Chapter 20 Taken part 1

I'm never drinking again.

That was Alec's first thought. Whoever invented alcohol needed to be locked away for the rest of their life. And thinking about it now; which century was that even?

The omega felt like he was being beaten over the head with a hammer. Why? Just why would anyone drink if this was the end result; waking up the next day feeling as though you've had the life squeezed out of you by a Raum demon?

What Alec didn't know yet however, was that how he was currently feeling as he groaned in pain, wasn't simply just the effects of a night out spent drinking.

As Alec groaned, he rolled onto his side, hugging his pillow against his chest. It took a few minutes, but like a flash of light going off in his mind, he suddenly realized that something was off.

His pillow felt a lot firmer than he remembered.

Alec squished the pillow in his embrace to soften it, his eyelids fluttering a little, trying, but failing to open. Even the smell of his pillow was off as well, he noticed. It still smelled like him, but there was barely any of Magnus' scent, and it definitely didn't have the usual citrony smell of his favorite laundry detergent. In fact, it smelled very flowery; sweet. There was a hint of lavender.

It was then that Alec's eyes shot opened, looking slightly swollen around the lids and the whites showing a hint of redness as they widen, quickly shifting around, left, right, up and down.

This was not his pillow.

This was not his bed.

By the Angel, this was not his bedroom!

Panic instantly exploded in Alec's heart. He quickly sat up, only to then immediately lean forward, frowning as he clutched his head in pain, the sudden movement causing him to feel dizzy and nauseous.

Where the hell am I!?

Slowly massaging his temples, Alec began to look around the room, carefully taking in his surroundings, all the while trying his best to remain calm. There was no need to panic. Surely there was a perfectly reasonable explanation for whatever this was.

The room was fairly large and luxurious, decorated in gold, brown and red tones. The furniture all seemed to be from the victorian era, and even the gold colored sheets he was laying on, he realized were all of top quality. The walls were made of brown aged red bricks, and Alec noticed that there didn't seem to be any windows. Rather, curtains had been draped along the brick walls in such a fashion, they gave the illusion that they were indeed framing windows. He also spotted only one door.

Where the hell was he? Alec wondered for the second time. He was very certain that he'd fallen asleep in his own bed lastnight. Magnus had brought hi...

Alec paused, his eyes no longer shifting wildly around the room.

Where was Magnus?

As Alec's mind naturally brought forth images of the warlock, and he thought about the last time he'd seen his mate, he couldn't help but to look down, taking proper notice of himself. He was still wearing the blue pjamas he blurrily remembered Magnus had changed him into lastnight. He remembered that after Magnus had brought him home from the club, the warlock had tucked him into bed, but when he'd asked him to stay, he'd said something about having a meeting, so he wasn't able to spend the night.

Infact: was that even lastnight? Alec wondered. How long had he been here? Wherever here was. And how had he ended up here in the first place?

After some few minutes, and although he was still feeling a bit dizzy, Alec moved to get off of the bed. He needed to take a proper look around. However, before his feet could touch the floor, he heard a clinking sound coming from the other side of the door. Someone was opening the door. Thinking fast, Alec quickly layed back down, fixed his blankets, and once again closed his eyes, pretending as if he was still asleep.

Thus far he'd drawn two conclusions from his current situation. One; he'd obviously been abducted. As frightening a thought as that was, it was the only explanation that he could come up with that made any sense. He wished with everything he had, that this was just some kind of stupid joke, but nobody he knew played these kinds of games. Even Magnus' crazy surprises never got this weird. And two; whoever had taken him, most likely didn't plan on harming him, at least not for the time being.

Alec layed perfectly still, listening keenly. From the sounds of the foot steps, only one person had entered the room, possibly male, based on how heavy their steps sounded. And based on their scent, it wasn't someone that he was familiar with.

He continued to lay still until the other person had reached the side of the bed. He could feel their eyes on him, burning holes into his flesh as they stood silently watching him. At the close proximity, Alec couldn't help but notice that not only could he not hear the other person breathing, but other than their scent being that of a beta, they also carried the stench of death.

