Clary.

“All done for today,” Magnus’s voice rang out as he strode into the training area. “Your Institute is secure.” He looked at Alec. “How’s your—”

“It’s fine,” Alec said. “Can everyone please stop asking about my arm?”

Magnus held up his hands. “Apologies.”

They stood in awkward silence for a moment.

“You know, it’s weirder if you pretend,” Jace finally said.

“Pretend what?”

The four of them turned to see Hodge. His eyes landed on the duffle bag Izzy was holding.

“Going somewhere?” he asked. “It’s a very dangerous time, and no one is supposed to leave the premises without express orders.”

“Hodge,” Izzy said, “we were just about to—”

“Lie to me?”

“Clary needs us, Hodge,” Jace said. “The Clave is looking for her. She could be in serious danger.”

Hodge didn’t say anything for a while. Then he said, “Well, in that case, I’d make a timely exit before anyone of importance notices you’re gone.”

Jace let out a relieved breath. “We won’t forget this.” He looked at Alec and nodded. “Thanks.”

“Don’t screw this up,” Alec said. “I’ll see you later. Go.”

Izzy shouldered the bag and she and Jace left the room.

“I don’t want to know what you four are planning, do I?” Hodge asked Alec.

“I was not part of this,” Magnus said.

Alec shook his head. “Probably not. Don’t tell anyone, Hodge.”

“Tell anyone what?” Hodge asked with a wink. He left the training room.

“You know, when he’s not helping Valentine, I actually like him,” Magnus said conversationally.

“He was a great guy,” Alec said. “He practically helped raise us. I can’t stop him from helping Valentine, but… I’d like to prevent him from dying.”

“We will,” Magnus said.

“Lightwood!” Raj called. “You coming?”

Magnus raised an eyebrow.

“I’m helping transport Meliorn,” Alec explained. “I have to go.”

“Good luck,” Magnus said.

Alec laughed nervously. “We’ll need it.”

He met up with the rest of the guards by the entrance to the Institute. Lydia was standing with them.

“You sure about this?” Alec asked her.

“Are you?” Lydia asked. “If your heart isn’t in this mission—”

“I’m fine,” Alec said. “Just giving you a last chance to back out. Before it’s too late.”

Lydia sighed. “Sorry, Alec.”

“Okay,” Alec said. “If you’re sure.”

By the time they reached the entrance to the City of Bones, Alec’s senses were on high alert. He knew Jace and Clary were somewhere waiting to get Meliorn from him. He knew Simon and Izzy were around too. Hopefully Luke and Raphael were there too.

Raphael… He was someone Alec hadn’t thought about for a while. Back in the future, he knew Izzy and Simon kept in contact with the ex-vampire and Magnus occasionally Portaled to visit, but Alec had never really been all that fond of Raphael ever since the yin fen thing with Izzy.

He was brought out of his thoughts when the wolves appeared. They snarled and the Shadowhunters, but didn’t move closer.

“This could be a trap,” Alec said. “Secure the perimeter. Do it now.”

All the guards except Raj and the three other guards with Meliorn took off. Alec continued to go towards the City of Bones.

“I’ll take Meliorn inside,” Alec said, grabbing the Seelie’s arm. “Just stay here. Nobody gets through.”

Raj looked suspicious, but he and the other guards stood back, exactly where they would need to be for Izzy’s group to take them out.

Alec couldn’t help but feel a small amount of satisfaction at the reminder that Izzy had taken out Raj. He heard the surprised grunts of the guards behind him, but he didn’t look back until the area was clear. Alec suppressed a smile.

“Not too late to turn back,” Meliorn said.

“Oh trust me,” Alec muttered. “I didn’t come this far to turn back now.” He pulled Meliorn into the warehouse and then stopped.

Meliorn looked confused. “What’s going on?”

“Alec!” Clary called. She and Jace rushed over.

Alec let go of Meliorn. He took out his stele and undid the cuffs. “Congratulations. You’re free to go.”

“A jailbreak?” Meliorn asked, looking amused.

“Told you I wasn’t going to turn back now,” Alec said.

“I underestimated you, Shadowhunter,” Meliorn said. “Thank you.”

“Wasn’t just me,” Alec said. “Izzy pushed for this. I just…”

“Organized her idea into something that wouldn’t get us all killed?” Jace finished.

Alec grinned. “Yeah. Just a bit.” He looked back. “I have to get back to the other guards. I won’t say anything—obviously—but I need to be with them so no one gets suspicious.”

“Good luck,” Jace said, slapping Alec’s shoulder. He winced. “Wait. That wasn’t your bad shoulder, was it?”

“Enough with the damn shoulder!” Alec grumbled. “You and Izzy and Magnus and dad. I’m fine, it’s healed.” He pointed. “Get going.”

“We might not be back at the Institute for a while,” Jace said.

“I know,” Alec said. “I’ll do what I can.”

“Thank you,” Meliorn said, inclining his head towards Alec. Jace and Clary lead him away, out of the warehouse.

Alec set himself as he prepared to go find the rest of his team.

At the Hotel Dumort, Clary, Simon, and Jace went in while Izzy and Meliorn stayed outside.

“Clary we have to go,” Jace said. “Meliorn is a wanted man, we have to get him back to the Seelie court where he’s protected.”

Clary looked at Simon. “I wish you could come with us.”

Jace walked a short way away to give them privacy.

“I’ve got a lot of stuff to work on here,” Simon said quietly. “Like… controlling my murderous tendencies.”

Clary laughed.

“We’ll see each other soon,” Simon said.

“Before you know it,” Clary nodded.

They stood in silence, neither one really knowing what to say.

“Simon, listen,” Clary said. “I—”

“What’s done is done,” Simon interrupted. “I’m a vampire… and you’re a Shadowhunter. Maybe that’s supposed to mean something, but… you’re still you,” he said. “And I’m still me. Sort of. Enough, anyway.”

Clary gave him a sad smile. “Simon.” She reached forward and wrapped her arms around Simon, hugging him tightly.

Simon pushed her away awkwardly. “Let’s work up to hugging,” he said. “Because I haven’t had dinner yet.”

“Sorry,” Clary said.

“It’s okay,” Simon said.

“Goodbye, Simon,” Clary whispered. She turned and walked to Jace and they headed out the door.

When they made their way outside, Izzy and Meliorn were standing close and talking.

“I underestimated you,” Meliorn told Izzy.

“Is that a thank you?” she asked.

“In the Seelie world, it is,” Meliorn said. He and Izzy started kissing.

Clary cleared her throat.

“I hate to break up this reunion, Izzy, but we have to go,” Jace said.

Izzy pulled back. “You’re in good hands,” she assured Meliorn. She turned to look at Jace and Clary. “I need to get back to the Institute, see what hell has broken loose. Hopefully Alec and I can tide it over.” She sighed. “Take care of him.”

“We will,” Clary promised.

Izzy kissed Meliorn one last time before rushing off in the direction of the Institute.

Meliorn looked at Clary. “Isabelle told me it was your idea to rally the Downworlders,” he said.

“Don’t give me too much credit,” Clary said. “Alec and Izzy and Jace made this happen too. We just helped.”

“She’s being modest,” Jace said. “You’re a Shadowhunter now.”

“I’ve been surprised by more than one Shadowhunter tonight,” Meliorn said. “You risked everything to unite us.”

“Right after you tried to sell her out,” Jace said pointedly.

Meliorn dipped his head. “Not my finest moment. Which is why I’m offering you a gift,” he said to Clary, “for your sacrifice. If you’re ready, I can help you find your father.”

Clary’s eyes went wide. “You can help me find Valentine?”

“I can,” Meliorn said.

“Let’s do it,” Clary said.

Meliorn smiled thinly. “Follow me to the Seelie Glade.”

Chapter Text

Most of the time - 99 percent of the time - you just don't know how and why the threads are looped together, and that's okay. Do a good thing and something bad happens. Do a bad thing and something good happens. Do nothing and everything explodes. And very, very rarely - by some miracle of chance and coincidence, butterflies beating their wings just so and all the threads hanging together for a minute - you get the chance to do the right thing.
― Lauren Oliver, Before I Fall

“How are things?” Izzy asked Alec when she got back.

Alec glanced over at Raj and Lydia. “Could be better. I think Raj saw something.”

“I don’t think you can call it an attack if no one got injured,” Raj told Lydia. “We were ambushed.”

“How is that possible?” Lydia asked. “Nobody outside the Institute knew about the mission.”

“It was dark,” Raj said. “We couldn’t see much. There were wolves… and the others were hit with vampires. But I swear, the one that got me… moved a lot like a Shadowhunter.”

Lydia looked at Alec and Izzy.

“And I don’t think Lydia believes me,” Alec added under his breath.

“What did you tell her?” Izzy asked.

Alec grimaced. “That something came at me and the next thing I know, Meliorn is gone. Went to check on the others and found them dazed and knocked out.”

“That is a pretty weak story,” Izzy admitted.

“The best I could come up with,” Alec said.

“I know.” She sighed. “Okay. Whatever happens, we’re in this together. Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

Alec wasn’t sure how much his part in Meliorn’s escape would affect the timeline. Would it change a lot or would it change nothing? Magnus’s talk about the Butterfly Effect and time wanting to happen really struck him.

They had, of course, changed a few things. Jace, Izzy, and Clary were all very much aware of Alec’s feelings for Magnus—by way of Alec himself admitting it—much earlier this time. Alec wasn’t marrying Lydia. Jace and Izzy hadn’t had to go behind Alec’s back to free Meliorn. All that had changed.

But a lot more hadn’t changed. Simon still became a vampire. Lydia still arrived to take over the Institute. Meliorn was still arrested and needed to be set free. Izzy was going to be arrested eventually. Clary and Jace would have found whom they believed to be Michael Wayland by tonight.

Which meant that in a few days… in a few days Jace and Clary would be under the impression that they were siblings. And Alec still had no idea how he and Magnus were going to get around that. Sure, Magnus had suggested trying to discredit Valentine since the man was certifiably insane, but with how Jace acted after finding out Valentine was the man that raised him, Alec wasn’t sure that would be good enough.

The best thing that could come out of that would be that Jocelyn wouldn’t be trying to kill Jace anymore. She would have to save that for the real Jonathan Morgenstern whom Alec would happily point her in the direction of.

Of course, this was assuming that Alec didn’t get possessed by a demon that forced him to kill Jocelyn. Which was as pleasant a thought as it always was. Alec thought he had made his peace with what had happened, but being back in the past with the ability to change it? It dredged up the bad memories directly following the event.

All this was weighing heavily on his mind as Alec tried to get through the day. He was on edge, waiting for Izzy to be arrested, waiting for Clary and Jace to find Jocelyn.

When Lydia and Raj finally came up to him and Izzy, Alec resigned himself to the inevitable. At least he knew the end result would be Izzy cleared of the charges.

“Isabelle, please move,” Lydia said.

Izzy frowned. “Excuse me?”

“Alexander Lightwood, by order of the Clave, you are under arrest for high treason,” Lydia said.

Alec’s stomach dropped. Damn it.

“Are you crazy?” Izzy shouted. “Alec? High treason? What grounds?”

“Only a handful of people knew about the Meliorn op,” Lydia said. “You and your brother happened to be quite vocal about your opinions about it. Alec was the last one to see Meliorn before he was freed.”

“He was very insistent on the rest of us staying back which is how we were ambushed,” Raj added.

“You have no proof Alec did anything!” Izzy exclaimed.

“No, I have orders,” Lydia said. She looked at Alec. “I’m sorry. But you had to know how the Clave would see your involvement.”

“I get it,” Alec said.

Izzy opened her mouth to argue.

“Don’t,” Alec told her. He handed his stele to Lydia.

“You know what, Lydia?” Izzy said. “You’re no better than Valentine. But at least he had the guts to tell Downworlders to their faces he wanted them all dead. You hide behind the Law.”

“I don’t hide behind it, Isabelle,” Lydia said. “I simply follow it. Because it guards against one very important thing. Shadowhunters fighting other Shadowhunters.”

“I guess Valentine didn’t get the memo,” Izzy said coldly. “Because he’s a Shadowhunter and we’re Shadowhunters and we’re fighting him.”

“Izzy,” Alec warned.

“No, Alec, if you’re convicted, you’ll be stripped of your runes and banished!” Izzy said angrily. “I won’t let that happen.”

“If you want to help me, stay out of this,” Alec said.

Raj looked smug as he grabbed Alec’s arm and guided him away to place Alec under room arrest until the trial.

Alec could have kicked himself. If there was any certainty about time travel, he was quickly learning that time was random. Anything could happen. The same thing, a different thing. It could send a hoard of demons to knock you off your course.

It wasn’t that he was really worried about being stripped of his runes. Alec had seen his mother go through that and she had been able to get back on her feet with the book shop. Of course, she had Luke and Jace and Alec and Izzy to help her. Even Magnus. Alec could live without his runes as long as he didn’t have to give up Magnus.

The thing he was the most concerned about was that if he was deruned, he couldn’t do very much to help the people he cared about defeat Valentine. Or Jonathan. Or Lilith. Alec would be forced to stand on the sidelines as a helpless mundane while his family put their lives on the line.

No, Alec needed to get cleared of the charges. That was an absolute must.

You stand for what is right, Lina, without the expectation of gratitude or reward.
― Ruta Sepetys, Between Shades of Gray

“Lydia,” Izzy said, walking into the training room where Lydia was punching a bag.

Lydia got one more swing in before turning around to face her. “Isabelle. Look, I don’t want to do this to Alec, okay? I like Alec. He’s a good guy. But he went too far.”

“Agreed,” Izzy said. “And I shouldn’t have let him do it. I pushed him into this. It’s my fault he helped Meliorn escape.”

“No, it’s not,” Lydia said. “While I admit that you definitely played a part in Meliorn’s escape, I doubt you were the one to talk Alec into doing this. And as someone who really does care about your family despite what you think, you should keep your mouth shut. It will only make things worse for both of you.”

“We were just stopping a war with the Downworld,” Izzy said. “You can’t punish him for that.”

“And you weren’t wrong to try to do it,” Lydia said. “Yes, this probably would have caused a lot of problems with the Downworld. But I had orders.”

“Alec’s the kind of guy that follows orders to a T!” Izzy said desperately. “If he’s disobeying them, then it’s for a reason. A good reason. Please don’t do this Lydia. I—I…” she trailed off. “You can’t exile him.”

“In the eyes of the Clave, he’s guilty,” Lydia said.

Izzy hesitated. “If… if we gave the Clave the Mortal Cup, would they set Alec free?”

Lydia’s eyes went wide. “You have it?”

“No,” Izzy said. “But I know who does. You just have to give me time to get it. Please, Lydia.”

“If you can get the Cup before the trial, I think the Clave would do anything to keep the Cup out of Valentine’s hands,” Lydia said. “I’ll contact them now and give them your deal. If they accept… get the Cup ready.”

Izzy nodded, letting out a shuddering breath. “I’m going to go tell Alec.”

When she got to Alec’s room, Raj was standing outside the door.

“What do you want?” he asked.

Izzy gave him a sweet smile. “To see my brother. Now let me through.”

“Just because I can’t prove it was you who attacked me, doesn’t mean I don’t know it was you,” Raj said. He opened the door. “Keep it short.”

Alec stood up as Izzy entered. “What are you doing here?”

Izzy came over and gave him a hug. “Seeing you, what does it look like?” She paused. “I spoke to Lydia. She says that we can get your cleared… if we hand over the Mortal Cup.”

“Izzy…”

“I know what you’re going to say,” she said, holding up a hand. “I should have stayed out of it, but I’m not going to, Alec. If it was me in this position, you would be doing the same thing for me.”

Alec smiled. “That’s true.” He sighed. “Jace and Clary are… They’re who knows where right now. I—” his hand flew to his side.

“Alec?” Izzy asked worriedly. “What happened?”

He didn’t know how to describe it. His parabatai bond with Jace was odd. It was like they were standing in opposite ends of a pool of jelly. He could still feel Jace, but it was distorted and dulled.

“Jace,” he said. “He and Clary… They’re far away. I don’t know where—” They’re in the alternate universe. “I don’t think you’ll get them to bring the Cup back soon.”

“But the trial—”

“Lydia won’t have a choice unless they come back,” Alec said. “She has to go through with the trial.”

Izzy slumped into a chair. “Alec. Don’t give up. Please, don’t.”

“I’m not giving up,” Alec said.

“Then what do we do now?”

Alec blew out a breath. “The Inquisitor will arrive tomorrow. She’ll announce the trial. It’ll probably happen be set for that night. And I will get to use whatever defense attorney they give me… or I can pick my own.”

“Let me guess,” Izzy said. “You’re picking your own?”

“I am,” Alec confirmed. “But I’m not announcing that until later tomorrow.”

Izzy frowned. “What? Why?”

“Because the Clave is required to give twenty four hours of preparation to my defense attorney after I’ve chosen him,” Alec said.

“So if you announce it tomorrow night when the trial is supposed to be,” Izzy said with a smile growing on her face, “then you’ll get a full extra day to prepare.”

“And give Jace and Clary time to do whatever they’re doing and get back with the Cup,” Alec finished.

Izzy laughed. “Wow, Alec.” She shook her head. “Who are you choosing anyway?”

“Telling you would count as announcing it.” Alec grinned. “But I think you already know who.”

“I think I do too,” Izzy said. She sighed. “It’s a good thing Mom and Dad aren’t here. I think they’d kill us for this. Right after you told Mom no to the marriage thing. So much for bringing back honor to the Lightwood name.”

“Maybe in the eyes of the Clave,” Alec said. “But the people that matter? We did the right thing, Izzy. The Clave wants the Cup. I’m just a scapegoat. And you never know. Maybe Lydia will drop the charges.”

“As if,” Izzy scoffed. “You said it yourself, she doesn’t have a choice. And if she’s not brave enough to stand up to the Clave when the Inquisitor isn’t here, what makes you think she will when the Inquisitor is here?”

“Intuition?” Alec suggested. “It’s going to be fine, Izzy. I promise.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Alec.”

“I will be fine,” Alec repeated. “Runes or no runes. Okay?”

Izzy sighed. “Okay.”

“Isabelle,” Lydia said the next day, walking up to the computer Izzy was standing at.

Izzy looked up. “Yes?”

Lydia walked confidently, but her face was a mask of confusion and uncertainty. Izzy felt her heart start to sink.

“The Inquisitor is on her way,” Lydia said. “She sent a message that said, ‘Have everything ready. The trial will begin immediately.’ I just thought you should know.”

“Alec was right,” Izzy murmured.

Lydia frowned. “I’m sorry?”

“Alec said the Inquisitor would arrive today,” Izzy said. “I just didn’t expect him to be right about that. Why are they rushing this? Clary and Jace…” she trailed off guiltily.

“They’re still out there,” Lydia said. “Yes, I know. But they aren’t on trial for high treason.”

“All the evidence against Alec is circumstantial at best!” Izzy said. “Alec seems to believe in you for whatever reason. If you can delay this for a couple of weeks, it—” She cut off as the doors to the Institute opened.

A group of Shadowhunters filed in. They stepped aside like guards of the Queen to allow an older woman to pass, followed by a Silent Brother carrying the Soul Sword on a pillow.

“Guards at ease,” the Inquisitor said. Her guards turned away.

She looked at Izzy. “Excuse us.”

Izzy’s expression hardened. “Of course,” she said scathingly. She stepped back towards the rest of the Shadowhunters of the New York Institute to watch.

“Friend of yours?” the Inquisitor asked Lydia.

“Acquaintance,” Lydia said.

“Well, as long as it doesn’t interfere with your case against her brother,” the Inquisitor said.

Lydia nodded. “You have my assurance.”

“I need your word, Branwell,” the Inquisitor said, “not flaccid reassurances. What we are seeing is the same pattern Valentine showed before the Uprising. Bending of the Law, wanton defiance of Clave order.”

“Ma’am, I don’t honestly believe Valentine was involved in the Seelie escape,” Lydia said.

“Spare me your honest belief,” the Inquisitor said. “Everything’s out of control. We were fools to believe Valentine was dead. Now his daughter has the Cup, and he’s out there somewhere. I won’t have it.”

Lydia looked down. “I’m sorry, Inquisitor.”

“Why are you sorry?” the Inquisitor asked. “You didn’t steal the Cup. Just do your job. Be efficient, be competent, be useful to the Clave. We’ll begin this evening.”

“Actually, Inquisitor,” Izzy interrupted. “My brother would like to pick his own defense attorney. He’s still deciding who to go with, but he told me he’d choose by tonight. Which means that you cannot hold the trial tonight.”

“Isabelle,” Lydia hissed, eyes wide.

“That’s alright, Branwell,” the Inquisitor said, her eyes trained on Izzy. “Tell your brother he will decide by tonight and I want to know who he picks. This trial is happening and it will happen no later than tomorrow night. Is that understood?”

“Crystal clear,” Izzy said.

“I thought dear Raj would try to burn me with his eyes,” Magnus said when he arrived at the institute the next morning.

“Thank you for doing this, Magnus,” Izzy said.

They had gathered in Alec’s room to prepare for the trial. At least, that’s why Alec had asked them to come. Izzy claimed she was there for supervising him and Magnus.

“How could I resist such a tempting offer?” Magnus asked. “Although the bow and the quiver were unnecessary touches, Alexander.”

“Not really,” Alec said.

Izzy looked at Alec in surprise. “Wait. You offered Magnus your bow and quiver? Why? Alec, you need that when you’re cleared.”

“If I’m cleared.”

“When,” Izzy insisted.

“When,” Alec allowed. “Magnus understands my offer.”

Izzy glanced between them. “Is this a kinky thing?”

Alec’s face turned red. “No! It’s— Nevermind. Can we just…” he gestured randomly.

Magnus took pity on him. “Right. Normally, I’m all for having fun, but sometimes things need to be taken seriously. Like the trial. It’s a farce. The Clave wants the Mortal Cup, and since you can’t give it to them, they’re going to punish you. Which I think we’ve established by now.”

“So much for justice,” Izzy muttered. “You know, I’d almost rather be stripped of my runes than be part of this world.” She gave Alec a guilty look. “Not that I want you to be stripped of your runes, but… Nevermind.”

“The best chance we have of winning is to get Lydia to see exactly that,” Magnus said, pointing to Izzy. “Justice is being sacrificed. She can throw out the case and drop the charges. The unfortunate part is that the Inquisitor will still be able to carry out a sentence as punishment for the Cup.”

“Seriously?” Izzy asked.

“Perks of being the Inquisitor,” Magnus said with a scowl.

“More like dictator,” Izzy muttered. “Emphasis on dick.”

Magnus grinned. “Alexander, I do like your sister very much.”

“Why thank you,” Izzy said with a smile. “I like you too. I’m still confused though. Magnus is allowed to represent you?”

“I’m allowed to pick any advocate I want,” Alec said. “Law says that a Shadowhunter accused of a crime can do that. But when the laws were written, no one would have dared imagine a Shadowhunter would pick a Downworlder for help, so they didn’t bother to write that in.”

“And the Law is the Law,” Magnus said, mimicking an old man. “So I will happily slip through that gaping loophole.”

“You’re giving the Clave the middle finger,” Izzy said flatly.

“Yes, I am,” Magnus agreed. “But with slightly more class and grace.”

“And glitter,” Alec added. “Which, of course, is ironic considering Lydia’s ancestor introduced you to glitter.”

“You aren’t going to drop that anytime soon, are you?”

“You have an overfondness for glitter and now I have someone to blame,” Alec said. “No, I’m not letting it go.”

Izzy rolled her eyes. “Angel, with the way you two argue, one would think you’re already an old married couple.”

Alec choked. Magnus bit his lip to hide a smile.

“I’ve never been married in any of my previous relationships,” Magnus said airily. “Somehow, it never came up. I suppose I’ve never found the right partner.” He cleared his throat. “But this is all much too serious talk. Ah, Lydia isn’t going to say this is a conflict of interest, is she?”

“No,” Izzy said. “I don’t like Lydia that much, but I don’t think she’d out Alec like that. But now that you mention it, when the Inquisitor got here, she asked Lydia about her own conflict of interest. She seemed to think we were friends I guess, so she wanted to make sure our friendship didn’t stand in the way of the trial.”

A slow smile spread across Magnus’s face. “Inquisitor Herondale is worried about conflict of interest? Now, that is certainly interesting. I may have figured out a way to help our case.”

But doing something good or remarkable isn’t easy. It’s much easier to condemn people who do the wrong thing than it is to do the right thing yourself.
― Kanae Minato, Confessions

“Will I survive if I touch it?” Magnus asked, staring at the Soul Sword.

Given his last run in with the sword that had resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Downworlders, Magnus didn’t think he could be too careful.

“If you tell the truth,” Inquisitor Herondale said. She sounded annoyed.

Magnus steeled himself and took a deep breath. He wrapped his hands around the hilt of the sword as the Silent Brother spoke.

By the power of this sword, do you swear to defend your client with integrity and honesty?

“No argument from me on that,” Magnus said. He withdrew his hands quickly and went back to the table where Alec was sitting.

“Make your case, warlock,” the Inquisitor said.

Alec’s jaw clenched. His name is Magnus, he forced himself not to say.

“My case is simple,” Magnus said. “You are accusing Alexander Lightwood of acting against the orders of the Clave by trying to free the Seelie, Meliorn. You claim he did this based on evidence that is circumstantial at best. None of your Shadowhunters actually saw my client free the Seelie. Where is Meliorn? Perhaps he could tell us what really happened.” He paused. “What you really want is the Mortal Cup. Unfortunately, my client doesn’t have it. Since this whole proceeding isn’t about what it’s really about, I move to have this case dismissed.”

“You’re out of order,” the Inquisitor said.

“No,” Magnus said, shaking his head. “This whole thing is out of order. It’s not Alexander’s fault. It’s the Cup! Put the Cup on trial!”

