Caterina could think of dozens of demons, any one of whom would have jumped at the chance to get Magnus's most powerful memories of love. The fact her friend would trade them away still made no sense to her. In all his four hundred years Caterina hadn't seen Magnus love anyone as much as he loved Alexander Lightwood.

Searching for answers was turning out to be a little tricker than Caterina had hoped. Alec's constantly sending her fire messages asking if she had news did not help. They made her feel guilty for having nothing to tell him. Caterina decided not to reply, hoping no news was better than bad news.

She continued her search, but when Alec's messages told her that Magnus had left him for good she almost returned home to talk to Alec, but what would she say? Sorry I failed, do you want a hug? No, Alec needed answers more than he needed a friend. Alec had Jace, Izzy and Clary for that. Caterina had faith that Alec's family would be there to console him. She had a more important job to do.

Caterina followed rumors that the fallen angel Sammael was not as destroyed as everyone had been led to believe. This meant portaling halfway around the world and followed hearsay for miles, but in the end got her nowhere. It turned out Sammael was indeed dead.

Caterina was understandably frustrated by all the time she'd wasted, but refused to give up. She had even followed the odd wives tale that detailed the demon Abbadon's search for memories. This seemed like a good lead, and she was soon asking people and following rumors-but in the end this also got her nowhere-so she thought she'd try asking the demons themselves. The problem was that Magnus was so much better at summoning them than she was. Caterina managed a few minor ones with no trouble, and after some research, she selected a more powerful demon who might actually hold some answers. Unfortunately, she didn't have the knowledge or skill to summon him. It was funny, but she wished Magnus was here. Wait, why couldn't he be? Sure he hadn't a clue who the love of his life was, but that didn't mean he wasn't still Magnus Bane, High Warlock of Brooklyn, and expert demon summoner.

Caterina sent Magnus a fire message. She received an answer rather more quickly that she'd expected, but it made her so mad she ripped it into pieces and burned what was left to ash. Magnus had decided it didn't matter; he was moving on. Magnus seemed to believe he would never lose his memories by accident, which to him meant he had lost them intentionally, and he wanted to respect his own choices.

"Sometimes I want to kill him!" Carteria yelled to no one. Magnus could be a stubborn fool when he wanted to be! How he could work against his own happiness so expertly was infuriating! Alec needed answers even if Magnus didn't deserve them.

All eyes turned to her, alarmed, and Caterina remember where she was. The large open pace was crowded with warlocks and other magical beings. It was an underground market of sorts. A secret place for trade and commerce, unknown by the nephilim, or so people said. Caterina suspect the shadowhunters did actually have some ideas of its existence-they just had no way of entering the square-as it took a portal and a password to do so.

"Sorry," Caterina said to the angry looking people around her. "No one you know. Just my friend being an idiot." Some seemed to accept this, but there were still those giving her suspicious looks. Caterina made a mental note not to threaten a room full of magic users in future and pulled her train of thought back to the problem at hand. Should she go pick a fight with Magnus? That would likely get her no where anyway. Should she just find some other skilled warlock to help her? Her first thought was Ragnor Fell. It was strange to have such a constant as Ragnor taken away. Some days Caterina forgot that the Mortal War had robbed her of a life long companion.

She tried to ask around in the market for help, but even before she had started screaming death threats, people didn't seem too keen to help her raise the Demon Marax. In the end, she decided to simply improve her own skills. She would likely never be as good as summoning demons as Magnus, but she could at least get the skills to summon this one demon, that all her searching seemed to agree had the answers.

Caterina stood before a great pentagram, a large book open in her hands. The book was old and warn with a faded cover and full of ancient spells. As Caterina read the words, the wind picked up blowing her white hair into her face. She continued speaking through the gale as the greater demon Marax appeared before her. The only other time Caterina knew of Marax being summoned was by the circle. Marax had simply killed all of the circle members responsible for summoning him since those fools hadn't bound the demon to a pentagram.

Marax was large, standing at least twice as high as Caterina while on his four legs. Marax somewhat resembled a bull but his form was more demonic, his horns more twisted. His skin black as night with darker grey around his eyes. Evil seemed to come off him in waves and Caterina hated to think of tall he'd be if he reared on his hind legs.

"Who has summoned me!" Marax roared, rearing on his hind legs.

"I have questions for you," Caterina told him.

"How dare you summon Marax for such a boring reason!" the demon roared, snorting like a bull about to charge. "I shall remove your spine from your body and wrap it around your neck."

"Yeah yeah," Caterina said absently as Marax's forward charge was stopped by her pentagram. "Now about my question. Have you been summoned by another warlock recently."

"Time is a meaningless construct for me," Marax roared. He seemed incapable of speaking but rather roared everything. Though his face was rather like a bull's, and she wasn't totally sure if he was speaking with words or in her mind.

"Magnus Bane," Caterina said. "Son of Asmodeus. Did he summon you?" Marax began to laugh. His cruel deep laughter filled the room and made Caterina feel sick.

