Chapter Text
The Ops Center was dark when Alec came in except for the blue light emanating from the screen savers of a few computers that no one had turned off. Several hours past dusk, most of the conclave was either out on patrol or off duty. He expected to slip in unnoticed, but Isabelle had always been unpredictable, and she had a canny knack for anticipating when he came and went.
She hadn’t been scheduled for a patrol that night. Most of her patrols were with Alec, Jace, and Clary, and Alec had purposefully given himself the night off, but he’d hoped she’d take the opportunity to have some fun outside the Institute. Instead, she was reading through files on her favorite computer, smack dab in the center of the room where Alec couldn’t sneak past her.
Always vigilant, she turned to look at him as soon as he stepped inside the room. He tugged on the collar of his shirt. It was newly bought. He’d been so desperate for a nice-looking shirt that he hadn’t taken time to consider whether it was comfortable before he purchased it, and he’d been itching all night as a result.
Though whether that was actually from the shirt or how uncomfortable he’d been since arriving at the restaurant earlier in the evening, he wasn’t sure.
Isabelle raised an eyebrow, no doubt noticing his outfit. It wasn’t every day he bought new clothes. In fact, he tended to avoid it until his previous ones were so worn that he couldn’t pretend they were wearable anymore.
“Where have you been?” Isabelle raised an eyebrow.
Alec sighed as he slid into the chair beside her, looking over the computer screen she’d been analyzing. A map of New York showed various points of demon activity, all of which were being responded to by members of the conclave. “Are you tracking something in particular?” he asked, ignoring her question.
Isabelle shrugged and turned the monitor off, making their immediate surroundings darker. Unfortunately, he could still make out her expression even without his Nyx rune, which meant she could scrutinize him perfectly fine.
“I was just passing the time.” She fixed him with a gaze that made it clear what she’d been passing her time waiting for. “Where have you been?”
Alec gave an exaggerated sigh and reclined in his chair, tilting his head towards the ceiling.
“Come on,” Isabelle urged. “Are you really going to make me force it out of you?” She motioned at his crisp shirt. “You didn’t get dressed up like that to run errands.”
“I went on a date,” he admitted without looking at her.
It was silent for a second. Alec didn’t look at her. He could already imagine her expression, and it pained him. While she may have meant well, her sympathy only ever made him feel worse.
“How did it go?”
He closed his eyes briefly before turning towards her again. “You know how it went. It went how all the others have gone for the past three years.”
Isabelle slowly nodded her head.
There’d been a period of time, about six months after his breakup with Magnus, when Isabelle had been the driving force behind his dates. She decided that he needed to get over Magnus and set him up with a series of men, each one less compatible with him than the last. Every single date was a disaster.
Well, “disaster” was an exaggeration. Alec was self-aware enough to know that he was the problem most of the time. He just couldn’t bring himself to care about the men who sat across from him, no matter how great they sounded in the abstract. No matter what they were like, he compared them to Magnus in his mind, and none of them could measure up to someone as incredible as Magnus Bane.
It wasn’t their fault that Alec had impossible standards.
Eventually, Isabelle realized it was hopeless and gave up. For a few months, Alec had enjoyed some peace and relished in not needing to force himself into uncomfortable situations, but after a while, he’d started feeling sad for himself and wanted to change that. He did, after all, want a relationship, even if he couldn’t have the relationship he wanted most of all.
It had been terrifying at first, actually putting himself out there without relying on his sister, but he’d forced himself to do it. He stuck to dating mundanes, telling himself that it was because dating another Shadowhunter, or even a Downworlder, as the head of the Institute was a disaster waiting to happen.
In reality, he knew the truth was that dating a mundane felt safer because it couldn’t go anywhere. Not really. There was a convenient barrier between them, and when things inevitably fizzled out after only a date or two, he could blame it on that instead of the truth.
Isabelle’s voice broke through his melancholy. “Do you want to talk more about it?”
Alec shook his head. He never wanted to talk about it.
His siblings surely thought it was because he was embarrassed or just sad about it, but the truth was that there wasn’t anything to talk about. He’d been on enough first dates that they’d begun to feel routine, and it was rare that anything happened that he couldn’t predict within five minutes of sitting down across from his date.
There was no story to tell beyond, “We talked for an hour, and I found the whole thing completely boring. I don’t even remember his hobbies or what he does for a living. By tomorrow, I’ll forget his name too.”
He’d only left his date behind half an hour earlier, and he’d already forgotten everything about the guy other than that he had a nice smile.
Not as great as Magnus’, but nicer than most at least.
“I’m going to bed.” He groaned as he stood.
He really was tired. It always surprised him how much the dates took out of him mentally when he was used to hunting demons late into the night.
“Wait.”
Alec tensed, expecting her to question him more about the date or, god forbid, bring up Magnus, but there was something tense in her tone that made him sit back down.
“What is it?”
She frowned, and Alec found himself scooting closer to her subconsciously.
“There actually is something else I want to talk to you about,” she said. “It’s about work.”
“Can’t it wait until morning?”
She gave him a severe look and turned the monitor back on. “No, I don’t think it can.”
Alec rubbed at his forehead but nodded. They were Shadowhunters. Ten p.m. was actually rather early for an emergency to unfold.
“It’s Lorenzo Rey.”
Alec groaned, shaking his head. “What ridiculous stunt has he pulled this time?”
Lorenzo Rey had been a continual thorn in Alec’s side for years. Apparently, his long-standing feud with Magnus extended to anyone who dared date Magnus as well, and he treated Alec with thinly veiled contempt. He took every opportunity he could to bring up Alec’s failed relationship, twisting the situation into whatever narrative served him best.
Isabelle, who usually joined him in complaining about Lorenzo, didn’t crack a smile.
“I don’t know what he’s done,” she said slowly. “The thing is, he’s missing.”
Alec stared at her. “Missing? You’re sure he hasn’t just moved out of the city?”
Warlocks rarely, if ever, stayed in one place for their entire life. Sure, Lorenzo hadn’t been in New York long by warlock standards either, but Alec could hope. It wasn’t like warlocks were required to notify the local Institute when they moved. (Though Alec was surprised the Clave had never tried to pass a law like that, now that it occurred to him.)
Isabelle shook her head. “It was actually Magnus that notified the Institute about his disappearance, and you know he wouldn’t have done that unless there was an actual problem. His bad blood with Lorenzo goes much further back than yours.”
Alec slumped in his seat. The mention of Lorenzo at a late hour was bad enough, but now Magnus’ name was being brought into it.
He nodded. “Alright, alright. So it needs to be looked into, but it’s going to have to wait until tomorrow. I’m too tired to deal with Lorenzo Rey right now. I need a full night’s sleep, an Energy rune, and three cups of coffee before I touch that.”
If it were only Lorenzo, one cup of coffee would be sufficient, but if Magnus was being brought into the situation, it was at least three. He’d already spent his evening doing his best not to compare his date to the High Warlock of Brooklyn. He couldn’t handle seeing him face to face.
He stood up, running a hand through his hair.
“We won’t be able to do anything tonight anyway. Everyone is either off duty or on patrol. And you don’t have a lead, do you?”
Isabelle shook her head, but her lips were thin as she looked up at him.
He didn’t have to ask why. A missing person usually warranted a quick response, especially if a High Warlock was requesting assistance. Magnus never would have contacted the Institute unless he felt he had no other choice. Warlocks loathed Shadowhunter interference in their problems. And Alec had to admit that he wouldn’t dare delay acting if it was anyone other than Lorenzo.
But Lorenzo was quite fond of talking about how competent he was, so far be it from Alec to question his ability to protect himself.
Isabelle may not have been fond of his decision, but she didn’t care enough to intercede on Lorenzo’s behalf.
“I’ll do some more poking around and see what I can find before I go to bed.” She had already turned back to the computer and was clicking away with the mouse. “The report on what I find will be on your desk tomorrow morning.”
Alec sighed. He didn’t love the idea of Isabelle working into the night for Lorenzo’s sake either, but he couldn’t stop her.
“Yeah, alright. Good night, Iz.”
She muttered her own good night, already engrossed in whatever she was looking at.
The next morning was almost blissful for a few minutes as Alec laid in bed, soaking in the warmth and comfort you could only find in those first few moments after a good night’s sleep. Like always, that bliss was short-lived as the events of the night before came back to him.
With a groan, he flopped over onto his back and stared up at the ceiling. He hadn’t had to deal with Lorenzo Rey for several months, and he’d hoped to maintain that streak for much longer. Now he wondered if the lack of trouble he’d been causing was because something or someone had harmed him.
He rubbed at his eyes, willing the last fog of sleep to dissipate. While he didn’t like Lorenzo, he couldn’t abandon him to whatever misfortune had befallen him. Especially when he didn’t have proof that Lorenzo’s disappearance was his own fault. (Alec certainly had his suspicions though.)
By the time he made it to his office, he’d mentally prepared himself for the file Isabelle claimed would be waiting for him, but there was nothing there. He opened the tablet laying on his desk, but there was no electronic file there either.
Just as he was preparing to set off in search of his sister, Isabelle appeared, her hair still damp from a shower. She gave him a tight, tired smile as she slid into the chair across from his desk.
“As it turns out, there’s no useful information on Rey’s disappearance.” She crossed her arms against her chest. “At least nothing I could turn up using our database or connections.”
Alec sighed. “I’m not surprised that the Downworlders willing to work with the Clave aren’t fond of Lorenzo either. Quite a few of them are probably glad he’s gone.”
Let it be known that he didn’t add that he would be glad for Lorenzo to be gone. It was remarkable he had so much restraint when he was only halfway through his first cup of coffee of the day.
“Yeah, well, knowing that isn’t useful,” Isabelle said. “All we have is Magnus’ notification that he’s missing. I think we need to go talk to him, see what he’s heard.”
Alec’s stomach churned. Magnus’ involvement was inevitable from the moment Isabelle mentioned him, but Alec had still been hoping to put it off for as long as possible.
“You’re right,” he allowed, struggling to keep his voice level. “How about you find Jace and go out to Brooklyn this morning?”
He kept his gaze on his desk, hoping that ignoring the look Isabelle was sending him would be enough to dissuade her from questioning him.
Of course it wasn’t.
“I’m not going without you,” she said, her tone not leaving anything up for discussion.
“I’m the head of the Institute,” he said as if he had any hope. “There are a million and one things I need to do.”
“We’ll probably have to pay Magnus for his help,” she pointed out, completely ignoring his protests. “I can retrieve the money from the safe if you want. Have you got the key?”
“He’s the High Warlock of Brooklyn. You think he’s going to charge us for helping search for a warlock he asked us to find?”
Even as he protested, he fished the key to the Institute’s safe from his pocket and handed it over to Isabelle, who shrugged. As old-fashioned as it was, each Institute was required to have a stash of physical currency stored away. Not many warlocks accepted a debit card as payment.
“Depends on what requests we have. Magnus isn’t really a friend anymore, is he, Alec? Warlocks make deals. They don’t give out favors.”
She turned on her heel and left the room, seemingly oblivious to the way she left Alec reeling.
He wasn’t stupid. Of course he realized that they couldn’t expect favors from Magnus anymore. Their relationship now was that of the High Warlock of Brooklyn and the head of the New York Institute, and warlocks demanded payment for the help they doled out to Shadowhunters. Magnus was the same.
In fact, his prices had gone up over the past several years, as if he was daring the Institute—daring Alec—to stop hiring him, and Alec had tried to hire other warlocks whenever he was the one who had to interact with them. The idea of handing payment over to Magnus like there was nothing more between them than a business deal made his chest ache. It was a potent reminder that there really wasn’t anything between them anymore.
He found Jace in the training room tossing knives at a mannequin. A few younger trainees stood off to one side, watching him in awe, but as far as Alec could tell, Jace wasn’t meant to be training them at the moment. Jace just had a habit of attracting attention with his talent, especially from younger Shadowhunters who idolized him.
Alec ignored their grumbling over their show being interrupted as he approached and Jace turned away from the mannequin. Jace, as always, acted completely oblivious to the attention despite soaking in every bit of it.
“What’s up?” He raised an eyebrow. “You’re looking particularly irritated this morning.”
Alec rolled his eyes. “Lorenzo Rey is missing.”
Jace took in the information with the same level of interest that he’d show to a common Rahab demon sighting.
“We need to go to Magnus for help.” Alec clenched his jaw as Jace’s eyebrows rose.
“You’re going yourself?” he asked.
“With Izzy.” Alec motioned his head towards the door. “She refused to go unless I did.”
The serious look on Jace’s face was worse than Isabelle’s reaction. Unlike Isabelle, Jace had never pushed him to talk things out with Magnus after the break up or set him up on dates. Instead, he’d focused on cheering Alec up in other ways and being supportive. Usually, Alec appreciated that, but when seeing Magnus again was staring him in the face, he wished Jace didn’t look so grave about it.
“Will you be able to handle it?” Jace asked.
If the question had come from anyone else, Alec would have been mortified at the prospect of being seen through so easily.
“I’ll be fine.”
His parabatai knew it was a lie, but he nodded anyway. “Mind if I tag along?” Jace walked over to the mannequin and pulled three knives free. “I’m done here anyway.”
The two knives that had still been in his hand when Alec approached said otherwise, but Alec didn’t protest as Jace stored them away in their case, much to the dismay of the lingering trainees.
“You don’t have to,” Alec said half-heartedly, not able to conceal his real desire, which was to have Jace come along.
It shouldn’t have mattered. Having Jace there was liable to make things worse rather than better, but sometimes, even as an adult, he found himself clinging to his parabatai like a security blanket. He wasn’t sure how healthy it was, but in moments of desperation, that never stopped him.
Jace clapped him on the shoulder. “I don’t have to, but I’m going to.”
He gave Alec a smile before guiding him out of the room with his hand still on his shoulder. Alec followed, thankful for a few minutes where someone else was in control.
Chapter Text
Magnus’ apartment building was nondescript from the outside. It looked like all the other buildings around it. A passing mundane would never suspect that someone of importance lived inside. Even a Downworlder or Shadowhunter might pass by without assuming the High Warlock of Brooklyn was nearby, unless they’d been told where to go. Magnus was very skilled with glamours.
The apartment was as far from threatening as it could be, but Alec gulped as he looked up at the windows that he knew peeked into Magnus’ apartment, dread filling his stomach.
There were spells on the windows that prevented anyone from seeing into them, but Magnus could easily look out and spot them on the street below without them knowing. Not that he was likely to be looking out right at that moment, Alec reminded himself. It wasn’t like he had a sixth sense that allowed him to know when Alec was closeby, and for better or worse, he didn’t know they were coming. Alec took several deep breaths in a vain attempt to calm himself down.
Once upon a time, he’d visited this building every day, but he hadn’t stepped foot inside since the breakup. When he had no choice but to use Magnus’ services, he summoned him to the Institute instead. Magnus, who clearly had no desire for Alec to be in his space either, had always agreed readily to make the trip into Manhattan. His own discomfort over being in an Institute was easier to handle than having Alec in his personal space. Alec understood that. At the Institute, he didn’t need to invite Magnus into his own living quarters.
Isabelle’s hand found his sleeve, holding on in a small sign of solidarity. On his other side, he felt Jace’s reassuring presence and his sharp gaze. Alec stared straight ahead. There was no use lingering outside. Seeing Magnus wouldn’t get easier the longer Alec peered up at his apartment.
“Let’s go,” he said.
He didn’t look back at his siblings as he approached the building’s buzzers. Briefly, he considered asking Jace or Isabelle to speak to Magnus, but he could already picture the looks on their faces if he asked. As the head of the Institute, it would be odd to have someone else do the talking while he stood back and observed, even if that person was his parabatai or his sister. This wasn’t a personal call. Following protocol was necessary to ensure they all remembered that this was business.
He pressed the buzzer for Magnus’ apartment and tried not to think about how he’d once known the code to get in.
The time it took Magnus to answer was agonizingly long, even though it was probably a few seconds in reality. Alec stared straight ahead at the buzzer, running through what he would say in the hope that he didn’t make a fool of himself once he was put on the spot.
“Who calls on High Warlock Magnus Bane?”
Alec’s heart tightened. It had been so long since they’d spoken, and he hated that even through a staticy buzzer, Magnus’ voice had an effect on him.
“It’s Alec.” He cleared his throat. “Lightwood. Head of the New York Institute.”
His cheeks warmed. The words he’d been running over in his head failed him. His attempt at being professional just sounded pathetic. Magnus knew who he was as the head of the local Institute, whether they were exes or not. He pushed on though, determined to brush past the flub.
“I’m here with Jace Herondale and my sister Isabelle about Lorenzo Rey’s disappearance.”
It was quiet, and for a second, Alec really thought that Magnus would refuse to speak with them and send them away. He wasn’t sure what he’d do in that situation. Maybe it would be a good thing, and he could convince Jace and Isabelle to come back later by themselves in the hopes Magnus would be more willing to talk to them without Alec present. He could disentangle himself from the Lorenzo mess entirely.
But then the door unlocked with a click, and Alec felt a rush of adrenaline not dissimilar to when he was fighting demons. He glanced over his shoulder at his siblings, both of whom gave him an encouraging smile. He shook his head as he tugged the door open.
There wasn’t any turning back. Not without a large pile of embarrassment to go on top of his nerves.
He was going to face Magnus for the first time in nearly a year.
With each step, it was harder to move forward, but Alec didn’t let himself stop. The hallway of the apartment building hadn’t changed any more than the outside had, and he felt eerily like he’d time traveled.
Except he knew what he was going to find at the end of the path.
Magnus was waiting for them in his open doorway when they arrived on his floor. He leaned against the doorframe, his arms crossed against his chest. His makeup and hair were perfectly styled, and his outfit looked crisp and brand new. Alec’s stomach fluttered at the sight of him. He knew Magnus had changed his outfit and fixed his hair as soon as he knew they were coming. Alec had watched him do it before when clients came, but in the past, he wouldn’t have bothered putting on such a show with Alec. They’d been past the need for that.
Magnus stepped aside, motioning for them to go past him into the apartment. “Shadowhunters, to what do I owe the pleasure?”
Alec gasped, unable to stop himself, when he stepped inside. The actual structure of the apartment was recognizable, but nothing else was. Every bit of furniture and decoration had changed since Alec was last there. Even the walls were a different color. He felt dizzy. The place was so familiar yet so foreign at the same time, and he felt oddly sad about the changes in a way that he knew he had no right to.
“It’s about Lorenzo Rey,” Isabelle said, noticing that Alec wasn’t in a good state to speak.
Alec took a deep breath and centered himself. He had to focus. He turned towards the others. They hadn’t moved from the entranceway. Magnus still stood with his arms crossed against his chest. He was looking at Isabelle and Jace with an intense expression that was almost, but not quite, a glare. He wouldn’t even look at Alec.
He huffed at the mention of Lorenzo.
“I referred Lorenzo’s case to the Institute precisely because I have no desire to be involved. If we’re being honest, I think the city is better off without him, but I did my duty as High Warlock by alerting someone else to the situation. You can find him on your own.”
Isabelle glanced at Alec for guidance, but his brain still wasn’t working. The room spun around him, and he resisted the urge to reach out for something to stabilize himself.
“It’s worrying though, isn’t it?” Jace took a step towards Alec as if attempting to block him from view. In reality, it probably made his current predicament more noticeable, but Alec tried to appreciate the gesture. “A warlock just up and disappeared. What if it happens to someone else?”
Magnus laughed. “No other warlock in the city is as foolish as Lorenzo Rey. He’s done this to himself somehow, mark my words. Until there’s evidence to the contrary, I don’t believe anyone else is in danger. To be quite frank, I wouldn’t be opposed if you disregarded his case. I can tell the warlocks that I did my duty, and they can go on hating you like they already do.”
It didn’t feel right. Magnus may not have liked Lorenzo, but the coldness in his voice when he spoke about his disappearance was unlike him. Alec searched his face, taking in the way his features pinched together.
“You didn’t do it, did you?”
The accusation was out before Alec could stop himself.
Magnus whirled around to face him with fire in his eyes. Alec held his ground, clenching his hands into fists as he braced himself.
“Excuse me?” Magnus’ voice was scarily calm.
Alec already regretted the question. He knew it wasn’t true; he really did. Magnus wasn’t capable of disappearing a person, no matter how much he hated them. He had no idea why he’d let his own emotions overtake him enough to suggest it.
“If I wanted to find an official excuse to ban Lorenzo from the city, I could have done it,” Magnus said. “Besides, we’re not all as foolish as Lorenzo. If I was responsible, why would I report his disappearance to the Clave? How long would it have taken you to notice he was gone if I hadn’t said something?”
Alec opened and closed his mouth several times, at a loss for how to recover from the stumble. He wanted to say that he hadn’t meant the accusation, but the words wouldn’t come.
Isabelle placed a hand on his arm. “Alec didn’t mean that. Magnus, we just—”
Magnus cut her off with a sharp shake of his head. “Get out. For all we know, Lorenzo is no longer in the city, which means he’s no longer my responsibility. I have no intention of helping you. Find him or don’t. It’s not my problem.”
He ushered them to the door, and they all went. Not even Jace made a snide comment as the door closed in their faces.
Alec, Jace, and Isabelle stood in the hallway, staring at each other.
“Well, that could have gone better,” Jace said, trying and failing to appear unaffected.
Isabelle sighed and pushed past him to the stairwell. Alec followed, his feet moving on autopilot as he hurried down the stairs with Jace on his tail.
Once outside, Alec breathed in the chilly evening air, enjoying the way it stung at his throat and provided clarity. With what he’d been dreading now over, his entire body relaxed just in time for Isabelle to whirl around to face him, fire in her eyes.
“What the hell was that?” She gestured broadly at the apartment building behind him.
Alec stiffened. He resisted the urge to get defensive when he knew what he’d said to Magnus was stupid. “I’m sorry. It came out before I thought better of it. I know I shouldn’t have said it. Obviously I don’t think Magnus did anything to Lorenzo Rey.”
Isabelle’s expression softened. She looked between him and Jace and then up at Magnus’ floor with a frown. “There’s nothing we can do about it now,” she muttered.
“It’s not the end of the world.” Jace came up behind Alec and placed a hand on his shoulder. “From the sound of it, Magnus didn’t have any information that’s valuable to us anyway, so we’re not missing out on something crucial.”
Isabelle shook her head. “It would still be better to have him working with us. He’s the High Warlock. He has better connections not only with the warlocks of the city but with other Downworlders as well, and if whatever happened to Lorenzo is related to the Downworld, a warlock will be much better at uncovering it than us.”
She looked at Alec, but he remained quiet. Isabelle was right, but he couldn’t make himself go back upstairs and grovel at Magnus’ feet. He wanted to see Magnus even less than he had an hour earlier. The idea of working closely with him for an entire investigation made him nauseous.
“I’ll come back tomorrow by myself,” Isabelle said. “Let’s see if I can be more persuasive. I don’t think he hates me.”
“No.”
The intensity in his voice surprised all of them. Isabelle and Jace stiffened, turning to Alec with stunned expressions.
Alec cleared his throat. “Magnus made himself clear. He doesn’t want to work with us.” His own feelings about the situation went unsaid, but he knew it was clear on his face. He’d never been as good at hiding his emotions from his siblings as he wanted to be. “There’s no point in making him angrier and risking any future cooperation. If we reach a point where we absolutely need a warlock, then we’ll discuss what to do then. For now, this investigation will be conducted solely by the New York Institute.”
Isabelle and Jace shared an uneasy look that Alec ignored.
“We can find Lorenzo on our own,” he continued. “We don’t need to be able to perform magic to get to the bottom of this.”
Isabelle opened and closed her mouth several times like she wanted to argue but wasn’t sure how to convince Alec.
Because she couldn’t. There was no way Alec was facing Magnus anytime soon. He’d do everything in his power to assure that.
“Let’s go.” He set off in the direction of the nearest subway station before either of his siblings could protest.
For a few days, Alec was distracted by other work and didn’t spare much thought to Lorenzo’s disappearance. He asked Isabelle to gather information on her own and come to him when she had an actual lead.
He could only hope that she followed his instructions not to consult Magnus.
In the meantime, he focused on everything else that needed to be done, keeping himself as busy as possible to avoid the one case that he wanted to forget.
But he was the head of the Institute, and a missing warlock was a big deal. He’d known that he wouldn’t be able to avoid being pulled back into the case for long, so while he sighed when Isabelle arrived in his office and said she had an update he needed to hear, he didn’t protest.
“Have you found anything concrete?” Alec asked.
Isabelle pursed her lips. “All I’ve uncovered is rumors, but most of them revolve around the same thing, so there might be some validity to them.”
“Not necessarily,” Alec said with a frown. “All that means is that the rumors have the same original source. I’m sure there are a lot of Downworlders who want an explanation for Lorenzo’s disappearance. They’ll latch onto any explanation they hear that sounds like it might be valid. What are the rumors?”
Isabelle tapped her fingers against the arm of her chair. “They say that Lorenzo got himself trapped in some kind of…well, trap. Different rumors describe different sorts of traps, some physical objects and others more out there. A few have suggested other dimensions. One werewolf even told me that he suspects Lorenzo is lost within time itself.”
Alec ran a tired hand over his brow. Only the angels—and maybe the most powerful of demons, not that he wanted to consider that possibility—could possibly manipulate time itself. That was one type of magic he’d never heard of someone successfully pulling off.
“Lorenzo may be foolish, but he hasn’t gotten himself lost in time.” He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms against his chest. “Are there any theories that more than one person shared? Something that’s more believable?”
Isabelle scrolled through the notes she’d entered into her tablet. “Not really. Unless you count the fact that more than half of them are convinced that Lorenzo’s responsible for his own disappearance.”
“Like he’s faking it?”
If that was the case, Alec would have a lot to say to the warlock once they tracked him down, and Magnus would be even more furious with him. They’d never have to deal with Lorenzo in New York City again.
“Not exactly,” Isabelle said. “More like he did something stupid and got stuck in a trap that he meant to set for someone else.”
Alec tilted his head back, his eyes falling shut. He’d known he’d always personally found Lorenzo annoying, but it was telling how little his own people thought of his abilities. “If that were true, does anyone have a clue who he’d have wanted to set a trap for?”
“No. No one seems to care about that detail. Can’t say I blame them. It’s not exactly relevant anymore.”
Alec looked back at Isabelle. “So, you have no idea how to track this supposed trap down?”
“Not yet.” She shook her head. “But I’ll keep asking around. If it’s a spell, then another warlock should have an idea of what magic he performed. If he’s trapped in an actual structure of some kind, we should be able to track it down.”
Alec nodded. “Great. Keep looking into it, Iz. Thank you.”
She flashed him a smile. “Just doing my job.”
He tensed for a second, worried that she’d ask again about going to Magnus. After all, he was the best warlock in the city. He should have been the first person they went to for potential ideas about what Lorenzo could have done to himself. But Isabelle didn’t suggest it.
Once she left, Alec slouched in his chair again, staring back at the ceiling. Only Lorenzo Rey could get himself in such a stupid situation and make Alec’s own life more difficult in the process.
Chapter 3: Interlude 1: Lorenzo's POV
Notes:
We've reached the first interlude! These will be interspersed throughout the story and will share the POVs of characters other than Alec. This first one is Lorenzo. It's on the shorter side but provides a glimpse of what he's up to while he's missing.
Chapter Text
In yet another burst of frustration, Lorenzo kicked at the wall of the room out of a misplaced hope that it was all an illusion that would come crashing down. Nothing happened.
Nothing had happened since he’d been sucked inside the godforsaken box and found himself in a nondescript room.
A small wooden bed with stark white bedding was pressed into one corner. The walls that had started off as plain wood, the same color as the bed, had changed to a bright yellow paint while he was sleeping, like they were mocking him. The room contained no visible lights, yet there was a glow throughout the room that made it easy to see.
Not that there was anything to see except the bed and the damn yellow walls.
“At least give me a hint,” Lorenzo shouted towards the ceiling. “What do you want from me?”
He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was speaking to a godlike being who was looking down on him, even though the box could have easily heard him no matter what direction he spoke in. He also knew that it was far more likely a demon or even another warlock who had control over the box, not a god, but whoever it was, Lorenzo knew he was in a space that they had complete control over.