When Magnus sat down, Alec leaned over. “You just wanted to say that, didn’t you?”

“It’s my best line,” Magnus said cheekily.

“Mr. Lightwood,” the Inquisitor called. “Please take the stand.”

Alec stood up and walked to where the Soul Sword was still standing. He placed his hands on the hilt as Magnus had done earlier.

By the power of this sword, do you swear to answer all questions truthfully and honestly? The Silent Brother asked.

“I swear,” Alec said.

The Inquisitor gestured to the seat to her right, Alec’s left. Alec sat down.

Lydia stood. “You have led us to believe that you carried out this operation—”

Magnus coughed lightly.

“That you allegedly carried out this operation,” Lydia said, “alone. But Clary Fairchild was seen near the City of Bones that night.”

“I don’t have eyes on her every minute of every day,” Alec said.

“But she’s Valentine’s daughter,” Lydia said. “Wouldn’t it be smart—”

“I said I don’t have my eyes on her,” Alec interrupted. “Clary Fairchild usually spends time with Jace. Someone who I trust with my life. He’s my parabatai. ”

“And yet, Clary Fairchild hasn’t been seen since very early Monday morning,” Lydia said. “You said that she and Jace Wayland were out training. She was not with Jace when he returned on Tuesday morning. Why is that?”

“Izzy told Jace about the Forsaken attack,” Alec said. “He came back to make sure I was okay. From what Jace said, Clary went to go see a mundane friend. I don’t know what happened to her after that.”

All true. Clary had gone to see—or rather find —Simon who was Clary’s mundane friend. Jace had come back to make sure Alec was okay. Alec could not say for a fact that he knew what had happened afterwards because it might not be the same as it had been in the original timeline. Magnus was right. Slipping through loopholes was fun.

“What was your intention when you asked to join the Meliorn Op?” Lydia asked.

“Exactly what I told you,” Alec said. “Make sure Meliorn got there safely.”

“Where safely?”

“The entrance to the City of Bones,” Alec said. “After that, well, I don’t know what the Silent Brothers would have done, but at least I could make sure he arrived in one piece.”

“Are you insinuating that your fellow Shadowhunters would mistreat the Seelie?” the Inquisitor asked. “Something the Accords prevent against?”

“Mistreatment isn’t just physical,” Alec stated. He glanced at Magnus. “Sometimes it’s verbal. Like calling someone ‘warlock’ or ‘Seelie’ when they have a name.”

Someone in the audience let out a snort. It was quickly silenced, leaving everyone looking for it’s source. Alec was pretty sure it came from Izzy.

“Unfortunately, the Accords only protect against the physical,” Alec continued. “I can’t name anyone here who would break the Accords and go on a Downworlder killing spree, but I do know not everyone here cares for the Downworlders.”

“And you do?” the Inquisitor said.

“I don’t care if someone is a Shadowhunter, a Downworlder, or a mundane,” Alec said. “As a Shadowhunter, it is my duty to protect the mundanes from the Shadow World. It’s also my duty to protect the Downworld from threats like Valentine. And it’s my duty to protect my fellow Shadowhunters. I protect people. Anything I do, is for that.”

Izzy shot him a thumbs up from her place in the audience. Magnus gave him a dazzling smile.

Lydia looked uncertain. The Inquisitor had taken over the questioning, and she was left to stand by awkwardly.

“You know your duty,” the Inquisitor said dryly. “Good for you. Branwell, if you would continue.”

“Yes,” Lydia said. She took a breath. “We know Clary Fairchild has the Mortal Cup. We also know that you had help freeing Meliorn. You are confirmed to have gone into the warehouse the entrance is located in with Meliorn. While you did that, the guards were distracted. By Clary Fairchild.”

“Clary is barely a Shadowhunter,” Alec said. “She’s known about us for maybe a week. I promise you, I did not let Meliorn go while Clary distracted the guards. I doubt she could take on that many trained Shadowhunters at this point.”

“So you expect us to believe that you distracted the guards and escaped with the prisoner on your own?” Lydia said.

“There were werewolves and vampires there,” Alec said. “I didn’t distract or escape with anyone. Did it occur to you that maybe the Downworld rallied to protect their own?”

“Did it occur to you that Valentine could be using the Mortal Cup at this very moment to raise an army of rogue Shadowhunters?” the Inquisitor interrupted.

“I don’t want Valentine to succeed,” Alec said.

“Well, that's the first sane thing I've heard from you,” the Inquisitor said.

“No, you know what’s insane?” Alec said. “Taking emotion out of our decisions.”

“Alec,” Lydia whispered. “Everything you say here will be considered in the verdict.”

“I know,” Alec said. “We always say ‘emotion clouds judgement’ or ‘rule with our heads, not our hearts’, and that’s great and all. Be smart about calls, be strategic. But if you don’t care about what you’re doing, then what’s the point of doing it at all? When I’m fighting demons, I’m fighting for my family. My parabatai, my sister, my brother, my parents, my friends. You keep talking about Valentine and what he’s doing. He’s going to destroy the Shadow World and it is our job to stop that. But how can anyone stand up and say they’re fighting to save the Shadow World if they don’t care about part of it—the Downworld. Valentine didn’t come from nothing. We aren’t better than anyone else just because we have angel blood.”

“Is that all, Mr. Lightwood?” the Inquisitor asked irritably.

Alec matched her gaze. “For now.”

“Ms. Branwell, any more questions for the defense?”

Lydia shook her head silently.

“Sit back down, Mr. Lightwood,” the Inquisitor ordered.

Alec rose and made his way back to the table to sit next to Magnus.

“Hell of a speech,” Magnus whispered. “I got chills.”

“It just came out,” Alec muttered. “I was getting mad.”

“You should give passionate speeches more often,” Magnus said. “Oh, it’s my turn now.” He stood up. “I’d like to call Lydia Branwell to the stand.”

“I don’t see the relevance,” the Inquisitor said.

“Well, that makes two of us,” Magnus said. “I don’t see the relevance of this whole trial. Ms. Branwell? If you’ll take the stand?”

Lydia stood up uncertainly and sat in the chair Alec had just left.

“I was hoping you could recount a conversation you had with the Inquisitor yesterday,” Magnus said.

Lydia frowned. “I… I had many conversations. I didn’t know you were there for any.”

“Oh, I wasn’t,” Magnus agreed. “Isabelle Lightwood was. When the Inquisitor arrived, she questioned you on the nature of your relationship to the sister of the man you are prosecuting. Would you mind telling me what your answer to this was?”

“I said that Isabelle and I were just acquaintances,” Lydia answered.

“Why do you think she asked you this?” Magnus asked.

Lydia glanced at the Inquisitor and then back to Magnus. “I supposed because she wanted to make sure there wasn’t a conflict of interest.”

“I’ve established that this trial is more so about the Mortal Cup’s absence than the escaped Seelie Meliorn,” Magnus said. “Of course, the goal is to keep the Mortal Cup out of Valentine’s hands, whatever means necessary, right? Don’t answer that,” he added before Lydia could open her mouth. “Everyone wants to see Valentine’s head on a plate. Especially those that Valentine has taken everything from. Those that want revenge. That would be a conflict of interest, would it not?”

“I—I guess,” Lydia said. “I don’t understand what this has to do with me.”

“Not you, dear,” Magnus said. He looked at the Inquisitor. “You. You lost your son as well as your daughter-in-law to Valentine’s crusade. Forgive me for bringing up bad memories, but if you’re going to question the conflict of interest of an acquaintance, then I’d like to question your own conflict of interest.”

The Inquisitor’s face hardened. “It it my job to uphold the Law—”

“I didn’t ask what your job was,” Magnus said. “I asked if you can remain impartial. If you can remain fair.”

“Yes,” the Inquisitor said sharply. “If you are done questioning me, perhaps you can return your attention to your witness.”

“One more question,” Magnus said to Lydia. “Why are you prosecuting this case?”

“Because the Law is hard, but… it is the Law,” Lydia answered. She glanced at Alec and then Magnus. She set her shoulders. “But that doesn’t make it right.”

Alec marveled at Lydia’s response. He hadn’t presented the same argument as Izzy had, but Lydia was on her way to give her same response. At least he hoped.

“We’re trying someone for being compassionate,” Lydia said, “thinking for himself. He saved a life that was being sacrificed… for nothing.”

“That will be enough, Branwell,” the Inquisitor said.

“No,” Lydia said. “It isn’t.” She glanced around the room. “I’m looking out at the faces here. A brother and sister who support each other, no matter what. A man who took this case pretending to want payment in rare objects, but who really believes that injustice toward his friends is intolerable. Loyalty, decency, compassion, love. These are the concepts that we should consider to decide guilt or innocence in a case like this.” She looked at Alec. “Alec’s right. Sometimes, you do need to rule with your heart if you want to do the right thing.”

“Those are not the concepts of the Law,” the Inquisitor said. “Now, enough of this nonsense.”

“I agree,” Lydia said. “The case is nonsense.” She stood up. “I withdraw the charges.”

Izzy jumped up and ran to Alec. She squeezed him in a tight hug as the audience clapped around them. “Thank the Angel.”

Magnus opened his case full of paper, confetti, and—Alec’s favorite—glitter. He used his magic to blow them into the air, raining down on Alec, Izzy, and Lydia who had joined them at the table.

Alec stepped away from the table. “Glitter!” he grumbled.

Izzy and Lydia laughed.

“Silence!” the Inquisitor ordered. She banged the gavel. “Order!” She hit it a few more times.

The claps slowed down, but not completely.

“Silence!” she yelled, banging the gavel. She looked at Lydia. “If you think refusing to prosecute exculpates the defendant, you are wrong. He is guilty.” The Inquisitor stood up. “The defense was correct. The Clave wants the Mortal Cup. If it is returned within twenty four hours, this ruling will be vacated. If not, Alexander Lightwood will be stripped of his runes and exiled from the society of the Shadowhunters forever.” She hit the gavel as she finished.

“I think I pissed her off,” Magnus muttered under his breath to Alec.

“Yeah, I kinda got that,” he said.

Chapter Text

Life is made of moments. and choices. Not all of them matter, or have any lasting impact. Skipping class in favor of a taste of freedom, picking a prom dress because of the way it transforms you into a princess in the mirror. Even the nights you steal away from an open window, tiptoe silent to the end of the driveway, where darkened headlights and the pull of something unknown beckon. These are all small choices, really. Insignificant as soon as they’re made. Innocent.
But then.
Then there’s a different kind of moment. One when things are irrevocably changed by a choice we make. A moment we will play endlessly in our minds on lonely nights and empty days. One we’ll search repeatedly for some indication that what we chose was right, some small sign that tells us the truth isn’t nearly as awful as it feels. Or as awful as anyone would think if they knew.
So we explain it to ourselves, justify it enough to sleep. And then we bury it deep, so deep we can almost pretend it never happened. But as much as we wish it were different, the truth is, our worlds are sometimes balanced on choices we make and the secrets we keep.
― Jessi Kirby, Golden

Clary was taken aback by the greeting she received from Izzy the moment she, Jace, and Luke stepped into the Institute.

“Oh thank the Angel!” Izzy cried, flinging her arms around Clary. “Where’s the Cup? Clary, where’s the Cup?”

“I—I… It’s here,” Clary stammered, pulling the tarot card out of her bag. “Izzy, what’s wrong?”

“You need to give it to Lydia now!” Izzy said, panic wild in her eyes. “They want to strip Alec of his runes if you don’t give them the Cup. Clary, please, give it to them. I know you want to save your mom, but—” she cut off with a surprised look at Luke who had Jocelyn in his arms. “Oh my God, is that your mom?”

“Yeah,” Clary said. “Long story—” Long awkward story, she added privately. “But we got my mom back—our mom.”

“Our mom?” Izzy repeated.

“Doesn’t matter right now,” Jace said irritably. “Where’s Lydia?”

Izzy looked around. “She was just here. LYDIA!” she shouted.

Lydia looked up to see Clary. She sped towards the group. “I’m here. Do you have it?”

Clary nodded. “Yeah, yeah. Here.” She reached into the tarot card and pulled out the Cup. “I’m sorry. I never meant to cause any trouble. I just wanted my mom back.”

“I get it,” Lydia said, face softening. She took the Cup from Clary’s hands. “What’s important is we have the Cup now. And apparently your mom too.” She looked at Luke. “You can take Jocelyn Fairchild to the infirmary. Isabelle, you should probably go tell Alec that he’s free now.”

Izzy’s eyes flew wide. “Oh my gosh, Alec!” She spun a 180 and took off to wherever Alec was being held.

“You have it.” Hodge appeared next to Lydia. “Just in time too. Lydia, we should get that locked up somewhere safe.”

“Agreed,” Lydia said.

“I’m going to go see Alec,” Jace muttered.

Clary felt a pang of hurt. “Jace—”

“Not now, Clary,” he said, brushing past her to follow Izzy.

Clary watched him go. She turned to Lydia. “Uh, so what exactly happened?”

“Alec was almost stripped of his runes and banished for helping free Meliorn,” Lydia said. “I’m not proud of the role I played in that trial, but I did withdraw the charges. The Inquisitor issued an ultimatum. Either you hand over the Cup or Alec gets deruned anyway.”

Clary’s mouth fell open. “Seriously? What kind of a justice system is this?”

“Honestly? I think you might want to ask Magnus,” Lydia said. “The Inquisitor lost family to Valentine and based on what was said in the trial, Magnus knows a lot more about it than I could tell you. I don’t know. It sounded like Magnus was insinuating that she was taking it out on Alec.”

“That’s exactly what he was saying,” Hodge said. “Which only made the Inquisitor mad. But, ah, Lydia and I should get the Cup to a safe and you should get Jocelyn to the infirmary. Magnus Bane is still here. If I see him, I’ll point him to you. He might be able to do something for her.”

“Thank you, Hodge,” Clary said. “Come on, Luke.”

“I’m going to Portal you to my lair if they don’t get back with the Cup soon,” Magnus muttered, pacing back and forth inside Alec’s room.

“They’ll be here,” Alec said. “I’m not worried.”

“You should be,” Magnus said. “Time’s a fickle thing. Just because it worked out for Isabelle, doesn’t mean it will work out for you.”

“Well, it doesn’t do me any good to be on the run,” Alec said. “Even if I’m just a mundane, I’ll still help out. I just… won’t be able to do much.” He sighed. “My mom did it. I can too.”

“I’m not doubting you,” Magnus assured him. “But your mother was only deruned, not banished like you would be. She could still visit you. You wouldn’t be able to contact your sister, Jace, or Clary. You wouldn’t be able to see your parents. Not only that, but when you’re stripped of your runes, Jace will still feel like you died. You’re parabatai. This affects your whole family, Alec. And you don’t know how much you rely on your Shadowhunter abilities.”

“We could always try the time travel spell again,” Alec said.

Magnus rolled his eyes. “Oh, yes. Let me just go back in time whenever things don’t work out. I do not want to attempt that spell for a long time, Alexander.”

The door burst open. Izzy came running in.

“They’re back!” she shouted. “They’re back with the Cup!

Magnus let out a relieved breath.

Alec elbowed him. “Told you I’d be fine.”

“Haha,” Magnus said sarcastically. “Excuse me for worrying about you.”

“And as promised,” Alec said, holding out his bow and quiver. “Payment in full.”

Magnus gave him a look. “You’re a sentimental idiot.” He pushed them back towards Alec. “Hold onto them for me then. I don’t know what to do with them.”

“Alec,” Jace’s voice said.

Alec turned to look at his parabatai. “Jace.” He frowned. “Hey, are you okay?”

Jace looked lost, miserable, and vaguely sick. He tried a smile. “Fine. Just… relieved to hear you’re fine too.”

“What happened?” Izzy asked.

“We can get into that later,” Jace said. He looked at Magnus. “Uh, C—Clary and I found… Jocelyn. She’s in some kind of coma.”

“I can take a look at her,” Magnus said. “But I can’t promise anything.”

Jace nodded distantly. “Yeah. Uh, I’ll take you to her, Magnus.” He turned and left the room without another word.

“I’m going with you,” Alec said.

“That’s probably a good idea,” Magnus agreed.

If Jace was aware of his entourage as he walked to the infirmary, he didn’t let on. He stopped just inside the section Jocelyn was floating in. Clary was seated by her mom’s head. She looked up when they entered.

“Magnus,” Clary said. “Um, is there anything you can do?”

Magnus looked over Jocelyn. “I wish, Biscuit. But this spell is… well, I’ll need to look into it more.”

He really wished he could undo the spell. He had done it once before, but that was exactly the problem. He’d only done it once. Over a year ago. He didn’t remember the exact spell that would wake Jocelyn.

A visit to Camille’s place was long overdue.  Now that the vampire was locked up, courtesy of Raphael, Magnus would have no trouble getting there. The hard part would be getting the piece of the bookmark from Ragnor.

Magnus felt his heart clench at the thought of his dead friend. He desperately wanted to save him.

“Do you think she can hear us?” Clary asked. “Where is she? Is she trapped in there? Is she somewhere else? I mean, I… I look at her, and I see my mother, but…” she trailed off.

“I don’t know,” Magnus said. “I wish I knew, but I don’t. She might be dreaming, she might wake up like no time has passed since she drank the potion. I believe she’s aware of her surroundings, but it would probably be hazy.”

“How did you know?” Jace’s voice cut through the conversation. He was looking straight at Clary. “How did you know he was Valentine?”

“Valentine?” Izzy gasped. “You saw Valentine?”

Clary and Jace looked at a loss for words.

“We ran into him,” Clary finally said. “He was disguised as Michael Wayland. Jace, I—I wish I could say I knew, but… I don’t know. There was something off. He told me that he knew my mother was pregnant, but he couldn’t have.”

“You should have told me,” Jace said.

“Would you have believed me?” Clary asked.

Izzy shook her head. “I don’t understand. Valentine disguised himself as Jace’s father? Why?”

“To gain our trust,” Clary said. “He tried to get the Cup from us, but… he failed. Obviously.”

“He wasn’t disguising himself as my father,” Jace said bitterly. “Valentine is my father. He pretended to be Michael Wayland and he faked his death. He lied to me my whole life. I… I’m not a Wayland.” He clenched his fists at his sides. “I should have killed him.”

“He’s your father, Jace,” Clary said, looking alarmed.

“Yeah, yours too, Clary,” Jace said. He shook his head. “You would have done it.”

“He raised you, Jace,” Clary said. “I would be worried if you did kill him.”

Izzy held up her hands. “But Valentine is Clary’s father.”

“Thank you for that reminder, Izzy,” Jace said. He stormed out of the infirmary.

Clary looked at them. “We didn’t know,” she whispered.

Izzy moved to comfort her. “No. You didn’t. Jace will come around. He just… needs time. We all do, I think.” She let out a breath. “Jace Morgenstern. Or Fairchild. Wow.”

“Maybe once my mom… our mom,” Clary stuttered, “wakes up, things will make sense.”

“Valentine may be lying,” Magnus spoke up. “It’s awful to think about, but… perhaps Jace actually is who he thinks he is and Valentine…”

“Kidnapped him?” Alec finished.

“I wouldn’t put it past him,” Clary said. “He seems like the kind of guy to do that.” She looked at her mom. “Mom will know. She has to know.”

Neither Magnus nor Alec wanted to burst Clary’s bubble by saying Jocelyn would probably try to kill whoever she thought was her son Jonathan.

Alec had forgotten about his parents being recalled to Idris after the Forsaken attack. Which had admittedly put a crimp in his plans to tell them he was going on a date with Magnus. It had also given him a small bit of relief.

What was wrong with him? He could kiss a warlock in front of dozens of Clave representatives and his parents, but he couldn’t gather up the courage to say the words to just his parents? He couldn’t just say, Hey, Mom and Dad, guess what? I’m dating a warlock. ? It just didn’t make any sense.

But their absence had provided Alec a reprieve from having to worry about that conversation.

Until he woke up on Friday morning and went down to the Ops Center.

“Alec!” His mother hurried over. She looked like a cross between livid and concerned.

“We heard about the trial,” Robert said, coming to stand beside Maryse. “We would have come back, but they didn’t let us.”

“What were you thinking?” Maryse demanded. “I expect this kind of behavior from Isabelle or Jace, but not you.”

“Meliorn was innocent,” Alec said flatly. “I did what I had to do. And by the way, I wasn’t convicted of freeing him. It was all allegations.”

“Still,” Maryse sighed. “But what matters is that the charges were dropped and you’re still here.”

The conversation was stiff and awkward. Alec was relieved when his phone rang. He looked to see it was Magnus calling him.

“I have to take this,” he told his parents. “Magnus has been looking for a way to wake Clary’s mom.”

“Jocelyn’s here?” Robert asked.

“Infirmary,” Alec said. “Clary and Luke are there right now, I think.” He answered the phone. “Hi, Magnus.”

“A lovely morning to you. This marks the fifth day we’ve both woken up to empty beds.”

“Yeah, well, not for too much longer.”

“Alexander, you flirt.”

Alec flushed. “I didn’t mean it like that. Well, maybe sometimes. But that’s besides the point. Uh, what are you calling about?”

“Well, I know we have our date tonight, but I’ve been meaning to visit Camille’s to get the Book since Raphael has her locked up. Perhaps this time we might avoid running into Valentine and the Circle?”

“That would be great, yeah,” Alec agreed. “Uh, I’ll head over. Do you want me to bring Clary or anyone?”

“Alexander, how do you expect me to explain how I knew Camille had the Book? Or how I knew where her place was and where the Book was for that matter?”

“Magic?” Alec suggested.

“You’re cute. That’s not how magic works. Come by my place, we’ll Portal in, get the Book, and get out.”

“You make it sound easy.”

“Well, if Valentine appears out of nowhere, feel free to sue me.”

“I might.” Alec looked over to see his parents looking rather impatient. “I gotta go. My parents just got here.”

“Good luck with them. I’ll see you soon.”

“Yeah. Bye, Magnus.” Alec hung up the phone and went back over to his parents. “Magnus has a lead on something. I’m going there now.”

“Alone?” Maryse asked. “With that warlock?”

“Yes,” Alec said firmly. “Magnus is my friend.”

Now would be a good time to tell them. He had the perfect window of opportunity. If Maryse and Robert took it badly—which they would—Alec could just leave anyway and come back later to face the heat.

But he said nothing more about that.

“If you want to see Jocelyn, like I said, she’s in the infirmary,” Alec said. “Clary’s with her and I’m pretty sure Luke is here too. But I really need to go.” He pushed past his parents and started towards the doors. He stopped.

Just do it, Alec, he told himself.

He turned around before his courage failed him. “I have a date tonight.”

Robert gave him a strange look. “Congratulations?”

“A date?” Maryse asked, eyes glinting. “With who?”

Alec opened his mouth to answer, but no sound came out. His heart was racing.

This is so beyond stupid, he growled. I am a married man. If I’m not going to be able to own up to my feelings for Magnus until the day Lydia and I were supposed to get married, I’m going to hit something.

“You… you know what?” Alec stammered. “I’ll just… I’ll introduce you tonight. Yeah. But I’m just going to go. Now. Can you tell Clary that Magnus and I are looking into something for her when you see her?” He turned and ran out of the Institute.

Once outside the doors, Alec blew out a breath.

“Pull yourself together, Lightwood,” he muttered. “This is embarrassing.”

Clary, Luke, and Izzy were in the infirmary when Maryse and Robert arrived. Izzy was laughing at something Clary had said and Luke was watching them with a smile.

“No kidding?” Izzy asked through her laughter.

“She was so confused,” Clary giggled. “I thought she was going to kill me, but the next day I woke up and all the markers had been replaced and there were a few cans of spray paint on the counter.”

“I remember that,” Luke said.

“The first of many talks about only using the paint on Simon’s van,” Clary smiled. “No graffiti on tunnels or walls or bridges.”

Izzy looked up. “Mom. Dad. What are you doing here? I thought you were in Idris.”

“We were,” Robert said. “But they let us come back to see Alec now that Lydia has the Cup. We weren’t going to be back until next week, but your mother insisted on the next Portal back after we got news of the trial.”

“I can’t believe they wouldn’t let you back for the trial,” Izzy said furiously.

“I can’t believe they even had that trial,” Clary muttered darkly. “It was ridiculous.”

Izzy smirked. “Got that right.” She looked at her parents. “Alec was in the Ops Center the last I saw him. He’s alright now, but…”

“We know,” Robert said. “We spoke to him before we came here. He had to leave. Something about a lead on waking Jocelyn.”

Clary’s head snapped up. “What? Really? Magnus found something?”

“They said it was a lead,” Luke said, placing a hand on her arm. “Don’t get your hopes up yet, kiddo.”

“Are you sure he’s alright?” Maryse pressed. “He was acting strange when he left.”

Izzy bit her lip to hide a smile. “What do you mean?”

“He said he had a date later,” Maryse said. “And then he just ran off.”

Izzy burst into laughter. “Oh my gosh! How red did he look?”

“Hey,” Clary said, elbowing Izzy. “Knock it off.” But she was smiling too.

“Wait, he just said he had a date and that was it?” Izzy said. She stopped laughing. “He didn’t say anything else like who it was?”

“No, is there a problem here, Isabelle?” Maryse asked sternly.

Izzy shook her head. “No. Alec will say when he’s ready, I guess. Is Max here?” she asked, changing the subject.

“He’s with his tutors in Idris,” Robert answered.

“Hey, have you seen— Oh.” Jace stopped at the doorway.

Maryse gave him a smile. “Jace.” She moved to hug him, but Jace stepped back.

“I was just looking for Izzy,” he said, eyes pointedly ignoring Clary and Jocelyn. “I thought she was supposed to be working on figuring out a list of warlocks more powerful than Magnus Bane.”

“I am,” Izzy sighed. “But it’s harder than it looks, Jace. Whichever one cast this spell on Jocelyn isn’t going to make it easy to find them. Otherwise Valentine would have already beaten us there.”

