Hi all! So I decided to post this chapter a night early just because! You all are amazing, so I wanted to give you a little present before I disappear for a while! So this week I will be busy with some personal matters, and the next week, I will be at camp. So that means that I will likely not be posting until at least three weeks from now. I'm sorry that I have to take this break, but I would like to give y'all the best story possible, and that means that I can't rush through the writing just to post every week. So I'll see y'all in at least three weeks!

All of that being said, this chapter has a lot of information, so if you have any questions, please comment and I'll answer as many as I can without spoiling anything! Some questions will be answered in the next chapter, some won't be answered for a while. BUT if anything is confusing because so much information is in this chapter, just let me know, and I'll clarify it for you as best I can!

Magnus was an absolute mess in every single way, shape, and form of the word. His mind was a mess, as he had truthfully expected, but his body was also a mess, though he hated to admit that this was also something he had come to expect. To his surprise, Alec had spent the night with him, and Magnus would have been the first to admit that it was one of the best nights he'd had in a very, very long time. Nothing overly sexual had occurred, but Magnus had surprised himself by not caring in the slightest. He knew that his old self most certainly would have cared, but things were so startlingly different with Alec that he didn't really know how to handle it at the moment. It was as though the fact that he'd found his soulmate had turned his world completely inside out, but it was as though this inside out version of his life was the true version he'd been searching for all these years. But then there was also the thought that he knew for certain that hiding the soulmate situation from Alec was the worst possible move.

All that night, he had tried time and time again to persuade himself to come clean to Alec about everything, to let his glamor down and show Alec their shared runes. But something kept him from doing so, and he had no idea of what that was. And the longer he had gone without telling Alec, the worse he felt about it because he knew that Alec's future anger would only increase with each second he waited. So he'd kept his mouth shut about everything and simply enjoyed the moments they were sharing. He'd woken up to an empty bed, seeing Alec's note about how his father had called him back to the Institute already. Before Magnus truly had the time to digest that piece of information, he'd been forced to rush to the bathroom, puking his guts out for the first time in so many years that he couldn't actually remember how many it had been. Now he was back in bed, entirely certain that he had the flu, or at least, he had the flu according to the Mayo Clinic's website.

Magnus's entire body ached, he had a terrible cough, he felt as though he would never properly breathe through his nose again, and he couldn't truly decide whether he was cold or hot. And he was pretty certain that he was dying. Though he kept reminding himself that the flu was rarely fatal in otherwise healthy people, but his mind couldn't seem to get past the fact that he had never before felt this way. In his four hundred years of life, he had never so much as had a runny nose; he'd only ever puked from drinking too much. And now he was in bed, feeling as though he was going to die at any moment. He refrained from texting this particular thought to Ragnor, knowing that those words could be construed in the worst of ways, especially when Ragnor was already so worried about him. So he promised himself that he would call Ragnor or Catarina in a few hours to get their help with healing himself. Magnus was hoping that he would be better by then, but he also had the sinking feeling that he was hoping for something that was virtually impossible.

But after Magnus finally got used to the fact that his body was slowly giving out, he found his mind wondering back to Alec, as it usually did. Though this morning was far from the usual, especially in the realm of the thoughts he was having. The one thing Magnus wanted to do at the moment was march himself to the Institute and stand by Alec's side as he spoke with his father, but he knew that was impossible regardless of the fact that he was hopelessly sick. He knew that this was something that Alec needed to do on his own, no matter how much both of them likely wished otherwise. But Magnus also knew that he likely had nothing to worry about, at least, not when it came to Robert's love of his son. Robert would not have asked Magnus to take care of Alec if he'd been so upset by Alec's sexuality that he'd begun to hate his son. So Magnus took several deep breaths and pushed himself out of bed, hoping that he could make some soup and that he would feel a bit better after that.

After he ate, he felt minimally better, but that was canceled out by the fact that he remembered James and Tessa had planned to come back to see him again today, which meant he only had about an hour to make himself presentable before they arrived. They'd spent the day before doing so many tests that Magnus hadn't really been able to follow exactly what they were even testing for. He supposed that they knew what they were doing, but he certainly did not. Neither of them had looked particularly happy when they had left just a couple of hours before Alec and the others had shown up, and that was what concerned Magnus the most. If they felt the need to come back so soon, then there was obviously something horribly wrong. As though that hadn't been obvious enough before from the state that his magic was in.

