'What are you doing here?' Collin demanded.
Sawyer had broken into Emerald City, and Collin had followed her. It hadn't been easy, but Sawyer had discovered her magic was strong enough to get herself into the place.
'I want to free the other warlock and werewolf - animals,' she said, 'I still haven't found a cure, but I want them to be safe from the wizard, at least.'
Collin, of course, would help her. He always did. He and Christabel were the only people she could fully trust. She had found a room full of cages. She thought of Magnus Bane. She didn't want anything like that to happen to him, even though he had let her down. He would probably turn into a cat. Was that the wizard's goal? Bane was the most powerful warlock still alive, except for her maybe. He sure wanted to get rid of Magnus. She saw the goat, still levitating, in his cage. There was something familiair about him. It was something she had been thinking about for the two years since she had used the spell on him. It was almost as if she had seen him before, as a warlock instead of a goat. But of course!
'Oh no,' she shrieked, 'I think.. I think this is professor Brown.'
'The goat warlock?' Collin asked, shocked. Sawyer nodded. She cared about professor Brown, she always had. He had been her friend before she had befriended Christabel. Suddenly, a door opened nearby. She heard voices. She recognized miss Darcy and the wizard.
'We have to get out of here, come back later,' Sawyer whispered urged.

'Something's wrong,' Sawyer said, 'Something's terribly wrong.'
They were back at Sawyer's palace, something she had created with magic and magic alone. Collin looked at her, not understanding what she meant. He didn't know what she was sensing right now, shadowhunters didn't sense this sort of thing, unless they had a parabatai and Collin didn't. She felt there was something wrong with her sister, like parabatai felt that.
'Rosaline,' she said, 'We've got to go there immediately. Maybe it's not yet too late!'
Sawyer was able to let other people fly with her when she took their hand, and Collin had gotten used to that. They flew together at a very high pace to New York, to find Rosaline. The house appeared deserted, when Sawyer entered, but it was enormous, maybe she just hadn't seen anyone yet.
'Rosaline!' she screamed trough the castle, and she ran towards the hall where Rosaline usually was. Sawyer found her there. She lay down on the ground, motionless, in a pool of blood. She was half beheaded, Sawyer saw when she got closer.
'Oh no, Rosaline,' she cried, 'Who did this?'
Of course, Rosaline couldn't answer, and though there were necromancy spells in her book, she wouldn't use them. She knew the dead didn't belong here, not really, unless brought back by an angel, and there would be no angel to bring back Rosaline. Rosaline had done terrible things in her life, but Sawyer still loved her. She had forgiven her little sister, she was just ignorant, she didn't know what spells could cause when cast wrong.
'I think she is killed by a shadowhunter,' Collin said, 'I'm so sorry for you, dear.'
'Shadowhunters,' Sawyer hissed, 'Would it be the one they sent after me? The Lightwood boy?'
Collin shook his head. 'I doubt it, I've seen the Lightwood boy fight, he's an archer, if he'd kill her, he would shoot her with an arrow. His sister, or his parabatai, though, could have done this.' Sawyer was angry and sad, both of them. She wanted to destroy the person who had done this to her sister. Would the wizard have something to do with it? Sawyer looked at her sister's feet. The magical shoes were gone. Someone had taken her shoes! Suddenly, Christabel appeared. Sawyer didn't know where she came from, and if she had been here before, but she did.
'Who did this?' Sawyer asked.
'One of the nephilim. She took the shoes, because they make her stronger and faster.'
Sawyer felt anger within her and she couldn't stop what happened next. 'So you let that murderer have the shoes? You let her? She doesn't deserve them, they belong to Rosaline and Rosaline alone! She works for the enemie, Christabel.'
'She doesn't know better, Sawyer,' Christabel said in an annoyed tone, 'I am a faerie, Sawyer, I can foretell things. She will play an important role, just like you will, and maybe it will be for the better.'
'Her name,' Sawyer demanded, 'Give me her name.'
Christabel shook her head. 'I can't. I can't let you kill her. I know what you're feeling, but she doesn't deserve it, and it won't help you.'
