EDITED 5/30/2020
Hello! As promised, the picture above is the Necklace that Magnus gave to Clary.
Clary smiled as Simon kissed her in the canoe attached to the roof of the shed type building that Luke was allowing Simon to stay in.
"Whoa!" She laughed as the canoe shook. "This is so weird." She told him.
"Yeah." Simon agreed, laughing. "Are my fangs getting in the way?" He asked. "Because I can totally, um.."
"No, no. You're fine. You're fine." Clary assured him. "It's just the canoes a little small to.. ow!"
"Oh careful!" They started to laugh. "I'm sorry." Simon leaned in to kiss her.
"I cannot believe I let you talk me into this." Clary told him.
"Me neither." Simon grinned. They kissed again and the canoe swung dangerously.
"I've got you." Simon assured Clary when she gasped.
"Oh great." Clary said sarcastically. "In that case we'll just go down together."
"Well, I mean." Simon shook the canoe. "I'm pretty sure this thing is untippable."
"Oh, yeah?" Clary asked suggestively.
"Yeah." Simon agreed happily.
"We'll just have to see about that." She flirted.
Clary flipped the pair over and straddled Simon. She pulled his shirt off as they giggled and leaned in to kiss him once again.
She threw the shirt out of the canoe not noticing that it hit Alec in the shoulder as he rolled his eyes in pure disgust. He strode over to the boat that was parked in the, in his opinion, less than habitable shed and pressed on the horn.
Clary and Simon popped up and looked over the edge of the canoe in shock.
"Lawson," Alec spat. "You have five seconds to get your mangy paws off my sister. One. Two." Simon launched himself out of the canoe, landing on the ground and pulled his shirt on. Alec looked less than satisfied. He looked up at Clary. "What the hell are you doing up there? You know what?" He grimaced. "Don't answer that."
Clary jumped down from the canoe fully dressed, much to Alec's relief. She stumbled a little and he reached out to steady her, glaring at Simon when he tried to do the same.
"My name is Lewis by the way. Simon Lewis."
"Whatever, Sheldon." Alec said.
"Alec." Clary sighed. "It's fine. I'm safe here."
"Valentine is still hunting you, Clary. Until he is stopped there are very few places that you're safe. A cockroach infested sex shack is not one of them."
"This place isn't infested with cockroaches and -"
"Really?" Alec drawled. "Because I'm looking at one now." He narrowed his eyes at Simon.
Simon instantly straightened and was about to argue further when Clary reached out and smacked Alec in the chest. "Be nice to someone other than our family or Magnus for, once will you?"
"I'm nice to Luke." Alec told her.
Clary rolled her eyes. "Look, I can handle my- AHH!" Clary grabbed at her hand as she bent over in pain. "What the hell?!" She gasped.
"What's wrong?" Alec asked as he wrapped his arms around Clary, holding her up.
"I don't know." Clary cried as the trio watched as her hand slowly crusted over black.
"What is that?" Simon asked, looking up at Alec.
"Nothing good." Alec replied.
—
Meanwhile, Magnus was sitting in his living room still mulling over the conversation he'd had with his boyfriend only hours earlier before he'd run our intent on finding Clary whom Isabelle had deemed missing from the institute. Despite Magnus' reassurances that Clary was in no danger or emotional distress, as he hadn't gotten an alert from the pendant, Alec had been determined to find her.
"How many Downworlders do you think live in New York?" Alec asked, looking out at the city from the terrace at Magnus's apartment.
"I don't know." Magnus admitted. "But they're not all your responsibility."
"You are." Alec turned to look at him.
"I can take care of myself." Magnus smiled.
"Maybe. But this is different." Alec sighed. "You may have lived through the fall of Rome, but even the dark ages couldn't have been this dark."
"Alexander. I know things may seem bleak, but nothing was as devastating as seeing you in that ledge."
"We've talked about this." Alec sighed. "I'm not suicidal. It was the magic. I would never, never!"
"I know, I know." Magnus reassured him. "But Magic can't create fears. Only bring them out."
"Magnus." Alec leaned on the ledge and closed his eyes. He very clearly didn't want to discuss this.
"Look, you don't have to explain yourself." Magnus told him. "I've been through it myself. All I ask is that you tell me if things ever get that bad."