Believe it or not, he had tried to understand the box before purchasing it, and he thought he’d understood it well enough, and he understood that it knew something about him too. It had to, to work the way it did. That was why Lorenzo had been fascinated by the box in the first place. It was an excellent trap.
Whoever was sucked in could only get out by paying a price of the box’s choosing, and as the story went, that price was always perfectly tailored to be at great cost to the imprisoned. The idea of it had been too tempting to pass up. After all, none of the stories mentioned death, just humiliation. Lorenzo had wanted it in his back pocket should it ever prove useful in the future, not that he’d admit that part if questioned. (Shadowhunters were allowed to walk around loaded with weapons, yet when warlocks took measures to protect themselves, they were often punished for it.)
He absolutely had not planned to get sucked into the box himself. He’d put in the utmost care to avoid that very scenario, but he’d been sabotaged. He was sure that horrible woman had done this to him on purpose, though he wasn’t sure how. It was true that he had touched the box after Selina had warned him not to, but a simple brush like that shouldn’t have been enough. She should have been more explicit in her instructions when she handed it over to him.
Yes, this must have been planned. She’d always intended to imprison him herself. After all, she’d insisted on taking his money before she gave him the box. He could already hear her denying it, but he’d be damned if he let her get away with it.
The room gave no answer to his plea. Just like it hadn’t the last twenty either.
Lorenzo collapsed onto the bed. Holding his hand up, he issued some sparks from his fingertips. His magic still worked, as long as the spells did nothing to make him more comfortable or free him from the prison. Whatever spells controlled the box, they were complicated magic. That much was clear.
Despite what the Selina had said to him during their negotiations, he’d thought that a warlock would be able to bypass the spells somehow, but he was starting to realize that he’d been wrong.
He was never going to get out of this godforsaken box. He cursed everyone who had a hand in making it and who had passed it along through the years through various sales. If he ever got out, he wasn’t going to take his humiliation lying down.
“Don’t I at least deserve a hint? How else am I meant to know what you want from me?”
Nothing.
He’d tried flattery, anger, threats that he knew he couldn’t make good on…and nothing.
“At least I have an eternity to sort this out,” he muttered. “Considering the lack of help.”
Bland food appeared at regular intervals. The room clearly didn’t mean to starve him, even if it was torturing him in every other way imaginable.
He glared pointedly at the ceiling. “You’re lucky I’m immortal.”
Chapter 4: Chapter 3
Chapter Text
“I’ve found something interesting.” Isabelle slid her tablet across Alec’s desk.
He stared at the open file, still trying to refocus his attention away from the personnel requests he’d been looking at when Isabelle appeared in his office in the middle of the afternoon. Lorenzo’s name was in bold at the top of the screen. Alec bit back a sigh.
The file included every useful piece of information the Clave had collected on Lorenzo since they became aware of him a few centuries prior. The last time it had been updated was several days earlier when Isabelle noted down his disappearance after they received Magnus’ message, so whatever she wanted him to see, it wasn’t new.
He followed her pointing finger to a specific line of text.
Rey is known to have an interest in rare and valuable objects. He maintains a large collection of his own.
Alec frowned at Isabelle. “So? I could have told you that. I visited his house once, and he wouldn’t shut up about all the stuff he’s collected over the centuries. They’re all over the place. You can’t miss them.”
“Alec! Why didn’t you tell me that?”
He bristled. “It didn’t seem relevant to the situation. Loads of people collect things, especially immortal warlocks.”
Isabelle began pacing in front of his desk, a thoughtful look on her face.
“How is this meant to be relevant to his disappearance?” Alec asked.
Collecting valuable antiques was quite common among both warlocks and vampires. It was one way they created wealth. If they saved the correct objects, they could always get ahold of cash when needed, and there were ways to do it without creating a paper or digital trail that would raise questions from the mundanes when they noticed someone was oddly long-lived.
“What if he got in some kind of squabble over one of these objects and that’s what led to his disappearance?” Isabelle leaned over his desk, her eyes shining.
Alec wanted to return her excitement. Any lead would be useful after days of nothing, but he couldn’t strike up the enthusiasm she had over the idea that Lorenzo’s interests were related to his current predicament.
“Anything is possible,” he allowed, “but it’s not the most solid of leads. I highly doubt anyone would bother kidnapping a warlock unless he threatened them or stole something from them.”
Isabelle’s eyebrows rose, and Alec sighed.
“It’s possible,” he said without her needing to say anything, “but that’s still speculation. Admittedly, I mostly zoned out when Lorenzo was going on about how all that stuff came to be in his possession, but I don’t think any of it was stolen. Lorenzo may be annoying, but he’s given me no reason to believe he’s a criminal.” He skimmed through the rest of Lorenzo’s file, which was quite short considering his age. He didn’t get up to much that captured the Clave’s interest. “It doesn’t look like he has a history of breaking the law.”
“If the stuff was stolen, it’s not like he’d admit that to the head of the New York Institute.”
Alec rubbed at his brow. “By that logic, would he have shown me the stuff in the first place?”
“He could have hidden the stolen ones before you arrived.” She stared at him with wide, eager eyes.
Alec took a deep breath. “Look, Iz. It’s the best lead we have so far, so I absolutely think you should look into it. I just don’t want you to get your hopes up that you’re on the right track. We have no evidence that he’s done anything shady. To be honest, I think Lorenzo enjoys bragging too much to pull off being secretive.”
Despite his cautionary words, Isabelle’s smile widened.
“Don’t worry about me, Alec. I know nothing’s guaranteed, but I have a good feeling about this.” She picked up the tablet and smiled down at Lorenzo’s file. “I can’t really explain why, but it feels like the right track.”
Alec couldn’t say the same himself, but he hoped she was right. He was ready for the whole mess to be over.
In the aftermath of his breakup with Magnus, several aspects of Alec’s life shifted. His friends and family had done their best to cheer him up, and that had resulted in new routines, some of which stood the test of time.
One of those routines was Alec and Jace having lunch together every Wednesday afternoon, during which they weren’t allowed to talk about work. That last bit had been difficult for Alec at first, especially right after the breakup, when work had been the primary way he avoided thinking about Magnus. Over time, it became easier to talk to his parabatai about other topics, and he came to appreciate having a dedicated chunk of time where he wasn’t allowed to dwell on the long list of things he always had to do as head of the Institute.
While they occasionally visited somewhere new, most of their lunches took place at the same diner a block away from the Institute. Alec knew the menu like the back of his hand, but that only made him enjoy it all the more. They had the best omelettes he’d ever tasted.
The downside of not being able to talk about work was that many weeks he had nothing else to talk about, something that he knew Jace noticed as much as he did. The lunches encouraged Alec to try out new hobbies so that he’d have something to say, but nothing had stuck. It had just put him into an endless cycle of half-hearted attempts at finding something he enjoyed.
At least Jace had an active enough life to provide them with an ample number of conversation topics. At first, it had stung to hear about the ways in which his relationship with Clary was steadily progressing. Alec couldn’t help but dwell on the fact that he’d never have that experience with Magnus, but over time, he’d come to view Jace and Clary’s relationship as entirely its own entity, which made it easier not to compare the two.
Every so often though, Jace couldn’t help but bring up his worries, which was why Alec was always just a little bit nervous about where the conversation would lead every week.
“How are you feeling after seeing Magnus?” Jace asked that Wednesday, not long after they’d gotten their food.
They hadn’t really been able to talk about the trip out to Magnus’ apartment in Brooklyn in the days since. Alec had hoped it would fade from Jace’s memory before he had the opportunity to bring it up.
“No talking about work,” Alec reminded him. “That was a work trip.”
Jace rolled his eyes. “But we’re not talking about the work aspect of it. We’re talking about your feelings.”
“You get on me all the time for bringing up work, and now you’re going to fight me the one time I call you out for it?” He tried to pass it off as a joke, but there was no denying the edge in his voice.
It wasn’t enough to intimidate Jace.
“Yes.” He smirked. “Because you don’t care about the rule. You’re just trying to avoid the question.”
Alec sighed. He swirled two fries in ketchup and popped them in his mouth, but by the time he swallowed, Jace was still looking at him expectantly.
“What do you want me to say, Jace? Obviously it was hard.”
His parabatai frowned. “You’ve been going on dates, haven’t you? Has no one—”
“No.”
One thing they never talked about during their lunches was Alec’s long line of failed first dates. They weren’t worth rehashing, and dwelling on them only put Alec in a bad mood.
“Dating mundanes was always a bad idea.” Alec stared down at his plate. “What else am I supposed to do though? The Institute isn’t exactly swarming with queer men, and I don’t want to make things awkward with a subordinate anyway.”
Most heads of Institutes were already married when they were appointed to the post. After all, most Shadowhunters married young because they also died young. You didn’t have to worry about the sticky situation of dating people you also had power over if your spouse was leading the Institute at your side. The Clave had never bothered to set formal restrictions on who the head of an Institute could date for that reason, but Alec had enough to deal with without letting his love life create drama.
“There’s always Downworlders,” Jace said.
Alec flinched, and Jace’s smirk immediately dropped.
The possibility had occurred to him before, though it wasn’t much better than dating a local Shadowhunter. While he wasn’t in charge of the local Downworlders, he was their main point of contact when it came to their relations with the Clave, which was an even trickier situation in many ways.
His awkward situation with the High Warlock of Brooklyn since their breakup was a very potent reminder of what could go wrong if he dated among the Downworld.
“Or not,” Jace said slowly. He slapped his hand against the table. “There’s someone out there for you. You just have to find them.”
Alec bit back a retort. It was easy for Jace to say such platitudes when he’d stumbled into Clary at a random nightclub and got lucky that she was a Shadowhunter. That sort of thing didn’t happen twice.
And Alec didn’t cherish the idea of having to teach someone who had grown up as a mundane the truth about the Shadow World anyway. He’d come to appreciate Clary over the past few years, but the way she’d stumbled into their lives had been exhausting.
“Maybe you’re right.”
That was as optimistic of an answer as Alec could manage.
When Alec stepped into the rarely used conference room at the Institute behind Isabelle, Raphael was already sitting at one end of the table with his hands folded in front of him. Between the vampire’s suit and his stiff demeanor, Alec could almost trick himself into believing that he’d become a mundane with an office job.
Alec looked between Isabelle and Raphael. “What is this about? Has something happened with the Manhattan clan?”
Raphael scoffed. “My people are fine. Your sister is the one who called me here. I do not know why.”
He looked at Isabelle with the same curiosity Alec felt. Isabelle motioned for Alec to sit in the chair across from Raphael and then took the spot at the head of the table for herself.
“We agreed I should explore Lorenzo’s interest in rare artifacts,” she said to Alec. “Raphael is also a collector.”
Raphael raised an eyebrow. “You’ve called me here about my antique collection?” He narrowed his eyes. “If this is about how they were obtained, you have no proof I did anything illegal—”
Isabelle raised her hand. “Raphael, you’re not under any sort of investigation. I told you we needed help, and I meant it.”
She looked at Alec, motioning for him to explain.
Alec bit back a sigh. He did think Lorenzo’s hobby was the closest thing they had to a lead, but he hadn’t planned to pull other Downworlders into the investigation unless they became suspects.
“Lorenzo Rey has gone missing.”
Raphael didn’t look surprised, which confirmed Alec’s suspicion that word of Lorenzo’s disappearance was already spreading throughout the Downworld.
“Lorenzo Rey is a fool.” Raphael shrugged. “Whatever he’s done is the result of his own stupidity, and he’s not my responsibility. I have no interest in helping you find him.”
It sounded so close to what Magnus had said that Alec had to refrain himself from commenting on it. The only thing stopping him was the pain of knowing that Raphael would turn the comment around to hurt Alec.
“We just want to ask some questions,” Isabelle said with a smile.
Raphael’s demeanor softened ever so slightly when Isabelle was the one who spoke to him. Alec would never get used to Isabelle having a past with the prickly vampire. He couldn’t understand it.
“I suppose I can do that,” Raphael said reluctantly. “Though I’m afraid I won’t be of as much use as you hope. Rey has always been interested in flashy artifacts, while those I collect for myself are understated. I’m not looking to draw attention to my collection.”
“But you must have some idea about who he buys from.” Isabelle leaned forward, her eyes eager.
Raphael’s lips twitched up slightly at her excitement before he carefully rearranged his features into an uncaring mask. “I can make some guesses. They’re the same sort of brokers I avoid. Some of my clan have different tastes than me, and they would have a better idea of who Rey sought out. I suppose I can ask for their input.”
“Thank you,” Alec said. “We’re more than willing to pay you for the trouble.”
Raphael surprised him by shaking his head. “Don’t bother. It’s Isabelle asking, and as I said, I don’t suspect Lorenzo has gotten himself in trouble with anyone dangerous. Nothing I’m doing will risk mine or my clan’s safety. Consider it a favor.”
Isabelle’s smile widened, and Alec shook his own head. He couldn’t complain about that, even if he found it bizarre that Isabelle’s influence was still so strong after…whatever she and Raphael had had together was over.
“Alright then,” Alec said. “Unless you have any further questions, I guess we’re done here. You can let either Isabelle or me know about whatever you find.”
They stood, and Alec held out his hand for a shake. Raphael took it, grasping it tightly and dropping it after one shake.
“I’ll see you out,” Isabelle said.
Alec watched them leave.
He still remembered what a terrible state Isabelle had been in after their breakup. (If it could even be called a breakup. He was still confused about what the exact sort of relationship they’d had was.) Sure, Isabelle’s mental state at the time had been as much as, if not more, about the yin fen than Raphael, but he still couldn’t believe how well they managed to get along now.
It had taken years for the awkwardness to completely fade, but there was a real fondness in the way they interacted.
Alec couldn’t imagine having the same relationship with Magnus after everything they’d shared together. His heart tightened.
The way Isabelle approached relationships had baffled him when they were younger. When he was closeted and was terrified to even look at a boy for too long, he hadn’t understood how she could enter relationships so freely.
It wasn’t until much later that he realized she put up walls around herself much like he did, just in a different way. It had taken seeing her with Simon over the past few years for him to realize how much she’d hidden away from everyone before, even him and Jace.
Alec had thought he was making progress on opening up more himself, and in many ways he had. But he’d also undoubtedly regressed after Magnus broke his heart, and he didn’t know how to recover.
He was far from the first person to experience heartbreak, but he couldn’t rebound from it the way Isabelle always had. No matter how hard he tried, thoughts of Magnus were always there in the back of his head. He couldn’t escape them, and Lorenzo Rey, of all people, had managed to make that truer than ever.
A week passed before Alec found himself around the same table with both Raphael and Isabelle again. Raphael was in another carefully pressed suit, and he somehow looked as amused as he did annoyed.
“I was right,” he said with a smirk. “Rey is a victim of his own stupidity, nothing more.”
Alec sighed. That didn’t surprise him, but that fact alone also didn’t put them any closer to finding him.
“What did you find?”
“He went to a warlock in Park Slope who specializes in the exact sort of artifacts Rey is always so interested in. Her name’s Selina Hunt. He’s probably made a million purchases from her before. She’s the sort that can get you flashy items, but she enjoys bragging just as much as Lorenzo does because she thinks it drums up business. It wasn’t hard to get information from some of the clan who also do business with her.”
Isabelle leaned towards Raphael. “This warlock, did she do something to Lorenzo? Why would she harm a customer?”
“She didn’t. As I said, this was Lorenzo’s own stupidity. And maybe Selina Hunt’s as well. Word has it that Rey bought an extremely rare box, something Hunt had never seen before and that Rey was willing to purchase for a ridiculous sum.”
“A box?” Alec said flatly. “This whole fiasco centers around a box?”
He hadn’t seen the box for himself. Maybe it was a thousand years old and gorgeously decorated. Maybe it really was worth a lot of money, but as someone who’d never really understood the draw of antiques himself, it felt ridiculous.
“It’s not a normal box.” Raphael’s expression grew serious. “That part was harder to pin down. No one seems to know where the box came from. Either Hunt doesn’t know either or she’s concealing it. You see, the box is a trap. Whoever touches it becomes trapped inside.”
“Like a pyxis?” Isabelle asked.
Alec had only seen a pyxis once. They were no longer used for trapping demons with the frequency they once had been, but he understood why Isabelle made the comparison. They were boxes meant to trap a being inside, though Alec had never heard of one capable of capturing anything but demons.
Raphael shrugged off the comparison. “In the case of this box, it can be any living being, not only demons. There is meant to be a way to escape, but the box tailors that escape to the prisoner. The one in possession of the box has no control over it.”
Alec stared at him. “That sort of magic… I’ve never heard of anything like it before.”
“Like I said, neither had Hunt. That’s why she was bragging to so many people in Downworld about it, including other warlocks. None of them know how to create the enchantments on that box. It isn’t in any of the known spellbooks.”
“So,” Isabelle said slowly, “you’re saying Lorenzo bought this box and wound up trapped in it himself?”
“It’s the most likely answer, isn’t it?” Raphael said.
“You don’t think Hunt did it?” she asked.
“No.” Raphael scoffed. “She stopped talking about the box as soon as rumors started spreading about Rey’s disappearance. She didn’t want to be tied to it. If she was responsible, she never would have bragged about the box in the first place.”
“If this news is spreading around Downworld, why didn’t Magnus include it in his original report?”
Raphael’s gaze snapped to him. Alec hadn’t done a good job of hiding the bitterness in his voice.
“Magnus doesn’t care much for antiques,” Raphael said, something that might have been amusement coloring his voice. “He’s concerned with everything that’s new and modern to an extent that I’ve never encountered with another warlock. The only items he has from previous decades are things he bought in that decade that hold sentimental value to him. He hadn’t spoken to the right people before he came to you. If he actually cared about finding Lorenzo, he would have.”
Alec couldn’t argue with that. He still believed that Magnus was capable of just about anything he wanted to do.
He cleared his throat. The quicker they steered the conversation away from Magnus, the better. “So, this Selina Hunt, do you know where she lives?”
Raphael was unsurprised by the question. “Yes, but I recommend getting Magnus involved before you go to her. As you can imagine for someone who deals in objects with ambiguous origins, she’s not a fan of Shadowhunters. As High Warlock, Magnus would hold more influence over her. I think he’s your best shot at getting clear answers.”
“But you said it's magic that not even warlocks understand.” Alec paused, aware that he’d sounded too desperate not to have Magnus involved. Under different circumstances, he would absolutely have agreed with Raphael that involving Magnus was the best choice in dealing with an uncooperative warlock.
Raphael didn’t react to his emotional display. “That is true, but I still think it’s best.” He glanced at Isabelle. “Magnus can dig up more information on the box than I’d be able to as a vampire.”
Isabelle nodded, grinning slightly as she turned to Alec. “You know he’s right.”
Alec sighed and rubbed at his temple. “Fine.”
This wasn’t something he was going to get out of. Raphael was right. Even if they weren’t treating Hunt as a suspect, she wouldn’t take kindly to Shadowhunters showing up on her doorstep. Having the High Warlock on their side was their best bet at getting her to talk without too much fuss. Still, he didn’t like it.
“Magnus didn’t want to be involved unless he had to be,” he pointed out.
Raphael’s expression didn’t change. “He’s High Warlock. If nothing else, he takes that position seriously. He’ll help.”
Alec knew Raphael was right about that too. That was why he was starting to feel sick to his stomach.
Chapter 5: Chapter 4
Chapter Text
Alec sighed as he and Jace approached Magnus’ apartment building. Jace glanced over at him, chuckling at the look on his face before elbowing him in the arm.
“You knew this was going to happen eventually,” he said with a smirk. “One of the most infamous warlocks in New York went missing. We were always going to need Magnus’ help solving the mystery. The two of you just insisted on pushing off the inevitable.”
Alec glared at him, but all he received was a shrug in response.
Jace shrugged. “You know it’s true.”
The worst part was that Alec did know. He also knew that the process of finding Lorenzo would go ten times faster with Magnus’ help. None of that made him want to press the buzzer and alert his ex to his presence outside his apartment once again.
He couldn’t help himself from glancing up at Magnus’ windows like he had the last time they’d shown up at Magnus’ building. There was light shining through them, but that could just as easily have been a charm meant to ward off would-be troublemakers as it was real.
Before he could second guess himself, he stepped into the foyer of the building and pressed the buzzer for Magnus’ apartment. Behind him, Jace chuckled, apparently impressed by how quickly Alec overcame his hesitance.
Magnus responded to the buzzer quickly, his voice booming over the speaker. “Who has called on the High Warlock of Brooklyn?”
Alec bit back another sigh. Once, Magnus’ flair for the dramatic had made him smile. Now, it made him uneasy, especially because he knew how quickly Magnus’ demeanor would shift once he realized who he was speaking to.
“It’s Alec and Jace. We need to talk to you about Lorenzo Rey again.”
He was tempted to tack on a justification to make sure Magnus knew that they were only there because they had no other choice, but he stopped himself. Such a justification shouldn’t be necessary. Magnus already knew that Alec wouldn’t be there unless he had to be, not after the disaster of his last visit.
The silence stretched on long enough that Alec started to suspect that Magnus intended not to respond until they decided to leave on their own. He glanced over his shoulder at Jace, who shrugged. He was still smirking. Alec rolled his eyes as Magnus’ voice returned over the buzzer.
“Come up.”
The door into the building unlocked with a click before Alec could react.
His heart pounded in his chest as he and Jace hurried up to Magnus’ floor. Once again, Magnus was already standing in the doorway to his apartment when they got there. He wore a tight-fitting business jacket, like they were about to have some sort of formal meeting in an office setting. Alec tried not to notice how the jacket complemented Magnus’ build.
Magnus raised an eyebrow before they could speak. “You’re here about Lorenzo?”
Without waiting for an answer, he stepped aside and made a sweeping gesture to usher them into his apartment.
The decor was largely the same as the last time they visited, but it was still unfamiliar in a way that made Alec more uncomfortable than he wanted to admit. His gaze still sought out signs of the apartment he’d been intimately familiar with, but there was very little of it aside from some of the same books lining the shelves.
Magnus led them over to the sofa, where Alec and Jace sat down side-by-side.
“Isabelle sought out Raphael for more information about what antiques Lorenzo might have been buying and from whom,” Alec said. There was no use beating around the bush. The quicker he laid it out, the quicker the whole thing could be over with. “He was able to find out that Lorenzo Rey bought some kind of box from a warlock named Selina Hunt.”
Magnus sighed.
“You know her?” Jace asked, leaning forward with interest.
Magnus gave him a pointed look. “I know every warlock in the city. That’s part of my job.” He waved a dismissive hand through the air. “Yes, I know Selina. She makes a living selling rare objects. I find her annoying because of how tenacious she is when it comes to making sales. If she decides you should buy something from her, she won’t leave you alone until you give in and purchase it. But, ultimately, she’s harmless. I’ve never known her to sell anything cursed unless the buyer knew exactly what they were getting.”
Alec raised an eyebrow. Selling cursed objects was questionable even if the buyer knew what they were purchasing, but Magnus was pointedly not making eye contact with him, and Alec decided there were more pressing matters to worry about than what sort of sales were taking place among the warlocks of the city.
“Raphael says this box is a kind of trap,” Alec said. “Anyone who touches it gets sucked inside, and they can’t get out until they complete whatever terms of punishment the box decides to impose on them. The thing almost sounds sentient.”
He’d captured Magnus’ attention. The warlock stared at him, his lips pressed together.
“I’ve never heard of that exact object,” he said in a clipped tone. “And I’ll admit that I don’t like the sound of it. It’s not usually a good sign when those of us who are centuries old learn of a new sort of magic we’ve never heard of before.”
“Raphael said you were the best person to ask for help,” Alec said. He hoped flattery could still get him somewhere despite everything that had happened between them. He didn’t add that Raphael had also pointed out that it was Magnus’ job as High Warlock to take an interest in the case.
Magnus leaned back in his chair, looking far more like someone who was relaxing instead of someone helping out with an investigation.
“Let me get this straight. Your current theory is that Lorenzo was stupid enough to get himself trapped in a box that he himself bought while knowing full well what the box did?”
“Yes.” Alec could already tell this wasn’t going well, and he didn’t like it one bit.
Magnus laughed. “If that’s the case, then I say we leave him there. Let him figure out how to escape the box himself. It serves him right.”
Alec felt a surge of anger that he didn’t think was for Lorenzo’s sake. Maybe he’d been waiting for an opportunity to be angry with Magnus all along.
“We don’t know for sure if that’s the case, and as you pointed out, not even you knew such an object existed before now. Do you trust Lorenzo Rey of all people to handle such a thing carefully?”
Magnus frowned at a spot high on the wall opposite him. “You make a convincing argument,” he muttered. “Unfortunately.”
Alec bit back a grin. “Lorenzo may not have broken the law. As far as I know, the Clave doesn’t know that traps like this exist either, so I doubt there’s anything specifically written against them. We’d only be able to punish him if he’d used it to harm someone other than himself, and as far as I can tell, that isn’t the case. But I still think this is worth investigating even beyond Lorenzo’s own safety.”
Magnus gave an exaggerated sigh. “Fine. I’ll help. At least it sounds like we can wrap this up quickly. If what you’ve said is true, the box must be at Lorenzo’s house.”
“Sure, but it’s warded,” Jace said. “Breaking into a warlock’s house isn’t exactly a walk in the park.”
Magnus gave him a pitying look. It was the first time in a long time that someone had looked at Jace in such a way, and his parabatai didn’t know how to react, glancing between Magnus and Alec in confusion.
“I’m High Warlock.” Magnus raised his hand, letting blue sparks dance around his fingers. “Have more faith in me than that.”
Lorenzo lived in a house that would have been considered a mansion even if it wasn’t in New York City, but the fact that it was in the city made it an even more opulent display of wealth. Alec had long wondered how Lorenzo was able to afford the place. Many warlocks managed to build up wealth over centuries, but even Magnus, one of the oldest warlocks Alec knew, lived within an apartment in the city.
The house had always struck Alec as somehow being an illusion, though he couldn’t pinpoint how that would be exactly. There weren’t any glamours where, if you just peered through them, you would see a dilapidated shack, yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that Lorenzo had used magic to make the place seem grander than it truly was. It gave him an off-putting feeling that meant the grandeur didn’t affect him as much as it might have otherwise.
Magnus must have felt the same, considering the way he turned up his nose at the ornate front door as they stood in front of it. He held his hands up, detecting the wards that Lorenzo had set to protect the place. The air around the house glowed a deep blue for a few seconds before fading. Magnus lowered his hands and glanced over at Jace with a smirk.
“Lorenzo wants everyone to believe he’s more powerful than he is. He’d benefit from hiring another warlock to set his wards if he actually wants to keep other warlocks out.”
Jace shrugged and crossed his arms against his chest, looking irritated. Not because Magnus had been able to take down the wards—Alec knew that Jace had never really doubted Magnus’ power—but because Magnus had made him out to be foolish.
Alec stepped between the two of them before the situation devolved into an argument that they very much didn’t need.
“Thank you,” he told Magnus, ignoring the way Magnus’ cheeks darkened the tiniest bit.
He approached the door himself, still a little worried that he would trigger some trap that Lorenzo had set. While he believed Magnus that Lorenzo wasn’t nearly as powerful as he wanted people to believe, he had a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that a warlock’s house could be so easily invaded.
But, then, he’d always known that Magnus was one of the best. He and Jace would never have been able to get into Lorenzo’s house without his help.
Nothing happened when Alec pushed the door open. He stepped inside, ready to grab his bow if needed, but the foyer was empty, almost eerily so.
There were no signs of life in the entire place. The only sound was the front door clicking shut behind Jace.
Alec had had the misfortune of visiting Lorenzo at his house twice, but without Lorenzo present, the house looked even more like some kind of historical mansion where various artifacts had been carefully placed to be noticeable by everyone who entered.
Except Lorenzo hadn’t gathered these objects with the hope of teaching bits of history. They were just meant to show off.
“How garish.” Magnus’s nose wrinkled in disgust as he looked at a low table against one wall that was littered with a few vases and other decorative objects, none of which were box-like.
He had to agree. He’d never considered himself a visual person—his plain, worn outfits were testament to that. If someone were to ask his opinion on if something looked good, he’d shrug and admit he didn’t know, but even he could tell that Lorenzo’s tastes were over the top.
