« 34—Lucky Charms »
~~~•~~~
~~~•~~~
"Jace I'm dying."
The blonde eyed her quizzically, "Why are you dying?"
"She's not dying."
Alec strides into the room, his long legs making it look like he was speed walking as he approached Jace and Talia, the latter of which, was laid on her back on the floor of the training room.
Jace held a training pole around his back, his hand holding it over his shoulder as he knelt down to Talia's height, "Speak to me Talia, I am here for you, what is your dying wish?"
The older girl looked up at Alec and scowled, "That he be punished for his crimes against me."
"I will have it done by the morning."
Talia saluted him before flipping back onto the floor, "Thank you Sir Custard Cream, I will never forget you."
"This is so weird," Alec rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms over his chest. He looked down at her, "Talia it's not that bad."
She huffed before turning onto her side away from him as Jace stood, a grin playing on his lips as he faced his Parabatai, "What did you do?"
"I cut off her Lucky Charms supply."
Jace's eyes widened, "Why would you do that?! You've endangered us all you know."
Talia shuffled back around to face him, moving slowly so the daggers she'd attached to her thighs didn't catch her. She raised an eyebrow when his voice became muffled at the second part of his sentence to Alec which he convient my whispered.
"That's what I said!" She raised her arms in exasperation, her body mirroring that of a starfish as she laid on her back, "What happened to 'what is yours is mine' hmmm?"
"We're not married."
"Not yet you're not!" Izzy popped into the room, teeth gleaming white as she sashayed towards the trio. Alec sighed in half annoyance whilst Jace chuckled at the remark.
Her knee high boots accentuated her long legs, although Talia assumed they'd be a pain to walk in with those heels. Isabelle's top was moderately decent, a loose hanging grey shirt that was topped off with a jacket around her waist.
But what Talia noticed most, was how the colour seemed to be drained from her face.
Her smile was bright but still held an edge of some sort. Light seemed to fleet away from her big brown eyes, making them look dull and sad. Sweat seemed to line her features but she held herself in a way so that it wasn't instantly noticeable.
The dark blonde sat up, tilting her head slightly and making eye contact with her, "Whatcha doing Izzy? Care to spar?"
Izzy shook her head, still maintaining the smile, "Not today sweetie, I've got business with Aldertree."
Jace scoffed and pulled out his phone, alerted by the feel of a message. When she had returned from seeing Luke, she had found him sitting outside her bedroom door with his head in his hands.
He'd told her everything. About Aldertree and how he'd essentially benched the poor Shadowhunter because of the elder mans distrust of him, even after saving his life and about Clary, how he still felt for her and it sickened him but also how she'd managed to create a new rune.
Surprisingly, Talia hadn't found herself shocked by that information, with them both being connected to Valentine, the older girl wasn't surprised to find something was different with her than other Shadowhunters.
Jace grinned at his phone before placing it back in his pocket, no doubt finding a 'distraction' from everything that's been going on.
Izzy quickly waved before fleeting from the room. Alec called out her name but she was already around the corner.
He looked at Talia and raised an eyebrow in question. She shook her head in return. Izzy had said she wanted to talk to her a couple of days back, but she'd never approached Talia again to speak about it and the blonde was getting suspicious.
"I've got to go too actually, book club," Jace mustered hurriedly, passing the pole to Talia who was barely able to react in time before it hit on the head.
She whacked him on the back of the legs with it, "Hey! We're meant to be a team here!"
"Bye Talia!" Jace winked as he jogged towards the entrance of the Institute, leaving her to fend for her rights to food alone.
"Traitor," She muttered under her breath, turning to see Alec with a hand outstretched an a smile dancing on his lips as she took the hand to pull herself up, "You're not forgiven either."
He clicked his tongue, "All I said was that you couldn't eat the Institutes supply of it."
"But where's the fun in that?"
Alec placed a light kiss on the pout she had on her lips and then another on her forehead, making the young woman melt at the gentleness of his touch.
"Just ask me and we'll go get some together before they run out okay?" He ruffled her hair playfully.
