Shadowhunters || Jimonael || Light of Their (After)Life || Jimonael || Shadowhunters
Title: Light of Their (After)Life – How Jace Accidentally Got Two Sugar Daddies
Fandom: Shadowhunters: The Mortal Instruments
Disclaimer: All rights to the Shadowhunters show reserved to Ed Decter, the books the show is based off and its characters belong to Cassandra Clare. This fanfiction on the other hand is entirely mine. No money is made with this, though reviews are more than welcomed.
Tags: polyamory (m/m/m), alpha/beta/omega dynamics, wingfic, hurt/comfort, courting, fluff, BDSM, kneeling, spanking, explicit intercourse, anal, oral, knotting, sex toys, f/f, m/f
Main Pairing: Raphael/Simon/Jace
Side Pairings: Magnus/Alec, Lydia/Izzy, Luke/Catarina
Shadowhunters Characters: Jace Herondale, Simon Lewis, Raphael Santiago, Lily Chen, Magnus Bane, Alec Lightwood, Max Lightwood, Isabelle Lightwood, Lydia Branwell, Clary Fray, Luke Garroway, Madzie Loss, Catarina Loss, Imogen Herondale, Rebecca Lewis, Elaine Lewis
Original Characters: Harold 'Hal' Armstrong, Timothy Jeong, Grace Oriol, Salvador Oriol Salazar, Phoebe Nightingale, Elisabeth 'Betty' Ledoux, Michel 'Mitch' Ledoux, Tobias McKay
Summary: In the aftermath of the war, the New York Institute wants to strengthen its bonds to the local Downworlders by assigning permanent liaisons to each fraction. Jace becomes the liaison to the vampire clan and thus starts spending much more time with the mated Alpha clan-leader pair, Raphael and Simon. At the same time, he's come to the decision to start embracing his omega nature and get off the suppressants he'd been on his entire life.
Light of Their (After)Life
How Jace Accidentally Got Two Sugar Daddies
Chapter 17: The Daylighter
For the first couple of hours, Jace was mostly bored and not really concerned. He didn't take Tobias seriously as a threat. After a few hours of sitting with his injuries and the slowly growing hunter, he was feeling more… frustrated. And Tobias kept coming by just to be difficult. A punch here, a twisted arm there. Nothing worse than things Jace had lived through in the past. It was just very annoying, to be bound and defenseless. The worst was the prattling though.
The alpha was a talker, and not in the charming way like Simon. No, Tobias was just in love with his own voice. And the things he had to say were of no value either, mostly just putting Jace down for being an omega, or talking about how wrong it was for a Downworlder to bond with a Shadowhunter. It became repetitive soon and he'd wish the others would hurry with finding him.
Not that he was a fan of playing damsel in distress and waiting for his knights in shining armor, but he knew he was in no state to get out of here on his own right now. And he… knew he could rely on his family, he knew he could trust them to find him, to help him. To not see him as a burden for making them look for him like this. His breath hitched a little at the realization and he smiled.
/break\
"He's probably suffering!" Simon was pacing distressed, fingers in his own hair, tugging.
Alec gave him the most unimpressed glare but refrained from commenting. He'd given up on commenting about an hour ago. That didn't mean he wasn't worried out of his mind himself, this was his parabatai, abducted, again, but he also knew that fretting wasn't going to get Jace back, or help them come up with a plan to locate the missing omega.
"Simon, amor, please," Raphael sighed, wrapping his arms around Simon's waist. "You know our omega is strong and fierce and not easily defeated."
"I know that," Simon grumbled, glaring half-heartedly at his mate. "But we don't know who has him or why they have him or what they're going to do with him. Just because he's the most badass fighter doesn't mean a large group can't overwhelm him."
"Your worst case scenarios are not helping," Magnus growled out.
He looked up and flashed his eyes at the vampire. It made Alec smiled softly and reach out to take his mate's hand and calm the alpha just a little. It warmed his heart to see Magnus protective of Alec's parabatai. With a slow, deep breath did Magnus calm himself.
Isabelle, Clary, Lydia and Luke were in another corner of the room, leaning over maps that had sections crossed out already, trying to organize their grid search, while Magnus and Catarina were working on a tracking spell to find Jace.
The sound of Raphael's phone interrupted them all, drawing their attention. Raphael had sent out the clan, now that it was finally dark and they could go too. At first, he'd been reluctant about it. Asking vampires to search for a Shadowhunter, but they'd all glared at him with varying degrees, declaring that this was about Jace, and Jace wasn't just a Shadowhunter, he was their Shadowhunter and oh, Raphael hadn't realized that his clan had grown this fond of Jace.
So when Raphael pulled his phone out, he expected it to be either Lily, as his second, or Tim, as head of security. Instead, it was an unknown number. Frowning, Raphael accepted the call.