“We should split up,” Jace said. He was scanning the area too, but he didn’t care about Lorenzo’s decorating choices. He was focused on the mission. “We’ll cover more ground that way. I can search down here while the two of you go upstairs.”
Alec’s stomach clenched. “If we’re splitting up, shouldn’t Magnus and I search separate parts of the house?”
Jace looked at him with a falsely neutral expression. “There are only two floors.”
“There’s probably a basement,” Alec muttered, not that he could confirm that there was. There were no doors that immediately stood out as leading to one.
He glanced at Magnus, but he was already walking towards the staircase without looking back at Alec.
If he was going to act like there was nothing between them, then Alec would do the same.
“Just don’t touch any boxes you find, no matter how innocent they look,” he told Jace. “The last thing we need is one of us getting trapped too.”
He followed Magnus up the stairs, pointedly ignoring Jace’s knowing gaze. They were there to find any hints of where Lorenzo might be—or, if they were really lucky, Lorenzo himself. Alec was a professional; he could behave professionally. There was no reason to feel strange or off kilter. He was the Head of the New York Institute.
Maybe if he said it enough times he could actually behave like he was.
The nice thing about being sent upstairs was that it was divided into individual rooms instead of being more open like downstairs, which gave Alec and Magnus an excuse to branch off from each other. Still, they traveled down the hallway more or less together, with Magnus looking into the doors on the left and Alec on the right.
There were a lot of items in every room they looked at. Alec was able to switch the Shadowhunter side of his brain on as he searched for anything that looked like it might be what they were searching for.
He certainly didn’t have the knowledge needed to identify most of what he was looking at, but nothing was particularly box-like. He supposed he should be grateful that Lorenzo didn’t collect music or jewelry boxes, as then their job would have been so much harder.
After his search of the second room didn’t turn up anything, he went back out into the hall at the same time Magnus emerged from the room across from his.
It was clear from Magnus’ face that he hadn’t discovered anything either. Alec gave a slight shake of his head, fighting against the urge to start up a conversation that would only become awkward, but each time he came out of a room, it was harder to resist the urge.
He swore Magnus’ gaze lingered on him too.
Finally, Magnus broke the silence.
“With each room, the decorating choices get worse.”
Laughter exploded from Alec before he could contain himself. “God, it is awful, isn’t it?”
Magnus laughed too. For a minute, it was like they’d gone back in time to when things were easy between them. Alec tried to grasp onto it, but the mere knowledge that it was fleeting created an ache in the pit of his stomach. His smile became forced.
“We should keep searching.” He motioned at the next door over he shoulder.
There were only two more rooms left, one each on both sides of the hall. Magnus nodded, and they turned and went in their respective doors.
Alec did his best to focus, but he was more distracted than ever. Thankfully, there wasn’t much to look at. The room he’d gone in held an ornate piano that Jace would have been more interested in than he was. The fall board over the keys was covered in a light layer of dust. If Lorenzo ever played, he hadn’t in a while.
There was a cabinet along one wall. When Alec opened the drawer, all he found was sheet music. Lorenzo may not have played, but he at least wanted the illusion that he did.
Alec slid the last drawer shut and returned to the hall. Magnus wasn’t finished in his last room. Alec hesitated before leaning against the wall to wait, telling himself that it was because leaving Magnus behind would make it look like he was purposefully avoiding him.
When Magnus returned, he was empty handed. He observed Alec, who stiffened under his gaze.
“Find anything?” he asked.
Alec shook his head as he pushed off from the wall. “Just a piano and some music. I’m guessing nothing turned up for you either?”
Magnus shook his head, and they set off for the stairs together.
The uneasy atmosphere between them hadn’t eased, and Alec was grateful when they reached the first floor and could hear Jace rummaging around in a nearby room.
He straightened up from the fireplace he’d been sticking his head into, his eyes darting between Alec and Magnus. “You didn’t find anything?”
Alec shook his head as Magnus said, “No boxes, not even flimsy cardboard ones. It’s actually impressive that Lorenzo owns this much stuff and not even one thing is box-shaped.”
“That might be lucky for him.” Jace smirked. “Otherwise, he might have ended up in this situation sooner.”
Magnus waved off the attempt at a joke, and Alec bit back a smile at the offended look on Jace’s face.
“There’s nothing to be done here,” Magnus said. “I can’t detect any traces of suspicious magic either. The only thing here is faint traces of spells Lorenzo must have performed before he disappeared.”
“If the box isn’t here, where would it be?” Jace asked.
“We’ll have to ask that other warlock,” Alec said. “Selina Hunt.”
He turned to Magnus, who nodded with a serious look on his face.
“She won’t want to talk to us. I’m afraid she’s not my biggest fan, and she dislikes Shadowhunters even more. Plus, she’ll know why we’re there. By now, most of Downworld knows that Lorenzo is missing.”
“Do you think she’ll make a run for it?” Alec asked.
Magnus shook his head. “That would be admitting guilt. She won’t be so crafty about it. I don’t actually think she’s broken any laws. Skirted the lines, sure, but not broken. She’ll be aware of that and play it to her advantage, but she won’t go easy on us by telling everything she knows either.”
Alec ran a hand over his brow. “Let’s deal with that tomorrow. I don’t think I can take another minute of thinking about magical boxes.”
And he wanted—needed—to get away from Magnus before his heart was ripped from his chest.
“Sounds good to me.” Magnus was already walking towards the door as he went. “I’ll send you the address tomorrow morning.”
Just like that, he was gone.
Jace came to stand at Alec’s shoulder, staring at the door.
“I take it that the two of you didn’t mend things during your time alone together.”
Alec didn’t dignify the comment with a response.
Chapter 6: Chapter 5
Chapter Text
As soon as they returned to the Institute, Isabelle intercepted Alec and Jace in the Ops Center before Alec could slip away to his own room undetected. Jace flashed him a smirk and hit him on the shoulder before he escaped, leaving Alec behind to accept his fate.
“How did it go?” Isabelle asked, walking along at Alec’s side as they crossed the room.
He let his eyes scan the Ops Center as if he was observing everyone doing their jobs when in reality he just didn’t want to look at Isabelle. She was too good at reading the emotions on his face.
“We searched Lorenzo’s house, but we didn’t find anything there that seems like it could be the box we’re concerned about. We’re going to visit Selina Hunt tomorrow morning.”
“‘We’?” Isabelle leaned close, peering up at him like her question was purely innocent and she wasn’t fishing to confirm a specific piece of information.
Alec rolled his eyes. “Me, Magnus, and…” He hesitated. He hadn’t actually checked that Jace was going with them. He’d just assumed that would be the case since all three of them had been there while discussing it, but it would be just like Jace to back out and make Alec go alone with Magnus.
That was a bridge to cross in the morning. He would choose to believe that Jace was coming until told otherwise. He’d been through enough that day already. He didn’t need the frustration of dealing with Jace’s answer that night.
“And Jace,” he concluded firmly. “You should come too. If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t be considering Selina Hunt as an important person in the investigation.”
Isabelle looked thoughtful, like she was actually considering the idea and not dismissing it out of hand, but that didn’t mean he liked where her train of thought was taking her. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Three Shadowhunters and the High Warlock showing up on Selina Hunt’s doorstep will make her nervous and less likely to talk, won’t it?”
They reached Alec’s room. Alec reluctantly let Isabelle follow him in. As much as he tried to keep his bedroom a place where he could relax and not worry about anything outside its four walls, his siblings often had other ideas.
“Maybe you’re right,” he said reluctantly.
He tugged off his shoes and tossed them into the corner without care before sitting down on his bed. Isabelle hovered just inside the door. At least she didn’t seem keen to stay long.
“You might think about leaving Jace at home too.” She grinned at him like she wasn’t suggesting something that made his stomach violently contort.
Alec sighed. The worst part was that it wasn’t just a convenient suggestion to get him and Magnus alone. That was a nice bonus in Isabelle’s mind, but she was right that the head of the New York Institute and the High Warlock of Brooklyn were already a lot to throw at a warlock who was being questioned. If they outnumbered her, she wouldn’t listen to Alec’s reassurances that she wasn’t a suspect and that they were just looking for information.
“We’ll see in the morning,” Alec said. “Right now, I need some rest.”
Isabelle nodded and reached behind her for the door handle. “Of course. You’ve got to get your beauty sleep before you see Magnus again.”
Alec rolled his eyes. “You’re lucky I’m the mature adult in our relationship, or I’d throw something at you.”
Isabelle left, her laughter carrying behind her.
True to his word, Magnus texted Selina Hunt’s address to Alec early the next morning. Alec looked over the address while he was having his first coffee of the day in the cafeteria. He turned his phone to show Isabelle and Jace the screen where they sat across from him at the table.
“That’s weirdly close to the Institute,” Jace noted. “You’d think someone with as strong an aversion to Shadowhunters would have chosen to live somewhere else.”
It was true. Selina Hunt’s house was only a few blocks away, something he was secretly grateful for because it meant he wouldn’t have to make a long trip with Magnus or ask him to Portal him anywhere.
He stored his phone in his pocket.
“Magnus says he’s ready to go whenever, so as soon as we finish up, we should head over.”
Isabelle and Jace shared a look that made Alec’s stomach sink. It wasn’t unexpected. He’d known they’d push back after his conversation with Isabelle the previous evening, but he’d still hoped that, if he just acted like they were coming along, they’d go along with it.
“You should go by yourself,” Isabelle said. “You’re more likely to get Selina to talk that way.”
“By that measure, wouldn’t you or Jace be a better choice to accompany Magnus?” Alec gripped his coffee cup tightly. “That’s less intimidating than the head of the New York Institute showing up at her door.”
Isabelle’s amused smile was irritating. “But you and Magnus work better together.”
Alec raised an eyebrow. “How do you figure that? We can barely look each other in the eye.”
Isabelle shrugged, but it was Jace that answered.
“The two of you still understand each other. It’s there beneath the awkwardness. Besides, I have to train Clary and SImon on how to fall properly today.”
“And I promised Max that I’d tutor him in Latin over video call.” Isabelle grinned widely. “You don’t want to disappoint our little brother, do you?”
They both stared at him with wide, innocent eyes until he sighed and shook his head. He picked at his eggs. He’d only been awake for an hour, and he already felt exhausted despite the caffeine he was loading into his body.
It was going to be a long day.
When Alec arrived at the address, Magnus was already there, leaning against a lamppost. He’d dressed in a business jacket for the occasion in what was likely an attempt to stress—whether to himself, Alec, or Selina Hunt—that this visit was nothing but High Warlock business.
As if Alec would forget.
He tugged the sleeves of his worn black sweater down around his hands. To be fair, his own outfit basically was business attire for Shadowhunters. It wasn’t gear—he hadn’t wanted Selina to jump to conclusions about their reasons for being there—but it was similar to gear in style.
He cleared his throat as he came to a stop by Magnus, raising his hand in a short, awkward wave that Magnus didn’t bother returning as he regarded Alec with disinterest. It would have been insulting if Alec wasn’t so certain that the disinterest was carefully crafted.
“Alone today?” Magnus asked.
Alec put all of his effort into sounding nonchalant. “Yeah, Izzy and Jace thought anyone else coming would put Selina Hunt off talking to us.”
Magnus nodded and pushed off the lamppost. “They’re probably correct. You should let me do the talking. She may not be my biggest fan either, but as High Warlock, she can’t dismiss me as easily.”
She shouldn’t dismiss Alec that easily either. While many Downworlders understandably chafed at Clave authority, he did have the authority to arrest them for any wrongdoing. In many ways, he could punish them more effectively than Magnus could. But he wasn’t about to say as much. Instead, he nodded and followed Magnus to the door, happy to let him take the lead.
Selina Hunt lived in an unassuming brownstone that no one would look twice at. It only took a few seconds for her to respond to Magnus’ knock, a look of distrust already on her face.
Alec blinked, immediately thrown by her dark eyes. He’d seen eyes brown enough that they appeared black in some lighting, but that wasn’t the case with Selina. Her irises were a true, deep black that blended in with her pupils, and her black hair only emphasized the darkness of her eyes. Selina had stopped aging at a later point than Magnus. She appeared as if she was middle-aged, and she was short, shorter even than Clary. If they stood side-by-side, Alec would tower over her. So much for trying not to be intimidating.
Her gaze flickered from Magnus to Alec, and she pulled the door towards herself until only her face was visible in the crack. “What do you want?”
Magnus’ lips twisted in a sardonic grin. “We don’t mean any trouble, Selina. We just want to talk.”
She didn’t look away from Alec, who struggled to appear friendly. He’d never seen black eyes on anyone but a demon, and no matter how much he tried, he couldn’t shake his unease.
“Shadowhunters never want to just talk.”
Without waiting for a response, she slammed the door in Magnus’ face. He stared at it for a few seconds before turning back to Alec, real amusement in his eyes. “I didn’t expect her to open the door, so things are already turning out positive.”
He flourished his hand in the air, and the door unlocked with a click. It slowly creaked open, revealing Selina still standing on the other side with fire in her eyes.
“I do believe this is breaking and entering.”
“I haven’t crossed over the threshold.” Magnus waved a dismissive hand in the air. “Selina, neither Alec nor I want trouble. We really do just want to talk.”
He looked over his shoulder at Alec, who finally walked up the stairs and came to stand right behind Magnus’ shoulder.
“Magnus is right. This isn’t an arrest. We want to find Lorenzo Rey, and we’re curious what you know. We’re just here for information that could help.”
“Well, ‘want’ is a strong word,” Magnus muttered. “But, yes, we seek your assistance. That is all.”
“Do you usually break into the homes of the people you ‘seek assistance’ from?”
The memory of breaking into Lorenzo’s house the previous day made Alec sheepish. He pushed the feeling aside.
“Look, one conversation,” he said. “That’s all we’re asking for.”
Selina stared at them for a beat before stepping aside and gesturing for them to come in.
Her house was as unassuming on the inside as it was on the outside. For someone who sold artifacts for a living, she owned very little that wasn’t practical in some way. She led them to her living room and motioned for them to sit on a plain gray couch that looked at least ten years old.
Magnus leaned back on the sofa and crossed his legs, somehow looking like the picture of comfort. Alec envied that about him. The cushion he sat on sagged in the middle, and there was no way to appear dignified as he sank into its depths. His only explanation was that Magnus had done some sort of spell to prevent the same from happening to him.
“Let’s cut to the chase,” Magnus said. “Lorenzo Rey is missing, and the talk of the Downworld is that you sold him a mysterious box that doubles as a trap right before he did.”
Alec expected Selina to lie. After all, she’d been quite nervous about speaking to them, but now that they were in her house, she seemed to have accepted that the gig was up and that being forthright was her best bet.
“I did sell him the box,” she said, “and I believe you’re right that he’s inside it.”
Magnus’ frown deepened. “And you didn’t think to tell anyone about it?”
Selina shrugged. “There’s no way to remove him from the box. It only lets out those who complete their payment. There’s nothing you can do. Lorenzo’s fate from here on out is up to him alone.”
Alec stared at her, searching for signs of guilt. He couldn’t find any. He was starting to wonder if her reluctance to speak to them had been an act because she was the picture of calm now that they were speaking.
“If you sold him the box, you’d be able to recognize it if you saw it, right?” Alec asked.
She turned to him. Her black irises were becoming a little less shocking each time she looked at him. “I would, but that doesn’t matter. We don’t need to search for the box. I have it in my possession already.”
Alec’s eyes widened. “You have it?”
Magnus’ own expression didn’t change. “You realize how bad that looks, Selina.”
She shrugged, still without a hint of worry. “When I heard that Lorenzo was missing, I knew he must have done something stupid, despite my very clear warnings of how the box worked and how he should avoid becoming trapped within it. The fact that he didn’t properly heed my warnings is his own fault, but with him gone, I knew the box could become dangerous for those who went looking for him. So I took it from his home for safekeeping.”
Magnus and Alec shared a look. So the weak wards Magnus had removed from Lorenzo’s house the day before had been put up by Selina after she’d already removed Lorenzo’s herself. If she’d actually been attempting to keep people out, then that was a good sign of their chances against her if things went south.
Not that Alec was hoping for that outcome. He was even more hopeful that they could resolve things peacefully than he had been before they’d visited her.
“Where is the box?” Alec asked.
Selina snapped her fingers and a plain box made of white oak appeared on the coffee table between them. There was no decoration. The box had never even been varnished.
“Hmm,” Magnus hummed. “Not quite what I was expecting.”
Alec was inclined to agree. It looked like the sort of thing someone just getting into woodworking would make as their first project, not a powerful magical object.
Selina shot Magnus an offended look. “It’s about what the box can do, not what it looks like.”
Magnus shrugged off the comment.
Alec decided to speak up before a potential argument. “You’re sure Lorenzo is in there?”
“Almost positive.” Selina peered at the box like she could see through it. “The box should be safe to touch while he’s inside. I don’t believe the box can take more than one prisoner”—Alec shivered at her word choice—”at a time, but I would not take my chances. I haven’t touched it since I collected it.”
“That really is how it works then?” Alec asked. “You touch the box and get sucked inside?”
Selina nodded. “That’s what I’ve been told. I wasn’t foolish enough to test it for myself like Lorenzo was.”
Alec leaned forward, peering at the box like it might reveal its secrets to him. “There’s no way to communicate with him while he’s in there?”
“Not that I know of,” Selina said with a shake of her head.
Alec straightened up. “I’m going to have to confiscate the box. The Silent Brothers have more resources to inspect how it works. They may even get the Spiral Labyrinth involved.”
Selina’s eyes narrowed. “This is the problem with Shadowhunters. Your sense of superiority knows no bounds. You waltz into my house and try to steal things.”
“You sold the box to Lorenzo,” Alec pointed out, careful to keep his voice calm. “It’s not yours, and we’re trying to help him.”
Selina sniffed, crossing her arms against her chest. “If you think he’d prefer the Silent Brothers to have the box over me, then you truly are nothing more than a conceited Shadowhunter.”
“Is he?” Magnus regarded Selina with a cool look. “To be frank, you’re lucky I’m not banning you from the city. Selling an object as unknown and dangerous as this… What were you thinking? We both know that’s not warlock magic.”
That was news to Alec. He wanted to ask Magnus about what he could sense about the charms on the box, but he didn’t dare say anything in front of Selina. If Magnus had any theories that she didn’t, it was better that it stayed that way. Alec didn’t yet trust her.
Selina did her best to appear indifferent despite the flicker of worry in her eyes. “I was honest with Lorenzo. He knew the risks. Him choosing not to listen to me is his own fault.”
“That’s the sole reason why I’m considering this a warning.” Magnus stood, forcing Selina to tilt her head back to look at him. “Be more careful next time.”
Selina stared straight forward, her eyes unfocused. Alec stood but hesitated before he went to pick up the box. Even the slight uncertainty that Selina had expressed over whether it could hold a second prisoner made him pause.
He turned to Magnus. “Uh, could you?”
Magnus motioned at the box before Alec had finished the question. The box rose into the air, encapsulated in a shimmer of blue.
“I’ll help you bring it back to the Institute,” Magnus said.
Alec’s heart raced. He hadn’t thought about needing Magnus’ help with transporting the box, but even if Magnus left the magical field around the box, Alec would have no way of moving it himself. Magnus going with him was necessary, not something either of them wanted.
He gave a short nod, pointedly avoiding glancing at Selina. He felt like his emotions were on display despite his efforts to conceal them.
Without waiting for any further confirmation, Magnus made another gesture, and a Portal opened in the middle of Selina’s living room. He inclined his head. “After you.”
Alec hurried through the Portal like it would help him escape.
Chapter 7: Chapter 6
Chapter Text
Alec stepped out of the Portal in front of the Institute. Magnus followed a second later, the box still hovering in the air beside him. Alec acknowledged him with a slight nod and motioned for him to follow him inside.
No one gave them more than a passing glance as they walked through the first floor of the Institute, but Alec still felt like they were being watched. He was on edge, waiting for Isabelle or Jace, in particular, to appear, but they never did.
“Where are you planning to keep it?” Magnus asked.
Alec headed for the elevator that provided access to the basement. It was where they detained people before sending them to Idris, but it was also where they kept anything that needed to be secured, like poorly understood artifacts that may or may not be housing a warlock.
“There are safes downstairs.” He pressed the down arrow button, not glancing over at Magnus as he came to a stop at his side. “We can put the box in one of them until we figure out a better arrangement.”
The elevator doors slid open, and Alec motioned for Magnus to get on first. The box hovered in the air between them, but even though Alec was thankful for the barrier, being alone with Magnus in the enclosed space was stifling. He stared at the elevator doors, hopping out the second they slid open. He hurried towards the last locked door that lined the hall and tugged a key out of his pocket.
“Not even an Open rune will work on this lock,” he said as he turned the key. “It’s specially designed to protect whatever’s inside from being accessed by magic.”
Inside, the room was bare concrete on all six sides. A long, empty metal table sat in the center of the room.
“You can put it down here,” Alec said, gesturing at the tabletop.
Magnus lowered the box to the table, but the force field still surrounded it, preventing it from touching the table’s surface.
“You’re sure it’ll be secure in here?” He peered at Alec with suspicion that Alec found somewhat insulting considering everything they’d gone through together.
“Yes. I’m the only one with a key, and like I said, runes don’t work on the door. I wouldn’t mind some extra protection, though, if you want to cast some spells.”
He stood in the center of the room as Magnus walked around the perimeter. The air in front of the walls shimmered in Magnus’ signature blue. Alec watched him work, quickly glancing away whenever Magnus turned back in his direction.
“Those wards should keep people out,” Magnus said when he returned to him in the center of the room. “It should also set off an alarm and send an alert to both of our phones if anyone steps foot inside the room. That includes Lorenzo, if he somehow manages to get out of the box himself.”
Alec stared down at the box. He hadn’t considered Lorenzo getting himself out a possibility despite being told how the box worked. He shivered at the thought of Lorenzo finding himself out of the box only to realize he was locked inside a different enclosed space.
“Good thinking,” he said. “We wouldn’t want to live him in here longer than necessary.”
He suspected they would need to take Lorenzo in custody, at least briefly, once he was extracted from the box, but the room they were standing in hadn’t been designed for human prisoners.
Alec hadn’t even known Magnus could set up a spell that sent messages to his phone, but then again, part of him still believed that Magnus was capable of just about anything.
Magnus waved his hand over the box, and the force field vanished, leaving the box to clatter to the tabletop. “I can’t keep a spell like that enclosing the box. Lorenzo would be compressed if he did manage to get out of the box itself.”
Alec nodded absentmindedly.
They both lingered. There was nothing left to do about the box until they figured out more about how it worked, but Alec wasn’t sure what to say to Magnus next.
Did he request his help with freeing Lorenzo? He knew he should contact the Silent Brothers to see what they knew about similar artifacts, and they would probably contact the Spiral Labyrinth if warlock assistance was needed. Magnus had already said that the box wasn’t warlock magic. That likely meant that he couldn’t help with actually freeing Lorenzo, but the Spiral Labyrinth was said to possess knowledge about all sorts of magic not directly accessible to warlocks.
Alec should have welcomed the assistance of the Brothers. He’d spent the last several days nervous over how much time he had to spend with Magnus, yet suddenly, he didn’t want him to leave.
In the end, it wasn’t his choice.
Magnus cleared his throat and stepped towards the door. “Well, I have clients to attend to. It was nice working alongside you, Mr. Lightwood.”
With nothing more than a slight nod of the head, he flounced out of the room, leaving a forlorn Alec behind.
Alec didn’t contact the Silent Brothers that day. He meant to, but his mind was all over the place after Magnus left. It didn’t help that there was a long list of other tasks he hadn’t gotten to because of Lorenzo’s disappearance.
Before he knew it, it was the following afternoon, and he hadn’t done anything to deal with the situation with the box and Lorenzo.
He could admit to himself that he wasn’t as concerned about rescuing Lorenzo as he would have been someone else. If the box let people out after they paid some sort of price, he assumed Lorenzo’s life wasn’t in immediate danger. The box seemed to be capable of keeping him alive.
Still, he was going to get around to it by the following evening. He swore he was.
The alert on his phone just happened to go off before he got around to it.
His stomach jumped to his throat when he read what was on the screen. Someone was inside the room where they’d secured the box. He hadn’t expected Lorenzo to get himself free anytime soon, but either he had or someone else had managed to break in, which should have been impossible. The key was still in Alec’s pocket. He hadn’t felt right parting from it and had kept it in his bedroom overnight.
He rushed to the basement to find the alarm above the room blaring, and a shocked Andrew Underhill hovering outside the door, unable to get inside without the key in Alec’s possession.
“Alec! Thank the Angel you’re here. I was just about to come get you.”
Alec pushed past him and quickly unlocked the door, but he couldn’t have been prepared for the sight that met him.
A furious Lorenzo Rey stood in the center of the room in an outfit that defied words. He was wearing every color imaginable somehow, and the items of clothing were just as mismatched as the color scheme. Judging by how bulky the clothes were, he was wearing at least five layers, if not more. Bits of the lower layers peaked through at the hems. The top layer, as far as Alec could tell while blinking at the mess, was rainbow-striped pants that were warped by all the layers beneath them and a fuzzy sweater in a blotchy pattern that looked like a flock of birds had eaten paint and then defecated on it.
For some reason, despite the exorbitant amount of clothes he wore, Lorenzo was barefoot.
He rounded on Alec the second he stepped into the room. “You! How dare you!”
Out of sheer shock at the sight in front of him, Alec stumbled backward until he found himself against the wall.
“Me?” Alec asked. “What did I do besides try to help you?”
Lorenzo sputtered as he struggled to come up with an answer. “This is outrageous!” he exclaimed, his fists pumping up and down in the air as best he could with the layers working against him.
Alec still wasn’t clear how he was at fault, but Lorenzo was pacing the room, muttering angrily about revenge. He paused every so often to toss a frightened look at the box, which still sat on the table looking like nothing more than a plain, unnoteworthy box.
Alec turned to look at Andrew, who was staring at Lorenzo with wide eyes from the doorway, but before Alec could give him any instructions, Magnus nearly bowled him over rushing into the room, his phone still clutched in his hand.
Alec had forgotten that Magnus said he’d set up the charm to notify him as well.
He wasn’t as carefully dressed as he’d been the day before. His hair was windswept, and he had on a t-shirt and jeans, yet Alec found the outfit to be particularly flattering.
“Magnus Bane!” Lorenzo’s attention snapped to the other warlock. He stormed forward, shoving his finger in Magnus’ face. “I should have known you were responsible for putting me in here!”
Magnus raised an eyebrow, not so much as flinching at Lorenzo’s proximity. “Responsible for what? Making sure you were in a secure location while trapped in that box and unable to defend yourself? I’m certainly not the one who trapped you in there, Lorenzo. We both know that, don’t we?”
Lorenzo was red-faced. He took another step toward Magnus. Alec mirrored him, coming closer to the pair of them, and put a hand on Lorenzo’s chest, pushing him back. The warlock stumbled, his balance precarious. By the Angel, he really did have more layers of clothes on than should be possible. It was like pressing down on a stack of clothes instead of touching a person.
“Lorenzo,” Alec said, “Magnus has done nothing wrong, and you know it. You should be thankful you’re not in more trouble, considering how dangerous of an object you were messing with.”
A flicker of worry flashed in Lorenzo’s eyes. “I haven’t harmed anyone.”
“No,” Alec said, “but why exactly did you want a box like that?”
“I have many rare items.” Lorenzo pulled himself to his full height, doing his best to appear dignified despite his outfit. “I’m a collector. That’s what we do. I can assure you that the box was not purchased to be used as a weapon.”
Alec searched Lorenzo’s face. He didn’t think the other warlock was lying. After all, he’d seen Lorenzo’s house. That box was the exact sort of thing he’d love to brag about.
“That may be the case, but you’ve clearly demonstrated that you can’t be trusted with something like this.”
Anger sparked in his eyes, but before he spoke, Magnus waved a hand in the air. A simple white button up, a pair of black slacks, and simple loafers appeared on the edge of the table.
“Before we continue this discussion,” Magnus said, “you should get changed. I can’t bear to look at you any longer.”