She swatted at his hands before laughing, nodding her head at his proposition, "It's a deal, only as long as..."
Talia trailed off as she ducked into a corner of the room, returning with two small chains. Alec looked at her in confusion before latching his eyes onto the jewellery, "Are those-?"
"Dog tags? Yep!" Talia smiled brightly as he fingers reached out to look over them, tracing the indentations and the small pieces of metal that looked so realistic, they could've been pulled from a war zone.
"When did you even get these?" Alec twiddled the one she handed him in his palm whilst Talia placed her own over her neck.
"The other day, Jace was with me, so you don't need to worry about me being alone," She winked at him, knowing he would've had her head if she had been, "I mentioned to him that I wanted to get you something, and you mentioned the Winter Soldier the other day. And from what Jace said, you have actually watched the movie-"
Alec flushed at the comment, knowing he had told Jace that he enjoyed the movie a few weeks ago, wanting to know more about why Talia liked it so much.
"-he also said you like war movies, so...tada! I found a place that could customise the look of them so mine has your name on one with some 'would be' squad numbers, whilst the other is the same but with your initials, and yours is the same, except it has mine for both."
His long eyelashes drifted across his cheeks as he looked down at the gift, a smile rising across his face as he met her eyes again. Talia beamed at him, showing him the matching necklace she had too, the long chain allowing it to be tucked under clothing during missions.
"I thought it could be sort of like our own lucky charm," Talia smiled shyly, linking her hands in front of her and swinging them side to side.
Alec lifted the necklace and placed it over his own head, examining the engravings with soft eyes, "This is really thoughtful, thank you Talia, I think this is probably the best gift I've ever had, one of the only in fact."
She smiled, watching as he enveloped in his arms and placed his head on top of hers. After he had bought her the first gift she had ever received in the form of her love, cake, she wanted to find something special for him in return.
And much to her correct deductions, he was very much a sentimentalist.
Alec moved his hands to cup her face and kissed her sweetly, capturing her in an embrace that she quickly melted into. Her lips parted as he kissed her deeper, sweeping his tongue across her lips. Talia shivered as a hot fever flushed through her.
Her head spun as his fingers travelled to her hair and the feel of him overwhelmed her senses. There was something about him that made her feel alive, like she could take on the world in a moment, but when she was with him like this, she couldn't find a moment to think.
She was just mesmerised by him.
They slowly pulled apart, resting their foreheads against one another as shy smiles were exchanged. Talia looked up at him with half-lidded eyes.
"So I'm taking it you liked the present."
Alec rolled his eyes, a grin settling on his face as his voice was low, "Of course I did, it's from you."
He leaned back and stood up straight, running a hand through his hair but still smiling down at her, "I've got to go somewhere real quick, are you going to be okay on your own?"
Talia blinked and looked at him incredulously, "You've just made-out with me and now you're asking if I'll be okay on my own? I mean, I'll find something to do but I may send you clingy messages."
He chuckled, his dark hair swinging slightly across his forehead. Alec reached down and squeezed her hand before moving towards the exit, "I'll be back soon okay, don't do anything Jace would do."
Talia saluted, "It is unlikely but I thank you for your warning! Be safe."
Alec nodded, granting her a last smile before his face disappeared from view.
Talia sighed, the moment of sadness from everyone leaving quickly being overwhelmed with an explosive ringing in her ears. Her mouth parted in surprise as she keeled over, her hands lifting to her ears to try and block out the sound. A ringing that sounded like screaming.
But just as soon as it came, it left.
She gasped at the shock, spinning around to see if anyone around her was in the same position. But from what she saw of the scattered Shadowhunters, no one was effected but her.
Her eyebrows knitted in confusion. How could she be the only one to react to that sound? Surely they couldn't have missed it?
"Talia!"
She spun around to see Rhianne approaching her. A light smile on her face before she took in Talia's wary stance, "You okay?"
"Yeah I think," She blew out a breath as she placed her hands on her hips, "Just, did you hear that? The noise a few moments ago?"
