Chapter 4
The High Warlock
a/n- To all my readers. Chapters 2 - 6 part 1 have been modified to enhance this story. A great deal of time and effort has gone into these modifications. If you have already read these chapters, you may wish to read them again. If this is your first time reading, enjoy!
The four Shadowhunters stood outside the building of The High Warlock of Brooklyn's loft. A cold rain had descended upon us during our trek from the Institute, leaving us soaked and shivering. If we were cold in this, Clary thought, Alec must be freezing. Wherever he is. Hopefully he's somewhere inside, warm and dry.
"Are we just going to stand here all day or is someone going to ring the damn buzzer?" I asked.
Jace, Izzy, and Simon looked at me, waiting. With a sigh I reached out, pressing the glamoured button that read "Bane". We stood there for a minute, waiting for a response. After several minutes passed, I reached out, ringing the buzzer again. This time I didn't let up.
"What!?" Someone finally barked through the speaker by the door.
"Were looking for Magnus Bane." I said, pushing more confidence into my voice than I felt.
"And why would four nephilim be looking for The High Warlock of Brooklyn?" The voice said, a sneer obvious in his tone.
"We need his help. Is this Warlock Bane?" I asked.
"Perhaps. What is it that you want, Shadowhunter?" The voice asked through the speaker.
I signed in frustration. I had already told whoever it was behind the damn speaker that we needed The High Warlock's help.
"We need help tracking someone. It's urgent. It could mean then difference between life or death." I said softly.
A heavy sigh came through the speaker. "Come on up. Penthouse." The voice said as the door buzzed, allowing us entrance. Once inside we saw a dingy foyer, and an elevator with an "Out of Order" sign taped to the front. Looking up, we saw flight after flight of old wooden stairs. 'Well, at least I was going to get a workout in' I thought.
"This is going to suck." Simon said, eyeing the never-ending flights of stairs.
"You're a Shadowhunter for angel's sake. Suck it up." Izzy snapped. Her worry over her missing brother had her snapping at her mate.
"Well, we best get started." Jace said, taking the first step.
Together we climbed flight after flight of stairs. After what felt like an eternity, we reached the penthouse floor. After all our training we weren't so much as winded. Standing in an open doorway at the top of the stairs stood a man, examining his blue painted fingernails in the light from the fixture above us. He had caramel colored skin and chocolate brown eyes, his hair gelled into stylish spikes. It was obvious that he was fresh out of bed as he was still wearing what looked like silk pajamas.
"What took you so long? I've been standing here for ages." He said.
Not really. He had only been standing there for a moment, only opening the door as they reach the last flight of stairs. The smell of angel blood and the two alphas permeated his loft the moment they stepped into the building. As a powerful alpha, he had an exceptional sense of smell. Their scents only grew stronger as they ascended the stairs.
"How many flights of stairs was that?" Simon asked. Only Simon would think to ask such a question at a time like this.
"Twenty." The man replied. "Why didn't you just use the elevator? Oh, that's right. I put an out of order sign on it. Well, come on in, I guess. You can tell me about your problem." He said, turning on his heel and walking back into the loft, assuming we would follow. "Mind the cat. He doesn't like strangers." He said absently.
Once inside we did in fact see a small white furball of a cat. It hissed menacingly as we walked past. In the living room he dropped down into a bright plush purple chair. The loft was gorgeous, filled with colorful, comfortable looking furniture and décor. It was a stark contrast to the dingy foyer downstairs. It was beautiful and felt homey. He obviously had exquisite taste. Waving his hand, he gestured for us to sit. Jace sat beside me, Simon on my other side, and Izzy on the end, the two alphas flanking us.
"So, what brings you fine young nephilim to my door at such an early hour? Your lucky I was already awake, otherwise you would all be hopping around like little rabbits. Literally." He smirked.
"We need your help tracking someone." I said.
"So you've already said. Please, do explain. Quickly if you can. I have things to do." He said, obviously uninterested. My patience was growing thin.
"My parabati went missing this morning. We've tried tracking him but can't. We think he's deactivated his tracking rune and I can't find him through our parabati bond or my parabati rune." I said.
"Perhaps he just wanted a bit of time to himself?" He asked, nonplussed.
"He didn't take off because he wanted time to himself!" Izzy snapped.
The warlock's eyebrows rose at her tone. I had to diffuse this, quickly, before she got us thrown out before we could fully explain.
"You'll have to forgive Izzy." I said. "My parabati is her older brother. She's just worried…and scared. You see, Alec is an omega. He presented three months ago on their eighteenth birthday."
"A Shadowhunter omega?" He asked, surprised. "I haven't come across one of those in some time."
"We think that sometime during the night he went into his first heat. All information on omegas has been restricted at the Institute so neither he or us knew what to expect or when. I think it was his panic that woke me when he realized what was happening. I felt this intense fear and panic through our bond. By the time I got to his room, he was gone. He had left the Institute. The only reason we know what happened was because of the intense omega pheromones in his room."