'She murdered my sister, Christabel!' Sawyer shouted, 'I can't let that stand, no matter what you think about it.'

Alec had gone to find the Wicked Witch of the East the next day, and everyone was coming. Everyone meant Magnus, Jace, Izzy, Simon and Clary. He wasn't sure about Clary and Simon, but he couldn't stop them either, so he let them come, but he had told them he was in charge. He was after all the most responsible of them all, the most serious.
'She lives in a flat?' Simon asked confused.
Magnus gave him a weird look. 'Of course not,' Magnus said, 'Her sister made her this place, from the outside it's a flat, but from the inside it's more like a palace. The security isn't very good, I believe, otherwise we wouldn't have found it so easily.'
Alec wasn't sure if this was a good idea, but it was the the best they had. Well, more like least bad. He didn't expect the witch to help them, but maybe they would find something useful. Maybe he would be forced to kill her, something Alec didn't look forward to. He never considered himself a cold blooded killer, he had killed downworlders before, but not many and he didn't like it, because downworlders were people, even when he had believed they were lesser than shadowhunters, something he did no longer believe. They went inside, and the place seemded empty to Alec. He put an arrow on his bow, ready to shoot when necessary. Izzy had her whip in her right hand and a seraph blade in her left hand, Clary held a dagger and a seraph blade, and Jace hold a long sword. Unless the Wicked Witch of the West was here now, Alec didn't expect much trouble. He walked trough the corridors, untill he reached something that looked like a throne hall.
'Safe,' Alec declared, when he saw the witch lying down. He knew she was dead, there was too much blood. He came close. The sight of the dead warlock was disgusting, but Alec ignored that. He had to investigate in order to find out what happened.
'What happened?' Clary asked.
'She's dead,' Magnus said. Alec saw her neck was severed, but not entirely. She was almost beheaded. But by what kind of weapon? 'Probably a shadowhunter weapon,' Alec muttered, 'But a shadowhunter would report to the Clave, and then the body wouldn't be lying here. According to the blood, she probably died right here, the killer didn't drag her somewhere else.'
'Maybe someone wasn't following the law,' Jace said, 'Acting on his own, maybe? Let's search this place.'
'Great idea,' Simon said, 'Does anyone have a map? Because I kind of feel like we're going to get lost here. I don't even know the way back.'

'Maybe you shouldn't take revenge,' Collin said, 'I understand what you must feel, but the murder was probably ordere by either the Wizard or the Clave, and it is the wizard we wish to defeat.'
'Maybe you're right,' Sawyer said, but she kept thinking about the shadowhunters who would try to find her. Alec Lightwood had been tasked with finding her and killing her. His adoptive brother and parabatai Jace Lightwood would certainly come with him, as would his sister Isabelle Lightwood. According to Collin, the rune crafter, Clary Fairchild, and the daylighter vampire, Simon Lewis. And of course the warlock Magnus Bane. They would be a problem, of course. A rune crafter, a daylighter, a warlock. The three other shadowhunters. But maybe they could be convinced she was right.
'I have a plan,' Sawyer said, then, 'I need Christabel for help, of course. I want them to find me.'

Alec had an appointment with the good Faerie of the North that evening, at Taki's, and he was going to take Jace with him. They hadn't found anything useful in the Wicked Witch of the East's palace, except that she was in Los Angeles, but that was a long shot. Los Angeles was to big, they wouldn't be able to find her if they couldn't narrow it down first. They had reported the murder to the Clave, and they didn't know much more than they did, and were questioned under the Mortal Sword. Alec had to continue his search for the Wicked Witch of the West after that, unfortunately. He had had some luck, though, because the good Faerie of the North had written to him, saying she could help him.
'Don't talk too much,' Alec warned Jace, 'I don't want you to piss her off, like you usually would do.'
'You're right,' Jace said, 'That is what I usually would do. But you're my best friend and I don't want to take away the only lead you have right now.'
'Thanks,' Alec said softly. They walked inside Taki's, the restaurant where they came so often. When mom and dad where to Idris for Clave bussiness, they mostly had to, because Isabelle couldn't cook, and neither could Alec or Jace.
