He realized that it'd been at least fifteen minutes and he'd allowed himself to be distracted. He had to find Clary and the girl obviously knew her way around. However, when he reached the next landing, the child was nowhere in sight. He looked around frantically but thankfully he didn't have to decide on which hallway to meander down because the door directly in front of him opened and Nurse Leigh wandered out holding a bundled up baby which, Alec couldn't help but think, looked like a large burrito. He watched the baby closely and when he saw the baby's eyes flicker from normal to black and back to normal again, he knew that it was a warlock. He was starting to piece things together. He needed to find Clary and get her out of there.
The nurse saw Alec, gave him a disgusted look and turned around and went back into the room, shutting the door behind her.
Alec instantly walked up to the door and tapped on it lightly.
Nurse Leigh came back out of the room, sans baby and shut the door quietly.
"Shh," She hushed him. "There's babies sleeping."
"I'm looking for Clary," He told her, his voice quiet but his tone urgent.
Leigh shook her head, looking at him with a look of confusion on her face.
"Who?" She asked.
Alec could tell that she wasn't lying about not knowing who Clary was, but he was still confused as to how she didn't know. This was the same woman who'd answered the door when they'd arrived. He was sure of it. He'd memorized her appearance the moment he'd seen her. Clary had definitely told Leigh her name, that much Alec was sure of. That had happened less than an hour ago. Surely, she hadn't forgotten already.
"I came here with her. You met her. Where is she?" Alec demanded.
The woman met his eyes and walked away from him, glancing over her shoulder and motioning for him to follow her.
They walked down the hall together at a too-slow-pace in Alec's opinion, but the woman was heavily pregnant so he dealt with his impatience in silence, trying not to think about all the horrible things that could be happening to Clary in the meantime.
They reached a door two right turns and a left turn later and Alec stormed in, gaze sweeping over the room. It was empty barring some broken glass and a dead bird on the ground. Alec wasn't sure what that meant, but assumed it was nothing good.
He whipped back around to face the nurse who looked slightly panicked. "Where is she?" He demanded, his heart sinking to his feet. "What have you done with her?"
When the nurse shook her head helplessly, he led her to a chair and had her sit down. He pulled another one around in front of her and despite his strong desire to stand and pace and all-around panic, he sat in front of her and talked to her in a soft voice, much like you would an injured animal.
"Talk to me," he pleaded with her.
"I don't want to get Iris in trouble." She admitted in a whisper.
"Nobody's going to get in trouble. I promise." But he could see that saying that earned him no points. "Was that your baby?" He asked, hoping that she would loosen up.
"One of them," She smiled before her face fell. "I think."
Alec eyed her warily. 'She thinks it's her baby? How do you not know your own baby?' he thought.
"She takes our memories." Leigh continued. "I just remember little bits at a time."
"Wait," Alec was about to go into pure panic mode. If that meant what he thought it did, then he had to find Clary now. "There's - There's more of you?"
She nodded. "The women come and go. The babies are placed in homes where they're cared for. Nurtured."
"Please." Alec begged, there was an edge to his voice. "Try to remember. Where did she take Clary?"
The nurse sighed. "It's different every time. Iris is the only one who knows. The halls, they shift. You have to make her tell you."
Alec stood and fled the room, searching for Iris for what seemed like hours before he found her. She was walking out of a room, unaware that he was watching her from the shadows. He rushed her, grabbing her by the shoulders and he slammed her into the wall behind her, knocking the breath out of her.
"Where is Clary?" He shouted in her face.
"I suggest you take your hands off of me, young man." She panted.
"Where is she?" He demanded.
Iris threw an arm up, a yellow burst of magic blasting him up into the ceiling, he fell back down to the ground in a heap, pieces of the ceiling fell around him.
"You've got to do better than that, cheekbones." She taunted as he laid there groaning.
She was about to blast him again when the little girl from earlier ran out of the room that Iris had come out of. "Nana! Nana, no!" She shouted, not wanting any harm to come to the man that had been so kind to her earlier.
"Oh, hi, honeybun!" Iris knelt in front of her. "Why don't you go back inside? And don't worry. I'm just playing with the man."
"Playtime's over." Alec groaned as he stood up, shakily.
Iris shot a weak blast of magic at him to make his stumble a little. She picked the girl up.
"Put the girl down." Alec warned.
"Her name is Madzie." Iris informed him. "And she's better off with me than left to fend for herself in this cruel world." Iris created a portal and turned back to Alec one last time before entering. "You can save the redhead, but she still owes me the favor." And with that she and Madzie were gone.
Alec turned and ran down the stairs, shouting at the top of his voice for Clary. Iris said he could still save her, that had to mean she was still alive.
Once he got to the very last level of the house, he heard the screaming. He ran to the end of the hallway and found an old looking metal door that had rust on it. He forced it open and was shocked at what he saw. The room was entirely metal. Like a cell or a dungeon. There were scratch marks on some of the walls and there was an open sliding door that was very small, small enough that the only way a person could fit through is if they crawled. Towards the back of the room is where the screaming was coming from. Clary was pinned to the floor, thrashing as a black colored figure scratched at her, ripping her clothes and cutting her skin. There were small puddles of blood on the ground and pieces of fabric. Alec quickly drew an arrow and notched it on his bow which he had grabbed on the level before and fired three times, effectively killing the demon that was tearing into Clary.