More than ten beats passed before the person finally spoke. Seeming to be leaning over the bed, they sounded in a rough voice, "We already know that you're awake, so you can just stop..."

But before they could finish their sentence, Alec's eyes snapped opened. Both of his hands shot up, grabbing hold of the person's neck. Just as he had suspected, it was indeed a vampire, a male vampire to be exact.

"Who are you? What's this place?" Alec questioned, his voice firm and his eyes murderous.

The vampire did not respond.

Even though squeezing the neck of a vampire wasn't exactly cutting off their air supply, with enough pressure, one could still cause them pain, as well as some temporary damage. Breaking their necks was even better, because although it wouldn't kill them, it at least left them immobilized for some time, giving the other party enough time to either retreat, or capture. It was very unfortunate that Alec currently barely had any strength at all in his limbs. He hadn't really noticed it before, with his pounding head ache on top of everything else, but his body was feeling especially weak. Right now he was using all of the strength he could muster and was just barely keeping the vampire under control. Infact, he suspected that the vampire was purposely allowing him to have the upper hand. Still...

Seemingly unperturbed, Alec pressed, "Answer me!"

However, the vampire hadn't the chance to respond before another voice sounded in the room.

"Oh, I see you and my dear, Walker are already getting aquainted," the new comer sounded, voice smooth and charming, an accent of some sort embleshing each word.

Alec's gaze instantly shifted to find a woman clad in all black, standing just inside of the room. She was very beautiful; pale, milk white skin, her shoulder length blonde hair perfectly styled, and the black dress she wore stitched to her curvy body. She was truely a sight to behold; the very defination of a femme fetal. Alec recognized her immediately.

...Camille.

Releasing his hold on Walker, Alec shoved the vampire back before moving to sit up properly with his back against the headboard. He watched as Camille made her way further into the room. Her every step was made with grace and elegance; stopping in the middle of the room, enough distance between her and the feet end of the bed.

Alec said nothing, simply schooling his features.

Seconds passed. Minutes passed. Still, not one word spoken. He could tell that Camille was waiting for some kind of reaction out of him, for him to say something first, to perhaps ask who she was, and that only made Alec even more determined not to engage. Besides, they're really was no point. Seeing her; he already understood what was happening. What was the point in wasting his energy asking unnecessary questions?

Time continued to tick by, but still the three people in the room remained silent. Walker had moved to Camille's side as soon as Alec had released him, joining his master as she stared the shadowhunter down. However, Alec did not falter, keeping his gaze trained on them as well, his expression remaining unreadable.

If only he truly felt as calm as looked.

Inside, Alec's mind was working overtime, racing a mile a minute as he step by step reviewed this his current situation. Yes, he had indeed been abducted. Whatever sliver of hope he may have had that this was all just some elaberate joke, had now been thoroughly squashed. Not only that, he now also knew who the perpetrator was, and could therefore surmise their motive.

However, although some of his questions were now answered, there came deluge of others.

Based on his lack of strength, nausea, the head ache and dizziness, plus the fact that Camille and her lackey had somehow how managed to drag him from his bed to wherever the hell this was without him knowing, it was obvious that he'd been drugged. Which also begs the question: with what had he been drugged? How long would the effects of this drug last? Did the drug have other effects that he didn't yet know about? How did they manage to get into the Institute without anyone being alerted? Did his family already realize that he was missing? And if they did, would they even be able to find him? Would Magnus be able to find him?

Alec's mind was riotous. It was all he could do not to lose his cool.

Camille on the other hand, seemingly having lost all patience after who knows how long, finally spoke up. Cutting through Alec's thoughts, her voice forceful, she asked, "Aren't you going to say something? Aren't you going to ask who I am?"

Slowly blinking away his slight daze, "Should I?" Alec threw back, seeming truly unbothered.

"Yes, you should," said Camille.

"It's fine," Alec shrugged. "I don't really care."