'Wait, is that Simon?' Jace asked, pointing to the corner, 'With Maia?'
Alec looked where Jace pointed, shocked. Was that a date? 'I'm going to have a word with him once we're finished here,' Alec decided, because he wanted to know what was going on, and he wanted to warn Simon not to mess around with his sister.
'Are you Alec Lightwood?' a female voice asked. Alec turned around. A small woman stood before him. She had blonde curly hair, and wore a blue dress that looked like the kind of dress little mundane girls wore when they wanted to dress up like a princess.
'You must be the good Faerie of the North,' Alec said, polite. He knew this woman was a banished faerie, but manners will also important to them, and Alec certainly didn't want to piss her off.
'Jace Lightwood,' Jace introduced himself.
'Call me Christabel, please,' she said, 'The Good Faerie of the North is so long. Shall we sit down? It's dinner time, so I say we eat something first.'
'Of course, we'd like to,' Alec said, with a look at Jace, afraid he'd say something smart and stupid. Jace didn't. Probably because he had promised Alec not to. They sat down around a table, and soon the waitress, a faerie named Kaelie Whitewillow, handed them the menu, and Alec turned to the backside, where the human food was. So did Jace. The faerie, Christabel, looked in the middle, for the faerie food. A little later, Alec ordered a spaghetti, and so did Jace, and Christabel ordered some faerie food.
'Nice place here, isn't it?' Christabel asked, 'Do you come here often?'
Jace nodded. 'Yes, we do. But what we really want to know is where to find the Wicked Witch of the West. My friend Alec here has been tasked with finding here, as you must have heard, and we haven't found much useful information yet.'
'Well, you must have heard she is in Los Angeles. But before I'll tell you about her location, I'll tell you who she is, what will be very useful, I'd say. The Wicked Witch of the West was born as Sawyer Thropp, a warlock with a green skin. Her half sister Rosaline was also a warlock, who had something in her legs as warlock mark and was therefore disabled. Sawyer always took care of her sister, while her mundane mother was going insane. She and her sister were recruited by the Wizard's order, just like I was several years later. The warlock trainer, miss Darcy, recognized Sawyer's power, and gave her special training, and she let me into her class because Sawyer asked her to. She wasn't a bad person then, she was actually nice, if you got to know here. When she got to meet the wizard, she decided to turn against him, and I haven't really seen her since, though I have tracked her location not so long ago.'
She hated the Wizard, Alec deduced. But what was it she held against the Clave? The waitress returned with their food after that, and Alec and Jace both started eating first, and so did Christabel. When they were finished, Christabel gave her most useful information.
'She lives in the most North point of Los Angeles, a little outside the city. She lives inside her own dimensional pocket, from this world you see a small beach hut, glamoured into a broken hut. Be prepared, from the inside, it is gigantic. I haven't been deep inside, but I've entered, yes, and I knew how big it has to be. She is a very strong warlock. Only Magnus Bane may be stronger than her, you guys know him, right?'
Alec nodded, thinking of his boyfriend, who was now at his place in Brooklyn, where Alec would go after this meeting.
'Then you may stand a chance,' Christabel said, and then she magically made appear some money, Alec wasn't sure where it came from, but he knew you couldn't just create things out of nothing. She left after that. Alec looked in the corner, where Simon and Maia were about to leave.
'Will you pay for me? I'll return you the money if you want me to,' Alec said, because he needed to speak a few words with Simon.
'That's okay,' Jace said, something he probably wouldn't do for anyone who wasn't him or Clary, or Izzy maybe. Alec stood up and walked towards Simon.
'Can I have a few words with you?' he asked in a cold tone.
Simon nodded. 'Something important?'
'Something I need to talk to you about.'
Alec walked outside, and Simon followed him, into an allyway where they wouldn't be bothered.
'What is going on between you and Maia?' he asked.
Simon looked confused, and Alec wasn't in a patient mood. 'What, you ignore me most of the time, and now you suddenly want to know about my relationships?'
