Brothers by Blood (Alec Lightwood twin)

Chapter 89

NO ONE'S POV

Magnus walked back into his apartment, his heart ached for his Alexander, and it only made it worse when he noticed the photobooth photos from when the two of them went to Tokyo together. He picked them up and looked at them longingly before putting them down again. Suddenly, a high-pitched voice grabbed his attention.
"Magnus!" They exclaimed. He looked up to see Madzie running towards him.
"Sweet Pea!" He exclaimed, a genuinely happy smile appearing on his face, replacing the earlier sadness at the photos of a time in which he and Alec were happy. He knelt down and caught her as she ran into his arms, spinning her around before putting her down. "It's so good to see you."
"So many Warlocks, all in one place!" She said, looking around.
"Don't get comfortable, kiddo." A female warlock's voice piped up. Magnus smiled and walked over to the woman, who was currently lying on his couch.
"My dearest Catarina." He said, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Why so tense?" He asked.
"I just pulled a double in the E.R." She told him. "Mundanes can't seem to get out of their own way, can they?" She said, more of a statement than a question. Magnus hummed.
"You would know more than most." He said. She chuckled. "Thank you so much for coming, by the way." He said.
"Our kind only rallies for birthdays and funerals. You're not in a suit, and there's nary a cake in sight. So what's the special occasion?" She asked.
"Remember when we bottled Malta during that god-awful demon attack?" He asked.
"What are you trying to keep out of New York?" Catarina asked, her face suddenly serious.
"It's not what but who. Two very bad Shadowhunters who cannot leave." Magnus told her.
"Did the Clave OK this?" She asked seriously. He paused, trying to think of the best way to phrase it.
"Suffice to say the common ground between the Downworld and Alicante is...shifting." He explained.
"Then it's a good thing I wear comfortable shoes." She replied, a hint of a smile on her face. Magnus mimicked her smile.

*Later - At the Institute*

Clary and Jace were standing in the Ops Centre at one of the tables whilst they were on the phone with Luke and Maia.
"I thought you weren't supposed to be helping us." Clary said.
"Consider this an anonymous tip. We ran down his Circle members, but we lost Valentine when Jonathan grabbed him and pinballed up three fire escapes and leapt out of sight." Luke said.
"Yeah, Blondie moves like a demon." Maia commented.
"That's because he is one." Clary stated.
"Well, on the plus side, he won't get very far." Maia said.
"Yeah. By the order of the Queen, Warlocks have put up Wards all around the city. No portals or travel, in or out, for anyone with Nephilim blood. A Shadowhunter crosses that threshold, they get vaporized. So be careful. We'll continue the hunt on our end." Luke told them. With that, he hung up. Jace and Clary looked at each other before Jace turned around to grab the attention of two Shadowhunters passing behind them.
"Spread the word. Shadowhunter movement into and out of the city stops immediately." Jace said to the two Shadowhunters. They agreed and went to tell everyone they could about this new development. Jace turned back to Clary. "No more Shadowhunters die today." He said. Suddenly, both Alec and Ben walked up to Jace and Clary.
"Hey. Isabelle's on her way back with Rufus; guess who just tried to portal to Idris? Valentine must know that we don't have the Mirror." Alec said.
"And, presumably, where the real one is." Ben supplied.
"Look, let's stay focused on what we can control, not what we can't. We will figure this out." Jace said to Alec, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"So we're stuck inside the city along with them now, but have no way of finding him." Alec said pessimistically.
"Tracking runes?" Ben suggested.
"No, tracking runes wouldn't work since they would both have some sort of rune on them that block tracking." Alec said, subtly dismissing his twin's suggestion. Ben noticed that Clary was staring off into space, almost as if she were visualizing something.
"Clary?" He asked in an attempt to snap her out of it. Both Jace and Alec looked at her. She blinked.
"I might be able to speed things up but I'm going to need Jace's help to do it." She said.
"Did you see something?" Ben asked.
"I saw a vision of a rune that might be able to help us track Jonathan at least." She replied.
"Ok. Well, Jace, Clary, you go and attempt to find him. Ben and I will meet up with Izzy and question the warlock when he gets here." Alec said. All of them nodded and Jace and Clary went off to a more private area.
"You really think this is going to work?" Ben asked Alec.
"Maybe, but we won't know until we try." Alec replied. Ben nodded at Alec's statement.

*Later*

Ben, Isabelle, and Alec were talking about what the five of them would do once they actually did find Valentine and/or Jonathan when Jace and Clary walked up to them.
"We found Jonathan. He may have moved, but when we tracked him he was in a graveyard where a weapons cache was situated." Jace said.

*That Night – at the graveyard*

"Why would they hide in a graveyard?" Clary asked. She, Izzy, Jace, and Alec had followed where Jace and Clary had last tracked Sebastian.
"They probably raided an old weapons cache." Izzy said.
"Doesn't explain what happened to everybody else here." Jace said.
"I don't think they left." Alec said.
"Another demon trap?" Isabelle asked, more of a statement than a question.
"Let's split up. Teams of two." Alec suggested. Both Clary and Jace spoke at exactly the same time.
"I'll go with Alec." Jace.
"I'll go with Izzy." Clary. Alec and Isabelle looked at Jace and Clary slightly suspiciously, but didn't question it.
"OK." Alec said, before the four of them split off.
They saw a church up ahead and, since they couldn't see Valentine or Jonathan in the graveyard, decided to go there and look for them. They entered the church from opposite ends in the pairs they had decided; all of them had their weapons raised and were on the lookout for any danger.

*Clary and Isabelle*

"Wanna talk about whatever happened between you and Jace at the Institute?" Isabelle asked Clary as they were walking.
"There's no point in talking about any of that 'til we figure this out." Clary replied, not looking at her. A few moments later, they saw a figure at the other end of the room.
"Stop." Isabelle ordered Clary. Clary did as she was told.
"Is she hurt?"
"No. She's forsaken." Isabelle said before the Forsaken turned around and let out a demonic howl before moving towards them.

*Jace and Alec*

Jace and Alec were looking around in the downstairs area of the church. They were currently back to back, moving slowly around.
"Thank you for not asking any questions about Clary." Jace thanked Alec.
"I figure you'll talk when you're ready." Alec replied, not looking at him since they were both on the lookout for any threats.
"I knew there was a reason you were my parabatai." Jace commented.
They heard demonic growling and they both knew something was close. How close, they weren't sure, but the sound seemed to be emanating from behind a closed door. Suddenly, the door burst open and several Forsaken came towards them. Jace threw an axe at one of them, hitting it in the forehead and killing it. More of them flooded the room and both Alec and Jace began to fight them with their seraph blades. As Alec stabbed one of the Forsaken and it fell to its death. Suddenly, he was grabbed from behind. Jace turned around just in time to see the Forsaken start pulling Alec backwards towards the wall.
"ALEC!" Jace called.
"JACE!" Alec's voice echoed back as he was pulled through the wooden slats of the wall, shattering them in the process. Suddenly, Jace felt a chain go around his neck.
"Hello, brother." Jonathan growled. "Mind if I take you outside for a moment?" He asked, dragging Jace up the stairs by the chains around his neck. Jace knew that this wasn't a question as he could already feel Jonathan pulling on the chains.