A/N:

Here's another update for you all to enjoy, thanks again for the reviews, really does mean a lot!

This one is longer than the other, (3,554 words) not including this rambling. But it's worth it. Also in this chapter if you're wondering what the Viking statue they're discussing... Jace is asking Magnus about the Viking God Freyr. The statue (thanks google images) is a small bronze figure and Freyr is, well you can imagine. Or you can google it.

Will try update again this weekend.

Laters.

25.

(The next day)

It had been a long night interrogating the mundane boy, named Nigel, and Magnus needed a break. He still felt weak but the fear in knowing Lucinda had his Alec. It was a horrible feeling but it kept him going. He wished he could go through Nigel's mind and rummage through it, but the state he was currently in he knew he could cause serious harm to the boy. As much as Magnus wouldn't mind seeing him a quivering wreck for even believing in a Warlock like Lucinda, he couldn't do it. He was better than Lucinda. Alec had made him better.

He knew Nigel wasn't alone, Jem and Tessa stayed with him and watched over him, trying to get as much information from him as they could. Nigel would not open up to hardly any of them, but seemed to manage ok with Jem. There were other reasons why he wouldn't open up to any of the others, especially Jace and Isabelle who both threatened to rip him to shreds if he didn't spill. Simon literally had to drag her away from him and both Robert and Maryse had no luck either. One look from either of them sent the boy in fits of hysterical cries. Magnus wondered if they reminded him of his parents. Which, from Jem he had found out they had been murdered by demons. Magnus wasn't too sure on that. They may have been demons, but maybe they had been controlled somehow or summoned by Lucinda.

The stuff, even the little amount they knew on her, Magnus wouldn't put it past her.

Magnus closed his eyes, praying Alec was ok.

"Thought i'd find you out here." Jace spoke as he walked towards Magnus where he sat on a stone bench at the side of the Institute. "How are you holding up?"

Magnus looked at him. "Not well." Magnus sighed, noticing Jace holding something that belonged to Alec, it was a watch. "You tried the tracking spell didnt you?"

Jace nodded "I had to try something, but nothing has worked. Even Clary's been trying to think of runes to help us and has gotten nothing." Jace sat down next to Magnus.

Magnus looked at Jace and could see the strain he was under. "Your bond between Alec, have you felt anything? Magnus asked, hoping for good news.

Jace shook his head "I remember Alec telling me what it was like when I was under Sebastian's influence, it feels similar to that. He's still alive, that much I am certain of."

Magnus smiled weakly at him then lowered his head down. "I am such a fool."

"Why?" Jace asked, actually concerned. No hidden sarcastic remark to be made.

"Because here I am almost loosing my mind not knowing what next step to take while Alec could be harmed at any moment and there is nothing I could do to stop it. I should not be a high Warlock, I am not strong enough to be this."

Jace looked at him then. "Magnus, You are strong. You and Alec both are. He will fight for you and I know you will not give up on him either."

"No I am not Jace, but thanks for the pep talk."

Jace glared at him. "If you weren't dating my best friend I'd have punched you by now. Magnus, you are!"

Magnus stood then and watched through the metal iron bars surrounding the Institute, along with the weeds that covered them. Jace knew he wasn't watching the mundane world on the outside. He was thinking about his past. "Jace, I am not a Shadowhunter, nor am I a warrior. I am a coward, and I have been known in the past to run away from danger and hide out while it blows over."

"But you have fought before. You faced Valentine alone once before. Alec told me so." Jace stood and made Magnus face him. "You are brave, Alec knows you are. And I know you are too."

"And how do you know?" Magnus inquired, folding his arms.

"Because you are still here. Because you are willing to do what is right and not let Alec down." Jace placed a hand on his shoulder. "You are the bravest Warlock I have ever known. Even with all the glitter."

"Thank you Jace, you are not a complete arse after all."

Jace smirked. "Oh, but I am."

Magnus didn't say anything else to him as he saw Jem coming towards them both, Magnus saw his face. He had news.

"Nigel has given us the address of where he and Lucinda had been staying here in New York. Clary is making a portal for us now to leave."

Magnus instantly went with Jem as did Jace. They saw Clary by the wall of the Institute making a portal, as everyone stood there watching. Including the mundane.

"What is he doing here?" Jace asked staring at Nigel who had his hands tied behind his back, Magnus saw this and guessed they still didn't trust him yet.

