Chapter Eight

For so long she'd wondered.

Since that night over eight years ago the question had haunted her, especially on nights when the memories became too much. Nights where she awakened certain she'd lost her eldest child only to find him awake in the training room or fast asleep in his bedroom.

As if it had been only yesterday, she remembered waking with the feeling of dread hot and heavy in her gut as the wards alerted her to the fact that one of her children was injured. Remembered the warring confusion and fear that had overtaken her, because none of her children had been on patrol and when she'd gone to bed only Alec had been gone. (A fact that hadn't bothered her because he had liked to take late walks if he couldn't sleep.)

Worse, she remembered the sight that had greeted her when she'd opened the Institute doors, her husband's horrified gasp the only indication that what she was seeing wasn't just a terrifyingly realistic nightmare.

Alec, her beautiful baby boy, lay unconscious on the steps, pale skin stained with blossoming bruises and blood. His arm was at an awkward angle, blood staining his lips and trailing down his chin. Worse was the way his breath rattled and stuttered in his chest, as if each breath took a greater toll on him than the last. She had wanted to think that a monster had done this and yet...the bruises were shaped like a human's fist, the mark on his jaw damning.

When they'd taken him to the silent brothers, his injuries too severe for infirmary, they'd been in for an even harsher awakening.

He hadn't fought back.

One of the brother's had told them that there was no sight of defense on their son, and, he'd added almost hesitantly, that hadn't been the most shocking part.

Had they not taken him to the Silent brothers, two lives would've been lost that night.

Her son was one of Mihael's blessed.

He was pregnant.

He hadn't fought his attacker.

Had let someone close enough to hurt him.

The conclusion had enraged her.

She had snarled for them to find any trace of the man that had done this to her son but they'd only said that there was none. That only Alec could tell them who it was.

So they'd waited.

They'd waited, but when Alec had awakened he'd said nothing.

Had given away nothing.

Now, as Valentine's words registered in her mind, she realized why.

"Oh mio angelo," The bastard had breathed, one hand cupping her son's cheek, his smile possessive and dark, "I wish I'd had the strength to kill you."

Alec shuddered at his words, but the man's caress of his cheek turned into a bruising grip as the smile twisted. "You have a way of making me derail even my most well-thought plans. Tell me, my love, do you know why I spared you all those years ago?"

"Get the hell away from my son, Morganstern!" She snarled, yanking hard enough that she nearly broke free of her captor, but her former friend chuckled.

"Oh Maryse, Alexander has always been mine. You knew this the moment he was born. Now Alexander, do you know why?"

The younger said nothing, looking away, stiffening as the rebel's free hand dropped to rest on his abdomen.

"No." He breathed and Valentine smirked.

"Yes." He responded. "Where is my son, beloved?"

Alec glared at him defiantly, but she could see the way his hands shook if only slightly.

"Jace-"

Those dark eyes narrowed and the grip he had on Alec's face tightened until it was almost bruising. "Do NOT lie to me. Where is he?"

The archer flinched, but remained stubbornly silent and she felt a small measure of pride well in her chest at the tiny gesture of rebellion.

After a moment, Valentine seemed to realize that Alec wouldn't say anything because his eyes flashed a dangerous vivid blue.

"I see." He rumbled and at his feet, she saw the shadows shift. "I've been going about this all wrong."

The man leaned closer to Alec and kissed him, and she swore she could see something emitting a dull glow behind his teeth. The other stiffened, then a scream, the likes of which she'd never heard left him, while Valentine smirked in satisfaction. Taking the screaming shadowhunter from his follower, he turned, ignoring their cries for Alec, their snarled threats and left, taking her son with him. All she could hear as her own captor knocked her unconscious, were those cold parting words her whispered to the raven's writhing form.

"It's time to wake up, my love."

*/*

His father had taken his parabatai.

Jace stared ahead stunned as the events of the past hour raced through his mind, everything from the fear in his brother's eyes, to the pure obsession in Valentine's.

None of it made sense.

As far as he knew, Alec had never been in a relationship before Bane, and even if he had, how could they have missed the signs. And how had he come to fall for Valentine? The man was a monster, something he'd known even when the man was pretending to be Michael Weyland, and worse he knew just how cruel he could be to people he "loved".

How had they even met?

Everything in him wanted to deny what he'd seen and yet…

Yet, he could still remember the intensity that had sparked between the two, the way Alec seemed to alternately flinch and lean into the man's touch. He could see the way Valentine had glared at Magnus as if he'd violated everything the man stood for and it occurred to him that the man must know about the two being an item.

Then there were the words Valentine had uttered to his brother.

"Where is my son, beloved?"

Could it be possible that he had a brother out here? And if so, how? Alec was a man, and therefore unable to bear children.

He snarled angrily, feeling his parabatai rune ache with echoes of pain from Alec's side of their bond and tried to push back feelings of comfort.

Beside him, he heard the other's beginning to stir and he scowled, fixing his gaze on the one person that seemed to know what was going on.

Maryse had a lot of explaining to do.

*/*

Something had gone wrong.

Despite the level of mischief he normally caused at his own institute, Max was extraordinarily smart and he could tell with each passing moment that something had gone horrifically wrong after he'd been sent to hide in his m-brother's office. With each moment, dread built in his gut, almost enough to make him nauseous when paired with the adrenaline racing through his veins.