He instantly lowered his bow and ran to her. He knelt on the ground next to her and pushed the demon off her.
"Clary!" She was sobbing now, rather than screaming and Alec wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. He slipped his jacket off once he noticed that her top wasn't really a top anymore and lifted her up enough to slip in on her. He pulled his stele out of his pocket and traced the iratze rune on her arm and watched as her wounds started to close. Her breathing started to even out and her sobs quieted some. Alec pulled the still upset girl into his arms and hugged her close to his chest.
"I'm sorry, Clary. I got here as soon as I could, I swear."
The girl nodded against his chest and fisted his shirt in her hand. "Just take me home, please."
Alec attached his bow to the hooks on his quiver and hoisted the girl up as he stood. He carried her out of the brownstone house and walked three blocks before ducking into an alley. He nearly asked Clary to grab his phone out of the jacket pocket before realizing she'd fallen asleep in his arms.
"Uh..." He maneuvered her around several different ways before he placed his foot on the side of a dumpster, using his knee to balance her so he could free an arm and grab the phone out of his jacket pocket. He quickly dialed Magnus' number and propped the phone between his shoulder and ear, slipping his arm back under Clary's knees.
"Hello?" His boyfriend answered.
"Hey," Alec sighed.
"I wasn't expecting to hear from you today."
"Look, something happened. I need you to open a portal in the alleyway on 71st. It's bad."
"Are you okay?" Magnus asked, his voice immediately serious and concerned.
"Please, Magnus." Alec pleaded, his voice breaking.
Instantly there was a portal in front of him and Alec walked in. Nearly collapsing from the sensation of the portal, Alec dumped Clary onto the couch nearest him.
He hunched over and groaned holding his ribs.
"Alexander!" Magnus grabbed his arm and Alec pulled his shirt up to the top of his chest, sighing at the sight of the giant bruise over his ribs.
"Broken." Magnus said, also eyeing the bruise. He waved his hand over the offending area and the bruise vanished. Alec felt like he could breathe again.
"Thanks." He dropped down onto the couch by Clary's feet.
"What's wrong with her?" Magnus asked, kneeling at her side.
Alec groaned again. "I went to apologize to Clary this morning and she told me that she found a warlock by the name of Iris Rouse who claimed that she could resurrect Jocelyn. So, I went with her to Iris' house and I swear, as soon as we walked in, I knew something was wrong. Everything just seemed off. Magnus, Iris is breeding warlocks and erasing the mundane women's memories. One of the mothers, I spoke to her, she couldn't even remember which babies were hers. And when I finally found Clary, there was a demon on top of her. I killed it, but not before it scratched the hell out of her. I used an Iratze, but there may be some trace poison behind."
Magnus only nodded and waved a glowing hand over Clary. "She'll be fine. You saved her life, Alexander. However, you should not have encouraged her."
Alec shook his head, his eyes fixed on the accents on the coffee table. "I didn't do enough. Clary should never have been put in that position."
"Alexander," Magnus sighed. "You need to stop blaming yourself for everything. You did not kill Jocelyn, the demon that possessed you killed Jocelyn. You did not put Clary in the position she was in today, Iris did that. There was nothing you could've done differently. If there was, you would've done it. You're smart, Alexander. You're resourceful and you would never let harm come to Clary. I know you, whether you like it or not."
"Who said I didn't like it?" Alec finally looked up at Magnus, a small smirk on his face.
Magnus sighed in relief and pressed a quick kiss to Alec's lips before trying to wake Clary.
Once Clary was awake and Magnus had magicked her up some new clothes, Alec and Clary were preparing to leave via portal. Magnus pulled Alec to the side.
"After the funeral, come back here. I have something I want to talk to you about." Magnus was looking over at Clary instead of Alec. Alec wasn't sure if that meant that Magnus was mad at him or if he just didn't want Clary to overhear their conversation.
Alec stared at Magnus for a moment. "Uh . . . did I do something wrong, or?"
"No! No, it's not like that." Magnus smiled at Alec; it seemed a little forced.
"What's it like then?" Alec pressed, not wanting to have more things to worry about during the funeral.
Magnus sighed and ran a hand through his carefully styled hair. "I'm worried about her."
Alec followed Magnus' line of sight. "Clary?"
Magnus nodded. She doesn't have anyone, Alec. I've lost people I care about that way."
Alec looked at Magnus sharply. "You think she's suicidal?" He whispered harshly.
"She needs a family, more than anything right now. She needs to know that she's not alone." Magnus whispered back.
"And what am I supposed to do, Magnus?" Alec asked. "Her mom? Dead. Because of me, I might add. Dad? Psychopath who doesn't care about her. Brother? Doesn't want to have anything to do with her. The man who helped raise her? Abandoned her. So, tell me, what do I do?"
"There's a spell. But she has to be willing." Magnus told him.
"To bring her mom back?" Alec asked. He couldn't help but hope. Hope that Magnus could do what Iris could not. That he could reverse his biggest regret.
"No, to change her DNA, make her a part of a different family. You could make Clary your sister, Alexander."