“I don’t care how tough it is, we’ve gotta find him,” Jace said. “Jocelyn is the only one who might know something about Valentine’s plan. She could know where he’s going. If we wake her up, she can tell us and then I’m going to kill him.”

“Jace,” Clary started.

“Don’t, Clary,” Jace snapped.

“Hey,” Luke warned.

“Are we missing something?” Robert asked.

Jace’s jaw clenched. “Yeah. Somehow you missed the fact that the man who raised me wasn’t actually Michael Wayland. I’m going to look at the list of warlocks now while you and Clary tell each other stories.” He stomped out of the infirmary.

“He won’t talk to me,” Clary sighed.

“What is going on?” Robert asked.

Izzy pursed her lips. “It’s complicated. Jace and Clary ran into Valentine before they could get the Cup back to the Institute.”

“What?” Maryse gasped.

“We haven’t told anyone else what happened, other than Valentine tried to trick us into giving him the Cup, we didn’t, he escaped through a Portal,” Clary said quietly. “But he was able to trick us because he disguised himself as Michael Wayland. And apparently… he had been doing that for years. Ten years to be precise. While he was raising Jace.”

“Valentine is Jace’s father?” Maryse hissed.

Robert seemed at a loss for words.

“He’s not a different person because of that,” Izzy said fiercely. “He’s the same Jace we took in. I hope you know that.”

“Of course,” Maryse said. “It’s just… he doesn’t look like them. I—I didn’t expect that.”

“Maybe my mom isn’t…” Clary said awkwardly. “You know, his mom. Valentine isn’t exactly a guy with morals.”

“Valentine loved Jocelyn,” Luke said, shaking his head. “He wouldn’t cheat on her.” He hesitated. “Clary, it should be Jocelyn telling you, but… She had a son. When she was still with Valentine. I don’t know much about him. This was after I was turned and Jocelyn didn’t like talking about him. She thought he died with Valentine. His name was Jonathan Christopher.”

“J.C.,” Clary said. “Jace. The box. It wasn’t my dad’s. It was Jace’s.”

“Yeah,” Luke said.

Clary rubbed her face. “This is so messed up.”

“I’m sorry, Clary,” Luke said. “We should have told you everything before this got—”

“We can hash all that out when we wake Mom us,” Clary interrupted. “Hopefully whenever Magnus and Alec get back and if we find the warlock…” She took a deep breath. “The important thing is we have her back.”

Alec knocked on the door to Magnus’s loft. The door swung open at his touch.

“You should really lock the door,” Alec called as he stepped inside.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Magnus’s voice called. “Besides,” he appeared around a corner, “I have magic.” He held up a blue ball of magic in his hands.

Alec shook his head. “One of these days some poor mundane is going to break in and isn’t going to know what to do when you start flinging magic around.”

“One word, Alexander,” Magnus said. “Wards. They keep the unwanted out and the wanted can come and go as they please. For the most part.”

“Camille doesn’t have those, does she?”

Magnus frowned. “Well, yes. But her wards merely prevent others from Portaling in. So we will Portal to that underground garage, then walk in the door. A la Lorenzo’s, but with less sneaking. The wards might alert the Hotel Dumort, I’m not quite sure about that yet, but either way, if Raphael is alerted, he can’t exactly rush over in the broad daylight, nor do I think he would be inclined to deny me the chance to rob Camille blind.” He paused. “I should really visit Camille’s other abodes. I’m quite certain she still has a large number of my possessions.”

“Guess that’ll be our second date,” Alec said. “Robbing Camille.”

Magnus beamed. “Excellent. I look forward to that very much. Speaking of dates, are we still on for tonight or is Jace slave driving you to find Valentine?”

“He will be soon,” Alec said. “But, no, we’re still going out. And I still have to tell my parents. I almost did it before I left. I told them I have a date tonight. And then… I ran out the door.” He shook his head. “This is so stupid. I’m married to you. I’ve already been through this.”

“Not exactly,” Magnus pointed out. “As you said, you never actually told them before. In words, I mean.”

“Yeah,” Alec sighed. He set his shoulders. “You know what. We’re going to get the Book and then we’re going to the Institute to tell Clary we have to go find Ragnor Fell—who isn’t going to die this time—and then I’m going to tell my parents I’m leaving for a date with Magnus Bane. I… I’m going to do that.” He nodded. “Yeah.”

“Absolutely,” Magnus agreed. “An excellent plan.”

“I wouldn’t say that, but it’s better than leaving Lydia at the altar,” Alec said.

“However you do it,” Magnus said, “will be perfect.”

“Thank you,” Alec said, kissing Magnus lightly. “Now let’s go rob your ex.”

Camille's apartment was eerily empty. Not that it hadn’t been empty when they had gone there in the original timeline, but at least then it hadn’t been just Magnus and Alec. Clary, Izzy, and Simon had been there too. And Camille. The fact that she wasn’t here this time was a definite improvement.

“It was this room,” Alec said, staring at the walls of books in the room they entered. “I remember this. Valentine’s men brought us here. Clary had the book because she gave it to Simon when Jace went with Valentine. I stopped her.” His eyes fell on the spot where the Portal that had taken his parabatai had been.

“That won’t happen this time,” Magnus said. He scanned the shelves. “We had a fragment of the bookmark. So whatever book has part of a bookmark should be the correct book.”

Alec pulled a book off the shelf and flipped through it. “I don’t suppose the book is white?”

“The Book of the White is white,” Magnus answered, tossing a few books over his shoulder. “But Dot hid the book here so one one would find it. I doubt—”

“Excuse me,” a man said, entering the room. “Who are you? This is—”

“Camille’s place,” Magnus interrupted. “Yes. I know. We dated. Centuries ago, of course.”

The man didn’t look deterred. “I have to ask you to leave right now.”

“Sorry,” Magnus said, not really sounding sorry at all. “No can do.”

“Then you leave me no—” The man cut off when Magnus snapped his fingers. He fell to the ground, unconscious.

“What did you do?” Alec asked.

“Relax,” Magnus said. “He’s asleep. I’d forgotten. Camille always did keep a few human subjugates around to keep up her homes. But he won’t stay asleep for long. We need to find the Book and get out of here.” He paused. “In answer to your question, no. I doubt the Book will appear white. Dot would have glamoured it to look like something else.”

“Like a cookbook?” Alec asked, pulling a bluish book off the shelf. He held it up. “Camille’s a vampire. Why would she have a cookbook?” He opened the book and flipped through the pages. “Here. Isn’t this what the bookmark looked like?”

Magnus looked at the page Alec had the book opened to. “That’s it, yes. Chicken cacciatore. A lovely recipe really. I bet this will be the page the spell is on. Don’t lose the page, Alexander.”

Alec closed the book, making sure to keep the bookmark piece in place. “What do you take me for? An amateur?”

“Never.” Magnus glanced over at Camille’s subjugate who was beginning to stir. “We should get going. I want to lock this book up before Valentine can make off with any of our friends.” With a flourish of his hands, Magnus opened a Portal.

“I thought Camille had wards against Portals,” Alec said.

“I said she might have wards against Portals,” Magnus said. “But seeing as she can’t do anything about it, I took the liberty to rewrite the wards to allow me to Portal in and out whenever I please.” He offered a hand.

Alec took it and together they stepp through the Portal, arriving in Magnus’s loft. He handed the book to Magnus who took it to his safe.

“There,” Magnus said. “All that’s left is to find Ragnor and get the missing piece of the bookmark. No offense, but perhaps we should hold off on telling Hodge all this.”

Alec nodded. “No, that’s a good idea. Hodge… he’s supposed to give Valentine the Cup sometime next week. When Lydia is getting ready to head back to Idris. Wednesday night, I think. I’m not planning on letting him get past the front door. Hodge is family to me. Assuming everything goes our way and I become Inquisitor again, I can try to appeal for him to be let out of the Institute. But not if he betrays us to Valentine.”

“If anyone can redeem Hodge, it’s you,” Magnus said.

“Magnus,” Alec said. “It… it was supposed to be Jace and Izzy. And we had a plan. Jace was going to kill Valentine as soon as he met him. If things go the same way, Valentine will be captured after the Soul Sword decimates the Downworld. I cannot let that happen.”

“And it won’t,” Magnus said. “We will stop him before it comes to that.”

“I’ve learned to accept that whenever we go out and face some dangerous new threat, I’m going to be worried about you,” Alec said. “But when I saw all those Downworlders lying dead in the Institute, the only time that ever compared to that was in Alicante when I thought I lost you forever. Again. I don’t want to feel like that ever again.” He ran his hands through his hair. “You know, Jace and Izzy had this whole plan, and we don’t. It just feels like… I don’t know. I have this feeling like so far it’s too easy. The trial and the Cup and now the Book. If we can lure Valentine out, I’ll kill him myself. But right now, I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop. I don’t want that to be your life.”

“Then we’ll make a plan,” Magnus said. “Tonight. We can still have our drinks. We can still enjoy each other’s company. And we can reminisce on memories.”

Alec gave him a small smile. “Thanks. But we can still go out for a regular date. We can always make a plan tomorrow.”

“Alexander, by now you must have realized we aren’t an ordinary couple,” Magnus said dryly. “I think I can sacrifice a night out to make a plan and put your mind at ease. Okay?”

“Okay,” Alec agreed. “Planning, alcohol, and memory lane.”

“The makings of a great date.”

Alec snorted. “Of course.”

When Alec and Magnus entered the Institute, they were greeted by a cacophony of noise. There were Shadowhunters running around from screen to screen and talking loudly. About what, Alec wasn’t sure.

“Oh my God, Alec!” Izzy shrieked. She ran over and nearly bowled him over with her hug.

Alec stumbled. “Izzy, what the hell?”

“Where have you been?” she demanded. “I’ve been trying to call you for hours!”

“I… Phone was on silent,” Alec mumbled. “Sorry. What’s going on?”

“I don’t know,” Izzy admitted. “No one is saying anything. But I think someone attacked Lydia. They brought her into the infirmary not too long after you left.”

Alec had a sinking feeling he knew exactly what had happened. “Someone attacked Lydia?”

Izzy nodded. “I don’t know who, but… Alec, I think whoever did it was after the Cup.”

Alec met Magnus’s eyes. Hodge, he thought.

“Izzy, this is important,” Alec said seriously. “Did they get the Cup?”

“What?” Izzy stammered.

“Did whoever attacked Lydia get the Cup?” Alec asked desperately.

“I don’t know,” Izzy said. “I told you, no one is telling us anything yet. Mom or Dad will probably make an announcement since Lydia’s unconscious.”

Alec made a beeline for his parents.

“Alec.” Maryse looked startled to see him. Or maybe it was the I’m the Inquisitor tell me everything look on his face.

“What happened?” he asked.

Maryse’s face aged. “Alec, I’m just about to make the announcement.”

“Someone took the Cup, didn’t they?”

“How do you—?”

Alec slapped a hand against a wall. “Dammit!”

Magnus’s hand closed around his wrist. “Stop. You’re only hurting yourself.”

It was a testament to how shaken Maryse was about the situation that she didn’t even say a word about Magnus grabbing Alec. She stood at the top of the raised platform in the Ops Center.

“Attention!” she called.

The Ops Center fell silent. Alec could feel and see the Shadowhunters willing Maryse to be giving them good news.

“Lydia Branwell was attacked in her room,” Maryse said. “It happened very early this morning. Her attacker was someone within the Institute. They were successful in taking the Mortal Cup.”

Horrified whispers arose.

“At this time, we don’t know who attacked her,” Maryse continued. “We are reviewing the security footage right now.”

Alec gave a derisive snort. “Yeah we do. We know who attacked her.” He rubbed his face. “Who is the only person missing? The one person who should be here? Mom, where’s Hodge?”

Chapter Text

You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.
― Maya Angelou, Letter to My Daughter

“You can’t just accuse Hodge,” Izzy said, tapping away at a computer. “You don’t know what happened, Alec. Whoever attacked Lydia could have… could have gotten to Hodge too.”

“It must have happened after I gave them the Cup,” Clary said. “Everyone was so caught up in what Jace and I said about running into Valentine and we got my mom back, no one thought about anyone trying to steal the Cup.”

“It’s not your fault, Biscuit,” Magnus said. He locked eyes with Alec. Yours either, they seemed to say.

But wasn’t it? Alec knew that Hodge was planning on betraying them to Valentine. He had been planning to make sure Hodge didn’t make it past the doors with the Cup. He’d just been naive enough to think that Hodge would wait until the same time he had before to steal the Cup. There was no wedding, no marriage to support, no reason for Hodge to stick around longer than he had to.

Alec felt like a fool for not even considering this outcome.

“How’s Lydia?” Clary asked Magnus.

“She’s fine,” Magnus assured her. “It could have been worse if she wasn’t found when she was. A nasty concussion, some internal bleeding. She’s sleeping for now. Lydia will pull through but… There’s only so much magic can do. I don’t know how long she’ll be out of it.”

Jace walked over from where he had been talking to Maryse. “Hodge is missing. No one’s seen him since last night.”

“Told you,” Alec said.

“Maybe he was attacked too,” Izzy said. “Maybe we just haven’t found…” she cut off.

“I hate to say it, but Alec might be right about this,” Clary said. “It doesn’t look good for Hodge. He could be the one who attacked Lydia.”

“No way,” Izzy denied. “We’ve known him our entire lives. He would never do that to us.”

They watched the surveillance footage of Lydia and Hodge in the room where the safe to store the Mortal Cup was. Lydia opened the safe and was about to place the Cup inside when Hodge struck her hard. Hodge walked around Lydia’s still form and picked up the Cup.

“I led him right to the Cup,” Jace said.

“How could he do this?” Izzy whispered.

“Look,” Clary said, pointing to the screen. “That ring. He’s talking to someone.”

“I can bet who it is,” Jace grumbled.

Clary’s face tightened. “Valentine.”

“He deactivated the Punishment rune for him,” Alec said.

“Where did he get the ring?” Clary asked.

Jace sighed. “Hodge wasn’t the only ex-Circle member around here.”

“Look,” Izzy said. “I know I don’t always see eye to eye with my parents, but I know they’re not traitors.”

“Really?” Jace said. “Isn’t that what you just said about Hodge?”

“Isabelle’s right,” Magnus said. “Robert and Maryse are no saints, but… From someone who knew them when they were Circle members? Believe me,” he said, “they’ve changed. They didn’t do this.”

“Sure you aren’t just saying that for brownie points?” Jace asked him.

Magnus gave him a sarcastic smile. “I never liked Robert and Maryse. Regardless of my relationship with their son—or any of their children—the only thing that could change my opinion of them would actually be them changing. And they have. Mostly. They’re tolerable now.”

Jace sighed. “Fine. Whoever got Hodge that ring, it’d have to be someone we trusted. If there was an intruder inside the Institute, we would have found them by now.”

“What about the Forsaken attack?” Clary suggested.

Alec suppressed a groan. He did know about the ring. And he hadn’t done anything to stop it. Mostly because he had been injured. Magnus knew about the ring too. Alec was sure he had told Magnus at some point. If Magnus hadn’t had to worry about Alec, they could have gotten the ring before Hodge could get to it.

“He didn’t have one during the autopsy,” Izzy said, “but maybe there’s something in the footage.”

The video sped through shots of Hodge fighting the Forsaken before Alec arrived. Two arrows appeared in the Forsaken, announcing Alec’s arrival. A flash of blue indicated Magnus had arrived. Hodge snapped the Forsaken’s neck, killing it. They saw Izzy and Maryse come rushing in.

“Go to the other camera,” Alec said.

Izzy typed something and the view changed to show Hodge hovering over the Forsaken body. He pulled a ring off the Forsaken’s finger.

“There,” Jace said.

“So it wasn’t a random attack,” Clary said.

“He was just the delivery boy,” Jace said in disgust.

“If he gives that Cup to Valentine, he’ll create an army of Shadowhunters,” Alec said. “With that kind of power behind him, he’ll kill thousands.” He shook his head. “And it’s my fault.”

“How is it your fault?” Clary asked. “I’m the one who literally gave him the Cup. I gave it to Lydia right in front of him.”

“Valentine couldn’t have gotten Hodge the ring if someone had been paying attention to the Forsaken body!” Alec said. “Instead, everyone was freaking out about me because of the scratch on my shoulder.”

“First of all, that was not a scratch, Alexander," Magnus said, giving Alec a long look. “Second, we don't have time to assign blame. And it’s no one’s fault. No one but Valentine.”

“Magnus is right,” Izzy said. “Valentine can kill thousands with his army, but to create that army? He’s going to kill the thousands of mundanes that won’t survive the process.”

“We won’t let that happen,” Clary said.

“I’m going to make sure of it,” Jace said darkly.

“So much for our date,” Alec sighed as he runed his arrows.

Magnus shrugged. “Oh, a date spent planning and drinking or a date spent hunting down a rogue Shadowhunter. What’s the difference? As long as it’s with you, I don’t mind.”

Alec looked up from the arrow he was holding. “Wait. You’re coming with us?”

“Is that a problem?” Magnus asked. “I just assumed you wouldn’t mind an extra set of hands, but if you prefer—”

“No, no,” Alec interrupted. “I think it’s great. Yeah. Come with us.” He paused. “Jace takes the ring from Hodge. He uses it to contact Valentine.”

“Which resulted in Jace going with Valentine,” Magnus said.

“We just need to prevent Jace from taking the ring,” Alec said. “That’s our priority. We’re going to get Hodge, but… Jace can’t leave again.”

“Agreed,” Magnus said. “I’ll keep an eye on your wayward parabatai, no worries.”

“And the Cup,” Alec grimaced. “Well, if Hodge has been missing since this morning… Valentine probably has it by now.”

“It’s not your fault, Alexander,” Magnus said sternly. “It’s not. ”

“We knew, Magnus. We knew Hodge was going to take the Cup. And we did nothing.” Alec slid the pile of arrows into his quiver. “Lydia could have died because instead of being found by us shortly after Hodge attacked her, she wasn’t found until hours after she was attacked.”

Alec slammed his fists against the table. “What the hell were we thinking? I shouldn’t have let Jace talk me into this stupid idea. Time travel? I mean, really, what the hell? We were crazy to think it would work. I mean, what were Jace and Izzy going to do, huh? We both know Jace would have gotten here and punched Hodge. Or he would have run off half cocked to kill Valentine. But at least they had a plan. We have nothing. And it shows. Valentine will get the Cup if he hasn’t already gotten it. Then he’s going to get the damn sword and…” He trailed off.

“He won’t,” Magnus said. “Alexander, Alec, look at me.” He stared Alec in the eyes. “Whatever happens is not your fault. Now, we are going to go find Hodge. When we get back, we are going to make that plan of yours that we talked about, okay?”

Alec let out a breath. “Okay.”

When they left the weapons room and headed for the doors of the Institute, Jace was already there. He and Clary were arguing in low voices back and forth.

“Jace,” Alec called.

Jace looked up, irritation sliding off his face in favor of cold stoicism. “Ready?”

“Ready,” Alec confirmed. “Did you call Luke?”

“He’s got the pack tracking Hodge now,” Jace said.

Clary crossed her arms. “Jace—”

“Just try and figure out how to wake up Jocelyn,” Jace told her. “Have Magnus help you. I don’t care. We need her to wake up and tell us how to stop Valentine.”

“Magnus is coming with us,” Alec corrected.

“Of course he is,” Jace muttered.

“And there’s still no way he could wake up Jocelyn without the help of the warlock who helped her,” Alec finished.

Jace grumbled, but set off towards the doors.

Clary grabbed Alec’s wrist. “He’s not thinking straight. He thinks Valentine poisoned his mind or something. I’m worried about him.”

“That makes two of us,” Alec said. “I’ll keep an eye on him, Clary. Promise.”

“Tracked his scent here,” Luke said quietly when Jace, Alec, and Magnus arrived at a heavily graffitied underpass. “I’ve got wolves patrolling the area. He won’t leave alive.”

“We need him alive,” Jace muttered.

“Then we better hurry and take him down before my pack takes him out,” Luke said.

Jace cracked his knuckles. Alec nocked an arrow. Luke’s eyes flashed green. Blue magic danced across Magnus’s fingertips.

“Split up,” Alec ordered. “Anyone sees him, shout for help.”

“I’m not the one who will need help,” Jace said darkly.

“Call for help,” Alec repeated, eyes boring holes into Jace’s thick skull.

Jace sighed and nodded.

Magnus could hear the wolves of Luke’s pact howling in the distance. He could also hear the ragged breath of someone terrified out of their wits. For some reason, Magnus doubted that someone was Jace—who was running on fumes of anger—or Alec—who was pissed at himself for letting this happen. And he didn’t think Luke—a trained predator—would be callous enough to give away his position like that.

So that left the terrified person to be Hodge. Or Magnus himself, though he liked to think he was the epitome of calmness at the moment.

Sure enough, Magnus rounded a concrete pillar to see Hodge with his back against another one. Hodge didn’t see Magnus, he was too busy watching a wolf strolling through the underpass. Once the wolf disappeared, Hodge breathed a sigh of relief and looked back. His eyes connected with Magnus and they widened.

Before Hodge could take off running, Magnus sent a blast of magic at the Shadowhunter, sending him sprawling to the ground. Jace—having heard the blast—ran over and pinned Hodge to the ground.

“Where is it?” Jace demanded.

Hodge stared up at Jace. “Jace… I’m afraid you’re too late. Valentine already has the Cup.”

Jace barely flinched back, but it was enough for Hodge to take advantage of. He kicked at Jace’s legs and pushed the younger Shadowhunter off his body. Both of them rolled to their feet, swinging and blocking blows.

Magnus moved towards them uncertainly. Blue sparks jumped from his hands, but any attempt to blast Hodge back could backfire and hit Jace as well or instead.

“How could you?” Jace yelled, pushing Hodge back into one of the graffitied concrete supports.

Hodge pushed away from the wall. He and Jace circled the other.

“It was the only way to earn my freedom,” Hodge spat. “I’d been caged long enough.”

“Caged?” Jace repeated. “You were our teacher. We treated you like family. We loved you!”

Magnus raised his hands to blast Hodge again, but Jace held up a hand. “Not now, Magnus!”

“Family?” Hodge said scathingly. “Family? The Lightwoods cut a deal, Jace, to have me punished for crimes that they themselves committed. Don’t you see? I was their prisoner! And besides… let’s be real for a moment. You can’t win.” He laughed. “Your pet warlock wouldn’t dare go against his precious Shadowhunter friends and I taught you everything you know.” He pulled out his chakrams.

Jace flipped out his double sided seraph blade. “Not everything, Hodge.” He swung at Hodge and the fight began.

The fight was hard to keep track of. If Magnus thought it would be difficult to launch a blast at Hodge when he and Jace were fistfighting, that was nothing compared to them dueling. The Shadowhunters’ movements blurred together. Whirlwinds of arms and legs flying out at each other. Jace’s glowing blades flashing from place to place.

The fight didn’t slow until Hodge lost one of his chakrams and Jace lost his double sided blades. Jace threw Hodge over a barrier. As he jumped over to go after Hodge, Jace pulled out a regular seraph blade. He swung at Hodge who flipped out of the way and blocked the blade with his remaining chakram.

“Alexander!” Magnus shouted, eyes never leaving the fight in case there was some golden opportunity for him to use his magic.

Jace knocked Hodge to the ground and sliced off the hand Hodge had his last chakram in with a guttural yell.

Hodge screamed in pain, curling in on himself and holding his wrist to his body.

Alec came running up to Magnus. “Dammit,” he muttered. He didn’t stop running.

Magnus chased after him as they ran towards where Jace was holding his blade over Hodge. Alec tackled Jace to the ground while Magnus went to Hodge.

“It’s over!” Alec told Jace.

“It’s not over,” Jace gasped. “He’s a traitor. He deserves to pay.”

Luke appeared at Magnus’s side. “Oh my God.”

Magnus waved a hand over Hodge’s stump to prevent him from bleeding out and to numb the pain. Then he bound the man tightly with ropes of magic.

“He’s not going anywhere,” Magnus said grimly.

“You nearly killed him!” Alec yelled at Jace.

“Maybe I should’ve killed him!” Jace yelled back. “He sided with Valentine, Alec. The Clave let him go once before and look where that got us.”

“What are you going to do?” Alec asked him “You’re gonna kill every ex-Circle member, even our parents? Even Clary’s mom? Luke?”

Jace didn’t answer, his chest heaved and he breathed heavily.

Alec stood up. “Just calm down.”

“There’s a dungeon in Idris with your name written all over it,” Luke told Hodge.

Alec left Jace on the ground and walked over to where Luke and Magnus were standing over Hodge.

“You took care of his wrist?” Alec asked Magnus.

Magnus nodded. He snapped his hand and flicked his wrist. Hodge’s severed hand appeared in his hand. The ring he used to communicate with Valentine prominent on one of his fingers.

“I’ll take this,” he said, giving Jace an unimpressed look.

Jace glared at Magnus as the warlock took the ring from Hodge’s finger.

“You can keep the hand though,” Magnus added. “I don’t really collect human body parts.” He dropped the hand to the ground and handed Alec the ring which he pocketed.

“Give me the ring,” Jace said. He stood up, eyes fixed on Alec. “Now.”

“Not happening,” Alec said.

Jace moved closer. “Give me the ring.”

“Why?” Alec asked. “So you can contact Valentine? So he can plant lies in your head? So he can turn you against yourself? No.”

“Alec, give me the damn ring!” Jace shouted, reaching out to pull it from Alec’s pocket.

Alec jumped back. “Magnus!”

Magnus flung out a hand, sending Jace crashing into a support pillar. “Sorry, Jace.” He dropped the spell and Jace crumpled to the ground. Magnus winced. “Oops.” Another wave of his hand and Jace’s prone form floated over.

