Chapter 8
After a while - and it definitely took a while - Izzy's anger eventually dissipated, and shifted more into guilt. Maybe she'd overreacted when Alec came to speak to her, but the shock had been so overwhelming she surely couldn't have been held accountable for her actions in such a state. She was still horrified by what she'd found, but they were her brothers after all and she knew that she should give them her full support, even when they were committing an act more illegal and weird than she'd thought they were capable of.
Sure, she'd known about Alec's crush on Jace for years, and had shared the burden of his headache. She'd kept the secret to herself no matter how much she wanted to tell someone, because Alec was her brother and she loved him. But, even through all of that, she'd never really expected that Alec's childhood fantasies would ever really come to fruition. As far as she'd known, Jace was straight, and hopelessly in love with Clary the last time she'd checked.
That night, as soon as Izzy had worked off her temper and shock in the training room, she'd called Clary. But after a few tries I became apparent that the redhead was ignoring her. Izzy couldn't exactly blame the girl; in her shoes, Izzy wouldn't have wanted to speak to anyone, let alone the sister of the reason for her heartbreak. Yet, no matter how much Izzy told herself that there was nothing she could do - it wasn't really her problem anyway - she couldn't help but feel partially responsible. It didn't take long for the mound of unmovable guilt to settle in.
Izzy felt that she needed to get her frustration out somehow, to make room for this new coming feeling of guilt. She wasn't about to go to her parents or - the Angel forbid - the Clave about her brothers' secret affair, but there had to be something she could do, no matter how petty, to realise the anger from her chest so she could at least think straight. It didn't take long to think of an idea.
When Alec entered the Institute that evening, he was pretty sure he could smell burning.
The entire day had been spent strolling around in his gear, weapons strapped to his belt and a rune in place to ward off mundanes, killing a few demons here and there and, over all else, staying as far from the Institute as possible. That morning had been a total mess. Hell, the last few days had been a total mess, everything had been since Magnus had broken up with him. The only thing keeping Alec sane that day, as the look of disgust on his sister's face haunted his every thought, was the grin that had welcomed him that morning when he woke, Jace's face bright with delight and contentment. That was all he wanted, and now Clary and Isabelle had found out it was all going to be slowly torn to pieces - he knew it.
The Law is hard, but it is the Law - the words kept swirling around his head, first in the voice of his mother, then his father, both with disappointment in their tone. It was bad enough that they'd recent discovered their son's sexuality, and now they were sure to find out that he was also hooking up with his parabatai - Alec couldn't imagine what they would think of him.
He understood - their attitude towards such a simple thing such as their son being gay might have struck anyone else by surprise, but the whole philosophy of Shadowhunters was to pass on the angelic abilities, and in anything other than hetrosexual relationships, that wasn't exactly possible. It was a practical tradition that had been passed down over generations and it was a hard thing to put a stop to all of a sudden. But as Alec avoided his home, he couldn't help but become overcome with anger.
He loved Jace - the fact that the words were unspoken didn't make it any less true - and the fact that the Clave and it's rules were keeping them apart made Alec blind with rage at just the thought. It was strange to suddenly become so intolerant to the Law after being conditioned by his parents to follow it to its utmost accuracy - they had been convicted once and didn't want the same fate to come of their children. Alec knew that he would die for Jace, willingly, but not due to the enforcement of a rule that unfairly kept them apart. He would go down fighting, and he knew that Jace would do the same.
And yet, after an entire day of thinking far too much on the subject, Alec still hadn't come up with any solution to the problems he faced, and retreated home, defeated. Here, he was unexpectedly greeted with the bitter smell of burnt... Something, and a baffled looking Simon running around with a spatula clenched in his fist. "Jace, what's going on?" Alec called, but the blonde didn't seem to hear him, and just sprinted in the direction of the kitchen, where smoke was leaking out thick and fast. Alec panicked, immediately assuming the worst, and rushing forward with a cry of shock when his sister stumbled out of the doorway of smoke, coughing and spluttering all over the place.
"What are you doing?" he almost screamed, but swallowed back his worry and replaced it with confusion when Izzy and Jace both exploded into uncontrollable laughter.
"By the Angel," Isabelle exclaimed, trying to hold in her giggles. "Calm down, Alec - I was just trying to cook and the whole damn thing exploded!"
"It should be against Covenant law for Izzy to set foot within a mile of any kitchen," Jace joked, earning another fit of laughter.
"If nobody else is going to cook, I might as well give it a try every now and then. Besides, I'm getting better!" Izzy looked up and caught Alec sending her a lighthearted smile. She returned it, with an apologetic look that told Alec that what had happened that morning was now forgotten.
A minute later they were all trudging back into the kitchen, coughing and waving their hands to shift the smoke. Alec heard a window open, and soon the smoke ceased to cloud his vision, as though it had never really been there at all. Izzy immediately cleared up the mess her attempted cooking had produced, giving Jace and Alec the perfect opportunity to glance towards eachother. They hadn't spoken since that morning, but both boys could still sense the infinite smile that rested in their eyes at the memory.
"Guys, I'm still here, you know." Izzy's voice snapped Alec back to the real world as he noticed his sister watching them, a saucepan in hand and a look of interest in her expression. He could feel a blush beginning to redden on his cheeks.
Jace, however, wasn't remotely fazed. "Alec told you then?" he asked.
"Sort of hard to hide after what I walked in on." Alec cringed a little at the mention of it, but didn't say a word.