If vampires could blush, Camille's cheeks would have no doubt grown red in anger. Alec could tell that she was fast becoming annoyed. He was probably ruining whatever grand speech she had planned by not giving her the reaction she had expected. He remembered Magnus telling him how big she was on dramatics; always putting on a show.

Taking a step closer, but still keeping her distance, Camille insisted, "Oh, but you really should care." Her voice dragging, "Who I am, I'm afraid dear, Alexander, will impact your future greatly."

"Don't call me that," Alec snapped, annoyed with her use of his full name. The way she had said it was very much mocking. "My name is Alec."

With that, the room once again fell silent. After about a minute, Alec sighed. Not wanting to get into another staring contest, he decided to simply play along with her game. Perhaps the sooner he gave her what she wanted, the sooner she would leave him alone. Then, he could focus on figuring out his escape.

Rolling his eyes, "Fine," Alec drawled. "Who are you?"

Camille smiled, blood red lips pulling back to reveal perfectly straight white teeth. "I'm actually extremely disappointed that Magnus hadn't told you about me."

"I'm sure if you were someone important, he would have," said Alec.

"Ouch," Camille feigned a pained expression. "Such a firey one aren't you? Then again, Magnus did always like them with a bit of an attitude."

Once again Alec rolled his eyes.

"Anyways," Camille daintily waved him off with one of her perfectly manicured hands. "Enough of the pleasantries. I'm Camille, Magnus' mate. Even if Magnus have neglected to tell you, I'm sure you've heard about me."

Alec very much wanted to laugh. But, on a second thought, he decided against it, asking instead, "If your Magnus' mate, then who am I?"

Camille, not missing the slight curve of Alec's lips, narrowed her eyes, "Someone who had better not cause me any trouble. We wouldn't want me to break my deal with your little friend by ripping out that perfectly, pure angelic heart of yours', now would we? Speaking of which..." Camille glanced over her shoulder, her smile almost giddy. "My dear," she called out. "Why are you still hiding? You can come in now."

It was as if time stood still; that moment just before your whole world explode.

Alec's mask of indifference finally broke as all of the blood drained from his face in an instant, a shock expression overtaking his features. "Y-you..." he muttered shakily, his heart sinking as a tall familiar silhouette slowly filled the doorway and began making it's way into the room.

Shock quickly turned into anger.

Alec was seeing red. "Bastard!" He roared.

"I'm sorry, Alec. But this was the only way."

Calculating from the time he'd tucked his mate into bed, it has been almost twenty four hours now since Alec's disappearance. And with every minute that ticked by, Magnus was one step closer to completely loosing it.

Someone had the guts to touch that which belongs to him.

The alpha's emotions were a warring mess as both anger and fear gripped his heart, threatening to tear him apart from the inside.

How could this have happened?

He'd just tucked Alec into bed and everything was fine. They were just out celebrating for Edom's sake. Alec had said those three heart stopping words. And now...

Now less than twenty four hours later, and his whole world was falling apart.

This was not happening.

Magnus refused...

He refused to give into his fears. He refused to allow himself imagine, to even consider the possibility of any harm coming to his mate, to his Alexander. He would not give life to those dark thoughts and imageries that wanted to flood his mind. He needed to hold himself together. Now was not the time to let his anger get the better of him. It was not the time to fall into despair.

If there was one thing he'd learnt throughout his over four hundred years of life, it was to never allow your emotions cloud your judgement.

People tended to do the most vicious and vile things whenever their senses become clouded by anger, but even worse so, when clouded by fear. And he, himself, was no exception.

The meeting with the Lightwoods had been a tumultuous one, filled with accusations upon accusations.

Emotions were high and one could have cut the tension in the room with a knife.

Fortunately, Magnus had been able to somewhat calm himself down by simply keeping all of his focus on the task at hand.

...and that was finding his mate.

Every other thing could be dealt with afterwards. Right now, finding Alec was the only thing that mattered. And Magnus was ready and willing to do whatever he needed to do in order to have his mate back in his arms where he belonged; safe and sound.