“We should get both of them back to the Institute,” Luke said. “Magnus, can you open a Portal?”

“I don’t think we should risk that,” Magnus said. “Entering a Portal unconscious can leave you in limbo forever. With Jace like this, we can’t risk it.”

Luke nodded. “I’ll call Alaric then. He can give us a ride.” He pulled out his phone and dialed Alaric. “Alaric, we’ve got Hodge,” he said. “Call off the rest of the pack. We’re gonna need a pick up. We’re at the subway station near Bergen.” A pause. “Yeah. I’ll see you in five.” He hung up the phone. “He’ll be here soon.”

“Good,” Alec said distantly, staring at Jace’s unconscious form.

When Jace opened his eyes, he was in his bed at the Institute. Alec was sitting in a chair.

“What happened?” Jace groaned, sitting up.

“A lot,” Alec said. He sighed. “I had Magnus knock you out. You tried to get Hodge’s ring from me. The one that contacts Valentine.”

Jace fell back against the pillows. “You have got to be kidding me. You had Magnus knock me out?”

“You’re acting crazy,” Alec said. “All right? Ever since you and Clary met Valentine, you’ve been acting off. I get it. Valentine says you’re siblings but you still love her.” He paused. “Jace, you thought Michael Wayland was your father. But he wasn’t. Now you think Valentine Morgenstern is your father. Maybe he’s not either. Okay? Valentine is a liar.”

“He wasn’t lying about raising me,” Jace said. “He is my father. He taught me how to fight. Not to be weak. He raised me to be a killer. I’m going to make him regret that.”

“No, you aren’t,” Alec said. “You’re right about one thing, Jace. Valentine raised you. He raised you for ten years. If you kill him out of anger or spite, that’s going to be on your conscience forever. You won’t forgive yourself for that.”

“I’ve killed thousands of demons, Alec,” Jace said flatly. “I can kill one more.”

“Killing a person is different than killing a demon,” Alec said. In his mind he saw his own blood-stained hands. He saw Clary’s horrified look. The words that the spell-Clary had said to him rang in his ears. Jocelyn pleading for Alec to wake up and break the demon’s control. That was the worst part. She hadn’t blamed Alec at all. Even when it was his face looking at her as the demon ripped her chest open.

Alec let out a shuddering breath. “It doesn’t go away. You’re going to wake up in the middle of the night because their face is the only thing you see when you close your eyes. You’re going to have every second of that moment branded into your mind and you’re going to relive it over and over, watching the life drain out of their eyes. I don’t want that for you. You’re angry right now, Jace. That goes away. Murder doesn’t.”

Jace was silent. “You don’t understand, Alec. You’ve always had Robert and Maryse. And they might have been tough, but at least they weren’t monsters. At least they didn’t raise you to be a monster. Valentine is a monster. He raised me to be just like him. I’m a monster too.”

“For the love of— Jace!” Alec said in exasperation. “We are not our parents! I get I’m the last person who should be giving anyone this speech since I have tried to be the person my parents wanted me to be, but I’m going to give it to you anyway. Our parents don’t define us. My parents are ex-Circle members. They follow the Law to the T. They expect me to do the same. And I did! For so long, I followed the Law, just like they wanted me to. I did everything they asked. I put my life aside to uphold the Lightwood name the way Mom and Dad saw fit. And for all those years, my life sucked! I wasn’t happy. I was some sad, miserable, closeted goodie two shoes. I… still am—technically—closeted. To them at least. But now, I’m actually happy for once! I’m going on a date with Magnus Bane. I helped you guys free Meliorn. I am tolerating Clary Fray’s presence as well as her mundane vampire sidekick.”

Jace snorted.

“The point is, I’ve stopped trying to be the person my parents want me to be,” Alec said. “Because that’s not the person I want to be. You don’t have to be who Valentine wants you to be either. Not if you don’t want to.”

“That was actually inspiring,” Jace said.

Alec smiled. “Good. Because it was supposed to be.”

“Sorry I tried to attack you,” Jace said.

“Sorry I had Magnus throw you against a wall.”

“Were you jealous?”

Alec frowned. “Why would I be jealous?”

“Magnus had a good looking guy like me up against a wall,” Jace grinned.

Alec made a face. “You’re disgusting. And he wasn’t even near you.”

“You sound jealous,” Jace said.

“Well, I’m not.”

“You are.”

“I tried to do a nice thing for you and give you this inspiring speech and this is the thanks I get?” Alec asked.

Jace sighed. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Alec said with a pleased smile.

“Look who’s awake,” Alec said as he and Jace entered the Ops Center.

Clary and Izzy looked up with beaming smiles.

“You dumbass,” Izzy said, socking Jace in the shoulder. “What were you thinking? I’m so glad you’re okay.” She pulled him into a hug.

“Well, I’m not going to punch you,” Clary said with a smile. “It’s good to see you awake, Jace.”

“No thanks to Magnus,” Jace said, looking pointedly at the warlock sitting with his legs crossed on one of the tables.

“You can thank me later,” Magnus said. “You were only out for twenty minutes. And no lasting damage. No need to damage that face more than it already is.”

“Thanks,” Jace said sarcastically.

“You’re welcome,” Magnus said brightly.

Alec shook his head. “Okay. Magnus and I managed to find something that might help us wake Jocelyn. We would have told you sooner, but everything with Hodge happened and…”

“It’s okay, Alec,” Clary said quickly. “What did you find?”

Alec pressed a button and a warlock file appeared on the computer screen. “Ragnor Fell.”

“A warlock obviously, but who is he?” Clary asked.

“Former High Warlock of London and one of my oldest friends,” Magnus said. “Very prickly, likes to keep to himself.”

“He used to be a professor at the Shadowhunter Academy in Idris,” Alec said. “In the early ’90’s which is when Jocelyn lived in Idris. She could have gone to him for the potion any time.”

“Ever since Valentine began hunting warlocks, Ragnor’s been holed up in his secret country house,” Magnus said. “If he knows Valentine is looking for the warlock who helped Jocelyn, Ragnor won’t come out until it’s safe… er. Safer. We’ll have to confront him face-to-face.”

“You’re going on this mission?” Jace asked.

“Of course!” Magnus said. “I’m the only one Ragnor trusts. Besides, none of you know where Ragnor is, do you? Thought not,” he said when they didn’t answer.

“We’ll go tomorrow,” Alec said.

“Tomorrow?” Jace repeated. “Why wait?”

“Well, first of all, Ragnor would be asleep right now,” Magnus said. “Time differences and all.”

“Secondly,” Alec said. “I am not letting Hodge’s betrayal derail my life. I’m going on my date tonight and I will deal with waking Jocelyn tomorrow. No offense, Clary.”

She shook her head with a smile. “None taken. My mom will be here after your date. It’s not like she’s going anywhere. I think we could all use a break. So you two go enjoy your date and we will stay here. Oooh, maybe I’ll have Simon come and we can teach you two some mundane board games.”

“Boring games?” Jace asked.

“Board games,” Clary said. “They’re games played on a board. It’s easier to show you than to explain it. Come on.” She waved Jace and Izzy to follow her out of the Ops Center.

“Why are you so determined to have this date?” Magnus asked curiously.

“If I remember correctly, we tried to go on that first date quite a number of times,” Alec said. “I found Lydia, Raj interrupted us… Our first date didn’t happen until, like, a whole week after the wedding.”

Magnus smiled in remembrance. “I had to trick you into coming over.”

“Mmm,” Alec nodded. “But tonight, no tricks, no making plans, no interruptions, no distractions, no anything stopping us. Tonight is just about us.”

“No planning?”

“No planning.”

“I thought you wanted a plan?”

Alec sighed. “I do. But it can wait. I just gave Jace a pep talk about not putting your life on hold because of other people. This time travel thing happened to us and we’re going to deal with it, but not now. We need one night to just be us.” He dropped his voice. “Just Alec and Magnus Lightwood-Bane.”

“Two of the best people in the Shadow World,” Magnus said.

“You bet.” Alec took a deep breath. “Now that I’ve said all these nice things about us… I have to go tell my parents.”

“You can do this,” Magnus said. “You’re Alexander Lightwood. You’re the Inquisitor. You’ve been to Edom and back.”

“Yeah,” Alec nodded. “I am. I have. This is… this is nothing.” He paused. “So what do I do? Just go up and say, Hey, I’m gay. I don’t know. This is really, really a lot harder than it sounds.”

Magnus drew himself up and Alec prepared himself for receiving some hopefully philosophical and wise advice from the hundreds of years old warlock.

“Yes,” Magnus said.

Alec blinked. “What?”

“Yes, that’s all you say,” Magnus said. “And then you say you’re going out with me and then you will have told you parents.”

“Great. I’m going to do that.” Alec didn’t move. “Right now.” He looked in the direction his siblings and Clary had gone a few minutes ago. “Do you think Clary could draw like a fearless rune or something?”

“Clary drawing runes is what got us into this in the first place, Alexander,” Magnus said, looking amused. “Besides, you shouldn’t use a shortcut to bypass your fear. Like when you called off the wedding, this has to be for you. Okay?”

“For me,” Alec repeated. He looked over to see his parents on the other side of the Ops Center. “For me. Okay.”

He walked across the room to where his parents were.

“I’m leaving,” Alec told them. “For my date.”

Robert didn’t look up from the screen. “You don’t need to ask permission to go on your date, Alec. You’re an adult.”

Maryse nudged him. “Robert,” she hissed. She gave Alec a smile. “Right. You said you were going to introduce us.”

“Yeah, so the thing is, you kind of already know each other,” Alec said.

Maryse frowned. “Lydia?”

“What? No,” Alec said, shaking his head. “Lydia’s nice. She’s great. She’s still unconscious, actually, but, no. Um, my date is with Magnus. Bane.”

For once in the whole conversation, Robert’s attention was no longer on his computer at all. He was staring at Alec with a confused look. Which was better than Maryse’s shocked and slightly horrified look.

“Magnus Bane?” Maryse repeated the name like it was a disease.

“Yes,” Alec said. “Is that a problem?”

“Alec, I understand that you think you’re friends with him, but…”

“I don’t think, we are friends,” Alec said. “More than friends, maybe.”

Robert glanced over where Magnus was back where Alec had left him. “His reputation precedes him. Even for a warlock, he’s a bit of a lothario. Alec, there’s so much that you don’t know about him.”

“Which is why we’re going on a date,” Alec said. “So I can get to know him. If you have a problem with that, then I suggest you deal with it. Now, I’m going to leave. With Magnus. I just… wanted to tell my parents. I’m gay. I like guys. I like Magnus.”

With that, he left his parents gapping at him and returned to Magnus’s side.

“On a scale of one to ten,” Magnus said, “how was it?”

“Really good,” Alec said. “For me. I expect plenty of yelling when I get back. Right now they’re still too shocked to do anything.” He slipped his hand into Magnus’s. “Besides, I just kept picturing Mom smiling when she walked you down the aisle. And my dad… actually looking proud of me. And one day, they’ll look like that again.” He laughed. “It was actually kind of funny to see them like this.”

Magnus smiled. “Only you, Alexander.”

“What?”

“I love you,” Magnus murmured.

“Love you too,” Alec said. He glanced around the Ops Center. Everyone’s gazes seemed to have landed on him and Magnus by now. “We should go before someone comes up with something for us to do.”

“Agreed,” Magnus said. He let go of Alec’s hand and offered his arm. “Shall we?”

Alec grinned, looping his arm through Magnus’s. “We shall.”

Together, they left the Shadowhunters of the New York Institute in various states of confusion, shock, and surprise. Whatever happened after they left, whatever anyone was thinking, didn’t matter at the moment.

They could deal with the fallout tomorrow. Just as soon as they were done dealing with waking Jocelyn.

But for now, it was just Magnus and Alec.

Chapter Text

There is never a time or place for true love. It happens accidentally, in a heartbeat, in a single flashing, throbbing moment.
― Sarah Dessen, The Truth About Forever

It was Izzy who greeted them when they walked into the Institute the next morning.

“Morning,” she drawled. “Sleep well? Or did you not do much sleeping?”

Alec ignored her. “Where’s Clary and Jace?”

“Ops Center,” Izzy answered. “And what is that, Magnus?” she asked, gesturing to the cookbook he was carrying. “Please tell me my brother did not take you to a library for a first date.”

“It’s a spellbook to wake Jocelyn,” Magnus said. “Or… it will be.”

“And we didn’t go to the library to get it,” Alec said. “That was the lead we looked into earlier, not a date. We just went to his loft and had drinks. And talked. Fully clothed,” he added pointedly.

“It’s a step in the right direction,” Izzy shrugged.

“Yeah, well, Mom and Dad already think I’m naive for ignoring Magnus’s ‘reputation’ or whatever, so I don’t need you encouraging them,” Alec said.

“Speaking of,” Izzy said quickly. “The whole Institute knows you went on a date and that you didn’t come home last night.”

“That was kind of the point of leaving with Magnus,” Alec muttered.

“Just letting you know,” Izzy said. “I’ve already gotten to knock Raj on his butt in the training room earlier. He was being an ass about Magnus. Actually, it was so funny, you should have seen it! Jace was about to murder him I think, so I offered him a choice between Jace and me. Oh my God, Jace started cracking up when Raj picked me. It was over in seconds.”

“I don’t doubt that for a second,” Magnus said.

“Yeah,” Izzy said wistfully. “It was amazing. Uh, anyway, we should get Jace and Clary.”

“Of course,” Magnus agreed. “Once we find Ragnor, I should be able to wake Jocelyn. Then she can tell us anything she knows about Valentine.”

The eyes that landed on Alec as he entered the Ops Center behind Izzy were anything but subtle. Neither were the whispers. In a way, Jace getting captured by Valentine the first time around had been a blessing. Alec had been too focused on finding his parabatai to even bother to notice anything else going on at the Institute. Then, even after finding Jace, he’d been sent to the Silent Brothers, so Alec had to worry about that.

By the time everything had been—mostly—resolved, the commodity that was Alec Lightwood kissing a warlock at his own wedding had kinda worn off. People either had decided to ignore Alec’s relationship—he’d actually lost count of the times he and Magnus were introduced as just friends—or they just didn’t care.

“Hey,” Alec greeted Jace.

Jace gave him a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Hey.” He was very pointedly ignoring Clary.

“Izzy told us about Raj,” Alec said.

Jace’s smile turned a little more genuine. “Great, right? I thought Raj was going to cry.”

“It was cool,” Clary agreed quietly.

“And what will be even cooler is waking Jocelyn,” Magnus said. He flipped open the Cookbook of the White. “All I need is the rest of this bookmark which—as luck would have it—is in the hands of Ragnor Fell.”

“Alec.”

He turned to see Maryse standing a few feet away. Robert stood uncertainly next to her.

Alec handed Izzy his stele. “Open my safe so Magnus can put the book there. I have to deal with this.”

“You sure?” Izzy asked, taking the offered stele. “I could go with you.”

“I’m sure,” Alec said. “I have to do this, Izzy.”

“Go get ’em,” Izzy said.

Alec made his way over to Maryse. “If this is about Magnus—”

“Yes,” Maryse hissed. “What have you done, Alec? To us, this family?”

“This isn’t about you,” Alec said.

“Of course it is,” Maryse said. “You are either being selfish or naive or both. I know your sister told you about my idea for a marriage alliance. And I know it’s not something you would have chosen. I got that from our interaction about Lydia. But to strike up a… a relationship with Magnus Bane?” She shook her head. “You have always put this family first, Alec. Now, you’ve humiliated this family, you’ve humiliated yourself. I don’t even recognize you anymore.”

“I’m the same person I’ve always been,” Alec said flatly. “Now everything’s just out in the open.”

Maryse shook her head in disbelief. “And all for a Downworlder.” She gave Alec one last disappointed look before turning on her heel and walking away.

“Just give her time,” Robert said lowly.

Alec glanced at his father. “And you?”

“I don’t really understand this,” Robert said.

“You don’t have to,” Alec said. “Just… a little respect. For me, my life, Magnus. Please.”

Robert nodded slowly. “I suppose our world is changing. How long has this been going on? Are you two… in love?”

Alec looked over where Magnus was standing with Jace, Izzy, and Clary. It looked like he was recounting a much more dramatic version of how they stole the book from Camille’s place. A fond smile tugged at his lips.

He turned back to his dad. “We’ve only been on the one date. But… I really like him—” Wrong, I love him. “I know you’re worried about his reputation. And I get it. He flirts and laughs and uses magic like a game to you. But I’m not the only one risking a lot for this. I’m not the only one who gets judged. Do you know Hodge called Magnus our ‘pet warlock’ yesterday? Just a week ago he was calling Magnus one of the most powerful warlocks he’s ever known. It’s not just some… fling or whatever Mom thinks.”

Robert looked taken aback by Alec’s confession. “Right.” He cleared his throat. “I better go check on Mom.”

Alec rejoined his siblings and friends. “That went well.”

“What’d they say?” Jace asked.

“Well, Mom thinks I’m being selfish and naive, and Dad is uncomfortable with feelings,” Alec said.

Jace frowned. “I say we just hand them over to the ducks until they sort this out.”

Magnus choked. “Excuse me?”

“What?” Jace demanded. “They’re bloodthirsty little beasts.”

“Remind me to tell Tessa and Jem about this,” Magnus said to Alec. “A dear friend of ours had a phobia of ducks.”

“Duck phobia?” Clary repeated. “Is that a thing?”

“Ducks are no way scarier than demons,” Izzy said.

“Anatidaephobia,” Magnus shrugged. “Yes, it’s a very real fear. I’m not quite sure about the story behind it, though. I wasn’t much friendly with the London Shadowhunters until after a warlock friend Tessa Gray started living with them.”

“Well, you’re friends with someone who clearly knows the truth about ducks,” Jace said.

“Knew,” Magnus corrected. “1800s. Will Herondale…” he trailed off.

Alec and Magnus locked eyes. It was not this easy. Of course, the idea that fear could be hereditary was outrageous. But this could put them one step closer to bringing Jace’s true parentage to light.

“Wonderful stories I could tell you about them,” Magnus said, clasping his hands together. “But today we are waking Jocelyn. Now, Ragnor is in his country house just outside of London. Normally, I’d suggest just letting me go talk to him, but I would assume you wish to go, Biscuit?”

“I’m going,” Clary confirmed.

Magnus nodded. “And with Valentine running around, can’t be too careful.”

“Well, obviously Alec’s going,” Izzy said. “And if Alec’s going, then Jace is going, and I refuse to be left behind, so I’m going as well.”

“Sound logic,” Magnus said. “I will open a Portal to take us all there.”

Jace sighed. “Great. Get ready. We leave in an hour.” He rose from his seat and was moving out of the Ops Center as fast as he could without using a heightened speed rune.

Clary jumped up after him. “Jace!” she called.

Izzy watched them go. “Jace needs to talk to her. He keeps skirting this conversation and, I don’t know, I feel like they want to have this conversation before their mother wakes up.” She shook her head. “And I don’t know who Jace thinks he’s kidding. Clary is going to keep hounding him until he talks to her.”

“She is annoying like that,” Alec agreed.

“Uh uh,” Izzy said, waving her finger at Alec. “Nope, nope. She’s growing on you. You have to admit it. You, Alec, actually like Clary.”

“Can’t stand her,” Alec denied.

Okay, so maybe Alec had gotten slightly fond of Clary after months of having her around, and, yes, maybe he missed her when she was ripped from the Shadow World and thrown back into mundane life. As the saying goes, absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Still, it was coming back to this time that reminded Alec that Clary was a human cannonball of mess that crashed into their lives. Stuff happened when she was around and most of that stuff was bad. Like Valentine making a comeback. Or soap opera style family drama like what was happening right now with Clary and Jace.

Even with all that going on, Alec still held a spot in his heart for Clary Fray. Maybe not a special place, but still a place.

They Portaled in at an empty field.

“Ragnor’s house is just across these fields,” Magnus said.

Jace didn’t hesitate to start across the fields. “Let’s make this quick,” he said. “We’ll talk to Ragnor, then Portal him back to the Institute before anyone knows we’re gone.”

“We don’t need Ragnor, ” Magnus said, looking insulted. “I can perform the spell just fine once I have the piece of the bookmark.”

“Then we’ll get the bookmark and Portal back to the Institute before anyone knows we’re gone,” Jace said exasperatedly. “Whatever.”

“This is not whatever, Jace, this is waking my mom up,” Clary said.

“Here we go again,” Izzy muttered. “Can’t you guys just work this out?” she called to them.

“I don’t really want to talk about it,” Jace said.

“What, so we’re just gonna be work buddies now?” Clary demanded. “All about the mission, and totally ignore the huge bomb that just dropped on us.”

“Yeah, sounds like a plan,” Jace nodded.

“I’m going to lock them in a room until they figure their crap out,” Izzy whispered to Alec.

“What do you want me to say, Clary?” Jace asked. “That I was attracted to my sister?”

Alec grimaced. “And they’ve forgotten we’re here.”

“Point of fact,” Magnus interrupted cheerfully, “brothers and sisters are often attracted to each other. I once knew this one couple in ancient Egypt—”

“Magnus, not helping,” Clary snapped.

“I’m sure this will all make sense when we wake up Jocelyn,” Magnus said.

“Luke said Mom thought Jace died with Valentine,” Clary said.

“Luke said,” Jace scoffed. “Maybe that’s what she told him. Maybe she just didn’t want me. Maryse is my mother. At best, Jocelyn is the woman who abandoned me.”

“You don’t know her, Jace,” Clary said.

Jace spun around. “That’s right, Clary, I don’t. Do you?”

“Enough!” Alec said loudly. He tensed. “What was that?”

“Get back!” Magnus shouted.

Jace pulled Clary back as green flames spread across the field in front of them.

“Now what?” Izzy asked. “Do you know a spell to let us pass?”

“If only it were that easy,” Magnus said. “Ragnor put up wards to protect his lair.”

“Why is the fire green?” Clary wondered.

“It’s a wall of fire that only the pure of heart and intention can pass through,” Magnus explained.

“What happens if we aren’t pure of heart and intention?” Alec asked cautiously.

Magnus paused. “Well, it won’t kill you.”

“Great,” Alec sighed.

“Are you ready?” Magnus asked them.

“Let’s do it,” Izzy said.

The group headed forwards, straight into the wall of green flames. It wasn’t hot inside the fire, more like a minor discomfort. Soon enough, they passed through.

Only Clary and Alec were on the other side. The flames disappeared as soon as they stepped through.

“Jace?” Clary called.

Alec looked around wildly. “Magnus? Izzy?”

“Where are they?” Clary asked, worry evident in her eyes.

“I don’t know,” Alec said. His eyes scanned the field and trees until they landed on a house peeking out between the trees. “But if anyone knows, it’s Ragnor Fell. I think that’s his house.”

Together, they hurried towards the house, pausing when they reached the front door which was slightly ajar. Alec’s quiver materialized on his back and he pulled out an arrow. He hoped they weren’t too late. The whole point of everyone going—though Magnus and Alec hadn’t mentioned it to the others—was so that they could be ready for any demons that might come after them to find and kill Ragnor. Not that that really mattered anymore since it was just him and Clary.

Clary pushed the door open, slowly drawing a seraph blade. “Ragnor?” she called. “Hello?”

“Way to be stealthy,” Alec muttered.

Clary threw him a look. “Sorry. All my knowledge of sneaking into houses that have possibly been broken into comes from horror movies.”

“And how many times does the little girl who calls Hello? get killed by the monster?” Alec asked.

Clary didn’t dignify him with an answer.

The house was messy. Books and trinkets were piled on the sides of the staircase and along the edges of the hallway making it difficult for Clary and Alec to move. Alec hoped they didn’t have to make a quick getaway.

“Doesn’t look like there was a struggle,” Alec noted.

“Is anybody home?” Clary asked. “I need your help.”

“You need to stop announcing your presence,” Alec said.

“Yeah, well, they already heard me, so I didn’t think there was any point in hiding the fact that I’m here,” Clary said sarcastically. She walked towards a large portrait hanging on the wall. “Is that him?”

Alec glanced at it. He’d never actually met the warlock, but Magnus had quite a few pictures of himself with Ragnor as well as combinations of them with Catarina, Camille, or Raphael. The painting showed a man with horns poking out of his head. He nodded at Clary.

Clary turned away to search the rest of the house. “Ragnor, I know you’re here. I just need to find my friends.” She stopped suddenly, causing Alec to almost run her over.

“Excuse you,” he grumbled.

Clary marched back to the portrait. “Nice try, Ragnor,” she said, reaching out and pulling the warlock out of the picture.

Ragnor tumbled to the ground. “Well done, Clary Fairchild,” he said, leading them into another room in the house. “I’ve been expecting you. You have Jocelyn’s talent, I see. Only a true artist would notice the subtle changes in my eyes.” He glared at one of the chairs. “Yes, I know. I need to work on not moving my eyes, you don’t need to remind me.”

Alec stared at the warlock, glancing between him and the empty seat.

“You knew my mom?” Clary asked. “So you made the potion that put her to sleep?”

“At her request, yes,” Ragnor nodded. “And I knew it was only a matter of time before you came to me looking for the antidote. Please, sit,” he added. “No! Not there,” he added hastily when Clary went to sit in the middle of three empty chairs. “Try here,” he said, gesturing to a couch.

Clary hesitantly sat down, but Alec remained standing.

“Where are they?” he asked Ragnor. “Where’s Magnus? And Jace and Izzy.”

“Let me do this my way!” Ragnor shouted at one of the chairs. He looked at Clary and Alec. “Your friends, are they true?”

“Magnus said he’s known you for centuries,” Clary said.

“This is not an act,” Ragnor told a chair. “It is not an act! It is essential.”

Alec glared at him. “Where are my siblings? Where’s Magnus?”

“What is your deal?” Clary asked. “Our friends are missing and if you can’t help us, we can find someone who can.” She started to get up.

