Malace || Shadowhunters || Malace || Demon On Your Shoulder || Malace || Shadowhunters || Malace

Title: Demon On Your Shoulder – The Split Soul's Soulmates

Fandom: Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments

Disclaimer: All rights to the Shadowhunters show reserved to Ed Decter, the books the show is based off and its characters belong to Cassandra Clare. This fanfiction on the other hand is entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.

Tags: polyamory (m/m/m), alpha/beta/omega dynamics, soulmate AU, daemons, past child abuse, hurt/comfort, angst, explicit intercourse, anal, oral, f/f, m/f

Main Pairing: Magnus/Alec/Jace

Side Pairings: Lydia/Izzy, Simon/Clary, Luke/Catarina

Shadowhunters Characters: Jonathan 'Jace' Herondale, Magnus Bane, Alexander 'Alec' Lightwood, Isabelle Lightwood, Clarissa 'Clary' Fray, Simon Lewis, Lydia Branwell, Madzie, Catarina Loss, Luke Garroway, Raphael Santiago, Maxwell Lightwood, Imogen Herondale, Valentine Morgenstern

Daemons: Aurea (Jace's Golden Retriever), Celestina (Jace's barn owl), Shyama (Magnus' panther), Minerva (Alec's snow owl), Dolios (Max's raccoon), Nagendra (Izzy's cobra), Timon (Lydia's lynx), Seraphina (Clary's robin), Adina (Simon's rat), Ares (Andrew's dog), Piedad (Raph's bat), Menelaus (Cat's lion), Regulus (Madzie's bunny), Lupercalia (Luke's wolf), Cornelius (Imogen's horned owl)

Summary: Everyone had a daemon, an animal-shaped manifestation of their own soul, and bore a picture of their soulmate's daemon on their body. Everyone, aside from Jace. Because Valentine split his soul, giving him two daemons – and took the one on his soulmate's marks. So even when he meets them and recognizes them by their daemons, his daemon doesn't match.

Demon On Your Shoulder

The Split Soul's Soulmates

Chapter 9: The Reunited Soul (1)

Alec's patience was wearing thin. Well, no, Alec's patience was completely gone at this point. He paced, radiating agitated energy. Every now and again, he would glare at Magnus rather pointedly. Magnus had gotten quite good at ignoring that, over the past two days. Of course did he understand why Alexander was this agitated, and also why he kept glaring at Magnus.

Two days ago, Jace had cried himself to sleep in their bedroom. And he had been unconscious in their bed ever since. Not stirring at all. The same went for Aurea. At first, there was no reason to worry. But after ten hours, concerns started to grow more and more.

Alexander wanted to bring his parabatai to the Silent Brothers. That didn't seem like the wisest decision to Magnus, seeing as nobody had ever seen a severed soul. Who knew what the Silent Brothers would do? What the Clave would do, if they knew about this?

"He's safer here, with us. You know that, my love."

Magnus reached out for Alec's wrist to pull him down onto the bed with him. Under mild protests did Alec allow it. He laid down tensely, resting his head on Magnus' chest so he could look over at Jace. Still asleep. Not moving, aside from the heaving of his chest. Breathing. Alive.

"How can you be this calm," Alec asked with gritted teeth.

"Because by now I have a good guess on what is going on with him," Magnus replied, flipping a page. "I've spent the past two days reading through Valentine's documentation on what he's done to Jace and while I don't know the answer with a hundred percent certainty, the thing I have been telling you for two days now is that he is fine. There is nothing physically wrong with him. If anything, he is strengthening, so there is no reason to worry."

Magnus had been saying that for two days. That didn't ease Alec's worries at all though. They wouldn't be eased until Jace actually opened his eyes and would look at him again.

"What is your theory then? Give me something more concrete. Maybe it'll help me too."

"I didn't want to give you false hope, in case I'm wrong," admitted Magnus after a moment. "But... by now, I'm fairly certain that my assumption is right."

He put the book aside and ran a hand over Jace's sleeping form, checking his magic. There was a living pulse to it and it flashed visibly red for just a moment when Magnus checked. He hummed.

