London Late 1600s

"Magnus I do not want to learn magic!" Ellinor hissed to the lanky man who had somehow just appeared in her marriage chamber. She cast a frantic look over her shoulder to the door, listening hard for the familiar footsteps of her husband. They'd been married seven months now, the happiest seven months of her life. And while Carlisle was a kind and understanding man to a fault, she did not want to test that kindness by having him walk in on his new bride in their bed chambers with another man, and while the man was just Magnus, she did not want to have that conversation at this late hour, or at all.

"You need to go, Carlisle will be retiring at any moment." She said, shooing him emphatically toward the window, not sure how he'd gotten in the first place.

He dug his heels into the floor at her efforts to force him out, grabbing her arms to hold her at a distance. "Ellinor this is not a matter of what you want anymore. I cannot guarantee to always be able to keep you safe. The Clave is looking for the minutest reason to kill our kind, they have even gone so far as to outlaw asking for our help in any capacity, you need to know how to defend yourself." He implored her, his tone and gaze serious for once, catching her off guard.

"I-I have a husband for that thank you very much," she mumbled hesitantly. "And he is a man of the Church and would not condone learning magic!" Magnus spun her without a word, and walked her over to the small vanity mirror in the far corner of the room, he had to bend them both over slightly, and she wriggled in protest until she saw in the mirror two pairs of yellow cat-like eyes staring back at them and gasped, a rock settling into the pit of her stomach.

"Your magic is growing Ellinor, regardless if you desire it to or not." He whispered, his tone grave. "You know I glamored your eyes only days ago, that should have provided you a fortnight of concealment at the very least." His grip on her arms loosened as he felt her go slack. "I am sorry my dear little Ellinor...truly I am, I thought I could give you…" His voice broke and he turned her toward him as he heard her sniffle to stifle a sob.

"I don't want magic." She whimpered, letting him hold her to his chest, his hands running over her head soothingly. "Can't you take it away?" She begged.

The older Warlock let out a heavy sigh beyond his years. "Would that I could little one." He wiped the tears from her cheeks that had escaped, brushing his thumbs gently over her eyes as he set in place another glamor to conceal their true form. "If we can get your magic under control, teach you how to protect yourself, maybe a fun trick or two, I promise you everything can be as it was. You just need to trust me."

She nodded her head fervently, letting out a shuddering breath. "Can we start with the eyes?" she asked hesitantly. He kissed her forehead dramatically, stepping back with a flourish that made her giggle despite the anxiety that gripped her. He lifted his hands as it was about to conduct to an orchestra, and she brought her own up to halt him.

"Another night." She insisted. "It is late, and Carlisle will be here soon." She walked over to the window and drew it open. "He leaves for a hunt Wednesday eve. You can come then."

He looked to the open window, a small smirk crossing his lips. "You are aware that I can glamor myself invisible. I walked right through your front door." He teased, as her mouth fell agape.

"You will not be walking through the front door!" She snapped, shoving him now toward the window. The idea of Magnus walking right past her husband, glamored or not made the knot in her stomach only pull tighter. "Now get out."

He chuckled. "Quite the flare for the dramatics." He teased as he crouched onto the window sill, slipping out in the night.

She glared out into the darkness, closing the window firmly before he could make another retort. Her smile slowly faded from her lips and she hurried over to her vanity to examine her eyes. They were blue again, and she let out a sigh of relief, letting her hands comb through her long brown hair in an attempt to calm her frayed nerves.

The door opened then, and she jumped at the sound, a blush rising on her cheeks as Carlisle entered. He gave her a small smile as he nudged the door close, hiding his hands behind his back. "Careful to not fall in Narcissa." He teased closing the distance between them, taking his hands out from behind his back to reveal two small fine glass flutes, and a dark large glass bottle.

"Though if we were to toast to anything tonight I would think your beauty would be appropriate." He leaned down to kiss her chastely, making her heart flutter madly in her chest. "And to your wit, health, and our happy future together."