And at the moment, that meant not burning down the New York Institute in a fit of rage. It meant putting aside his differences and working with Alec's family... Peacefully. No matter how difficult it was proving to be.

Magnus had explained that he'd personally placed a new set of wards, different, as well as a lot more powerful than the ones that they'd originally hired him to place around the Institute. He'd explained that these new wards prevented anyone with even a drop of demon blood from entering the Institute without him being alerted.

Needless to say that this news had drew some ire, as well as prompted a lot of questions from the Lightwoods, questions that Magnus was neither ready nor willing to answer.

Magnus had also explained that it was precisely because of these new wards, that he suspected one of Alec's fellow shadowhunters. He'd of course made sure to leave out Edom's current problems when queried as to why he'd felt it necessary to do this, stating simply that he'd wanted to make sure that his mate was as safe as possible in case any downworlder or demon got any wild ideas. Which was technically true. So...

With downworlders and demons out of the picture, that left only the shadowhunters as the prime suspects.

This drew an even greater uproar amongst Alec's parents. They just didn't want to believe that one of their own, a shadowhunter under their command, could have actually done such a thing. However, the facts could not be denied. Even without Magnus' wards as a factor, the first suspects in cases such as this were usually those closest to, or with relatively easy access to the victim.

And so next, came narrowing down the long list of suspects.

There were over fifty shadowhunters currently stationed at the New York Institute.

Personally at the top of Magnus' list was still Alec's family, more specifically Alec's parents, despite their adamant denial. Although Robert didn't seem the type to make such a move, Maryse was just desperate enough. Therefore he couldn't rule them out. At least not yet. So, despite his current cooperation, he still had her in his sights.

Maryse had of course denied the accusations, even going as far as claiming that she was actually starting to accepted their relationship. However, with things as they were now, she had reverted back to her original opinion; that Magnus Bane was indeed not a good choice of a mate for her son. And likewise just as Magnus had her in his sights, she too had Magnus in her sights; believing him to bear some responsibility for her son's disappearance, whether directly or indirectly. Which she had no problem voicing.

"Even if he wasn't the one who took Alexander, how can we be sure that it's not one of the many people that he's wronged over the centuries?" Maryse had suggested as she looked to her mate for support. "How can we even be sure that what he says about the wards are true?"

Needless to say that Alec's little band of misfit's had been exasperated with the constant back and forth, having to act as referees between Maryse and Magnus.

Having had enough, Jace had spoken up, suggesting, "We need to take a look at the surveillance footage first, before anything else. Although, if Magnus is right, and I believe that he is, and it's one of our own, then I doubt we'll find anything."

Everyone seemed to look at each other in agreement.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Magnus said eagerly. "Let's have a look."

"Right," Robert nodded.

The group of them had then headed back to the Ops room.

Large touch screen computers as well as other mundane technology, used in combination with their own nephilim technology, were set up in intervals throughout the Ops room.

Following on Jace's heels, they all gathered around the main hub, where several large screens were attached to each other.

Jace and Simon got to work immediately, both of their hands swiping across, from one screen to another, opening one file then another.

Simon explained, "Although we don't have any cameras in the living quarters, we do have cameras set up in most of the shared spaces. Except the for toilets of course." He chuckled nervously, then grunted softly after receiving an elbow to the side from Izzy.

The others didn't pay him much attention as he continued his explanations. Their focuses were solely on the screens, watching as he pulled up one video after another, quickly scanning through them. This continued on for some time, Izzy and Clary joining in as well.

Jace's main focus was the footage from the cameras located closest to Alec's room. There were two cameras in total. One was located at either end of the long L shaped hallway where theirs, Clary, Jace, Izzy and Simon's as well as Alec's bedroom were all located.

Simon, Clary and Izzy, were checking the footage from the building's entry and exit points as well as other heavily trafficked areas.