"Well?" Alec raised his eyebrows urgently. "What is it?"

"I think that him and Aurea are... healing themselves," Magnus smiled, small but warm. "They are both asleep, have been for the same amount of time. While our darling little owl is wide awake."

Celestina turned her head to look at them now that they were talking about her. Alec instinctively reached out to rest a hand on her head. She'd been watching over Jace and Aurea, though she too seemed nervous and tense about it. Minerva kept her company, both sitting in the nest right above Magnus and Alec's bed. Alec knew Minerva managed to calm Celestina down a little.

"From what I've read, Valentine had the same thought as I did," Magnus winced at his own words. "The bond between a person and their daemon can not be fully severed. It's just not possible, it kills them both. That's why Valentine didn't kill Aurea, why he always kept her. Because there's still a link between Jace and Aurea. All Valentine did was... stretch the bond impossibly thin."

"So they're... reconnecting?" Alec furrowed his brows as he looked at Jace and Aurea.

"Essentially, yes. I think that it is currently taking all their energy to strengthen their weakened bond, that's why they're asleep," Magnus nodded to himself, reaching out with one hand to brush Jace's hair out of his face. "I've considered that since about hour twelve of this. But I wanted to read through Valentine's records first and observe them a little longer before sharing this theory with you, because I didn't want to give you false hope, love."

"You think... You think that Jace and Aurea can get their bond back, fully?" Alec's head turned to look at Celestina even while he spoke. "But Celestina..."

"She hasn't weakened, I take that as a good sign," Magnus smiled at the owls, prompting them both to hop down and huddle into his lap. "I... was afraid that she might weaken, that her essence would be absorbed into Aurea. But she is as strong and active as ever, aren't you, dear?"

"I feel good," Celestina pushed her head up into Magnus' hand. "Just worried for my Jace."

"I don't think that Celestina was ever a true 'replacement' of Aurea," Magnus continued. "When the bond with Aurea weakened, Jace's soul reached out in despair and formed a second daemon. Perhaps, if they had been reunited early on, the two daemons would have merged. But at this point, Jace has grown and evolved as a person. He isn't the little boy Aurea was a part of anymore, not fully. A part of him is, that boy is who he used to be, so he still has his connection with Aurea. Celestina however represents the person he has become."

"I... I will stay?" Celestina's voice was small, hopeful.

They could hear the fear in her voice. She'd thought she would disappear too. Replaced by Aurea, who was Jace's 'real' daemon. But Celestina was too? Celestina got to stay with her Jace? She closed her eyes in relief and relaxed into Magnus' arms, shaking a little herself.

"Yes," Magnus' words were comforting and warm as he spoke. "Yes, you will stay with us."

And now Alec understood why Magnus hadn't spoken up sooner. Because if he'd promised Celestina and Alec that she would get to stay and it hadn't turned out that way? If Alec had lost his little owl, after thinking he wouldn't? That would have devastated him. His eyes found his own daemon and he could see the relief on Minerva's face too. Minerva and Celestina were just like Alec and Jace. They were tied together by the parabatai-bond, they were inseparable. Celestina wasn't replaceable, even if Aurea was the daemon on Alec's soul-mark, he would never give up Celestina.

/break\

"What's really going on with you?"

Alec looked up at Lydia with a frown. Magnus, knowing how important Isabelle was to both Alec and Jace, wanted to develop a real bond with her, had invited both her and Lydia over for breakfast. Also to ease Izzy's worries; Alec's lies that him and Jace were 'out sick' would only go so far.

"Clearly you aren't sick," Izzy rolled her eyes. "And though I haven't seen Jace myself, I don't believe that he's sick either. Now, Jace playing hooky isn't exactly new. But you?"

"Izzy is worried about you," Lydia added gently, resting a hand on top of Isabelle's. "She's been talking about it for days now. How untypical it is for the both of you to be gone like that."

"I'm not sick," Alec sighed. "I just... need some time off..."

Isabelle reached her free hand out over the table for Alec's arm, her eyes filled with concern. "Is... Did something happen to Jace? Because he's the only reason you would do that. Since Magnus is clearly of perfect health over there."

