CHAPTER SEVEN
Although it wasn't unusual for Jace and Clary to run off without warning, Alec found it quite odd that they did so during such a hectic time for everyone. They had just gotten back a few days previous. It was understandable, seeing as they had been overwhelmed with the Clave pestering them with their questions before they could even brush their teeth in the morning. Jace had seen the Soul-Sword more in the days he had been back than Alec had seen it in his entire life. He felt it every time Jace restrained himself from answering; the searing pain in his forearms that traveled to his spine and then made its way throughout his body. As soon as Jace noticed how he was affecting Alec, he let the truth pour out of him.
Upon their leaving, Isabelle was distraught. She insisted that something was wrong, knowing that her best friend wouldn't leave without notice, not after what had happened to her. Alec insisted that she was simply being a worry wart and to not relay that to Simon, her vampire boyfriend, and Clary's childhood friend, who would only fuel her fire and cause her to worry more.
It took three days before Alec began to worry. Jace would have reached out by then, or at least Clary would have. They spoke to a very upset Jocelyn every day for updates, but there were none to give. Neither of them had reached out to anyone. Later in the evening on the third day, Alec felt a sharp pain in his jaw. He almost doubled over in the hallway of the Lightwood mansion, clenching his muscles to try and brace himself from the pain that was overwhelming him.
"Alec?" Isabelle inquired, hearing him groan from her room. She opened her door, then rushed to his side. "Alec, what's wrong?" Isabelle asked anxiously, her brown eyes scanning her brother for any obvious reasons as to why he was in so much pain.
"Jace," Alec grumbled out.
Once Alec recovered, they began their search for them.
It was obvious that they were in trouble. Given, Jace could be a kinky guy, but he was never into his partners beating him. And they both knew that Clary wouldn't even be able in inflict that kind of pain on Jace; she wasn't big enough.
The last thing they wanted to do was get an exhausted Magnus involved, so it was the last thing they did. In a pit of desperation, Alec asked his boyfriend for his help.
"I thought you'd never ask." Magnus smirked, using the tips of his fingers to lift Alec's chin up.
The process took hours to set up and prepare for. Alec and Isabelle were sent into the city of Alicante to gather any and all of the supplies that Magnus could have possibly needed. Once they came back, their satchels full of different grasses and herbs and elements, Magnus brought them to the basement of their family's home, where he had created an image on the ground that neither Isabelle nor Alec could make out.
"I need your hands." Magnus said, turning to Alec.
"If you wanted to hold my hand, you should've just done it." Alec joked, earning a coy grin from Magnus.
"Can you just stop flirting for two minutes so we can find our brother?" Isabelle snapped at the couple, finishing her statement with a rebellious stomp on the ground.
"Right, sorry." Alec murmured, then placed his hands in Magnus's.
"Isabelle, I need you to grab the crushed beetles and spread them all over the map." Magnus informed the woman standing with now two satchels hanging from her shoulders. She began to rummage through the bags, then got frustrated and gently dumped the contents of the bags onto the floor.
"Okay, got it." Isabelle said softly, then opened the glass jar so she could place the black dust accordingly on the map, as Magnus referred to it as.
"And then the spider eye, place it in the middle. You can step on it, just be light-footed." Magnus requested of Isabelle. He watched her cautiously step into the image he had created, then place the tiny eye in the exact middle.
Alec wondered how the process was going to go, how all of these items could help them find Jace and Clary.
"And the wheatgrass," Magnus noted, then made a motion with his hands. Isabelle copied it, spreading the grass over the map.
It seemed a bit ridiculous to Alec now, how they had gotten bags worth of items, for Magnus only to start the spell after three were in use.
"I'm going to prick your finger. The parabatai bond will help guide the spider eye to where Jace is." Magnus explained, reaching for the dagger that Alec had sheathed in his belt. Alec allowed it and watched his boyfriend work his magic. "Close your eyes." Magnus whispered after a moment of nothing happening.
Alec did as he was told and felt an immense heat adjacent to him. He wanted to look and check on his sister, but Magnus squeezed his hands, silently telling him to trust the process.
"Woah," Isabelle muttered after a few moments. Magnus released Alec's hands, allowing him to open his eyes. The three of the observed the map.
"What is it?" Alec asked quietly after a moment of being unable to read the scorch marks on his floor.
"This," Magnus pointed to a rather large rectangular shape, "Is us." His hand followed a scorched trail to the spider eye, only about two feet away. "This is Jace."
"They're here?" Isabelle asked incredulously. "There's no way, they can't be here."
