Sweet Creature ▹ Alec Lightwood [2] ( SLOW UPDATES )

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER ONE
OPERATION: FIND BUTTERCUP'S MOTHER

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     "Okay, here's what we know so far."

Adrian locked eyes with Alec, who was coming into the living room with two coffees in his hands. He stopped a few steps into the room, blinking owlishly at the whiteboard Magnus had set up where his television usually was. Magnus was writing on it now with a purple erasable marker, the eraser in his other hand. Adrian looked back at Alec and brought a finger to his lips, telling him silently not to interrupt Magnus, and Alec closed his mouth. He came over and plopped down on the leather couch beside Adrian, handing him one of the cups. Adrian took it gratefully, leaning up to press a soft kiss against Alec's cheek before he settled back against the cushions. Isabelle was on his other side, painting her nails with a bottle of nail polish she had found in Magnus's bathroom, and Oliver was taking up the last bit of room on the couch, watching Magnus with drooping eyes. There was a full moon last night, and looking at Oliver now, Adrian could only conclude that it had been a long and hard one.

Clary and Jace were on the love seat across from them, cuddled into each other's sides. Simon was the only one that was missing. He had been trying to stay at home more and more. His mother was suspicious of him lately, even though Magnus had erased his disappearance from her memory. It had been a month since the Mortal War, a month since Simon had been able to come back home and the rest of them could go back to living their lives, but everything was different now and none of them could ignore that. Especially since Adrian was borderline obsessed with what Magnus was rambling about currently.

"Alice Rosewell was exiled and stripped of her Marks in 1991, a year after our dear Adrian was born, because she fell in love and married a mundane—who was also Adrian's father, but that's beside the point. She survived the stripping of her Marks, that we know, and the last time anyone saw her was when she said goodbye to her mother, Mary Rosewell." Magnus wasn't writing words on the white board, but rather small cartoons that told a version of the story. Adrian watched it all with mild amusement, the corners of his mouth curling upward. "Now start brainstorming, everyone, Operation: Find Buttercup's Mother is a go."

"Well, we only have one lead, right?" Clary spoke up immediately, shooting Adrian a small smile. His friends had been nothing but supportive when he had come to them and admitted that he couldn't simply move on after finding out he had been adopted and his mother had been exiled instead of killed during a mission. None of them had been more supportive than Clary. She knew what it was like to desperately want to find a mother. "She was married, so we find the husband. What's your dad's name again, Dri?"

"Adam Montgomery," Adrian revealed. Clary's plan was perfectly logical, but it was made harder by the fact that his father's name wasn't exactly unique. He couldn't imagine how many Adam Montgomerys' were in New York City alone, never mind the entire state of New York. At least they had it narrowed down to the state. Alice had been preparing to take over the New York Institute when she had met Adam, according to Mary, so at least they had one thing going for them.

"There's a lot of Adam Mongomerys' in the state," Oliver said, echoing Adrian's own thoughts, "but we know they're living mundane lives, right? Or that's the running theory right now. They're probably in the phone book. It would take a while, but we can make a list and go down it." Adrian wrinkled his nose. He didn't much like the plan, but that was only because it would take such a long time, and he wanted to find her as quickly as possible. He wanted to find both of them as quickly as possible.