"Go on. You said this was life or death." He prompted, sitting straighter in his chair.
"After we searched the Institute for him, I tried to track him every way we could. But the emotions and pain I felt from him were horrible." I said.
He nodded for me to continue. I swallowed hard, not wanting to reveal Alec's private feelings to this stranger.
"He was scared. Really scared. Alec never gets scared. It was like everything his parents have been telling him since his presentation were racing through his head. Things like how disgusting he was, how repulsive. How worthless he was. He was filled with so much self-hatred and loathing, and he was thinking about how he should just end it. There was just so much pain, physical and mental. We need to find him before he does something he can't undo. This isn't like Alec. He's never been like this. I don't understand why he's feeling these things. I've never felt anything like this from him before. He's such a strong, confident, fierce, loving person. This is not him." Tears trailed down my cheeks as I finished, a heavy silence left hanging in the air.
"An omegas heats are always emotional. The first is always the worst." The warlock finally spoke. "They tend to be very clingy and require constant reassurance from their mate. They are also consumed and often overwhelmed by their body's needs. They require…special treatment, we'll say. If those needs aren't being met, my guess is that's the source of his physical pain, as well as well as some of his emotional distress."
"He doesn't have a mate." I whispered.
"He doesn't have a mate?" The warlock asked. "Has he been claimed?"
"No." I said, the tears flowing freely down my face.
"Then you do have a serious problem. This is, in fact, a life or death situation." He said.
"So you'll help us?" I asked, hopeful.
"I didn't say that. Tell me. Why should I help you? Your nephilim. Shadowhunters. Your kind treats downworlders like we're shit on your shoes. Why should I involve myself with this? My obligations are to the downworld. Not Shadowhunters. If his feelings are as you say they are, this world will have one less Shadowhunter in it. One may not be much, but the less of you there are, the better." He said coldly. His disdain was obvious.
"How can you say that!" Jace exclaimed. "We fought with you, to SAVE you and every other downworlder in the Dark War. We didn't have to 'involve ourselves'. We could have let Valentine make that wish, killing you all in an instant. But we didn't. We wouldn't. We couldn't. Because we're not made that way!"
The warlock's eyebrows rose.
"You may not be that way. Your friends here may not be that way. But the Clave? That is there way." The warlock shot at Jace.
"So your just going to let him die? Let him go off and kill himself because he can't control what he is or what he's going through? After everything he's done, for you and your people, your going to do nothing?" I asked, anger taking hold as I rose to my feet. Izzy and Jace stood, flanking me on either side. I was just a beta in a room with three alphas. Two, at least, were on my side.
"And what is it, exactly, that he has done for me and mine? Other than police the downworld like the rest of you?" He spat at me, obviously unbothered by to two alphas at my side. As an alpha himself, it wasn't in his nature to back down. Neither was it in Jace or Izzy's.
"He ended the fucking Dark War, for the angel's sake!" Izzy shrieked at him. "He put one of his arrows through Valentine's fucking heart! He risked his life to save your sorry ass and everyone else like you, you heartless son of a bitch!" She shouted, shaking with rage.
Provoking Izzy's temper was a dangerous thing to do. She was a badass on a good day. She was a badass bitch from hell on a bad one.
"Alexander Lightwood?" He asked, obviously surprised. "We're taking about Alexander Lightwood, the Archer? He's your missing omega?"
"He is." Jace replied, his tone sharp.
"Well." The warlock said. "You should have started with that in the first place. Of course I'll help you."
"So that's it then? You'll help him because of what he did, and not because he's a person in distress?" Izzy sneered.
"I'm willing to help him for two reason. One, yes, it is because of what he did. He's a hero in the Shadow World, to both Shadowhunters and downworlders alike. The second is because he is an omega in distress. You don't know what life for omegas have been like. You have a lot to learn about omegas and their history. For centuries they've been hunted down and slaughtered like animals for no other reason than for how they were born. Being what I am, I can relate to that. Now, do you have something of his I can use to track him with?" He asked.
"I have his shirt." I said, pulling it from my bag.
Reaching out he snatched it from my hand.
"This should work." He muttered. "Wait here. I'll be right back." He said, rising from his chair. Without a backward glance he turned leave.
"Where are you going?" I asked. I didn't get an answer. Magnus Bane disappeared.
I was pacing the living room anxiously while Jace watched, worry written all over his face. Simon was trying to calm Izzy, holding her nose against the scent glands against the scent glands in his neck so she could breathe in his soothing scent. A beta could soothe their alpha with their scent, just as an alpha could soothe with theirs. She was trembling in his arms. From fear or anger, I didn't know. What felt like hours later Magnus Bane, The High Warlock of Brooklyn, walked quickly back into the room. He was carrying a large map and Alec's shirt.
"What's that?" Jace asked as we all followed him across the room.
"What does it look like?" He asked, laying a large map of New York across the dining table beside the living room. "It's a map."
"How are you going to find him with a map?" I asked, curious.