“I’m not leaving without them,” Alec said.

“Surprisingly defensive, this one,” Ragnor said to a chair. His expression changed from surprised to exasperated. “Really?” He sighed. “Fine.” He snapped his fingers.

Magnus, Izzy, and Jace appeared, sitting in the three empty chairs Ragnor had been talking to.

“Honestly, Ragnor,” Magnus sighed. “Was that nonsense necessary?”

“Of course,” Ragnor said. “I would have much rathered a better offer than what you were offering, but…” he raised an eyebrow at Alec. “A Shadowhunter? Really, Magnus?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Izzy asked, jumping to Alec’s defense.

“How old is he?” Ragnor asked Magnus, ignoring Izzy.

Magnus and Alec shared a panicked look.

“Uh…” Alec wracked his brain trying to do the math. “Twenty… one.”

Ragnor seemed to relax a little. “Well, there’s that.”

“I’m actually kind of confused right now,” Jace said.

“We made a pact not to date anyone under eighteen,” Magnus said awkwardly.

“I also recall you saying you’d never date a Shadowhunter as well,” Ragnor said.

Magnus shrugged. “Oops.”

“All right, enough with the warlock games,” Clary interrupted. “Can you really wake my mother?”

“ I can wake her,” Magnus muttered.

“Not without the Book of the White,” Ragnor said.

“And what luck, I have it,” Magnus said brightly. “There’s just one thing I need. The bookmark.”

Ragnor raised an eyebrow. “And you think I can help you?”

“Well, I did track the bookmark to you.”

“No one likes a showoff, Magnus,” Ragnor said. “But I do have it. Won’t be but a moment.” He turned to go, but Magnus hurried in front of him.

“I’ll go with you,” he said casually.

Ragnor frowned. “What?”

“Just…” Magnus glanced around the room. “A bad feeling.”

“Fine,” Ragnor allowed. “Come along.”

Alec watched Magnus and Ragnor disappear into another room. He hadn’t been on the original trip to Ragnor’s, but the demon attack was probably when Ragnor left to get the bookmark for Clary, Jace, and Magnus. Magnus going after Ragnor confirmed it.

“You seem on edge,” Izzy said to Alec.

Alec glanced at her. “Do I?” He had returned the arrow to it’s quiver when Clary pulled Ragnor out of the painting, but his hand was still clenched around his bow and he was ready to draw an arrow at the drop of a hatch.

Izzy’s eyes darted down to look at his hand. “Uh, yeah. Relax.”

“I am relaxed.”

“Your knuckles are turning white.”

Alec loosened his grip on his bow. “Okay. Maybe I am tense. We need the bookmark to wake Jocelyn. We can’t afford to screw this up.”

“Magnus and Ragnor will be back with the bookmark,” Izzy said. “Then we can go home and wake her. Easy.”

“When have things ever been easy?” Alec asked.

There was a roar and a shout from the second floor.

“Ragnor!” Magnus’s voice yelled.

“Dammit,” Alec cursed. He drew an arrow.

The horned warlock fell from the balcony overlooking the room the Shadowhunters were gathered in. A Shax demon was on top of him. It was thrown off with a burst of blue and dissolved into nothing. Magnus ran to the edge of the balcony. His eyes were wide.

“Shax demon,” Jace hissed.

Clary and Izzy rushed to the warlock’s side. Magnus ran down the stairs, taking two steps at a time. He dove to the ground next to Ragnor.

“Creature took me by surprise,” Ragnor gasped. His neck was bleeding from a wound inflicted by the demon.

Magnus snapped his fingers and waved his hand over the wound.

“How could a Shax demon get past the wards?” Clary asked.

“It must have followed us,” Izzy said.

“Jumped through when the fire wall reset,” Jace agreed.

“Be still, my little dear cabbage,” Magnus said quietly. “Your… your wounds are deep.”

Ragnor reached up with a hand closed around the missing bookmark fragment. He pressed it into Magnus’s free hand. Magnus took it silently, his face a mask of knowing the inevitability of the outcome. Ragnor let his hand drop to the ground.

No one said anything for a while.

Alec knelt beside Magnus. “Magnus, I’m so—”

Magnus stood abruptly. He snapped and created a portal. “Get back to the Institute. I’ll meet you there.”

“What if there are more demons?” Izzy asked.

“There aren’t,” Magnus said shortly. “Now, leave me to take care of my friend.”

“Magnus,” Clary said, “I am—”

“Go!” Magnus said.

Jace pulled Clary towards the Portal. Izzy went through first. Jace stepped in and then Clary. Alec was about to step through when Magnus grabbed his wrist.

“Wait.”

Alec turned. “Magnus…”

“I’ll explain everything when I get back,” Magnus said. “I promise. Secrets… secrets have always been our downfall.”

Alec met his eyes and nodded. They never had many secrets, but the secrets they had kept from the other were always big and always ended messy. The Soul Sword had broken them apart, Magnus’s quest to get his magic back had nearly killed him, Alec’s deal with Asmodeus had shredded their relationship. Whatever the secret was now, whatever it was that had to do with Ragnor, Alec had no idea, but he would wait until Magnus could tell him.

“You should go before they get worried,” Magnus said.

“Be safe,” Alec said before stepping through the Portal.

It seemed to take a million years waiting for Magnus. In reality, it was only half a day.

Luke arrived shortly after the Shadowhunters returned from London. He greeted Clary warmly and said hello to the others before heading down to the infirmary to sit with Jocelyn.

Simon dropped in a few minutes after the sun went down.

“Hey,” he said when he saw the four Shadowhunters waiting around.

Clary got up and hugged him. “Hi.”

“So, you got everything to wake your mom?” Simon asked. “How is she?”

“Yeah, yeah, we did,” Clary said. “And she’s good. Luke’s with her right now, watching over her.”

Simon beamed, but his face fell. “Why do you all look so glum then?”

“Our trip wasn’t without drama,” Izzy said. “A Shax demon followed us somehow. It killed Ragnor Fell.”

“The attack couldn’t have been a coincidence,” Jace said, shaking his head. “Valentine must have been tracking us.”

“There must be another spy in the Institute,” Clary said.

They fell silent and glanced around uneasily. After Hodge’s betrayal, it was getting harder to say no one would betray them like that.

“The only person here that I don’t completely trust is Lydia,” Jace finally said. “But she’s been kinda busy being unconscious ever since Hodge—” he cut off.

Alec started. The Shax demon had been something he knew about, but he hadn’t known why it was there. It would make sense that Valentine sent it because a spy told him where Clary and Jace were going with Magnus, and that spy would have been Hodge who wasn’t arrested until after these events had happened. But now, Hodge was already arrested, had no idea where they were planning to go, and had no way to communicate with Valentine. Something just didn’t add up about the situation.

And Alec didn’t consider himself a knowledgeable person on magic, but he was pretty sure such a big flaw like demons slipping in when wards reset weren’t the kind of flaws a hundreds year old warlock like Ragnor Fell would just overlook. 

“We don’t know that anyone betrayed us,” Alec said. “It will drive us crazy if we try to find a traitor where there isn’t one.”

“Clary, can we talk?” Jace asked abruptly.

Clary looked as taken aback by that as Izzy looked and Alec felt.

“Um, yeah,” Clary said, blinking. “There’s actually something I wanted to show you.”

“At least they’re talking now,” Izzy said as they watched Clary and Jace head off down the halls of the Institute.

Simon frowned. “What?”

“Things are kind of… awkward between them right now,” Izzy winced.

“Right, the brother and sister thing,” Simon said. He shifted.

Alec looked down at his phone when he got a text. “Magnus will be here soon.” He looked at Simon. “You should go see Jocelyn. Tell Luke to have her moved to the Ops Center.”

“Right,” Simon nodded. “Yeah.”

“I’ll get the Book,” Alec said, pulling out his stele and heading for his safe. He traced the rune on the box and it slid open to reveal the Cookbook of the White laying innocently inside.

He returned to where Izzy was just as Magnus stepped out of a Portal.

“Thank you for waiting,” Magnus said. “I had a lot to do.”

“It’s completely okay, Magnus,” Izzy said.

Clary and Jace returned. Both of them looked like a weight had been lifted off their shoulders.

“Good talk?” Izzy asked.

Clary smiled. “Yeah. Yeah, we’re okay.”

“They’re ready,” Luke said, coming over. “She’s in the Ops Center.”

“Good,” Magnus said. “We need the space. Jocelyn’s spell is very powerful.”

Simon was standing there with Jocelyn floating inside her transparent green bubble in the air. He squinted at the book in Alec’s hands. “Is that a cookbook?”

“Spellbook,” Magnus corrected. “Or at least it will be once we reattach this—” he whipped out the bookmark “—to the book.”

Alec opened the book to the page the broken bookmark was holding the spot of.

“Chicken cacciatore?” Clary asked. “My mom used to make that all the time.”

“It was even better the next day,” Simon said, reminiscing. “The gift that keeps on giving.”

“Hopefully it will give us the spell to wake Jocelyn,” Magnus said. He set the bookmark fragment from Ragnor in its rightful spot. The book shimmered as the bookmark fixed itself and the cooking recipes faded away to show spells instead.

“This is it,” Magnus said.

Clary let out a relieved laugh. “We can wake her up!”

“That we can,” Magnus said. He looked at Luke. “You might want to get ready to catch her.”

Everyone waited with bated breath as Magnus took a deep breath.

“Jocelyn!” Magnus called. He snapped and waved the hand not holding the Book of the White over Jocelyn’s form as he spoke Chthonian. Blue swirled around his hand and Jocelyn.

The green bubble around Jocelyn flickered and faded. Luke rushed in to scoop his arms under her before she could fall to the floor.

“I got you,” he said.

Jocelyn stared at him in astonishment for a few seconds. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him. “Luke,” she whispered.

Luke gently set Jocelyn down onto her feet. He steadied her.

Jocelyn looked around the Institute. She turned almost in a full circle until her eyes landed on Clary. Her face broke into a smile.

“Mom,” Clary gasped. She pulled Jocelyn into a tight embrace. “Mom! I’ve missed you so much.”

When they pulled back, Jocelyn cupped Clary’s face in her hands. “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you about your past.”

Clary shook her head. “No, not now. Right now, I’m just… I’m really happy to have you back.”

“Hey, Mrs. F.,” Simon said.

Jocelyn turned around. “Simon! What are you doing here?”

Simon and Clary exchanged looks.

“A lot happened,” Clary said.

Simon flashed a halfhearted toothy smile. His fangs were obvious.

Jocelyn stepped back. “You’re a vampire.”

“Maybe we should take it easy on the big reveals,” Luke suggested.

“Big reveals?” Jocelyn asked. “How much did I miss?”

“It’s been a week and a half,” Clary said. “And, um…” she glanced at Jace, then at the Lightwoods. “Um, Magnus undid your spell.”

Magnus raised a hand and waved. “Hello, Jocelyn.”

“Magnus,” Jocelyn said.

“And, uh, this is Alec and Isabelle Lightwood,” Clary introduced.

“Nice to finally meet you,” Izzy said with a smile.

Alec’s hand twitched when he shook Jocelyn’s hand. He did his best to push the image of Jocelyn’s corpse from his mind. “Hi.”

“And, um, Mom, this is… Jace,” Clary said uncertainly.

Jace hadn’t said a word since Jocelyn woke up. His eyes were fixed on her like he was waiting for a bomb to explode.

Luke stepped next to Jocelyn. “You might want to sit down.”

Magnus magicked a chair over for Jocelyn to sit in. She did so with a look of confusion on her face.

“There was a run in with Valentine,” Luke said. “That’s how we got you back. He… revealed some information.”

“He’s my father,” Jace said.

“Jace is Jonathan,” Clary said.

Jocelyn stared at Jace with an unrecognizable look. “That’s… not possible.”

“I know it’s a shock and a lot to take in,” Clary said quickly, “but it’s true. His name is Jonathan Christopher. J.C. Jace.”

“No,” Jocelyn said, shaking her head. “Clary, you don’t understand. Jonathan… there’s no way Jace can be him.”

“Jocelyn,” Luke said.

“No,” she said. “I’m sure Jace is a wonderful boy, but, I’m sorry. He’s not Jonathan.”

“But he’s Valentine’s son,” Izzy said.

Jocelyn continued shaking her head. “No. Not biologically, anyway.”

Jace staggered back. “Not biologically? What… what does that mean? Valentine…”

“So… we aren’t… we aren’t siblings?” Clary asked. “Then what happened to Jonathan? And why does Jace have his name?”

“Jonathan is dead,” Jocelyn said forcefully. “And I don’t know, Clary. Maybe Valentine was desperate for a child, so he took Jace and turned him into his lost son. I really don’t know.”

“I think that’s enough for today,” Magnus cut in. “Luke, Biscuit, you should get Jocelyn to a room to rest.” He looked between Jocelyn and Jace. “And then perhaps you might want to consider a paternity and maternity test. Once Jocelyn has recovered, I can perform a spell.”

Jace leaned back against a wall with an unreadable look. “I… I think that’s a good idea.” He pushed off the wall. “I’m going to go to my room and get some rest.” He left almost as if he was in a trance.

“I’m going to make sure he gets to his room,” Izzy said, staring after Jace. “Because that is completely the wrong direction.” She got up and chased after Jace.

“I should get back to the Dumort,” Simon said. “It was good to see you, Mrs. Fray. Fairchild. Morgenstern? What do I call you now?”

Jocelyn managed a smile. “Fray is fine, Simon. It was good to see you too. The vampire thing is a bit of a shock, but… I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Thanks,” Simon said. “Bye, Clary.”

“Bye, Simon,” Clary said distantly.

Magnus turned to Alec. “I promised you some answers.”

“Yeah,” Alec nodded.

Magnus opened a portal. “My place. You might want a drink.”

“The truth." Dumbledore sighed. "It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Magnus’s loft was littered with various things Alec remembered seeing from Ragnor’s. They were also things Alec remembered that had been present in Magnus’s loft the first time around.

Alec sat on Magnus’s couch while Magnus poured their drinks.

“So. Secrets?” Alec said when Magnus handed him his drink. “Did Ragnor tell you something? Something that didn’t happen last time?”

Magnus paused, drink partway to his mouth. “You could say that.” He set the drink down. “What I am going to tell you cannot leave this room. I would have told you at the Institute, but there’s too many prying ears there.”

Alec set his drink down next to Magnus’s. “You’re worrying me. What happened?”

“The demon didn’t follow us in,” Magnus said. “It didn’t slip through the wards like Jace thought.”

“I knew it,” Alec said. “That seemed like too big a flaw for a warlock like Ragnor Fell to overlook.” He frowned. “But wait. That means the demon was already there.”

Magnus shook his head. “No. There was no demon. It… it was an illusion.”

“You’re saying Ragnor was killed by a fake demon? A… a hologram?”

“Ragnor didn’t die,” Magnus whispered. “He faked his death.”

Everything clicked into place.

“He told you,” Alec said. “When you went off with him. He told you what he was planning to do so you wouldn’t interfere. And when you stayed behind—”

“It was to help him find someplace to lay low,” Magnus nodded.

“Why would he want to fake his own death?” Alec wondered.

Magnus shrugged helplessly. “He said that someone was looking for him, but he wouldn’t say who. He needed his death to be blamed on Valentine.”

“Because we would go back to the Institute, report that a demon killed Ragnor while we were there looking for a way to wake Jocelyn Fairchild,” Alec said, connecting the dots. “Which seems like something that wouldn’t be in the best interest of Valentine and we already know that he was hunting down warlocks. It would be too easy to pin the blame. It would completely explain his death. It’s a valid reason, wouldn’t seem at all like he was faking it.”

“So you understand why you can’t tell anyone,” Magnus said.

Alec raised an eyebrow. “Of course I’ll keep it secret. But this brings up an issue. This might have happened in our time. Or this could be something new. We don’t know which it is because nothing happened with Ragnor that we know about.”

“We may have traded the bad things that happened in our time for worse things in this time,” Magnus said.

Alec grimaced. “Exactly.”

“Perhaps we should get started on that plan,” Magnus said. “That way we can focus on… everything else.”

“Yeah,” Alec said.

This was not the way things were supposed to have gone. It was supposed to be Jace and Izzy with their pre-planned course of action. Valentine was supposed to be dead at Jace’s hand by now. In all honesty, assuming Izzy and Jace hadn’t managed to do anything about it, the biggest problem they should be facing was Alec’s wedding to Lydia.

But that hadn’t happened.

Instead, Magnus and Alec had been thrust into the past with no plan. They had made some minor changes. Actually, Alec quite considered him and Magnus officially getting together a week early a significant change.

But Valentine wasn’t dead. Valentine was alive and he had the Mortal Cup. At his rate, Jonathan and Lilith would become problems for the future. Not to mention whatever Ragnor Fell was mixed up in.

This time travel thing was becoming a bigger hassle than it seemed when Jace had presented the idea. Alec was starting to think threatening to strangle Raziel until he let Clary come back would have been an easier task. And probably more effective too.

Chapter Text

If you wear a mask for too long, there will come a time when you can not remove it without removing your face.
― Matshona Dhliwayo

“Rise and shine!” Magnus said cheerfully.

Lydia blinked a few times. She groaned when the bright lights of the infirmary hit her eyes. “Ugh, what happened?”

“You were attacked,” Magnus said. “Do you remember that?”

“Attacked…” Lydia sat bolt upright. “Hodge. It was Hodge. You have to find him. He took the Cup!”

Magnus’s sad look told her everything she needed to know.

“He got away?” Lydia asked, heart sinking. “How long have I been out?”

“Three days,” Magnus answered. “You were attacked Friday morning, it’s now Monday morning. How does your head feel?”

“Heavy,” she admitted. “It’s kind of sore. Like I got hit with the force of a Shadowhunter using a strength rune. Which I guess I was.” She shook her head, wincing slightly. “I don’t even understand what happened. One minute we were talking and then he just… It was out of nowhere.”

“No one blames you, Lydia,” Magnus said seriously. “Everyone’s been worried about you. You could have died if you had been found a minute later.”

“But Valentine has the Cup,” Lydia sighed. “And I was responsible for getting it safely back to Idris. The Clave will blame me.”

Magnus didn’t know what to say to that. It was true after all.

“Well, around here, you’re receiving mostly sympathy and well-wishes,” Magnus assured her. “The, ah, disapproval—loud and quiet—is mostly on Alexander right now. And me,” he added as an afterthought.

Lydia leaned back on the bed. “So you two? You’re official now?” she asked with a smile.

“Officially official,” Magnus confirmed. “Much to Maryse’s displeasure.”

“She’ll come around,” Lydia said. “I haven’t known her long, but… I think she cares about Alec. She just…”

“Doesn’t trust a Downworlder,” Magnus finished. “Least of all a warlock.” He shrugged. “But I must say, I’d have to agree with you. I shall win her over. I am quite charming.”

“Mmm,” Lydia hummed with a smile. “You know, Alec think’s you’re quite magical.”

Magnus burst out in laughter. “Does he now?”

“Kinda tipped me off that he was into you,” Lydia said. She smiled. “I’m glad. Alec seems really happy with you. You both deserve it. I just wish you could enjoy some peace. Not have to worry about Valentine.”

“There is always going to be something to worry about,” Magnus sighed. “Unfortunately.”

Alec paused outside the doors to the cloister. Izzy was standing there listening to the sounds coming from inside.

“He training again?” Alec asked.

Izzy nodded. “It’s… He won’t talk about it. Not to me, not to Clary, definitely not to Jocelyn. I asked Simon to come try and Jace does not like Simon very much. He’s probably going to end up beating the crap out of Simon. That’s how desperate I am.” She gave Alec a pleading look. “You need to do something, Alec. I don’t know what, but you’re parabatai. He’ll talk to you.”

“I’ve been trying,” Alec said. “For days. Jace either changes the subject or starts sparring with me. It’s a little hard to get a word in when I’m trying to prevent Jace from knocking me out cold.” He shook his head. “I brought up Magnus’s idea to test his ancestry yesterday. Didn’t go so well.”

“Oh yeah?” Izzy asked. “What’d he say?”

“I told him to stop thinking with his stele,” Jace’s voice said coolly.

Alec and Izzy turned around to see Jace standing there with his arms crossed. His shirt was drenched with sweat which confirmed what Alec had guessed about Jace training.

“And maybe stop talking behind my back,” Jace added.

“Well, we’d rather talk to you, but seeing as you won’t talk with us, it’s kind of hard to do anything except talk behind your back,” Izzy snapped. “And Alec’s just trying to help you. I don’t know why you aren’t jumping at this change to find out who your birth parents are, Jace. I mean, where else are you going to get answers? And if Magnus is offering—for free I might add—why not just try? Where else are you going to find a warlock that you can afford and get this information from? Paternity spells are kind of hard when neither of the parents are present!”

“Is now a bad time?” Simon asked weakly, coming up behind Izzy and Alec. “Because I can totally come back later.”

Jace scoffed. “Really, Izzy? The vampire?”

“I still have a name,” Simon muttered.

“I asked Simon here because like it or not, you, Jace Wayland, are not going anywhere until you talk to us,” Izzy said firmly.

“Yeah, well, I’m not Jace Wayland,” Jace said sharply. “I don’t know who I am. My father lied to me for years about who he was—who I was. I’ve spent days thinking Clary was my sister only to learn that’s a lie too.”

“Maybe you aren’t a Wayland,” Alec said. “Or a Morgenstern or a Fairchild or whatever. But you are our brother. You’re a Lightwood. So stop pushing us away.”

Jace gave him a long stare. “Fine. But seriously, why the vampire?”

“She’s actually not lying,” Simon said, pointing to Izzy. “I was asked to help get you to talk. I figured I could do a little encanto if I needed to, but, uh, I was with Clary and her mom and…” he winced. “Kinda got stuck here. It’s daytime.”

“So we’re stuck with you,” Jace said flatly.

“Well, no, actually I was going to ask Alec if Magnus could Portal me to the Dumort,” Simon said, glancing at Alec out of the corner of his eyes.

“He’s with Lydia right now,” Alec said. “She started waking up. But once he’s done, you can ask him.”

Alec was pretty sure either Simon heard Izzy’s rant to Jace or Izzy had paid him to say this in front of Jace or both.

“It’s a good thing we know the person who’s dating an all powerful warlock like Magnus Bane,” Simon said. “Otherwise, I get the feeling we’d all just lie around all the time wondering what the hell to do next. How do vampires get home during the day? What do we do about an extensive head injury? How do we wake up Clary’s mom? Who are my parents?” Simon threw out a few examples. “Or we’d be trying to raise the money to hire him by selling lemonade or something.”

Izzy definitely paid Simon to say that. She probably paid Simon to stick around into the daylight hours. For all Alec knew, Izzy was paying Magnus to Portal Simon back to the Dumort.

“The only way you could raise enough money to hire Magnus by selling lemonade is if you put meth in it,” Alec said.

Simon looked disturbed. “Seriously?”

“Even then, you might need to keep it open for a few days,” Alec added. “And, yes. We paid Magnus that—” he pointed to Izzy’s necklace “—just to meet with him about getting Clary’s memories back.”

“That’s true,” Izzy shrugged.

“A necklace?” Simon asked weakly. “How… how expensive is it?”

“He sold a house to get it,” Alec deadpanned.

“Oh,” Simon said in a small voice. “But, uh, how valuable was it if he just gave it right back?”

“We saved a bunch of warlocks from Circle members,” Izzy cut in quickly. “Besides,” she sent a teasing smile at Alec, “I think it was more of a I’m over my psycho ex-girlfriend, please date me Alexander kind of thing anyway.”

Alec pinched his lips. “Whatever.”

“Okay, fine,” Jace grumbled. “I’ll go see Magnus. Whatever. Will you get off my back about this now?”

“Talk with Alec,” Izzy said. “And then I’ll get off your back.” She spun around. “Come on, Simon. We need to keep you away from the windows. I’ll bring Magnus to you.”

Alec watched them walk down the hall and turn the corner. Jace slumped down onto a bench.

“Clary Fray really turned things around,” Alec said, sitting next to Jace. “Told you she was going to cause problems.”

“Maybe I should have listened to you,” Jace said.

Alec snorted. “You’re never going to listen to me. And that’s always going to get me into these messes.” He sighed. “But… I wouldn’t have it any other way. You without Clary is… I don’t know. It’s wrong. You’re happier when she’s around. I actually told her that a week ago.”

“You did?” Jace asked. “Didn’t think you liked Clary that much.”

“I don’t like her disregard for the rules,” Alec corrected. “She doesn’t think before she acts. She doesn’t know anything about being a Shadowhunter. Which isn’t her fault really. She wasn’t raised like us.”

Jace smiled ruefully. “I really thought you hated her.”

Alec made a face.

“Maybe hated isn’t right,” Jace amended. “Jealous.”

“Why? Because I thought I was in love with you?” Alec asked.

Jace blinked. “Well… yes?”

“Maybe that’s why I didn’t like her at first,” Alec said. “But it’s more the rule thing. I never really loved you—not like that. You were safe. A totally straight guy who I never had to fear rejection or face my parents. I thought I could go through my short Shadowhunter life like that. No offense, but I wasn’t risking anything for you. You weren’t worth that to me.”

“This is a great pep talk,” Jace said.

Alec rolled his eyes. “I’m getting there. You weren’t worth it because I wasn’t in love with you. You’re my brother, my parabatai. I love you like that. I just didn’t realize it. Until I met someone who was worth risking everything for.”

“Is the point of this so you can gush about your boyfriend?”