Lorenzo looked down at his clothes as if he was remembering them for the first time. His face flushed again.
“This was how I escaped the room,” he said, sounding far more uncertain than he had previously. He eyed them distrustfully. “I’d like to see either of you escape that box with your dignity intact.”
Alec didn’t like the way Lorenzo was looking at them. He took a step closer to Magnus.
“The outfit may be horrendous, but I would wear it better than you, Rey,” Magnus retorted.
“Magnus,” Alec said warningly, but he was ignored.
Lorenzo took a step closer. “You’re as high and mighty as ever, Bane. You think you’re so superior to the rest of us because of who your father is, but not even you could get past that box’s defenses.” His smirk grew, threatening to take over his face. “I’d love to see how it would humiliate the famous Magnus Bane.”
Magnus laughed. “Well, now you’re just flattering me, Lorenzo, but it doesn’t take much to impress the likes of you.”
Lorenzo threw his head back in laughter. “You? Impress me?” His eyes darted to Alec, whose stomach sank. “You’ve been hopelessly pining over your ex for years. That’s all you do, isn’t it, Magnus? You fall in love; they break your heart; and you walk around like a lovesick puppy for decades. It’s pathetic.”
Alec felt like he was going to be sick. For all the bad blood there was between Lorenzo and Mangus, he’d never imagined that finding Lorenzo would devolve into this.
Magnus’ hands glowed blue. Lorenzo’s eyes flashed in fear at the sight. He lashed out, his own magic glowing gold as he gestured at the box, which rose up from the table and flew straight towards Magnus’ face.
Alec’s heart clenched. He lunged forward in desperation, reaching for the box. Magnus put his hands up to block it, but when he saw Alec, his eyes widened. He launched himself towards him, reaching out to knock his hands away.
The box brushed against their fingers at the same moment, and suddenly, the room around them blurred as they were pulled inside.
Alec’s feet hit the wooden floor, and he stumbled into the nearest wall. Somehow, Magnus stayed steady on his feet beside him.
The room itself was made of the same wood as the outside of the box. It was sparsely furnished, with only a single bed pushed against the far wall. The room was small. If Alec were to lay down on the floor, two of him would make the length of the wall, and the ceiling only rose a few inches taller than his head.
Already, it made him claustrophobic. He leaned back against the wall and turned to Magnus. If anyone was able to get the two of them out, it would be him.
“What do we do?”
Magnus frowned at the wall and reached out, running his fingers along the wood. “I don’t know,” he admitted.
Alec felt like he was suffocating, but there was nothing he could do to stop it. Magnus stepped into his field of vision.
“We’ll figure it out, Alexander.”
HIs smile didn’t reach his eyes.
Chapter 8: Interlude 2: Lorenzo's and Andrew's POVs
Notes:
We've come to the second interlude. The first half of this one is Lorenzo's POV and the second half is Andrew's.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The box clattered to the ground, tipping over on its side. Lorenzo stared at it in horror. He’d never meant for that to happen. He’d thrown the box out of anger, but he had fully believed that Bane would be able to dodge it. The only thing Lorenzo wanted to do was scare him. All Lorenzo’s other attacks always slid off Bane like he didn’t notice the effort Lorenzo put into them. Lorenzo hadn’t factored in how Alec Lightwood would react. Despite his taunts about them still pining for each other, Lorenzo hadn’t expected a Shadowhunter to put himself in danger for a warlock in that way.
Lilith, what was he going to do?
He clenched his hands into fists at his side. The box looked perfectly innocent, lying on the floor, but the disappearance of Bane and Lightwood wouldn’t go unnoticed.
This was all Bane’s fault. No one filled Lorenzo with rage the way he did. It had been that way for over a century. Lorenzo had been jealous of Magnus the first time he heard about him, and it only got worse after they met. He performed magic with an ease that Lorenzo never possessed. It took him decades to learn the simplest of spells while Bane acted like he could do anything.
At first, he hadn’t let the jealousy get to him. He’d even used it as motivation to improve his own skills, but then he’d learned the truth of Magnus’ heritage, which he worked so hard to keep hidden. It was no wonder he struggled with spells that Magnus found simple. As the son of Asmodeus, Magnus didn’t understand how lucky he was.
It wouldn’t have frustrated him so much if Magnus didn’t treat his paternity like it was nothing. He hid the identity of his father, and sure, Lorenzo could understand, on some level, not wanting Shadowhunters to know that your father was a Prince of Hell, but when people didn’t know Asmodeus was his father, they attributed Magnus’ power to his own talent instead of a fluke of birth. It was praise he didn’t deserve. The strength of his magic was nothing more than genetics.
Lorenzo hated it. He hated that no matter how long he lived or how often he practiced spells, Magnus would always come out on top in the end.
There was a part of him that was glad Magnus was trapped in the box. He deserved to struggle for once, and Lorenzo wanted to see for himself how the box humiliated Magnus. He was willing to put up with some light punishment if he got to see Magnus taken down a peg or two with his own eyes.
But that wasn’t something he could focus on yet. There was a more pressing issue.
The room he was in had few identifying features, but he had little doubt that he was in the Institute. That was why Lightwood had come when he emerged from the box. That posed quite the problem. Institutes were one of the few places Lorenzo didn’t feel comfortable sneaking around in, and he had to do it while transporting a box that he couldn’t touch.
If it had been any other object, he’d shrink it to conceal it in a pocket, but he didn’t dare touch the box, even through several layers of cloth. Not again. He couldn’t open a Portal in the Institute without the permission of the head of the Institute either, which obviously wasn’t going to happen.
Muttering curse words under his breath, he levitated the box into the air. He would have to rely on being physically sneaky more than magic if he hoped to get out. It was damn near impossible in a fortified place like this, but it was the only option he had.
Keeping the box hovering behind him, he stuck his head out the door and was immediately met by the sight of a curly blond Shadowhunter stepping out of the elevator. The man stopped, staring at Lorenzo with wide eyes.
“Lorenzo Rey?” he asked. “Where are Alec Lightwood and Magnus Bane?”
Oh, dear. Lorenzo had been mentally preparing himself for Shadowhunters to notice him and ask questions, but he hadn’t been prepared for those people to be as gorgeous as the man standing in front of him. Shadowhunters had never been attractive to him. They held themselves with a tough arrogance that Lorenzo found off-putting. It reminded him far too much of trolls.
This man didn’t look like a troll. He looked more like a Renaissance depiction of an angel. (Depictions which Lorenzo knew were inaccurate. Real angels were just as arrogant as their earthly descendants.)
Perhaps he could use the lovely man’s sudden arrival to his advantage. It had been far too long since he’d made time for romance.
“What’s going on?” the man asked again when Lorenzo didn’t immediately explain himself.
Lorenzo put on his most charming smile. “Oh, nothing to worry about. I was here to meet with Mr. Lightwood, but it seems he’s busy. I can find my own way out.”
He tried to inch past the man, the box hovering out of sight behind his back, but the man stepped in his path, his eyes narrowed as he peered at Lorenzo.
“After I saw you, I went upstairs to make sure no alarms were going off up there. I figured Alec and Magnus had things under control.” He leaned to the side, trying to peer around Lorenzo. “Neither of them returned upstairs.”
Lorenzo widened his eyes as his blood ran cold. He’d been too preoccupied when he emerged from the box to notice the man’s presence. The fact that he’d been seen with Alec and Magnus very much complicated things, and he’d already made himself look like a liar. There was nothing to do but continue to fake his innocence. “Really? That is strange. I thought they had gone up already.”
The man’s face was largely unreadable as he peered at Lorenzo, but Lorenzo knew when he was being analyzed. “I never saw you come down here either. All I know is the alarm of a secure room went off, and you were inside it. I assume Alec would have explained things to me further if he were here.”
This was a predicament. Lorenzo had expected strange looks, but he hadn’t expected someone to be paying such close attention to the situation. Did Shadowhunters have people on guard even within their protected fortress? He knew they were distrusting of Downworlders, but they were usually far too trusting of their own kind. At least, that was the image they projected to the rest of the world.
It truly was a shame that this beautiful Shadowhunter would never be able to trust him. Though maybe he should be thankful. Falling for a Shadowhunter was dangerous business. Magnus Bane was proof of that.
The man lunged before Lorenzo could react. Lorenzo, fearing they would collide, jumped out of the way, revealing the box that hovered behind his back. The man stared at it, just as confused as before. Lorenzo could tell from his expression that no one had explained to him what the box was; perhaps that could work in Lorenzo’s favor. He looked up at Lorenzo with blue eyes that pierced into his soul.
“Lorenzo Rey, I’m afraid I need to detain you for questioning.”
He sounded oddly uncertain about that considering it was his job. Lorenzo’s sudden, unexplained appearance had thrown him off his usual game. If Lorenzo couldn’t be suave in front of the gorgeous stranger at least he could be a mystery.
He put on his best smile. “If you must.”
As far as Shadowhunters went, Lorenzo didn’t mind Isabelle Lightwood. Her attitude towards Downworlders was fairly liberal compared to others of her kind, and she had a sense of fun about her that most Shadowhunters were sorely lacking.
Despite that, at the end of the day, she was a Shadowhunter, and Lorenzo didn’t appreciate being detained and questioned like a criminal when, as far as he saw it, he had done nothing that broke the Shadowhunters’ laws.
The room the man, whose name was Andrew Underhill it turned out, had brought him to was as sparsely decorated as the one Lorenzo had emerged from the box in. Isabelle said across from him, her hands folded on the table in front of her. In between them sat the box that neither of them dared touch.
“I didn’t break any laws,” Lorenzo said.
Isabelle raised an eyebrow. “Really? Did my brother and Magnus magick themselves into the box?”
Lorenzo sighed. He shouldn’t have confirmed that Magnus and Alec were inside the box, but it had been pointless hiding that particular detail. As an observant Andrew had pointed out, neither of them had ever left the basement, and Isabelle wasn’t as ignorant of the box’s capabilities as Andrew was.
“Touching the box is an easy mistake to make,” Lorenzo said. He didn’t bother to sound sorry about it. Isabelle would see right through such a facade. “After all, I did, and I’m not one to make careless mistakes.”
It was insulting how unconvinced she looked by that last part of his argument. You make one mistake with a dangerous artifact and suddenly everyone thinks you’re incompetent. No one bothered remembering any of his successes. Lorenzo clenched his fists beneath the table. Getting angry wouldn’t help him.
“There’s no way both of them touched the box of their own free will,” Isabelle said.
“They were trying to protect each other.”
Always use the truth as long as it didn’t directly incriminate you. That was something Lorenzo had learned the hard way. It worked too. For once, Isabelle flinched, knowing he’d spoken an unfortunate truth.
“I don’t think you’re being forthcoming with me,” she said. “You were handling dangerous artifacts—”
“There’s no law against such a thing.”
“That may be, but you’ve now endangered two people. Not just any two people either. The head of the New York Institute and the High Warlock of Brooklyn. The Clave has to be involved. I don’t even have a choice whether to inform them of the situation or not. The Institute can’t function without its leader, and it’s standard protocol that the Clave confirms any acting head within a timely fashion. Consul Penhallow should already be reading my message as we speak.”
Lorenzo’s knuckles were pale beneath the table. He expected to be in trouble, but the New York Institute was rather well-known for taking care of trouble on its own without the involvement of the Clave. He hadn’t expected the Consul to be informed of what happened.
Isabelle leaned forward, her eyes sharp. “Do you want to tell me the whole story, Lorenzo?”
Lorenzo scoffed. “Why would I tell you anything more than what I must? You’re not planning to help me.”
Isabelle shook her head. “Believe it or not, Lorenzo, I don’t hate you. I don't feel much of anything for you. All I want is my brother and Magnus back safe and sound. If you can help with that, then I’m perfectly willing to be lenient with you, at least as much as the Clave will allow.”
He stared at her. She was telling the truth.
He’d never understood familial love, especially sibling love. His own mother and stepfather had been cruel from the moment he was born. Mundanes didn’t react well to birthing a child covered in scales. Still, he at least understood parental love in the abstract. Everyone loved things they created.
Siblings were different. Lorenzo’s own parents had been too terrified to try for a second, scared they’d be as demonic as the first. Lorenzo never understood why siblings cared for each other in the way they often seemed to. If anything, they should be stewing in resentment that they didn’t get more of the family resources. It was bizarre.
He didn’t doubt Isabelle Lightwood’s love for her brother. For some inexplicable reason, she meant what she said.
“I have nothing else to say.” He straightened his shoulders, staring straight at her.
Isabelle held his gaze for a second before she resigned herself to his uncooperativeness. She stood and headed for the door, poking her head out into the hallway.
“Andrew, take Lorenzo to the holding cell downstairs until we hear from the Clave.”
She stepped aside to let Andrew in. His expression was serious, though Lorenzo swore there was a flash of sympathy in his eyes when he looked at him.
“Come on.” He motioned for Lorenzo to stand. “I’d prefer not to cuff you if I don’t have to.”
Lorenzo stood, feeling almost mesmerized by Andrew giving him instructions. Andrew took hold of his arm, much more gently than any other Shadowhunter would have. His closeness was intoxicating.
“Sometimes I’m a fan of handcuffs,” Lorenzo muttered, unable to help himself.
Andrew’s expression didn’t change, but his cheeks grew pinker. He looked straight ahead as he steered Lorenzo out of the room. Isabelle’s eyes were on them as they passed, her expression unreadable when her eyes flickered down to where Andrew’s hand gripped his arm.
Andrew shook his head as he walked away from the holding cell. After discovering Lorenzo alone outside the previously locked room, he’d been able to piece together most of the story. The box Lorenzo possessed had the ability to trap people inside, and somehow, Lorenzo had managed to get both Alec and Magnus imprisoned inside it.
Those were the facts, and they should have made Andrew furious at Lorenzo, if not worried about his own safety around the warlock. He’d always admired Alec for what he’d been able to accomplish while being an openly gay man, and he admired Magnus for similar reasons. Not to mention that he’d like to think that he’d feel sympathy for anyone who was undeservingly locked in a box that no one seemed to fully understand.
Yet, as he walked away from the holding cell that Lorenzo was now locked inside, he felt sympathy for him. It was a weird sort of feeling that he didn’t understand, and he wasn’t sure he liked it. Lorenzo Rey had a reputation among New York’s Downworld that even Shadowhunters knew about, and it wasn’t a flattering one.
He wasn’t oblivious to what had him flustered. Lorenzo Rey was an attractive man. There was no denying that. While he got the sense that others were put off by his overly confident attitude, Andrew found himself drawn to it. Maybe it was overplayed and downright facetious at times, but he understood wanting to present yourself in the best light possible.
Stepping into the Institute elevator, he let his head fall back against the cool metal wall. He’d always prided himself on keeping his personal life separate from his job, something that was damn near impossible as a Shadowhunter. He did what needed to be done while on duty, and while he would never act cruelly, he had to maintain a certain emotional distance to do what was required. That had never been difficult for him before.
Sure, Lorenzo Rey was attractive, but Andrew had arrested attractive people before with no problem. So what was it about Rey that had gotten under his skin?
When the elevator doors slid open, Isabelle stood on the other side, watching him with a knowing gaze. Andrew’s palms grew clammy as he stepped out beside her.
He’d never worked closely with Isabelle. Their areas of expertise didn’t overlap much, but Andrew knew that she was just as impressive as her brother in her own way. And the way she was currently looking at him made him wish he’d stayed under her radar.
“Do you need something?” he asked.
She pressed her lips together and tilted her head to the side. “Look. I’m all for having fun, and I always thought I was the last person to question someone else’s relationship choices, but you can do better.”
Andrew sputtered, his cheeks warming. “Nothing’s happened.”
“That’s why I’m telling you this now.” She smiled and patted him on the arm as she stepped past him onto the elevator. “Before you’re in too deep.”
Andrew shook his head as the elevator doors closed behind her, leaving him alone in the lobby. He knew he’d been flustered, but had he really been that transparent? Isabelle was right. He needed to be careful.
When Andrew was asked to transport Lorenzo to Alicante the next day, he was determined to treat it like nothing more than a typical job. There was no sense in getting flustered. It wasn’t like things could ever work out between him and Lorenzo anyway. What sort of relationship could you have with someone you detained the first time you met?
No matter how determined he was to remain collected, though, he couldn’t not notice the way Lorenzo kept looking at him as they stepped through the Portal and descended to the lower levels of the Gard.
Andrew refused to look directly at him. If he focused on putting one foot in front of the other, he wouldn’t have time for Lorenzo to distract him.
It nearly worked. When he clicked the lock on Lorenzo’s cell door shut, he breathed a sigh of relief, but Lorenzo had other ideas. He gripped the bars of his cell, watching Andrew through them with a grin.
“Do you think we’ll see each other again?”
Andrew cleared his throat, instantly feeling flustered. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Lorenzo’s smile dimmed, and Andrew’s heart tightened in a way he didn’t want to think about. He was head of security for the New York Institute. He couldn’t have a relationship with someone currently imprisoned in the Gard.
“But you never know,” Andrew added before he could stop himself.
He turned away from Lorenzo’s blinding smile and marched away, far too aware of Lorenzo’s eyes on him as he went.
Notes:
The next chapter will be interlude three, Isabelle's POV. We'll see some more of what Alec's and Magnus' friends and family are doing to try and save them. Then, the chapter after that, we'll return to Alec and Magnus inside the box.
Chapter Text
Isabelle wasn’t able to take her eyes off the box, returning again and again to the room as if the situation might have changed. The temptation to reach out and touch it was strong, even though she knew better. She couldn’t shake off the feeling that she needed to do something. If she could dismantle the box, maybe she could free her brother and Magnus.
There was no visible lid on the box. Really, the thing looked more like a block of wood than it did a box. She couldn’t tap it to confirm whether or not it was hollow inside. Nothing about its appearance was threatening, yet she’d never been as uneasy around a simple object as she was the box.
She reached up and touched the ruby that hung around her neck. It hadn’t pulsed around the box, and she hoped that meant that, whatever the origins of the box, it wasn’t demonic in nature. Magnus had already said that he didn’t believe the magic surrounding the box was warlock magic, something Alec had noted in the case file. It certainly wasn’t Nephilim magic as the box held no runic markings.
That left them with a few other options, none of which she considered ideal.
She tilted her head to the side. The box was utilitarian in a way she didn’t associate with fairies. They sometimes liked simple things, but those simple things usually had an elegance that the box lacked.
Demons, on the other hand, didn’t care about appearances, only wreaking destruction. She could see a Greater Demon fashioning something like this and planting it in their dimension to sow chaos and suffering.
The one thing keeping her from panicking was the knowledge that Lorenzo had emerged from the box perfectly healthy, if enraged. She could handle an enraged Alec and Magnus, as long as they were alive.
Jace entered the room with a tired smile. His gaze darted to the box that still sat on the metal table for a second before he purposefully looked away. He leaned against the wall right inside the door. “You okay?”
Isabelle shrugged. “I’m fine. Tired though.”
Jace nodded. “If it makes you feel better, Alec isn’t hurt.” He touched the spot where Isabelle knew his parabatai rune sat below his shirt. “Nothing strange has happened to my parabatai rune.”
That was a comfort. Isabelle had seen Alec and Jace when their parabatai runes alerted them that the other was in danger before. It was always a bad sign. If Jace couldn’t feel anything through their parabatai bond, that meant Alec wasn’t in immediate peril, but it didn’t get them any closer to getting Alec and Magnus back.
She took a deep breath. “We’ll figure out how to free them,” she said, more to convince herself than Jace.
“Absolutely.” Jace was his usual cocky self as he smirked at her. “If it’s as simple as putting on ridiculous clothes, Alec and Magnus will get there a lot quicker than Lorenzo did.”
Isabelle couldn’t help but grin.
“From what little we know, the supposed ‘punishment’ is different every time,” she reminded him, “so I don’t think we’ll get such a wonderful show. But you’re right. I believe in them. They’ll figure it out.”
Andrew stuck his head through the doorway. “Lorenzo has been delivered to the Gard. I also have a message from the Consul.”
He held up a folded piece of paper. Isabelle stiffened at the sight of it. She knew what the message had to be. She’d relayed to Jia through a fire message that Alec was incapacitated and unable to lead the Institute. While the chain of command was clear that Isabelle was the one who should take immediate responsibility until they heard from the Consul, it was Jia who had the power to decide whether she would continue in that position or whether someone else would be appointed until Alec returned.
“Thank you, Andrew.”
She crossed the room and took the paper from him. He flashed her one last smile before he disappeared.
Jace came to read the letter over her shoulder. Jia’s words were brief, but they contained the message that Isabelle had been hoping for.
“Congratulations.” Jace pulled her in for a quick one-armed hug. “With Alec gone, there’s no one else here who’s a better fit to be running the Institute.”
Isabelle nodded, not sure how to take the congratulations. Being appointed head of the Institute, even temporarily, was nothing to sniff at, but she’d only received the honor because Alec was imprisoned. It was an uncomfortable mix of emotions, pride and worry. She folded the letter back up and slipped it into her pocket, unwilling to part with the proof of her appointment quite so soon.
Now that she had the Consul’s approval, she needed to start getting a firm handle on the situation.
“We have a lot to do.” She gestured at the box on the table. “For starters, we need to secure that box again. The last thing we need is someone else getting trapped in there with Alec and Magnus, and Magnus isn’t here anymore to perform the protection spells. We’ll need to find another warlock whom we can trust.”
“Can I suggest Catarina Loss?” Jace still refused to look at the box for long, but she saw his eyes dart towards it before he quickly snapped them back. “She’s close to Magnus, so she’ll be as eager to help him and Alec as we are.”
Isabelle couldn’t think of a better person for the job. She was pretty sure Catarina’s speciality was with healing magic, but most warlocks deeply valued their own protection and privacy, and for that reason, were competent enough at wards. Jace was also right that no other warlock she knew of would be as committed to helping Magnus.
“Contact her,” Isabelle said. “Ask her if she can come over right away. We shouldn’t leave this waiting any longer than we have to.”
“Aye, aye, captain.” Jace gave her a playful salute before he slipped out of the room.
Catarina came as soon as she could. She looked at the box with distrustful eyes. Isabelle knew right away that contacting her had been the right choice. No other warlock would be as committed to helping Magnus—and by extension Alec—as strongly as she would.
“You can secure it, right?” Isabelle asked.
Catarina raised an eyebrow, looking offended that Isabelle would need to question such a thing. “I can. I perform similar spells on the medicine at the hospital, to ensure that it can only be accessed by the people who should be accessing it. One box is nothing in comparison.”
Isabelle hadn’t realized she was holding her breath until that moment. “Excellent. I can’t tell you enough how grateful we are for the help.”
Catarina’s lips pressed together. “I’m doing this for Magnus.”
It wasn’t said with the same fire that Isabelle had faced from Downworlders in the past, but she still felt a twinge of hurt that she did her best to conceal.
“I understand,” she said softly.
Catarina didn’t have to like her or Shadowhunters to be the ally they needed.
It didn’t take long for them to stow the box in the same setup Alec and Magnus had used. Catarina assured her that, should anyone enter the room, both of them would be alerted at once. Until then, the box would be safely stored away from anyone it might harm.
Catarina left after telling Isabelle to call her if she needed help. It wasn’t an offer but more of a demand. Catarina wanted to know about anything that happened that might relate to Magnus’ wellbeing. Isabelle didn’t blame her. Alec hadn’t been in the box for a day yet, and she itched to do something even though she’d already done everything she could think of.
Isabelle’s restlessness continued over the next several days, as the box sat undisturbed in a prison of its own.
Simon was at the Institute every day, doing his best to keep her distracted. It was all useless. She was grateful that he was trying, but she couldn’t think about anything other than Alec and Magnus in that box.
For the first time ever, she couldn’t even train without being distracted. She’d always thrown herself into any fight, even during training. In combat, everything else faded away. That had been true even when one of her siblings was potentially in danger, but there was something different this time.
Perhaps it was the fact that she was now in charge of the Institute. She’d never expected to be given that responsibility because, from the time they were children, she had always known it would be Alec one day. The importance of her new position weighed heavily on her shoulders. She was responsible for what happened to Alec and Magnus in a way she’d never experienced before.
So maybe she shouldn’t have been surprised when Clary, who was still far less experienced than her, managed to overpower her in less than thirty seconds. She wasn’t in the right headspace.
Clary’s expression was sympathetic as she pulled Isabelle to her feet. She didn’t let go of Isabelle’s hand, holding her in place.
“They’ll be okay,” Clary said. “If Lorenzo survived that box, you know they will.”
Isabelle nodded and did her best to smile. She did believe that, but it did little to ease her worrying.
Notes:
Next chapter we'll be back to our regularly scheduled programing with Alec's POV. See you then!
Chapter 10: Chapter 7
Notes:
Today we're back with Alec and Magnus in the box.
Content warning: This chapter opens with a panic attack. We're also in the thick of it now in regards to the confinement/imprisonment aspect of the story and will be for a while.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Panic rose in Alec’s throat, cutting off his supply of oxygen. He gasped, trying to suck in as much air as possible, but it wasn’t filling his lungs. His chest was tight.
It felt like the walls of the room were closing in around him, and even though he knew it wasn’t true, he couldn’t stop seeing them get closer and closer. He squeezed his eyes shut and covered his face with his hands.
Whatever he was experiencing was new. Was it the room causing it? He’d never been locked in a space that had no visible exit. He was surprised at how terrifying it was compared to a room with a locked door.
“Alexander?”
In his panicked haze, Magnus’ voice was faint, barely penetrating Alec’s own racing thoughts.
Somehow, he’d wound up on the floor with no idea when he sat down. He forced his eyes open and found Magnus hovering in front of him, his head wobbling back and forth like they were on a ship.
“Alexander,” Magnus repeated, his voice completely calm.
How was he so calm?
“Breathe.” Magnus was gentle but authoritative.
Magnus dominated his field of vision. He was crouched in front of Alec, not touching him but still commanding his attention. Alec struggled to imitate Magnus’ breathing, but eventually, the pressure in his chest lightened and his heart beat slowed.
The walls of the room were no longer closing in on them, though they remained in a small, enclosed space from which there was no apparent escape.
Magnus leaned back, and for the first time, Alec realized how close they’d been while Magnus coached him through his breathing.
“I don’t know what just happened,” Alec said, still feeling dazed.
Magnus sighed and stood, forcing Alec to tip his head back to look at him.
“You had a panic attack.” Magnus looked around at the walls, walking around the edges of the room like he would uncover a hidden door. “It’s understandable considering where we are.”
Feeling vulnerable on the floor, Alec scrambled to his feet, only to find that it didn’t help much. Standing, the room felt even smaller than it had when he was on the floor. The top of Alec’s head was only a few inches away from brushing the ceiling. If he were to stretch his arm straight up, he would be able to flatten his palm against it. He crossed his arms against his chest, tucking his hands into his armpits.
“Can we get out?”
He knew it was a foolish question before it left his mouth. Obviously they couldn’t get out until they figured out what the room wanted from them or Lorenzo wouldn’t have emerged from the box decked out in an entire closet-worth of clothes. Magnus didn’t laugh at him for asking though. The corners of his mouth didn’t even turn up in the hint of a smile. He was completely serious as he looked at him.
Without speaking, he lifted his hands and gestured in the air. Blue sparks ignited from his fingertips. Alec froze in anticipation, but nothing else happened. Magnus lowered his hands with a sigh and shook his head.
“No. I can’t make a Portal or, I assume, do anything else that could get us out of here. Our only choice is to do whatever the room wants from us. Once we figure out what that is, obviously.”
Alec watched him closely. There was a crease in Magnus’ brow that showed he was worried, even as he did his best to appear calm. That made Alec feel better about his own reaction. If something unnerved Magnus, then Alec was right to be worried.
“How do we find out what the room wants?” His voice shook, but he didn’t have the energy to care about appearances for the moment. Magnus had already seen him in the throes of a panic attack. There was nowhere else to go but up.
Magnus turned from the wall to face him. “Your guess is as good as mine. I’ve never seen anything like this before. My best guess is that the box’s wants align with the intentions of whoever created it, but as we have no idea who that is, I couldn’t begin to guess what the box wants from us.”