'I don't ignore you,' Alec said, 'Ignoring is on purpose. I just don't talk to you much. You say relationships. What kind of relationship do you have with Maia? It may be because of my lack of experience, but it seemed to me that what I just observerd was a date.'
Simon looked trapped, that Alec was sure of. 'I guess you could say that. But we aren't officially dating or something. And neither are Izzy and I.'
'Does Izzy know that?' Alec asked, because that was mostly what this was about. He knew Izzy messed around with guys a lot, dating two at the same time even, but that didn't mean guys were allowed to date her and a friend of hers at the same time.
'She doesn't,' Simon said, 'Does it matter?'
'Of course it matters!' Alec shouted, 'The fact is, that you are messing around with my sister, and I don't like it.'
'I told you, we aren't officially dating,' Simon said, 'Izzy and I aren't, and Maia and I aren't. Is that enough information for you?'
'You should tell her. Maybe she'll forgive you if you stop dating Maia, maybe she'll kill you, I don't know, but I don't want you to hurt my sister by letting her find out in some other way, she is already hurt enough.'
Alec was refering to his little brother, Max, who had died during the Mortal war. Alec had soon stopped blaming himself, but Izzy hadn't. She was still punishing herself.
'Alright, I'll try. But, don't stay this angry at me. I don't want to hurt Maia or Izzy, I just like them both very much, but I guess I shouldn't expect you to understand that.'
'Because I'm gay?' Alec asked, a bit hurt now.
'Because you're not in love with two people at the same time. Really, I'll try to explain it to them.'

Later that evening, Alec entered Magnus' appartment, where he lived most of the time. When he was inside and had shut the door, Chairman Meow walked towards him, and Alec caressed the small cat for a short time, and he took his shoes off and walked further inside. Magnus' place looked like some sort of Chinese temple today. It looked nice, Alec thought. He saw Magnus on the couch. His black hair was down, and reached his shoulders. He wore a long white shirt with a deep cut, and no pants, that Alec could see.
'You're late,' Magnus said.
'I told you, I had an appointment,' Alec said, 'At least I know where to find the witch now.'
Alec sat down next to Magnus on the couch. 'That's one good thing, at least,' Magnus said, 'Will we start looking tomorrow?' Alec nodded. 'Will we go by portal?' he asked, 'Because going by car will take us at least two days, if someone is constantly driving, and I find that a bit long.'
'I'll ask permission for a portal to Los Angeles. Mom is head of the Institute, so she can give me permision and send a fire message to the Los Angeles Institute.'
After Alec was finished saying that, Magnus kissed him, wrapping his arms around Alec. Alec wrapped his arms around Magnus, and kissed him again. Magnus kisses, as usually, felt great, and Alec felt as if he was on fire, except that it didn't hurt. With every kiss, he wanted more kisses, though he had been extremely nervous to kiss Magnus after they just had started dating. That had changed, Alec wasn't as nervous as he used to be anymore. Therefore, he continued kissing Magnus, while he felt Magnus warm, muscled body against him.

Sawyer went to her werewolf cub that evening, as usual. It wasn't exactly tame, but it wasn't exactly wild either. She still hadn't found a cure, but she kept looking. Collin was helping her, as much as he could, but he was only a shadowhunter, and didn't know much about dark magic, except how to fight it with their runed weapons and seraph blades. Collin had moved to Los Angeles when he was eighteen, because she lived there, and he was often in her palace, though he had to keep it secret. To the Clave, she was an evil witch nobody could find. But Alec Lightwood and his friends would find her, because that was her plan. Both Christabel and Collin had a huge part in the plan, and Christabel had already done hers. She was preparing for them, because she needed allies, but they weren't supposed to kill her. She needed to temporary stop Magnus Bane from using magic. She fed the werewolf some raw meat. It was still small, Sawyer noticed it grew the way humans did. Female wolves were supposed to be fertil around this age, but the cub wasn't.
'How is it going, darling?' a voice asked.
She turned around and saw Collin stand in the doorway. 'Alright, I guess. She's healthy, but I can't reverse the spell. It was a baby when the spell was cast, and now two years old. It grows that way, but I don't know what will happen when we reverse it. If, I should say, I don't even know if it's possible.'