“No, the point is that Clary is your Magnus,” Alec said. “She makes you whole. Then Valentine crushed that when he said you were siblings. And you still felt the same love for her that you did before. Then Jocelyn said you couldn’t be siblings because you aren’t Jonathan Morgenstern. The reason you haven’t gone to Magnus and why you keep shutting us out is because you’re scared that Valentine is right and Jocelyn is wrong. So you’re going to spend forever pinning over Clary from a distance because you might be siblings so you can’t have her. It’s not fun, Jace. It’s miserable and lonely and painful. Trust me, I know. So just get it over with and find out who you really are. If you aren’t siblings, it’s going to take a huge weight off your chest. If you are… it’s going to suck, but at least you’ll know.”

“I thought I was sick,” Jace finally said. “Like there was something wrong with me. How can you feel… like that towards your own sister? When Jocelyn said I wasn’t her son, I didn’t know how to react because I thought maybe there wasn’t something wrong—something sick—about me, but I was angry too because the way Clary talks about her… I thought I was finally getting a birth parent who wasn’t a complete lunatic. I just don’t know who I want to be right about this.”

“You’re not sick,” Alec told him. “Situation’s just… It’s confusing. It’s like you have this plan for your life and you know what you need to do and what your responsibilities are. And you think, you know, Everything’s going to be fine. Then somebody or something comes along, and pushes you off that path.” He sighed. “Point is, we’re Shadowhunters. There’s always going to be some demon—actual or metaphorical—for us to face and we can’t run away. We stand our ground and get back on our feet. It works even better if you let your friends help,” he added.

Jace let out a breath. “Does it?”

“Yeah. I mean, everyone says emotions cloud judgement, and they aren’t wrong. But sometimes it’s emotions that you need. They keep us human.” Alec looked at Jace. “I’m always going to be here for you. So are Izzy and Clary—” he stumbled over her name, thinking of the future he was from where she wasn’t “—and Max and Mom and Dad. Even Simon and Magnus. Which is quite literal because they’re both immortal now.”

“You thought about that?” Jace asked. “Magnus is immortal. You aren’t.”

“I don’t know what the future’s going to be like,” Alec said, lips twitching. “We could both die tomorrow. Or I could die twenty years from now. Immortal doesn’t mean invulnerable. Besides, if you waste time on the what-ifs, your whole life flies by and you miss everything in between.”

“When did you get so wise?”

“I’ve always been wise, you just never listened to me.”

“I’ll start listening now.”

Alec snorted. “No, you won’t.”

“No,” Jace agreed. “I won’t.”

“So what do I do?” Clary asked Magnus with a frown.

They had gathered in the training room to perform the ancestry spell. Only Jace, Clary, and Jocelyn’s presence was necessary, but both Izzy and Alec had elected to be there to support Jace. Simon had been returned to the Hotel Dumort earlier.

“Spit in a cup?” Clary suggested. “Pee in a cup?” she added warily.

“Why the Hell would you pee in a cup?” Alec asked.

Clary closed her eyes and nodded. “Right. Mundane thing. Nevermind. Magnus,” she addressed the warlock, “what do I do?”

“In layman’s terms,” Magnus said, “you will place your hands under a ball of magic that will extrapolate your genetic sequence. Since we know you are Valentine and Jocelyn’s child, I can use that to compare Jace's genetic sequence, hopefully proving that you share zero parents.”

“And my birth parents?” Jace asked.

Magnus sighed. “Difficult magic. We don’t have access to any likely candidates that I could compare you too. It’s not impossible, but… it will take longer. At the moment, I will be looking for traces of people I’ve met. It will give me an idea of where to start looking.”

“How?” Izzy wondered.

“Everyone has their own magical fingerprint for lack of better word,” Magnus explained. “Even you Shadowhunters. And like fingerprints, all are unique.” He faced Clary. “Are you ready?”

“Bring it on,” Clary said.

Magnus snapped his fingers and held his hands out in front of him. A glowing blue sphere took shape between his hands. It grew to the size of a bowling ball. He placed the ball gently in Clary’s hands. She gasped when the ball of magic settled in her hands. It weighed nothing. All she could feel was a cool breeze drifting lazily over her palms.

Magnus snapped with both hands and jerked them up. Two glowing blue wisps rose out of Clary’s hands.

“Jocelyn, hold a hand over Clary’s,” Magnus ordered. “The one representing you will glow brighter.”

Jocelyn nodded and stuck out a hand. She hovered it uncertainly over the top of the sphere. The wisp floating over Clary’s right hand lit up so it looked almost white.

“Got her,” Magnus said, snapping again. The wisp representing Jocelyn changed to a fiery red color. The other one—Valentine—turned black.

Magnus shrugged. “What can I say? Fiery as her spirit, black as his soul.”

Clary grinned. “Can I put my hands down now?”

“Absolutely,” Magnus said. He reached over and plucked the red and black wisps from the air as Clary lowered her hands.

“I’m guessing I do the same,” Jace said.

Magnus smiled. “You guess correctly,” he said, letting the red and black wisps hover on both sides of Jace. He created the same bluish sphere of magic and dropped it into Jace’s outstretched hands. Again, he snapped his fingers and two wisps appeared.

“Moment of truth,” Izzy murmured.

Magnus took the red and black wisps and held them over Jace’s wisps. The only thing that happened was the wisp in Jace’s left hand pulsed when the red wisp passed over it and the wisp in Jace’s right hand pulsed when the black wisp passed over it.

Jace’s face was pale. “What does that mean?”

“Well, you aren’t biologically related to Jocelyn,” Magnus said. “Or Valentine.” He closed his hands around the red and black wisps, causing them to fade into nothing. “But that right there,” he said, pointing to Jace’s left hand, “would be your mom, and the other one would be your dad.” He lifted his eyes to meet Jace’s gaze. “Let’s find out which of your ancestors I’ve had the pleasure of running into.”

Magnus started with the wisp in Jace’s left hand knowing the one in his right would lead him to Will Herondale and Tessa Gray. He’d never met Céline, nor any of her relatives as far as he knew. But he did know Stephen’s ancestors. Magnus could finish with the headache-inducing explanation of Yes, you are distantly descended from a warlock when the wisp in Jace’s left hand eventually lead him to Tessa.

“Nothing on your mother’s side,” Magnus said. His eyes turned to Stephen’s wisp. “I guess it’s down to your father’s lineage.”

Magnus could feel his magic race through Jace’s genetic code— magic and science together again, he thought distantly. Henry would be proud —as he searched for a trace of a man he’d not seen in a century and for a warlock he’d kept in contact with for over a century.

“Ha!” Magnus shouted. He opened his eyes. “Well, congratulations. I knew your father’s very distant ancestors. William Herondale and Tessa Gray.”

“Tessa Gray?” Izzy repeated. “I recognize that name. Isn’t she… well, she was on the list of warlocks I was looking into before we found Ragnor Fell.” She faltered when she said the name.

Magnus ignored the part about Ragnor. “Tessa… she’s complicated. Yes, she’s a warlock, but her mother was a Shadowhunter. Or rather, her mother was the daughter of Shadowhunters.”

“I don’t see what the big deal is,” Clary said. “Does it matter if Jace is descended from a warlock?”

“That’s not the problem,” Jocelyn said. “Shadowhunters can’t have warlock children. If a Shadowhunter is impregnated by a demon… the baby is always stillborn. And,” she added, “warlocks can’t have children. Not biologically anyway. Obviously, they can adopt.” She gave Magnus an awkward look like she was worried she had been too insensitive.

“Except for this Tessa Gray,” Jace said. He looked surprised. “Care to explain a bit more?”

“Tessa’s mother was born Adele Starkweather,” Magnus said. “She was switched by faeries with a mundane child and grew up as Elizabeth Moore. Adele—or Elizabeth as she was called—was never runed. That’s the crucial difference. A Shadowhunter who was never runed, could give birth to a warlock. But usually Shadowhunters are runed. Elizabeth was a unique case. Tessa is a unique case. But that is how she was born, and her mother’s Shadowhunter blood is how she is able to have children.”

“Damn,” Izzy whistled. “That’s a hell of a story. So you knew her? Know her, I mean. And who else did you say? William?”

“Yes, Will,” Magnus smiled. “Will Herondale. We met in 1878. He was living in the London Institute with dear Lydia’s ancestor Henry Branwell. He also met Tessa that year. It was an exciting year. I was dragged into their mess though,” he added thoughtfully.

“Herondale,” Alec said. “Like Inquisitor Herondale?”

“Stephen,” Jocelyn breathed. “Oh my…” she trailed off, staring at Jace with wide eyes. “You look like Céline, but that’s not possible. She lost her child.”

“Mom?” Clary asked. “Mom, who’s Stephen and Céline?”

Jocelyn hesitated. “Stephen Herondale was in the Circle. Céline was his wife. There was a vampire raid that went south. Stephen was killed. Céline took her life when she heard. She was eight months pregnant at the time.” She looked at Magnus. “Is it possible? I mean, could Valentine have saved the baby somehow and then raised it? Is Jace Stephen and Céline’s son? I—I know you’ve met Stephen before.”

Magnus stiffened. “Yes. Not under the best terms, but… yes. We met. Briefly.”

“Did you sense him then?” Jace asked roughly.

Magnus reached for Stephen’s wisp and held it gingerly. “Stephen Herondale…” He sighed, reaching out magically for the strong trace of Jace’s father.

He remembered the golden haired boy with the cold blue eyes standing in the warehouse. The flash of a knife as it hurtled towards a werewolf. A knife raised over Magnus. He remembered the dead Whitelaws. He remembered it all.

“So?” Jace asked when Magnus waved his hands, causing all the magic to disappear. “What did you find?”

“Stephen Herondale was your father,” Magnus exhaled. “Doubtlessly, Céline was your mother. Imogen—the Inquisitor—is your grandmother.”

Jace scoffed. “Great. So, I trade the leader of the mass murdering cult as my father for a member of that mass murdering cult, and the woman who almost stripped my parabatai of his runes because she was pissed about Valentine is my grandmother. That’s just…” he shook his head. “Yeah, that’s great.”

“I never met Céline,” Magnus said. “I met Stephen once—yes, in a very, very bad situation. Speaking of which, perhaps I should apologize to Robert and Maryse for calling you a repellant brat,” he mused, looking at Alec.

“Repellant brat?” Alec repeated.

“Oh, yeah,” Jace said. “I forgot my other adoptive parents were part of that mass murdering cult. Thank you for that reminder. How is there any reason I could possibly turn out okay? Huh?”

“Excuse me, my father is Valentine,” Clary cut in. “And my mother was in the Circle too. So was Luke. But I’m not like that. Luke and my mom aren’t anymore either.”

“Stephen doubted Valentine,” Jocelyn told Jace. “He doubted him. Just like Luke doubted Valentine. Valentine sent Luke to the werewolves. He sent Stephen to the vampires. If he had lived, I have no doubt Stephen would have been with Luke and I fighting against the Circle at the Accords. All of your parents and I did terrible things, and there’s no excuse I can give to make it right. But they are good people now. Robert and Maryse are good parents. I mean, they turned everything around for Alec. And they raised all three of you right.” She stood in front of Jace. “Stephen was a good man. Céline was kind and sweet. If they could see you now, Jace, they’d be proud of who you are.”

“Really?” Jace asked. “Proud that I’m fighting against the Circle? Proud that I don’t want the Downworld to all die? Proud that I hang out with a warlock and a vampire and a werewolf?”

“Yes,” Jocelyn said. “Yes, they would be. Because that’s all a parent can hope for. That their child grows up to make their own decisions and doesn’t let anyone tell them how to live their life. I can’t pretend that I don’t hate seeing Clary in this life when I tried so hard to hide her from it, but she’s here now. And she has friends that she cares about. Friends she wants to fight for. I can’t take that from her.”

Clary wrapped her arms around her mom. “That was actually really good, mom.”

“Doesn’t mean I’m going to stop worrying about you or stop lecturing you to be careful,” Jocelyn said sternly. “So don’t get any ideas.”

“No running off into danger,” Clary said. “Got it.”

“So do we tell the Inquisitor she has a grandson or what?” Izzy finally asked the question they were all wondering the answer to.

Jace looked sick at the thought.

“Maybe let this all sink in,” Alec tried. “You know, give us all time to get used to it before we bring the Inquisitor in.”

“Yeah, no offense, but she’s not exactly the kind of woman I’d want to invite to Thanksgiving,” Clary agreed.

“Clary,” Jocelyn warned.

“She almost stripped Alec of his runes, mom,” Clary protested. “Just because I hadn’t handed over the Mortal Cup yet. I mean, really? What kind of justice system is that? Alec didn’t do anything and he was being punished.” She turned to Magnus. “This is because Valentine killed her family, right? Lydia said that you basically said that at the trial.”

“I did say that,” Magnus nodded. “The Inquisitor lost her whole family in a very short time. First, Stephen was killed. Céline took her life when she heard about Stephen’s death. Then her husband Marcus died shortly after. Three people—gone. Four if you count unborn baby Jace.”

“I need to talk to you,” Jace said abruptly, reaching for Alec’s arm.

Alec allowed himself to be pulled over. “What?”

“Privately,” Jace added, glancing at Clary, Jocelyn, and Magnus. “Come on.”

Jace didn’t say anything the whole way to his room. Alec trailed after him uncertainly. Whatever was bothering Jace had to be something to do with the fact that he just found out he was the son of Stephen Herondale.

As soon as the door shut, Jace turned to Alec. “What’s going on with you and Magnus?”

Alec blinked, not expecting that. “What’s going on— You just found out who your birth parents are and you want to talk to me about my relationship with Magnus?”

“No,” Jace said. “I’m not talking about your relationship. I’m talking about you and Magnus.” He paused. “Okay, maybe a little bit of your relationship. A lot, actually. Like, the whole thing for instance.”

“I don’t understand,” Alec admitted.

Jace waved his arms around. “You and Magnus. I don’t get it. I mean, I get it. You like him, he likes you. But it’s sudden. I thought there was something strange about you saying yes to that date, but I didn’t say anything to you because you looked happy.” He shook his head. “But then weird stuff happened. You helped us free Meliorn, you helped Clary run off with the Cup, and you… Izzy told me you and Magnus suggested that Valentine had kidnapped me.” He looked at Alec. “You were right. How? What’s going on that I’m missing? Are you… possessed? Did Magnus put some spell on you?”

Alec choked. “Excuse me?” He frowned. “Magnus did not spell me. And I still don’t understand what you mean, Jace. Yeah, we said that maybe Valentine kidnapped you, but why the hell wouldn’t we doubt the word of a psychopath like Valentine?”

“Alec,” Jace said seriously. “You’re my brother. My parabatai. You’re lying to me.”

Alec didn’t know how to respond to that. He was lying. He knew exactly how he knew Valentine had kidnapped Jace. That was why he had said anything in the first place. To try to get Jace to doubt Valentine’s words.

But he and Magnus hadn’t discussed anything about telling anyone they were from the future. It wasn’t something Alec had considered doing to be honest. The less people who knew, the better it would be. Valentine couldn’t torture the information out of anyone and no one was a potential security risk. If Jace knew—and Jace died—then Lilith could get her hands on knowledge of the future. It was a risk Alec wasn’t willing to take until he and Magnus could sit down and hammer out at least ten contingency plans.

“I’m not lying,” Alec said. “I didn’t know when I suggested that.”

Jace crossed his arms. “Alec, I can literally feel you lying. What is so top secret that you can’t even tell me?” He shook his head. “You know what? No. Don’t tell me. Whatever. I’m so glad you think that I wouldn’t keep whatever it is you’re not telling me a secret.”

Alec’s hands tightened into fists. “Dammit, Jace, that’s not what this is about!”

“Then what?” Jace shouted. “What, Alec? Do you not see how upside down my life has been flipped this past week and here you are, knowing something about it but refusing to tell me?”

Not for the first time since his arrival in the past, Alec cursed Jace for screwing up the time travel attempt. If Jace and Izzy had been the ones to time travel—like planned—they wouldn’t be having this yelling match right now. Alec would probably either be getting ready to marry Lydia, or Izzy would be forcing him to admit his feelings for Magnus. Better yet, had they not even tried to time travel, Alec would be in Alicante with Magnus right now.

But no. Jace just had to try to go against the angels to try and get his girlfriend back. Now Alec was paying for that, as per usual.

“What do you want me to say, Jace?” Alec asked. “That I’m some psychic who can tell the future?”

“I just want the truth!” Jace said. “This is my life, and I don’t appreciate people playing games with it. For all I know, Magnus is lying about my parentage too.”

“He wouldn’t,” Alec said automatically. “He’s not.”

“Yeah? Well, I don’t know what to think anymore,” Jace said, but there was less ire in his voice now than there was before. He sat on the edge of his bed.

Alec hesitantly sat next to him.

“You feel distant,” Jace finally said after a minute of silence. “Like… something happened. And maybe that’s just for the first time ever you have a boyfriend. You have someone who’s supposed to be really important—just as important as a parabatai. And with all this… I just don’t understand what’s going on.”

Maybe it was a good thing Jace didn’t come back. Alec couldn’t imagine this taking place while he and Jace’s parabatai bond was stretched so thin it could easily snap. Jace hiding a time travel secret would probably have been the last straw.

“I don’t have an explanation for you,” Alec said. “Nothing. But I can tell you that I’m always going to do what’s best for you. I’m always going to fight by your side. It doesn’t seem like I’m being truthful right now, but… this is probably the most honest I’ve ever been. I’m not hiding who I am anymore and I’m standing up for what I think and want, not letting my parents or the Clave or anyone tell me what to be.”

Technically, he was probably being the least honest considering the whole time travel thing, but unless someone directly asked if he was a time traveler, was it really lying?

“Whatever it is, you can tell me,” Jace said. “You know that, right? If I go where you go and your God is my God and all that, then your secret is my secret.”

“I know,” Alec said. “I… I want to tell you a lot, but… most of it’s just not my secret to tell.”

Jace made a face. “Please tell me you aren’t caught up in some anti-Circle gang or something.”

Alec snorted. “Anti-Circle gang? No. I mean, I am anti-Circle, but no gangs.”

“Okay.” Jace exhaled. “Can you give me some time alone? I just… With everything I found out… My parents…”

“Jace Herondale,” Alec said, nodding. “It’s a lot to take in. Yeah. I should probably be making sure Mom doesn’t murder Magnus on his way out or something.”

“Maryse is acknowledging him now?”

“Warlock Bane to his face,” Alec answered. “The warlock or my warlock friend the rest of the time.” He shrugged. “Whatever. I actually don’t care what she says to me. Other people are going to say it, so might as well get used to brushing it off. Besides, other than whispers and judging looks, no one else has been treating me differently.”

Jace huffed. “Well, you deserve to be happy, and if anyone has a problem with that, they can talk to me.”

“You didn’t threaten them, did you?”

“I haven’t threatened anyone,” Jace promised. “Yet. But I will if I have to.”

Alec allowed himself a small smile as he walked to the door. “Thanks, Jace.” He opened the door and paused. “What are you going to do about Clary?”

“I don’t know yet,” Jace admitted. “I mean, we kissed, then we thought we were siblings, I kind of ignored her, then Jocelyn woke up and said I wasn’t her son, now I find out I’m a Herondale. I don’t know, I guess it’s weird to jump right back in after all that. I’ll talk to her later,” he decided.

“Good luck,” Alec said. He stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him.

He let out a breath. That conversation could have gone south very fast. It almost did. He really needed to talk with Magnus about how to skirt around strange questions where the answer was time travel.

Alec headed to the Ops Center. It was unlikely that Magnus was still in the training room with Izzy, Clary, and Jocelyn. It was actually unlikely that any of them were still in the training room. He figured Izzy would be getting back to work, and Clary and her mom would be catching up as they had been prone to doing for the past few days. Magnus—if he was still here—was hopefully shadowing Izzy until Alec got back from Jace.

He was right. When Alec entered the Ops Center, Izzy was sitting at a monitor chatting with Magnus who was casually perched atop the desk. Alec went over their way.

“Alexander,” Magnus greeted brightly. “How’s Jace?”

Alec shrugged. “Okay. He’s just taking it all in. I need to borrow Magnus though, so—”

“Absolutely,” Izzy said immediately. She gave Alec a wicked grin. “Be safe. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Alec sputtered while Magnus laughed. “That’s not what I meant.”

“I just meant bring protection. Your seraph blade. Bow and quiver.” Izzy blinked innocently. “What did you think I meant?” Her eyes widened comically. “Get your mind out of the gutter, big bro. But if I was talking about that… Why not?” she demanded. “Hot warlock boyfriend, some peace and quiet from the Circle for now… You gotta take what you get, Alec.”

“Goodbye, Isabelle,” Alec said loudly. He pulled a still laughing Magnus to his feet and dragged him to the doors of the Institute. “We have a problem,” he said when they stood alone by the doors.

“Your sister is encouraging us to have scandalous Institute sex?” Magnus said.

Alec gave him a look. “Not happening. Not while my mother is here,” he added. “But, no, that’s not it. Jace was asking me questions. He knows I’m hiding something from him. It’s only a matter of time before he gets frustrated because I can’t give him an answer other than—” he dropped his voice, “time travel.”

Magnus let his head fall back. “Great.”

Chapter Text

With a secret like that, at some point the secret itself becomes irrelevant. The fact that you kept it does not.
― Sara Gruen, Water for Elephants

“No sign of Valentine or the Cup yet,” Jace grumbled, staring at the computer screen.

Izzy tapped away at the screen next to Jace. “Nothing out of the ordinary either.” She nudged Alec. “Are you paying attention at all?”

Alec blinked. “Hmm?”

“If you want to go see your boyfriend, you might as well go,” Jace said. “Not like we’re going to accomplish anything here. When we arrested Hodge, he said Valentine was on a ship. We can’t track the ship over water. How convenient.”

“I actually wasn’t thinking about Magnus, for your information,” Alec said factually.

Not exactly true. He was thinking about the conversation he and Magnus had had two days ago about what to do about Alec’s siblings getting curious about things that would point back to time travel. Jace was already asking too many unwanted questions that could potentially strain the parabatai bond, and Alec had been through that too many times already.

“You could tell them,” Magnus suggested. “It wouldn’t be ideal of course. They’ll start relying on us for answers and when the time comes for them to need to take action, they may struggle, but it’s certainly a better alternative than destroying your relationships.”

Alec frowned. “I didn’t want to tell them. I mean, I wasn’t counting on being the one sent back, but after I was… I thought about it. A lot. And each time it just feels wrong. It’s the same reason I wasn’t willing to go back without you. You’re my Magnus. The Magnus I fell in love with, the Magnus I lied to about the Soul Sword, the Magnus who forgave me, the Magnus who I supported when you lost your magic, the Magnus who proposed to me and then ran off to Edom.”

He gripped Magnus’s hands. “We grew together. The Magnus of this time wouldn’t be the same. Because I wouldn’t fight my feelings, I would know not to lie about the Sword, I wouldn’t let him lose his magic if I could stop it, and I would do whatever I could to stop Edom from needing to be sealed. I think I could learn to live with that version of you, but it wouldn’t be the same. Well, it’s the same with Jace and Izzy and Clary. They aren’t the same people we knew. I don’t want something else to alienate us.”

Magnus stared at him. “You are truly something else, Alexander.”

“Look, I think telling them should be a last resort,” Alec said. “And if we do it, we do it together with all three of them. We tell them why we did it and what happened.”

“Agreed,” Magnus said. “And we drink because I have a feeling we’ll need some alcohol after that conversation.”

“Cheers to that,” Alec muttered.

“You look all distant and love struck,” Izzy grinned. “You were totally thinking about Magnus.”

“Okay,” Alec said, “see, I had a life before Magnus—”

“Barely,” Izzy muttered.

“—and now that we’re together, I still have a life outside of him,” Alec finished.

“Hmm, well this is a bust,” Jace said. He stood up. “Call me if something shows up. I’ll be with Clary in the library.”

“The library?” Izzy repeated. “What are you two doing in the library?”

Jace shook his head. “Talking. All this siblings-not-siblings business is just… it’s weird. So we need to figure out what to do about us. I can’t just go back to kissing someone I thought was my sister just like that. It still feels wrong, you know? Forbidden, taboo. So… talking.” He sighed and shrugged. “But I gotta go. Unless Valentine shows up. Then call us.” He headed out of the Ops Center.

“Well, it's an improvement,” Izzy remarked. “He went from not speaking to her to speaking to her. I think it was all our hard work intervening.”

“Or maybe he just wanted the vampire to shut up,” Alec said.

“You know, after all that stuff you said at your trial, I would have thought you’d start calling Simon by his name,” Izzy said.

Alec rolled his eyes. “Never him. He’d like that too much. Probably wouldn’t shut up about how we’re getting closer or whatever mundane nonsense.”

“He is growing on you.”

“No. Never.”

Jace entered the library. Thankfully, it was empty of any other Shadowhunters which made it perfect for the reason he’d called Clary here to talk.

Speaking of Clary…

“Hey,” she greeted him. “What’s up? I thought we were good.”

“We are,” Jace said. He guided her deeper into the library. “But that’s not why I asked you to meet me here. It’s…” he paused. “It’s about Alec.”

Clary frowned. “Alec? What happened?”

Jace double checked to make sure they were alone. He lowered his voice. “Something’s up with him. I know it sounds silly, but I’ve been with Alec for eight years. I know what he’s like. And I’m telling you, there’s something off.”

“I know,” Clary nodded. “I mean, I’ve only known him for a couple weeks, but I can tell. I just chalked that up to Magnus, but now that you’re saying something—”

“Magnus,” Jace scowled. “It’s something to do with Magnus. Ever since that night at Magnus’s after he healed Luke. That’s when Alec started acting weird.”

“So whatever it was, happened then,” Clary said. She thought back to that night. “Magnus used some of Alec’s strength. I don’t think Magnus did anything to Alec, but maybe it happened because of that?”

Jace shook his head. “Nah. Lending strength like that… the only risk is that the warlock takes all of your strength and kills you.”

“The only risk,” Clary muttered sarcastically.

“Okay,” Jace allowed with a smile. “Maybe it’s an understatement to say it like that. My point is, if something happened to Alec, it wasn’t that.”