Robert answered. "He will be going with you Jace. Jem has volunteered to lead the search, while you and Magnus go with him."

Isabelle was sulking next to Simon, Magnus had guessed Robert had put his foot down making sure his daughter did not follow. He wasn't going to say anything, Magnus still felt strange knowing Robert had saved his life. He didn't know how to deal with it. Seeing Robert's gaze on him, Robert seemed fine Magnus hadn't said anything. Maybe looked rather relieved. It was a strange feeling which Magnus shoved to the back of his mind.

"Why just us three?" Jace inquired.

"We will be here for back up, there is no point in all of us charging in. We know Lucinda is powerful, we will be here ready if you need us." Maryse said, and Magnus could see they were all ready with weapons and in their Shadowhunter gear. Isabelle was still pissed that she was not going with them first.

Magnus moved to Isabelle. "Izzy, I highly doubt Alec will be there, let alone Lucinda."

"I know, i just feel so useless. It's my brother Magnus."

Magnus understood well. She'd lost Max, she didn't want to loose Alec. "Izzy, you are not useless. If something happens, you will be my first point of contact. I promise you."

Isabelle smiled a bit of that as Clary called them all over. The portal was ready. Magnus watched Tessa kiss Jem and Clary hug Jace, it hurt seeing them but he knew Alec was waiting so he didn't dawdle. When all three of them were ready they all step through the portal together, dragging Nigel along with them.

Both Jem and Magnus landed gracefully as did Jace but lost his balance a bit as he was holding onto Nigel. Jem instantly took his arm and helped him up. It reminded Magnus of how he would've been with Will. Jem would always help Jace, he was sure he reminded him of Will. Seeing his look, Magnus's thought was spot on.

"You know, I wouldn't have landed flat on my face if my hands weren't tied." Nigel protested.

Jem took him off of Jace, possible thinking Jace would hurt him, as Jace replied "Maybe we should gag you as well. Give us some quiet."

"Jace, enough." Magnus said then turned to Nigel, seeing Jem untying his hands from behind his back and then retying them at his front. "This is Lucinda's apartment?"

"Yes, exactly how we left it. Do I really need to be here."

"Of course. Just in case Lucinda's left us a nasty trap, we can feed you to it instead of it attacking us."

Nigel instantly fell silent as Jem gave Jace a disapproving look but still managed to smile. It was official, Jace was a descendant of Will.

They had landed inside the apartment's main living room and it was dark. The curtains and blinds were still closed and there was a still eerily silence. Jace instantly took out his witchlight and it shone. The place had been deserted but they kept on their guard. Even if Lucinda had left in a hurry, there would no doubt be traps waiting for them. Magnus was sure of that.

Jem headed towards the kitchen with Nigel who quietly protesting next to him while Magnus and Jace moved towards the bedrooms. All of them stayed quiet as they searched through the apartment as they went, being careful not to touch or disturb anything when they searched. Magnus was sure there was a trap somewhere left for them, he was certain of it.

Walking down the corridor towards the master bedroom, Jace noticed the dozen of old statues on each side of the the walls displayed on side boards. Each one looked ancient, and had different expressions on the faces. Jace moved his light towards one of them as he studied it. They were small, could easily fit in the palm of your hands, but Jace did not touch it.

"How old are these things?"

Magnus looked at the piece, recognised them from Viking history which he looked into once for a client a while back. "Pretty old, these are all statues of the Viking gods."

Jace raised an eyebrow. "And were they normally displayed in that manor."

Magnus looked at all the bronze statues and saw what he meant. "Some, yes."

Jace pulled away from the statues but Magnus saw something, a shimmer of a movement and within a second Magnus jumped at Jace knocking them both to the ground as the statue came to life as it grew in size and dived at the two of them. It landed on Magnus's back and shoved it's fist into his shoulder. Easily ripping through his skin and muscle.

Jace instantly grabbed hold of the living statue and threw it as hard as he could against the wall, hoping it would smash. Thankfully it did as it's head came away and both parts fell to the floor.

"Are you alright?" Jace asked him.

Grabbing his shoulder, which hurt like hell he started to heal himself or at least stop the bleeding. "I'll live..." Magnus said then his eyes widened, Jace turned and saw all the other statues coming to live and growing much bigger in size. Almost as tall as the two of them. Jace instantly pulled Magnus up then pulled out his selpth blade. He named it in time as the first of the Viking God charged at him.