"You look horrid," Tessa said as soon as she walked through the door, and Magnus couldn't help but give her one of those looks that said he knew that all too well. "Sorry," she backtracked, though Magnus could tell that she was in no way truly sorry. "But just how sick are you?" she asked as Magnus was thrown into yet another fit of coughing. Yet the coughing wasn't enough of a distraction to keep him from noticing the glance that James and Tessa shared with one another. Even as a Silent Brother with no capability of making true facial expressions, Magnus could recognize the signals that James was giving Tessa, and he didn't like the look of them at all. It was as though they were preparing themselves for the conversation to come and the news that they were bearing. Upon this realization, he went to sit down, all but praying that he was misinterpreting their signals.

Before Magnus could ask any one of the million questions that were buzzing through his mind, he heard James's voice in the depths of his own mind, something he still wasn't quite used to, not after getting so used to James's true voice so many years ago. Tessa and I did some research when we left here yesterday, he began, and Magnus could have sworn that he literally felt the tension in James's nonexistent voice. The good news is that there's a reason your magic seems to be weakening. We were going to ask you whether or not you've been feeling physically ill as well, but - James's voice trailed off, and Magnus knew that the bad news was coming. If the physical side effects had been something they'd noticed in research, then it was very clear that there was no escaping whatever they had found. He only wished that the two of them would stop sharing those looks that could have easily moved mountains.

"The bad news," Tessa slowly said, as though she was trying her hardest to figure out exactly how to phrase things. "Is that you're dying," she finished, and then she turned to James who was obviously scolding her so that Magnus couldn't hear him. "What did you want me to say, Jem?" she asked, her strong-willed, tactless voice so fully reminiscent of the girl Magnus remembered meeting all those years ago. "There's no use in beating around the bush," she said, and despite himself, Magnus smiled as he felt James sigh as best he could without the capability of making sound. But that was when Tessa's words actually began to sink in, and Magnus felt the world tilt to one side, and he had to close his eyes to keep from tilting along with it. The thing he hated the most was that he realized this news was only confirming what he'd already felt.

James and Tessa gave him a few moments in silence before James spoke up again, and Magnus knew he was likely trying to do some damage control. You are certainly not the first Downworlder this has ever happened to, James began, but that didn't make Magnus feel any better about the situation. And there is a very simple solution. James paused then, as though he was trying to calculate just how simple the solution actually was. Well, theoretically it is very simple, he finally decided on, which only made Magnus all the more anxious. It seems as though a pair of soulmates that consists of a Downworlder and a Shadowhunter does not exactly function the same way another pair might. At that, Magnus stopped trying to follow along with James until he had all the pieces of the story. He could sense that this was going to be entirely too complicated to pick up on until he knew much more of the information than he did at the moment.

From what we've found, there's a sort of very old, archaic magic associated with the kind of bond you have with Alec, James continued, and Magnus found himself wondering exactly where this was going. Tessa and I think it has something to do with the interaction between angel blood and demon blood, but what we've found is that the angelic properties of the Shadowhunter's soul, if you will, tend to overwhelm the Downworlder if not properly taken care of. Magnus knew that he was giving James the most confused of looks, and there were several reasons for that, but he remained silent regardless, forcing himself to wait a bit longer before bombarding them with his endless questions. There is a very simple ceremony that can be performed, much like a parabatai ceremony, that will essentially place protection over the Downworlder, altering things so that the bond doesn't overwhelm them.

Magnus looked to Tessa then, unable to put the pieces together himself. So many things simply weren't adding up in his mind that he had no idea of what he should even be thinking at the moment. "If the ceremony isn't performed," Tessa began, her voice much more careful this time around. "The Downworlder eventually dies from the stress put on their body." At first, Magnus couldn't figure out why this was such a problem. James was right in saying that this situation had a very simple solution; all they had to do was perform the ceremony. "The problem is that no one knows of this ceremony anymore because it's been at least seven hundred years since the Clave banned it, making it an offense punishable by death for all parties involved." It was then that Magnus's world began to spin once again, and this time, he knew he was going to have trouble righting it. He'd grown up hearing the stories of tragedy occurring when a Downworlder dared to love a Shadowhunter, but he'd never expected to be caught in the middle of what could quite possibly be a story people would tell to scare their children generations from now.