"Very observant, Muffin." Magnus said, pointing his long finger at Isabelle. He seemed to have an affinity for referring to women as breakfast pastries. "Look at where they are, though. Look around. There are no manors anywhere."
"The old Morgenstern manor was just a few acres over." Alec whispered, trying to figure out the map, mentally picturing a map of all the family manors. "There's no way; it burnt down years ago. Before Isabelle was even born."
"You have met the Morgensterns, yes? Nothing is impossible with them." Magnus alluded to Alec not knowing something.
Curious blue eyes looked up to meet his sister's doe eyes. They're in the Morgenstern manor. The siblings shared the same thought without knowing it.
Immediately, Alec went to suit up, but Magnus caught him sweetly by his elbow. "Honey, do you think it's such a great idea to go right now?" He asked, then looked to Isabelle, letting her know that the question applied to her as well. "Neither of you know what you're getting in to, and it would be much smarter to go in the daytime, with help. I can be of assistance, but only after I get my beauty rest."
"Your beauty rest?!" Isabelle snapped. "You go ahead and get your beauty rest, my brother is in trouble, and I won't lose him to the same person I lost Max to again!" The young girl shouted. Alec hadn't mentioned feeling anything since that first occurrence, but his rune still showed dark black against his porcelain skin. Jace was still alive, but only for now.
"Isabelle," Alec said, taking a step towards her, his face guarded, mirroring Isabelle's expression. "Magnus is right, we're tired. We need to rest and get ready before we step into this. We don't know what he has."
"I want Simon to come." Isabelle stated, and Alec nodded in agreement. "Go tell him, get him ready. We'll leave in the morning. Tell Jocelyn and Luke as well. They should know, and they may be able to help us."
"I don't want Jocelyn to see him." Isabelle said, and with that, Alec knew that Jocelyn was out of the question. "I'll alert the Penhallows. They're too lazy to help us anyways." The insult wasn't a joke to Isabelle; she was still upset with the way Jia treated Jace and Clary the first time they escaped from Sebastian, and Alec knew it. He would have known it without the insult, because he felt the same way.
The next morning, Alec woke up from yet another restless sleep, but this morning he felt more energized than normal. He was excited to get his brother back, and hopefully get rid of Sebastian. Magnus woke up with Alec, and they immediately began to prepare themselves. After a quick breakfast, blood for Simon, and Isabelle and Alec runing one another, they geared up and started their trek over the grassy hills that would lead them to the empty plot of the Morgenstern land.
"There's nothing here." Simon noted, looking between the two Lightwood siblings. Alec reached out to Magnus, but he was already two steps ahead of them. He closed his eyes and reached his hands in front of him, focusing intently on his task. Alec placed a solid hand on his shoulder, offering some of his energy, knowing that his could be replaced with a rune, but Magnus's needed more time.
The group simultaneously blinked, and suddenly, a giant mansion appeared before their eyes. Magnus had done it, and it had appeared to take quite the toll on him.
"Whoever glamoured this really didn't want it to be found." Magnus commented quietly, then took a step back, allowing the Shadowhunters to take the lead. So, they did, putting their game faces on.
They quietly opened the door, their soundless and stealth runes taking over. Alec looked to Isabelle, then scanned the main room they had stepped into. It wasn't nearly as grand as the Lightwood Manor, but it was still a large house. Alec knew that they would have quite a bit of struggle searching the house. However, as if it were a sign sent from the Angel himself, Simon pushed through them and walked into the house.
"Simon!" Isabelle hissed at him, following him in with her blade drawn.
"Blood." He said simply. Alec would have kissed his feet if it were appropriate.
They followed Simon across the room they were standing in and towards a port in the wall, which led to a staircase. Walking upon the scene, all Alec saw was Sebastian sitting on his knees and Clary's kicking legs underneath him. He saw Jace's arm flat on the ground but could still hear his voice shouting. Alec loaded his bow and fired an arrow directly into Sebastian's back. He fell forward, directly over top of Clary, causing her to let out a muffled yelp.
"Jace!" Alec shouted, begging for a reply.
"Alec!" His brother shouted back, causing relief to floor his veins. All was well, and the four began to make their way down the stairs, Alec taking them two at a time, but all of them stopped at the sight of Sebastian's arm moving to yank the arrow out of his shoulder. The lean blonde stood up quickly, facing the mixed rescue group, his face red with anger. He broke the arrow in half, then leaned over and easily pulled Clary up off the ground by her arm.
"Alec, don't!" Jace hissed. He must have felt Alec's immediate reaction to load his bow yet again.