She chuckled at him. "Where on earth did you get these?" Taking the offered flute, watching him pour the bubbling beverage into it.

"A cousin from France has sent a belated wedding gift and instructed me to toast to my beautiful bride." He explained, clinking their glasses together before taking a sip. Ellinor followed suit, licking her lips as the beverage managed to leave her more parched than before. "How kind of him," she murmured. Carlisle's face scrunched up at the taste of the beverage, shaking his head. "That is awful, isn't it?" He asked with a chuckle, mercifully taking the flute from her.

She chuckled as he set the glasses down on the writing desk. "Perhaps it is an acquired taste." She offered in jest as she moved for their bed, turning down the covers. "Serves you right, what is a man of the cloth as yourself doing indulging in tipple?" she said in mock indignation, gasping when she felt his arms wrap around her middle from behind, eliciting a louder giggle from her.

"Mrs. Cullen, what do you expect of a mere mortal man when he is soon to be banished from his wife's side for nearly a fortnight but drink himself into a stupor?" His lips trailed up her neck slowly, his warm breath ghosting over her skin, sending a shudder through her.

"You're banishing yourself I'll remind you, Mr. Cullen." She chastised him, a bit more gently now. "Your wife wishes you to stay near her very much." She mumbled, letting him turn her around in his arms.

"I know...Father is rather insistent on this one… says there were Werewolf sightings in Middlesex." He explained, letting out a tired sigh. "So I will not be so far from you my love." He mumbled, leaning down to kiss her gently.

She reached her arms up to wrap around his neck, humming softly into the kiss as he guided her back to their bed. He guided them both onto the bed. He let out a reluctant sigh, pulling back to gaze down at her. "Would it be bold of me to hold the assumption that if you had started your eh- monthlies, that you would have told me?" He asked quietly, the question making a shameful knot form in the pit of Ellinor's stomach.

This one point of contention was the only hiccup in their otherwise blissful union. Ellinor had never bled as a woman of the tender age of seven and ten should have. She had found out after their vows that that fact had not been shared with Carlisle.

Upon her discovery of this deceit, she knew immediately who was to blame. Her Aunt, who had hated Ellinor since her birth, which had cruelly led to the death of her mother, was the only rational explanation. Her Father would have been blissfully ignorant of such feminine matters, and more importantly, loved his daughter more than life itself and did not have a single malicious bone in his body, which is why he had allowed his widowed sister-in-law to remain under his roof even after the death of his wife, her sister. Aunt Agnes must have hoped upon the discovery of this deceit Carlisle would want to annul the marriage, causing great shame for Ellinor and possibly ruin her prospects forever. Mercifully, due to Agnes's disposition towards cruelty, she had not been able to anticipate Carlisle's benevelonance.

She remembered their first night as husband and wife, how she had to stutter and stumble through tears when she realized Carlisle had not been made aware of her current circumstance. It had been humiliating and terrifying, especially since she still didn't know exactly what was to happen that night, all her Aunt had imparted on her the day before was that her new husband would perform certain intimacies on her person and she was to be quiet and obedient throughout.

As the kind man he was, Carlisle held no resentment toward Ellinor, declaring it all a misunderstanding or oversight. He assured her it by no means lessened his affection or nullified the promises he made to her and to God. As a man of the cloth, however, his conscience would not allow him to force his fleshly desires on her when their union could not bear fruit, he valued her too much to use her like that. But as the months wore on and nothing changed, she could feel his resolve start to waver, and her own, though towards what exactly she still had not been informed.

It was another night like this that was testing both of them. She nodded her head in answer to his question, feeling tears start to sting the corners of her eyes. "Perhaps...if it is possible, I could see a physician?" She asked quietly. "To see if there is something wrong...and if it could be fixed?"

Carlisle pursed his lips together for a moment, his eyes downcast as he brought her hand up to his lips, pressing a kiss across each of her knuckles. "As long as that is your desire my darling Ellinor." He whispered to her. "Though...it may take a while to find one that would be knowledgeable in such an...area." He mused.