Instead of saying anything at all, Magnus simply willed his question toward James, not trusting himself to speak at this moment. Though William was Tessa's soulmate, the bit of Shadowhunter blood she has seems to have protected her from the adverse effects of the bond, James explained in the most calm of manners. The one answer we cannot give you is why Alec's runes also appear on you. Though they should be considered injuries, we have found no evidence of this ever occurring before. Magnus sighed at that; of course there was another factor that was coming into play here. Nothing could ever be straightforward or easy to solve. And we cannot tell you what the ceremony itself entails. From what we can tell, the details of this have been lost in the Clave's records. I doubt anyone alive actually remembers it because it seems to have been lost to history. But I am certain that the Clave's library contains the answers. Magnus wasn't too surprised by this. Of course they were going to have to break into the best guarded library in the world and steal information that could get them killed. That was par for the course at the moment. When does Alec turn eighteen? James asked at last, his voice much more urgent than it had been.

For a moment, Magnus tried to steady himself. James's question wasn't adding up with everything else they were telling him, and Magnus could feel yet another blow quickly making its way toward him. He despised the look that Tessa and James gave him when he finally replied to explain that Alec's birthday was in about three months. "Magnus," Tessa began, and all Magnus could do was brace himself for what he knew was coming. "You need to tell him about all of this as soon as possible." Magnus began shaking his head. He would not do this to Alec with everything else going on. He could not do this to Alec. He could barely do this to himself. "Everything we read gave us ample evidence to conclude that, if the ceremony is not performed, the Downworlder will die on the Shadowhunter's eighteenth birthday. That seems to be the time at which the angelic powers increase to the point of completely overwhelming the Downworlder." If Magnus had thought before that his world was spinning, now his world was certainly inverted in every form of the word, and he had no hope of ever fixing it.

Magnus knew that Tessa was still talking to him, trying to calm him down and come up with a plan to work through things. But none of that mattered anymore because the fear of what was to come was so overwhelming that Magnus could almost physically feel himself falling apart. Suddenly, the fact that he had the flu no longer mattered. He couldn't even register that little fact any more. Suddenly, the rise in unexplainable Downworlder deaths made sense. Suddenly, Magnus had very little time to come clean to Alec. Very little time to find a secret the Clave had been keeping for hundreds of years. Very little time to rid the Clave of the deepest sort of hate Magnus had ever witnessed. And if he couldn't do all of this within three months, he would be dead and nothing would matter any longer. He'd never truly realized just how short three months really was until he was staring at his death at the end of them. "Get out," he heard himself saying, though he felt he truly had no control over his words at the moment. "Just leave me alone," he said, ignoring the fact that James and Tessa were trying to help him. There was no helping him at the moment. Not when he had three months to ensure his life remained an immortally long one.

Alec's mind was the biggest mess it had ever been, and he knew that was saying a lot. He was on his way back to the Institute after spending the night with Magnus, and he was entirely certain that he had never had so many different thoughts buzzing through his mind at once. Sure, he was still having the extremely anxious thoughts about his father that he'd been having for days, but there was so much more than that after the night he'd shared with Magnus. As soon as Alec had woken up, he'd been seized by the fear that he'd said, "I love you," far too early in their relationship. They hadn't been together for very long, and though he was fairly certain that that was what Magnus had said back to him, Alec still couldn't shake the feeling that he'd potentially messed everything up. He'd tried his hardest to Google the words that Magnus had said to him, but he didn't know what language they were, and he couldn't spell them, so it hadn't taken him long to realize that a successful search would be a miracle.

So Alec had tried to calm his fears as he'd gotten himself ready for the day, knowing that what was ahead was almost as bad as what he seemed to be leaving behind. Yet even though Alec knew that he hadn't been with Magnus for very long, it was almost as though the very soul of him was telling him that time simply didn't matter. At least not when it came to him and Magnus. He hadn't been planning on confessing his love to Magnus, but Alec felt as though his body and mind had done it for him. The more time he spent with Magnus, the more Alec became convinced that they fit perfectly together. They were the definition of being hand crafted for one another, and Alec figured that had to count for something. So he pushed his anxieties back once more and told them he would deal with them later, when he had more time to spare on worrying about Magnus. When facing his father wasn't the immediate thought on his mind.