Rhianne looked at her blankly, her medical jacket held over her arms in front of her, "What noise?"
Talia stared at her. The fact she had been so close to her and had not heard anything seemed very strange. But then again, a lot of strange things had been happening lately and the best person she could probably talk to, was Alec.
She waved a hand in the air in dismissal, "Nothing, I just thought I heard something...hey, whilst you're here, want to spar with me?"
Rhianne dropped her jacket to the side and nodded, a bright smile on her soft features, "Of course, I'd love to."
~~~•~~~
Talia had received a call from Magnus during her training with Rhianne who, surprisingly for someone so short and inexperienced in the field, was almost on par with her hand-to-hand combat skills. Magnus had told her of an unusual encounter with the younger girl at a bar on the far side of town, speaking to a known drug dealer.
The news shocked Talia so much that she had thrown away the training pole without a second thought and raced to the weaponry before leaving the Institute. She knew there had been something wrong with Izzy but she didn't know it could've gone this far. Her mind connected that it must have been to do with her injury sustained in the demon attack. Which led Talia to believe Aldertree was involved.
From Magnus' recon, he measured that she would be looking for vampires, the suppliers of yin fen. For what purpose, he did not know.
Magnus passed on Raphael's phone number to her, thinking it would be more appropriate if she were involved in helping Izzy.
Gaining his help was surprisingly easier than she had thought. But with his relationship with Magnus and knowledge of Talia's powers growing and showing vampiric traits, he was more intrigued than bothered by her.
The moment he had found her, he sent a message her way and she moved as quickly as she could to the south of the city. Only to find them both walking side by side towards her, blocks before the location.
Talia raised an eyebrow and looked between the two, "You okay?"
Izzy smiled brightly at her, looking a lot better than she had a few hours prior, "Of course! Why wouldn't I be? Just got into some trouble with some guys back there but Raphael helped me out."
She turned to Raphael who didn't meet Talia's eyes, "Always a pleasure Ardea."
The vampire sprinted off before she could speak a word of 'thank you' to him. Either way, she was grateful for his cooperation.
"Shall we get home?" Izzy questioned, linking her arm through Talia's and pulling her away from the darker parts of the city.
Talia looked at her warily but held off the questioning, guessing she wouldn't answer right now even if she tried, "Sure, lead the way."
But as she walked, Talia could hear the dull throbbing of screaming in the back of her mind.
~~~•~~~
Talia sat fiddling with dagger as she watched Alec on the screens, highlighting the burst of light on the video recording that Clary and Jace had recalled seeing an angel. No one had seen an angel in over a hundred years, Talia had no idea what to think. But she couldn't bring herself to doubt what they claimed to have seen.
Not when she knew something was changing in their world.
She watched as Izzy wandered around her brother looking refreshed. Talia hadn't known what happened in the alley but Izzy assured her she would be okay. She had explained bits and pieces to Talia of what had happened to her, but not everything.
It had been a lot for her to process but Talia had promised not to tell Alec unless it got too dangerous. But it still didn't make the burden any less heavy to carry.
Talia was brought out of her thoughts by the bright voice of Max Lightwood.
The smile on Alec's face grew as both he and Izzy responded to their brother, both moving to embrace the younger boy.
"What are you doing here?" Izzy asked, her voice light and airy as she swaddled him.
Eyes drifting across the room, his landed on Talia and he smiled again, waving at her happily, "Hi Talia, got anymore of my brothers cookies?"
The older girl winked at him, the youngest Lightwood's cheekiness never failing to amuse her, "You know it, kid."
She reached into her pocket and pulled out a wrapped biscuit, handing it to him as be beamed up at her, "Thank you!"
Talia smiled down at him, ruffling his hair before feeling a weak pain on her forehead. Alec stood over her with his hand outstretched after flicking her on the forehead.
"Erm, ow-?!"
Alec grinned over at her, "We literally had this discussion this morning you dumbass."
Talia folded her arms across her chest, muttering, "Well I didn't know you had been hiding Kinder Buenos from me you meanie."