"Who is this?" Raphael's voice had a low growl to it.
"Tobias McKay, Alpha Santiago."
Raphael goes cold. The alpha who'd dared make advances on Jace before Raphael and Simon had put a claim on the omega. They hadn't had many interactions since then, Raphael preferring to not build an alliance with a clan with such an untrustworthy and despicable leader. The fact that the man called him now didn't bode well and a bad feeling settled in Raphael's gut.
"I have something that appears to belong to you. Pretty little toy you misplaced."
"Oh, fuck right off," Jace snarled in the background.
Jace. The room tensed, everyone inching closer to Raphael at the sound of their missing family member's voice. Simon gripped Raphael's arm in a painful way but Raphael couldn't find it in himself to care, he was just glad he could provide his mate something to hold onto.
"So mouthy," Tobias sounded disgusted. "Someone really ought to train that out of you."
"Believe me someone tried. He's dead and I'm still here. Make of that what you will."
Raphael covered his mouth with one hand, trying to hide his smile. Jace seemed still in high spirits, as defiant as ever. That was a good sign. But smiling was inappropriate in this situation. A dangerous vampire had their lover. That thought put a steely, angry look on Raphael's face.
"Why did you take him? What do you want, McKay?"
Because clearly, Tobias had taken Jace to gain something. Which was in a bizarre way a relief to Raphael. It meant Tobias had no own desires for Jace – a thought that had crossed his mind quite quickly, that some alpha had taken their breathtaking, beautiful omega for their own pleasure. And with the history regarding Tobias, it wouldn't be a far fetch.
"Because your mate has something that I want."
"What does Jace have?" Raphael glared, tensing.
"Not the omega," Tobias growled. "You really think of him as your mate? How pathetic of you, Santiago. No, your real mate. The Daylighter."
Simon's eyes widened as he stared wordlessly at Raphael, panic clearly gripping him. The Daylighter. Not very subtle on what Tobias wanted from Simon. Raphael wrapped his free arm around Simon, pulling him as close as possible. Though he may not know what had made Simon a Daylighter, he was guarding his mate's secret too.
"You want an exchange," Raphael didn't have to phrase it as a question.
"I want an exchange," Tobias confirmed. "Talk to your mate. If you two really care that much for the omega, surely he can part with his little secret. I expect an answer when I call again."
The call disconnected, leaving Raphael feeling just as disconnected. Someone had kidnapped Jace, not as a part of the danger that came with being a Shadowhunter, not because he was the son of Valentine, not even because he was a stunning omega, no – Jace had been kidnapped because of them. Because Raphael and Simon cared for him, because he'd been perceived as a weakness of theirs. And… he was. Raphael could feel it, the impulse to push Simon into revealing his secret, not so Raphael could partake in it, but so they could get Jace again.
"What do we do?" Luke asked concerned. "Clearly, we're not letting this guy become a Daylighter, but what do we do. Fake it? Pretend we know what made Simon a Daylighter?"
Raphael noted the tenseness not just in Simon, but also in Alec and Magnus. His eyes narrowed and he zoomed in on the other mated pair. Alec's shoulders were squared and yet he was slightly hunched over, his concern laced with something else that Raphael couldn't quite pinpoint.
"You two know what made Simon a Daylighter," Raphael spoke in an accusatory manner.
"Oka—ay," Isabelle looked around the room cautiously. "Even if they do, not the time right now."
Though her eyes also bore into her brother inquisitively. Alec turned away from them both.
"We have to get Jace away from this vampire," Alec whispered.
His voice had lost its firmness, it was softened with concern and fear. Raphael didn't understand. They finally had a lead, they knew who had Jace and why, they knew Jace was conscious and still up to snark at his captor, which was always a good sign. Why this shift in mood?
"Okay, I'm sorry," Magnus frowned and looked around. "Are you serious? That none of you, aside from Simon, Alexander and me, know how Simon became a Daylighter?"
"Simon never told me," Clary shrugged, offering her best friend a small, encouraging smile. "It's okay. I don't need to know. I'm just glad that he got this."
"I honestly assumed he didn't know himself," Isabelle admitted.
"He told me it wasn't his secret to share," Luke shrugged. "I respected that."
Magnus looked baffled. "And none of you put it together on your own either?"
Simon gave a low warning growl. It was the first time Raphael saw him stand up to Magnus. Usually, Simon always deferred to Magnus' authority as the Alpha of their little familial group together, accepted that in their dynamic, he outranked them. Also because Simon was mildly afraid of Magnus in his capacity of Simon's father-in-law by all technicality.
"No, this is more dangerous if they don't know," Magnus argued, shaking his head. "Do you really think this is safer? With just us knowing the potential risks?"
Simon deflated, a complicated expression passing over his face, before he turned toward Alec, much to Raphael's surprise. As though he was checking in what Alec's opinion on all of this was and why in the world would Simon need Alec's opinion on the matter?
