A/N: Hey guys, I have a youtube channel now! I've only one video up so far (and a trailer) but I'll be posting videos concerning the Mortal Instruments/Shadowhunters, including crack videos, fluff and ship vids! Liking, commenting and subscribing would be a massive help to me and if you let me know that you're a fan from here, I'll sub you back! :)
: / / w w w . / U C _ w
If that link doesn't work (with no spaces, obviously) then you can find me under Erin Curran or Erin Curran (just another Malec girl) I'm working on a video called The Mortal Instruments: The Musical which will be posted up asap :)
Sorry about the rambling and shameless self-promotion! On with the story . . . !
Chapter Ten
Isabelle took another vision, courtesy of Clary's rune, in the alleyway across from her house. Alec and Magnus left through there, by a portal Magnus conjured himself. From what she could see, Alec had not, in any way, been captured. In fact, Magnus didn't lay a hand on him. The way they spoke to each other put Isabelle in mind of a bickering couple, actually.
Once she'd relayed this back to Clary, the small red head noticed a burn mark in the ground. The sign of a portal having sat there.
"So they could be anywhere," Isabelle deflated.
"Afraid so," Clary muttered. She ran a hand through her hair and tried to think of a solution. "It's not like we can even go to the Clave. Portal Burns aren't anything new. I can easily see them brushing it off, claiming that it probably remained from the last time the Shadowhunters had to be transported to Battle by one of their prisoners."
"Fuckers," Isabelle cursed. She pressed her palms against the alley wall and inhaled, forcing herself to keep her emotions in order. Isabelle was normally a very collected girl. She had a strong will and didn't let many things bother her. However, her one and only weakness was her family. Anyone who messed with her family were asking for a death sentence.
"Alec can look after himself," Clary reminded her, trying to be helpful in some way.
The early morning darkness was freezing cold but Isabelle barely felt a chill. The heels of her boots echoed in the enclosed space as she tapped her foot against the ground impatiently. "I know," she ground out. "But I can't trust that Magnus guy. Not until I've met him myself and know will absolute certainty that he is not a threat to my brother."
"But I said"-Clary began.
"I know what you said," Isabelle replied. "And I'm not calling you a liar. However, my brother could potentially be in danger. Maybe not from Magnus but from other Downworlders. That's why we never travel alone outside of Idris or our Institutes. A Shadowhunter gets tangled with Downworlders? They'll be torn apart. Or worse . . ."
Clary rubbed her arms, even though she was wearing three layers of clothes on top of them. "Worse . . . ?" she prompted.
"I don't know," Isabelle admitted, her expression grave. "But it can't be good. Not where the Downworlders-the bad apples, that is-are concerned. They'd try anything to win this war."
Clary shivered, her teeth beginning to chink together. Not from the cold but from the implications of Isabelle's words. The Downworlders had magic and trickery on their sides, hence why they had gained such a huge advantage over the years. They were capable of much more than the Shadowhunters in terms of what they could attempt to do to their captives. The Shadowhunters tried to make up for it by taking their torture to the extreme but no amount of beating could ever match the wave of a warlock's hand, no matter how hard they tried.
"Someday you and I will have to barge into Downworlders' homes for no good reason and slaughter them," Isabelle murmured. "All in the name of this stupid war." She looked at Clary with a sadness in her dark eyes. "At least you have Jace. Someday I will have to go on duty leave with whoever I'm matched with as well, because I'm single."
"You could try to find someone?" Clary suggested.
Isabelle shook her head. "No," she answered plainly. "It's fine, though. I accepted that. I thought, 'fine, screw you Clave but fine, I'll follow your damn rules.' I have done that sort of thing many times-I am far, far, far from pure-but then you . . . then you have my brother who . . . who . . ."
"Who's gay?" Clary asked gently.
Isabelle exhaled and pushed away from the wall. "I would fight the entire Clave and whoever else wants to get in my way if it meant protecting Alec and who he is."
Clary stepped closer to Isabelle and hugged her. Isabelle was much taller than her in her heeled boots but Clary just pushed up onto her toes. "I know," the red head sighed. Isabelle wasn't much for affection, with Alec and Max as easy exceptions, but she was grateful for Clary's understanding.
When Clary let go and stepped back, Isabelle noticed something. Clary's hand was against her stomach, as if she were concerned about a . . . about a baby. "Are you . . . ?"
"I don't know," Clary murmured, eyes falling to her stomach. "The tests say no but . . . but I've been feeling something recently."
"Does Jace know?" Isabelle asked, eyes wide with shock.
"Does Jace know what?"
The girls jumped in surprise. Clary spun around to the end of the alleyway, where Jace had appeared and was now approaching them. "Where's Max?" Isabelle demanded.