"So you're OK with it?" With these words, Jace's hand slid along the small of Alec's back before resting on his hip, his fingers fiddling with the hem of Alec's shirt. Izzy saw this immediately and frowned.
"Look, it's none of my business, but I don't want to see it," she clarified. "I think we can all agree that we don't need a repeat of this morning."
"So you're not going to tell our parents? Or the Clave?" Jace sent Alec a look when he said this, but the Lightwood couldn't read his parabatai's expression as well as he usually could. Of course he didn't want the Clave to find out about them - Jace wasn't questioning that, was he?
"No! No, of course not," Izzy assured them, setting down the pan in her hand so that she could fold her arms over her chest. "But you need to apologise to Clary." She pointed at Jace, and he nodded solemnly, the smile suddenly gone from his face. "And, Alec, you too."
Alec's head snapped up and he frowned at his sister. "Why do I have to apologise to her?"
"Not Clary - Magnus. He's obviously heartbroken. He won't answer my calls or texts even with the promise of coffee, and whenever I go to his apartment, he refuses to let me in."
"I don't think Magnus ignoring you has anything to do with Alec, Iz," Jace pointed out.
"Shut up!" She snapped back, probably about to throw a witty retort, but Alec jumped in.
"No, she's right," he admitted. "I should apologise... I did sort of tell him to fuck off."
"What?!" Izzy screamed, at the exact same time as Jace frowned with a "Really?" of utter disbelief. Alec frowned back at both of them, and they cowered back just as a grumpy meow from the doorway made them all jump.
Church waltzed into the room and effortlessly jumped up onto the counter, meowing sourly once more before curling up into a fluffy ball and promptly falling asleep. With this, Jace's hand left Alec's hip and he collapsed into a nearby chair, stroking Church's furry belly and attempting to a look as casual as possible. He flicked his eyes towards the door when Alec sent him a questioning look.
Right on cue, Alec's mother entered the kitchen, heading straight for a cupboard to retrieve herself a blue mug. The whole room seemed to fall silent, even Alec's breathing, and Maryse noticed this as soon as she turned to see her three children all unusually tense.
"Everything alright, kids?" she asked, only to receive nods from the three teenagers. In the corner of her eye, she noticed the mess in the room and asked about it.
"Just a cooking mishap, mum," Izzy informed her, picking up a plate to put away. Maryse wasn't sure what it was, but there was something about her daughter that was strange today. Even Jace, who sat at the counter, seemingly invested in idly playing with the cat's fur, was a little on edge. Maryse figured that she had walked in on a particularly private conversation, and was a little concerned for her children's safety - they'd gotten themselves in dangerous trouble so many times recently that she'd lost count - but they were all Shadowhunters after all.
"Well, I'm off to the library if you need me," she said, deciding to postpone her coffee and leaving the room since the tension was getting to her. Alec let out a sigh of relief the second she was gone.
"Angel, that was horrible," Jace said, sighing as well and giving Church a last scratch behind the ear. "I don't think I've ever been in a more uncomfortable environment."
"Other than when you met Clary's mum," Izzy noted. "Conscious, that is."
Alec ignored his sister's comment. "Do you think mum knew something was up?" he worried.
"Yeah. Definitely," Jace replied sarcastically. "She totally knew exactly what was going on and is contacting the Clave right as we speak."
Alec sent him a look, but Jace just smiled. "Fine. In that case, I'm going to speak to Magnus." The words alone made him gulp, but he knew he would have to face it eventually.
"Are you sure?" Jace queried, ever the voice of concern.
"Yes. I have to speak to him sometime soon, so I'd rather not prolong the agony." Jace nodded at the words in agreement, and Alec turned to leave. But before he could even reach the door, Jace caught him by the shoulder and pressed their lips together in a short kiss. It was sweet and sexy in unison, and Alec wished it could last longer.
"Hey!" Izzy protested. "I told you I don't want to see it!" But Jace just laughed, strolling across the room to her, slinging an arm over her shoulders and planting an innocent kiss on her cheek.
"There," he said. "Now it's even."
Alec left the Institute just a few minutes later, closing the large front doors carefully and strolling away, hands stuffed into his pockets. He really didn't want to see Magnus right now, and he'd be surprised if the warlock even buzzed him in, but he knew he had to at least try.
But Alec never got the chance, as just a few blocks away from the Institute, he was overcome with a strong feeling of dread. He stopped. The night was young, streetlights dim and the moon low in the sky, but it seemed as though something - or someone - was lurking in the shadows. Alec wasn't sure what to do, but just kept walking, hoping he still had that seraph blade stashed in his back pocket.
Just then, as Alec was convincing himself that there was nothing there and that he'd imagined it all, an invisible object tripped him up and he fell to the ground, face first and with only his hands to break his fall. He tried to get up, hoping that no passersby had seen him, but a strong force held him down and he was unable to move. He considered crying for help, but it occurred to him that there was no one there to help him. It was then that the fatigue began to overcome him.
He tried to fight it, but the sensation was like a thick, heavy blanket of sleep was being pulled over him and there was nothing he could do about it. It wasn't long before he couldn't stay awake any longer, and Alec was hauled into a vault of seemingly infinite darkness, but his last though was of a blonde boy he'd met before. I hate you, he tried to tell the boy, but the words were long gone before he was towed away.
A/N: I am so sorry I missed an upload last week! Life is hectic at the moment but I refuse to allow this fan fiction to die - it will be finished!
Dramatic ending, huh? Hope you liked it, even though not much happened. Please R&R, next chapter will be up ASAP!