"I promise." Alec insisted.
That was when Alec had gotten the frantic phone call and he'd rushed out with a quick kiss to Magnus's lips and a hurried promise of coming back later that day.
Magnus took another sip of his martini and jumped in surprise when his door was flung open. It bounced off the wall with a loud thump and Magnus hurriedly stood up, already knowing that whoever was in such a rush to see him was friendly since his wards hadn't announced their arrival.
"Don't you people have phones?" He groaned as he turned. The exasperation quickly turned to concern when he saw Alec and Clary coming through the door with pure fear etched into their features. It was then that he realized that his bracelet was flashing like crazy and he'd been too deep in his thoughts to notice that something was very wrong with Clary.
"Magnus, we need your help." Alec told him.
Magnus looked down at the hand that Clary was clutching and saw that it was turning black.
Magnus instantly got to work, casting all sorts of spells on Clary's hand trying to get rid of whatever was hurting her. After half an hour of trying he'd discovered what it was.
"La Chair Brulee." He told them.
"I'm guessing that's not a desert?" Clary asked, trying to break the tension. It didn't work.
"It means 'the burnt flesh.' It's an old blood oath spell." Magnus explained with an air of exasperation.
"Then it must be Iris." Alec hissed. "She said you owed her a favor."
"At Max's party she said I had to find Madzie." Clary realized.
"Then we better start looking." Magnus said. "I can get rid of the pain, but that's about it." Magnus shifted his weight and looked away from the siblings. "I'm afraid once the magic reaches your heart..." he couldn't continue as his face contorted in pain. He simply shook his head.
"So, if I don't find Madzie?" Clary asked slowly, like she didn't really want to hear the answer. Magnus turned away from her, as if he couldn't bear to look at her any longer. "I'm dead." She breathed.
"No." Alec kneeled in front of her. "No. There has to be something we can do. Can't we force Iris to undo it?" He asked Magnus.
"I wish it were that easy!" Magnus cried. "But blood oath spells are completely binding. Even Iris herself can't reverse it now."
—-
Hours later the brownstone had been searched, the werewolves had been consulted and Alec had discovered that Madzie had been abducted from Brady Park. The three piled into Simon's van, also cockroach infested according to Alec who'd had to be physically held back by Luke, Clary and Sheldon (Simon) from killing the moronic Werewolf that tried to kill Clary.
They pulled up to the park and got out of the van. "You're sure this is the right park?" Clary asked her brother.
"Positive. See the scorched grass?" He asked her. "Someone opened a portal."
Simon zipped up next to them, nearly falling which put him even lower on Alec's list of people he tolerates. "Nothing over there." He reported. "And without the werewolves, this could take forever."
"We don't have forever." Alec snapped. "Keep looking."
"Maybe he can help." Simon nodded to a homeless man on a nearby bench before walking towards him. "Excuse me. Um.. a little girl might have gotten kidnapped a few days ago. I was wondering if you might've seen her."
"I don't know what you're talking about." The man rasped.
"Are you sure?" Clary asked him, kindly. "About this fall, pig tails, always wears a ... scarf." She eyes the scarf the man is wearing.
"Where'd you get that scarf?" Alec asked.
"Nowhere. I found it. It's mine." The man panicked.
"Wanna make a trade?" Simon offered.
Alec traded the man his leather jacket for the scarf and the trio once again piled into Simon's "disease ridden" van.
"North." Alec commanded. "The signal is faint, but it'll do."
"Don't sound too excited." Simon teased.
Alec ignored him and turned to Clary.
"It was too easy."
"It wasn't easy." Simon argued. "That jacket was too small on that guy. I'm just a great salesman."
"It literally never stops talking." Alec complained. "Valentine is too smart for this. He wouldn't have left the signal open. He wants us to track Madzie. This is almost definitely a trap."
"Are you suggesting that we don't find Madzie?" Simon asked incredulously.
"Are you stupid?" Alex demanded. "This is my sister we're talking about. I'd die for her; don't you ever suggest I'd stand idly by and watch her be killed. You stupid little bloodsucker." He seethed.
"Alec! Simon's right, no matter what, we have to find Madzie. The scarf is our only option. But I can't let Valentine activate the soul sword either. Alec, promise me, Valentine won't take me alive."