"The Loregoods are looking after him. I just said that you, Clary and I had matters to attend to," Jace answered. He looked to Clary and raised his eyebrows. "Do I know what?"
"Nothing," Clary answered. "It doesn't matter. What are you doing here?"
Jace sighed and brushed his blond hair back from his eyes. "I don't like Downworlders," he stated. "Alec, however, is my brother and if he is in danger then I want to help. I'm not going to sit on my ass and do nothing. No way."
Isabelle should have expected that kind of attitude from Jace. "The more the merrier," she said flatly. "Except for one problem: I have no idea where to begin this search."
As if luck were shining down on them, or the odds just decided to swing in their favour, a portal reopened in the exact same spot it had done before. It further charred the Portal Burn on the ground, roasting it practically to dust. The three jumped back, saving themselves from being bumped into by a frantic Alec, who charged out of the blue abyss like he was on fire. He was closely followed by the warlock, Magnus Bane, who seemed to be in a lot less of a hurry than his partner in crime.
In person, Magnus was an extremely bright character. Isabelle had a glimpse of his looks and fashion sense through her visions but it did not prepare her for the extravagance of his actual presence. Even in the three o'clock dark, he stood out like a shiny new penny. Sparkles of glitter shimmering off his skin as if he used the stuff as an exfoliator. He was hot, Isabelle could understand her brother's attraction, however she feared what he was capable of. What he could do with a simple flick of his wrist.
"Alec!" Isabelle exclaimed, causing the older boy to jump with surprise. The collar of his jacket was pulled up to engulf his neck, making him look quite comical. He had almost walked past them, he was in that much of a hurry. "Where the hell have you been?"
Alec looked stunned to have ran into them, stepping backwards in the direction of the portal, almost of if he was afraid of them. "What are you doing here?" he asked apprehensively.
"No, no, no," Jace said, golden eyes trained only on Alec. Isabelle was immensely grateful for this as she knew that he was trying not to pick a fight with Magnus until he knew for sure what was happening by focusing his attention entirely on Alec. "You are the one who disappeared. You explain to us what happened."
"Would you believe me if I said I got lost?" Alec asked weakly.
Isabelle smacked him, her anger having reached a peak point. "Don't ever scare me like that again!" she snapped.
"Scare you? I told you"-
"Don't you mean lied?" Isabelle interrupted.
Alec sighed, exhaustion clearly having weighed him down. "How did you find out?" he asked.
"It looks like My Little Pony threw up in your sink," Clary answered. Her eyes fell on the black glove covering Alec's hand. It was fingerless but his hands were clenched into tight fists, like he was trying to hide something.
"And you're not exactly the type to use glitter." Isabelle's gaze slid past Alec and onto Magnus. "I presume it was yours."
Magnus raised his eyebrows. "I can assure you I did not throw up in Alexander's sink," he said. "However, what you describe does sound similar to the glitter I use." He examined his fingernails, each one detailed with their own individual smattering of glitter. "I must have shed some when I was"-Alec shot him a sharp look and Magnus paused, a frown etching onto his face as he tried to come up with a feasible excuse without exposing that he had been in Alec's room.
"We know you were in his room together," Isabelle said, deciding it best to relieve them of having to lie again.
While Alec was horrified and frankly embarrassed that his sister knew this, Magnus' catlike eyes sparkled a little with interest. "The rune, on your arm," he said. "It's not in the book, am I right?"
Alec grabbed Isabelle's arm and pushed her sleeve up, exposing the rune Clary had created an hour prior. It wasn't as dark as it had been when it was first drawn but it was still very clear on Isabelle's skin. "What does this do?" he asked Clary.
Alec had never been fond of Clary using anyone but himself as a tester for the runes she envisioned. A lot of the time Clary saw patterns but wouldn't know what they did until she drew them. Alec never wanted Isabelle to be used as a test subject for new runes, especially when they didn't know what they were.
"It helped me see," Isabelle said, pulling her away to stop him fretting. "I saw everything that happened in your room. Everything that happened in this spot."
Shaking his head, Alec exhaled and accepted that there was no talking out of this. "Um, Magnus, this is my sister Isabelle, my brother Jace and his girlfriend Clary," he said with a twinge of resignation in his voice.
"I know Clary very well," Magnus grinned, sounding nostalgic. Clary smiled back at him, as if she had been greeted by an old friend.
"Stop trying to change the subject," Jace said. "Care to explain why you're wandering around with a warlock, Alec?"
Alec opened his mouth but no words came out. He shut it again and floundered, unable to think of what to say. Instead, Magnus stepped in, "Alexander is helping me with important matters. Matters than I'm sure you wouldn't believe if I told you, since I'm sure you've convinced yourself that all I'll have to say is lies."