Magnus smiled and raised his glass of orange juice, not commenting. Of course were people getting suspicious. There had been worried glances from Luke, Clary, even Simon. All Magnus could tell them was that the parabatai had caught a bug, were out cold, that he was tending to them.

"He will be fine," Alec's voice didn't sound as sure as he'd want it to. "I promise you, I'll tell you when something changes. For better... or for worse. But for now, I can't... I can't tell you more."

Because telling her more would mean to share something Jace had never shared with anyone before. Something Alec and Magnus didn't even know if Jace had been ready for them to know. So it wasn't theirs to tell anybody else, not even Isabelle. Once Jace was awake, he could decide for himself who to tell, when and how. Part of Alec was still worried Jace would be mad at Celestina for even just telling Alec and Magnus. Because she'd been right to do so.

"Well, while you're taking time off, we're playing host to the inquisitor. Who is... still playing head of the institute," Lydia heaved a sigh. "Though with Aldertree removed, and with Valentine captured thanks to all of our team-work, I think – or am at least hopeful – that the real reason she is still here is to assess who will be a worthy... new... head of the institute. After all, it's gone through quite a lot of leader in a very short time."

"That makes sense," Alec nodded, frowning. "Ease her mind, best as you can."

"We'll try, but it's clear she wants to meet you and Jace too," Isabelle sighed. "You were calling the shots in the background while Aldertree was head. And Jace is one of... They call him and Clary 'Valentine's experiments'. Fairly sure everybody assumes Jace is just trying to avoid her."

Avoid... Inquisitor Herondale. Well, once Jace would be awake that was most likely what he was going to do, because she was his grandmother and Alec could just imagine the concerns Jace would have. The fear of rejection. He'd gone through too many family-relation changes in such a short time and he'd always been so desperate to be loved, to be accepted.

And yes, Alec was aware of the bitter irony here. How much he considered the rejections Jace might be fearing while very much ignoring any rejection he may face himself. After all, Jace had known they were soulmates. For years. And he had never spoken up. Yes, Celestina had tried to explain it to Alec, and to Alec's logical brain it made sense. To his Jace-knowing brain, he could follow the logic. But the emotional, irrational part of Alec kept whispering that the real reason Jace had never spoken up was because he didn't feel that way about Alec, wanted to lessen that blow of direct rejection by just pretending there was no soul-bond, to spare Alec's feelings.

The longer Jace was unconscious, the more did these thoughts gnaw at him. The harder it got to ignore them, to push them down. The greater the fear grew of what'd happen when Jace woke up.

/break\

Magnus' theory was proven more true on day four. Jace's scent was changing. It became stronger, sweeter too. Betas had a unique scent too, but it was never quite as intense and it never had a hard spike – alphas usually had a spike of musky or sharp scent to them, omegas either sweet or spicy. Jace smelt sweet but sharp, like honey. Jace's omega nature was starting to come through, which meant that his connection to Aurea – the manifestation of the omega he once was – was growing stronger. All day, Alec and Magnus walked around craving honey.

"This is quite ridiculous," Alec complained, even as Magnus kissed along his neck. "Honey, of all things. I've never cared much for honey. I ate three honey toasts this morning. Three."

Magnus hummed against his skin, smiling to himself. This was cute, because Alec was annoyed. Worry was no longer the sole dominant emotion his lovely beta displayed. Because it became apparent that Magnus was right, that Jace was on the way of recovery. That eased his mind. Eased it enough to allow the two of them to be intimate again. Well, not in their bed clearly, since their omega was still asleep in there. But in the bathroom, against the tiled wall. Which was quite alright by Magnus. With gentle hands did he grasp Alec by the hips while going into his knees. He trailed kisses down his soulmate's body, until he got to wrap his lips around Alec's hard cock.

His mouth managed to distract Alec from his annoyed ranting about honey. Instead, lovely moans spilled from his lips and Alec's fingers found their way into Magnus' hair, clinging onto him. He jerked his hips a couple of times, thrusting into Magnus' mouth. A teasing tongue ran over the length of Alec's cock, Magnus swallowing around him. Alec gasped at that.