Walking back into the Institute was likely the hardest thing Alec had ever found himself doing, but he did it regardless, knowing that he was going to have to face himself and his fears sooner or later. "Alec!" Max exclaimed as soon as Alec entered the library, launching himself into his big brother's arms. Alec felt the pressure in his chest loosen ever so slightly as he picked Max up, unable to be entirely unhappy when Max was there. "Where were you last night? I have so much to tell you about Idris, and I brought you a gift!" Alec simply smiled the best smile he could muster at the moment, unsure of how to reply to Max. He certainly wasn't going to launch into an explanation of the fact that he'd been at his Downworlder boyfriend's the night before. For a moment, he locked eyes with his father, and he was surprised to see that Robert seemed to understand the conflict that was racing through his mind at the moment, and he wondered exactly what was going on in his father's mind.

Just as Max started to run off and get whatever he had for Alec, Robert spoke up, his voice gentle but demanding in the way Alec remembered so fondly from childhood. "Max, your brother and I need a while to talk," he explained, his tone not leaving any room for argument. "Why don't you go get Isabelle to help you wrap Alec's present, that way you can enjoy watching him open it?" Alec could help but smile at the look on Max's face, as he was very clearly betraying the fact that he was conflicted by what his dad was saying. He was obviously disappointed by Robert's request that he give them some time alone, but he was also clearly excited by the thought of watching Alec open a present that he had bought and wrapped himself. "We'll come get you later once we've finished talking," Robert promised, and Max gave him the weakest of smiles. Alec reached to ruffle Max's hair as Max began to confusedly make his way out of the library, wishing he could somehow make things easier on Max.

Alec took a deep breath as soon as Max was out of the library, and despite the fact that his entire body was protesting his actions, he moved to sit across from his father, facing the one person he no longer wanted to face and wondering how he'd come to that point in his life. He could so easily remember a time when his father was the one person he would want to run to in a time of need, and he felt a dull ache of need at that thought. Before he could stop himself, before Robert could even begin to speak, Alec found the words all but gushing out of him, the weeks of anger bubbling up within him once more. "Why didn't you tell me that you were in the Circle?" he asked, his heart tugging at him when he saw the pained expression that appeared on his father's face. "Why would you hide something like that from me?" Alec could hear the pleading and desperation in his voice, but he no longer cared. Now was the time to be real and honest with his father, and that's what he was going to do.

Robert sighed and ran his hands through his hair, clearly trying to figure out the best way to begin explaining things. "Honestly, Alexander? I never told you because I was trying to protect you and your siblings," he admitted, and Alec could almost see the weight that was lifting off of his father's shoulders. It was then that he realized he couldn't even begin to imagine what it was like to hide something so important from the people you loved for so long. "Your mother and I were among the last to leave the Circle. But we left not long after you were born, and the Clave promised us safety in the form of exile. Just before the Uprising, Valentine began hunting down those who had left, killing both them and their families more often than not, and that was part of the reason your mother and I stayed so long, though we never voiced that particular thought to Valentine." Robert visibly shuddered at the thought, and Alec's heart went out to his parents then. He knew he would likely never understand that kind of fear. "I've suspected for a while that this situation in Downworld had something to do with the Circle, and I was hoping that it would resolve itself without needing to involve any of you. But clearly I was wrong."

When their eyes met this time, Alec could see nothing but the pain and fear that his father was feeling, and the only thing he wanted to do was alleviate it. He could hear the apology in Robert's voice, but the thing that worried him the most was the fact that he couldn't find any forgiveness in himself at the moment. "I'll explain everything to you if that's what you'd like, son," Robert continued, the tension only worsening as he neared the portion of the conversation they both knew was going to be the worst. "But it seems as though you've been hiding a lot from me as well, and all I really want right now is for you to understand that you can be honest with me about absolutely anything in your life." Alec released the breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. He knew that this conversation still wasn't going to be easy, but his father was trying to take some of the pressure away, and that was what mattered. "Seeing you so scared of me and what I would think was the greatest pain I have ever felt, Alexander. I just wish that you would talk to me about these things."