She gave him a small smile. "I do desire so...I think- I would like to know." she paused, her stomach twisting again. "And-and you deserve to have the option of a family." Her voice broke and wavered now as she spoke in a hushed tone.

His thumb brushed over her cheek, wiping away the tears that had slowly escaped. "You are my family now Ellinor." He pressed his finger to her lips that parted to protest, silencing her. "Whatever happens, whatever is discovered, it will be God's will. And it is my will, that I will love and protect you for the rest of our days." He said softly, smiling at her warmly.

The twisting in her stomach sent new sensations through her body now, making her feel light and airy as she beamed at the man through her tear-filled eyes. "You are far too good, it is unearthly." She teased, trying to lighten the mood she had so swiftly brought down.

He chuckled, pressing a kiss to her forehead before he reached down to pull the covers up over the both of them. "Hush now, that is quite the lofty pedestal you are putting me on, it will be a long fall for me when I come tumbling down."

She laughed, finding herself relaxing in his arms as they both drifted off to sleep.

Ellinor groaned in frustration glaring at the ragged book before her as the print slowly faded from the pages. It was a very finicky book, requiring your utmost attention, and if it felt as if you were not giving it just that, it would simply fade its contents out of existence. It was only one of the many peculiar texts Magnus had her pouring over the last week. It had all started with just a few glamors, for her eyes, or anything else she might need to conceal from the human world. However, with each new glamor or spell, she learned a flood gate of questions and curiosities were opened for her, and she was eager to learn more, and Magnus was only all too happy to indulge her in her pursuit for knowledge.

"Ellinor give it a rest love. You do not have to learn everything in these two weeks." Magnus said from the bed, his head hanging over the edge. "We can continue afterward if you'd truly like to." He offered.

"Yes, but it will not be as easy when Carlisle is home," she mumbled, heeding his words, letting the book slam shut. She stretched her arms, arching her back as she finally became aware of the aches in her bones from sitting still for so long. "You should go, I didn't mean to keep you so late," she said apologetically, a tiny yawn escaping her.

Magnus let out a tired groan himself, rolling off the bed with a flourish. "I am a creature of the night my dear, my day is just beginning." He said, waggling his eyebrows at her. She rolled her own eyes. "Begone with you then night creature." She said as she moved toward her bed, watching him pack up the books. "Until tomorrow afternoon then my scholar. " He said, bowing before exiting the room.

Ellinor tried to rest, really she did, but her magic was still buzzing inside of her, tingling her in fingers, begging to be released. She'd never notice this sensation much before her short training stint with Magnus, but now, it was as if she could barely contain the sensation that threatened to burst out of her. It felt so natural now, almost like another piece of her, a third arm of shorts, something that just always was a part of her.

She sat up in bed with a frustrated huff, gazing around the darkroom. She gazed over toward her vanity, pursing her lips for a moment before she reached out her hand, taking a steadying breath as she attempted one of the spells Magnus had taught her this past week. She heard a gentle rocking of metal on wood coming from the vanity, and in the next second her small hand mirror had flown across the room into her hands, eliciting a small gasp from her followed by a triumphant laugh.

She held the mirror up to her face, the moonlight streaming in from outside illuminating enough to show her bright cat eyes. They used to unsettle her, she had been so accustomed to not seeing her eyes in their natural state over all these years. But now, even in this short time where she'd allowed them to remain as they were meant to be, she'd grown fond of them, her strange eyes that she shared with Magnus. She had started to wonder what that meant, were all things-warlocks- eyes like theirs? She'd have to ask Magnus more questions like that tomorrow.

She lifted her hand again, focusing this time on the writing desk in the opposite corner of the room, set on summoning her journal where she'd kept her notes over her studies. Just as the book was mid-room soaring to her the door opened, eliciting a started gasp from her as a tall figure entered the room, lantern in hand. She was so shocked she lost her focus, the journal thudding into her chest as she saw her husband stare her down, his look of concern turning to confusion, and something harder, something that seemed so foreign on his kind face.