"Ma—ag," Alec gasped out, leaning his head back. "Alpha."

Oh. Oh, Magnus loved when Alec called him that. There was such a possessive note to how Alec would say it, while also giving himself to Magnus fully. Even more eager now, Magnus sucked Alec off with more gusto, until his beta came hard. He looked so delectable, all debouched and flushed. Relaxed. Magnus liked this method of relaxing his soulmate. With a smile on his lips did Magnus get off the floor and kiss Alec, knowing Alec could still taste himself on Magnus' tongue.

"There you go, darling," Magnus whispered pleased. "Now you're ready for bed?"

Alec frowned, his hand dragging down Magnus' chest. "You don't want me to return the favor?"

"No," Magnus shook his head amused. "You've been wound so tightly, I'd like for you to have a good night's sleep and I thought this might help unwind you."

Alec flushed at that, but he leaned in to kiss him. "Thank you. You're amazing."

/break\

Jace woke up to an intense sense of pleasure. Like an electric spark going through his body. Not his own pleasure though. Someone else's. He'd been able to suppress these kind of things between himself and Alec when they were teens. But it also felt... more intense? Much, much more intense than he remembered from back in the day. And then there was just a sense of ease.

"Thank you, Magnus, that was exactly what I needed," Alec's voice was a whisper.

The door opened and Alec and Magnus entered. Alec's hair was still wet and Magnus was wearing his robes. For a moment, Jace was confused what they were doing in his bedroom, waking him after what clearly had been a quickie in the shower. Only when his eyes wandered did he realize this was their bedroom, not his. His confusion grew and he reached up to run his fingers through his hair, sitting up slowly. Someone whined next to him – a sound of protest because Jace was moving. When Jace looked down, he saw Aurea laying there, right next to him.

And suddenly he felt like he had been transported into some bizarre alternate reality. One where Valentine had never taken Aurea away from him, one where he had gotten to be Magnus and Alec's soulmate, where he got to be here, in their bed, waiting for them in the evening.

But that couldn't be. When he turned, he saw Celestina, the clear proof that this wasn't what it was. And at the same time, he felt a strange sense of relief, because he wouldn't want to miss her. He wouldn't want to live in a world where she didn't exist. Even if it came at the cost of his soulmates.

Still, that left him with one obvious question. "What's going on here...?"

Magnus and Alec froze on the spot, both staring at him in surprise. What? Had he sleep-walked into their bed? He was clearly missing something, something huge – Aurea – but also so much more? Aurea sat up and gave a big stretch and jaw. Her tail was wagging hard when she jumped off the bed and ran up to Alec and Magnus, circling them and jumping up against them.

"Hello, golden puppy, you're awake," Magnus smiled brightly at her as he went down to ruffle her fur. "Hello, gorgeous, how are you feeling? Are you alright?"

"Yes! Yes!" Aurea licked his cheek enthusiastically. "I had a good sleep! I'm all better now!"

"Oh, good. Good girl," Magnus laughed and picked the Golden Retriever up. "Good girl."

"Jace," Alec said his name like a breath of a relief. "Jace, are you alright?"

Within the blink of an eye, Alec was at Jace's side, looking at him with so much love and worry that it made Jace choke up. What was going on here? He furrowed his brows, growing more frustrated with how unfamiliar this entire situation was. He hated not knowing, feeling like this.

"Alec," Jace's voice was more urgent. "Please. What's going on?"

Magnus wrinkled his nose as he walked over to the bed and sat down next to him, Aurea happily getting comfortable of his lap with her tail still wagging wildly. Magnus sniffed the air while caressing Aurea behind the ears. Alec also started sniffing and seriously, what was wrong?

"You smell distressed," Alec blinked surprised. "That's new. I didn't... huh."

No? That wasn't possible. Betas had a duller scent and one of the perks of that was that they didn't advertise their emotions like that. And Jace was a beta, had been since... His eyes settled on Aurea.

"I had to tell them," Celestina spoke up, sounding nearly afraid. "I'm sorry."