For several long moments, Alec tried to figure out exactly how to tell his dad all the things that he'd been hiding. But he couldn't find any way to cushion any of it at all, so he simply decided to dive in as best he could despite the lingering fear he was feeling. "I guess you've already figured out that I'm gay," Alec finally said, and he suddenly felt the pressure in his chest relieve itself. No matter what happened now, he'd gotten past the part that he'd been fretting over and fearing for years. "Magnus and I have been together for almost a month," he explained, feeling far more relaxed about this conversation than he had ever imagined. He refrained from telling his father of just how much he had come to love Magnus in such a short amount of time. He figured there would be plenty of time for Robert to figure that little fact out for himself. "And since this is your next question: I didn't tell you because I was afraid you would think differently of me. I never came out to you because I was afraid I'd lose you over it. And I never told you about Magnus because, as if dating a man wasn't bad enough already, I had to go and find myself a Downworlder, and after I found out you'd been in the Circle, I was scared of what might happen to him if I ever told the wrong person."

As soon as Alec finished speaking, he wished he could take back that last part, realizing just how ridiculous that thought had been, at least when it came to his father. He was slightly surprised when Robert chuckled softly, almost ironically. "Alexander, I love you unconditionally," he said, and for the first time in years, Alec believed that with all of his heart. "But humor me for a moment and say that my love for you was conditional. I would still be the last person on earth who could rightfully judge you for loving a man. Or for loving a man our society tells you you should not love." At this, Alec became somewhat confused, as he didn't truly understand where his father was headed now. "Would you mind if I started back at the beginning?" Robert asked, a soft smile spreading across his face, and Alec could tell that whatever had been broken between the two of them was finally fixed, snapping back into place in the most relieving of ways. So he shook his head and simply waited for his father to continue, happy to finally be hearing part of his father's past.

"Though you'd never guess it now, I had a soulmate," Robert admitted, and it took Alec several moments to zero in on the fact that his father had used the past tense. "But unfortunately, Michael and I didn't figure that out until after we became parabatai." Robert's words didn't immediately sink in, but once they did, Alec knew the look on his face was likely one of horror and pain; he couldn't imagine what that must have been like for the two of them. The Law clearly forbid parabatai from falling in love. And Alec was beginning to question just how fair that Law truly was when Robert's words pulled him back out of those thoughts. "So we hid the fact that we were dating for well over a year, but I think that we really only joined the Circle because we thought that we might be able to change the Law." Alec was glad that Robert didn't expect him to respond yet because he was utterly speechless. "You have to understand, son, when Valentine began, all he wanted to do was reform the Clave."

That was when Alec's mind snapped out of the pain he was feeling for his father and his anger resurfaced. It happened so fast that the words were out of his mouth before he could even so much as register them, much less stop them. "When Hitler began, all he wanted to do was reform Germany's economy," he replied, impossible amounts of bitterness in his voice. "No madman puts his mad foot forward first, Father. Even they understand they have to gain control before they turn radical." He was altogether surprised when his father laughed at that. It was a bitter laugh, but it was a laugh, and that was the part that Alec's mind chose to focus on. The only thing he wanted at the moment was to rid himself of the anger he was feeling toward his father, but he knew that doing so would likely be a process, but it was a process he was willing to begin in that very moment. So he promised himself that he would give Robert the chance to explain himself as best as possible.

"You have a very good point there, Alec," Robert replied, and Alec was comforted in hearing that there was no anger in his father's voice. "And that's very easy to see when looking back on things now. But in the moment, Michael and I saw the chance to change the Law and freely love one another." That was when Alec's mind began skipping around, trying to connect the dots but failing miserably. "I broke up with Michael not long after we joined, though. And we never were quite the same together after that." Alec could hear the sorrow in his father's voice, and he wished more than anything that he could take it away. "Just after we joined the Circle, I decided to come out to my parents. I thought that I might start them off slow and eventually explain what had happened between Michael and I. I thought that they might be able to help us fix the Law." Alec could sense where this was going, and he felt his chest tighten once again at that particular thought.