They quickly scanned through hours of footage in mere minutes, focusing on the hours between when they'd returned from the club, to when Izzy and Jace had discovered Alec missing. However, there didn't seem to be anything unusual. Everyone that came and went on the screens were all shadwohunters that they recognized.

The footage in the hallway didn't show anyone going near Alec's room, talk of going in. It wasn't until Jace played the footage again, only increasing the speed this time by x2, that something suddenly caught his eyes.

"I've got something here," Jace called, his eyes narrowing. The others immediately crowded behind him. "Look at this." He pointed at the numbers at the top right corner of the screen, rewinding, then slowing down the video as it played.

Magnus frowned. One moment the time at the top of screen was showing 02:05am, then the next, it was showing 03:05am. One hour of footage was missing.

Soon after checking the footage from all of the other cameras again, they found the exact same problem. Someone had either deleted an hour of footage, or more likely, had turned off the cameras from 02:05am, to 03:05am.

"So this proves it. Magnus is right," said Izzy, looking to the others for affirmation.

The room was silent. But there was no denying it. Only a shadowhunter can access the Institute's computers.

"Someone in this Institute is either responsible for, or at the very least, aided in Alec's disappearance," said Jace. "Now, the question is who?"

"We can't just go about this blindly," said Clary.

Jace agreed, "We need to narrow down the list of possible suspects and start from there. Now, let's all think carefully. Is there anyone that Alec may have had any problems with as of late? Has anyone been acting suspicious?"

It was as if a light bulb had gone off in Izzy's head, and only one name kept popping up at the forefront of her mind.

"Raj."

Hearing that name, Magnus seemed to snap to attention. "Raj is here? In this building?"

Izzy nodded, "Yes."

"I thought he was transfered after what happened. And now you're telling me that he's back." Magnus was livid. Why hadn't Alec said anything to him?

He couldn't help but think about their confrontation, and all of the nasty things that the beta had said to mate. "How long has he been back?" He asked.

"For over a week now," said Izzy. She was looking particularly battle ready. One could almost feel the flames of anger rolling off of her in spades as she stood with her hands resting on her hips. And she wasn't alone. Alec's entire family wore expressions of varying levels of both anger and disbelief. Someone they trusted, had betrayed them and harmed one of their own.

Izzy was ready to break some skulls, suggesting, "After the incident between you guys, he would certainly have a grudge. I say the interrogations should start with him."

And thus, the interrogations had began.

They'd all agreed that, at least for the time being, it was best not to report what happened to the Clave. With Alec being who he is, they were sure to send a representative to take over the case. And neither Magnus nor the Lightwoods were ready to deal with Clave politics on top of everything else. An envoy from the Clave would only only get in the way.

At least that was something that Magnus and Alec's parents could agree on.

After discussing their next course of action, they all set out to mind their individual task.

But not before a head count was done to make sure that all of the shadowhunters stationed at the Institute, including Raj, were present and in the building. Everyone was present and accounted for, except for five shadowhunters; three of which have been undergoing special training in Idris for more than a week now, and the other two were on a special intelligence gathering mission at Paris Institute.

A few shadowhunters had also been out when Magnus had first put up the barrier, but have since returned, only to find themselves trapped inside as well. Smartly, the warlock had made sure that the barrier was virtually undetectable.

With everyone being accounted for, Robert had two shadowhunters escort Raj to a holding room. Everyone was given a brief update of the situation, keeping things at a strictly need to know basis, and questions that could be answered, were answered.

Jace and Simon were to scour through the surveillance footage again, more thoroughly, in case they had missed something.

Maryse, Izzy, and Clary, were left with the daunting task of questioning the other fifty or so shadowhunters, starting with the guards who had been on duty that night. There was definitely no way they hadn't seen anything, or, unless they too were somehow involved.

Magnus, of course wanted to question Raj himself. But, fearing an incident, Robert and Maryse had protested against it. However, once they quickly realized that Magnus was not asking for their permission, to save face, they could only acquiesce, Robert offering up a compromise.

They, Robert and Magnus, would carry out the interrogation together.

