Alec stood in the training room with a mass of weapons in front of him.
"Alec, none of this is going to help if we can't locate her." Jace came up the training room steps with Clary at his side. Clary had already given Alec a lecture on how this wasn't his fault, but Alec was defiant.
Alec looked up from the weapons, "It didn't work?"
Clary shook her head, "No. We couldn't find anything with a strong enough connection to her."
Alec was suddenly walking out of the training room and down the hall. The picture. Alec walked into Echo's room with Clary and Jace behind him. Alec was rummaging though the drawers.
"Alec, we already--"
Alec pulled the picture from under a pile of clothes and held it out, "Echo said when she found this she felt a connection to it. She didn't know who was in the picture at the time."
Clary took the picture from Alec's hand and looked at the people.
"That's my mom and Valentine. But who's the boy next to Echo?"
Alec sighed and leaned against the wall, "That's your brother, Jonathan. Jonathan is Echo's twin."
Clary looked up from the picture, "What? How do you know this?"
Alec rubbed his eyes, "Echo told me when she remembered."
Clary was about to say something, but Alec stopped her, "Just," Alec sighed, "Try tracking her with that."
Clary bit her lip and followed Jace out of the room. Alec stood in the vacant room, suddenly feeling lost and alone. There was something about Echo that made Alec love her. Alec pushed himself off of the wall and hurried into his room.
He pulled off his shirt and changed into fresh clothes. He ran a hand through his hair and gave a slow sigh. His heartbeat had been rapid and unchanging since Echo had been kidnapped. He was surprised that he hadn't passed out yet. Alec hastily made his way into the control room giving Clary a hopeful look.
But when Clary caught his gaze, she gave a slow shake of her head. Alec set his teeth and fisted his hands.
"There has to be a way, someway for us to track Echo or Valentine."
Clary set a hand on Alec's shoulder, "There is a way, we just haven't found it yet. Jace and I will go out and talk to the Downworlders, maybe they know something we don't."
Alec shrugged Clary's hand off and gave her a sloppy nod.
"I've never seen you this way." Isabelle had come up behind Alec as Clary and Jace retreated.
Alec turned to face his sister, sudden emotion swept over his face, "There is something about Echo, there has been since the moment I met her."
Alec's voice was soft, "I had this feeling like I needed to protect her, keep her safe and I failed. Valentine has her and it is all my fault."
Isabelle gripped her brother's arms, "Hey, this isn't your fault. This is Valentine's. If you have to blame anybody blame Valentine."
Alec looked out at the screens, every one of them had Echo's name typed across the top and locator algorithms had been put into the system.
Alec shook his head and sat on a nearby chair with his head in his hands. He kept reliving the look on Echo's face when she realized that she had almost killed Jace and Alec. Alec wanted so badly to tell her that it wasn't her fault, and that everything was going to be okay. But that moment was gone and terror had set in.
**
Alec slept uncomfortably in his bed with images flashing through his mind. Isabelle had finally convinced him to get some sleep, but his sleep was fitful. Echo and Magnus and Valentine all swam through his mind. Even Jace and Clary and Isabelle would make sudden appearances, but nothing seemed to make sense.
Alec shot his eyes open and looked at his clock. He had only been asleep for two hours. Alec huffed and slapped his hands down onto the mattress. He sat up and looked around the room for a moment before pushing himself out of his bed and pulling on a navy blue shirt as he exited his room. The bright hallway made him squint his eyes, but when he got to the control area, his eyes had adjusted.
Isabelle noticed her brother saunter into the room.
"Alec, you are supposed to be asleep."
Alec rubbed his eyes, "Isabelle, it's impossible to sleep when we know Echo is with the most hated and dangerous man in the Shadow World."
Isabelle shook her head, "Clary and Jace aren't even back yet. There is nothing more we can do."
Alec sat next to his sister and looked at the monitors, "How many hours has it been?"
