Angelic

Alec ~ 12

The next day and a half Jace, Izzy, Magnus and I spent at Luke's house. There were two demon attacks that injured both Luke and the girl in his pack, Maia. Only the next day did anything really interesting happen--Clary told us she could create new runes, which is an ability no one has ever had. Obviously none of us believed her, so she tested it out on me. She created a Fearless rune, a pattern of circles and lines intertwined together, and that was when my parents decided to come by--with the Inquisitor--and I, apparently, tried to tell them that I was gay and happened to be dating Magnus. At least, that's what he told me when I woke up after he knocked me out. I was thankful he kept me from the humiliation, but I could tell that he wasn't happy. Soon after he left, and so did I, but we headed in different directions.

Once Izzy, Jace, the Inquisitor, my parents and I were back at the institute, Izzy claimed, "I'm going to find Ev." And disappeared, Max following quickly behind her.

I couldn't think of anything besides Jace and of what the Inquisitor was going to do  to him.

Only once the Inqusitor and Jace disappeared in the direction of the library and my mom went into the drawing room did my phone vibrate.

I answered it without bothering to see who it was. "Hello?"

"Alexander Lightwood." The voice was low, strange and unfamiliar. "She does make friends with the right family."

"Who is this?" I asked, the skepticism clear in my voice.

"We've got your friend." The man answered. As if on cue, there was a cry from the background, but it sounded muffled, like someone had a hand over their mouth while they screamed. "We're going to kill her by midnight."

I didn't have time to reply before the line went dead.

"Alec!"

I turned, finding Izzy and Max chasing towards me, both looking concerned.

"We can't find Ev." They said, almost in perfect unison.

No. This couldn't be happening. Not right now. Not while Jace is... Ugh. Finally, I told them, "I think someone took her."

...

We couldn't go to the Inquisitor. She was becoming obsessed with Jace, more so than Clary or anyone else I'd ever met. My mom was out of the question, too. Her only concern was to please the Inquisitor. So we went to the only other person left in the institute: our father.

He opened his door only after I pounded on it twice. He looked annoyed, glancing from me, to Izzy, to Max.

"What do you need?" He asked.

Izzy quickly explained that Ev was nowhere to be found, and I finished with telling him about the call I had just received.

His eyes widened. "Someone took her? She's an Elite. That shouldn't be possible..." But the more he seemed to think about it, his disbelief fell, replaced by something darker, something like fierce protectiveness. "Did the people on the phone give away any information? Where they were? What their names were?"

I shook my head no.

"Alright, this is beyond me. I'm going to make a call to Magnus Bane--" he began, but I exclaimed, "No!" He looked at me in confused surprise, like I had sung happy birthday to him while preceding to take his birthday cake away. "Don't call him." I said. I glanced at Izzy, not surprised to see angry eyes bulging out of her head. "We know where he is. Izzy and I... we'll go to him."

"I want to go, too!" Max exclaimed.

"No, you'll stay here with me." Our father said. Looking at me, he nodded once before taking Max's hand and bringing him into his room. The door closed behind us.

"What was that about?" Izzy asked as we began to walk down the hall.

"Our father is the last person Magnus needs to hear from." I told her.

"Why?"

"Magnus doesn't seem to be happy with me at the moment." I confessed.

"Why? Alec, what did you do?"

"Nothing." I said. "It's just... he's not happy that I refuse to publicize my... feelings."

"You're lying." She said.

"What makes you think that?"

"Because that never bothered him before. So tell me the real problem."

I looked at her, but seeing the look on her face, I knew that she wasn't going to take no for an answer. "It's Jace."

Realization crossed over her face. "Oh" was all she said. I was thankful she didn't make me explain further than that.

...

We arrived at Magnus's an hour later, having taken our time at the institute to put on some gear.

"WHO DARES DISTURBS ME?" Magnus yelled from inside as soon as we knocked.

I looked at Izzy, silently telling her to answer.

She rolled her eyes, as if to say, you're being childish, but responded, "It's Isabelle Lightwood."

It took about twenty seconds for him to come to the door and unlock it. As soon as the door opened, Chairmen Meow ran out the door, rubbing up against Izzy's leg. She laughed. We both looked up once Chairmen Meow went back inside, disappearing behind Magnus.

"He likes you." Magnus commented, before shifting his eyes to me. There was a guarded look in his eyes. "What do you need? I'm not in the mood to do you two any favors right now."

"Magnus, please." It was Izzy who spoke, not missing a beat. She must have known I would have left before I said anything to him. "We wouldn't come to you if it wasn't important."

There must have been something Magnus read in her expression, because after a moment of hesitation, he opened the door wide enough for us to walk inside.

"What's happened now? Did Jace's mirror break? I can only imagine the tantrum he must be throwing..." Magnus said with bored sarcasm as he led us up to his apartment floor.

I clenched my jaw. Why did he have to make this about Jace? Couldn't he see that I was trying... It didn't matter. Clearly I couldn't change his mind.

"It's not Jace." Izzy told him. "It's Ev."

We were now standing in his living room. He turned around to face us, a confused look on his face. "Who?"

"Eveline." Izzy corrected herself, forgetting that Magnus didn't know the girl by he nickname. "Eveline Carstairs. The Elite?"

Magnus nodded, showing his understanding. "I thought Elites were supposed to get into less trouble than normal Shadowhunters."

Is that how he saw me? Normal? Plain? Boring? Stop it, Alec. I scolded myself. That's not what we came here for.

"She does, except..." Izzy's voice became full of worry.

"Except what?" He egged her on.

"You see, she's missing."