Robert had then led Magnus down into the basement of the building where what appeared to be holding cells, as well as who know what else, were located. He wasn't there to sight see, so Magnus paid little to no attention to the various rune covered doors, weapons and antiques lining the walls.

Instead, Magnus' attention had been solely drawn to the cell ahead of them at the far end of the hallway. Behind a wall of what appeared to be glass, Raj was sitting in a gray metal folding chair, leaning back with his arms folded across his chest, and a smug expression painting his features.

Magnus' movements had been swift. One moment he was walking beside Robert, and in the next, he'd somehow bypassed the lock runes securing the door and was blasting Raj out of the chair with an energy ball. It was as if he'd teleported. By the time Robert reached the room, Magnus already had Raj held up against the wall by an unseen force, a red rope of magic stretching from his fingers tips, wrapping itself around Raj's neck.

"Where's - my - mate?"

Magnus' voice sounded like someone possessed as he enunciated each word. His steps seemed to be in slow motion as he closed in on Raj, their faces coming within a few centimeters of each other.

Magnus locked eyes with Raj, holding the shadowhunter captive with the intensity of his gaze, as he struggled to breathe.

"Where is he!?" Magnus roared, but Raj could only groan in pain as he gasped for breath.

The warlock was this close to loosing control. There was just something about this person's face, their constant smugness; it just made him want to rearrange their entire appearance. And then remembering the way he'd treated Alec; couple that with the fact that he more than likely had something to do with his disappearance...

Raj should count himself lucky that Robert was also present.

The head of the New York Institute tried, but failed to get inbetween the two of them. Placing a hand on Magnus' shoulder, he tried his best to calm the warlock down.

"Magnus, if you kill him, not only will he not be able to tell us anything, but you'll also be starting a war. Think carefully," Robert stressed. "You need to calm down. I understand how you feel, but we're not going to find Alec like this."

Magnus was visible struggling. Robert could feel the warlock's body trembling where he had his hand on his shoulder. "Magnus," he repeated.

It was some few beats before Magnus finally released his hold on Raj. Taking several steps back, he roughly combed his fingers through his hair, breathing heavily. Now was not the time to let his anger get the better of him, he reminded himself, just focus on Alexander; the quicker you get the information, then the quicker you can find him. He would deal with Raj later.

And so...

This, was where things currently stood.

Once everyone settled down, Raj sat back down in his chair, shifting his head from side to side as he massaged his neck with one of his hands. Magnus stood to the side with his arms folded across his chest, watching and listening keenly as Robert proceeded with why they were all there in the first place, and that was to find out whether or not Raj had anything to do with Alec's disappearance?

And of course, as was expected, the sniveling little worm vehemently denied knowing anything.

"Why would I kidnap, Alec?" Raj asked, his eye brows raising as he tilted his head back to look up at Robert.

"Perhaps revenge," Robert suggested calmly. "Perhaps you're holding a grudge from the incident that happened between the three of you. Or perhaps, it's something else. You've been very out spoken with your opinions on Alec's choice of mate. Perhaps you felt it as your duty to do something to stop what you might consider to be wrong, an injustice if you will."

"Humph," Raj shook his head, smiling lightly. "I'm not the only one who believes that there's something wrong with a warlock becoming the omega's mate. In fact, I suspect that you too feel the same way. So in this regard, perhaps you're the one responsible for the omega's disappearance. Hell, I'm sure if you were to go from institute to institute, asking each and every shadowhunter whether or not they approve of the omega's choice in mate, I'm sure they would all give you the same answer. And that's a big... no," Raj finished, leaning forward.

Robert sighed. He couldn't deny that what Raj was saying was the truth. He couldn't think of one shadowhunter that would whole heartedly support Alec's choice. But, that wasn't important right now. He wasn't taking a poll of who supported his son's choice in mate or not, he was trying to find out who had abducted him.

