Chapter 10
Jace tossed and turned restlessly in his sleep. The dull ache radiating from the parabatai rune on his left arm was what woke him with a start in the early morning hours. How could this be? Alec was with Magnus on their honeymoon, nothing could have gone wrong, could it? He grabbed his cell phone from the night table beside his bed and hit the speed dial button for Alec, cursing the time it took for the connection to be made, and then the endless ringing until it clicked over to voice mail. He ended the call and dialed again, finally on the third attempt, a very strained sounding Magnus answered.
"Magnus! Where is Alec, is he okay?" Jace asked, his voice laced with concern and something almost like panic.
"N-no he's d-dead;" Magnus said voice cracking as he tried to form the words that his mind still wanted to reject as impossible.
"What do you mean dead! What the hell happened?"
"I-I don't know, he was fine when we went to bed and I woke up to find him dead this morning;" the warlock sobbed.
"Magnus, just stay put, I'm going to get Morag and be with you as soon as I can;" When Magnus didn't respond, Jace ended the call and sent a fire message to Morag before throwing his clothes on and leaving a note for Izzy to say he had been called away and would be in touch later. He could not bear the idea of telling Isabelle that another of her brother's was dead, not after Max. Jace would wait, at least until he knew more.
Ten minutes later, Jace was standing in the garden of the New York Institute waiting for Morag Nightshade to arrive. He was dressed in sadowhunter gear and his calm, outward appearance belied the tumultuous thoughts and feelings that raged inside him. How could Alec, his parabatai, his brother, be dead? This could not be happening. The persistent aching of his parabatai rune prevented him, however, from completely denying that anything was wrong. He began to pace as he waited for Morag, what was taking her so long, hadn't he been clear this was an emergency?
Jace whorled around when he felt a firm hand on his shoulder. Aidan Briosag and Morag Nightshade had arrived, their faces clearly expressing the concern they felt at the sudden turn of events. Although Jace had apprized them of everything Magnus had said, none of the three could really believe that Alec was dead.
"I'll open a portal;" Aidan said quietly; "Then we'll get to the bottom of this;"
Jace nodded unable to trust his own voice. As soon as the portal shimmered into existence, he stepped forward knowing he had to get to Alec, praying it really wasn't too late. The first thing he saw as the hotel room snapped into focus was Magnus on the bed, rocking Alec's limp form in his arms, tears streaming down the warlock's pale face. It was like a punch to the stomach, seeing that image, and brought home to Jace that Alec might really be dead. How had it happened, this was not a battle scene? Alec and Jace were warriors, bonded fighters who accepted that death could come suddenly, violently... but this...
Aidan stepped around Jace's frozen from and pulled Magnus gently away from Alec so Morag could examine the shadowhunter. "Magnus;" he said softly; "Can you tell us what happened?"
"I-I don't know;" Magnus sobbed; "He was f-fine when we went to bed last night;"
Aidan put his arm around Magnus and looked over at Morag questioningly. It was disturbing to see the powerful, confident Magnus Bane looking so lost, so shattered, and there was nothing he could say or do that would make the slightest difference.
Sighing softly the healer said; "I can't find anything physically wrong with him, which leaves magic the only possible explanation. I sense some residual energy, but not enough to tell me what the spell was, or who cast it;" Morag knew there was nothing that could be done, it was too late, and re-animation spells were an option no one in their right mind would consider.
"Magnus!" Jace growled; "What the hell happened, you have to know something!" he stepped menacingly toward the warlock, stopping only when Aidan stepped between them.
"Jace, this isn't helping, you can't for a minute believe Magnus would have done anything to hurt Alec!" He waited for a few moments not sure which was worse, Jace's aggression or Magnus' passivity in the face of it.
At last, the anger seemed to drain out of the shadowhunter; "Of course I don't, I just can't believe this is real, that Alec is gone. What am I going to tell Izzy? I'm his parabatai, I should have been there to protect him..." Jace stopped, struggling to gain control.
Aidan put a comforting hand on Jace's shoulder; "This isn't your fault, but there will need to be an investigation. I can let the High Warlock of New Orleans know what's happened, but you will have to inform the Clave."
While the other two were talking, Magnus moved back to his earlier position near Alec's body. Nothing else seemed real or important to him. Morag bit back a sob as she watched him take Alec into his arms again and gently stroke his face.
~~~~~ ! ~~~~~
It felt like years but was in fact only a few short hours later that Jace was holding a distraught Izzy in his arms while she railed against whatever power had decreed she lose another brother.
"How could this happen?" She demanded as if Jace should have all the answers.
"I don't know Iz;" He said softly; "They believe magic was used to kill Alec, and as Magnus was the only one with him when he died, he's been arrested and charged with murder;" This latest development had added another layer of shock to an already horrendous day.
"You don't believe that!" Isabelle said harshly, pushing Jace back to search his eyes for the truth.
"No, of course not! I know Magnus loved Alec. I just wish we could find some evidense of what really happened."
"We have to Jace, or else Magnus might be convicted and the Accords will be in ruins! Alec would never forgive us if we didn't do everything we could to save Magnus;" Izzy cried.
"I know Iz, and we will, I promise;" He said pulling her into a tight hug; "I won't rest until we know what really happened and the right person is convicted."
"he or she won't live to stand trial!" Izzy snarled, and Jace, looking at her angry, anguished face, believed her.
A moment later the library door opened and Maryse Lightwood strode into the room. Jace didn't think he had ever seen her look more grim.
"Good, you're both here;" she said briskly; "We must be ready to leave for New Orleans in an hour. Helen and Aline will be coming here to manage the Institute until the trial is over, and your brother has been taken back to Idris and laid to rest next to M-max;"
Only in the slight stumble over Max's name and in the abnormal brightness of her blue eyes could Jace read the devastating effect of Alec's death on their mother. He reached out to her in a gesture of comfort, but stopped when she closed her eyes and gave the briefest shake of her head.
"There will be a lot for us to do when we get there. The Clave is already talking to the Coven about procedures for this unprecedented trial. I need to be sure there is no attempt to sweep this outrage under the carpet, to make sure my son is aveng..."
"Mother! Izzy cried startling them both; "You can't believe Magnus had anything to do with Alec's death!"
"Isabelle, control yourself;" Maryse said sternly; "I don't know what part that warlock played in my son's death, but I do know that but for Magnus Bane, Alexander would be alive today." And with that, she turned on her heel and strode out of the room leaving a stunned Jace and Izzy behind her.