Overwhelmed [3] 《SHADOWHUNTERS》

Chapter Twenty

Plastic bags rustled as Alec opened Magnus' apartment door, allowing his sister to enter ahead of him. The siblings shared a small look as they found the space much more cluttered than it had been previously. The coffee table held bundles of herbs, cloth-bound ancient figurines, open books, and troubled parchment. A smudged symbol had been chalked into the floor in front of the living room, scuffed away by an aggravated hand when it had not worked as desired. The mess extended towards the kitchen and the alcove kept towards the far corner of the room that usually held a rather organized collection of stones and vials on display.

Alec tread over towards the kitchen, finding a space amongst the covered counters and island to set down the bag that he had carried in. Inside, styrofoam containers complained over taking on the weight of their counterparts. Izzy followed behind her brother warily as she looked for the man that owned the apartment they acted so at home in. He was not among the leavings of his work anywhere within their sights.

Iz began to wonder if Magnus had gone out for something when he made his appearance from the deep, narrow hallway. The warlock had a book in hand, having just overthrown one of his guest bedrooms to locate it. It was a yellowed thing with thick leather binding that made one question how old the animal it came from must have been.Izzy felt a bit whiplashed when the warlock did not acknowledge their presence, save for not utilizing the space that Alec had taken up alongside his work. Magnus made his way past them with his gaze glued onto the pages in her grasp, crisp with years of being left on a high, cold shelf.

Even stranger to the young woman was how her brother seemed to simply accept it as Alec turned his attention towards unpacking the food they had picked up from Taki's on the way over. He gestured to Izzy to hand him the bag she held, which she did, before curiosity urged her to hover over Magnus' strewn out efforts. The warlock had dawned a cashmere robe in their absence and it flowed around him, mystical and warm. "Did you get the picture?" She asked him gently.

He did not even spare her a look, something that had a tendency to get on her nerves as of late. She felt she had been walked over or ignored for the truth much too often lately. "Yes." Magnus offered not another hint of knowledge as he dug into his novel, which triggered an eye roll that Izzy had previously tried to hold back.

Alec noticed her gaze and broached the subject on his own. "Do you know what it is?" He posed the question that already hung heavily between them.

He watched his boyfriend's shoulders as they rose in a deep breath, a moment taken to hold it in as if the warlock had to balance himself. He closed his eyes for just a heartbeat. "That is what I'm working on." Magnus had grown quite intrepid, no patience for any interruptions. This was no longer a perilous task that he had taken on to assist those he foolishly cared about. His responsibilities rose so much higher than that. He selfishly pondered if Lorenzo would want to take his position of High Warlock of Brooklyn now, with the greatest of Greater Demons planning some unknown trouble afoot.

Alec's top teeth found the bottom row in a tight restraint of his own annoyance. Things were no longer only about Alec's family for him, either, with the Institute he had left just as tumultuous as he had entered it. He was urged to add to the pressure Magnus found himself under, but for the better of all of them, the man beat him to it. Izzy shifted, for she could not help but regret perhaps contributing to the conflict between them as the warlock drawled with an undertone of stoicism he didn't often take when she watched them interact. "What was the symbol on?"

"We don't know." Iz piped up, bracing her hands onto the cold, speckled granite between them. "Clary just sent that to us." She could not keep her fingers still from flagrant gestures.

"Nothing else?" Magnus seemed concerned at the prospect; it wasn't entirely uncommon for a curt reply to come from every Shadowhunter he had exchanged correspondence with, but Clary was not simply that. She left him sprawling explanations in every small thank you she had sent his way. As the Lightwoods confirmed that it had just been an image, the warlock worried his lip.