"You Shadowhunters have your runes to track with. I have magick. If this spell works, it will show me right about where he is." He said.
"What do you mean, "right about" where he is?" Izzy asked, noticeably calmer, clutching Simon's hand in a death grip.
"Well, people do tend to move about a bit. It should get me within a fifteen foot or so radius of him." He said, ripping off a small piece of Alec's shirt. "It shouldn't be hard to locate him. Not with his omega pheromones. Now be quiet. I need to concentrate."
He held the small piece of fabric he had torn from Alec's shirt between his fingers. He closed his eyes and began to chant in some foreign language. It sounded a bit like Latin, but obviously wasn't. Opening his eyes, he snapped his fingers, shooting blue sparks at the torn piece of cloth he held. It caught fire instantly. Repeating the chant one last time he released the burning cloth to float towards the map. He leaned forward, watching as the cloth fluttered down, watching closely for its destination. It finally settled on a small section of Brooklyn before the flames fizzled out.
"Gotcha, little Shadowhunter." He murmured to himself.
Turning from the map he snapped his fingers, dressing himself in a stylish long black designer wool button-up coat, form fitting black pants, dark boots with a small heel, and what looked like a cream-colored cashmere sweater poking from the top of the coat.
"Well, where is he?" I asked impatiently.
"Don't worry, biscuit. I'm going to fetch him now. I'll get there and back faster than you can." He said, circling his arms to make a portal.
"But he doesn't know you! Why would he come with you?" I exclaimed over the roar of the now forming portal.
"It's not me he ran from. I stand a better chance of getting him back here safely. If he ran from you once, he could do it again." He shouted over the roar of the now fully opened portal in the living room.
Without another word he stepped through, the portal vanishing behind him. Once again, Magnus Bane had disappeared.
Alec stood, staring down at the icy water almost three hundred feet below him. The waves crashed viciously against each other in the churning water. He watched as they brutally slammed together, as his thoughts churned and crashed violently in his head. The same thoughts and feelings were running through him, over and over again on a gut-wrenching loop. He was a filthy, worthless omega whore. He was a disgrace to his family and to the Shadowhunter world. He didn't deserve to be a nephilim. He was unworthy of the angel blood running through his veins. He was weak, only good for breeding. He was a disgusting faggot, another slight against the mighty Lightwood name. He should never have been born. His parents no longer claimed him, no longer wanted him as they're son. They were ashamed of him. No one wanted him at the Institute. He was disgusting, a disgrace. He was worthless and didn't deserve to live. 'He was disgusting, worthless, a disgrace, a filthy omega, a disgusting faggot.' All these horrible thoughts just kept racing in circles through his mind, sinking deeper and deeper into his heart and soul.
He took a step closer to the edge of the ledge he was standing on, moving closer to the drop that would end his pain. His body throbbed and ached with a pain and need he didn't understand. He had scratched the back of his neck bloody. Sweat ran down his face despite the freezing January wind tunneling through the bridge and the cold, bitter rain soaking him.
"Are you sure you want to do that?" A melodic voice asked from behind him. "That's an awfully long drop. One I don't think you would survive."
"That's sort of the point." Alec said, not bothering to look back at the man who spoke. The man with the beautiful voice that seemed to wrap around him like a gentle caress, a warm embrace. A man that shouldn't be able to see him through this glamour.
"I know your hurting, Alexander. And I know why. I can help you, if you'll let me. All you have to do is climb down off that ledge." Magnus said gently.
"Why should I? I'm nothing. I'm just a worthless omega. Nobody wants me." Alec said, still staring at the water that would end his suffering.
"That's not true. You are something. A very special something." Magnus said. "Do you really think I would be here if you weren't?" Magnus asked.
"I don't know who you are, or why you're here. And I really don't care." Alec said, feeling a slight pull towards the man behind him, a pull that he didn't understand. But he did understand the thoughts still racing through his mind. The hurtful words. Memories of the way he's been treated since he presented as an omega.
"If you step down, I promise that I can help you. I can take the pain away. All of it. You just have to climb down and take my hand." Magnus said, taking a step closer to the boy on the ledge.
"I don't want to." Alec said, taking the last step forward off the edge.
Magnus threw his magic out, catching Alec before he could fall, sedating him instantly. Moving closer he pulled back with his magic, gently laying Alec's limp body back and onto solid ground. Kneeling, he gazed upon the sleeping Shadowhunter, taking in every inch of the most beautiful face he had ever seen. In all his 800 years he had never seen anyone so beautiful. Alexander Lightwood was absolutely breathtaking.
Circling his arms, he started a portal back to his loft, his eyes never leaving the young Shadowhunters face. Ever so gently he took the young Shadowhunter in his arms, lifting him from the cold, wet, concrete. The scent of the young nephilim hit him like a truck. The most beautiful scent he'd ever known wrapped around him, invading his senses. He inhaled deeply, savoring the scent, before stepping through the portal, his Shadowhunter sleeping peacefully in his arms.
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