"It's Jace," Alec sighed, eyes on the table in front of him. "Jace's special blood, infused with more angel blood than any other Shadowhunter. When Simon drank from him – nearly drained him – after Valentine cut Simon's throat. That was the day he became a Daylighter."
"Hence my bafflement that none of you figured that out," Magnus muttered beneath his breath. "I mean, the only significant thing that happened minutes before he became a Daylighter was that he ingested Jace's blood, and most in this room know about that."
"Another side-effect of Valentine's experiments," Lydia whispered surprised.
She blinked, taking her mate's hand as Izzy leaned heavily against her in stunned silence. It made sense, as much as any of this could make sense. They had known about it, about how much Simon had drained Jace, they'd seen the state both of them had been in after.
"Jace," Raphael whispered the name like it got punched out of him.
Jace's blood. His eyes widened as he looked at his mate, guilt written all over Simon's face.
"That's why you always get so particularly protective when he gets hurt during training at the hotel," Raphael blinked stunned. "Not just your alpha-instincts, but your concern that one of the vampires will try to get a taste and realize what his blood does. You…"
There was a foul feeling in his belly at the realization that both his lovers had deliberately kept this secret from him. Why? Had they thought he would drink from Jace without the omega's permission? Would use their relationship for his own gain? Had they not trusted him?
"Raph-" Simon started, reaching out for Raphael with pleading eyes.
Shaking his head, Raphael took a step back from his mate, for the first time since they had sealed their mate-bond deliberately avoiding physical contact with Simon. The look on Simon's face was heartbroken, but Raphael didn't let it soften him. Instead, he hardened himself.
"There's no time for that now," Raphael declared in a steel-cutting voice. "A vampire who wants to be a Daylighter as the only source of becoming a Daylighter right under his nose. How about we focus on getting Jace out of there right now."
The tension in the room could be cut with a knife, but nobody objected.
/break\
Jace had lost decidedly too much blood at this point to still be just annoyed. Though it was strangely hilarious to him – perhaps also a symptom of the blood-loss – that McKay kept spilling the very thing he wanted. The blood that would make him a Daylighter. His vision was blurry. Also not a good sign. His breath was ragged, shallow. Another bad sign.
Oh, he was going to be so mad if he died of something as boring as blood-loss and in the captivity of someone like Tobias McKay. Well. Died again. Semantics.
"Jace!"
Hallucinations? Alec came running at him, flanked by Raphael and Simon. Before either vampire could get to him did Jace find himself pulled into a tight hug and oh no that was not a hallucination, it was the real, firm, nice comfort of his parabatai. A tired smile spread over his lips as he sagged forward in Alec's arms, allowing the tension to drain from him.
"You took your time," Jace complained, voice slurring.
"Shut up," Alec growled even as he fidgeted with his stele, hands shaking.
He started applying healing runes to Jace and though the damage was bad at this point, Jace could feel some of his energy returning to him. He gasped when he managed to take a deeper breath. Simon latched onto him from one side, hugging him tightly.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so, so, so sorry, Jace," Simon started babbling.
Jace fully did not have the energy to reassure Simon right now, he was just glad to be surrounded by them. Though he did notice the distance Raphael kept. Even as he sat next to Jace, he wasn't touching him. Jace frowned confused, but the exhaustion was too great to focus.
/break\
Jace's family got him out, because of course they did. He smiled ever so slightly as he looked around the infirmary. Lydia was sitting on a chair next to his bed, Izzy curled up in the alpha's lap, both of them asleep but Izzy's hand laying on the bed, reaching for Jace. Alec was laying on the bed, between Izzy and Jace, her hand on his shoulder in her attempt to reach for him. On Jace's other side was Simon, nuzzling Jace's neck even in his sleep. Luke and Magnus were sitting vigil on the other side of the bed on two chairs. Bat, Maia and Clary were asleep on the other bed in the room. Jace's heart skipped a beat when he noticed Max curled together at the foot end of his bed.
"This was not the reason I wanted to come back to New York, Jace."
Imogen was sitting perched on the very edge of the bed, on Alec's side of it, a hand on Jace's thigh. She looked old as she stared at him, tired and exhausted and like Jace's abduction had aged her a decade. It made his heart ache and twisted his face into a frown.
"I'm sorry," Jace ducked his head. "I swear I didn't mean to get abducted."
"I know you didn't, hush," Imogen patted his leg lightly. "I just wish you would be safe, you know."
Humming, Jace turned to look away from his grandmother. Instead, he looked around for Raphael.
"Your other alpha left an hour ago to check in with his clan," Imogen noted, forcibly light tone to her voice. "Which is another thing I wish had happened differently. Me learning that my only grandson is being courted by two vampires."