"He won't have the opportunity." Alec swore.
"But if he does." Clary pressed.
"He won't."
Simon pulled over ten minutes later and he and Alec got out of the van. Alec told Clary to stay inside and they walked a couple paces away.
"We're close. But it still feels too easy." Alec told Simon, not looking at him.
"And yet, we've encountered no traps." Simon replied sarcastically. "But if we did, all that talk with Clary, you weren't serious right? You wouldn't kill your own sister? Would you?"
"When, pray tell, little cockroach, did I ever agree to what she asked of me?" Alec sighed.
"Right. Okay." Simon accepted the answer, even though it wasn't much of one.
"You stay here. I'll be back."
"What?" Simon asked.
Alec sighed exaggeratedly, throwing his head back, making it sound more like a groan than a sigh. He straightened and looked at Simon's ear instead of his eyes. "Clary's too weak to move, Susan. If she went with me, she'd be putting herself in danger. She could get captured. I'll use the scarf to track Madzie and bring her back here. I'll need someone to protect Clary while I'm gone. And God help me, all I have is you. Don't screw this up. I don't care if she thinks she's in love with you or whatever, I'll kill you if I come back and she has so much as a paper cut."
"What am I supposed to do? Protect her with my teeth?" Simon asked desperately. "I need your help here." His phone rang. "Hold on."
He walked a few paces away and when he turned back, Alec was gone.
Simon moved Clary up to the roof of the van at her insistence. "Are you sure we're safe up here?" Simon asked her.
"If I'm going to die," Clary rasped, it was getting harder to breathe. "It's not going to be in that van."
"You know it's not actually disease ridden or full of cockroaches, right?" Simon asked. "That's just your brother being an ass."
Clary laughed and reclined back into Simon's arms.
"Maybe we should go look for Alec."
"No." Clary said immediately. "If he says he's gonna rescue Madzie, we need to be here when he gets back."
"At what point do we say he's been gone too long?" Simon asked.
"We don't. Okay?" Clary told him.
Simon nodded and Clary began to cry. "If I don't make it."
"Stop." Simon interrupted. "You will. You have to. I mean think about it. A dashing, handsome, Jewish boy finally admits to his best friend how he feels after a lifetime and she dies a week later? That's too sappy."
Clary laughed. Simon leaned down to kiss her and they sat in silence after that, just relishing the feeling of each other being near. Simon watched as Clary grew weaker and more tired. She was dozing when Simon heard Alec yell for his sister.
"Clary!"
"Alec!" Simon yelled back.
Alec pulled his sister from the roof of the van and swung her into his arms. He carried her over to where Madzie stood a few feet away.
"Madzie!" Clary gasped. "Madzie you're okay." She pulled the girl into her arms and Alec and Simon moved away to give them a moment.
Red light pulsed around the pair as Clary's hand healed.
Alec rocked back and forth on his heels, obviously uncomfortable. "I..." he hesitated and then sighed. "I couldn't have saved her without you." He sounded as if saying the words caused him physical pain. His face contorted into a grimace as he gritted his teeth, forcing the words through them.
"Obviously." Simon returned. "Thank you, for, ya know. Everything."
The boys' heads whipped around when Madzie opened a portal.
"Madzie!" Clary called over the whooshing sound of it. "What are you doing?"
The girl moved her arm swiftly, taking Clary and herself through the portal.
"No!" Alec cried.
—
Alec stormed into Magnus' apartment. "One sister kidnapped and the other doing what?" He demanded.
Magnus sighed. "Yin Fen. She asked me about it earlier. Was looking for a dealer. But I think she's getting her fix straight from the source."
"Where is she?" Alec hissed.
Together the couple portaled to the Hotel Dumort and Alec stalked down the hallways just ahead of Magnus. He stormed into the room Izzy and Raphael were in to see Raphael drinking from his sister.
Alec punched Raphael so hard that he toppled off the back of the couch they were sitting on. Raphael stood up quickly as Isabelle noticed her brother.
"Alec?" She asked in a breathy voice.
"You stay the hell away from her." He threatened, pointing at Raphael.