Magnus ignored his aching shoulder and using his good arm shot blazes of blue lightening at the statues, working together with Jace to destroy them. Soon enough Magnus saw daggers flying past their heads as they bedded deep into the statues ones, making them crumble to the ground. Jem was behind them, helping them.

Soon enough Jace took out the last one. They all stood in the remains of the statues in silence.

"What the hell was that?" Nigel asked, shocked at what he'd witness.

Jem bent down and studied one of them. "Looks like they were enchanted somehow, I've seen something similar like this before."

Magnus saw his look and remembered the Infernal Devices from their past. Jace walked towards Nigel then and Magnus had to stop him.

"Ever seen these before, or did you forget to tell us about them?" Jace glared at him.

Nigel's eyes widened. "I've never seen them before, ever! They weren't here yesterday, I swear."

Jace did not look impressed but kept his mouth shut. His look was enough to make Nigel feel small enough.

"Ok, Nigel, tell us if there is anything else new or out of place here. We need to know." Jem asked him kindly.

Nigel just nodded and Magnus, still with his injured shoulder headed straight towards the master bedroom. Jace stopped him and took the lead while Jem stayed at the back with Nigel. Jace opened the double doors and headed into the room. It was pitch black, shadows laid everywhere when Jace's witchlight shone in the room. However they all noticed one thing. Something was laying in the bed, underneath the sheets.

With a flick of his fingers, Magnus moved the sheets to revel what laid beneath it. All their eyes widened. They weren't expecting that.

"That's... That's never, I mean I've never seen her before!" Nigel managed to get out from his shock. Magnus was sure he'd never seen her before, seeing the sudden shock in his eyes and the paleness of his skin. Magnus cautiously walked towards the bed to see the young blonde haired girl. He recognised her immediately. After all she was the lovely young girl who flirted with him in the beauty palour a couple of days ago. Her eyes were fixed wide open starring at the ceiling, her lips pale blue and her body unmoving.

He closed his eyes. "Sally."

"Who is Sally?" Jem asked as Nigel's face paled even more, his eyes widened. "Nigel what is it?" Jem turned to face him, concerned. "Do you know her?"

"No... I never met her, it's just Lucinda said..."

"She said what?"

Nigel swallowed a dry lump he'd grown as he faced all three of them. "She lied to me. Lucinda said she got her to help get information about you and Alec. But she said she didn't hurt her... Wouldn't hurt me... I believed her." Nigel dropped to his knees as they gave in on him, his whole body trembling.

Magnus felt sorry for him. Jem, from the expression he had truly felt for him as he knelt down next to him and placed an arm around him as the boy broke down. Even Jace seemed to feel sorry for the kid.

There were times, like these, that he truly despised his own kind. Lucinda Cross gave every decent Warlock a bad name. No wonder why they'd had so much trouble in the past. Warlocks were not above and beyond all other creatures of this world. Lucinda obviously hadn't got that memo.

Magnus turned to see Jace looking over the girl, Sally. His eyes glanced up and met his. "I understand why Lucinda would kill her, but I don't see why she left her here for anyone to find."

"I can answer that!" The girl, Sally suddenly spoke as her body rapidly came back to live and hurtled up into the air, levitating high above the bed as her face glared down at all of them. Nigel freaked and crawled into a corner, shaking with fear as Magnus, Jace and Jem took a step back to witness Sally. It was obvious to Magnus, Sally's body had become possessed. She was official Lucinda's puppet.

"Look at you all..." Demonic Sally spat out. "Little Angels and a demon brat trying to find me. You are all pathetic!"

"Where's Alec!" Jace snapped back, blade ready in hand to slice Demonic Sally in two.

Demonic Sally pouted childishly at him. "Aww, you miss your Paratabi friend... Do not fear, he is very comfortable with me. He is very precious to me."

"Lucinda, you will let him go." Magnus stated as blue sparks started to appear from his fingertips. "Or I will come after you, nothing will stand in my way."

Dominic Sally pondered this for a moment. "No, besides, he believes you are dead! I need to comfort him, and I shall." She smiled wickedly.

Magnus's eyes widened. "You bitch! What else have you done to him!"

Demonic Sally laughed, "That's for me to know, and for Alec to scream in ecstasy about later." She ended with a wink.

