Brothers by Blood (Alec Lightwood twin)

Chapter 78

BEN'S POV

I saw Izzy marching through the Institute in the general direction of Alec's office. I jogged over to her and grabbed her arm.
"Whoa, slow down hot shot." I asked.
"Not now Ben." She snapped. That's when I knew something was wrong. Izzy never snaps at her siblings. It's only when something is really wrong that she might do so. My face hardened.
"What happened?" I asked.
"The Clave authorized Max being able to go out in the field. I'm going to talk to Alec about it." She said, her expression angry.
"So? Max has had his rune ceremony. It's normal to get orders after that. Remember? We did when we were his age. Why should he be any different?" I asked. "I know he's our little brother and you want to protect him, I do too, but we're Shadowhunters. He won't thank you if he thinks you don't trust him enough to go out in the field, even if it is with another person." I said. She huffed at this.
"I'm still going to talk to Alec." She said.
"Fine, but I bet he will say the same thing I did." I said. I walked with her to Alec's office. Instead of knocking, she just burst in. I rolled my eyes at this, but I knew that
"You're not sending our little brother out into the field." She said, her voice rose almost to the point of shouting. I stood in the doorway and closed the door behind us, drawing a Soundless rune on the door.
"You know better than anyone how good Max is. His simulation scores are off the charts." Alec said, almost ignoring the fact that I was there.
"That's a simulation. I'm talking about the real word." Izzy retorted.
"Max has had his rune ceremony. It's standard to get orders after that. Just like we did when we were his age." Alec countered.
"It was different back then. We weren't fighting Valentine." Izzy snapped.
"Izzy-" Alec began, but Izzy cut him off before he could continue.
"You weren't there that night with Kaelie. You know what happened to Ben, and I could tell that Max would have been next. He came this close to dying." She snapped.
"Max is a soldier. It's time we start treating him like one." Alec said sternly. I thought it was a good time for me to intervene.
"Ok, guys, I think you both need to chill. Izzy, I know where you are coming from and I know you want to protect Max, as do Alec and I. But Alec has a point. We all started getting orders and missions when we were Max's age. He is no different from us, and we shouldn't be treating him like he is made of glass." I said. They both looked at me with different expressions on their faces at my comments. Alec's said 'Thank you for agreeing with me', whereas Izzy's screamed 'You're siding with him?!' "Don't give me that look Iz. You know I'm right." I said seriously. She huffed at this and stormed out of the room.
"You know she's going to be in a foul mood for the rest of the day right?" Alec said, more of a statement than a question.
"Yeah, I know. She'll come around though." I said, not only trying to convince Alec, but myself as well.
"How are you feeling by the way? Izzy mentioned your injury from a few days ago, and I wanted to check how you were doing." Alec inquired.
"I'm ok." I replied. "It still hurts sometimes, but I'll heal. It may take some time though." I suddenly thought of something. "You know, I'll be surprised if I am ever going to go out in the field again. Just as I am days away from doing so, something else happens and I am back to square one." I said, sighing at the truth of the words coming from my mouth.
"Don't say that. You'll be out in the field before you know it." Alec said, putting his hand on my shoulder. I knew he was right, but I just hated being cooped up in the Institute.

*Later – The Institute*

ALEC'S POV

I was in the middle of writing a report when I heard a knock at my door. I looked up only to see Magnus.
"Lost track of time?" He asked. I grimaced; I knew I had forgotten something.
"I missed dinner, didn't I?" I said, more of a statement than a question.
"Only by a few hours." He said almost offhandedly.
"I'm...I'm so sorry. Really. I just it's been so crazy here." I said.
"I understand." Magnus said kindly.
"I can't believe I forgot." I said, on the verge of scolding myself.
"It's OK, Alexander. If we can't go to the Cape, I'll bring the Cape to us." He said. He waved his hand and a table beautifully set out with a white tablecloth, food and candles appeared in the middle of my office. "Lobster tails and champagne to toast to a successful Downworld meeting." Magnus announces. We both sat down and began to eat.
"Mm. It went well?" I asked, referring to the Downworld meeting in the Seelie Court.
"Relatively. But the Downworlders barely trust the Clave to begin with, and the Seelie Queen went on and on about the Clave being nothing but a bunch of liars." Magnus said. Well, that wasn't entirely untrue.
"That's harsh." I said simply.
"But Luke and I assured them that now that you are the Head of this Institute, and implementing a policy of complete transparency, change was on the way." Magnus added. As soon as he said the words 'complete transparency', my heart began to ache. More than anything I wanted to tell him about the Soul Sword, but I didn't want him to have to carry the burden of keeping secrets from his own people.
"That's good to hear." I replied, a smile on my face.
"It is, isn't it? Oh! Prawn butter?" Magnus asked.
"Sure." I replied, reaching over as he passed me said food.

BEN'S POV

Clary, Jace, and I were wandering through the Institute, when one of the other Shadowhunters came up to us, telling us there was someone here to see Clary. We followed the Shadowhunter to one of the rooms close to the entrance only to see a certain warlock standing in the middle of said room.
"Dot, are you OK?" Clary exclaimed, rushing over to her. She then turned to the Shadowhunter who had brought us here. "Give us a minute." She requested. He nodded and then walked out.
"I didn't know where else to go. I didn't know who to trust. So I came straight here." Dot said.
"OK. What's wrong?" Clary asked, concern written all over her face.
"Have you heard from Elliot?" Dot asked. I had no idea who this 'Elliot' person was, but something told me he was important.
"Elliot Nourse?" Clary asked in confirmation. "No, not since he quit Mum's shop and opened his own. Dot, what is it?" She continued.
"I think something terrible has happened to him, and I'm worried I might be next." She said, showing us a mark on her wrist.