Brothers by Blood (Alec Lightwood twin)

Chapter 81

*An hour later*

ISABELLE'S POV

I had asked Alec what had happened with Magnus, but he was refusing to talk, so I decided to go and see Max instead.
"You know I'm ready now, right?" He said, looking up at me.
"I remember holding you when you were just a few hours old. I looked into those little eyes, and promised I'd never let anything bad ever happen to you. But we're Nephilim. It's our calling. I'll have Alec put in a call to the Clave. Report to the Ops Center first thing tomorrow." I told me. He nodded and walked off, heading towards his room. I sighed and crossed my arms, watching him as he walked away. I knew I couldn't prevent him from going on missions, only prepare him and train him as best I could. I knew both Alec and Ben where right in saying that he was old enough to start receiving orders, but that doesn't mean I won't worry.

*The Ops Centre at the Institute*

BEN'S POV

Clary and Jace walked back in the door, but Dot was nowhere to be seen. I decided to go over and ask them how it all went. As I got closer, I could hear them talking.
"...would've never left without her." I heard Clary say as I walked over to them.
"She knew what she was doing. Because of her, Valentine can't raise the Angel. We are finally one step ahead of him. Hey she survived Valentine. She'll survive this." Jace said in an obvious attempt to try and comfort Clary.
"All this fighting and bloodshed, but God, for what?" Clary asked, her question more rhetorical than anything else.
"What happened?" I asked when I got over to them.
"Jonathan found us and Dot sacrificed herself in order to save us." Jace explained.
"Did you get the mirror?" I asked. Clary took it out of her pocket and showed it to me. To me, it looked a bit underwhelming, but I had a feeling that the mirror Clary had in her hand was not actually the Mortal Mirror at all. However, it may lead to it. I don't know for sure, so I'm going to keep my mouth shut for the moment. Clary looked in the mirror and froze for a moment as if she were seeing something.
"Hey, you OK?" Jace asked.
"It was like my dream." She said softly, looking up at the both of us. "I was back at the lake, drowning, and there were these two swords coming at me. These aren't dreams. They're visions. I think it's some kind of message." She revealed. Jace and I looked at each other, then at Clary with a silent 'We will figure this out'.

*Later*

NO ONE'S POV

Max had been thinking a lot about locating Jonathan and the box that Jace, Alec, and Clary were talking about. He had a feeling that there must still be something there, even if it was a single hair. Max couldn't shake the feeling that there was something that the older Shadowhunters had missed. Max made his way to Alec's office, where he knew the box was being kept. Once he located it, Max opened the box and began looking inside. He paused, seeing something sticking out of the side of the box. He reached inside, pulling out a white hair. Max knew that this must belong to Jonathan and if he could just use it to track him. Max closed the box, putting it back where he found it. He pulled his stele out of his pocket, activating his tracking rune, before closing his eyes and focusing on the hair in his hand, just like his sister had taught him. He made his way through the Institute, following the hair. He was surprised when it led him to his older brother's office. He looked inside the office only to see Sebastian rifling through the drawers in Alec's desk.
"What are you doing?" Max asked. Sebastian looked up at him.
"I'm just looking for something for the boss. How's the training going?" Sebastian inquired, although it sounded like he was rambling. "What's the matter?" Sebastian asked. Max didn't say anything, only tilting his head slightly and narrowing his eyes.
"I found a single hair, stuck in the bottom of the box." Max said, showing Sebastian the hair that he had found. "You're him. You're Jonathan." He accused.
"That's very, very impressive. Your tracking skills. Isabelle has taught you very well. Perhaps a little too well." Sebastian said, walking towards the door, before closing it and locking it.
Max rounded him as he was speaking, backing away as best he could. His eyes flickered to a letter opener on his older brother's desk. In a single motion, he picked it up and threw it at Sebastian. It hit its intended target and ended up buried deeply in Sebastian's abdomen. With a groan of pain, Sebastian pulled it out, both shocking and scaring Max. Max looked around to see if there was anything else he could use to defend himself. He grabbed something else and swung at Sebastian, a move which Sebastian dodged with ease. Before Max had a chance to do anything else, however, Sebastian had grabbed him by the hair, slamming his head against Alec's desk, letting Max fall to the floor unconscious. As he looked down at the body of the youngest Lightwood boy, Sebastian was broken out of his thoughts by the voice of his sister just outside the door. He knew then that he needed to hide Max's body somewhere...anywhere.
"Lindsay, Hey, have you seen Alec?" Clary asked curiously.
"He should be in his office. I just saw him there. Is everything OK?" Lindsey replied.
"Yeah, Jace and I just need to update him on something. Thank you." Clary replied. She turned around and entered his office, only to see someone who she did not expect. "Sebastian. I was looking for Alec." She said, explaining what she was doing there.
"Yeah, as was I." He replied, standing up, his façade falling back into place. Suddenly, both their phones binged, indicating they had received text messages.
"And now we've found him." Clary said, reading the text. "Urgent briefing at the Ops Center. Perfect timing, huh?" She replied.
"Yeah. Yeah, perfect timing." Sebastian said, thankful for the sudden development. Clary, however, had noticed the slight change in Sebastian's behaviour but she wasn't sure exactly what that change meant.