Not at all perturbed by Raj's obvious deflection, and attempt at sowing discord, Robert then proceeded with a different line of questioning. He asked the beta more specific questions. For example; where had he been between such and such a time? Who had he been with? Anything that would present holes in his story.

As Magnus continued to watch the exchange, he found himself not able to bear it any longer. He was quickly losing his patience.

"This is useless," he errupted. "He's obviously not going to say anything of use. So unless you've got a truth potion... it's obvious we're going to have to force the truth out of him."

This is exactly what Robert was trying to avoid.

The head of the New York Institute was truly a man caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand he was ready to do everything within his power to find his son, but on the other hand, how could he justify torturing a shadowhunter under his command without any evidence that he'd actually committed the crime.

Robert sighed, "Magnus, I cannot just order the torture of a shadowhunter without evidence. I understand..."

"Do you really? Understand, I mean?" The two men were now facing each other as Raj simply sat silently looking between the two of them. "Alexander is your son. He's counting on us to find him, yet you still have time to worry about this thing?" Magnus gestured towards Raj. "Or perhaps..." Perhaps he was simply carrying out your orders, thought Magnus. He already didn't trust Alec's parents, and Robert's hesitation to do what was necessary, along with his insistence that Magnus not carry out the interrogation alone, was only making it worse.

Seeming to consider Magnus' suggestion, Robert asked, "What if after torturing him, we still get nothing out of him, then what?"

Magnus sneered. The atmosphere in the room was heavy. "It seems you didn't believe me when I said that I will skin everyone in this building alive if I have to. I can only do things your way for so long." Magnus looked at Raj, his disdain clear. "Figure out a way to get him talking before I do."

With that, the warlock walked out of the interrogation room, leaving a conflicted Robert behind.

The head of the Institute sighed audibly. He too was extremely anxious. How could he not be? Was it not his son that was missing? But, if they all were to lose their heads at the same time, then what?

Magnus went back up to the Ops room where he saw Simon and Jace still combing through surveillance footage, a few other shadowhunters milling around.

"Are you alright?" Asked Simon. Upon realizing just how stupid his question was, he quickly added, "Never mind. Did he say anything?" He asked, in reference to Raj.

"What do you think?" Asked Magnus. "How about things here?"

"Nothing yet," said Simon.

Magnus grunted, taking out his cell phone as an idea began forming in his mind. He tapped a few icons, and brought the phone to his ears. After a few rings, someone at the other end of the line answered.

"I need you to come by the Institute as soon as possibe," said Magnus, skipping over the usual pleasantries. He didn't even wait for the other person's response before hanging up and returning the phone to his pocket.

Jace's ears perked up at that. He glanced over at him from behind the computer screen, asking, "Who was that?"

"Luke," said Magnus simply. Not staying around to explain further, he left Ops room and made his way to Alec's bedroom. Since finding out that Alec was missing, he hadn't had a moment to himself. He felt like he was going to explode; like he was suffocating; like someone held his heart in a vise. He really needed a breather before he did something he wouldn't be able to undo. Being surrounded on all sides like this... The stench was becoming unbearable.

Entering Alec's bedroom, Magnus closed the door behind him, leaning with his back against it as he took in the room. Everything is as it was when he'd left lastnight. Well, almost everything. Alec was no longer lying snuggled underneath his blankets. The bed was now an empty tousled mess.

Slowly walking over, he ran his fingers along the edges, his thoughts just as messy as the sheets.

Did the Lightwoods truly not have anything to do with Alec's disappearance? If not them, then who? Could it really just be rogue shadowhunter acting on his own? ...Raj?

As Magnus picked up Alec's blanket, bringing it to his face and burying his nose in the silken fabric, allowing his mate's scent to wash over him, he found himself hoping, hoping that it truly was just the Lightwoods trying to pull a fast one on him. Because if it wasn't...

If it wasn't, then the alternative was even more terrifying. He really did not want to even think about it.

The warlock stood like that for a long time, hugging his mate's blankets. His eyes began to grow glossy as unwelcomed tears threatened to spill over.

...Alexander, where are you?