Alec's head spun as he fought the urge to throw up. He woke up slowly, blinded by even the faint light in the room coming from torches lining the wall outside his… cell? All he knew was that he was behind bars on a cold stone floor. His back ached from the position he slept in and he let out an involuntary moan.

"Alec?" someone said. Alec knew that voice anywhere.

"Jace?"

"Yeah. You okay?"

Alec looked around him, meeting Jace's eyes in a cell across the hall from him, faintly lit by torches.

"What happened?" he asked, sitting up, his head throbbing.

"I was stupid. So stupid. Someone called me. I don't know who, but they said they had Clary."

Alec nodded in understanding. Clary had been missing since the fight with Lilith, when Magnus gave up his powers to save Jace. He hadn't made it to the roof in time to save her and he'd been looking for her ever since.

"I met them at the park near the Institute. She wasn't there, but they had pictures of her. They… they were horrible, Alec. The things they did to her… I had to stop them, so I fought. I nearly won, too, until they knocked me out. I woke up here a few hours ago."

Alec moved so he could lean his head on the wall and realized his hands were cuffed together and chained to the floor. When he looked up again he noticed that the cell next to Jace wasn't empty.

"Clary?" he said, grabbing Jace's attention. There was a stone wall between them, which is why Jace couldn't see her. He hadn't known she was even there.

"Is she okay? Alec, is she okay?" Jace tried to stand up, but his cuffs wouldn't allow it.

"She's unconscious, I think. It doesn't look good. She… she's covered in blood…."

Jace sat back down, defeated. If Alec didn't know any better, he would guess he was crying. Not that Alec would blame him.

Then Alec was hit with a horrible thought. Where was Magnus?

He was about to ask Jace about it when his parabatai said to him, "There's something you should know. Magnus is here, too. He's in the cell next to you. At least I think it's him, but I can't be sure. He's unconscious, too, but going by the amount of glitter, I think it's safe to assume it's him."

"What about Izzy? Is she here, too?"

"Not that I know of. Looks like it's just us. And, you know, the fuckers who brought us here."

This was it. This was Alec's worst nightmare. He and some of the people he cared about most in the world were trapped. But the worst part was that Magnus didn't have his powers. If it came down to it, he and the other Shadowhunters would hold out. They were strong. It was their job, it was in their blood.

Magnus was a mundane now. As much as Alec hated to think it, he was all but helpless.

"Jace," Alec said. "We have to protect Magnus. He doesn't have his powers. He's vulnerable, and it's our job to protect those like him, the mundanes."

Jace gave him a sad look. "I'm sorry, Alec. But if it comes to saving Magnus or Clary… you can't ask me to pick him over her."

It took a moment for him to process what Jace had said, but when it sank in, he was furious.

"Are you fucking kidding me? After everything Magnus did for you? He saved you! He gave up his magic for you! His immortality! You owe everything to him!"

"Clary is vulnerable, too. She's hurt, Alec. Can you really say that Magnus's life is more important than hers?"

"Clary is a Shadowhunter. She's tougher than you think, and she can handle herself."

"Not in this state, she can't."

Alec pulled hard at his chains and let out a frustrated scream. Jace closed his eyes.

They both stopped fighting as a creaking sound came from down the hall. Footsteps could be heard coming in their direction.

The man Alec recognized from the club stood outside his cell. "The Lightwood boy is awake, my Queen."

A beautiful dark-haired woman stood next to the large man and smiled. Before she could speak, Jace let out a gasp.

"You," he said. "You were dead."

The woman turned to him, smile intact. "You give your vampire friend too much credit."

"Lilith," Alec said.

Her eyes were back on him. "Yes. We've been waiting for you to wake, Mr. Lightwood."

"Why? What do you want?"

Lilith hummed. "You and your Shadowhunters nearly took everything from me. You're the Head of the New York Institute. I decided to take you, their leader, away from them. Do you think they'll miss you? How long will it be before they replace you? I don't know, but it will be fun figuring it out."

Alec clenched his jaw, not liking her words. She laughed at him.

"I tried to find your sister as well. I'm sure she would give me great power over you, but she isn't as stupid as you and you parabatai, it seems. One word about little Clarissa and I had Jace in my hands. You were easier to fool, but not by much. Once you and the warlock were captured and I found out he was your boyfriend… well, let's just say I was pleased." She paused for a moment. "It will be so much fun taking you down, Alexander."

"Don't call me that," he said. It felt weird hearing it come from someone who wasn't Magnus.

"I don't take orders from you, dear. In fact, it's quite the opposite. But that can wait…. Have you seen what I've done to your friend? Well, all right, it wasn't me. It was Edward here. He's very eager to do my bidding. Shall we see if he wants to have the same fun with your boyfriend?"

"No!" Alec shouted. "No, please, don't."

"It is inevitable, but I will hold off for now, just because you asked so nicely."

Alec wanted to relax, knowing Magnus was safe for now, but her words stopped him.

Jace spoke up. "This is all about Alec, isn't it? So let Clary go, she means nothing to him."

"Oh! Is that true?" Lilith said. "Let's see about that."

The woman turned to Clary's cell and opened it with her will. Jace was screaming in the background for her to stop, for her not to hurt his girlfriend. She was just about to touch the unconscious girl when another person came down the hall.

"Mother, no."

Lilith looked behind her and smiled at the person there.

"My love," she said. "What are you doing here? You should be resting."

"Don't hurt my sister."

"It is necessary-"

"Don't."

With just that, Lilith stopped, exiting the cell and locking it again.

"Do you want to get started, my boy?"

Who could only be Jonathan smiled and nodded. The pair went to Jace's cell.

"What are you doing?" Alec asked, beginning to panic at the look on his parabatai's face.

"Don't worry so much, Mr. Lightwood. He'll live."
"No! No, stop!"

Lilith turned to him questioningly. "Would you prefer for us to wake up your warlock?"

She waited for an answer. He locked eyes with Jace. Maybe if Magnus still had his magic, things would be different. But he didn't. If he was hurt, he would stay that way. Then again, so would Jace.

But Jace could handle a beating. He could handle a lot.

"No," Alec said. "Don't hurt Magnus."

Lilith smiled again. "I smell conflicted feelings in the air." Jonathan made to move towards Jace, but his mother stopped him. "We'll have to delay this little party," she said. "Let's let them work some things out."

Lilith took her son's hand and led him down the corridor. The big man, Edward, followed after.

"So you picked Magnus over me," Jace huffed.

"Like you wouldn't do the same for Clary."

"And here I thought our bond meant something."

"Maybe it means nothing any more."

There was a long silence between them.

"Alec. This is what they want. They want us to be against each other. Our bond means something, we just have to figure it out."

"I'm not really in the mood to figure things out with you."

"Alec-"

"Just shut up, Jace."

Neither of them spoke again.