"Where is my wife?" He asked quietly, his voice low and firm, stepping slowly over the threshold to the room.

Her chest seized at his tone, never having heard him speak in such a way to anyone, let having it directed at herself. "I-I am your wife Carlisle," she mumbled with less conviction in her voice than she'd like. "Please, I know this is- alarming- but I can explain everything, just come here." She patted the bed, giving him a pleading smile."

His eyes only narrowed at her, taking slow steps towards her again. "No, you're not." He said slowly. "I can see what you've done to her eyes demon." he hissed, laced so thickly in his voice it made her lose her breath. Her eyes. Damn her eyes she hadn't glamored her eyes. "We've killed one of your kind in Middlesex, and came back tonight on reports of more vile beasts roaming our sewers." He explained, reaching for his pocket, as he pulled out a crucifix. His hard mask wavered for a second, pain and remorse crossing it for just a moment. "I did not expect to find one in my bed….Ellie, if you're still in there, I will do everything in my power to save you." His voice was laced with resolve and remorse.

"Carlisle please." Her voice wavered, tears starting to burn in her eyes, a lump building in her throat so large it threatened to choke her. "I am Ellie- your Ellie." She implored, but before she could beg to reason with him any further there were agonizing screams coming from the streets, drawing both of their attention to the window.

Carlisle took in a sharp breath, his eyes snapping back to her after a second before. "I will not be fooled by you demon." He walked over swiftly to the bed, pulling out a clanging pair of iron shackles as he forcefully took her wrists, binding her in the restraints. She stared down at her confined wrists dumbfounded, only looking away when he pulled her from the bed harshly, dragging her stumbling to the door.

"Wh-where are you taking me, Carlisle, wait, it's not safe outside!" She said, her mind racing, hearing the screams from moments ago building in number. Carlisle remained silent, pulling them both out into the night. The street was cold and wet under her bare feet as Carlisle moved them hurriedly through the streets.

They came upon his Church, once over the threshold he looked back to her, his face falling, evident disappointment in his expression before it turned hard again. He pulled her down the stairs that lead to the small cellar, where even she had to hunch over once inside, he pushed her into a far corner, holding his crucifix up in front of him as he backed up to the door. "I will come back for you demon, with more men of God, and if you have not left my wife by then you will be made to." He barked at her, freezing her where she stood as tears finally spilled over, running silently down her cheeks. His chest was rising and falling quickly now, staring her down from across the small room. "Ellinor…" His voice broke, and the mask fell for just a moment. "I am so sorry I failed you...I ...I will save you." He said, before he left, locking the heavy door, leaving her in total darkness.

Ellinor backed into the stone wall, sliding down to the cold floor as her legs began to shake underneath her. A shame overwhelmed her, bone-deep and aching. A voice in the back sneering at her, asking her what had she expected once he had found out the truth? That he would accept her? Still love her as she was? The demon that she was? A pathetic sob fell out from her lips, and she had to take several gasping breaths in order to calm herself down. She wiped at her eyes furiously, erasing all evidence of her tears, though the ache in her chest could not be so easily mastered.

She could make him understand, she could reason with him- Her mind ran over and over all of the explanations and proof she could give to him, all the while that voice in the back of her mind told her over and over that it would not be enough, he simply would not want her the way that she was. How long she wrestled with these thoughts she was not sure, the entire time cursing herself for not requesting Magnus teach her an unlocking spell.

At that thought, a loud bang was heard, and blue light filled the small dark room, the source a small flame in the hand of Magnus Bane. "Ellinor." He let out in a rush, his voice elated and relieved as he rushed over to her, kneeling in front of her as he brought her into his arms, holding her tightly to him. He pulled back, pained relief etched into his face as he pulled her up from the ground. He looked to the shackles on her wrists and let out a disgusted noise before he flicked his hands, the heavy restraints falling with a loud clatter to the stone floor. "We have to go now." He urged her, pulling her toward the door.

"Magnus wait, what's happening out there? Have you seen Carlisle?" She asked, pulling him to a halt as they reached the top of the stairs.