Alec took another step, shying away from the wall, but of course, that only took him closer to the opposite wall.
Magnus flourished his hands in the air a second time, but again, nothing happened beyond some sparks. Magnus cursed under his breath and started pacing.
“I was trying to summon a second bed,” he said, “but clearly that’s not going to work either.”
Alec’s stomach twisted into knots. He’d been so panicked about the idea of being trapped in the box that he hadn’t stopped to wonder what they would do about there only being one bed.
One small bed, now that he was looking at it. His own bed at the Institute was larger than the one the room had provided. While he and Magnus could probably both fit on it, it would require sleeping far too close together for comfort. The idea of it filled Alec with a mix of emotions. Just the thought of being that close to Magnus again gave him goosebumps, but it was also terrifying. His body was liable to betray him.
He cleared his throat, trying to push those fears aside before Magnus noticed how nervous it made him.
“Does that mean you can’t do any magic at all?” he asked.
Magnus held out his hand, palm up. A small, blue flame ignited, burning for a few seconds before Magnus closed his palm, extinguishing it.
“I can do some.” He didn’t sound particularly happy about that despite the idea of Magnus without any magic at all being terrifying to Alec. “My guess is that the room is somehow restricting any magic that would help us escape or that would interfere with whatever punishment it’s set out for us. And perhaps things that would make us more comfortable.” He motioned towards the singular bed. “It must not want us to be comfortable. This room isn’t exactly cozy.”
He gestured around at the unpleasant space.
Alec shivered. “Does all this mean that the room can understand us?”
He looked around like he’d be able to find cameras peeking out of crevices.
“That depends on what you mean by ‘understand.’” Magnus began pacing around the perimeter of the room again, his hand trailing along the wall. “There is magic here, but it’s the same magical signature that I sensed outside of the box: This isn’t any warlock magic I’ve felt before.” He paused, pressing his hand flat against the wall. “Based on what little we know about how this thing works, I would guess that the box understands what’s happening in this room to at least some degree, but that does not mean it has a brain like you or me. If I were going to compare it to anything, I would say it’s like a computer. It has been charmed to perform a specific function, and it only understands the situation as far as it pertains to its function.”
Alec, who didn’t really understand how computers worked beyond what buttons he needed to push to make them work, wasn’t comforted by the comparison.
“I don’t like this.”
It wasn’t like that needed to be said, but Alec felt compelled to say it anyway. He’d been in his fair share of bad situations. Hell, he’d once stood in the church of a cult to Lilith, but at least he’d known what to do in that scenario. Never before had he felt so helpless.
“You and me both.”
Hearing Magnus admit that made the whole thing worse.
“I don’t understand this magic.” Magnus sounded increasingly frustrated as he spoke. “It’s not just that it doesn’t feel like warlock magic. The magic doesn’t feel like it has any sort of demonic origin.”
“Do you mean…?”
He couldn’t even finish the question. The only options when it came to magic were demonic or angelic. The magic of Shadowhunters and Downworlders were just variations of those two types, but the angels couldn’t be responsible for something like this.
Magnus shook his head. “It doesn’t feel angelic either. That’s what’s so baffling. I’ve never encountered something like this before. The only explanation I can come up with is that this is old magic, possibly older than warlocks themselves.”
The reminder of angelic magic suddenly made Alec remember the one tool they hadn’t used yet. He tugged his stele out of his pocket, turning it over in his hand before looking up at Magnus, who looked as doubtful as Alec felt. If Magnus’ magic didn’t work, Alec didn’t see how runes would, and the room probably would have taken his stele from him if Alec could use it.
“Anything’s worth a shot,” Magnus said with a shrug.
Alec stepped towards the wall. There wasn’t a door or window to write on, so the wall would have to do. He scrawled a large Open rune against the wood, but it faded seconds after he finished drawing, leaving them just as trapped as before.
It was the outcome he’d expected, but it was still disappointing. He tucked the stele back into his pocket and flopped down on the edge of bed. The mattress was stiff but not as bad as it could have been. Alec slumped over, hanging his head in his hands.
Panicked thoughts ran through his head, including questions about whether they would die there in that room. He pushed those away. Lorenzo had gotten out of here, and if Lorenzo Rey could, they could. But not if he let his panic get the better of him.
The mattress dipped beside him and Alec stiffened, fighting against his body’s desire to slide towards Magnus.
They weren’t touching, but it would have been easier than ever to close the distance between them. He glanced over at Magnus to find him staring back at him with sad, sympathetic eyes.
“We’ll figure it out,” he promised, his voice soft. “There are two of us, and there was only one of Lorenzo. If we work together, it’ll be a piece of cake.”
Alec found he didn’t have to force his smile. The idea of working together with Magnus sent a thrill down his spine. For a split second, he even thought it was worth getting trapped in the box if he got to spend time with Magnus.
But any amount of time they spent together was also a painful reminder of everything he’d lost.
He swallowed, his throat scratchy, and nodded. “I know.”
And he did. Their breakup should have made it impossible. Few people would want to be trapped in a box with their ex, and Alec didn’t exactly want it either.
Except he did. More than he was willing to admit to himself. Maybe not the being trapped part, but on some level, he’d been hoping for a chance at being alone with Magnus since the breakup. He just hadn’t expected that chance to come from being imprisoned inside a mysterious magical object.
Alec cleared his throat. He couldn’t dwell on that when Magnus was right there.
“We should brainstorm ways to get out,” he said instead.
Magnus nodded. “Lorenzo’s punishment appeared quite random, but it was clearly designed to humiliate him. If this box was created to punish people the owner didn’t like, it would make sense if humiliation is the ultimate goal.”
“So do you think we should try putting on ridiculous outfits?”
He looked around the room, but there was no sign of a closet or a trunk that might hold clothes. Magnus held a hand out to stop him before he could get on his knees to look under the bed.
“Let’s not go there yet,” Magnus said. “Everything we know about the box so far hints that the punishment varies according to either the box’s whims or the prisoners inside. I’d be surprised if it wanted us to do the same thing as Lorenzo. Though it’s good to keep his punishment in mind in case we get desperate.”
From the twist of Magnus’ lips it was clear that he didn’t relish the thought of making such horrifying fashion choices as Lorenzo had been forced to.
“So.” Alec drew out the word, looking around the room like something might have changed since the last time he looked. “I guess this is like a puzzle?”
Magnus looked around too. “It would seem so, though it’s a puzzle with stunningly little to go on.”
Whenever there was a pause in their conversation, the silence of the room was suffocating. It was something Alec hadn’t noticed yet, since they’d kept the conversation flowing. Growing up in the New York Institute, Alec wasn’t used to complete silence. There was always someone up and making noise at the Institute, even in the middle of the night, and the rest of New York was the same way. Here, whatever was happening outside of the box, they couldn’t hear it. Now that he noticed it, it was even more unnerving than the lack of space.
“Can we communicate with it?” Alec asked. “Or can it communicate with us? Give us clues?”
Magnus was silent like he was waiting for the room to answer Alec’s question.
“If it can, it’s not particularly forthcoming,” he said finally. “I think we’re better off talking with each other about what the room might want from us and seeing if the room gives us any hints that we’re on the right track.”
Alec didn’t like the suggestion. It gave them nothing to go off of, but he had to accept that it was all they had. He didn’t even know how long it had been since they’d been dropped in the box. There were no clocks hanging on the wall, and without windows, he couldn’t even make an educated guess about the time of day.
It couldn’t have been that long since he and Magnus started talking, but suddenly, he wasn’t so sure. The box could have easily been messing with their minds. Fairie worked like that, stretching and compressing time so that any Shadowhunter, Downworlder, or mundane who entered couldn’t know how much time had passed once they were finally free.
Dread surged through his veins. Lorenzo hadn’t been missing long, only a few days, but Alec hadn’t had an opportunity to ask how long he had felt like he was in the box. He was a warlock after all; time didn’t show on his face the way it did for Shadowhunters.
Alec looked at Magnus, who appeared just as grave as him. Alec wondered if he’d had some of the same thoughts about their predicament.
Taking a deep breath, Alec asked, “Where should we start?”
Notes:
I hope you enjoyed the chapter and that there aren't any glaring mistakes I missed while doing my final proofread. To be honest I'm a bit distracted at the moment. I started having some problems with my ear last night, and around same time, my cat started having sneezing fits. The sneezing fits were on and off throughout the night and woke me up repeatedly. Right now, I'm monitoring her for other symptoms to see if she needs to go to the vet or not, and I am both sleep deprived and stressed. But fingers crossed that everything will be fine. She's acting normal except for the sneezing and scarfed down her breakfast like usual.
Chapter 11: Chapter 8
Notes:
Thank you to everyone who sent well wishes to me and my cat last week. I really appreciate it. It turned out that my cat had a respiratory infection. Thankfully, she's doing a lot better after getting some medicine from the vet. (Although she was very, very unhappy about actually going to the vet.)
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this week's chapter!
Chapter Text
They had no way of knowing what time it was beyond making a guess based on how tired they felt, and they hadn’t been in the room long—or made any noticeable progress—when Alec’s eyelids began to grow heavy and a fogginess started to seep into his brain. He stifled a yawn that didn’t go unnoticed by Magnus.
“Maybe we should sleep,” the warlock said, though there was uncertainty in his voice.
Alec clenched his jaw and tried to shake away the sleepiness. “No. We haven’t been at this for long. We should make some actual progress before we sleep.”
It probably wasn’t even that late outside the box. The lack of sunlight in the room was tricking his brain into thinking it was night. A glow that seemingly originated from nowhere made it easy enough to see around the room, but even if it was magical in origin, Alec’s brain knew it was artificial, not sunlight.
“We won’t be able to think well unless we rest well,” Magnus said with a sigh. “Come on. Let’s lay down for at least a few hours. I sometimes find that my best ideas come to me while resting.”
That may have been true for Magnus, but Alec wasn’t convinced it would be true for him. If he was having a good night, his mind was blissfully blank and he slipped into sleep a second after his head hit the pillow, and when he was having a bad night, all he could concentrate on were worries that did nothing to help him in the long run. He couldn’t think of a single problem he’d solved while lying in bed.
Still, Magnus probably did have a point. Alec couldn’t think of a single idea that could help them escape the room, and he didn’t see that changing any time soon. Getting some sleep would at least give him time to come up with ideas.
There was just one pesky problem…
He glanced down at the bed that they were both perched on the edge of. In his sleepiness, it looked far more warm and inviting than it had when they first tumbled into the room, but he couldn’t give into the urge to crawl under the covers when Magnus was beside him and there was no other bed to speak of.
“I’ll sleep on the floor,” he said, standing abruptly.
Magnus raised an eyebrow. “Don’t be ridiculous. I know it’s far from ideal, but we don’t even have a sleeping bag. Making yourself uncomfortable isn’t going to help us.”
The floor really did look uncomfortable. There’d been a period of time as kids when he, Jace, and Isabelle had often “camped” in the training room of the Institute. They’d always brought plenty of blankets with them, and even then, he would often toss and turn, unable to get comfortable. Now that he was older, there was no telling how sore he’d be when he woke up, and he didn’t even have blankets to add a bit of comfort.
But anything was better than lying beside Magnus all night and pretending like he was fine.
“It doesn’t have to mean anything.” Despite Magnus’ words, he was steadfastly avoiding looking at Alec. “We’re going to sleep. That’s all.”
Alec very much believed that Magnus wanted that to be true, but it wasn’t. Not for him.
At the same time, he didn’t want to protest too much and reveal how off-kilter the situation made him feel. It was yet another thing that reminded him of how deeply Magnus had gotten under his skin and how Alec was still pining for him years later. He’d already embarrassed himself enough. He didn’t need to make it worse.
His discomfort must have shown on his face, though, because Magnus quickly backtracked.
“Fine. If one of us is going to sleep on the floor, it’ll be me.”
Alec’s cheeks flushed at the thought of Magnus sleeping on the floor so he wouldn’t have to. He couldn’t let that happen either. The guilt would eat away at him.
“No. I suggested it first. It should be me.”
Magnus’ answering smile was amused. “Alexander, you’re the one who can hardly keep their eyes open. You need a soft bed more than I do.”
“This mattress isn’t soft.” Alec pressed his hand into the mattress, not that either of them needed a demonstration of how firm it was. The springs of the mattress had already been digging into them while they sat on top of it.
“It’s certainly softer than the floor.” Magnus grinned and shook his head in amusement.
Getting a smile out of Magnus was gratifying. Alec found himself smiling too. It made his exhaustion easier to ignore, and the idea of sleeping on the floor didn’t sound like quite as bad of an idea as it had five minutes earlier.
He lowered himself to the floor, lying out flat on his back. With the size of the room, there was no way for Magnus to move around without clamoring over him, but it wasn’t like he had anywhere to go anyway. Magnus leaned over him from his perch on the bed, one eyebrow raised.
Alec squirmed around in a useless attempt to get comfortable. “I’m fine.”
Magnus shook his head, unconvinced. “You’re as stubborn as ever,” he muttered.
Alec’s heart tightened. He rolled onto his side, his back facing Magnus, to hide his face, afraid of the wave of emotions that washed over him. He squeezed his eyes shut like he could pretend to have fallen asleep in less than a second.
Behind him, Magnus sighed. Alec listened as he pulled back the covers and got comfortable in the bed. It was tempting to roll over and look at him, but Alec resisted. He could picture it clearly in his mind’s eye anyway. It was only then that he realized they didn’t even have pajamas, not that he should be worried about that when he didn’t have a blanket either.
The silence of the room was more stifling once neither of them was talking. The perpetual glow in the room dimmed until it was dark. Because of the timing, Alec didn’t dare take that as a sign that it was dark outside of the box. The box was only responding to their attempts to sleep.
He couldn’t sleep. Not just because his bones dug uncomfortably into the wood beneath him but because he was incredibly aware of Magnus’ breathing behind him. In the otherwise completely silent room, every move Magnus made might as well have been sirens blaring in Alec’s ears. He wondered if Magnus was listening to him the same way, and the idea of it made him feel tingly.
Eventually, Magnus’ breath slowed, and Alec was confident that he was asleep. A benefit of getting the bed, he supposed. Feeling daring, Alec rolled over and looked up at the bed. From his spot on the floor, he could only see part of Magnus’ arm near the edge of the mattress, yet it still felt intimate watching him sleep.
Alec had never believed he would get that again. He’d spent too many nights pushing away memories of nights spent with Magnus.
This was nothing like when they’d been dating. They weren’t cuddled up together in bed trading kisses and sweet words, but it was still closer than they’d been in years. Alec sighed and squeezed his eyes shut before he got too caught up in a past that he would never get back.
He was doomed, not because he was stuck in a box with no way out but because he would almost certainly make a complete and utter fool of himself in front of Magnus before they were free.
Somehow, Alec did eventually fall asleep. When he woke, it was to the smell of eggs and bacon. In his groggy state, with the floorboards pressing into his back, he thought it was a hallucination. There was no way he could have a decent breakfast after he’d had such a horrid night’s sleep, but then he heard the clank of a fork against a plate, and he knew he couldn’t be imagining it.
He shot up, cringing as every muscle in his body protested. Magnus watched him from where he was sitting cross-legged on the bed with a plate of food in his hands.
“Where the hell did that come from?” Alec was too groggy to temper his tone.
Magnus raised an eyebrow. “No need to get pissy with me. I wasn’t holding out on you. The food appeared when I woke up. There’s some here for you too.”
He motioned at the bed beside him, and Alec rose to his knees to find a plate identical to Magnus’ sitting on top of the blankets. His stomach let out a loud growl, and unlike last time, he didn’t hesitate before he scooped up the plate and sat down right beside Magnus.
He faltered briefly when he noticed Magnus’ appearance. The warlock’s hair was unstyled and ruffled from sleep. His makeup from the day before was still on his face—neither one of them had exactly done anything to prepare for bed—but his eyeliner was smudged where it had rubbed against the pillow. Considering how careful Magnus was with his appearance, Alec had never thought he’d see Magnus in such a state again, and the sudden intimacy of the moment made his heart clench. Magnus never would have let Alec see him like that if he had a choice. Alec looked down at his plate, focusing on eating.
The question of how much time they’d spent in the box was more out of reach than ever after sleeping, but the emptiness of his stomach made it feel like it had been hours upon hours. He shoveled eggs down his throat without tasting them.
“There’s coffee too.” Magnus gestured at a carafe and a clean mug that was sitting on the floor right beside the bed.
“The box can’t give us a table,” Alec grumbled, but he didn’t waste a second stooping down to grab the mug and pour himself a cup. He needed all the caffeine he could get if they were going to solve their current conundrum.
“This is good.”
It took Alec a second to realize that Magnus wasn’t complimenting the quality of the food.
“The room doesn’t mean for us to starve,” Magnus continued. “If it wasn’t willing to feed us or let me summon food, then I don’t know what we would have done. I suppose it would have been motivation to work quickly, but it certainly wouldn’t have been pleasant.”
Alec hadn’t even thought about the possibility of them starving. He’d been far too distracted by the fact that he was stuck in close proximity to Magnus for him to dwell on all of the different ways the room could ensure they were miserable. Suddenly, the eggs felt rubbery in his mouth. He wondered if they were real or some sort of elaborate illusion. He didn’t know what to trust inside the room.
They had to get out.
“Any ideas on how to escape this place?” Alec gestured around the room.
Despite having just woken up, Magnus ran a tired hand over his brow. “I’ve been running over what information we know for sure. Right now, I think the most important detail is Lorenzo’s price. It’s the only example we have of what the box could want from us, even if we know it changes. I think the actual action Lorenzo had to take is less important than why the box made him do it.”
Alec thought of Lorenzo’s furious face as he’d stood there as a pile of clothes.
“Humiliation,” he said easily. “The box wanted to embarrass him.”
And it succeeded.
Magnus nodded, his face thoughtful. “It’s the best explanation I can come up with too. It’s not like putting him in that get up was achieving any other purpose. The box—or whoever is behind it—must have gotten some sort of amusement from his humiliation.”
Alec’s stomach quivered. “So we need to humiliate ourselves? This box might be for someone’s twisted entertainment?”
He looked around the room, but there were no signs of clothes or anything else that could aid them in embarrassing themselves, unless the room found Alec’s distress over sleeping in the same bed as Magnus amusing.
“That may be the start of an answer,” Magnus said, “but it doesn’t appear to be the whole picture. If it was, the room would be giving us more to work with. It wants us to figure out something else.”
“Like how to humiliate ourselves, you mean?”
“Maybe.” Magnus shrugged.
Alec shivered. “You said the magic isn’t demonic? Because a box whose entire purpose is to humiliate people sounds pretty cruel.”
Under different circumstances, he might have been amused himself by the state Lorenzo had been in when he emerged from the box. He could admit that. But with everything else going on, whatever amusement he might have felt had vanished.
If humiliation was the extent of the box’s punishments, he supposed it didn’t inherently mean the box was evil per se, just mean, but what if it went deeper than that? What if his and Magnus’ humiliation was far worse than Lorenzo’s? He didn’t like the possible implications.
“It doesn’t feel demonic,” Magnus said.
He frowned at the walls again. Alec was pretty sure he was sensing the magic around them.
“I don’t think we should jump to the conclusion that the box’s primary purpose is humiliation without considering other possibilities,” Magnus added. “It’s important to keep it in mind as a possible motivation, but one example can’t prove anything.”
He turned to Alec and flashed him a confident smile.
“Whatever it is, we’ll figure it out. Lorenzo did. I imagine the room will start to make its intentions better known before long.”
Alec sat his half-eaten plate beside him on the bed, no longer able to stomach another bite no matter how hungry he was. They needed to get out of the room, which meant figuring out what the room wanted from them was crucial. He was a Shadowhunter. He wouldn’t shy away from that.
But he wasn’t comforted by it either.
Chapter 12: Chapter 9
Notes:
This chapter isn't the most eventful of the story, but I do think it's important for exploring where Alec and Magnus are emotionally. I hope you enjoy!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Alec had always been someone who preferred to share his ideas with others only after he’d taken the time to flesh them out on his own. That coupled with the awkward history he and Magnus shared meant that he shouldn’t have been surprised that their attempts at brainstorming quickly devolved into sitting quietly next to each other with their own thoughts.
A few times, Alec almost voiced out loud something that occurred to him, but each time, he second guessed himself before he could share the thought. It wasn’t like he’d had any big breakthroughs. Anything that occurred to him had almost certainly already occurred to Magnus. They were working with the same information. Actually, Magnus was working with more of it because he could sense the magic surrounding them while Alec only had what he could see to go off of.
He wanted to know what Magnus was thinking, but he didn’t want to directly ask and come across as annoying. If Magnus thought of something that he believed was worth saying, he would share it.
When his legs started to ache from sitting too long, Alec took to pacing the room. It was so small that he made himself dizzy from the constant turns as he circled around the room over and over. Each time he turned towards the bed, he was careful to avert his gaze to avoid looking at Magnus, but a few times he swore he caught Magnus looking away right as he turned around.
He had no idea how long he’d been pacing when he turned to find Magnus with his hand held palm up in front of him. Small blue flames danced across his hand. Magnus stared down at them like one might stare at fish as they flitted around a tank. Alec’s heart skipped a beat at the sight. Even when they were in a relationship, he’d never really seen Magnus play with his magic so casually before.
Yet again, he wanted to say something, but he bit back the urge. What was there to say?
His own thoughts were going nowhere. Nothing new had occurred to him for at least an hour, if not longer. The harder he tried to think of solutions to their predicament, the harder it was to come up with anything. They didn’t know enough about the box to begin to fathom what it wanted.
When his legs started to ache from the constant walking, he retook his spot on the edge of the bed, being careful not to sit down too close to Magnus, lest they accidentally touch.
Sitting so close to each other, Alec couldn’t take the silence anymore.
“Do you think we have to do something together?” he asked.
Magnus startled, the blue flames in his palm vanishing in an instant. He closed his hand into a fist and lowered it to his lap.
“Or do you think the room’s price for each of us is different?” Alec’s voice trailed off with uncertainty.
Magnus shrugged and leaned back against the wall that the bed sat against. “There’s no way of knowing. Either option sounds plausible to me.”
“Me too…”
Alec stared at the far wall, clueless as to how to continue the conversation.
“I hope it’s the same for both of us,” Magnus said suddenly.
Alec’s heart clenched. Comments like that made him want to believe that Magnus still cared, but going down that path was dangerous and would only lead to him getting hurt. Being stuck in such a confined space, it was hard to completely push away his hope that things could return to how they’d once been between them, but he had to stop himself whenever he began falling down that rabbit hole. It wasn’t safe dwelling on that sort of thing in the best of times, let alone during a crisis.
“Why is that?” Alec did his best to ignore his pounding heart.
The answer wasn’t going to be the one he hoped for.
“We have a better chance of getting out if we’re able to work together.”
Alec exhaled. That answer still somehow gave him hope that Magnus felt the same way he did. As far as Alec was concerned, the two of them had always made an excellent team, but he wouldn’t have imagined that Magnus thought the same thing. Not anymore.
“Two minds are better than one.” Magnus gave an awkward chuckle. “If the room wants separate things from each of us, one of us would figure it out first, leaving the other to fend for himself. I don’t like the idea of that. It wouldn’t be good for our psyche.”
For a second, Alec forgot that he wasn’t supposed to be obvious about how he felt. He stared at Magnus openly, unable to believe that he still cared enough to not want Alec to be trapped in a box by himself.
Or maybe it was the opposite and Magnus didn’t want to wind up alone in the box. That would make more sense. Alec would hate to be the one left behind as well, even if he didn’t still have feelings for Magnus. Having the bed to himself wouldn’t make up for the terrifying isolation.
He cleared his throat. “You’re probably right. Here's hoping we have to work together then.”
The irony of the statement after he’d spent years working with Magnus as little as possible wasn’t lost on him. He took a long, shaky breath.
“How do you think our friends and family are doing?” Alec asked in a moment of vulnerability. “I keep thinking about Isabelle and Jace doing everything they can to get us out but none of it working.”
Magnus sighed, but he didn't look surprised that Alec had brought it up.
“Your siblings are Shadowhunters. I have no doubt that they’re doing what they can, but they’ll also have a realistic idea about what is possible and what isn’t.”
It wasn’t quite the answer Alec had been hoping for. Magnus’ expression was closed off. He wouldn’t admit whether he was worrying about anyone else or if he thought anyone was particularly worried about him, but Alec knew they would be.
Catarina, for one, had probably been pulled into the situation by Isabelle and Jace as soon as they realized Magnus was gone. Alec had no doubt that she would do anything she could to help Magnus, but if Magnus didn’t want to talk about that, Alec wouldn’t push him.
He’d failed to open up about so much while they were dating. There was little chance he’d open up now when they were…whatever it was they were. Exes, sure, but exes who were trapped in a room together for the foreseeable future was a far cry from what their relationship had been for the last three years.
This was unnavigated territory.
Notes:
Next chapter: Some very important (but fraught) topics are raised, and Alec has a terrible realization.
Chapter 13: Chapter 10
Notes:
Happy Easter to those who celebrate! I hope you get to eat some nice chocolate (or whatever candy you prefer).
Chapter Text
The inscrutable passage of time was becoming more and more frustrating the longer they were in the room. Alec was starting to feel like he’d aged a century since they were trapped, and not in the frozen-in-time nature of warlocks but in a way where his body felt the wear and tear. The term “stir-crazy” made sense to him in a way it never had before.
Even caged animals at the zoo got to see the sun rise and set each day. The room didn’t give them that measure of normalcy. The glow of the room dimmed and brightened based entirely on if they were asleep or awake and for no other reason, as far as they could tell.
The environment was far from conducive for doing your best thinking. Alec could see the toll it was taking on Magnus by the sag of his shoulders and the way his eyelids drooped as he stared into space. Alec felt it too. Fatigue had settled deep into his bones, and he couldn’t shake it no matter how many times he paced the length of the room.
He could rattle his brain all he wanted, but nothing fell out. It was more tempting than ever to give up and accept that he would lose his mind while locked in the confines of the box.
Thinking that way was dangerous. It was precisely how one lost their mind, but knowing that didn’t stop the temptation to give up from growing larger. It worried him. He wasn’t sure if the feeling was coming from within himself or from the room. At some point, it hit him with startling terror that he didn’t understand to what extent the room could manipulate their reality.
It was already manipulating it by controlling the one light source they had and their source of food. Time was whatever the room wanted it to be. It was even more convoluted than in Faerie, where you were never quite sure how long you were there but at least the passage of time felt normal while you were in the realm.
The box had no desire to provide them with that kindness. It wanted to make them uncomfortable. That was clearer and clearer the longer they were locked inside.
They’d been silent for so long that Alec jumped when Magnus spoke.
“Sitting here without talking isn’t doing us any good. We need to brainstorm together.”
His gaze was focused again as he looked at Alec, but he was still slumped against the wall the bed was pressed against. Alec brought his legs up on the bed and turned to face him, sitting cross-legged.
“Okay. What ideas do you have?”
Because Alec had nothing, but he didn’t want to lead with such a disappointing confession.
While he did want to be useful, if he was being entirely honest, he was betting on Magnus being the one who figured out how they could save themselves. He didn’t recognize the magic of the box, but he was still the magic expert between the two of them. He was far and away more impressive than Alec was, especially in the face of such a baffling situation as the one they were currently in. If one of them were likely to have encountered something that would help them escape, it was Magnus.
Something shifted in Magnus’ gaze, and Alec’s stomach tightened. He wasn’t sure what to make of it.
“I think we should just talk,” Magnus said, “and see what comes of it.”
Alec’s throat went dry. That was exactly the sort of thing he’d been worried about when it came to being stuck in a room with Magnus. There were few things they could talk about that weren’t dangerous in some way, and he knew Magnus didn’t want to talk about the recent fare hike on the subway.
Now that Magnus had essentially given him an opening to ask whatever he wanted, Alec had a sudden urge to be daring. Maybe it was another effect of the room or maybe he was just going stir-crazy. Either way, he couldn’t stop himself from asking, “Do you think we worked well together?”
Somehow, Magnus wasn’t surprised by the question. His mouth twitched. “We did. While we were together. Of course we did.”