"I came out to them, and when I explained my bisexuality as best I could, my father hit me and my mother told me to never utter those words again," Robert said, his voice impossibly heavy with the weight of the memory and the suffering he'd experienced. "They essentially told me that I would either eventually marry a woman or I would no longer be welcome to the Lightwood name. So I broke up with Michael the next day without ever so much as telling him what I'd done. I blamed it all on the fact that we were parabatai, and he seemed to understand, but I'll never forgive myself for breaking his heart the way I did that day." At that, Alec moved to take a seat beside of his father, placing a hand on Robert's arm, wishing more than even before that he could take his father's pain, even if he had to make it his own to do so. "Don't get me wrong, I love your mother and I wouldn't trade you and your siblings for anything in this world," Robert continued, his voice softening under the weight of everything that he was feeling at the moment.

"But I will never forgive myself for the fact that I allowed my fear and my cowardice to get the best of me to the point of breaking the heart of the person I loved most in this world." Alec was surprised when Robert's expression changed and he began to smile once more, even if it was a very faint, soft smile. "The day you were born, I promised myself that I would stop at nothing to protect you and any future siblings of yours. And I promised myself that that meant loving you far and beyond the way my parents pretended to love me." The only thing that Alec wanted to do at the moment was reassure his father that he'd done exactly that, but he couldn't seem to find the words that would express this in the way he knew Robert deserved, so he simply listened as Robert continued. "Michael was the very first person to leave the Circle, and he was the very first person to be hunted and killed by Valentine. So I let your mother believe that I only wanted to take Jace in because he was my parabatai's son. But if I'm honest with myself, I know that it was my way of attempting to make up for everything I did to Michael."

They sat in silence for several minutes, but there was nothing awkward about it. Alec didn't feel the need to speak until he was ready to, and he was simply comforted by the fact that his father understood him and still loved him. "I have a question," he finally said, his voice so impossibly soft that he almost wondered whether or not it had truly come from him. "Does Mom know that you're bi?" he asked, though he felt he knew the answer already. His mother was not the most understanding of people on a good day, which was the reason Alec had never even begun to consider coming out to her. Though he had been expecting the answer, Alec felt his heart sink when Robert began to shake his head. His father had been through so much more than he had ever imagined, and he was kicking himself for ever suspecting Robert the way that he had, for ever being so angry with his father without gathering the facts first.

"My parents told me to never utter those words again," Robert continued, his voice breaking in the most painful of ways. "And I haven't. Not until today, Alexander. When my parents died in the Uprising, I thought that maybe I could let that secret die with them." Alec began to wonder what it had been like to hide something like this for so long. He'd barely lasted the year it had taken him to come out to Isabelle. "I've kept it hidden for the very same reason that you have. I was afraid of what people would think of me. I was afraid that if I told your mother or even you, that you would stop loving me the way my parents had. I just wish I had told you sooner so that I might have helped you through it." Alec hated the resignation he heard in his father's voice, almost as though he had resigned himself to the thought that he would never be the father he wanted to be. So Alec moved to wrap his arms around his father, unfathomably happy when Robert did the same to him. He'd been fearing this day for years, and still having his father's love was all that he had ever dreamed of and more.

After several moments, Alec pulled away from Robert, locking eyes with his father in a way he hoped meant business. "Thank you for telling me all of this," he said, hoping that his father could hear the seriousness in his voice. He wished that there was something he could say that would fix his father's heart, but he knew that there wasn't, so he tried the next best thing that he had. "If there's one thing I've learned from this conversation, it's that I can only hope to be as strong as you someday. If I'm ever half the man that you are, that will make me beyond happy." Alec mustered up the best smile he could, happy to realize that it was much easier to do now that things were back to normal between them. The world felt right once more, and that was enough for Alec at the moment. "When I find my soulmate, the only approval that will matter is yours," he finished, hoping that his father would understand just how much he truly meant every word.