He rolled his eyes but the amusement dropped from his face as he looked over at the entrance. The blonde wondered what had caught his attention before her eyes looked up to reach Maryse Lightwood's stare.
Her face, although usually stoic, was set in a smile. Talia noticed it didn't quite reach her eyes though.
"Alec. Isabelle," The woman looked over to the girl sat to the right of where Alec was stood, her face dropping slightly, "Talianna."
Talia nodded, not bothering to correct the woman. Sensing that she had more to say to the pair, she held her tongue. Talia stood as Alec moved back slightly to wrap an arm around her waist, comforting her.
His thumb traced circles on her hip bone and she silently thanked him. He was on her side.
"It's nice to see you all."
That surprised her. Talia held her facial expression to a neutral look, unnerved by the sudden change in the woman. Maryse's eyes dropped to Alec's arm at her waist.
"Really."
Izzy's voice was snarky as she narrowed her eyes at her mother, reaching to hold Talia's hand behind her in a firm grasp of support.
"Izzy-" Alec's voice warned but the younger girl persevered.
"'Cause the last time you were here, you turned your back on all of us, especially Jace and Talia."
Maryse placed her hands firmly on Max's shoulders as he turned to look up at his mother in confusion of the accusation.
"I was following orders, I had no choice," She blankly stated, only a hint of remorse laced in her words, "And with Talia, I couldn't process that she was alive."
Alec's jaw clenched at the mention of her but Talia held him steady. She nodded to Maryse, not in full understanding of her actions, but in acknowledgement of the reaction.
Maryse smiled suddenly, "Max has some big news, tell them sweetheart."
Max beamed up at his siblings, "I passed my last trial, I'm ready for my Rune Ceremony."
The family erupted into 'congratulations' and chatter, with Maryse stating her husband, Alec's father, wouldn't make it to the ceremony so Alec was in charge of the party. Talia tuned out of the conversation as she didn't want to intrude on family business and moved back to her seat in front of the screen, examining the footage once more.
The family split off and her eyes trailed after Alec and Max. Her sense of hearing heightened as she caught onto Max speaking.
"Mom doesn't like you having a Herondale hybrid girlfriend."
Talia shrugged at the comment, she'd assumed Maryse held something against her, but the woman hardly knew her enough to make a judgement of her. Hearing she sympathised for Jocelyn's death and her two children's experience with the demon almost made her seem normal.
But then again, would this be another past Jocelyn relationship she'd have with Maryse?
Alec spoke with a slight hint of amusement in his voice, "And you?"
"I think she's awesome," Max mused.
Talia chuckled under her breath at his remark. He was all the validation she needed from the family.
She suddenly felt her phone vibrate from inside her pocket. She pulled her phone out and saw a message from Alec. Talia smiled at his impressive form of texting.
Alec <3
Hello Talia,
I am messaging to ask if you would like to aid me in preparations for my brother's ( Max ) Rune Ceremony.
It would be very much appreciated because I have no idea what I am doing.
Kind regards,
Alec xx
Talia chuckled to herself and swung one leg on top of the other as she typed out a response.
Talia
I'm on it Captain, I'll contact the party wizard ASAP.
Because I too, have no idea what to do.
xx
Alec <3
What does ASAP mean?
xx
~~~•~~~
Magnus had really outdone himself. The glass art around the main room held symbols of runes well known to the Shadowhunters. Stylish red and white colours bounced throughout the room in a lavish elegance.
Spanish music flowed through on guitars with dancers in white lace floated around the room as if they were on clouds.
A bar was set up in his kitchen area, the smell of alcohol and food wading throughout the rooms.
Talia wandered over to it, spotting Jace speaking with Maia who Magnus had hired for the affair.
Alec had found it surprisingly easy to convince his mother that Downworlders would be there. He had figured it was something to do with her leniency towards Talia slowly coming around. Talia just guessed it was because she didn't want further hassle.
The harder person to convince, had been Magnus.
"Cupcake, no."
"But Magnus-"
"No."
"Please-"
"That woman scares me Talia."
Talia smiled into the phone, "Don't I scare you?"