“What are your theories then?”

Jace paused. “Enchantment?”

“What, like a love potion?” Clary joked.

“Exactly like a love potion,” Jace said.

Clary’s expression faltered. “Wait, those are real too?”

“All the stories are true,” Jace said. “That includes love potions. And Alec did say he and Magnus had drinks.”

“Yeah, okay, I can’t see Magnus drugging Alec,” Clary shook her head. “I mean, just the way Magnus looks at Alec like he’s the whole world, you know? And if it was a love potion, wouldn’t Alec be hopelessly in love with Magnus or something? I mean, they both kinda seem… I don’t know, like people who have been together for a long time. Honestly, they remind me of my mom and Luke. Luke always seemed to know what my mom needed and she seemed to know what he needed. Magnus and Alec are literally just like that. They way they move around each other and the way they just know. Can a love potion do that?”

“No,” Jace sighed. “But I don’t know what other explanation there could be. Maybe they’ve been secretly dating for a while now. But that wouldn’t explain why Alec was totally oblivious to Magnus flirting with him that day with the memory demon. Or the reason Alec saw me instead of Magnus when we had to give up a memory.”

“It would explain why he freaked out,” Clary pointed out. “Having Magnus see that you were the one he cared about most.”

“Maybe,” Jace said. “Okay. That kind of makes sense.”

Clary smiled. “Problem solved then.”

“Except that Alec and Magnus knew I wasn’t a Morgenstern,” Jace said. His eyes darted away from Clary like looking at her would make that true again. “Alec suggested that Valentine kidnapped me. Explain to me how he knew that, Clary.”

Clary didn’t say anything. Her mouth opened and closed like she was trying to figure out what to say, but couldn’t find the words. “Uhh. Parabatai powers?”

“That’s not how the parabatai bond works,” Jace said flatly.

“Yeah, okay, so I don’t have any ideas about that,” Clary admitted. “Did you ask Alec?”

“I did,” Jace confirmed. “I called him out on lying, he said he wasn’t, I said he was. I asked him what was so secret which—funny enough—he didn’t actually deny there was something secret, in fact, he confirmed it. When I got mad about him keeping a secret because he clearly doesn’t think I could keep it secret, he blew up and said that wasn’t what this was about.” He paused. “He left on better terms and he said that it wasn’t just his secret to tell. Whatever it is, Magnus has to be in on it too.”

“What do you want to do about it?” Clary asked.

Jace shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean, Alec’s my parabatai and I trust his judgement, but… I don’t like being kept out of the loop like this. Not where there’s obviously something bigger going on. I’m going to dig deeper into this.”

“Me too,” Clary said. “Two heads are better than one. What about Izzy?”

“Well, either she’ll tell Alec we’re spying on him,” Jace said, “or she’ll be happy to join. I don’t want to put her in this kind of a position though. We keep this between us for now.”

“Okay,” Clary agreed.

Alec was hyper aware that Clary was acting strange. In the short time that she had known Alec, Clary had been glared at and talked down to. Alec hadn’t made much a secret of his disdain for the new not-quite Shadowhunter. Which was honestly not fun because Alec genuinely missed Clary in the year that she’d been away. He wished he could give her a hug without it seeming highly out of character.

But that was why it was so strange to see Clary cheerfully tromping along beside Alec.

“What are you doing?” Alec finally asked her.

Clary blinked innocently. “What do you mean?”

“I mean all this,” Alec said, gesturing to her. “Talking to me. Hanging out.”

“We didn’t start off on the right foot,” Clary said. “But with all that’s happened… You helped me save my mom, and I thought we could start over. Try being friends.”

Alec stared at her. “Friends?”

“Bad idea?”

“No,” Alec said. “Just… unexpected. I haven’t been the nicest to you lately.”

“In all fairness, with good reason,” Clary shrugged. “I mean, I am Valentine’s daughter. I did show up out of nowhere—totally Jace’s fault by the way. He bumped into me after all.”

“If this is some weird ploy to get on Jace’s good side by buddying up to me, nice try, but you don’t need it,” Alec said.

“Yeah, no I spent two whole days thinking Jace was my brother,” Clary said. “Then I spent three days unsure about who Jace’s parents were. Now I’ve spent two days mulling over Jace actually being a Herondale. I think I’m going to need a little more time to wrap my head around this. You can’t just jump back into the arms of the guy you thought was your brother a week ago, you know? It would just feel weird.”

“Funny, that’s what Jace said,” Alec said. He stared around the Institute. “You know, Fray, in another life, you never came into our lives. Maybe the Clave would have still gotten all up in arms about the sanctioned missions. I’d probably be getting married off to restore the Lightwood name. Never would have met Magnus.”

Today was the day. In the old timeline, Alec would be getting ready for his wedding that night to Lydia. Magnus would be getting ready to come storming into the chapel. With some smug feeling, Alec mentally applauded himself for officially getting together with Magnus a lot earlier than he had before.

Clary frowned. “Wait. You never met Magnus before the Downworlder rave?”

“Mmm, no,” Alec said, shaking his head. “I had heard of him, but my parents are the heads of the Institute, Clary. If there are any dealings with warlocks, they’re the ones that reach out. Magnus isn’t the only warlock in New York either. And he's expensive. I’m sure I would have met Magnus at some point, but I don’t know when that would have been.”

Clary looked like there was something bothering her.

“You okay?” Alec asked.

“What? Yeah,” Clary said quickly. “I just… I don’t know. I figured you had met him before or something.”

“Nope. Guess I have you to thank for meeting him though.”

“Yeah,” Clary said distantly. “I guess.” She shook her head. “Uh, I’m going to go back to my room. Uh, drawing inspiration. Really cool idea. Gotta get it down on paper.” She turned around and sprinted off towards the rooms.

Alec frowned after her. Friendly Clary was new territory for him. He supposed her strange behavior could be because of the changes to the past, but something felt off. Like Clary was hiding something from Alec. A familiar feeling seeing as Alec was hiding stuff from her too.

It was almost as if the universe was demanding some huge historical event happen that night—even if it wasn’t a wedding where the groom ran off to be with a guy who crashed the wedding. Alec was dully scrolling through reports of possible Valentine sightings when it happened. The proximity alarm went off, blaring through the Institute at full volume.

“If this is another mundane that was stupid enough to go back to the vampires,” Alec grumbled.

Clary gave him a dirty look as she, Jace, Izzy, and Alec headed out the doors.

Unlike when Raphael had brought Simon’s body back, they didn’t have to go searching very far to find the source of the alarm. Simon’s horrendous yellow van was parked in the street. Standing at the bottom of the steps were three people around a large box on wheels. They were most certainly vampires given the paleness of their skin and the fact that Alec recognized two of the people as Simon and Raphael.

He didn’t recognize the third person at first though. She was Asian looking with dark eyes and straight black hair. It was kind of hard to tell in the darkness, but it seemed like some of her hair was streaked with blue. She looked like a vampire too. If Alec had to guess, she probably was turned when she was twenty or so.

“Raphael?” Izzy called, lowering the seraph blade she had grasped in her hand. “Simon?”

“Hey.” Simon gave them a bright smile and waved cheerfully. “What’s up?”

“Simon,” Clary said with a smile. “It’s good to see you, but what are you doing here?”

“Helping us, of course,” the female vampire said. She leaned her elbows casually on the box, resting her chin on her hands. “We had a problem. Simon was the solution.”

Jace furrowed his brow. “What?”

“What’s going on?” Lydia’s voice asked as she strode out of the Institute. She looked from Alec, Jace, Izzy, and Clary to the group of vampires. “Is there a problem?”

“Just one, Shadowhunter,” Raphael said. He nodded to the box. “On behalf of the New York Clan, we’re turning in Camille Belcourt for violation of the Accords. We have a witness who can testify against her,” he added, gesturing to Simon. “Camille turned this mundane without consent.”

Alec’s eyes went to the box. Now that he knew why the vampires were here, he could see that it wasn’t a box afterall, but a coffin wrapped in chains and holy crosses to prevent Camille from escaping. The female vampire resting her elbows on it was careful not to touch any of the restraints.

“So can we come in?” the female vampire asked in a bored voice.

Lydia pursed her lips. “Who are you all?”

“Simon Lewis,” Simon said with a smile. “Clary’s friend. We’ve actually met kinda. I was visiting Jocelyn in the infirmary while you were… you know, unconscious.” He winced. “Uh, you know what, that’s probably really creepy sounding coming from a vampire. You probably think I’m like some Edward Cullen type that watches people sleep. I’m not, I swear. I was just there for Jocelyn—who was unconscious too now that I think about it. But—but I was with other people who weren’t asleep like Clary a-and Izzy and Luke and Jace and Alec.”

“Does he ever shut up?” the female vampire wondered.

“Not really,” Alec said automatically. He couldn’t quite place his finger on it, but there was something familiar about this vampire.

Simon fell silent. “Nevermind,” he mumbled.

Raphael gave Simon an irritated look. Although, Raphael normally looked irritated with the world, so for all Alec knew, Raphael was just looking at Simon.

“Raphael Santiago,” Raphael said coolly. “Interim leader of the New York Clan. I’ll be taking over once the Clave deals with Camille.”

“Lily Chen,” the female vampire said.

Alec started. He knew Lily. She had been the vampire who had taken over the New York Clan after Raphael had been given the Heavenly Fire cure. Lily attended the Downworlder Cabinet meetings with Alec until he took the job as the Inquisitor in Idris. He hadn’t expected to see her this soon.

“You were with Raphael,” Clary realized. “You were the one holding—” she cut off with a nervous glance at Lydia.

And Lily was also the vampire that dangled Simon in the air outside the Silent City.

“Is the coffin secure?” Lydia asked.

Lily snorted derisively. Raphael gave her a stern look. “It’s secure,” he said.

Lydia nodded. “Right this way. I’ll show you to a holding cell where we can question Camille safely.”

“Just so we’re clear,” Raphael said. “Camille was the one breaking the Accords. My people had nothing to do with it. We’re turning her over because she was a danger to the Clan. Don’t go punishing all of us.”

“Believe me,” Lydia said, glancing at Alec. “I’ve learned my lesson about punishing people who aren’t at fault.”

Raphael, Simon, and Lily picked up Camille’s coffin easily, no doubt due to their vampire strength. They held it awkwardly though, being careful not to accidentally brush against the chains or crosses. Alec hurried down the steps, grabbing the wheeled platform the coffin had been resting on. He figured the vampires would rather wheel the coffin through the Institute since there was less of a chance of getting burned that way.

“Here,” he said, once they were up the stairs.

Lily raised her eyebrows but didn’t say anything.

“Thanks, man,” Simon said. “You know, you would think with all the extra strength that it would just be easier to carry heavy things, but my arms actually ache still. Kind of unfair, I think—”

“Thank you for that amazingly scintillating speech,” Lily interrupted. She gave Simon a sarcastic smile, showing off her fangs. “None of us decades old vampires knew that already, nor did the Shadowhunters who have studied vampires since birth.”

“You know, you and Alec would get along really well,” Simon grumbled. “You both have an abysmal bedside manner.”

“Hey,” Alec warned.

“I’m just saying,” Simon said. “You were all chill about the Silent Brothers maybe killing Clary to retrieve her memories.”

Alec frowned. “Oh. I forgot that.”

“Of course you did,” Simon muttered.

“Contrary to what he thinks,” Lily spoke up, jerking her head at Simon, “we will not become best friends,” she told Alec. “I do not trust Shadowhunters.”

“Believe me,” Alec said. “I’m aware.” He opened the Institute doors. “After you.”

Lily eyed him carefully as she and Raphael guided Camille’s coffin through the doors. Simon followed them, casually chatting with Clary about some random time in their mundane lives. Lydia filed in quickly after, leading the vampires over to the elevator. The Shadowhunters in the Ops Center turned to stare at the strange procession.

“I’ve been wondering when Raphael was planning to turn her in,” Izzy muttered to Alec.

“No offense, but I doubt she’ll want to see me,” Clary said. “The last time I saw her, I punched her face. I better stick this one out.”

“That’s probably best,” Jace agreed.

“Lydia and I can handle this,” Alec said. He glanced at Lydia. “Right?”

Lydia straightened. “We’ll be fine. Camille can’t escape her coffin and once we put her in the cell it will be extra secure. If she tries anything, I think three vampires and two Shadowhunters can take her.”

“Two and a half vampires,” Lily corrected with a look at Simon.

Simon shook his head. “I’m not joking. You and Alec are both horrible.”

“Thank you, Simon,” Alec said. “I know who we’re throwing to Camille first.”

“Dios mio,” Raphael muttered under his breath. He pushed the coffin into the elevator, forcing Lily, Simon, Lydia, and Alec to follow.

It was a tight fit in the elevator. Camille’s coffin was pushed all the way against the back. Alec and Lydia pressed themselves up against the chains while the three vampires squished into the leftover space.

When they got into the basement level, Raphael and Lily wheeled the coffin into a containment cell. Lydia and Alec knelt down to draw a line of holy symbols in the floor with their steles. Once they let Camille out of the coffin, she wouldn’t be able to pass the line of holy symbols to get to the door to escape. After they finished, Alec took a pair of metal cutters and cut through the chains on Camille’s coffin. Then he quickly stepped over the line and out of the cell, locking the door tightly just in case.

For the longest time, Camille didn’t emerge from the coffin. Lydia started too look frustrated while Raphael just looked bored. Lily drummed her fingers on her leg. Alec was thankful Simon didn’t start regaling them all with tales of his mundane life, but he was starting to consider asking Simon to do that so they could annoy Camille into leaving her coffin.

Finally, Camille opened the lid and sat up. She glared at them through the glass.

“Raphael!” she screamed.

“Hi, Camille,” Raphael said smugly.

“Camille Belcourt,” Lydia said, “Raphael has informed me that you have been breaking the Accords for a while. I do not have a full account of all your crimes, but right now you stand accused of breaking the Accords by Turning a mundane against his will. Simon Lewis has agreed to testify that you Turned him. How many others have there been?”

Camille bared her teeth. “I will not answer to you. There is only one man I will answer to. If you do not bring him to me, I will tell you nothing. You can threaten to kill me all you like, but I will tell you nothing.”

Alec suddenly had a very bad feeling.

“And what man is that?” Lydia asked.

“Magnus Bane,” Camille said, eyes glinting.

Raphael’s jaw clenched. “I vote we just kill her.”

“Then we’d be breaking the Accords and Camille would have grounds for demanding release,” Lydia said. She turned back towards Camille. “Why do you want to talk to Magnus?”

“I will answer to him,” Camille said again. “Or I will answer to no one.”

Alec shut off the microphone that allowed them to hear Camille and Camille to hear them. “I’ll call him,” he said, taking out his phone.

“Not happening,” Raphael said. “Camille is not going near Magnus.” He squinted at Alec. “Since when do Shadowhunters have Magnus on speed dial?”

Alec raised his chin defiantly. “Since he’s my boyfriend.”

Raphael raised an eyebrow. He cast a furtive look back at Camille. “Maybe you shouldn’t be here either.”

“I know they have a history,” Alec said flatly. “He told me. And it’s the last thing I want to do, but frankly, we can’t proceed with just Simon’s word against her. She gave Simon some of her blood when he was taken to the Dumort which was also against the Accord, though it was Camille’s idea, so I’ll let it slide or you’ll get in trouble. Simon went back because we all know what vampire venom does to mundanes. Then he was turned. If she wants, Camille can twist that into Simon giving her permission. She’ll only talk to Magnus. We don’t have a choice.”

“Fine,” Raphael sighed. “Call him.”

Alec pressed Magnus’s name in his phone. The phone barely rang before Magnus picked up.

“Alexander. What a surprise.”

“Hey,” Alec said, smile tugging on his lips. “How are you?”

“Oh, much better now that I hear your voice.”

Alec shook his head, grinning. “You’re ridiculous. But I’m going to have to be the bearer of bad news.”

“That’s ominous.”

“Raphael just came to the Institute,” Alec said. “He turned in Camille. She says she’ll only talk to you.”

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

“I—I know it’s probably the last thing you want to do, but right now all we have against her is Simon’s Turning which is rocky at best.”

“I’ll be there in five minutes. Meet me at the doors?”

“Absolutely,” Alec said easily. “Thank you. You don’t have to—”

“Yes, I do. Camille deserves to be punished. If I must face her, then I have to do it.”

“Yeah,” Alec agreed. “You do. I’ll see you soon.”

“See you soon. Tell Raphael to stop worrying. I can feel him through the phone.”

The call ended abruptly after that.

“Magnus says to stop worrying,” Alec told Raphael.

Raphael gave him a dark look. “I’m not worrying.”

“I’m heading up to meet him at the doors,” Alec continued. “We’ll be back here in five minutes.”

“He’s coming now?” Raphael demanded. “What did you say to him?”

“That Camille was here and she’ll only talk if Magnus is here,” Alec said, heading back towards the elevator. “That we needed his help if we want to see her punished.”

“If I find out he’s coming because of you,” Raphael threatened.

The doors shut. Alec slumped against the wall of the elevator. He really hated Camille.

Magnus didn’t speak the whole ride down the elevator to the basement level. Alec didn’t make an attempt to break the silence. All he offered was his hand which Magnus took. It was a great comfort that grounded him.

When the doors dinged open, Raphael looked up. If Magnus hadn’t known Raphael for decades, he wouldn’t have been able to detect the concern in the vampire’s impassive expression. It was touching that Raphael was so concerned, but also somewhat condescending. Magnus could handle Camille.

“Magnus,” Lydia greeted him.

“Hello, Lydia,” Magnus said. “Looking lively. And hello, Smedley. Lovely Lily.”

Simon scowled. “You do that on purpose.”

“Do what, Sheldon?” Magnus grinned.

“Nevermind,” Simon sighed.

Magnus approached the glass barrier where Camille watched him like a hawk. He turned on the microphone. “Camille. It’s been a long time, hasn’t it?”

Camille smiled. “I’ve missed you, Magnus.”

“It’s been one hundred thirty eight years, Camille,” Magnus said. “Oddly, I haven’t missed you.”

“Clearly,” Camille said, glanced at Alec. “I have to give you credit, Magnus. You certainly have a type. He even looks like Will.”

Magnus stiffened. “What do you want, Camille?”

“Privacy for one,” Camille said.

“No,” Raphael said.

“Screw you, Raphael,” Camille sneered.

Raphael gave her an unimpressed look. “No thanks. Not interested.”

“It’s fine,” Magnus said. “You need answers, right? I can get them.”

Lydia looked unsure. “I really shouldn’t leave you alone.”

“It’ll be fine,” Magnus said although he was pretty sure his expression said it wasn’t. “I have no intention of releasing her and if anything happens, you’re just a hallways away.”

“Be careful,” Alec said lowly.

“Always,” Magnus said.

Alec nodded. “Let’s go,” he said, turning to face Lydia and the vampires. Raphael and Lydia looked unhappy, but they turned to head down the hallway, away from Magnus and Camille. Simon and Lily exchanged glances before following after them. Alec gave Magnus one last reassuring look before leaving.

“I’m sure you are aware that I cannot do anything to help you now,” Magnus said as soon as the Shadowhunters and vampires disappeared around a corner. “So why the message for me? Just stalling for time?”

“I just want you to speak to the Shadowhunters on my behalf,” Camille said. “A lifetime sentence for an immortal? Well, someday I’ll get out. Or perhaps you’ll help me.”

“Help you?” Magnus snorted derisively. “Why would I help you?”

Camille sighed. “Are you still upset by my dalliance with that short-lived Russian?”

“Upset? No,” Magnus said. “I gave up feeling anything for you over a century ago.”

“Love is fleeting,” Camille said. “Even more so when you’re immortal.”

“And yet true love cannot die,” Magnus said.

Camille pulled a face. “But people can.”

“People are more than just toys for your amusement,” Magnus said sharply. “You left me. You made a pet out of me, and then you left me. If love were food, I would have starved on the bones you gave me.”

“We had all of eternity,” Camille sighed. “You must have known I would come back to you eventually. Hundreds of years old and still so naive. You wouldn’t know what to do with love if you found it.” She cast her eyes down the hall where Alec had gone. “Or do you think you already have? He’s cute. Too bad it won’t last. I’d say he’s about twenty years from male pattern baldness.”

“I’m not the one who knows nothing about love,” Magnus said quietly.

“Pretty boys have always been your undoing,” she said. “But what can some mortal child give you? Ten years, twenty, before dissolution begins to claim him. Forty years, fifty, before death takes him. I can give you all of eternity.”

“You could give me the past,” Magnus said. “But Alec is my future. What do you want from me, Camille? I won’t ask again.”

“I told you,” she said. “I do not want to die. If I am to give up information, I wish to remain alive. I am not a fool, Magnus. The best case Raphael has against me is the mundane that was Turned. He needs me to confirm the rest of his accusations if he wants the Clave to take me and if he wants to become head of the clan. We both know I’m dead if the Clave gets me. So I’ll make it simple. Some information in exchange for a life sentence—with signed proof—or my sweet little caramel can retract his statement, I’ll willingly hand over the clan to Raphael, and I go free with a promise not to break the Accords. I’ll even leave New York.”

“I doubt Raphael would agree to that,” Magnus said.

“Then he can present his case, I will destroy it and go free,” Camille said. “And then I will return to take back the Clan and I will destroy him too.” She knew that Magnus would not let anything happen to Raphael.

Magnus scowled. “I’ll talk to them,” he said. “But no promises.”

Camille smiled brilliantly. “I knew you would speak to them for me, Magnus. I knew the past was not entirely dead for you.”

“Consider it undead if you like,” Magnus said.

“Magnus—”

“Goodbye, Camille,” Magnus interrupted. He turned and strode down the hallway to where Alec, Lydia, Raphael, Simon, and Lily would be waiting for him.

“What happened?” Alec asked immediately.

Magnus presented Camille’s two—three technically, but only two would result in a somewhat desired outcome—options to them. As expected, Raphael’s face twisted into an annoyed look.

“Told you we should have killed her ourselves,” Lily sighed.

“There’s no way I could pull a life sentence even if I wanted to,” Lydia said. “For a werewolf, sure. They have normal lifespans. For a Seelie? Maybe. If the crime wasn’t severe. But life sentences for warlocks and vampires? It’s impossible.”

“I can just retract my claim,” Simon said. Before Raphael could protest, he added, “What other choice do you have?” he asked. “You can’t get her a life sentence. At least this way she’ll be out of New York. Can’t you put an APB or a BOLO out to the other Institutes?” he asked Alec. “She might promise not to break the Accords, but she’ll slip up. That’s when you catch her.”

Magnus couldn’t help but glanced at Raphael’s face. He remembered all too well the sunburned scars he’d had to heal. Simon had no idea what waiting for Camille to slip up would mean. It would mean waiting until an Institute head did a little more digging into vampire activity. It would mean an ultimatum. It was also the best chance of getting Camille convicted.

Magnus hated that.

Chapter Text

I see no comfort in outliving one's friends, and remaining a mere monument of the times which are past.

—Thomas Jefferson

“You cannot be serious,” Clary said.

Magnus pinched his lips in a thin line. “Unfortunately, I am.”

After Magnus had delivered the news to the vampires, Alec, and Lydia, the group had gone back up to the main floor to meet with Clary, Izzy, and Jace to tell them what had happened with Camille. Needless to say, Clary was none too pleased about the possibility of Simon having to retract his statement.

“She killed Simon,” Clary said. “And now we’re just going to let her go?”

“You can just let her go and then I’ll kill her,” Lily offered.

Raphael gave her a stern look. “No one is killing anyone. And we aren’t going to let her go. Simon won’t be retracting anything.”

“It’s my choice,” Simon pointed out. “And I want Camille in jail or whatever Azkaban you Shadowhunters have as much as the next person. But what’s the point if it doesn’t get Camille convicted?”

“Azka-what?” Alec asked.

“He’s literally dating a warlock and he has no idea what Harry Potter is,” Clary muttered.

“Tragic,” Simon agreed.

Hairy what? Alec mouthed to Magnus.

Magnus gave Alec a smile. “We’ll work on your pop culture understanding.”

“Tell me you aren’t just going to let her go,” Raphael hissed to Magnus.

“What do you want me to do, Raphael?” Magnus snapped. “Camille won’t be found responsible for Turning Simon. She’s old. She’s got friends. The Clave won’t want to risk a war with the vampires just because one Mundane might have been Turned against the Accords. Then, when she’s free, she’ll come for you and Lily and all the others who turned on her. Not to mention, you broke the Accords when you kidnapped him. They broke the Accords when they broke into the Dumort,” he said, gesturing to the Shadowhunters. “Camille knows that, and you’re lying to yourself if you think she won’t use that against you. The Clave probably won’t want to punish Nephilim and might offer Camille her freedom if she keeps quiet about the Dumort attack.”

“It wasn’t really an attack per say,” Izzy voiced.

“It was kind of an attack,” Alec said.

“You killed vampires,” Raphael said sharply.

Lily coughed lightly. “This is why we shouldn’t deal with the Clave. We could have taken care of Camille quietly.”

“And then take the fall when all her actions come to light,” Raphael said.

“What if we testify that Camille forced Raphael to kidnap Simon,” Clary suggested. “And then he contacted us to invite us to the Dumort to rescue Simon.”

“Well, that would definitely take care of Camille,” Alec said. “Of course, Raphael would also be executed for kidnapping a Mundane, Clary would likely be sent elsewhere to receive better training from more capable Shadowhunters, and Izzy, Jace, and I would be suspended for failing to protect a vulnerable Mundane.”

Clary scowled. “You guys need a new justice system.”

“At least I make it out alive,” Lily said.

“Good for you,” Raphael said sarcastically.

“Is that really it?” Izzy asked. “Simon has to withdraw his accusation, Camille leaves New York, Raphael takes over the Clan? That’s our only option? Can’t you negotiate with her?” she asked Magnus. “Get a better deal?”

