Chapter Nine

Clary found herself being so close to ripping her hair out, until she spotted a piece of toilet paper on the bed with messy handwriting on it.

Dad take us for hot choc. Bac soon

Max xx

The note only calmed Clary's mind a little as she didn't think that Alec would come back without letting Clary know he was there and if he had come back, where were the others? She felt a cool breeze flood into the room and while she went to close the window, she realized there was no window. As she thought of ways to fix it, she heard the door open and ran to it with hopes that she would see Alec holding the hands of his two sons. She knew the boys would be hyper after having hot chocolate and was prepared to take them into a room and have them colour in one of her drawings. She thought about creating a drawing full of birds as Max loved chasing them and then maybe a drawing of the beautiful Paris architecture for Rafael.

"Clary?" Jace called and his voice echoed around the Institute.

Clary came to the door to see Jace with slashes in his sleeves and blood stains on his face and even in his hair. Usually when he came back from business, Jace would be completely ready to relax, put his weapons away and then lie on the couch and let all the dirt on his body stain it. However, there was concentration still lingering on his face and he still clutched his seraph blade. He put away the blade, wrapped his arms around Clary and kissed her cheek softly. His lips were freezing cold, sending a tingle through her face, but his body was warm which made her want to never leave his arms.

"I need to have a shower; bloody demon thought it would be fun to die on top of me and get blood in my hair," Jace said,

"Yeah, you stink," Clary giggled,

"I love you too."

The door opened again and this time, Magnus entered while talking to Esme and Theo in French with Isabelle and Alec following them. Clary waited for Rafael and Max to come rushing in in hysterics, instead the door closed. Panic started to grow along with a knot in her throat as she looked behind Alec just to check that the boys weren't hiding. Her anxious face was noticed by everyone else who watched her frantically open the door, check outside and then look around inside again.

"Clary?" Jace sounded concerned.

Clary was left speechless because if she opened her mouth, she feared she'd be sick, so she simply gave Alec the note that Max had left her. It hurt her to witness Alec's face convulse from a relaxed one into one have fear, rage and worry.

"I left them in bed and took a bath and when I checked on them, they were gone," she stepped far away from Alec,

"How could they just be gone? They have to be somewhere, Clary, so where are they?" Alec tried not to raise his voice,

"I don't know,"

"We trusted you again! You're absolutely useless!"

Clary felt a tear crawl out of her eye. She cared about Max and Rafael too, and just knowing that it was her fault that they were now lost again made her feel like sitting in a dark corner and never leaving it. Jace put his arms around her and pulled her into his chest.

"This wasn't her fault; it's not like last time. For some reason, Max and Rafael believes that you came here to take them to get hot chocolate and there's only one explanation," Jace kissed Clary's head,

"Eidolon demons," Magnus sighed as he sat on the steps,

"I'm really really sorry," Clary cried as she thought of the danger that the boys were in,

"Like Jace said, it's not your fault," Magnus put his head in his hands.

Alec stood in front of him, took his hands and kissed them softly as he looked into his eyes. It was obvious that both of them wanted to cry, but they had decided to stay strong in that one look.

Magnus got up, "We'll all split up to look for them. Esme, you stay here and get back up to sort out the demon problem, but right now, looking for my boys is more important,"

"Of course Magnus. Theo knows Paris better than the back of his hand, he'll help you look," Esme replied before telling Theo what to do in French,

"Merci," Alec smiled.

Clary still felt useless. Paris was a massive city and the boys could've even been taken to a whole other city by now, if only there was a way to find them without having to search the whole of Paris. By the time they reached them, it could've been too late. They needed some sort of locator.

"Alec, Jace, could you use you parabatai rune and-" Clary was cut off by Jace instantly going up to Alec and clutching his hands.

Alec was on the edge of complete breakdown. What parent loses his children twice in basically one day? He was surprised that he didn't think of locating them with Jace and was starting to regret calling Clary useless. He took a picture of Rafael and Max out of his pocket- which he always brought with him- and gave it to Jace.

"Think of them," Alec instructed as they enclosed the picture in their hands.

It took Alec a while until he could feel them, most likely because of all the grief and doubt clouding his mind, but once he started to focus, his mind started to create a scene. He saw the fog encircling the Eiffel Tower, and then he went down a road east from it where there was a café with deep red curtains and a door clearly displaying the closed sign. The café had the words pécheresse douce in white swirled writing on a red background. In the basement of the café, in a cage, were his two innocent sons. Max was crying in the corner while Rafael was singing with Max in his arms. Alec had to let go of Jace's hand as the image of them made his stomach churn and his heart break into pieces.

In silence Alec went back to Magnus and wept into his chest. He couldn't let Magnus see what he saw; it would completely destroy him and Alec wasn't prepared to see that.

"We know where they are," Jace's voice wobbled.

The images of Rafael and Max began to violate his mind which only made Alec cry even more, until the point where he had to go to bathroom and sit on the edge of the bath as he cried. He wasn't allowing anyone, especially not Esme and Theo, to witness him cry. He had called Clary useless, but in truth, it was him that was the most useless of all; he had lost his children and all he could do at this moment was sit there and cry as he begged the angel to bring them back to him. The worst scenario of what could happen to them darted through his head which made him fall to the cold bathroom floor and break down. The only time he had ever cried like this was when he lost his own brother. He couldn't go through that again. As he allowed himself to slowly fall apart, he felt sturdy hands grace his shoulders and a warmth occurred by his side.

"It will all be okay," Isabelle assured him as she pulled him into her, "I promise."