"Oh yes that was a good day," Marax said with a grin. "Perhaps you are not as dull as you seem if you can bring to mind such stimulating topics."

"What happened when Magnus summoned you?" Caterina asked.

"He did not see it coming," Marax continued, falling back to four legs as he dug into the ground with his hooved feet. There was a merciless glee about him. "How is Magnus anyway? I am sure his father won't be pleased with me. He so wanted to take Magnus's life himself."

"What have you gone?" Caterina accused. The part about Magnus's life worried her. Was Magnus dying? Was his memory loss just a small part of what was going on?

"Oh the silly warlock summoned me for a favour," Marax purred lovely as if recounting a favourite memory. "A stupid favour I might add. Naturally I declined, but then he offered… well."

"His memories of love?" Caterina said, tonelessly. So Magnus had chosen this. Her heart sank at the thought.

"Exactly," Marax smiled. "How could I turn down such a lovely gift."

"What did Magnus want in return?"

"I have to say I was surprised," Marax replied. "What he wanted seemed more like a punishment to me." There was a confused tone to Marax's voice now.

"What was it!" Caterina yelled. She was so frustrated, with this journey, with Magnus and with Marax! To be so close to the answer and yet held back from it by such a creature was infuriating.

"He wanted to be mortal," Marax said. Caterina gasped but Marax ignored her. "A mortal warlock, can you believe it? For a while there, I was sure he was joking."

"Oh god," Caterina whispered. She wanted to sit down. This was so much bigger than simple memory loss. Fighting the urge to summon and chair and collapse into it Caterina stood her ground.

"Now I soon learned why he wanted such a silly thing," Marax continued his story. He seemed rather happy to be brag. "Love." The demon scoffed. "He offered me the loving memories of those long dead in exchange for this favour but where is the fun in that? I wanted more current memories. I wanted the memories that were-"

"The reason Magnus wanted to be mortal," Caterina breathed.

"Oh you are a smart one," Marax laughed. "Who sired you little blue warlock girl? I would like to know."

"Did it work?" she asked quickly, ignoring the demon's questions. "Is Magnus mortal?"

"This is no fun anymore," Marax complained. "I thought my idea was very well crafted." He huffed as if she wasn't appreciating his brilliance as she should. "But I am bored with you now. Release me from his infernal pentagram."

"I will not," Caterina spoke firmly to him, trying to show strength, though she was scared out of her mind. "I will hold you here, and block your view of both worlds, unless you return Magnus's memories!"

"Let me think…" Maxra mocked her. "No."

"Do you think I'm bluffing?" she asked.

"It matters not if you are bluffing," Maxra replied calmly. "I rather like these beautiful memories. Playing them on repeat is rather more fun than either of these worlds anyway."

"Then at least tell me if it worked," Caterina pleaded. "Is Magnus mortal."

"I don't actually know," Marax said, suddenly thoughtful. "No one has tried to turn such an old warlock into a mortal without turning him into a pile of ashes before." He paused, the thoughtful tone to his voice shifted to that of cruel laughter as he added, "I guess only time will tell." His deep foul laughter filled the air as his chest rocked with the power of his amusement. "Oh you should have seen the look on that warlock's face when he realized what I was about to do. The fool tried to back out of our deal! Oh such wonderful memories. I ate well that day!" He continued to laugh clearly thrilled with his evil trick and Caterina knew she would get nothing else useful out of him.

She read from the book again, pouring magic into her spell, and Marax vanished. Caterina collapsed onto the ground, sobbing before she hit the ground. How dare this demon possess all her friends best memories of love! How dare he forever ruin Magnus's happiness! And could Magnus really be mortal? Would he age or just turn to ash like his father wanted? Caterina stood up; there was no time for this. She had to see Magnus.

One tracking spell and portal later, Caterina stepped into a bar in Italy. She purposely sent no advanced warning, and when she spotted Magnus in the corner, went straight to him. The last time she'd met Magnus in a bar, she'd convinced him to follow Alec to Idris. She had a distinct sense of deja vu as she sat on his left side.

"Oh Caterina," Magnus said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Italy?" Caterina sighed. "Really?"

"I'm on vacation," Magnus told her.

"You are avoiding Alec," she replied. "Aren't you the high Warlock of Brooklyn, not Rome?"

"I am allowed to travel," Magnus reminded her. "High Warlock or not."

"You love your apartment," Caterina said. "I know you do. But you left, just to be away from Alexander. Why?" Before she told him what she knew, Caterina wanted to find out what was really going on inside Magnus's head.

"I'm scared," Magnus admitted.

"That was obvious," Caterina sighed. "You do have a pattern don't you?

"Oh shut up!" Magnus scoffed.

"I have known you for over three centuries," Caterina reminded him. "Don't pretend like I can't tell when you're scared." She paused then added, "What are you scared of?"

"I could see the devotion in his eyes when he looked at me," Magnus confessed. She knew exactly which 'he' Magnus was talking about. "And I just, I can't live up to that. He possesses so much of me, Caterina."