She heard silence on the other end before hearing him scoff, "No, you just delight me with your presence."
"Hmmmmmm?"
Magnus sighed, the notes of his voice crackling into the phone, "Fine, give me five hours and some more cat food, Church cannot be eating more of your pizza leftovers."
"Thank you Magnus, I shall bring you the gifts."
"You bring me a headache Cupcake."
His voice was teasing as she ended the call and gave the thumbs up to Alec. No one wanted to be in the Institute right now, a party elsewhere might help with morale.
And from the looks of it, it did.
"Beer's boring, have some sangria," Maia's voice carried across to Talia as she stood beside Jace, his height slightly towering hers by a few inches.
Talia smiled at the both as she reached for a glass, "Magnus has a thing for Spain."
Jace grimaced at the smell of the drink but took it nonetheless. Talia poked him in the cheek before spinning away, spotting Magnus and Alec speaking about the arrangements.
She hadn't seen Alec before arriving since she came over early to help Magnus with the arrangements but was surprised by how much he did alone when she had been changing.
However, she did notice the silver tags of his necklace poking out of his black suits neck piece.
Alec's eyes widened at the sight of her, his voice coming out in a breath, "Wow."
She was wearing a floor length dark red dress clinging to her features at the top but flowing across her from her waist downwards. The cut of the dress showed her collarbones, although scattered with runes, they stood out to a degree that made them noticeable in an alluring way.
Her hair was twirled in a half-up/ half-down look with a braid crowning her head like a Laurel crown whilst her dark blonde hair fell down in waves below her shoulders.
Talia smiled sweetly at him, pressing a kiss to his cheek before intertwining their hands, "Hey."
His Adams Apple bobbed as he gulped, blue eyes still looking over her figure, "Hi."
She flushed a bright shade of red, chewing on her bottom lip nervously as her heart soared.
Magnus scoffed, "You can ogle each other later, now-"
Alec blinked quickly and looked up to the warlock as he realised he'd been unapologetically feasting his eyes upon the woman before him. Talia giggled at his reaction and squeezed his hand.
"I'm worried the empanadillas are soggy, I gave the chef specific instructions-"
"Magnus," Talia patted his shoulder as a bright small warmed across her face, "I think it's amazing."
Alec nodded, still flustered from being called out, "It's perfect, everything is so well done, I'm impressed."
Magnus gave them both an appreciative smile before wandering further into the party. He must've sensed another Lightwoods appearance as just as soon as he left, Max and Maryse entered the penthouse.
"Ready to party Max?" Alec asked, a carefree smile on his face as he addressed his brother.
Talia nodded to Maryse as they entered the party, Alec leading them through and chatting to them both as they moved to get drinks. She stood behind, examining the room filled with people, many Max probably wouldn't know, Shadowhunters and Downworlders alike.
She spotted Clary and Simon earlier walking together. Guessing Simon had finally grown the balls to ask her out, she couldn't help feel sorry for Jace, he wasn't processing things as easily.
And whilst everyone was away with others, Talia moved towards the bar and spoke with Maia, wondering why the werewolf seemed so in awe of her.
~~~•~~~
After a while, Talia began notice a shift in the dynamic of the party. She had seen her friends darting around the party, all seeming somewhat tense.
Her eyes caught Alec and Clary talking near the door, Jace and Izzy had run into a room a few moments before, but the person who was worrying her the most with their actions, was Magnus.
He'd moved around Clary several times and back and forth with the Lightwoods and Talia was starting to pick up that something was wrong.
When he moved into the room Jace and Izzy were in, Talia chose the moment to follow.
"Nobody's trying to kill you."
Talia walked in the room with a confused look on her face. Magnus had spoke, looking towards Jace as he looked like a frightened animal backed into a corner. His eyes wouldn't leave Maryse as he stumbled back.
"What's going on you guys?" Talia questioned, watching as all faces turned to her and some of them jumped.
Magnus' eyebrows furrowed, his eyes darting in his calculation, "Someone's playing with our minds, feeding into our insecurities."