That one actually made Jace wince. He hadn't even officially met Rebecca and Elaine yet, he was so not ready to confront his grandmother, the Inquisitor, with the fact that he had chosen two vampires as his mates. Even though he knew, at this point, that a sealed mate-bond was only a matter of when and not of if anymore. So he should have told her. He really should have.
"I'm not mad that they're vampires," Imogen raised her eyebrows at him, then motioned at Alec and Magnus. "He set a precedent. And I've seen how helpful all of your Downworlder friends were during the war. What good allies they are. Yes, I would be happier if you'd settle with an alpha from a highly respected Shadowhunter family, of course I would, but… I am not mad that they are vampires. I am mad that you didn't tell me and that I had to find out by seeing this one over there kissing you senseless when I walked into the infirmary."
She motioned at Simon at that part and the way Simon went a little tense told Jace that his boyfriend was only faking sleep. Which was fair enough, he would not want to face the Inquisitor either if he were Simon right now. Huffing, Jace offered his grandmother the smallest smile.
"I am sorry that you had to learn like this," Jace sighed. "I just… it's all still new? It's been a couple months now, sure, but it still feels new to me. And I only recently came to terms with how much I want it, I kept thinking we would… That they'd realize they can do better and stop trying to court me, but I realized that I want this mate-bond and that I'm willing to fight for it, if I had to. Which was a scary realization of its own. But I love Simon and Raphael. They're mine."
Imogen hummed, an understanding but unfathomably sad smile on her lips that let Jace know she was thinking of when she'd realized she'd found her mate herself. "Rest some more, sweetie."
/break\
Raphael startled when someone walked into his office. He frowned. He'd told Hal he was not to be disturbed, by anyone. When he turned, his frown twisted some. Jace was holding onto the doorway, still not looking up to walking around. He'd left his omega at the infirmary five hours ago, he was supposed to be on bed-rest for at least a day, two if they'd get their way.
"What are you doing here?" Raphael glared and got up. "You're supposed to rest."
"What are you doing here?" Jace countered, chin raised. "I'm supposed to rest. How am I supposed to rest when one of my boyfriends is very clearly avoiding me? I sneaked out, with Mag's help."
Well, at least he'd taken a portal here and not done something as ridiculous as walk all way. Raphael heaved a sigh and put his whiskey glass down. Jace raised an eyebrow at it. Usually, Raphael was a wine person. Whiskey was for when he needed something stronger.
"Are you… mad at me? For getting kidnapped?" Jace frowned, looking so confused. "I'm sorry, okay? I was distracted and I let my guard down, I know I shouldn't have, and I should have gotten out of there on my own, I shouldn't have had to rely on-"
"Stop, stop that," Raphael cut in sharply, bolting out of his chair. "No. No, no, no. Don't. I'm mad you got kidnapped, but I'm not mad with you, my love. And I'm not mad that you needed our help to get out, I know how strong you are, Jace. I'm sorry I made you feel that way, I just…"
"What is it, then?" Jace still looked defensive, even as he let Raphael hug him.
Pulling Jace inside, he closed the office door, trusting the silencing wards that Magnus had placed on the office months ago. "I know your blood is what made Simon a Daylighter now. I know that you and Simon chose to keep this a secret from me. I… don't know what to do with that, with you and him, if you two don't trust me. I'm sorry if my behavior made you think I blamed you for things that were not your fault, but I… am seeking some distance from you and Simon, for something that you two did choose to do. Or not do, as it were."
Jace brought some distance between them and frowned at him. "Oh. I… Yeah."
"Yeah?" Raphael raised one eyebrow, gently cupping Jace's face.
He was worried about Jace and he would have loved to curl around his omega in the infirmary too, but at the same time he was also hurting because of Jace and Simon's choice. It was a conflicting and frustrating feeling to experience. He sighed as he took a step back from Jace.
"I… I understand why you're hurt by that," Jace offered after a moment, face twisting. "My whole life was a multitude of lies knitted together so I get that you hate being lied to. But… But I need you to understand that Simon lied to you because I asked him to. And I didn't know you when all of this happened, not really. I gradually got to know you and fell in love with you and… and… and it's hard to determine a specific point when it'd be appropriate or right to bring it up and I didn't know how so it was just… easier not mentioning it at all. It's… I'm sorry, Raph. I do love you."
Without waiting for a reaction, Jace walked out of the office again, to head back to the infirmary. Raphael took a shaky breath and reached for his whiskey glass again, falling heavily into his chair, even more lost than before. The rational part of his brain understood where Jace was coming from, knew this would be vastly different if the Daylighter turning had happened after Jace had joined their relationship, but it still hurt. He frowned in frustration.
Author's note: Next chapter, Simon and Jace have to rekindle things with Raphael and Imogen will insist on meeting her grandson's suitors in a more official capacity ;D