Alec knew something was wrong the moment he stepped through the doors.

"Magnus?" he called out in a deliberately calm voice even as his hand went to his seraph blade, unsheathing and activating it. He closed the door, slowly moving from the foyer to the living room.

Trained eyes surveyed the room, his ears straining to catch movement in the loft. Everything was exactly where they had left them, including the book Magnus had been reading when Alec found him sleeping on the couch the night before.

Guilt stabbed at him at the memory. Magnus had fallen asleep on the couch because he had been waiting up for Alec. They had agreed to portal to Bangkok for dinner, but a demon attack in the middle of Soho took precedence.

Alec had been hoping to make it up to Magnus that night with a home cooked meal, but an unscheduled and frankly incredibly boring meeting with the Council had kept him later than he intended.

Coming home to an empty apartment was unexpected which only served to add to his discomfort. Magnus was supposed to be home hours ago.

Alec quickly went through each of the loft's rooms, some of the tension easing when he reached their bedroom and found nothing out of place.

He sheathed his blade and forced himself to ignore the prickly feeling at the back of his neck. Jace would chalk it up to adrenaline. It was always easier to assume a demon was about to attack when you had fought a demon less than two hours ago.

Groaning, Alec sat on the bed and made quick work of the laces on his boots. He put them aside, pulling of his shirt and his socks and tossing them into the hamper.

The door to the bathroom beckoned with the promise of a hot shower but he needed to start cooking if he wanted dinner ready before Magnus arrived.

He padded out of the room barefoot, fishing his phone out of his pocket to send Magnus a text when a flash of red out on the balcony caught his eye.

Alec slowly walked over to the double doors, his breath coming out in short gasps as the item came into full focus.

Magnus' omamori charm.

He opened the doors and picked up the charm, goosebumps erupting across his skin that had nothing to do with the chilly night air.

The growing weight on his chest was a stark contrast to the light fabric between his fingertips.

There was no way that Magnus would have left it behind, not even accidentally.

Something was definitely wrong.