He looked as if he were trying to figure out the mystery in that moment as Talia looked at him bewildered.
"Jace thinks mom attacked him," Izzy informed her. The look on the younger girls face showed Talia that something serious was happening.
"What-?"
"Alec! Alec, no!"
Talia twisted as she heard Clary's voice from above. If it were true they were hallucinating, and Clary and Alec were left together...Jocelyn.
She jumped around, her eyes wide in fright as she burst through the doors. Talia lifted her dress as best she could and stormed up the stairs, not afraid of tearing away pieces of it as she rushed to find Alec.
When she reached the roof-top, she slammed the door open with her magic. Her stomach turned as she saw Alec's body laying in a plank as he fell over the building.
Clary screamed for him and Talia reached out her hand, twisting the magic fibres between her fingers and releasing a blast of energy, wrapping around him mid-air like a lasso was supporting him but also sedating him.
Talia breathed a sigh of relief as the others poured up behind her. She slowly pulled Alec forward, moving her hand so the energy would follow her movements and place him gently on the ground.
Alec's eyes were closed as his head fell limply to the side, but otherwise, he was unharmed.
She quickly moved to him, kneeling down beside him as she held his face between her hands. Warming her palms with magic, she hoped it would help him wake up.
Talia felt Izzy and Jace drop beside her as she held him, watching as he stirred slightly at the feel of her, "He's sedated, I thought it would be best whilst we figure out what's going on."
Maryse called for him and rushed over to her son's side.
Jace stiffened beside Talia, she turned to him in confusion just as he raised his voice, "You know what, you stay away from him, you can't be trusted."
Maryse whirled on him, "I can't be trusted?"
The bickering continued throughout them all and soon Simon arrived which set Clary off. Talia sighed but her face quickly brightened as she saw Alec's dazed eyes staring up at her.
"You're pretty."
Talia laughed lightly at his slurred words, the grin on his face elevating further at the the sound of it.
Suddenly Magnus stood, "You're all going to be okay, everyone just stay here. I'll be right back."
Magnus strides off of the rooftop and downstairs, but as soon as he did, everyone began bickering again. Talia held Alec's hand as he looked at her with big blue puppy dog eyes, "You're gonna be okay Alec, I promise."
He nodded his head sleepily in response, his eyes moving as he spotted Magnus returning, holding an old, battered book. He began speaking in French.
"Guys be quiet, Alec's waking up," Talia called out.
Maryse turned to her, "You're telling us what to do? It could've been you who did this to us all!"
Talia stared at her, mouth gaping as she was shocked at the aggression towards her but said nothing in reply, sensing it was a part of the hallucination.
"We don't even know what you are! The Clave is actually terrified of you, it doesn't matter that you're Imogen's granddaughter you're-"
Talia spotted Magnus' magic swirling around them overhead, watching as he pulled it back into his hand and grunted in surprise.
But what shocked Talia is that everyone was quiet.
Maryse looked at her with a blank expression before turning around to each of them on the roof. Each of them began apologising to one another, as if a sudden blanket of realisation had hit them.
"Talia I-"
The younger woman waved her off, "It's okay."
"It's not, I need to talk to you-"
Maryse started but before either of them could continue, Magnus slapped the book shut, only to realise that as soon as it was there, it was gone from his hands.
"Someone has taken my spell book," Magnus voice was deep and angry, Talia had never heard so much fear in his voice.
His face was scrunched in concentration before suddenly, a translucent barrier was erected in front of them, surrounding the building. Magnus had put up his wards.
"Nobody leaves until I get it back."
The warlock stormed off inside, his tone threatening and frustrated.
Talia sighed. She hadn't even had the chance to try the empañadillas.
~~~•~~~
"Is he the last one?" Jace inquired, looking to where Magnus was scanning the last of the guests leaving the party.
"It appears I'm the only warlock here, besides Talia of course," Magnus replied.
He sounded tired, Talia realised. He'd probably been dealing with a lot of stress from both Shadowhunters and Downworlders in the past few days and having his spell book stolen in his own safe place, must be like adding a cherry to the top of a pile of crap.