Of course… Alec didn’t understand how he could say that when he’d been the one to end their relationship. You didn’t end relationships when you worked well with the person.
“Then why did we break up?”
Alec felt stupid asking the question. He’d been there for the breakup. He knew what reasons Magnus had given at the time, and he believed those reasons were the truth, at least to some extent. He also knew there was more to it, something that ran deeper and kept Magnus from thinking they could work things out.
That’s what he wanted to know about, but he knew better than to blurt all that out at once.
Magnus was no longer looking at him. He stared at the far wall, a look of carefully crafted indifference on his face. “You know why we broke up,” he said.
A sudden surge of irritation flowed through Alec. The breakup had been years ago; it shouldn’t have been possible for him to get so worked up thinking about it all over again, but then again, he’d never exactly moved on.
“We could have worked it out,” he said.
Magnus cringed, and Alec hated that he got a thrill from making Magnus uncomfortable about something that had caused him so much anguish.
“We could have talked,” Alec continued.
Magnus shook his head. “I see that you still have a certain naivete about you, Alexander. Not everything can be solved by talking.”
“How would you know? You didn’t even try.”
His anger was rising, and he knew it was only a matter of time before he said something that he regretted. In any other scenario, he would have backed off and gone to cool off before coming back to talk calmly, but he didn’t have anywhere to go in the box.
Magnus scoffed. “Didn’t try…” He shook his head and angled his body away from Alec, his arms crossed in front of him. “I take it back. Talking was a terrible idea. We’re better off considering the problem on our own.”
Alec scrambled to his feet. “This is exactly what I mean! You won’t properly communicate. Our relationship was always doomed if you won’t actually talk to me.”
Magnus shook his head, but he didn’t argue against Alec’s accusations.
“There were so many things you never told me,” Alec pressed on. “Everytime I tried to ask about your past to get to know you more—because I cared about you—you shut me out instead. There are so many things you’ve experienced over the years that I have no clue about because you refused to talk about them.”
“The past is the past.” Magnus waved a hand through the air. “There’s no use dwelling on it. If you’d lived as long as I have, you would understand that. Our lives look different. So much of what I’ve experienced was many lifetimes ago for a mortal. It does no good to spend the rest of my life stuck on those memories.” He fixed Alec with an intense look. “Did you know that warlocks can fade?”
Alec shivered. “I’ve heard that it’s possible and that it happens to Silent Brothers too, eventually. I’ve never seen it for myself.”
“You wouldn’t. Once a warlock fades, they’re essentially a living statue. Life no longer interests them so they just do…nothing. That’s what refusing to live in the present does to you, Alexander. I don’t want to become like that. I want to live a full life.”
Alec took a deep breath, trying to keep his thoughts straight. He knew he was walking a thin line arguing about the finer parts of immortality with someone who was actually immortal, but so much of what Magnus said felt wrong to him. He couldn’t accept it.
“Acknowledging the past isn’t the same as not living in the present,” he said. “You can do both. Besides, I don’t think that’s what you’re actually scared of. You don’t want to open up—”
Magnus shook his head. Once again, he refused to look at Alec.
“No, you don’t understand. You can’t. No mortal can. It’s not possible.”
It took all of Alec’s willpower not to scream. “Have you ever truly opened up to anyone?” he asked. “Anyone at all?”
Magnus clenched his jaw as magic sparked from his fingertips. “I’ve had my fair share of relationships—”
“That’s not what I asked.”
Magnus closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Alec scoffed and turned from the bed. “You were right. We clearly can’t work together. Not when you refuse to be honest with yourself or with me.”
He leaned against the far wall. It was still too close to Magnus for comfort, but if he looked away, he could almost imagine there was a wall between them.
From the corner of his eye, he watched as Magnus began playing with blue flames in his hand again. At least he didn’t try to launch any of them at Alec’s head.
After giving himself the closest thing to space he could manage, Alec quickly began to feel guilty. While he stood behind everything he said, it wasn’t the right time for them to be fighting. If they had any hope of getting out of the room, they had to put their past behind them and work together, like Magnus had said.
Though he still had no idea what working together to get out of the room would look like.
A sudden, terrible realization hit him.
The room had put Lorenzo in ridiculous clothes knowing that he prized how he was viewed above all else. He and Magnus had just argued, revealing the heartbreaking reality of their break up to the room. If it hadn’t known about their shared past before, it did now.
His throat closed up. If the room hadn’t been planning to make them work together before, it almost certainly would now.
It knew exactly how to hit them where it hurt, if it was cruel enough to use it.
Chapter 14: Chapter 11
Chapter Text
A long time passed without Magnus or Alec saying a word to each other. Alec had never been bothered by silence before. In fact, he often welcomed it, but in the box, things were different. He couldn’t forget about the argument he’d had with Magnus when Magnus was right there, still sitting cross-legged on the bed that took up most of the space in the room.
Alec didn’t dare sit down beside him again, wanting to keep as much space as possible between them. He’d taken to pacing instead, even as his legs started to ache from the constant circling. Sitting on the floor felt demeaning after he’d stood up and given Magnus control of the bed.
From the corner of his eye, he looked at Magnus. The warlock had gone almost scarily still. He wasn’t playing with his magic anymore and was instead staring down at his hands in his lap. He seemed to be deep in thought. He was probably thinking about ways to get them out, but Alec couldn’t help but hope that thoughts of him were swirling around Magnus’ head too because Magnus was certainly taking up most of his own thoughts.
He tried to think about their predicament as he paced, but each time he turned around and caught sight of Magnus again, he got distracted thinking about their argument. The actual topic they’d been fighting about had lost its edge, but he was still irritated by the state of things between them.
Not that he was doing anything to ease the tension. He didn’t have the energy needed for another argument when they couldn’t escape each other. Awkward silence was preferable to raised voices, even if they couldn’t rely on it forever.
“Can you stop with that damn pacing?” Magnus snapped out of nowhere.
Alec’s stomach quivered. His heart pounded in his ears.
“Sorry.” At least he managed not to sound irritated when he said it.
Truthfully, he’d been as fed up with the pacing as Magnus was, he just hadn’t known what else to do with himself. God, he really was stir-crazy. No one was meant to be locked up for so long in such a tiny space with their ex and no windows.
He perched himself on the very edge of the bed, as far from Magnus as he could manage, and started playing with his own fingers. He’d have given anything for a distraction. Absolutely anything at all. Even a cardboard box would have been welcome. He could turn it into a spaceship like he was a kid. Or shred it into pieces like a hamster. Anything. He was that desperate for stimulation that wasn’t replaying the conversations he’d had with Magnus on loop inside his head.
“I think I’m losing my mind.”
Alec didn’t realize he said it out loud until the words were out there, hanging in the air.
Magnus sighed and ran a hand over his brow. “Believe me, I understand, but we have to stay calm. Having a breakdown is exactly what the box wants. We’ll never get out that way.”
“Yeah, well, the box is winning.”
Alec knew he shouldn’t say things like that out loud. Not when it felt like they were being surveilled, but he’d given up any hope of keeping secrets from the box anyway. He had to discuss things with Magnus, and there was no way to do that without the box hearing everything. They didn’t even have notepads to write on, and the box could probably read whatever they wrote anyway. There was no escaping the box in any capacity.
He closed his eyes and took a few steadying breaths. Magnus was right. They had to stay calm and avoid letting the isolation get to them as much as possible. It was the only hope they had of getting out of the box with their sanity intact.
“Have you had any breakthroughs?” he asked Magnus.
He didn’t want to admit how little he’d been thinking about their escape as he paced.
Magnus’ eyes darted towards the far wall, his shoulders tensing. “No, I haven’t.”
Alec’s eyes narrowed. Magnus was usually skilled at hiding his real emotions, but the room had exhausted him enough that he wasn’t as adept as he would have liked.
“You’re lying,” Alec said.
It wasn’t even an attempt to start an argument, just a statement of fact, but Magnus tensed further.
“I’m not. I haven’t thought of anything.”
Alec sighed. They couldn’t argue again. He couldn’t take that when his sanity was already holding on by a thread. He tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling, but it was just as plain and unassuming as the rest of the room.
He racked his brain for what he could say next that would be helpful and not start an argument, but before he could think of anything, a platter with two chicken shawarmas on it appeared in the center of the bed between them. He and Magnus both stared at the food as if they couldn’t process its appearance despite the room having already fed them once before.
“It must be a mealtime,” Alec noted as he tried and failed to calculate how long it had been since they’d last ate.
Magnus sighed and reached for one of the wraps. “Maybe, maybe not. It’s just as likely—if not more so—that the room decided that now was as good a time as any to feed us. We don’t know how well it understands human biology. It could be guessing.”
Alec picked up his own wrap but turned it over in his hands without taking a bite. Magnus was probably right. It certainly felt like it had been hours upon hours since their breakfast, but his stomach hadn’t been growling before the food appeared. Like every other part of his body, it was confused as to how much time had actually passed.
He forced himself to take a bit of the shawarma. Now that the food had called attention to it, his stomach did feel empty, but nothing about the shawarma was appetizing. He couldn’t tell if it was in his head or the food itself, but something tasted off. He swallowed, and the bite he’d taken weighed heavily in his stomach.
“I don’t have much of an appetite.” He placed his wrap back on the platter.
Magnus, who had taken several bites of his own food, looked at him with his brow creased in concern, but he didn’t speak.
“Do you think we could get a clock?” Alec asked suddenly, wanting to push thoughts of food out of his mind. “You couldn’t summon a bed, but maybe…”
Magnus looked skeptical, but he tried anyway. He gestured in the air, which turned vaguely blue around his fingertips.
Nothing happened.
“Sorry.” Magnus shrugged and took another bite of his shawarma.
Alec sighed and shook his head. “It’s not your fault. I just hoped there’d be one thing that could help us get through this.”
He thought about asking Magnus to summon some sort of game that could serve as a distraction, but he didn’t want to be let down when it didn’t work again. And he felt almost guilty asking for such a thing when they should be spending all their mental power on getting themselves out, not simple distractions.
Any comforts beyond what was necessary would allow them to become too complacent.
“I’m sure the room wants us to feel off,” Magnus said. “It won’t make anything easier on us.”
Alec laughed darkly. “Well, it’s working.”
Magnus stared at him, not in the least bit amused, but at least it wasn’t Alec who he was irritated with this time around. “We’ll have to rely on guesses based on how we feel. Are you feeling tired yet?”
Alec took a deep breath and stretched, testing his limbs. “Yes,” he admitted. “But I don’t know if that’s because it’s nighttime or because we’re locked in here with so little to do.”
Magnus nodded. “I feel the same way. I don’t think we’ll be able to track time using our sleep schedule. That can get thrown off too easily. Our best option is tracking the meals the room gives us. It may not be three meals a day, but we can at least hope it’s at regular intervals. That’s better than nothing.”
Alec didn’t like it. Relying on the room meant placing their trust in it, which was the last thing Alec thought they should do, but Magnus was right that there was no other option.
“We’ve had two meals so far,” Alec said. “Even if the room only feeds us once a day, that would mean we’ve been in here no more than two days.”
“It did give us breakfast food last time. If it does that again, then that might be a good indicator of a schedule as well, so we’ll have to take note if it does that again.”
Alec liked that idea, but as soon as Magnus said it out loud for the room to hear, he thought their chances of being given stereotypical breakfast foods again rapidly decreased.
“I wish there was a way to write them down,” he said.
Magnus gestured in the air, but nothing happened. He shrugged. “With so little else to do, I think we can manage to remember. If nothing else, I’ll drum up a song to help us memorize it.”
In spite of everything, Alec laughed. Magnus grinned at him, and Alec’s heart tightened at the sight.
As if the room were admonishing them for discussing its feeding schedule in such detail, the platter disappeared from the bed, taking the rest of Alec’s uneaten shawarma with it. Alec and Magnus both stared at the now empty spot, Magnus holding his few remaining bites in one hand.
He quickly stuffed the rest in his mouth as if worried the room would decide to snap it out of his hands.
WIth the option of eating off the table, Alec’s stomach gave a frustrating growl that he was determined to ignore.
Suddenly, Magnus yawned. “I understand what you mean about being tired. I could do with a nap myself.”
Alec stifled a yawn of his own. His sleepiness was getting harder to ignore, but he wanted to push through it. They’d only received food twice since waking up. He couldn’t shake the feeling that it hadn’t been a full day yet.
He also wouldn’t have minded some time alone with his thoughts without Magnus awake and aware of him in the room.
“It might be better for us to sleep in shifts,” he pointed out. “There’s only one bed, but if we alternated, we could both use it.”
His cheeks warmed as he spoke about the bed, which was ridiculous all things considered. He wasn’t five. He could talk about sleeping like a normal person.
Magnus took his suggestion seriously, nodding as he considered it.
“It’s not a terrible idea, and it’s not like it really matters when we sleep since we don’t know what time it is.”
Maybe he was eager for some time spent alone—or as alone as they could manage to be—like Alec was. He glanced over at Alec.
“Do you want to go first? You said you were tired.”
“You were the one yawning,” Alec said with a smirk. “Plus, you woke up before me last time. It’s only fair for you to go first.”
It was a testament to how tired Magnus must have been that he didn’t put up a fight like he had over where they would sleep last time.
It was awkward as he settled beneath the covers. Alec moved to sit in a corner of the room to give him space, feeling like he was intruding and doing his best not to watch Magnus as he tried to sleep.
Chapter 15: Chapter 12
Chapter Text
After Magnus fell asleep, Alec couldn’t keep himself from watching him. At first, he tried to stop himself because it made him feel like a creep, but there were so few distractions in the room that he probably would have been looking at him even if the sight didn’t make his chest tighten and his throat grow thick with emotion.
In his sleep, Magnus looked peaceful. You’d never know that he was currently locked in a room with no way out. Alec itched to get closer, even to curl up beside him, but thankfully, that temptation was one he was able to control.
He’d wanted Magnus to be the one to sleep because it was the closest Alec could get to being alone, which meant he could actually focus on brainstorming ways to escape, but he’d been foolish to think that sleep would prevent Magnus from being a distraction. Of course he couldn’t focus when Magnus was beside him, asleep or not.
His thoughts drifted to what could have been. He imagined a world where they never broke up and he got to wake up next to Magnus every morning. Tears pricked at his eyes. He so desperately wanted the fantasy to be real. Watching Magnus sleep in the godforsaken box was a cruel imitation of his dreams.
Whenever he started to lose himself in sorrow, he tried to remember that what happened between him and Magnus wasn’t his fault. Sure, he wasn’t perfect, but he’d tried. Even in the aftermath of the breakup, he’d done everything he could to work things out. It had been Magnus who refused to try. Alec had been left with no option but to accept what Magnus wanted.
Knowing that he’d done everything he could should have made him feel better, yet it never had. He’d never taken kindly to things that were out of his control. He couldn’t shake the feeling that there must have been something he could have done differently to show Magnus that he could open up to him. Somehow, Magnus hadn’t felt safe enough with him to be vulnerable. That was more obvious than ever.
They were stuck in a box with no hope of escape, and still, Magnus couldn’t talk to Alec openly about his past.
Alec tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling. Even though the box surrounded them and—as far as they knew—there was no one controlling it, he couldn’t shake the feeling of someone standing over the box and staring down at them like they were in a dollhouse. He didn’t dare speak out loud for fear of waking Magnus, but silently, he pleaded for the box to provide him with some sort of clue about how they could escape.
Nothing happened.
Groaning, he hung his head, squeezing his eyes shut. He really was tired, but he couldn’t spend another “night” on the floor. Already his ass hurt just from sitting on the hardwood floor in the corner. If he tried sleeping down there again, he was liable not to be capable of standing once he woke up.
He wanted to do something productive so that when Magnus woke up he could prove that he’d done something other than sit there and watch him sleep. But he was at as much a loss as he’d been before. He was increasingly sure that, between the two of them, it would be Magnus who had the breakthrough that got them out of the box, not him.
He ran over everything that had happened since they’d been in the room, though it felt like very little. There’d been a lot of pacing and staring into space. The only conversation of any substance they’d had quickly turned to talking about their breakup.
If the room wanted to get them where it hurt, the only information it had to go on was that one conversation. He couldn’t shake his fear that the room would exploit their former relationship in some way, maybe by forcing them to talk about it until they wounded each other deeper than they already had.
The idea of it made Alec sick to his stomach. That was the exact opposite of what he wanted.
Magnus groaned, and Alec snapped to attention, watching as the warlock stretched and turned over in the bed. Alec hurriedly glanced away before he was caught staring, only looking over again once Magnus sat up.
“How long was I asleep for?”
Magnus’ voice, blurred by sleep, tugged at Alec’s heart strings. It had been so, so long since he’d heard Magnus like that. Or even seen him with his hair mussed from sleep. He wanted nothing more than to close the distance between them and pull Magnus close to his chest. Instead, he looked pointedly away.
“I have no idea.”
Alec hadn’t meant anything negative by the comment. It was merely the truth. But it made Magnus cringe regardless. He rubbed at his face roughly as he struggled to wake up fully.
Magnus moved to climb out of bed but fell back against the pillows with a cry when a plate suddenly appeared beside him. A second plate appeared directly in front of Alec on the floor. Each one held a large, fluffy omelet and a fork. After rejecting the shawarma earlier, Alec’s stomach growled eagerly, but Magnus swearing pulled his attention away from the food.
“Breakfast food again,” Magnus noted, poking at the omelet with his fork. “We only had one meal between the last breakfast and this one. Now I’m thinking that choosing breakfast food is a response to biological cues like us waking up. And maybe the other meals are like that too in some way.”
Alec cut off a piece of the omelet and popped it into his mouth. It held nothing but cheese inside, but he was too hungry to be picky. The omelet tasted a lot better than the previous food the room had given him, but he was fairly certain that was a combination of his hunger and his lowered expectations speaking.
“It could be,” he said between bites. “If we sleep in shifts, then we can see what happens when I wake up. If we get breakfast as soon as I wake up too, that’ll be a good indication that the type of food doesn’t have anything to do with how long we’ve been here.”
Alec was starting to wonder why the passage of time even mattered. The only thing they should be focusing on was how to get out as quickly as possible. Finding a way to track time was probably more of a distraction than anything else. It didn’t matter unless they planned to spend the rest of their lives in the box.
“Even if the room is responding to biological cues, we should get hungry at fairly regular intervals,” Magnus said. He was making much slower progress on his omelet. “That’s not nothing.”
Alec couldn’t argue with that.
Once they finished eating, their plates vanished. Magnus slipped out of the bed, towering over Alec where he still sat on the floor. He stretched, the hem of his shirt inching up over his stomach. Alec stared determinedly at the floor.
“Do you want to sleep?” Magnus asked.
Alec followed the gesture of Magnus’ hand to the sleep-rumpled bed. He thought about how the pillow would still smell like Magnus and how he’d be lying down in the indentation left by his body.
He swallowed.
“Maybe in a bit. I’m okay for now.”
He looked away from Magnus’ knowing gaze. It was true that he’d been tired when Magnus went to sleep, but now that Magnus was awake again and they were talking, he was more alert than before.
The one thing he couldn’t ignore was the way his muscles ached from sitting for so long on the wooden floor. He stood with a groan and stretched his limbs as best he could before taking a seat at the end of the bed.
That was safe. He couldn’t catch a whiff of Magnus’ lingering scent on the blankets from there.
“I’ve been thinking.”
Alec looked up at Magnus in surprise. He was still standing, hovering in the middle of the room. He hadn’t made any attempts to tame his hair since he woke, and his clothes were creased.
He looked absolutely gorgeous. Magnus without the defenses he usually wore would always be the one that most easily disarmed Alec.
“About?” Alec asked.
He swallowed his guilt over having nothing to contribute despite being the one who’d been awake for hours supposedly brainstorming solutions.
“Remember how Selina claimed that she didn’t think the box would take more than one prisoner at a time?”
Alec frowned. “Yes, but she was clearly wrong. Look at us.”
“Of course she was, but maybe there was some truth mixed in there too.” He started pacing, cupping his chin between his fingers.
“What truth?”
He had no idea what Magnus was getting at, but even so, anxiety was swirling in his stomach. He had a feeling he wouldn’t like whatever the answer was.
“Maybe there’s only one price to pay at a time.” Magnus’ eyes glinted. He actually seemed excited to have an idea. “Usually, it would only take one prisoner at a time for that reason, but if two people were going to pay the same price…”
“It might take them both,” Alec finished.
His stomach churned. He’d eaten that omelet far too quickly after going so long without a proper meal.
“So you think we have to pay the same price.” Alec wanted to make sure they were on the same page.
“Yes, I think so.”
They fell into silence as they both thought about what that would mean. There were a limited number of things that the box could want from both of them, especially if it was something that required the room to take them together.
“It could still just be because we both happened to touch it at the same time,” Alec muttered, but he had a sinking feeling that was wrong. He wanted to cling to that possibility instead of thinking about what prices he and Magnus could jointly pay. Then, something else dawned on him. “Or what if it wants to sow maximum chaos?”
Magnus raised an eyebrow. “I’m listening.”
Alec’s heart raced as he thought about it. “Think about Lorenzo dressed in all those clothes. He was furious, but it wasn’t exactly a cruel punishment, was it? It was designed to humiliate him, to make him angry. Maybe it wants to make us angry too.” He looked up at Magnus, his voice growing quieter. “Maybe it wants us to fight with each other.”
He caught Magnus’ gaze and couldn’t look away. Magnus was watching him intently, his jaw flexing as he thought.
“It’s certainly a possibility,” he allowed, “but I don’t think that’s it. We’ve been told that the price always varies. It’s as likely to be something worlds away from Lorenzo’s price as it is to be something similar. We should keep our options open until we have more to go on.”
He just didn’t want to fight. Alec could see it in his eyes, and he understood the reluctance to go down that path. The last thing Alec wanted was for things to become more strained between them, and if they fought and it didn’t get them out, the atmosphere in the room would be far worse. Which could just as easily have been what the room wanted.
“Ultimately, I think it likes confusing people,” Magnus said. He pressed one hand against the far wall. “That’s where it gets its entertainment. It’s enjoying watching us scramble to figure out its motives.”
Alec sighed. He felt more confused than ever. “Maybe,” he conceded.
His exhaustion had started to feel overwhelming. He tried to bite back a yawn, but he couldn’t hide it.
Magnus smiled at him softly. “Go on. You need to rest.”
He gestured at the bed, and finally, Alec couldn’t avoid it. Magnus was right; he needed to sleep. The room was starting to go out of focus.
The bed that had felt too firm before was suddenly a great comfort as he slid under the blankets. He settled his head against the pillow, facing away from Magnus, and bit back a smile as Magnus’ scent enveloped him. It was achingly familiar even years later. He pressed his face into the fabric, hoping his face was entirely out of Magnus’ view.
He hardly had time to think before he drifted off to sleep.
Chapter 16: Chapter 13
Chapter Text
When Alec woke again, it was to the sound of soft humming. He was confused for a second before he remembered where he was. The mattress that had been so welcoming after ages spent on the hard wooden floor wasn’t as comfortable anymore as the springs dug into his side.
He was still facing the wall. When he opened his eyes, he was faced with a plain wooden wall in a darkened room. Nothing about their surroundings had changed while he slept. Their situation was as hopeless as ever.
It was Magnus who was humming. Alec’s stomach fluttered as he remembered that they were trapped in the room together. If he ignored the uncomfortable bed and the depressingly blank walls he could almost pretend that it was the past and they were in Magnus’ apartment when things were good between them.
However fleeting that fantasy was, it was a good one. His heart ached with the knowledge that it would never be real. The distance between them felt harder to overcome than ever despite being trapped together.
He knew that as soon as he sat up and revealed he was awake the humming would stop. He closed his eyes and did his best to drift off to sleep again, but his brain had zeroed in on Magnus too much to drift off. He didn’t recognize the song Magnus was humming, but it was pleasant, a livelier tune than the situation warranted.
He couldn’t tell how long he laid there before he decided that he couldn’t keep up the ruse any longer. His back was aching more the longer he laid there. He sat up, and the humming instantly stopped.
Magnus grinned at him from where he’d perched himself on the floor, but it was a hollow gesture. “Good morning.”
Alec grunted, not quite awake enough to manage words yet.
Magnus’ smile widened. “Do you think we’ll get breakfast again?” he asked.
Both of them sat there in silence, waiting to see if something would happen, but there was nothing.
“Hmm,” Magnus hummed. “Maybe it is at certain intervals and I just happened to wake up at the right time.”
“Anything is possible.” Alec scooted to the edge of the bed, stretching out his stiff muscles.
Truthfully, he thought the room not giving them food this time was its way of fucking with them, but his brain was too sleep-fogged to raise the possibility.
From the corner of his eye, he swore he saw Magnus watching him, but when he glanced over, the warlock was playing with blue flames in his palm again, his shoulders tiff. A feeling stirred deep in the pit of Alec’s stomach, but he was quick to push it aside. He cleared his throat to get rid of his morning voice.
“Did you think of any potential solutions to our problem while I was asleep?” he asked.
Magnus’ answering expression was pinched. “I didn’t. I spent most of the time figuring out what spells I can or can’t perform.”
Alec raised an eyebrow. “And what have you found?”
“That I can’t summon anything into the room.” Magnus stared at the walls like he was wondering what sort of magic was embedded within them. “I already figured as much, but I’m certain it’s true now. Even innocuous items that wouldn’t help us escape or make us more comfortable don’t appear when I call for them.”
“And other spells?”
Magnus leaned back against the wall. “I seem to be able to perform most spells that don’t require anything from outside the room, such as hygiene spells.”
He glanced over at Alec with a questioning look, and Alec blushed. He had no idea when the last time he’d showered had been. He nodded. “Please.”
It was a strange feeling as Magnus’ spell washed over him. It was nothing like taking a bath. He didn’t experience the squeaky clean feeling that came from scrubbing yourself down with soap, but he could also tell that he was cleaner than before, like the dirt and oil had vanished from his skin.
“Thank you.”
Magnus nodded in reply. “We should brainstorm how to get out of here now though. I could use an actual shower.”
“You know I’m not opposed to that, but what, exactly, are we supposed to do? Neither one of us has any new ideas.”
Magnus grimaced. “I know we tried it once before, and it didn’t end well, but I think talking is our only option. We talk and hope the conversation takes us somewhere useful.”
Alec desperately wished that food would appear to distract them from that prospect, but the room was uncooperative.
It wasn’t that he hated talking to Magnus. In fact, he wanted to keep speaking with him more than he was willing to admit, but it also scared him. He knew that he would inevitably hear something he didn’t want to hear and potentially be heartbroken all over again.
Magnus was right though. Thinking on their own had gotten them nowhere. What else was there to do except put their heads together?
“Fine.”
He scooted up the length of the bed and sat cross-legged against the headboard, motioning for Magnus to sit across from him.
“I know you can’t be comfortable down there, and it’ll be easier to talk if we’re on the same level.”
Magnus looked reluctant, but he stood and joined Alec on the bed. Alec’s heart skipped a beat at his closeness and how easy it would be to close the space between them. He took a deep breath and centered himself instead.
For a moment, they looked at each other, neither one sure where to start. Others might have eased in with small talk about the weather or their current condition, but those topics were laughable in their current circumstances.
Magnus may have suggested talking until they stumbled upon something important, but Alec knew that there was only one topic that hung in the air between them. Talking about anything else would only be delaying the inevitable and forcing them to stay in the room longer.
Alec took a deep breath and braced himself. “If we’re going to talk, we should talk about the break up.”
Magnus flinched so minutely that Alec would have missed it if he wasn’t watching him closely. A second later, he rearranged his features into a neutral mask. “Yes, I think we should.”
Chapter 17: Chapter 14
Notes:
Hello! This chapter is being posted much later than usual because our internet has been out since Friday night. There’s no sign of it coming back on any time soon, so I’m posting this from my phone.
However, the final proofread version of this was on my computer and hadn’t synced to my phone. Instead, I’ve gone back over the older file on my phone and tried to proofread it, but I always hate doing that on my phone. I feel like editing on my phone creates more problems than it fixes, so I’m sorry for any typos you notice. I hope you enjoy the chapter anyway!