For a few seconds, Alec thought that Robert was going to respond. Then he thought that Robert was going to cry. Then he didn't know exactly what to think about the fact that his father was looking at him with the most brokenhearted of expressions Alec had ever seen. But then Isabelle burst into the library and whatever had been about to happen was ruined. "Raphael Santiago just sent a fire message requesting our immediate assistance," she explained without waiting for anything that could potentially delay her and the news she carried with her. "A vampire has disappeared from the Dumort in the middle of the day, and he's asking that we help if possible. And he requested that we bring Magnus with us," she added, pointedly looking toward Alec. Before he could talk himself out of it, Alec had Magnus on the phone, explaining the situation to him and agreeing to meet him at the Dumort within the next fifteen minutes. For a moment, Alec considered asking Magnus if he was sick, but he shoved that thought away, telling himself that their phone connection had just been fuzzy. He tried reminding himself that warlocks didn't get sick as he ran out of the Institute by his father's side, Isabelle and Jace not far behind them. Warlocks didn't get sick, and that was a fact he knew just as he knew the sky was blue.

It was taking everything Magnus had to glamor himself so that Alec wouldn't know he was sick. But even that was much easier than standing before Alec and pretending that everything was perfectly fine. Especially when he had so much new information. Especially when he now knew he was dying. But here he was anyways, searching through the crime scene that was the Hotel Dumort, trying his hardest to ignore Raphael's deadly glances. It was clear that the crisis with the young vampire who had been taken was not going to keep him from obsessing over Magnus's love life. "Tell me again what you saw, Raphael," Magnus said, not for the first time. It seemed that the boy had been taken from his room, which currently looked as though a hurricane had come for a short visit. They had yet to actually search the room because Magnus didn't want to disturb the scene yet. He was still trying to work through all of the possibilities, but he was having trouble keeping the Shadowhunters out. They simply wanted to dive into the investigation.

"I didn't see anything," Raphael said yet again, and Magnus forced himself to keep from smiling at the exasperation in the vampire's voice. As Robert came to stand beside of him, Magnus shared a quick glance with Alec, and he was relieved to watch as Alec smiled at him in earnest, seemingly telling him that things were fine between him and his father. Yet Magnus couldn't help but notice just how tense Alec seemed. He couldn't tell if it was from the situation at hand or from something that was now going on between the two of them that Magnus was completely unaware of. "Several of us heard a portal being opened. Before we arrived, we heard a very short struggle, only a few seconds long. And before we could get the door opened, we heard the portal closing. We arrived to see this. No one has touched anything, I made sure of that." Magnus finally nodded and motioned for Alec to follow him into the room. If anyone could help him with this, it was going to be Alec. They had spent so much time investigating the other disappearances that there was no better team to search this one as well.

After just a few moments of carefully walking through the room, Alec spoke up, his quiet voice carrying in the silence of the hotel. "This isn't like the other disappearance scenes, Magnus," he said, his voice tight with nerves. "They've never been so bold as to take someone from their home. It's like they wanted people to notice. They wanted us to come here, didn't they?" Magnus began mulling over Alec's question, but he had no good answer. He felt as though the answer should be rather obvious, but he also knew that he was missing something, something huge that would end all of the questions. "Magnus, over here," Alec finally said, and Magnus redirected himself to where Alec was kneeling on the floor. It was very easy for Magnus to see that Alec was standing in the place the portal had been opened and closed. It was a place of great magic, that was for certain. But Magnus also knew that the portal itself shouldn't have left any traces behind, so why Alec was kneeling on the ground was beyond him.

As he dropped to one knee beside of Alec, he motioned for Raphael to enter as well, hoping that this would be the answer they had been looking for. "What's this dirt?" Alec asked as Magnus finally settled in enough to see what was going on. Alec had one hand in a pile of what appeared to be dirt, slowly sifting it through his fingers as though that might give him more information about what it truly was. There had been nothing like this at any of the crime scenes they had ever investigated, and Magnus began to wonder why this one was different. But then Magnus recognized the stuff that Alec was holding in his hands, and his heart hit the floor. There was certainly a reason that this crime scene was different than the others, and Alec had been right in assuming that the culprit had wanted them to come to the Dumort that night.