"There's something- I'm not sure what, but something is attacking from the sewers and it is not safe Ellinor we need to go, now." He said sternly, giving her another tug toward the doors.

"Carlisle went after that thing, Magnus! I cannot just leave him!" She protested, the desperation to find her husband seizing her in that moment, perhaps to prove her worth and loyalty with her protection, though what sort of protection she could provide she was not sure.

"Ellinor." He barked out harshly, making her flinch back from him. He signed heavily, softening his gaze. "Ellinor," He said more quietly now. "That thing out there is not the only thing that can harm you tonight." He mumbled. "Carlisle has told his Father what he saw of you tonight...and if they cannot exercise it from you, they will burn you at the stake."

She could feel the blood rushing out of her face, a ringing starting to build up in her ears as she slowly shook her head. "No-no, Carlisle would never...he loves…" she continued to shake her head at the taller man. "You're lying." She spat at him.

Magnus took her face in his large hands, holding her gaze. "It is that love that drives him Ellinor...he fears for your soul. Do you think there is anything he wouldn't do in order to save that?"

She had no response, the cold realization that he was speaking the truth seeped in. "Wh-where will I go?" She asked, finally letting him lead her from the church, his arms wrapping protectively around her as he led her through the streets of London, away from the chorus of screams in the distance. "What is it, Magnus? Is there nothing…"

They came upon a carriage with no horse or driver, but Magnus ushered her in it regardless. "Whatever it is is the Nephilim's problem now, I've alerted them to the problem." He said, tapping the roof of the carriage with his hand and it lurched forward with a burst of speed. "Ellinor...I'm so sorry...this is my fault…" He grasped her hands tightly in his own. "My hubris- my arrogance- I thought I could give you- protect you enough so you could have-" His voice broke then, struggling to convey his remorse in words, though it was painfully evident in the desperation of his voice. "We will find a place, somewhere where you will be safe, somewhere I cannot fail you again. I swear to you I will."

She stared at him silently, tears building in her eyes again threatening to spill over. Guilt racked her now, as she desperately wanted to return and find Carlisle, to make sure he was alive and well- though that could lead to her very own death, she wasn't sure if that would be a more pleasant way to die than of the wretched emotions that racked through her now, certain that those too would be the end of her.

Present Day

Alec had listened quiet and attentively the entire time, something Ellinor appreciated greatly about the boy. She let out a heavy sigh then, leaning back in her chair. "Now you know my whole sad tale." She said with a wry smile. "We returned a few years later. I regret now, seeking him out. But we soon found he disappeared that night and assumed him dead, but now, it is obvious that he was changed that night instead, into whatever he is now." She mumbled.

Alec nodded. "Nessie showed me his story of what he went through after that night." He mumbled, watching her carefully. "His changing, how he tried to- end himself after he found out what he was-." He trailed off. "I know this probably isn't what you want to hear-and I this doesn't mean you have to trust him or forgive him, but I don't think he'll try to harm you now El," he said sincerely.

Her back stiffened at his words, and she took a few moments to master herself before she replied. "Even if that is true, I will not suffer his presence. He'd be a hypocrite for wanting to kill me now since we are both the demons he hated so much back then." Alec winced at the word, and she gave him a small smile. "He would have killed me had Magnus not saved me...just for what I was Alec…" She trailed off, her gaze growing distant.

He took one of her hands, squeezing it tightly. "There is nothing wrong with you El- not you, not Magnus, not any Warlock. None of you asked to be born this way. "And if he can't see that now then he's an even bigger moron than he was back then."

She let out a soft sigh, patting the hand on top of her own. "Good thing I don't care a bit what he thinks of me now." She said, giving him a small smile. "Now- keep what I've told you to yourself or I'll dye your hair pink for a week again." She said matter of factly as she turned her attention back to their books in front of them.

Alec groaned. "Please don't, Magnus liked that way too much." They both chuckled and started drafting a plan for the West Peninsula Institute.