The warlock waved his hands down beside him. Talia watched as his magic uncurled from his fingertips and the wards fell down around the building.
"Magnus, what happens if we don't find your spell book?" Clary's voice piped up from beside Talia.
"That's not an option you want to explore," Magnus slowly paced in front of them, "That book can undo every spell I've ever cast. From the elementary to the complex in new and old languages...-"
Suddenly his voice dropped off as his face twisted in slight realisation.
Talia tilted her head in question, "What is it?"
His eyes latched onto hers, "Champenois."
The dark blonde blinked at him, understanding why he looked to her, "The old French dialect?"
Magnus nodded before speaking in French again, "The red-haired cat."
Her eyes widened. Magnus had mentioned to her that a new cat had arrived the other day, it seemed almost too coincidental a timing to be anything but suspicious.
Magnus thrust the wards back up before turning to his bedroom. Alec turned to Talia with brows knitted together in confusion. With no time to explain, she tugged him behind her, having her hand being in his since he woke up.
She needed to protect him more than anything.
The group stalked around his bed, looking over the cats that had stayed in the building whilst the festivities had been going on outside of it.
Jace eyed a particular lump in the sheets. He nodded to Magnus before the two of them lifted the satin sheet, revealing a ginger cat.
The cat hissed at them both before turning to run out of the room. Magnus threw a blast of energy towards the cat, transform it into a human figure.
Iris.
The woman whirled on them, launching orange tinted energy from her palms, "Duratus."
Talia raised her arms in front of her, pulling a block of magic to protect herself. She would have moved to protect the group, but as Magnus had taught her, this spell on froze those it reached. Her friends wouldn't be harmed.
"I hate party crashers," Magnus grunted as he pushed his magic towards the woman.
Iris flew through the air, roughly landing in Magnus' book shelf.
Magnus ran forwards to trap her again whilst Talia found herself struggling to move in her outfit.
"Stupid dress, this is why I wear pants," She muttered to herself before kicking off the red heels and sprinting towards the pair.
All routes of exit were blocked by Magnus as he fired explosive balls of light from his fists towards the intruder.
Iris ducked behind a wall before retaliating with a blast of her own.
Talia raised her palm and focused on drawing the magic to her. She grinned as the bolt of energy switched its path of trajectory and landed in her palm.
The colour of magic changing from the dark orange to a bright blue. Talia's colour.
Both warlocks stared at her in fascination, but fear riddled Iris' face.
"How did you-?"
The woman never finished her sentence as Talia expanded the energy in her palm. The size of the orb Iris had thrown enlarging by twice its size, before launching it at her.
Iris' eyes bulged as the weight of the force threw her back, but before she could hit the wall, Talia recoiled her hand and tightened it into a fist, brining the beam of light around Iris' midsection.
Effectively trapping her with no movement available.
What Talia had realised, was that for not a second of her attack was she distracted. She was thinking clearly with an exact idea in her mind of what she wanted to do.
"Talia, when did you learn to do that?"
She whipped her head around to see Magnus staring at her, looking at her as though she had suddenly grown another head.
Talia looked at her free hand, and shook her head, breathy in disbelief, "I- I don't know, I just thought about stopping and capturing her and it manifested into my magic."
"Not possible," His voice was low as he muttered to himself, his eyes looking distant as he looked ahead. He was almost unheard by Talia he was so quiet.
Magnus shook the matter off and turned to Iris, immediately questioning her and speaking to her like old rivals.
Talia watched as she released her friends and they filtered through the room, although her eyes looked for Alec's.
"What's with these powers Talia? How do you keep getting stronger?"
Talia heard Clary's voice in the distance but all her sense were locked on Alec.
He moved through the group and made his way to her, his jaw set as his long strides brought him beside her.
Alec cupped her face with his hand, rubbing circles on her chin as his bright blue eyes searched her face, "You okay?"
She nodded although her face portrayed her slight fear in her own power. Alec didn't question her magic, he never had. Talia knew if she needed one person to rely on to always have her best interests at heart, it would be him.