"Shit," was all he could say, and he immediately regretted it. "Shit," he said again, standing up and moving away from Alec as best he could. What Alec had in his hands was indeed dirt, and Magnus knew that it had been left at this scene for a very specific reason. Magnus watched as the others gathered around him, and he avoided Alec's eyes as best he could. He forced himself to take several deep, deep breaths, trying to calm his nerves as the others began asking him questions. Eventually, he held up his hand, requesting their silence before he would explain himself. "That dirt is from a very particular realm, and it certainly isn't our realm." Magnus met Alec's eyes then, surprised by the fear he saw there, but only because he realized that the fear wasn't for himself, but for the situation they'd found themselves in. "That's what the ground in Edom is made of," Magnus concluded, but as he had expected, only Raphael showed any reaction to this information.

"My father was here, and he left this as a message for me," Magnus continued, though this still had no effect on the rest of the group. He immensely regretted the fact that he hadn't told Alec about Asmodeus, wishing that he didn't have to tell Alec as he told the others as well. "My father is Asmodeus, and he rules in Edom, his own personal corner of Hell," Magnus said in one quick breath, attempting to pull off the bandage as painlessly as possible. This finally had the effect that he wanted, as the Shadowhunters allowed that information to sink in. They all knew who Asmodeus was. Every Shadowhunter alive did. But knowing that he was out of Edom and roaming about earth was something they hadn't been prepared for. And learning that he was Magnus's father was certainly something they hadn't expected even in their wildest dreams. "I should have known that he'd have something to do with these disappearances. Now that I think about it, they have his name written all over them."

For a moment, they were plunged into silence, and Magnus found himself looking between them all. Robert looked as though this was something he'd almost expected, and Magnus wanted to smile at that. Jace and Isabelle, however, had identical expressions of horror, and Magnus wondered if they were thinking about his relationship with Alec and what this new information might mean for that. And that was when Magnus forced himself to look back at Alec once more, but he had no words to describe what he was seeing written across Alec's face. He had halfway expected to see a sense of betrayal when he looked at Alec, or some form of anger at the very least. But that was the opposite of what he was seeing. Magnus was trying his hardest to pick apart the expression, but all he could focus on was just how brokenhearted Alec seemed at the moment. It was almost as though Alec could already tell what Asmodeus had put Magnus through over the years, though Magnus knew that the young Shadowhunter couldn't even begin to understand the half of it.

"If my father left this here," Magnus finally continued, motioning once more to the pile of dirt on the floor, pointedly ignoring Alec's hopelessly confusing gaze. "That means he wanted to lure us here. Though I cannot begin to fathom why." As soon as he said it, however, Magnus knew that was a lie, and for a moment, Magnus felt the world spin ever so slightly as he remembered the dream he'd had about Alec and Ragnor. His eyes involuntarily flashed toward Alec as he thanked his lucky stars that Ragnor had not spent the night with Raphael and was likely at his hidden house in Idris. The last thing he needed to worry about now was trying to keep Asmodeus's dream from coming true. He released all of his breath as the Shadowhunters began to file out of the room after Raphael, but he wasn't at all surprised when Alec lingered behind. For a moment, Magnus thought that Robert was trying to give him a very pointed sort of look on his way out, but Magnus figured that it must not have been too important if he couldn't even decipher what the other man meant. But Magnus felt himself relax ever so slightly as he saw the way Alec was looking back at him, and if he hadn't known any better, he would have almost said that there was a hint of mischief in Alec's eyes.

"I have a proposal," Alec said as soon as he seemed to feel they had at least some sort of privacy. Though everything in Magnus told him that Raphael would be listening in no matter how far away they thought he was. He found himself silently cursing vampire hearing as he raised an eyebrow at Alec, the question written across his face. "I was thinking that I'd take you out for dinner tomorrow night," Alec continued, and Magnus happily began to wonder where this boldness was coming from. It wasn't often that Alec took the initiative in this way, and Magnus was thoroughly pleased to see it happening. "We need to relax, and frankly, I'm tired of spending all our time alone stressing over this Downworld situation. Call me selfish, but I'd like to have you to myself for a bit," Alec finished, and that was when Magnus moved to kiss him ever so gently, unable to contain the emotions that were shooting through him. He ignored the fact that his body still felt as though it would give out at any moment and the fact that his mind was screaming at him to be honest with Alec. All of that could wait just a bit longer. He needed time to figure things out, and he was going to take that time no matter who protested. He still had three months, after all.