Chapter Text
Alec gripped his hands together in his lap to keep them from trembling. He’d spent so long trying not to even think about his and Magnus’ breakup that he had no idea how he’d make it through actually discussing it with Magnus.
It made him feel marginally better that Magnus didn’t look any better than he did. He was pale in the dim light of the room and had taken to playing with one of the rings that adorned his fingers.
“I guess I can go first,” Magnus said, sounding more uncertain than Alec had never heard him.
Alec stayed silent, not wanting to interrupt him. He watched with rapt attention, more eager than he’d ever admit to hear what Magnus had to say. So much of their breakup was still confusing for Alec. Even when the tension between them had been growing, he’d been convinced that they could work through it together. It had felt impossible that anything would separate them, and the fact that Magnus had given up on them still stung.
“I never thought I’d date a Shadowhunter.” He looked up at Alec, gauging his reaction.
Alec’s stomach twisted. That hadn’t been how he expected Magnus to begin, but he clenched his jaw and kept his mouth shut, waiting to see where he went with it.
“As you know, I’ve been alive a long time. The Clave’s laws pertaining to Downworlders have changed more times than I can count, but they’ve never been particularly friendly. And countless Shadowhunters were even less friendly than what the law calls for. Funnily enough, my fellow Downworlders sometimes called me a traitor for working as closely with Shadowhunters as I did, but I always shrugged off the insults, saying that it was about the pretty price Shadowhunters were willing to pay for my services and nothing else.”
Magnus laughed darkly, and the sound rattled Alec to his bones.
“That was never the full truth. In reality, yes, I’ve hated many Shadowhunters I’ve met, but there have always been a few that stood out to me as exceptional. I’ve loved some of them as friends, but never romantically. That was always where I drew the line. Nothing good could come from dating a Shadowhunter. For most of my life, it was illegal for Downworlders and Shadowhunters to marry. Even after the Accords, it was impossible to imagine a relationship with a Shadowhunter where I was fully respected, not just by them but by those around them.”
Alec desperately wished that Magnus would look at him, but he was staring resolutely down at the duvet with a dark, faraway look in his eyes. Alec ached to hold him, and he gripped his hands together tighter in his lap to stop himself.
“Then I met you.” Magnus laughed, glancing up at Alec for the slightest of seconds before looking away. “I was enamored with you from the second we met, and it scared me at first how quickly I was willing to let go of my previous reservations around dating Shadowhunters. You were so wonderful, Alexander, that I thought the world wouldn’t matter.”
He looked up, holding Alec’s gaze. Alec couldn’t have looked away even if he wanted to. Every nerve in his body was on fire. Magnus’ smile was sad, and Alec felt tears prick at his own eyes.
“But no matter how much I didn’t want it to, it did matter. I’m a warlock, and you’re a Shadowhunter. We live entirely different lives. Shadowhunters die young, and warlocks live forever if we’re lucky. The core life philosophies of our peoples are different. We view the world differently. You wanted things I can never give you, no matter how much I wish I could.”
The back of Alec’s throat burned. “That’s what it was?” he asked in disbelief. “That’s what made you believe we couldn’t be together?”
Magnus’ expression was once again unreadable. He watched Alec steadily, his shoulders set.
“For the past three years, I’ve thought that the problem was me.” Alec’s heart broke all over again as he said it. Every bit of pain he’d felt when Magnus broke up with him washed over him a second time. “I kept thinking about how, if I hadn’t asked you so many questions about your past, if I’d just accepted what you were willing to give me and nothing more, then things would have been different, and you’re telling me that you decided we couldn’t be together because Shadowhunters and warlocks just can’t be?”
The only sign that Alec’s words had had an effect on Magnus was his rapid blinking that he quickly controlled.
“I didn’t mean for you to believe it was your fault,” Magnus said. “I did everything I could to make it clear to you that it was about circumstances beyond our control.”
Alec laughed, the first of his tears breaking free. “I didn’t believe you. It seemed like such a cop out that I couldn’t believe you would throw away what we have over something like that.”
Magnus pressed his lips together. “You’re the head of the Institute. You should understand how important my position is. Our relationship was interfering with my ability to live up to my responsibilities.”
“We could have worked through that!”
Magnus froze, his eyes wide. He hadn’t expected Alec’s raised voice.
Alec’s chest rose and fell rapidly as his breathing sped up. He couldn’t believe what he’d heard. Years spent blaming himself and Magnus’ real reason was something beyond his control. Something that was ridiculous, as far as Alec was concerned. It certainly wasn’t something worth throwing away everything they had.
“I’m sorry.”
Magnus’ voice cracked over the words. Alec stared at him in amazement, his own eyes clouding with tears.
“I knew it was your first breakup,” Magnus continued. “I knew you’d take it hard, but that was all the more reason to end it when I did instead of letting it continue until it was even harder. The breakup was for you as much as it was for me. I hoped you could move on.”
Alec’s heartbeat rang in his ears. “You did it for me?” he repeated in disbelief. “If that’s the case, then why the hell didn’t you talk to me? Don’t you dare try to turn this around as having been for my benefit when I never said that’s what I wanted.”
Magnus cringed, but he didn’t back down. “I knew you wouldn’t agree. You haven’t lived as long as I have. You wouldn’t be able to see what I could.”
“This is the problem,” Alec bit out. He was angrier than he’d been even in the immediate aftermath of the breakup. “You can’t keep thinking I’m some naive child, Magnus. As you pointed out, I’m the head of the New York Institute. Forgive me for being optimistic that we could work things out because we love—loved each other.”
Magnus’ eyebrows rose over the word “love,” before Alec quickly corrected himself.
“I don’t think you’re a child,” he said quietly. “That’s merely one of the differences between warlocks and Shadowhunters. We live for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, Alexander. It’s hard for mortals to comprehend the things we see in that time. That isn’t an insult to you. It’s just the way it is.”
Alec shook his head, unable to find the words. He knew Magnus was incredibly wrong, but he also knew that any argument he made in his defense would be shot down immediately.
“I knew you could easily move on,” Magnus continued. “You’d find another Shadowhunter to love, and you’d be happy. That’s what I wanted for you. For you to be happy.”
Alec threw his head back in laughter, taking pleasure in the alarmed look on Magnus’ face.
“If that’s what you were hoping, then sorry to disappoint you. I haven’t dated anyone since we broke up.”
Magnus’ eyes widened. “No one?”
“No one aside from a few failed first dates.” Alec shrugged. “That’s it.”
For a moment, they watched each other, each digesting what had been shared. Alec yearned to ask Magnus about his own love life over the past several years, but he refused. It would make it sound like he cared, and he’d already revealed too much about how the breakup had affected him.
He couldn’t stand hearing about Magnus with someone else. It was bad enough that he could see the unspoken question of, “Why?” on Magnus’ face. It was a question he refused to answer unless Magnus pushed the subject.
“I hope you’re not dwelling on the past.” Magnus sounded inexplicably shaken.
Alec rolled his eyes. “You’re doing it again. This is the problem. You’re too quick to shove the past aside like it doesn’t mean anything.”
It was too close to honesty. If he hadn’t been angry, there was no way he’d have said it.
Magnus raised an eyebrow. “Moving on is healthy.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean completely forgetting about the past.”
They held each other’s gaze, silently waiting for the other to cave first. Alec didn’t trust himself to speak without saying something that he would regret.
Finally, Magnus opened his mouth, but before he could speak, two plates laden with steaks appeared on the bed between them.
“Is this filet mignon?” Alec asked in disbelief.
It wasn’t just the cut of beef that surprised him. The plates and silverware that had come with it were noticeably nicer than what they’d previously been given too. They were the sort of thing you expected to be handed at a Michelin-starred restaurant.
Magnus exhaled.
“It’s a sign.” He poked at his steak with his fork. “A sign that we’re on the right track.”
Alec stared down at his food, his stomach churning too much for him to manage a bite.
Chapter 18: Chapter 15
Chapter Text
Alec carried his steak to the corner of the room, letting Magnus have the bed. They ate in silence. Alec fought down each bite, his thoughts swirling chaotically around in his head.
What Magnus shared reoriented everything he’d believed about their breakup. He’d meant it when he told Magnus that he’d long blamed himself for what had happened. Despite it being Magnus who ended things, Alec had been convinced that, if he’d just had better knowledge of relationships, he could have understood what went wrong and fixed it.
He’d spent so much time working through his own feelings of inadequacy, and he’d never quite shaken them off. They still reared their ugly heads every so often when Alec wondered why none of the dates he went on grew into something more.
The fact that they’d argued wasn’t surprising, but the exact things that were said blew him away. Not having a private place he could retreat to and process the information made everything worse. He stared down at his empty plate, trying to pretend like he was alone, until the room took the plate from him.
Magnus said the fact that they were given filet mignon was the room’s way of telling them they were on the right track. Alec’s queasiness kept getting worse as he considered that idea. He might never be able to stomach steak again. He still held out hope that it had been a coincidence. For all they knew the room was magicking food to them at random, without caring what it was.
But he knew Magnus was probably right. Getting breakfast immediately after at least one of them woke up was too much of a coincidence for the room not to have some logic behind its choices in food.
Alec shivered. They’d only started poking at their issues, and already, he had no idea how he’d make it through whatever else Magnus had to say to him.
He hadn’t been awake long, but he laid out on the floor anyway. It wasn’t like there was anything else to do in the room, and he didn’t relish the thought of continuing their interrupted conversation. Not yet.
Up on the bed, Magnus snuggled under the covers and leaned over the side to look down at Alec “Are you sure you’re comfortable down there?”
Alec tensed as he stared up at him. As much as he didn’t want to care, all he could think about was how unflattering the angle Magnus was looking at him was.
“I’m fine.” His heartbeat raced. He felt strangely vulnerable down on the floor with Magnus looking down on him.
“You know, there’s room in this bed.”
The room had dimmed its usual glow so that they could barely see each other’s forms in the darkness, but Alec swore he wasn’t making up the tense look on Magnus’ face. Had he meant to suggest they share the bed, or had it slipped out before he could stop himself?
Alec swallowed, his thoughts too panicked for him to formulate an answer.
It was a bad idea. A truly horrible idea. Especially after the argument they’d had before eating. There were so many unresolved feelings between them, and sleeping side-by-side would do nothing to solve them.
Besides, while Magnus may have claimed there was room in the bed, there wasn’t much of it. The bed had clearly been designed with one person in mind, and while they could both fit on it if they wanted, there was no way they could both lie down without brushing against each other and being overly aware of the other’s proximity.
At the same time, Magnus was right that the floor was uncomfortable. It only became more so each time Alec laid or sat down on it. He was starting to think that he was doing permanent damage to his body being down there.
“We said we’d take turns,” Alec pointed out stupidly.
Magnus rolled his eyes. “We did, but that was when I hoped that neither one of us would have to sleep down there more than once.”
It was a terrible, terrible idea, but Magnus was right. Alec hadn’t considered what it would be like to fall asleep on the hardwood floor repeatedly. At the time, he’d just been eager to get as far away from Magnus as possible.
Now, against his better judgment, his heart wanted nothing more than to be close.
In a fit of madness, he sat up. “Fine, but budge over and make room.”
Alec had never felt more awkward clambering into bed. Both of them had been wearing all their clothes to sleep, not daring to strip off even one item of clothing in front of each other, and Alec was grateful that they at least had that added barrier between them.
He’d been right about how tight of a fit they were in the bed though. In the process of laying down, he brushed against Magnus no less than five times.
Eventually, he found himself on his side, facing out into the room. He didn’t dare twitch, lest they touch again. Magnus was as stiff as he was, though Alec didn’t dare look over his shoulder to see how he was laying.
Already, he regretted the decision to move to the bed. He’d never be able to sleep. If he’d been hyperaware of Magnus while lying on the floor, it was nothing compared to how aware he was now. Every miniscule movement by Magnus sent shivers down his spine.
“This shouldn’t be so awkward,” Magnus said with a chuckle, “considering our past.”
Blood rushed to Alec’s face. “That’s exactly why it’s so awkward,” he snapped. “I don’t know about you, but I haven’t shared a bed with anyone since you.”
He squeezed his eyes shut. Damn it. He hadn’t meant to say that. It was probably clear from the way he’d spoken about his disastrous dating life earlier, but stating it explicitly was humiliating.
It wasn’t that he was opposed to the idea of one-night stands in theory. A few times, he’d even tried it instead of going on yet another date, but each time, he’d run into the exact same problem he had on his dates: they were never Magnus.
And anyone who wasn’t Magnus always wound up feeling disappointing in comparison. He’d never been able to go through with it.
The mattress dipped behind him as Magnus sat up. At first, Alec refused to look back at him, but he felt Magnus gaze on his back and heard his quick breaths. Finally, he felt like he had no choice. He rolled onto his back, staring up at Magnus, who hovered over him much like he had while Alec was on the floor.
Except, this time, he appeared far more nervous.
“You seem to be under the impression that the time we spent together meant less to me than it did to you. I can assure you that is completely and utterly wrong, Alexander.”
Alec stared up at him, too stunned to speak. Every nerve in his body was like a live wire, screaming at him. His right hand gripped at the sheets, hard.
He couldn’t do this.
Chapter 19: Chapter 16
Notes:
This week's chapter is a shorter one, but I hope you enjoy it regardless. Things are starting to soften between them.
Also, happy first day of Pride Month!
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
The silence stretched on for an agonizingly long period of time. Alec laid on his back, staring up at Magnus as he hovered above him. It was intimate in a way that left Alec yearning for a more comfortable time, when having Magnus close made him feel safe and warm instead of on edge.
Gradually, the glow in the room brightened as if the box realized that they weren’t going to fall asleep in the immediate future. Alec wished he could sleep. He wanted to feel comfortable rolling back over on his side and drifting off to oblivion, where he could pretend like the last five minutes had never happened, but he couldn’t. He was too aware of Magnus still sitting up beside him.
“I’m sorry,” Alec said.
Magnus shook his head. “Don’t. Don’t apologize.”
“Okay, but”—Alec sat up, pushing away the blankets—”I should sleep on the floor.” He stood up, prepared to retake his place on the floor.
“Alec, no.” Magnus rose to his knees, like he might reach out for Alec’s arm. “We already discussed this. That’s ridiculous. You’re not doing yourself any favors sleeping down there. Get back here.”
Alec bit back a groan as he laid down on the floor. The wood was as uncomfortable as ever. His muscles ached in protest, urging him to listen to Magnus and crawl back into the bed. He ignored them.
“It’s better this way,” Alec insisted, trying to convince himself as much as he was Magnus. “I’m fine. Really. I slept in the bed last time. Take it. It’s only fair for you to have your own turn.”
Magnus stared down at him. Alec laid there, tense, waiting for him to continue arguing, but eventually, with a large sigh, Magnus moved away from the edge of the bed. Alec listened to him settle back onto the mattress. Only once Magnus was still was he able to let out the breath he’d been holding.
He rolled over until he was on his stomach. He had to crane his neck at an odd angle, but for the moment, it was more comfortable than being on his aching back.
If they ever got out, he would be prejudiced against hardwood floors for the rest of his life. He tried to distract himself by imagining a future home where every surface was soft and plush.
The room darkened, and the floor grew increasingly uncomfortable. Alec closed his eyes and tried as hard as he could to fall asleep, but it was useless. He turned over, hoping a change in position could provide enough relief that he could fall asleep.
If he could just fall asleep, then it would be fine. Nothing would be able to bother him anymore.
Magnus stuck his head back over the side of the bed, and Alec jumped. His eyes had adjusted just enough to see the slight frown on Magnus’ face.
“Are you ready to stop being ridiculous?” Magnus asked.
Alec stared back at him, unable to come up with a response.
Magnus sat up and pulled the covers back, patting the empty spot on the bed beside him. “Get back up here. If I have to listen to you tossing and turning down there, I’m not going to get any sleep either.”
Alec rubbed the hem of his shirt between his fingertips. Part of him struggled to resist joining Magnus in the bed, but thankfully, the part of his brain that knew it was a terrible idea stayed in control. For the moment.
“It’s a bad idea,” he said.
“Alexander,” Magnus sighed.
Alec’s stomach tightened at the sound of his name.
“We’re not going to talk,” Magnus continued. “We’re going to lay down and sleep. That’s it. Now get up here.”
His tone left no room for argument, and Alec found himself obeying without thinking. He got up and slid into the bed beside Magnus, his heart racing.
It was even warmer under the sheets than it was before. True to his word, Magnus turned away from him and laid down without saying anything further. Alec settled into bed, turning to face out into the room again and desperately trying to imagine that he was back in the Institute, far away from boxes and exes.
Notes:
Next chapter will be more talking.
Chapter 20: Chapter 17
Chapter Text
They were in a loop, Alec realized as he stared at the far wall in the dark. Once again he was lying beside Magnus and was wide awake because the only thing he could think about was Magnus’ presence beside him.
Every nerve in his body was alive. He felt every slight movement of Magnus’ and heard every breath. He knew Magnus was awake like he was, though he tried not to read into it. There was no way to know how long they’d laid there, but it felt like an eternity.
Magnus’ laugh pierced the silence. Alec tensed in surprise as Magnus kept laughing and laughing like he couldn’t stop.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I know we’re meant to be sleeping, but I can’t help it.”
Alec rolled over, eyeing Magnus uneasily. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” He was still laughing, though not quite as loudly as before. “I just can’t believe we’ve wound up here.”
His hand chopped through the air. Alec followed the gesture like it would actually reveal something, and before he knew it, he was laughing too.
He wasn’t sure why, but suddenly, everything was hilarious.
The predicament they were in was unbelievable. How many people could say they’d been trapped in a box with their ex with no hope of an easy escape?
“Have we lost our minds?” Alec asked, clutching his aching ribs.
“No idea. I wouldn’t put anything past this room.”
It took a while, with them calming several times only to glance at each other and start laughing all over again, but eventually, the room fell quiet again. They were both on their backs, staring up at the ceiling. The new position meant that their arms were pressed firmly against each other, which became increasingly distracting as Alec’s laughter died down.
Their laughter shifted something in the air between them. Even though Alec felt every inch of his body that touched Magnus, it didn’t feel awkward the way it had before.
Suddenly, his sleepiness overtook him. He was warm and comfortable lying beside Magnus, much like he had when they were together.
His eyes drifted shut. He could no longer keep them open.
Before he knew it, he was asleep.
When Alec woke up, he was more comfortable than he’d been since being deposited in the box. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so warm. It took a few seconds for him to realize why that was.
He was gripping something.
No, not something. It was Magnus.
At some point while asleep he’d turned towards Magnus and wrapped him in an embrace. His one saving grace was that Magnus was facing away from him and couldn’t see his horror. He stiffened as his mind raced with possible ways to extract himself from the situation.
Slowly, he tried to pull away without jostling Magnus. He didn’t get very far before Magnus’ voice broke the silence.
“We don’t have to be weird about it.”
Alec flailed backward and nearly tumbled off the bed. He sat up, letting the blankets pool around his waist.
Magnus turned onto his back, staring up at him with a perfectly neutral expression. As if nothing had happened.
“We were sleeping next to each other.” He shrugged. “It happens.”
Alec’s heart raced as he stared down at Magnus. Did it just happen? The only person he’d ever shared a bed with was Magnus. Maybe his body had merely been acting out of muscle memory.
Except, even if he tried to believe that, he knew it wasn’t true. Even as he sat there, he felt the draw towards Magnus. He wanted to be close to him, whether waking or sleeping.
Alec cleared his throat and stepped out of the bed, his whole body flushed.
Magnus sat up, his eyes never leaving Alec. “I didn’t want to ignore it. Ignoring it only makes it worse.”
“Right.” Alec nodded, the motion lasting too long before he stopped himself. “We were asleep. We weren’t in control of ourselves.”
Magnus continued to watch him. Unable to take it anymore, Alec turned towards the wall, trying to make it appear like nothing more than a casual gesture. Like the plain, wooden wall was an intricate painting that he was studying. He traced the wood grain with his eyes.
“What you said is true,” Magnus said eventually, breaking the silence. “But I do find that, in sleep, our true desires can reveal themselves.” He threw his legs over the side of the bed but didn’t stand. “So, what are your true desires, Alexander?”
The room spun as Alec looked at Magnus. He’d been scared of a lot of things when they wound up in the box together, but he hadn’t been prepared for this. He felt like he was choking and struggled to answer Magnus.
“What I feel doesn’t matter. You were the one who broke up with me.” His voice cracked. It was embarrassing how revealing of an answer his non-answer was. Magnus' brow wrinkled for a split second before his face was once again expressionless.
“Does that mean you still have feelings for me?”
Alec laughed. The nerve Magnus had to ask that question…
“Of course I do!” He threw out his arms, gesturing widely. “I wasn’t the one who wanted to break up, remember? You dumped me, and I’ve spent every day since trying to get over it.”
With every word, he knew he should stop speaking, but now that it was coming, he couldn’t stop it.
“The trouble is, I can’t get over it. I go on date after date, and none of them measure up to you. You’re the yardstick I compare everyone to because you’re the only person I actually want to be with. I try to deny it, not just to everyone else but to myself too, but that’s pointless because we all know what the truth is.”
“Alexander.” Magnus watched him like he was a feral cat who would be easily spooked. He went to stand, but Alec held a hand out to stop him, backing up until his back hit the wall.
“Don’t.”
Magnus froze, half-risen from the bed. He didn’t try to come any closer.
“I can’t have this conversation.” Alec turned away from him. “I can’t even look at you right now.”
He crossed his arms over his chest. He felt queasy and unsteady on his feet, but he refused to sit beside Magnus on the bed or sink to the floor.
“I hate this fucking room,” he spat. “The only thing I want is to get out of here.”
Adrenaline made his ears ring, but he had no outlet for it. Magnus was painfully silent for a long moment.
“Alexander, I understand your feelings, I swear I do, but you know as well as I do at this point that the only way we’re getting out of here is if we have this conversation.”
Alec swallowed, fighting against the acid rising in the back of his throat.
Magnus stood and crossed the room in a few strides, placing himself directly in Alec’s line of sight. Alec stared back, using his remaining willpower to act unaffected by the proximity. Magnus was doing a better job of it than he was. If it weren’t for the tension in his shoulders, Alec might have believed that he was calm.
“I can’t agree to avoid it forever,” Magnus said, “because both of us deserve to get out of here, but what I can promise you, Alexander, is that, as soon as we get out of here, you never have to see me again.”
Alec’s stomach twisted. He bit his lip, resisting the urge to whimper.
That wasn’t what he wanted. Not really. What he wanted was Magnus by his side for the rest of his life, but that was nothing more than a fantasy. Magnus had made that abundantly clear by now, and the only other option was distancing himself from Magnus forever.
Maybe, just maybe, he could eventually move on and find someone else. It was unlikely, but he had to believe it was possible.
“How can you promise that?” Alec asked. “You’re the High Warlock, and I’m head of the Institute. We have no choice but to work together.”
Magnus shot him a falsely confident smile. “As you said, I’m High Warlock. I have my ways.”
Alec was doubtful. If Magnus could really engineer things so that they never saw each other, then why hadn’t he already?
It was more likely that it was a ploy to get Alec to cooperate. He didn’t want to think that of Magnus, but he felt he had to. He wasn’t entirely sure what to trust in anymore. Whether it was a natural consequence of being locked in a confined space or some sort of magic from the box itself, he was starting to doubt everything. Life outside the box felt oddly distant even though they couldn’t have been locked away that long.
He took a deep breath and braced himself. Whatever he wanted, Magnus was right that they had no other option but to continue talking and hope it worked.
“Okay,” Alec said. “We’ll keep talking, but I need a breather. Please.”
He looked at Magnus with pleading eyes, and the warlock took pity on him. With a slight nod, he turned away and returned to the bed.
Chapter 21: Chapter 18
Chapter Text
Alec wasn’t sure what he’d expected to happen when he asked that they take a break from their conversation with each other. He’d been so overwhelmed in the moment that there’d been no way he could continue talking to Magnus without losing it. He needed space.
The problem was that there was no actual way to get space from each other in the cramped room, which meant it wasn’t really the break he longed for. Alec was still far too aware of everything Magnus was doing, and the silence only amplified every move they made.
Not knowing what to do with himself, Alec found himself leaning against the wall across from the bed. Magnus had sat back down on the bed and was fiddling with the sheets. Alec watched him from the corner of his eye, unable to think about anything else.
He thought about how little he really knew Magnus despite their history together. That wasn’t a new revelation. It had been a big part of their downfall as a couple, but it still stung, knowing that there was so much that Magnus kept bottled up inside and refused to share even back when they were meant to trust and care for each other. It would never not hurt knowing that there were centuries’ worth of stories from Magnus’ life that he’d never hear.
A sudden realization hit him, and he gasped, drawing Magnus’ attention.
Alec pushed himself off the wall. “I think I know what we need to do if we want to get ourselves out of this box.”
Magnus raised an eyebrow. “Something that isn’t talking?”
Alec sat down next to Magnus on the edge of the bed, pulling one leg up onto the mattress so that they were facing each other.
“It’s what we need to talk about,” he said. “Earlier, we talked about our breakup, and we said the room could probably understand us, right?”
“In some capacity, yes.” Magnus shrugged. “You think you’ve figured out the room’s motives?”
“If the price you have to pay to be released is different every time, then it must be tailored to the person—or people—who are in the room each time. It makes sense that it would use personal information we’ve shared to decide what it wants to have us do. When we got dumped here, there probably wasn’t a price yet. The room had to figure us out first to know what it wanted from us.”
“Right,” Magnus said slowly. “Which is why we should keep talking until we stumble upon what the right thing to say is.”
“I think we’ve already stumbled on it.” Alec’s heart raced in his chest. He knew Magnus wasn’t going to be happy about what he had to say. He wasn’t either. This wasn’t how he wanted it to finally happen, but Magnus had to suspect what Alec already suspected. They’d both realized that the filet mignon was a likely clue after all.
Magnus looked at him questioningly.
“The reasons for the breakup were what you saw as conflicts of interest with our positions and also my frustration with you not sharing your past with me.” He watched Magnus, waiting to see if he’d argue with him on that.
He didn’t, but he didn’t look happy that Alec had brought it up either. His curious expression quickly shifted to his carefully controlled mask. “You’re saying that we need to resolve our past arguments? That’s ridiculous. We’re not together anymore. My past should matter even less to you than it used to. We’ve both been open with each other plenty already.”
Alec fought back his frustration. “You know that’s not true. You still haven’t shared anything substantial about your past with me. The room knows as much. Doesn’t it make sense that it would capitalize on that?”
Magnus’ jaw flexed as he considered Alec’s idea. Alec stayed silent, letting him come to his own decisions. Alec knew he’d see what he did. There was no other way around having the conversation.
It wasn’t like they had other options, and it would be an excellent case of the room hitting them where it hurt. It would be far more effective than what it had put Lorenzo through. Alec would have worn fifty ridiculous outfits before having a painful conversation with Magnus.
Magnus deflated, defeat in his eyes. It made Alec want to reach out to him. He twisted his fingers in the sheets instead as he waited for Magnus to speak.
He couldn’t look away from him. His heart raced in anticipation. He was finally about to hear the stories he’d longed to know for years, but he hated the circumstances in which he was getting them. It was cruel to force Magnus to share them because he’d been backed into a corner instead of because he wanted Alec to know them.
“You know speaking about my past isn’t as easy for me as you seem to think it should be.” Magnus’ voice shook. He looked down at his lap. “I haven’t done it in a long, long time. Over a century.”
Alec nodded. “Take your time. It’s not like I have anywhere to be.”
Chapter 22: Chapter 19
Notes:
Magnus' stories from Peru that are referenced in this chapter come from The Bane Chronicles. So, there are some spoilers for that book if you haven't read it.
Chapter Text
Magnus took a deep, shaky breath while Alec sat quietly beside him. He didn’t want to push, even if it took all his willpower to remain silent.
He couldn’t understand why talking about the past was so difficult for Magnus. Not really. He knew that terrible things must have happened to Magnus at some point. It was almost impossible for it not to have, considering his age and how warlocks had historically been treated by the Clave. Alec wasn’t naive enough to think Magnus’ entire life had been smooth sailing, but his reluctance to open up about his past felt like something deeper than Alec was capable of understanding without Magnus explaining to him.