Isabelle knew what he was asking, "Twenty-Two. She's been gone for twenty-two hours."
Alec pulled in a deep breath just as Clary and Jace walked into the institute. Alec was going to stand up, but suddenly his energy and will were gone.
Clary leaned against the table, "We have a way to find Valentine."
Alec leaned forward, "What? How?"
Clary glanced at Jace for a moment, and leaned forward so the only people who could hear the answer were the four Shadowhunters.
"Meliorn can help us. Interdimensional travel."
Clary pulled the portal shard from her necklace, "Meliorn said that this was of a different dimension, that's why I can see where people are when I think of them."
Alec shook his head, "That's...that's just..."Alec didn't quite know what to say, "Fine, but I'm coming with you."
Alec went to stand, but Jace put a hand on his shoulder, "You need to rest. You can't fight Valentine and save Echo on three hours of rest."
Alec sighed, "Two hours."
Jace folded his arms, "Two. Seriously Alec, go get some sleep and eat something, and don't just rune yourself either."
Alec gave a tired grumble and shoved his body away from the table and out of the control room.
**
Echo slowly opened her eyes with much effort. Her entire energy level was non-existent and the pain was so intense that she felt numb. She couldn't quite decipher what she was seeing was reality or a side effect of the many injections that she had received over the past day and a half.
"Fine me the cup! You imbeciles! It's a small task!" Echo heard Valentine sigh. "My sweet Ella, you'll tell me where the cup is, won't you?" Valentine's voice creped up into Echo's brain.
Echo painfully swallowed but didn't say anything. Valentine approached Echo with slow strides.
"How long are you going to keep this up? I do not wish to hurt you, but I need you to tell me where the cup is, or things will get messy, and I don't like to make a mess."
Echo gave a hard gaze at Valentine and he pushed away from her, "Another injection then? This next one will be your sixth, I'm not sure how many more there will be before your heart stops, perhaps this one will do the trick."
By now, Echo had been conditioned to fear the black demon blood. Every injection she had received, she had had a terrible seizure and had woken up in searing pain. Echo could no longer control her muscles or abilities. More than once she had fully transformed into a demon, but the process has almost killed her.
Valentine filled another needle with the black ichor and held it over her arm.
"Tell me where the cup is, and this will all be over."
Echo's chest heaved as she found the energy to scream, but no sound came out of her mouth, only black blood.
Valentine let in a breath and pushed the blood into Echo.
Echo's eyes rolled to the back of her head as she started to shake. Valentine watched his daughter seize and he couldn't help but let a small smile play on his face. The seizure went on twice as long as the previous and at the four-minute mark, Echo finally collapsed onto the chair. Valentine watched Echo's chest with intent and let the smile grow wider as he saw her chest did not rise.
But to his dismay, after another few seconds, Echo let in a shallow breath and her heart started to beat again. Valentine suddenly got angry and tipped over the cart full of torture products.
"How powerful are you?!"
Valentine huffed and stormed out of the basement leaving Echo, unconscious and in pain, alone.
Even though Echo was unconscious, she could still feel every neuron fire off a painful flare. She was screaming repeatedly in her mind and she desperately cried out for help, but she knew that nobody could find her. Echo didn't know how long Valentine had tortured her, but the minutes felt like hours and the hours felt like days. The demon blood had distorted the images in her mind and she couldn't recognize any of the people that popped up, though she could feel the emotions attached to them.
Two redheaded women were the center of her memory and she could feel love attached to them. Love and trust was connected to a black haired boy with peculiar coloured eyes and trust was surrounding a boy with blond hair and a girl that looked similarly like the black haired boy. Echo had tried to put names to the faces, but nothing would come to her.
Echo didn't know how long she had been unconscious, but when she felt the restraints loosen, she slowly opened her eyes and to her surprise, the black haired boy and the younger redheaded girl stood next to her. They both had a look of horror written on their faces.
"Come on, help me get her."