"It's the Downworlders marking themselves, isn't it?" Clary asked.
Magnus nodded. "It is, indeed."
Jace, unconvinced, kept probing. "Why would you help us? You're a warlock, a Downworlder, you're not one of us. How do we know that you're not just trying to integrate with us and then report back to your people about our strengths and weaknesses?"
"Magnus wouldn't do that," Alec said.
Jace looked at his brother incredulously. "How do you know?" he asked. "You barely know this guy. He's been with you for what? A day? And you're already defending him?!"
Alec tugged the collar of his jacket further up, if that were possible, and folded his arms tightly across his chest. "He saved me," he muttered. "From some merfolk. He could have left me but he didn't. If he were really trying to integrate he would have left me for dead and tried to find someone else."
Magnus laid a hand on Alec's shoulder, ignoring the glare it earned from Jace, and asked in a quiet voice, "Do you want to tell them or should I?"
"No," Alec murmured. "If you tell them Jace will try to wring in your neck."
"Tell us what?" asked Isabelle with a frown.
Alec closed his eyes and huffed, reluctant to say anything at all. He turned his back on them, to face the portal. Uncurling his hands, so that the others couldn't see, he stared at them miserably. Over the course of the hours it had taken for himself and Magnus to rest after the encounter with Caspian and Laguna, the effects of being a hybrid of the merfolk started taking hold.
His fingers had become webbed, the fingernails having grown into sharp claws. Gills had developed in his neck and, as he pulled his jacket down so they weren't covered anymore, the cold night air made them react as if he were underwater. He coughed, breathing having become difficult since the discovery, and Magnus reached forward to aid him-like he had been ever since Alec had begun showing signs of being part merfolk-but wasn't able to make it far.
As soon as the other Shadowhunters had seen the magic forming around Magnus' hand, they reacted fearfully. Isabelle gasped and scrambled for her whip while Jace had his seraph blade out instantly, pointing it at warlock and causing him to pause.
"Don't touch him with your filthy magic," Jace spat.
Alec rubbed his throat, trying to get some air in to tell Jace it was okay, but the last dosage of magic he had received before they left was beginning to wear off. Magnus was calm, nonchalant for someone with a blade pointed at his chest, and simply said, "If you do not let me help then Alexander will die."
"What?" Isabelle snapped. "Why?"
Magnus glanced at Alec and quirked an eyebrow. "Are you going to tell them or . . . ?"
Alec ground his teeth together and turned back around, holding his hands out for the three of them to see. Clary's jaw unhinged while Isabelle gasped again, horror having captured them both when they weren't expecting it. Jace's reaction was the most comical as he became so stunned that his seraph blade fell from his hands and nearly sliced his foot off.
Magnus used the opportunity to seize the back of Alec's neck, letting his magic flow through the Shadowhunters skin and into his lungs. Alec gasped, thankful for the ability to breathe again. He took in the mortified expressions of his family and looked away shamefully. "I'm a hybrid," he explained. "Of the merfolk."
"What?" Clary asked, clearly confused.
"They thought a hybrid would end the war, all they needed was someone to do it to," Alec continued. "I got away but consumed their blood, meaning I have Downworlder blood running through my system."
"This is bullshit," Jace spat. He stepped over his seraph blade and pointed at Magnus angrily. "This is your fault. What do you want with him, huh? Why are you destroying his life like this? His values? What he's been raised to do like the rest of us? Why are you throwing Alec in the line of fire? Is it to protect yourself? What exactly is your game, warlock?"
"Jace," Clary said, voice bordering on warning.
"Am I the only one seeing something wrong here?!" Jace exclaimed.
Magnus regarded Jace with a cool expression, not at all fazed by being confronted or screamed at. "Alexander and I"-
"What's with the 'Alexander', too?!" Jace demanded. "Nobody calls him that!"
"For heaven's sake you don't know when to shut up," Magnus said with exasperation. He flicked his fingers and silenced Jace. No matter how hard the blond tried, no sound would come out of his mouth. Alec, Isabelle and Clary gaped, stunned at how easy it had been for Magnus to get Jace to shut his mouth. Well, sort of shut his mouth.
"Now that that is taken care of," Magnus said, dusting his hands off. "I would gladly explain everything. As long as I am not approached in such a hostile manner again." He grinned at the three shocked and one vengeful Shadowhunters. "Tea, anyone?"
A/N: So Clary may be pregnant and Alec is a hybrid! :O
I won't be updating next week as I will be in London for the week. Whether I'll be able to update the week after is also in flux right now because I return on the Sunday and might not have enough time to whip something up. I'll try, though! :)