"Clary Fairchild, you made a blood oath," Iris grunted, having being wrapped in the right hold Talia held on her, feeling the girl release it slightly seeing Alec, Iris was able to move more slightly, "Find Madzie."
Magnus moved forward and erected a portal. Talia, understanding Magnus' movements, released the woman from her hold, allowing Magnus to take control and force the woman through it.
"She's the Claves problem now," Magnus said.
Alec shook his head, "Okay, what is Valentine up to? This is his plot right?"
Talia nodded in confirmation as Clary spoke, "I don't know."
He voice sounded like a slight give away as she turned to Jace. Talia eyed them both, assuming the were somehow telepathically talking about Clary's new rune.
"It too dangerous," Jace whispered.
The group looked to them both in confusion.
"Jace they're our family, they need to know."
Izzy narrowed her eyes at the pair, "Know what?"
Clary stared at her before sighing lightly. Whilst beside them, Jace and Talia were having a staring contest.
The pair attempted silent communication for what Clary was about to say. Talia pulled a face when Jace widened his eyes and shook his head at her, indicating not to tell anyone what she knew.
Talia rolled her eyes before turning back to Clary, but not after getting a weird look from Alec who was currently questioning their sanities.
In response, Talia tapped her own forehead and then trailed it across to Alec's, pointed finger guns at him and smiled brightly.
Alec had no idea what she meant.
"The angel Ithuriel," Clary spoke, "Valentine was going to use him to activate the Soul Sword. He needs someone with pure angel blood to activate it."
"Well that doesn't sound good," Simon replied.
"It's not," Jace agreed, "With the Soul Sword activated, Valentine can decimate the entire Downworld. The angel showed us a vision of a demon who could destroy the Sword. If we could find that demon, we could stop Valentine."
Magnus raised an eyebrow at the pair, "How did you two save the angel?"
Talia turned to Clary, she was curious to what she'd say, assuming that she was correct in her guess that Clary would reveal her ability to create runes.
Jace and Clary exchanged glances with Jace shaking his head. Clary ignored him and continued, "With runes the angel gave to me."
The air was heavy as the room digested the new information. Magnus looked distracted in thought as he processed the changing world.
"New runes, ones that no one has ever seen before," Jace spoke out.
"Why did he choose you?" Izzy inquired, looking over her shoulder to Clary.
"I have no idea," The red-haired girl replied, her shoulders shrugging lightly.
"I have a theory," Talia said, eyes latching onto her, "It's a well known fact that Valentine experiments on Shadowhunters, myself included. If he has had the angel for eighteen years..."
"Clary could have pure angel blood," Magnus nodded, a grim expression on his face, "It matches with the story I was told by a Silent Brother of a special connection the original Shadowhunters had with the Angel Raziel. That they could communicate from afar through visions...because they were created from his blood."
Magnus nodded to Talia, rubbing her arm comfortingly as the others came to the same realisation Talia had been figuring out from the day Jace had told her about Clary. With the information only piling up when they saw an angel. But the visions...
"Wait, the screaming..." Talia trailed off, moving a hand to her head.
Clary's eyes widened at her, "You heard it too? That was Ithuriel!"
Talia blinked in surprise, bumping into Alec behind her as she moved unconsciously. He reached out to steady her but his eyes glanced over her in worry.
"What are you talking about?" Alec asked.
"That's why Valentine wants Clary and Talia unharmed, Clary can activate the Soul Sword," Jace eyed both girls with a fear behind his eyes, they moved to settle on Talia, "And Talia has pure angel and demon blood-"
"-She can use it or destroy it."
~~~•~~~
Family angst noooooo. But they'll be fine in a few chapters don't worry.
Let me know if you guys enjoy these longer chapters, this is 6.4K words for example, I'm just wanting to get the story moving so you guys can have more progression in the chapters. But if you want shorter ones to spread it out more let me know!
I'm very much aware I'm as excited to write 2x12 as you guys probably are to read it.
Thank you for the support! Every comment and vote and read makes me so happy!
Xx