Chapter Fifteen

It's hard to find a comfortable position to sit in when you're chained up by your wrists and ankles, but after a lot of shuffling around, Ember managed to find a way. The Paris Institute dungeons were almost too familiar to her; when she was young, she'd always cause trouble, but her crimes were never too serious so she would be held down there for only a couple of hours. She was so used to being dumped in the cells that the slimy stone walls, thick choking air and dingy smell didn't bother her. Throughout her questioning and having guards placed in front of her cell, she had been counting down and there was only one minute to go.

It was six months ago when she began practicing how to summon all sorts of demons. Eidolon demons would follow her around like sheep without her even having to ask, but other demons were harder to control. Within five long months, she was able to make all demons that she summoned obedient and could create portals to other dimensions without having to break a sweat, however opening the door to the underworld was impossible for her. She had even asked another warlock called Fraco to attempt to open the door, but his only outcome was failure. She had come to the conclusion that she needed a warlock with the blood of a prince and who had more than enough magic to open the last portal that was required. Convincing him was the problem.

She soon reached the thirty second mark in her countdown and began chanting a spell quietly with her head lowered. It took more energy to create the spell due to being in such an angelic place, but in ten seconds, she was finished.

"May I have something to drink?" she asked as she stood up,

"What's the magic word?" the small but heavily built guard laughed,

"I think you'll find I'm the one with the magic," Ember replied,

"Yet, you're trapped in there," the other tall guard turned his back to her.

It took a lot of self-control to not reach through the cells bars and use her own magic words to rip their heads from their necks.

"Time's up," she grinned as a portal emerged in front of her.

As Fraco entered the cell through the portal, his gills on his neck began to pulse, he brushed down his sharp suit and ran his hands through his white hair. Following him were two acanthus demons and two famith demons that made the once big cell feel quite compact. With a snap of Ember's fingers, one of the acanthus demons slid its prickly arms through the bars of the cell and sunk its poisonous thorns into the guards' necks.

"I don't remember requesting this many demons," Ember sighed,

"Precaution, my darling," Fraco replied, "Which one of the boys am I taking?"

"Both if you must, but the blue one would be preferred," Ember smiled, "now, let's get out of here."

A famith demon used its hands with canine crammed mouths to free Ember from the chains and Fraco made the bars melt, making escaping just that bit easier. As they made their way up the steps of the dungeons, the demons made quick work of the three guards in their way so that Ember only had to worry about walking up them in very high heels.

"We take the boy, get rid of anything in our path and go back to the lair. The front door would be great, but I doubt that will work. Oh and try to be silent," Ember instructed before translating her orders into chthonian.

Her hair became a vivid strong blue as they strolled through the halls of the institute. In the corner of her eye, she could see Fraco gazing at the art on the walls and the intricate details of every inch of the place as if he were sightseeing. In aggravation, she began to set every painting they passed on fire, "Stay focussed, gill boy."

"That was the longest meeting I've endured since we all tried to get Queen Victoria to go on a diet," Magnus sighed as they walked out of the dining room,

"At least this one was more successful," Jace chuckled.

Magnus was ready to laugh and even high-five Jace on such a punch line, until he became ambushed by a tidal wave of demonic energy. He completely froze as he looked from left to right and held his hand up to stop everyone behind him. Alec read the signal as a cue to load his bow and Jace swiftly had his seraph in his grip.

"Who's guarding Ember?" Isabelle asked as her whip slithered down her wrist,

"Our guards," Esme replied,

"Well, I suggest that you give them admin jobs instead; there are four demons roaming your halls with Ember and another warlock directing them," Magnus said,

"Split off evenly around the building, we need Ember alive," Theo ordered as his silver lasso glowed,

Without Magnus asking, Alec instantly ran in the direction of the room where Clary was looking after Max and Rafael. With a whistle, Magnus was followed by Esme and two other Shadowhunters in the direction of the entrance to the Institute. It was hard to concentrate his magic on locating Ember when anxiety over Max and Rafael was filling his mind. He could only pray that Alec and Clary would protect them as he began to put a spell on the door.

"No one but me will be able to open this door," Magnus assured as he turned to Esme,

"What about us?" a Shadowhunter asked,

"It's my spell."

Magnus was ready to battle the Shadowhunter with worlds, but a hit in the chest and a point to the left staircase from Esme made him go dead quiet. There was only silence filling his ears, until the sound of footsteps and snarling gradually grew. To leave via the front door was such an obvious option leaving Magnus surprised that Ember would choose it, but as long as she was nowhere near his children, he was content.

"You've got to be kidding me," Ember tutted as she got to the top of the staircase.

One of the probably less experienced Shadowhunters panicked and threw a dagger at Ember and instead of stopping it herself, a famith demon jumped in front of her with the mouth on its hand devouring the blade as rapidly as it flew. Ember cackled as an acanthus demon emerged behind her with poison leaking from its thorns.

"Let us pass," Ember ordered as if Magnus was one of her brainless minions,

"Keep dreaming, bitch," Esme snarled as she took out her seraph blade,

"Fine."

Ember threw a sea of magic over them which Magnus caught as he sprang in front of Esme, rendering only the two of them able to move. He morphed her magic into two bolts of lightning and projected them onto the famith demon, leaving only dust and one last demon as Ember's protection. He was prepared to attack with another spell, when he felt a sharp pain surge through his left shoulder and the rest of his body like wildfire. He grabbed his shoulder with the hope to find the source of the stabbing agony, but was only left confused when he found no blood and no weapon in it. There was a blood curdling laughing that came from Ember as the pain faded and a portal appeared.

"Well, that was easier than I thought," Ember said before going through the portal.

The acanthus demon threw thorns at them, which Esme dodged and deflected while she ran up the steps, but her efforts were wasted as the portal closed as soon as the demon entered it. Hastily, Magnus created his own portal and made it engulf both him and Esme.

They appeared in one of the chambers. The room had been turned upside down with the bed sheets looking as if they had been half eaten and the doors of the wardrobe and the bathroom turned into several planks of broken wood, but what frightened Magnus was the gaping hole in the back wall where the window should've been. Clary was sitting against the bed, clutching her side and breathing heavily with her arm around Rafael. Magnus could see fingertips clenching onto the unstable bricks of the hole and he instantly used his magic to bring Alec to safety. Alec winced in pain as he hovered onto the floor with a dagger plunged into his left shoulder. It had become a usual routine for Magnus to heal his injured partner, but that didn't mean he didn't slightly panic as he slowly and carefully removed the dagger and began to weave Alec's skin and flesh back together.

"They they took him," he breathed heavily, "They took Max."