Finding a seraph blade hidden under the desk, he grabbed it and moved toward the door, feeling a strange calm wash over him. Tightening his grip on the blade, he loped forward, slipping from the office with nary a word.

The Invasion seemed to be over.

All around him, he could see Alec's people tending to their wounded, those in good health working to gather the dead, both their own and the enemy's.

None of his siblings were present.

A small niggle of fear slipped into his calm and he stopped one of the passing shadowhunters.

"Have you seen my brother?"

The man frowned. "Last I saw, him and Maryse were heading to the library to warn your sister and the Fairchild girl."

He nodded and thanked the man, racing toward the library.

As he arrived, he saw his "father" arriving as well, the man's brow rising as he saw the seraph blade in his hand. He ignored the silent question, pushing the door open only to still.

He could see Jace awake and staring at Maryse's awakening form, curiosity and fury in his gaze. Isabelle, seeming just awakening, was helping the Fairchild girl up, the girl's pet vampire frowning as he muttered something under his breath about being rude. Meanwhile, Bane was awake as well, his dark eyes wide and stunned as he stared at Maryse.

There was no Alec.

"Where's Alec?"

Jace jolted while Isabelle's head flew up, both of their gazes locking on him wide and full of concern.

"Max-"

A quiet groan cut Jace off and they watched as their mother sat up, her dark eyes wide with anger and terror, as she immediately met their father's gaze.

"It was Valentine." She whispered and Robert frowned.

"What?"

"That night, the person who did it was Valentine."

The man paled, but his response was cut off by Max, who was tired of his question being ignored.

"Where is Alec?!" He snapped and Maryse's gaze softened.

"Max, you're supposed to be-"

"I don't care! Where is he?!" Panic began to build under his skin, shattering the calm that had briefly over taken him. "Where is my mother?!"

Above his head a light bulb exploded.

*/*

"Where is my mother?!"

"Where is my son, beloved?"

"Where is my mother?!"

Jace's heart stuttered to a stop, his bichromial gaze blown wide as Max's panicked words rang in his ears.

Max.

Of course.

Of all of their siblings, Max was the closest to Alec, and...now that he thought about it, he'd been very suspicious when the three eldest Lightwoods had returned home from the Silent Brothers with Baby Max. Something about their explanation had rang false in his ears at the time, but when he'd questioned it, Alec had waved him off.

Had told him the same story the others had told them and they hadn't questioned it.

Still that didn't explain the how.

Alec was a man.

Maryse didn't seem surprised by the child's words, only pulling him into her arms. Max struggled briefly, dropping the seraph blade he'd been holding as he trembled in her arms. When he pulled back, Jace swore he saw a glimmer of red-gold flash in the boy's eyes.

"Valentine took him." Magnus whispered.

Robert sucked in a harsh breath, and Izzy cut in.

"I think it's time you and mom tell us what the hell is going on. And why that psycho is obsessed with my brother."

Their father heaved a heavy sigh, then looked at Max. "Did Alec ever tell you?"

Max nodded. "He said he told me because he knew that one day he would be forced to face Valentine again. Said he didn't want someone else to find out and use that information against me."

Robert nodded and turned to the others. "For you all to understand, I have to explain from the beginning. The first being, just before your mother and I got married, Valentine created the Circle. I joined right away, along with my Parabatai, Michael, after all downworlders had taken my entire family from me and I wanted revenge. Maryse and Luke joined around the same time, after all the Clave had banished your Uncle and Maryse's parents had been killed by warlocks. Luke was Valentine's parabatai and Jocelyn his wife, they were involved the moment it began."

He glanced at his wife, who took over. "Valentine was once one of my closest friends. He was the one who officiated our wedding and when I found out I was pregnant with Alec he gave us his blessing. He also gave me something else, a supposed prenatal vitamin. Then Alec was born and I discovered that he had given me something else, though I never found out what. When the two met, on Alec's first birthday, it was-" She shrugged. "Alec was enamored with him, I had never seen him smile like that before and Valentine seemed just as awed. It was the first time since his mother's death that I'd seen him smile, actually smile."

She looked down at Max. "Then after I got pregnant with Izzy, he took over Alec's training. I don't know what happened before that, but Alec seemed reluctant, yet I couldn't keep up his training and Valentine is the best fighter I have ever seen...so I let him go. This time, Valentine didn't offer the vitamin he'd given me during my pregnancy with Alec so I began to grow suspicious. Celine, your mother, Jace, told me she thought Valentine was using her for one of his experiments and we hatched a plan to leave. I was set to leave first because I was closer to term, then she would follow a week later."

A tear slid down her cheek, shocking everyone present. "Celine never made it. She died in childbirth shortly after Robert and I left, then Jocelyn vanished into the Mundane world and until tonight I hadn't seen Valentine since."

Izzy scowled. "But you know why he took Alec."

Her mother sighed. "At first, I thought it was because when we defected, he'd been training Alec as his apprentice. It was only when he spoke of wishing he'd been able to kill Alec that I realized the truth."

"Why?" Clary asked, nearly inaudible and Robert took over.

"Because over eight years ago, we found Alec lying on the steps of the institute unconscious and almost dead."