"But you had lived up to that," Caterina explained. "You were just as devoted to him, I promise you. And you hold just as much of Alexander as he does of you."

"But he knows everything about me," Magnus's list of excuses continued. "Everything! It scares the hell out of me. I've never told anyone so much before. What the hell was I thinking?"

"You weren't thinking," Caterina explained. "You were in love."

"Which means the level of commitment we must of shared," Magnus continued, but he seemed unable to find the words.

"I've never seen you so committed to another person before," Caterina told him.

"And that scares the hell out of me too!" Magnus exclaimed.

"You and Alec were had a connection the instant you met," Caterina said kindly. "I remember how excited you were when you called me the moment Alec asked you out on your first date." She paused but Magnus didn't speak so she continued. "Memories or not, you are made for each other. You can't tell me you don't feel something when you are near him."

"No I can't," Magnus began softly. "I look at him… and it's like the world falls away. It's like I'm standing on the edge of a cliff, and I can feel just how effortless and joyful a fall it would be if I pushed off from that ledge. I can understand how I fell for him the first time, but Caterina…" Magnus paused, his eyes glossy.

Caterina sighed, covering her face with her hands. "It doesn't matter how many centuries you have to get it right. People never learn."

"What does that mean?" Magnus replied, annoying.

"You're scared of losing him," Caterina told Magnus firmly. It was so obvious to her now. "He's not only mortal but a shadowhunter. He lives and breaths danger."

"To love him is to lose him," Magnus whispered.

"Wasn't it you who always told me love was worth it?" Caterina asked. "I let my fiance die of old age while I lost track of time, but you always wore your heart on your sleeve."

"Something must of changed," Magnus said. "That must be why I gave up my memories."

"I didn't just come here to give you a pep talk," Caterina said. "A demon named Marax took your memories as payment Magnus."

"Well then clearly I didn't value them," Magnus replied. "If I offered them as payment."

"Marax tricked you," Caterina explained. "The memories you were trying to give up were of your first love over three hundred years ago." Magnus seemed stunned by this news. Caterina knew how he cherished those memories of her.

"Magnus, you went to Marax and asked him to make you mortal so you could grow old with Alec," Caterina said. "He thought it a cruel trick too take in payment the reason you'd made the request in the first place."

"I- what?" Magnus whispered. From the look on his face, Caterina was sure this idea had not once occurred to him.

"Don't you see!" Caterina exclaimed. "You have everything wrong! Clearly you told no one about it, but I suspect that was because you hadn't a clue if it was possible and didn't want to get Alec's hopes up. Either way Magnus, you didn't lose your memories in the effort of trying to be free of Alec, but rather to be closer to him."

"I wanted to die for him?" Magnus said stunned.

"And not for the first time," Caterina reminded her friend. "You tried to give your life to your father to save Alec in Edom."

"Simon saved me," Magnus whispered. "Though I remember trying to stop him but-" Magnus shook his head as if trying to clear it. "I can't remember why."

"You wanted to save your friends, but more than that, you needed to save Alec," Caterina said kindly. "Alec tried to stop you. He said he'd rather die down in Edom with you than return to the world alone."

"He chose the me over the world?" Magnus gasped. Caterina nodded, knowing full well what this would mean to her friend.

"Did it work?" Magnus asked after a moment. "Am I mortal?"

"I don't know," Caterina replied. "Since it's never been done before, and Marax was less than helpful, but Magnus, it doesn't matter."

"Of course it matters!" Magnus yelled standing up and rounding on her.

"Okay fine, yes it does, but not today," Caterina said. "Because mortal or immortal, your place is by Alexander's side. Go home."

"Maybe there's a way to find out," Magnus said almost as if asking himself. "Aside from just waiting to see if I wrinkle."

"If you don't go home to Alec right now," Caterina threatened. "And tell him what you've told me, I will."

"You won't," Magnus gasped.

"I would," Caterina stood up and took her friend firmly by the shoulders. "If I know Alec at all, he is questioning why you lost your memories, and is either blaming himself, or questioning your love for him. He doesn't deserve that hell Magnus. Go Home Now!"

"I can't face him," Magnus said. "I just- I said some things and-"

"That doesn't matter," Caterina almost yelled. "Just go to him. Tell him everything. Don't worry about anything else."

Magnus gazed at her for long infinite moment before turning sharply and walking away. She hoped with all her might that Alexander was his destination.

Did I surprise you? I rather think I did! My beta was very surprised at least! I can't wait to hear what you guys think of this major plot twist!

Also YAY for Caterina POV! Isn't she awesome?

Sneak Peek Chapter 4

"Hi Alec," Magnus said softly. He seemed different though Alec couldn't figure out how.

"Hi," Alec said, stunned. Was he dreaming? Was Magnus really here?

"I was wondering if we could talk," Magnus asked. Alec snapped out of his revery enough to move. He walked forward and now stood in front of Magnus, a little awed.

"Are you real?" Alec asked. "Or have I finally lost my mind?"