'Maybe you could ask your father,' Collin suggested.
This question surprised Sawyer, mostly because he was a shadowhunter. His duty was to kill demons, and they didn't like it when warlocks summoned demons, though it was not illegal unless you set it free. Sawyer had found out who her father was a year ago, and she didn't want to call on him again. It explained why she was so powerful, her father was a Prince of Hell. But he wouldn't help her, no. Not without a price, and she knew it was going to be something she couldn't give him. At best he asked some happy memories, but he could also ask her life, or someone elses life. It was said that greater demons like virgin sacrifices and Sawyer wasn't going to sacrifice a virgin to reverse the spell, because that would proof she was evil, and Sawyer didn't want to be evil.
'Maybe I'll ask it, tomorrow,' Sawyer said, 'But I don't expect help. Maybe he knows what to do. Maybe the price will be something I can pay. But there will be a price, with demons like that there always is.'
'I know,' Collin said, 'We learn we shouldn't summon demons. Well, ask a warlock to do it, because except for Valentine Morgenstern we can't. And we shouldn't summon angels either, because they don't like being summoned.'
Sawyer nodded, she knew that. If summoning an angel was safe, she would have done it. She would have asked an angel to give her the power to reverse the evil spell, but angels didn't like being bothered. She had heard the story of Valentine, who summoned Raziel. That did not end well, for him.
'Tomorrow,' she repeated, 'There is a chance. Maybe.'

Isabelle had packed some important stuff in a backpack, and carried most stuff she would need, and was ready to leave for Los Angeles. Alec and Jace were going, so she was going as well. Nobody could stop Clary, and where Clary went, Simon followed. Magnus, of course, was also coming. At first, Isabelle had found Magnus a bit annoying, but she had found from the beginning that Alec had to go out with him, because she wanted her brother to be happy, and Magnus had been someone who liked Alec. Now they loved each other, and Isabelle was happy for both of them.
'You got permission for a portal?' Isabelle asked her brother.
He nodded. 'Yes, we will be leaving as soon as Magnus gets here.'
Isabelle checked her weapons. She carried to seraph blades in her belt, she wore her electrum whip as a bracelet, and she had two extra seraph blades in her backpack.
'Hello everyone,' Magnus said, who came in together with Clary. He swiftly kissed Alec, which reminded Isabelle of married couples. Which reminded Isabelle of her plans about their wedding, because she was sure they would get married someday and Isabelle wanted to plan their wedding when it was finally going to happen. Jace was the next person to walk into the room, carrying so many weapons that Isabelle wondered if they didn't sting everywhere. Jace, Alec and Isabelle had once held a competition who could carry the most weapons. Jace had won, Alec had came third. Unless you counted twenty arrows as seperate weapons, in which case Alec would have won by far, but Jace decided they counted as one weapon.
'Everyone ready?' she asked. They were at the sanctuary, so Simon could come as well. Vampires couldn't come into the Institute, except for the sanctuary.
Magnus began drawing a portal, because he was far more skilled than Clary at drawing portals, and when he was finished, they all stepped through, and landed in Los Angeles close to the Institute, that lay very close to the beach and very close to their destination.
A shadowhunter boy stood just before the door of the Institute, and Isabelle thought she had seen him before, but she didn't know his name. He stepped towards them, mostly towards Jace, who was acting as if he was the leader of the group.
'My name is Collin Greenwood,' he introduced himself, 'I heard about your quest, and I'm going to help you. The Good Faerie of the North talked to me, because you would need my help. I know how to fight the protection, I've done it before, and I know what sort of protection is there.'
'Well, I guess one person extra to help us is better than nothing,' Alec said, 'How many weapons are you carrying?'
'My naginata, my primary weapon,' Collin listed, 'My second weapon, a sword. A spare sword, and a few seraph blades.'
'You can come with us,' Alec decided. Isabelle looked fascinated at the weapons Collin was carrying. His primary weapon was the same weapon her mother used, and he carried swords and seraph blades.