"You don't understand, it was Aldertree." Raphael tried to explain as Magnus finally caught up with Alec and sped into the room.
"What?" Alec asked.
"It's the truth." Raphael insisted. "I was only trying to help."
Alec tried to walk towards Raphael, but Magnus held him back.
"By drinking her blood?" Alec asked, clearly furious.
"It may have started with the blood but it's more complicated than that, alright?" Raphael told him. "I care about her."
"What did you say?" Alec demanded.
"Alexander." Magnus warned.
"I have feelings for her." Raphael admitted.
Alec broke free from Magnus and attacked Raphael, repeatedly punching him in the face.
"Stop it! Alec this is my fault!" Izzy cried. "Stop!"
Magnus let Alec get a few swings in before stopping him with his magic and gently pulling him off of the vampire. "Alec, Stop!"
"We're leaving." Alec told Magnus and Izzy. He grabbed Izzy's arm and pulled her off the couch. "We need to find Clary. Now."
"Clary?" Izzy slurred. "What's wrong with Clary?"
Alec and Izzy waited for Magnus at the door while he spoke to Raphael.
"I wasn't lying about what I said." He told Magnus.
"You're so hooked on her blood," Magnus said sympathetically, "you can't separate your feelings from your addiction."
"Isabelle and I, are no different from you and Alec. I thought you of all people would understand." Raphael spat venomously.
"If you truly feel that way," Magnus told him. "See if you feel the same when you're not getting high. I have to go." He turned and followed Izzy and Alec out of the Hotel.
—
Clary had been trying to find her way out of the creepy room she was in when Alec ran up to her.
"Alec!" She gasped.
"Clary." He panted; he'd clearly been running. "Where's Valentine?" He grabbed her face in his hands and examined the bruises and cuts.
"I don't know. They all left in a hurry."
"We have to get out of here before-"
"Going somewhere?" They spun around and came face to face with Valentine and Madzie. "Alexander Lightwood. Imagine my disappointment and disgust to find out my daughter isn't my daughter anymore."
"Madzie." Alex ignored Valentine and instead focused on the little girl who was staring up at him with a certain kind of fondness. "Don't listen to this man, he's lying to you. Do you remember me? You can come home with me. I'll keep you safe, me and my friend, Magnus Bane. He's a warlock just like you."
Madzie, Clary noticed, seemed to be conflicted. She didn't know what to do.
"Now why would she do that?" Valentine asked.
"Because you want to hurt people." Clary spat. "People like Iris."
"Don't forget, these are the mean people who got your nana in trouble in the first place." Valentine started but Madzie interrupted.
"Alec isn't mean." She turned to glare at Valentine before rushing to Alec's side. She lifted her arms and Alec picked her up.
That was when everything went terribly wrong. "Clary! Run!" Simon shouted as he punched Valentine. But Valentine caught the Vampire around the throat and held him threateningly. Madzie created a portal and tried to shove Valentine in, and it worked for a moment. Valentine lost his grip on Simon and the boy ran forward, trying to get away when Valentine caught him by the end of his jacket and pulled hard. They stumbled through the portal together.
"No!" Clary screamed. "Simon!"
The portal closed as Madzie started to tear up. "I'm sorry." She told Clary earnestly. "I didn't mean to."
"It wasn't your fault Madzie." Alec told her. He pulled his phone out and showed her a picture of Magnus' living room. Why he had the picture? Clary didn't ask. "Can you portal us here?" He asked. Madzie nodded and created another portal. The three went through and came out into Magnus' living room.
"Oh, thank God!" Magnus exclaimed, pulling Clary into his arms. "I was so worried."
"Safe and sound." Alec informed as Magnus began using his magic to clear the injuries off of Clary's face.
Magnus glanced up at Alec and noticed the girl. "This is Madzie?" He asked.
Alec nodded. "I figured we could keep her, at least for a while."
Clary smirked up at Magnus. "Lightwood-Bane." She teased, thoroughly enjoying the look of shock that Magnus went back at her.
"Wait, What?" Alec asked.
Can anyone say filler chapter? It's not too good, a few changes to the events, obviously. Kind of a transition to the bigger events. The big "I love you" coming soon. Two updates in one day! Finished this MUCH earlier than originally thought. Night y'all!