"More context," Jace frowned at his daemon. "I don't... I don't remember, the last thing that happened. I know Alec and Magnus left, for the... mission, but..."

"We found Aurea. And we took her home with us, because she's ours," Magnus offered in a gentle voice. "She is the daemon from our soul-mark, so Alexander and I brought her home."

Right. They recognized Aurea. Of course they would. But how was she even-?

"He'd kept her, locked away," Alec added, grasping Jace's hands in his and holding them tight. "Because she's still connected to you. So he kept you separate but never killed her."

Okay. That explained why Aurea was here. It didn't explain why he was here though. In their bed.

"You... You came to our bedroom, remember?" Alec seemed tense, pleading with him in tone alone, though Jace wasn't sure what he was pleading for. "But when you saw Aurea, you kind of... You broke down. You cried, holding her. And then you both passed out."

Now that Alec put it into words, Jace had this dull feeling of remembering. He groaned, grabbing his head with one hand, pressing its heel against one eye. His other hand was still being held by Alec. He could hear the loud thumping of Aurea's tail wagging so hard. Jace startled when a small head butted his side. Opening his eyes, he turned to look at Minerva. A faint smile found its way onto his lips as he reached out for Alec's daemon. Similarly, Celestina sat huddled against Alec. The next moment, a large, heavy body climbed onto the bed behind Jace and then Shyama curled around him from behind, purring in that very soothing way of hers, easing Jace's mind further.

"Your bond with Aurea had been weakened. Never severed. But weakened," Magnus explained in a calm and patient voice. "The moment you two made physical contact with each other again, the bond was resparked. You've been unconscious for four days, because your body needed all of its energy to strengthen your bond with her again. It seems your bond is strong enough again."

Okay. Jace closed his eyes and leaned back against the black panther behind him. Yes. He could feel it. He could feel Aurea again. He remembered the feeling, the way she used to belong to him. A smile played on his lips, softer now. At ease. Now that he concentrated on his soul-bond, there was more that he could feel. Celestina, of course. The parabatai-bond too. But... something next to the parabatai-bond, a similar one, but it seemed to pulse at a different frequency. And another one that felt the same way but went into a different direction. What-

"Aurea is our soul-animal," Alec smiled, looking strangely flustered as he rested a hand on his chest – where his soul-mark was located. "You are her human. You are our soulmate."

"I had to tell them," Celestina sounded guilty. "I had to explain it."

"Don't blame her," requested Magnus softly. "We could put most of it together ourselves when you knew her name and sobbed into her fur, sweetheart. She just provided extra context."

"...You can smell my emotions because... I'm... I'm an omega. Again."

"That's the thing you go with?" Alec huffed out an exasperated sigh. "You're our soulmate."

Jace couldn't help but flinch at that. They knew. They knew he was... And he was. Now, this time, he actually was their soulmate. He was an omega – the omega to their triad – and his daemon, or one of his daemons anyway, was on their soul-marks. He was their soulmate. The realization sank in slow and heavy and all he could do was stare at them in stunned silence.

"I couldn't tell you," was the first thing Jace could think of saying. "Because I wasn't. I was a beta. And who had ever heard of a triad with two betas? And Celestina wasn't on your mark. How could I even... I wasn't your soulmate, I wasn't the person you were looking for. I wasn't right."

"Jace," Alec sounded so pained. "Jace, you were perfect. You were always perfect. Beta, omega, if you were an alpha I would love you just the same too. I've always loved Tina, even if she isn't on my soul-mark, I love her, you know I always cherished her."

That was true. Jace knew that. Alec was the only one he had ever allowed to touch her, because he trusted Alec with Celestina. And the same went for Magnus, who had touched Celestina – who had let him touch Shyama, even before he'd known any of this. And all that Jace felt was utterly overwhelmed by everything.

Author's note: Once again, there was just Too Much to say and Too Much happening, so it's a two-parter. But I SWEAR, next chapter, Magnus, Alec and Jace are going to talk about their soulmate-bond and feelings are going to be talked about and shared. It was just important that they each digested their feelings for themselves first ;)