“That is the best deal,” Magnus said. “Immortals fear death. Camille won’t settle for anything less than her life spared. Whether that be a life sentence or actually setting her free.”

“What good does a life sentence do?” Simon asked. “I mean, she’d be stuck there literally forever. Camille doesn’t strike me as a stay-in-one-place type of vampire.”

“She’s not,” Magnus said. “Her grand escape plan is to bide her time and… well, wait for me to break her out. Which I will not be doing,” he added quickly.

“You better not,” Raphael muttered. “I will chain you down myself if I have to.”

“Why the hell would she think anyone would break her out?” Clary asked furiously.

“Time is very different to Camille,” Magnus said carefully. “When you have forever… what’s an odd eighty, ninety years in prison? She’s always been like this as long as I’ve known her, which has only been roughly a century and a half. In a hundred years, there won’t be anyone left who remembers why she’s been imprisoned. No one except Simon to remember what her actions cost. So she breaks out, goes into hiding for a time, then continues to live her life.”

“I’m offended you don’t think I’ll live that long, Magnus,” Raphael said.

“Will you still care in a hundred years?” Magnus asked. “As long as Camille doesn’t go near you, right?”

Raphael threw him a dark look.

“Oh my—” Simon choked. “Oh my— Dammit. I—I just… I’m immortal.”

Lily slow clapped. “Ten points to the mundie.”

“Not a mundane,” Simon grumbled. “This is not what I had in mind when I sang that song.”

Magnus couldn’t help feel bad for the vampire. Immortality was something he would never wish on anyone. Not when the cost was watching everyone you cared about die while you remained, unchanging. He’d lost too many people already, he’d lose many more. His heart clenched painfully at the thought.

Clary looked distraught.

“At any rate,” Magnus continued quickly before anyone had a chance to dwell on the immortal elephant in the room, “Camille is cunning. She’ll bide her time as long as she must.”

“And once everyone that can die who remembers is dead, she’ll come back to torment everyone that can’t die who can remember,” Clary said, clearly having no interest in dropping the immortality conversation. “Simon, Raphael, Lily, Magnus… you’re all immortal.”

“Well spotted,” Lily said.

“Obviously there needs to be a discussion,” Lydia said diplomatically. “I can’t give Camille a life sentence, and we need a little more than a Turned mundane to convict her with anything that matters. So discuss amongst yourselves and then let me know what you’re going to do.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” Izzy said. “Camille has to go down.”

“And she will,” Alec said. “But this isn’t your decision to make. Just let Simon talk to Raphael and… and Magnus first.”

Izzy pursed her lips. “Fine. But I need to talk to you, Alec. Alone.” She spun on her heel and stalked towards the elevator. “Coming?” she called over her shoulder.

Alec sighed. “We’ll be back.”

“If this is another interrogation, you can forget it,” Alec said.

Izzy blinked. “Interrogation?”

“Jace already expressed his concerns about my relationship,” Alec said. “I imagine you have your own opinions now after Camille.”

“Honestly, I think it’s too early to bring immortality into the conversation, but since you’re letting me bring it up,” Izzy said. “Have you thought about that at all?”

“I have.”

“And?”

“And what?” Alec asked. “Magnus is immortal, I’m not. Neither of us have control over that, so what do you want me to do about that? Besides, none of us know what’s going to happen. I might die in two days or fifty years. Magnus could live five more centuries or five more years. No use worrying about someone I can’t control.”

“That,” Izzy said, pointing at Alec. “That’s exactly it. You’re a worrier, Alec. Don’t deny it, we both know it’s true. So what is it about the last week and a half? Jace called me when you accepted Magnus’s date. He said you were acting weird, and you are. What’s going on, Alec? I’m your sister, you can trust me. You know you can trust me. What’s going on?”

Alec chewed his lip. “Nothing’s going on, Izzy.”

“Something is going on,” Izzy said flatly. “I don’t know why you don’t trust me, but if this is some misguided way of protecting me, then you don’t have to protect me. I can take care of myself. I don’t need you dictating how I live my life.”

“I do trust you,” Alec insisted. “Of course I trust you. How could you even think—”

“Because there is something wrong with you, Alec,” Izzy said. “You’re breaking rules that you never would have broken before. Dating Magnus completely out of the blue. I’m not saying that’s all bad. I’m so proud of you for all that, but you have to admit how strange it looks.” She paused. “Were you seeing Magnus in secret or something? And Jace being the memory that demon took prompted you to do all this to reassure Magnus?”

“Yes,” Alec blurted. “Yes, that’s exactly it.” He tried for a smile. “I wanted to tell you, but I was kind of worried and everything about… everything. Then I freaked when the memory demon showed me Jace. That’s what we talked about when I stayed over after Magnus healed Luke.”

It was nice of Isabelle to offer Alec a solution. Alec would just need to let Magnus know about this before she had the chance to corner him or drop a bomb in the middle of a casual conversation. Still, something tugged at the back of Alec’s head. There was something he was forgetting. He just couldn’t remember what it was.

“Well,” Izzy said, smiling. “That actually makes a lot of sense. Sorry. For yelling at you. I’m just worried about you. I am glad you’re with Magnus. He’s great.”

“He is,” Alec agreed, the corners of his lips tugging up.

Magnus let out another loud sigh as Raphael and Simon argued back and forth about what to do about Camille. Both vampires could agree that Camille needed to be locked up, but neither could agree on how to get there.

His phone buzzed, alerting him to a text.

From Alexander: Izzy asked me some things. I told her I was seeing you before everything with Clary happened which is partially why I freaked about the memory demon. Said we talked about that when I stayed over.

From Alexander: Just in case she asks.

Magnus pursed his lips. It seemed like not telling the other Shadowhunters was going to cause more trouble that he and Alec had originally thought. It wasn't a problem, Alec’s story actually made quite a bit of sense. Most of the trouble was in remembering their story and sticking to it. In Magnus’s long experience, the best lies were the non-specific ones. Once the lie got too specific, that’s when you messed up your story and got in trouble.

To Alexander: An excellent cover.

From Alexander: I think we need to talk about what to do about them again. Jace knows I’m hiding something, now Izzy’s confronting me. It’s only a matter of time before Clary or Lydia or Simon do the same. Or even my parents.

To Alexander: We just need to keep our heads until we figure out what to do.

“Texting Alec?” Lydia asked, coming to stand next to Magnus.

Magnus looked up from his phone and turned it off. “Perhaps.”

Lydia grinned. “You two are cute. The way you smile at each other or when you’re texting or calling each other… Very cute.”

“Do we really?” Magnus mused. “Hmm. I suppose I’ll have to ask someone to send me a picture of Alexander one time.”

“—can just get her later,” Simon was saying.

Raphael glared at him. “How much later? Ten years? Twenty? Thirty? How long will it take for her to slip up? Who else is she going to put in danger before that happens?”

Simon flinched back.

“Raphael,” Magnus said sharply. “Simon, come with me.”

Simon didn’t comment on the proper use of his name. He gave Magnus a strange look. “Come with you? Where?”

“Away from prying ears,” Magnus said. “We’re the only two who have seen both sides of Camille, yes? Let’s talk.”

“There’s a room at the end of the hall,” Lydia said quietly. “You can step in there.” She glanced at Jace and Clary. “We’ll stay here with Raphael and Lily.”

Magnus nodded his thanks and pulled Simon into the room.

“Raphael says the only reason I feel drawn to her is because she’s my sire,” Simon babbled as soon as Magnus shut the door. “But I swear that’s not why I think we should let her go. I don’t like Camille. She… she ruined my life.”

“I didn’t bring you in here to talk about Camille,” Magnus said. “I brought you here to talk about what Camille did to you. I saw how you reacted when immortality was brought up. You didn’t really think about it before now, did you?”

Simon didn’t say anything. He sunk into an uncomfortable looking chair. “No. I didn’t. I mean, I knew vampires were immortal. I guess it didn’t really mean anything until you talked about how in a hundred years I’ll still be alive. But Clary won’t. Neither will Luke or Isabelle or Jace. Or Alec,” he added hesitantly. “Which I guess you’re aware of. You’re like hundreds of years old.”

“I am aware,” Magnus said. “I’m always aware when I take an interest in mortals. Sometimes they leave me before they can die. Who wants to be mistaken for their boyfriend’s parent or grandparent? Sometimes they stay and I watch them die.”

“And you’re just okay with that?” Simon asked.

Magnus shook his head. “Not really. But there’s nothing I can do to change it.”

“How do you go on?” Simon wondered miserably. “When everyone you love dies while you remain the same?”

“Do you know I have had this conversation before?” Magnus said. “One hundred thirty-eight years ago with another young man. His name was Will Herondale. His parabatai was laying on the bed before us, dying a horrible death caused by yin fen. It’s an addictive drug. Too much of it, and your body will depend on it. You can’t survive without it, but to continue to take it will kill you slowly.”

“That’s awful,” Simon said. “You couldn’t cure him?”

“With all my magic and knowledge, no, I could not cure him,” Magnus said. “But I will tell you what I told Will. As someone who has lived many lifetimes and buried many loves, I can tell you that the end of a life is the sum of the love that was lived in it. For those of us left behind, we endure what is unbearable and we bear it.”

“Did that help Will?” Simon asked bitterly.

“I don’t think there’s anything you can say to help a broken heart in the moment,” Magnus said. “You can say, It’s alright, but it’s really not alright. Or, It gets better, but that will be sometime down the line. I’m sorry, but what are you sorry for? Did you break my heart? Will and Jem was a special case. Jem died. Their bond was severed. Will felt that for every day of his life. He found ways to heal. But he never got Jem back.”

Simon picked at the knees of his pants. “I don’t want to watch Clary die. I never wanted this. It’s not fair. That’s childish, but it’s true. It’s not fair. Until a couple weeks ago, Clary and I were mundanes that knew nothing about the Shadow World. I wish it stayed that way. Then I wouldn’t be a vampire, Clary’s dad wouldn’t be a maniacal asshole, and we wouldn’t be stuck in this mess.” He squeezed his eyes shut. “Why did I let Clary go into that stupid club?”

“That stupid club is my club,” Magnus frowned.

“Sorry,” Simon muttered.

“You won’t be alone, Simon,” Magnus said. “I’m sure he won’t appreciate me telling you this, but I looked after Raphael when he was Turned. I was there when he lost his parents. I’ll do the same for you.”

Simon looked up. “You don’t even know me.”

“True,” Magnus said. He shrugged. “But you’re a Downworlder now. I’m by no means an orphanage for wayward Downworlders, but I will never turn my back on one that needs help and support. That includes you.”

“Thanks,” Simon whispered.

Magnus tried to reconcile this image of Simon with the one he’d left a year into the future. Clary Fairchild—a mortal—was certainly the only one this Simon really cared about outliving. But in the future, he had been dating Isabelle Lightwood—who was also mortal. Had the issue of immortality never occurred to him in the future, or had Magnus and Alec set some kind of precedent that it would be alright?

Or was it simply the fact that Simon couldn’t pretend to be normal? As a Daylighter, Simon was able to walk in the sun unlike any other vampire. He joined the—admittedly small—group of Downworlder Shadowhunters. Future Simon was basically just an immortal Ascendant with pointy teeth and a need to drink blood. Hiding the vampiric aspect about himself, Simon could pretend to be normal.

“I’ll help you too,” Simon added. “I’m guessing the reason why Camille thinks you’ll help her in eighty years is because of Alec, right?”

Magnus stared at the wall behind Simon. “I’ve no insight into the state of mind I’ll be in when Alexander dies.”

“I guess we can keep each other from running back to her then.”

“I guess so.” Magnus paused. “I can’t say what you should do about Camille. Whatever you do next has to be about you, not her. So what do you want to do?”

Clary looked up when Izzy and Alec returned in the elevator. Lydia was good company, Jace was still slightly awkward, but the two vampires were stoically ignoring the Shadowhunters.

“Where’s Magnus and Simon?” Izzy asked.

Jace jerked his head towards a closed door. “Talking. About Camille.”

Izzy nodded, but she looked distracted. “That’s good. Any idea what the final decision will be?”

“I still need to talk to Raphael and Lily about that,” Simon said, leaving the room, followed by Magnus. Both looked quite solemn.

Raphael beckoned Simon over to where he and Lily were standing. The three vampires spoke in low voices. Simon occasionally made a few wild gestures.

Magnus joined Alec by his side, reaching down for Alec’s hand. They seemed to have some kind of unspoken conversation. Clary couldn’t begin to imagine what it was about, but clearly they knew exactly what the other was trying to say.

“Strange isn’t it?” Izzy muttered to Clary.

Clary frowned. “Hmm?”

“My brother,” Izzy said, eyes on Alec and Magnus. “That’s why I talked to him just now. He says he’d been seeing Magnus for a while before the Downworld rave, but I know he’s not being truthful.”

“He’s not,” Clary said. “He told me he never would have met Magnus if it wasn’t for me. Either he was lying to me to make me feel good—which he would never do—or he’s lying to you.” She hesitated. “Jace and I think there’s something weird going on. We don’t know what, but there’s something.”

“Agreed,” Izzy said.

“We’re looking into it,” Clary said. “Uh, we thought about a love spell, but I don’t think that’s likely. You can’t create the kind of emotion they have for each other. And it’s very obvious they care a lot about the other. I suggested when Alec lent Magnus some strength, but Jace shot that down. Jace is the one who thought maybe they had known each other before, but then Alec told me he hadn’t met Magnus before. And now he told you he has.”

“What are you whispering about?” Jace asked, butting into the conversation.

Clary frowned at him. “Excuse you.”

Jace held his arms up defensively. “Sorry. Didn’t know it was a ladies only thing.”

“It’s not,” Izzy said. “It’s Alec. Whatever you and Clary are doing to look into whatever’s going on with him, I want in.”

Jace didn’t have time to formulate a response before the vampires were heading over to the Shadowhunters. Raphael was scowling darkly while Lily and Simon had identical grim expressions. Clary had an idea of which option they’d chosen.

“I’m going to withdraw my claim,” Simon said. “Camille will sign over the clan to Raphael and swear not to harm him or the clan or to break the Accords. And she’ll leave New York.”

“Simon, are you sure?” Clary asked.

“I’m sure,” Simon nodded. “It’s the best option. This way she can’t take revenge on Raphael or the rest of the clan. You know that’s the first thing she’d do once the Clave releases her.” He glanced at Lydia. “You’ll put her on a watch list or something?”

“I will, yes,” Lydia said. “Obviously I can’t say it’s because you’re requesting it, but I’ll think of a reason.”

“You can say she abruptly turned over the Clan to Raphael,” Alec suggested. “Then fled the state. That’s enough evidence to make the Clave suspicious.”

“Unfortunately true,” Lily muttered. Her face brightened. “Hey, do you think we could just turn her over to the Silent Brothers?”

Magnus gave her a disapproving look. Raphael fixed Lily with a glare that seemed to have no impact on her whatsoever.

“Why do you want to give her to the Silent Brothers?” Jace asked.

Lily grinned, showing off her fangs. “To see Brother Snackariah of course.”

“Who’s Brother… Snackariah?” Clary asked warily.

“Brother Zachariah,” Magnus corrected. “He’s an old friend.”

“He’s the hottest Silent Brother you’ll ever meet,” Lily said.

Clary gave her a disturbed look while Jace and Lydia looked unsettled. Izzy looked like she was caught between a snicker and disgust. Raphael just continued to look as pissed off as he normally looked and Simon—the only one who had yet to see a Silent Brother—looked confused.

Alec had actually met Brother Zachariah before—at his and Magnus’s wedding. He knew some of the story from what Magnus had told him. He knew the Silent Brother had once been Jem Carstairs and he had met Magnus over a century ago in London. Still, he figured his siblings were probably picturing the creepy sewn shut eyes and mouths of the Silent Brothers they had seen in the City of Bones and at Alec’s trial.

“Hot Silent Brothers aside,” Alec said awkwardly, “we can’t just give Camille to the Silent Brothers. Not after what happened with Meliorn.”

“Yeah, but Meliorn wasn’t a bad person,” Izzy pointed out. “Camille is.”

“We don’t get to be the judge of that,” Alec said. “If we do, then we’re just as bad as Valentine.”

“He’s right,” Clary said. “We have to be better than that. So what do we do now? Let Camille walk out?”

Magnus pulled a piece of paper out of thin air. “First, I have to draft a contract that Camille will sign in her blood saying that she’s turning the Clan over to Raphael and she has no deigns against him or the rest of the Clan. Once she signs it, then she can leave.”

“What about the Accords?” Clary asked. “Aren’t you going to put anything about the Accords in there?”

“You can’t force someone not to break the Accords,” Lydia said. “If that were the case, every Shadowhunter and every Downworlder would be required to sign a blood contract saying they wouldn’t break them. Since the Accords are about peace and trust between our two peoples… it doesn’t seem very trusting if you have to make a blood oath.”

“Fair point,” Clary sulked.

Magnus ran a hand over the piece of paper. Blue tendrils of magic licked at the page as words started to appear in dark ink. It wasn’t very fancy, just a basic contract any vampire might request for a Clan leadership transfer. He threw in a few extra clauses to offer Raphael some added protection from Camille just in case she was still free when and if Raphael became mundane again. When he was done, he handed it over to Raphael to inspect.

Raphael raised his eyebrows a few times, clearly trying to understand why Magnus had worded some of the contract the way he had. After a few moments, he nodded his satisfaction and passed the contract to Lydia who scanned it much quicker.

“You know Raphael Santiago well?” Lydia asked, glancing up at Magnus.

“No,” Raphael said the same time Magnus replied, “Yes.” The vampire glared at him.

Lydia hid a smile. “I was just asking. You provided a lot of protection for him in this.”

“Just being thorough,” Magnus said pleasantly.

“Thorough is one word for it,” Lydia said. “At this point, Camille wouldn’t be able to touch him short of, well, nothing.” She squinted. “Did you really include that she can’t hurt him even if he somehow turns into a werewolf?”

Magnus shrugged. “He’s immortal, dear. Perhaps one day someone will find a cure for vampirism, Raphael takes it, and promptly gets Turned by a wolf. I’m just taking all the safety measures I can.”

“Dios mio,” Raphael muttered. “Can we get this over with?”

“Please,” Clary agreed.

“We could drag it out as long as we want,” Lily offered. “Let Camille stew a little longer.”

Lydia’s lips twitched. “Unfortunately, that would be illegal since we aren’t charging her with anything right now.”

“Don’t you people do anything fun?” Lily complained

“The Law is hard, but it is the Law,” Lydia recited. Magnus mimicked her silently much to Alec’s amusement.

“Don’t suppose Lydia is your lost sister,” Izzy said to Alec. Then she winced and gave Clary and Jace a sheepish look. “Sorry. That was insensitive.”

“It’s fine,” Clary shrugged. “I mean, we aren’t siblings and apparently my brother I never knew I had is dead, so… no one to really miss.”

“Would have been funny if you did go to marry Lydia, find out she’s your sister, then find out she isn’t,” Jace grimaced. “Like parabatai right?”

Lydia blinked. “I’m sorry, you two are related?”

“No,” Jace said.

“Long story,” Clary added. “But no.”

“I’ll take this to Camille,” Magnus said awkwardly, taking the contract back from Lydia who was now looking back and forth between Jace and Clary like she was trying to detect even the faintest trace of relation between the two.

“I can do it,” Alec offered lightly.

Magnus grinned. “Jealousy, thy name is Alexander. What? You think she’s going to jump me the moment I enter the cell?” He said all that before realizing that, yes. It sounded exactly like something Camille would do that Alec might worry about. “Oh. Not to worry. I have… magic,” he finished rather lamely. “I’ll just…” He made a gesture like he was pushing something away.

“Don’t hold back,” Alec muttered.

Magnus grinned and blew him a kiss as he set off down the hall towards Camille. Alec and the others followed after him.

Camille was leaning against the wall of the cell when they arrived. She pushed off the wall with a tantalizing smirk that told them she knew exactly why they were returning to her.

“A contract,” Magnus said, waving the paper. “Draft by yours truly.” He made a face. “Well, perhaps not yours truly.”

“And here I thought we had something special,” Camille said.

“It certainly was that,” Magnus muttered. “And not in a good way.”

Alec tried to suppress a smirk. By the sour look Camille was giving him, he wasn’t succeeding.

“The contract states that you will hand over the New York Clan to Raphael Santiago,” Magnus said. He glanced at Raphael. “You’ll need to sign here,” he said, pointing to a blank spot. “Now, I suppose.”

Raphael jotted his name down where Magnus indicated.

“Camille will sign here.” Magnus pointed to a different spot. “The contract also states that you will not form another Clan to take over the New York Clan, nor will you harm Raphael Santiago or any of his current and future Clan members.”

“And what about him?” Camille asked, looking at Simon. “Do I get his word he won’t accuse me the second I hand over the Clan?”

“I guess you’ll have to trust me the same way we’re trusting you not to break the Accords again,” Simon said coolly.

Jace snorted. “I think becoming a vampire made you braver, mundane.”

“Okay, see, you called me a vampire—because I am—but then you call me a mundane,” Simon said. “So really, you’re contradicting yourself. And I’ve always been brave.”

“Please stop talking,” Lily said.

“I threw a knife at Raphael once,” Simon continued. “And I, you know, I tried to fight you once. And going to the Jade Wolf is apparently not advisable when you’re a vampire, but I went anyway. Oh, and I went with Clary and you guys to that creepy Silent City entrance.” He looked pleased with himself. “I’m brave.”

“Fine,” Camille said bittingly. “I won’t break the Accords, you won’t accuse me of Turning you.” She smiled innocently. “Cross my heart and hope to die.”

“What heart?” Alec muttered causing Magnus to choke on his laughter.

Camille gave them all a poison smile. “I’ll sign now.”

Lydia paused before unlocking the door for Magnus to step in. Magnus handed Camille a quill to use to prick her blood and sign as well as the contract. She took them and signed her name in a looping scrawl that shined red.

“Are you going to let me cross now?” Camille asked, looking pointedly at the line of holy marks barring her path.

Lydia nodded at Magnus. “Do it.”

Magnus snapped his fingers. The line of carefully drawn holy symbols disappeared like Lydia and Alec had never drawn them in the first place. Camille sauntered lazily over the spot where they had been. She passed Magnus the signed contract. Magnus took them, eyeing Camille warily.

“Look at you,” Camille said when they left the cell. “Shadowhunter lapdog. How the mighty have fallen, Magnus.”

Magnus gritted his teeth, but said nothing, passing the contract to Raphael who took it with a glare at Camille.

“He is not a lapdog,” Alec said lowly.

Had this been the same post-almost wedding Alec that had originally run into Camille, Magnus might have been worried. But this was post-actual wedding Alec who had already had many much needed conversations with Magnus. They had covered anything Camille could throw at Alec to harm him.

“No, he just does whatever his cute Shadowhunter boy toy wants,” Camille said. She smirked. “For now. And then you’ll grow old, and he’ll leave.”

Alec smirked right back. “We’ll see.” He gestured towards the elevator. “After you.”

Camille sent him a scathing look as she stomped into the elevator flanked by Raphael and Lily. Simon edged in after them, standing next to Raphael hesitantly. Izzy and Clary scowled at Camille as they were the first Shadowhunters into the elevator. Alec followed after them. He made a spot against the wall by the buttons. Magnus, Jace, and Lydia piled in soon after, causing the space to be severely cramped.

“Hope no one’s claustrophobic,” Simon said as the doors dinged shut.

Clary laughed nervously. Her laughter pattered out when no one else joined in.

When the elevator reached the main floor, the Ops Center fell silent upon seeing four vampires file out with a warlock and five Shadowhunters.

Camille spun around to face Magnus and the vampires and Shadowhunters. “I’d say it was nice doing business with you, but that would be a lie.”

“Not like you’re a Seelie,” Izzy said.

“Congratulations, Raphael,” Camille said. “Guess this is my cue to leave. I’ll be seeing you in a hundred years, Magnus.”

“Don’t hold your breath,” Magnus said.

“Can’t,” Camille said. “I’m a vampire.” With that, she strutted gracefully out of the Institute.

Lydia inhaled sharply. “Well. I will update the files to say Raphael Santiago is the leader of the New York Clan as well as issue a warning to the other Institutes to keep an eye out for and on Camille.” She headed to a computer screen and started tapping away.

Raphael and Lily didn’t say a word as they headed towards the Institute doors.

“I guess I better go with them,” Simon said. “Bye, Clary.”

“Bye, Simon,” Clary said, giving him a hug.

Simon gave them all a wide smile and hurried after Raphael and Lily.

“Well that was a waste,” Jace grumbled.

“That’s what most things are when Camille is involved, I’m afraid,” Magnus said. “And now if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to go home. You Shadowhunters may be nocturnal creatures, but I enjoy getting my beauty sleep at night.”

Alec opened his mouth to answer when his phone buzzed with a text. Along with every other Shadowhunter’s phone. He looked down. “A meeting? Now? For what?”

“For that I bet,” Izzy said, looking past Alec at Maryse who was walking with a man Alec and Magnus recognized at Victor Aldertree. The man who got Izzy addicted to yin fen. The man who turned many unwilling Downworlders into mundanes and wanted to do so to the rest of the Downworld without permission.

Magnus glanced at Alec. “Or perhaps I’ll stay until I’m kicked out.”

“No one’s kicking you out,” Alec said automatically. “Thank you,” he added.

Izzy, Jace, and Clary exchanged looks. There was obviously something about the man walking with Maryse that bothered Alec. For some reason, Magnus knew what it was and he knew how to appease Alec’s feelings. They just didn’t understand what or how.

As Alec geared himself up to sit through Aldertree’s speech without glaring daggers into the man’s chest, he had no idea that his siblings and Clary were planning to find out whatever secret he was hiding.