"That's it!" Jace charged at her, jumped on the bed and dived at her with his blade. Demonic Sally moved out of his way with ease as well as striking her hand across the head sending him flying into Magnus. They both fell back into the the built in wardrobes as the wood work broke and fell apart around and over them. Jem was already armed with his dagger as he threw it at Demonic Sally. It struck her in her side. She hardly seemed to notice.

Pulling it out, black liquid poured out of her wound as Demonic Sally returned it swiftly at Jem. It caught his on his arm but did not penetrate, instead it fell to the floor. As he was distracted for the brief second she flew at him and pinned him against the wall. Her hand wrapped around his throat as the other held his arms above his head.

"James Carstairs, how is my new best friend Tessa?" She grinned face to face with Jem, then licked her newly demonic tongue over his face. Jem grimaced with the touch making the demonic bitch laugh. "You taste good, I can see why Tessa likes you so much."

Magnus couldn't move to go help him, Jace was unconscious on top of him and he was still trapped in between both Jace and what was left of the wardrobe, part of which was inbedded in his leg and once again his already injured shoulder. "Lucinda!" He cried over at them. "Leave him, if you want someone, take me! You want me dead more than him."

"Magnus no." Jem managed to get out through the tightness of Sally's grip.

"You're right, after all you are already dead to Alec." Sally spat and flung Jem aside. Magnus saw Jem hit the wall, hard and fall. His gaze was then filled with Sally's face in his. "I am going to enjoy killing you."

Magnus glared at her as she reached out to grab him until the unexpected happen. Demonic Sally curled up in shear pain when the drapes of the bedroom were swung wide open. The sunlight hitting her abruptly causing her body to instantly burn. She turned to see Nigel standing by the window with the curtains ripped in his hands.

"You bastard child!" She shrieked at him "You will not betray me! You will be silenced, forever!" She screamed once more as she charged towards him. Nigel froze instantly but a flash of white shone past his face as Jem, recovered from his earlier assault, with his seraph blade in hand went at Demonic Sally and swiftly removed her head. Her body instantly disintegrated.

Nigel fell against the glass of the patio window as Jem replaced his blade. "Are you alright?" He asked Nigel. Nigel just nodded as Jem gently squeezed the boy's arm then moved to Magnus and Jace.

"Help Jace first." Magnus said and Jem nodded, taking Jace's steele from his belt and instantly drawing Iratze on his forehead, arms and anywhere else he could see injuries. Nigel came to Magnus's side, still stunned.

"Is he... Will he be ok?" He asked.

Jace suddenly groaned and his body shifted slightly. "I think Jace will be back to his usual self in no time." Magnus answered while he turned to Nigel. "That was brave and good thinking on your part, thank you." Nigel smiled weakly and Magnus saw his hands were still bound. With his good hand, Magnus flicked his fingers and the rope tying him fell loose and dropped to the ground.

Nigel rubbed his wrists. "Thanks. Will you be ok?" He asked, genuinely concerned at the state he was in.

"I'll be fine once this lump gets off of me." Magnus stated as Jace reopened his eyes and with Jem's help, stood up. Seeing Jace's, and the other's two expressions on his current state Magnus waved him off. "I have looked much worse." He said pulling out the bits of wood and started to heal himself.

"That's true." Jace said but left it there. "But right now, we're back at the beginning."

"Least we know Alec has not been harmed." Jem added trying to shed some light on the situation.

"We still don't have anything useful to track her. I doubt anything here will help."

Magnus was standing now "Oh, I wouldn't say that." He turned to face Nigel. Nigel blinked at him and stared at them all.

"But I don't know where they are? I would tell you if I did. I swear."

"And I believe you Nigel." Magnus said. "But I believe you do know, you just don't know yourself."

"Of course. His mind could be blocked, like Clary's was." Jace said.

"That would also explain why Lucinda said what she said before we stopped her." Jem added.

"Nigel." Magnus said looking at the young boy. "You have been used and betrayed by a Warlock for such a long time and from such a young age. I believe she has hidden things from your mind which could help us. You don't have any right to be used by another Warlock ever again, but I am asking you. Will you give me your permission to look through your memories? I promise on mine and Alec's life I will not harm you. That is the greatest promise I can give."

Nigel looked at him and nodded. "Yes. I want to help." He smiled, for the first time in their company.

Jem smiled at the boy while Jace gave him a look of gratitude. Magnus too smiled back at the lad. "I hope you can."