It wasn’t just that he was hesitant to talk about his bad memories. He’d never even shared positive ones with Alec that went further back than a couple of decades. There were some occasional vague allusions to things that Alec could never actually determine were true or not. Magnus never went into detail.
Maybe that was part of being immortal, like Magnus always said. Alec couldn’t understand what it was like to live for centuries. Even for a mortal, he was still young. If he was one of the Shadowhunters lucky enough to make it to old age, maybe he would come to have a better understanding of what Magnus had experienced, though he couldn’t really imagine that being the case. Many of the oldest people he knew loved to reminisce about the past. It was very different from Magnus.
“I’ve lived a long life,” Magnus finally said, jolting Alec out of his thoughts. “I don’t know where to start.”
That Alec could understand. If someone suddenly asked him to tell his life story, he wasn’t sure he’d know where to start either, especially when aspects of his younger years were a mystery even to him. He hadn’t known that he’d grown up in New York instead of Idris because his parents were exiled until a few years ago.
“Why don’t we start with your age?” Alec said.
It seemed like an easy enough question to answer. It was simply a fact—or should have been—and he couldn’t imagine a mere number having bad memories attached.
“I’m not even sure how old you are,” Alec continued, “except ‘really old.’ Every time someone asks, you say something different.”
Magnus laughed, but there was little humor in it. “I’ve been lying about my age since I was a teenager. No one takes a warlock who’s less than a century old seriously. It would have been impossible to support myself, so I started claiming to be a century or more older to get clients. It was easy enough, and since I did stop aging around nineteen, it was easy enough to keep adding to that false age without anyone suspecting that my past lies were lies.”
He twisted one of the rings on his fingers.
“I’m old enough now that it’s unnecessary, but some habits are hard to break. I also grew to enjoy the mystery that it created. That held had its own power. As conflicting stories spread, no one knew what to believe about me, not just in terms of my age but in other respects as well.”
He turned to Alec, and Alec stiffened, waiting anxiously for Magnus to give him more information.
“The truth is that I’m about four hundred years old. I was born in the early 1600s in what was then called Batavia in the Dutch East Indies. Today, it’s Jakarta, Indonesia.”
The information Magnus had shared so far was hardly anything revolutionary, yet Alec’s heart was already in overdrive. He couldn’t believe that Magnus was finally being upfront and sharing the truth with him without any deflection.
Magnus had never directly lied to Alec about his age like he had others, but Alec had heard the stories that spread, and Magnus had never acted to clarify any of them for him either. Even the fact that he hadn’t given an exact year didn’t bother Alec. He was just glad to have something that he could cling to as true.
“Thank you for telling me,” Alec said.
Magnus snorted and shook his head. “It’s not like I have much of a choice at this point.”
He closed his eyes and drew in a shaky breath. Sharing his past didn’t seem to be getting any easier for him, and Alec was starting to feel guilty about pushing the topic even though he was still convinced that it was necessary if they had any hope of escaping the room.
“I don’t think I can share any stories from my childhood.” Magnus’ eyes were still closed. “I’m sorry.”
Alec’s heart constricted. He didn’t want to think about what terrible things Magnus must have experienced as a child if he was having that kind of reaction when he delved into his memories. Even Alec, who considered his relationship with his parents chaotic at best, had never felt that distressed when thinking about the past. In fact, parts of his childhood had been joyful. It wasn’t until he’d reached training age that his relationship with his parents had begun to sour.
“That’s fine.” Once again, Alec yearned to reach out to touch him and had to sit on his hands to stop himself. “You can share anything that’s easy to share.”
Magnus opened his eyes again, but he didn’t look at Alec. His gaze was unfocused as he thought about some memory of the past instead of their drab surroundings within the box.
“Did I ever tell you about my trips to Peru?”
Alec swallowed. “No, you didn’t.”
Magnus glanced at him, a new twinkle in his eye. “Well, I’ll have you know, I’m actually banned from Peru.”
Alec’s eyes show wide open. “Banned? How…”
Magnus laughed, and it was such a glorious sound that Alec found himself even more eager to hear the story than he might have been otherwise.
“I’ll get there,” Magnus promised. “Actually, though, I had many adventures in Peru before I was cruelly asked to never step foot in the country again. The first time I visited was in 1791 when I convinced Ragnor to go on a tour of Lima and Arequipa. Unfortunately, he was rather unappreciative of the trouble I went through to arrange the trip…”
Alec listened with rapt attention as Magnus shared several stories of Peru. It was much easier for him to talk about his adventures in South America than it was about his childhood. Alec enjoyed watching the way that Magnus’ face lit up at certain parts of his stories. At those times, Alec understood even less why Magnus was so reluctant to talk about them.
Then Magnus reached a story of a former lover, a musician named Imasu Morales. As soon as Alec realized where Magnus and Imasu’s relationship was going, he felt a flare of jealousy that he did his best to smother.
He knew that Magnus had had a number of lovers. He was four centuries old. It would have been foolish to expect otherwise, and Alec was far less rattled by it than he had been when they had first begun dating. It wasn’t like he wanted Magnus to have spent centuries being lonely.
Still, it was one thing to know he’d had relationships in the abstract and another to hear about one of them in detail.
As Magnus continued to talk about Imasu, though, his smile turned sad.
“I thought we might live together,” Magnus admitted, his cheeks a deep red. “But before I could make the suggestion, Imasu ended our dalliance. He said I was too ‘ephemeral,’ whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean. As I told him at the time, I’m as permanent as it comes.”
He tried to keep his tone light, but there was no mistaking the sadness in his eyes or the nervous way he gestured in the air.
“He said that?” Alec felt a sudden rush of anger towards a man who had likely died a century or more earlier.
Magnus shrugged. “He’s the only one to ever use that word, but it’s not an uncommon sentiment among my past lovers. Most of them eventually decided that they wanted something more…familiar, perhaps would be the best word to use. For some, they want to settle down with someone more like them, as in a mortal who will age and die alongside them. I can’t give them that. I’m excellent as a way to have a good time, but I can’t give them the future they’ve spent their lives dreaming of.”
“That’s fucking stupid.”
Alec hadn’t meant to snap. The words were out before he could think. Magnus jumped, staring at Alec like he’d grown an extra head. Blood rushed through Alec’s ears.
“I mean it,” he said. “How could anyone say that? How could they believe it?”
Magnus shook his head, looking dazed. “I know there was a time when you were insecure about my past lovers, Alexander, but I don’t think you ever truly understood how unique you are among them.”
Alec swallowed, his throat tight. He had no idea how to react to that. Suddenly, asking Magnus to share stories of his past felt dangerous in ways he hadn’t expected. This was supposed to be a time when the focus was on Magnus and Alec got a break from feeling like he was being ripped open and his insides exposed.
“How could I know?” It was his turn to draw in a shaky breath. “You never spoke about the past.”
Magnus’ smile turned amused. “To be fair, I didn’t think those were the sorts of stories you so eagerly wanted to hear.”
Alec shook his head, a ghost of a smile on his own lips. “Back then, they weren’t, but I think I could handle them now.”
Magnus nodded. His smile grew forced. He took a shuddering breath, and a tear broke free, streaking down his face.
“Magnus?” Alec asked in alarm.
Magnus shook his head, averting his gaze in an attempt to hide his face. He brought his hand up, trying to discreetly wipe away the tears, but there was no way to hide them when they were sitting so close.
Alec let go of his inhibitions and reached out, tugging Magnus close. Magnus didn’t protest as he pressed his face into Alec’s chest and cried even harder.
Chapter 23: Chapter 20
Chapter Text
Alec’s heart stuttered as he held Magnus close. Opening up to each other may have been a requirement for getting out of the room, but he still regretted it.
He’d known that talking about the past was difficult for Magnus, but he’d thought it was mostly stubbornness or maybe even dismissiveness. He hadn’t registered how much pain Magnus felt. He had four centuries of good memories, Alec was sure, but there were four centuries of bad ones too. How could one person hold onto all that?
“I’m sorry,” Alec muttered, just loud enough for Magnus to hear.
As if realizing he was in Alec’s arms for the first time, Magnus stiffened. “It’s not your fault. You were right. The room probably does want us to talk about it. We didn’t have a choice.”
Knowing that didn’t make Alec feel any better about the situation. Part of him was tempted to sit in the box for the rest of his life if it meant never seeing Magnus cry again.
“That may be true,” he said, “but I still feel bad about it. No one deserves to be forced to share their past with anyone. That was never what I wanted.”
He’d wanted Magnus to open up willingly. He’d only wanted to hear stories that Magnus was happy to tell him.
Magnus smiled and placed his hand over Alec’s cheek. Alec’s breath stuttered at the touch, his skin coming alive.
“That is one thing I always loved about you, Alexander.”
Alec’s chest tightened. He didn’t know how to interpret that comment or what it meant for him and Magnus currently. He was aware of how close they were sitting and how easy it would be to lean forward and kiss Magnus, but he couldn’t do that unless he knew they were truly on the same page.
“Magnus—”
But Magnus was already removing his hand from his face and turning away to face the wall. “I should continue my story.” He looked towards the ceiling. “If this is what the room wants, then clearly it wants to hear more before it’s prepared to let us out.”
Alec cleared his throat, doing his best to push away the headier feelings coursing through him. “Yeah, alright. I’m listening.”
He reminded himself that he had wanted to hear stories about Magnus’ past for years, but that only made him feel worse about the situation. His heart ached, and he was pretty sure the ache wasn’t going away, even if Magnus chose to tell him a story about prior happiness and joy.
What Magnus chose to share next was a far cry from anything happy though.
“I know who my father is.” He stared down at his hands, his brow furrowed.
It was the most shocking thing he could have chosen to share. That was one tidbit of information that Alec had expected to learn. He knew that most warlocks never discovered who their father was. For many of them, their father was some faceless demon without much of an identity anyway.
Alec swallowed, his mouth dry. “You don’t have to tell me—”
Magnus laughed. “I’m going to. This is exactly the sort of thing the room would want, isn’t it?”
Alec stayed silent, waiting.
It took Magnus a few seconds to work up the courage to actually say it. He looked directly at Alec, his voice cold. “My father is Asmodeus.”
Alec was frozen in place, his vision swimming. On some level, he’d always known Magnus’ father had to be powerful because of the power Magnus himself wielded. He knew enough about warlocks to know that their capabilities didn’t just correspond with how old they were. It also helped explain the deference many warlocks showed towards Magnus, yet that somehow made it no less shocking.
“Asmodeus like the Prince of Hell Asmodeus?”
It was a dumb question. There was no other demon named Asmodeus, but Alec couldn’t process it. The vast majority of warlocks were born to lesser demons. Children of Greater Demons were rarer and Princes of Hell even more so.
Magnus shook his head in amusement. “Yes, that would be the one.”
“How did you find out?” Alec asked. There was no way it could have been good.
Magnus grimaced. “My father has a way of making sure all his children learn about their paternity sooner or later.”
There was definitely more to the story, but Alec couldn’t bring himself to push for details. He didn’t want Magnus to cry again, and he got the sense that this particular aspect of his past had created even deeper wounds than his past romantic relationships.
“My father and I have a complicated relationship,” Magnus said. “We haven’t spoken to each other in over two centuries, and I hope the silence continues for centuries more.”
“Do other warlocks know?” Alec asked.
Magnus shrugged. “Some do or, at the very least, suspect. Rumors abound in Downworld, but the parentage of warlocks is one piece of information that warlocks can typically count on others of their kind keeping quiet. I’ve yet to meet a warlock who is actually happy about their demon parent. Those born of lesser demons are ashamed of their lack of power. Those of us born of Greater Demons are even more ashamed by what our fathers have done. We understand each other in that way.”
Alec wasn’t actually sure what Asmodeus had done. He knew Asmodeus was a Prince of Hell and that that meant he’d done terrible things, but he’d never delved deeper into what the various Princes of Hell were responsible for over the millenia, and he didn’t think he could research it now without feeling guilty about going behind Magnus’ back.
Still, he could imagine how horrific it was.
It was quiet between them as neither was quite sure what to say.
Alec felt like he understood Magnus better than he ever had despite the few stories he shared being a small fraction of the life he’d lived. Alec knew that he could never know everything Magnus went through. They’d never have enough time together to come close, and while he didn’t fully agree with Magnus’ position on forgetting the past, he didn’t want to live a life where he spent more time on the past than the present.
There was a new intimacy between them that Alec had given up all hope of ever achieving, but there was still so much distance too. No matter how closely they sat next to each other, Alec could feel it. Magnus had lowered his walls, but they weren’t completely gone.
Alec’s weren’t really either, not after the breakup. Being locked in a room together for however long they’d been in there had made things more confusing than they’d ever been before.
“Thank you for sharing that with me,” Alec said. “I know it can’t be easy. I promise I’ll never say a word about it to anyone else.”
Magnus shook his head, the gentle smile back on his lips. “I know you won’t. Trusting you was never the difficult part, Alexander.” He closed his eyes briefly. “You never should have blamed yourself for the breakup. Nothing about it was your fault.”
Alec’s stomach twisted. Magnus’ words were what he’d wanted to hear years earlier, but they no longer brought him the satisfaction that he thought they would.
“I should take at least some of the blame,” he said. “I shouldn’t have pushed you to share things that you weren’t comfortable talking about.”
“Yes, you should have. It was unfair of me not to meet you halfway. There was no reason for me to shut down any and all conversation about my past. It was unrealistic of me to expect you to be okay with that.”
Alec opened his mouth, but he couldn’t think of anything to say. After such an emotionally volatile conversation, he wanted to continue assuring Magnus that things were okay, but he also couldn’t argue with what Magnus had said. He still felt the deep hollowness that he’d felt when Magnus refused to open up to him. He never could have lived like that for long.
Magnus laughed, startling Alec. “Look at us now,” he said. “We thought talking would make us argue, but instead, we’re stumbling over ourselves trying to apologize.”
Alec found himself laughing too, surprised at how light he felt after the topic of conversation, but it didn’t last long. There was a new weightiness in the air that hadn’t been there before. It had raised new questions for him, and not the ones that he had expected.
“If we’d been as open then as we’ve been now, do you think things could have been different?” he asked. “Would we still be together?”
Magnus’ eyes shone as he smiled at him. “There’s no way to know that, Alexander.”
Alec nodded, blinking away the tears that were threatening to form. He didn’t need to be immortal to know that Magnus was right. They couldn’t dwell on what-ifs. What was done was gone, and there was no going back.
Chapter 24: Chapter 21
Chapter Text
Suddenly in need of a distraction before he began crying again, Alec looked around the room. It was the first time in ages that he’d let himself truly observe it, though nothing looked different from when they first arrived except for the mess they’d made of the sheets on the bed.
He’d been certain that him and Magnus talking about their past problems would be the key to getting out, but the room wasn’t giving them any indication that they were closer to freedom. Maybe they hadn’t argued enough. If the room’s goal was to humiliate them, then that hadn’t exactly been achieved. Even Alec was amazed at how civil their conversation had been at the end.
Sadness apparently wasn’t what the room was going for.
“How long do you think we’ve been in here?” he asked.
Magnus shrugged. “There’s no way to know. I can’t even remember how many times I’ve slept at this point.”
“Me either.”
Alec was increasingly convinced that the room was having some sort of psychological impact on them that messed with their perception of time. It didn’t seem to just be that they were trapped in the box, though what did he know? He’d never been trapped in a confined space for such a long time before.
While he couldn’t tell how much time had passed, he had more clarity after their conversation than he’d had before. There had been a while where he’d felt so sleepy that he couldn’t keep his eyes open, but that was gone. He was wide awake. He couldn’t shake the feeling that something was about to happen, but he didn’t know if it would help them get out or cause more problems.
“What else could we possibly do?”
Alec’s question was more to the room than to Magnus, but Magnus answered him anyway.
“I’m afraid that I’m as short on ideas as you are. The room has not provided any lovely props for us as it seems to have done for Lorenzo. Even after all this time, we have nothing but ourselves and this bed. That’s not much to go on.”
Alec flushed, his mind going to unsafe places when Magnus mentioned it being them and the bed. Magnus himself didn’t notice or, at least, was excellent at pretending like he didn’t. He was frowning at the far wall, deep in thought as he considered methods of escape. None of which, hopefully, involved the bed.
Looking down at the bed, Alec tried to steer his thoughts in a different direction, but it was hard. There was no doubt that he was as attracted to Magnus the same way he’d always been, if not more so after years apart.
Then it hit him.
Talking wasn’t the only thing you could do when locked away in a room together. He’d known that, of course. It was what had made him blush when Magnus mentioned the bed, but he hadn’t truly considered the ramifications of what the room had provided them with at the beginning. He’d taken the bed as a way to make things awkward, but he hadn’t imagined that it was the item meant to help them.
His cheeks were on fire. There was no way he was suggesting that. Absolutely none. If he ever had sex with Magnus again, it wouldn’t be because they had to in order to survive, and it definitely wouldn’t be when a creepy room that may or may not be sentient was watching their every move.
But he also couldn’t shake the thought that he was on the right track, and there were a lot of things you could do on a bed that weren’t sex…
He cleared his throat. Magnus turned to look at him, his eyes growing wide when he saw the redness on Alec’s face.
“Alexander, are you okay?”
He raised his hand as if to check Alec for a fever, but Alec shied away from the touch. There was no way he could handle Magnus’ hand against his skin after the place his thoughts had wandered to.
“I thought of something. What if what the room wants us to do isn’t talking but kissing?”
He didn’t dare reveal how far beyond kissing his thoughts had actually gone. He couldn’t even look at Magnus, sure that he knew what Alec had been thinking, whether he said it out loud or not.
“It can’t be,” Magnus muttered, but there was also resignation in his voice. He knew as well as Alec did that it made sense.
Alec braced himself and looked up at him, waiting for an answer.
Magnus sighed. “I have to admit that it makes more sense than talking. Maximum chaos, right? That does seem to be what the box is about.”
Alec didn’t respond to the question. He couldn’t. He didn’t want to think of kissing Magnus as causing maximum chaos. He wanted to cry at the thought that he might kiss Magnus again but only because they were trying to save themselves, not because Magnus still cared for Alec as deeply as Alec cared for him.
“Would you be okay with it?” Alec asked, his heart racing. “I know it’s a lot to ask.”
Magnus smiled at him. “Alexander, it’s okay. Are you okay with it?”
“Well, it’s the only way out, isn’t it?”
It didn’t come out the way he wanted it to. He knew it sounded like he didn’t want to kiss Magnus when the reality was that he yearned for it as much in that moment as he always had, but he couldn’t admit that, not when things were still so unclear between them.
Maybe if they had more time to talk about it. Even outside of the box, they could have that. In fact, it would be better outside of the box where some strange, malevolent…thing wasn’t listening in to everything they said.
Magnus didn’t act offended by Alec’s badly worded statement. His smile barely faltered in response. Perhaps he really was only kissing Alec to get out of the box. Alec tried to be okay with that. He really did. It had been three years. Regardless of what their relationship had been once upon a time, it was reasonable to be over your ex after three years. Alec was the strange one, hanging on in the way he had.
They leaned towards each other hesitantly, like each of them expected the other to back out at the last minute. When it became clear neither of them intended to do that, Magnus closed the remaining inch of space between them, capturing Alec’s lips with his own.
The hair rose on the back of Alec’s neck. It had been so, so long, and kissing Magnus was no less magical than before.
As soon as they were touching, Alec couldn’t stop himself. He reached out, his hands finding Magnus’ waist. Magnus' own hands came up, his fingers tanging in the hair at the nape of Alec’s neck.
For a few seconds, it was everything Alec had dreamed of and could ever want.
Until they were ripped from each other.
Except they weren’t really being ripped from each other, Alec realized a split second later. They were being ripped from the room itself, and the force of it caused them to separate. Their surroundings blurred as they traveled faster than Alec ever had before.
When their surroundings came back into focus, Alec gasped. They were standing in the Institute, in the same room where they’d put the box for safekeeping. The box, in all its unassuming glory, was sitting on the table between them.
Alec swallowed down the bile in his throat as he looked across the table at Magnus, who looked as stunned and unsure as Alec. Alec knew that he should have been relieved, and in a way, he was, but he was also in shock.
He could still feel the ghost of Magnus’ lips on his own.
Chapter 25: Chapter 22
Chapter Text
Alec stared down at the box. It was hard to believe that he and Magnus had just been inside it. The box was so small that the charm to create a whole room inside must have been powerful magic. It looked even more unassuming than it had the first time Alec saw it, when it appeared as a plain wooden box with nothing noteworthy about it.
He leaned over it like he still expected to find some outward side of the power it held.
“Don’t touch it,” Magnus said.
Alec looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. “We only just escaped. Why would I touch it again?”
Magnus smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. I’m still a bit jumpy.”
“It’s fine.” Alec sighed. “We’re both exhausted. Who wouldn’t be after that?”
He gestured at the box.
Magnus did a lap around the room, holding his hand out to sense any signs of magic. “There are wards on this room like the ones I put up before. They must have performed the same spells after we were locked inside. Someone will have been alerted that we’ve escaped.”
Sure enough, Magnus had hardly finished speaking when Isabelle and Jace rushed into the room, each breathing heavily. Isabelle’s shoulders sagged in relief when she saw them.
“Alec!” She was across the room in a split second, flinging her arms around his neck. “I’m so glad you’re okay.”
He hugged her back. “Me too.”
He was surprised to realize that part of him resisted that sentiment. There was no doubt that being locked in the room had been distressing, and when he was in it, he’d wanted nothing more than to get out. But now that they were free, he found himself longing for the intimacy of being alone with Magnus, something he’d never thought he’d experience again.
Over Isabelle’s head, he caught Magnus’ eye. He was standing off to the side, looking awkward at Alec and Isabelle’s reunion. As if she sensed what Magnus was feeling, Isabelle pulled away from Alec and immediately threw herself into Magnus’ arms. He stared, wide-eyed, for a second before hesitantly returning the hug.
“I was so worried,” she said.
Jace pulled Alec in for a half hug. “It has been a stressful couple of days,” he said.
“Couple of days?” Alec repeated. “Is that how long we were gone?”
“Yes.” Isabelle stepped away from Magnus. She looked between them like she was trying to pick apart what they’d gone through. “Today would have been the third day if the box hadn’t released you.”
Alec shifted under her gaze. He knew what question was coming before she asked it.
“What happened in there?”
Alec’s cheeks warmed. He glanced at Magnus, hesitating. With everything that had gone on in the box, they hadn’t discussed how they would handle the inevitable questions that would be pointed their way once they were out.
Magnus didn’t appear eager to lay it all out for Jace and Isabelle either. “What happened in the box isn’t what’s important,” he said. “What’s important is making sure that thing is gone before it takes anyone else prisoner.”
They all turned to look at the box, which continued to sit unassumingly on the table. Alec wondered if it could understand them while they were outside of it too and shuddered.
“Catarina helped set the wards in here,” Isabelle said. “She should be on her way now.”
“Excellent.” Magnus clapped his hands together. “I admit that, even after being inside it, this box baffles me. I’ll need all the help I can get in figuring out how to dispose of it, and Catarina is one of the people I trust most to help me figure it out.”
“Do you think you’ll be able to?” Despite not having been in the box, the look Isabelle shot at the box made it obvious that she found it terrifying.
“I can’t be certain,” Magnus said with a shrug. “This is magic I’ve never seen before, and I highly doubt Catarina has either. It’s possible Lorenzo will know a bit more if he had interest in the object.” He grimaced. “Asking him would be my last resort, but it’s something we should remember if it becomes necessary.”
Isabelle’s jaw clenched. “Lorenzo is in Alicante, at the Gard. He’s been questioned, but so far he hasn’t provided any useful information about what the box is or how it works.”
Magnus hummed thoughtfully. “Well, I certainly have no objections to that for now. My best guess is that he’s being truthful and knows very little. Another option would be asking Selina.”
“She hasn’t given us any useful information either,” Jace said. “Unless you count her initial lead about the box existing.”
Magnus nodded. “If she does know anything, it will be hard to get her to talk. I think it can be done though. As High Warlock, I have the power to ban her from the city. It’s not a power I like to use lightly, but after I’ve been locked in the box myself… My fellow warlocks can’t blame me for being agitated.”
“Can I go with you to question her?” Alec was surprised at his own question.
Isabelle hid a smile behind her hand, and Alec’s cheeks warmed.
“I was locked in the box too,” he said. “I’d like to understand it better if possible.”
Magnus hesitated a second before nodding. “Very well. In this case I think your presence might serve to convince her to cooperate. She would much rather receive a punishment from me than be handed over to the Clave.”
“Will you leave now?” Isabelle asked. “Or will you wait for Catarina?”
“Personally, I’d prefer answers sooner rather than later,” Magnus said, casting a curious glance to Alec, who nodded. “Tell Catarina that I’m safe,” Magnus added to Isabelle. “I will be sure to call her as soon as we’re finished speaking to Selina.”
Isabelle nodded. “Of course.”
Magnus looked back at Alec. There was an ease to it that hadn’t been there before the box, but this Magnus was also a world away from the one who had been crying in Alec’s arms not too long ago. “Shall we go, Alexander?”
Chapter 26: Chapter 23
Chapter Text
Magnus Portaled them to an alleyway not far from Selina Hunt’s brownstone. Alec couldn’t complain about the quick trip. After all that time spent locked up alone in a box with Magnus, he wasn’t sure how he’d have done on a crowded subway train with Magnus and a bunch of strangers.
Selina’s house was as unassuming as it was the first time they visited it.
“Do you have a plan to get her to talk?” Alec asked. “You’ve known her longer.”
Magnus scowled at Selina’s front door. “My plan is to threaten her as the High Warlock. Her actions directly affected me. Because of her and Lorenzo, I was out of reach for days. Anything could have happened during that time. That’s enough of a reason for me to ban her from New York City for life. She’ll talk when I remind her of that.”
It wasn’t a bad plan. Most people didn’t want to give up their home, especially a warlock, who could live in one place for a century or more. Alec figured Magnus would be successful at getting information out of her if she knew anything, yet he couldn’t escape the unease that had settled in the pit of his stomach.
Selina Hunt felt more threatening after he’d been locked in the box. She probably shouldn’t have. They still had no evidence that she was anything more than an antique dealer who wasn’t afraid to mess with dangerous artifacts, but even her questionable profession suddenly seemed much worse than it had previously.
“Come on,” Magnus said, walking towards the door. “If she notices us out here, she might flee before we get to talk to her. If she hasn’t already.”
Alec hurried after Magnus, not eager to chase a warlock around the world.
Somehow, even the way Magnus pounded on the door managed to sound authoritative. Selina would know that, whoever was at her door, they were serious. Even after years of running the New York Institute, Alec didn’t think he could have pulled off such a move.
Selina answered the door within a minute, her eyes widening at the sight of them before she rearranged her features into a pleasant smile.
Isabelle had promised them that she’d kept the news of their imprisonment as quiet as possible, but it was no surprise that word had gotten around that both the Head of the New York Institute and the High Warlock of Brooklyn were missing. Alec didn’t think it was too conceited to say that each of them were more important than Lorenzo and that their disappearances invited even more speculation.
“Magnus Bane, Alec Lightwood.” Selina looked between them. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
Magnus didn’t smile back. “You know why we’re here Selina. Don’t bother skirting around the issue. You’re only delaying the inevitable.”
Her face was tight as she nodded. “Alright then. I don’t think I’ll be able to offer you the information you seek, but if you insist, please come inside.”
She stepped aside, allowing them to enter her home.
Nothing about the house had changed since the last time they visited. Even the smallest items didn’t seem like they’d moved an inch since the last time Alec was there. At least it didn’t seem like Selina had tried to cover anything up after hearing that they were missing.
They settled into the same spots they’d occupied the last time they’d come to talk to Selina, but this time around, Selina’s posture was a bit stiffer. She regarded Magnus like a threat, though she was doing her best to conceal it.
“I assume I don’t need to spell out what happened to us,” Magnus said.
“I’ve heard some things,” Selina admitted. “From your attitude, I’m guessing they were true. I will remind you, however, that I told you not to touch the box. Your entrapment had nothing to do with me.”
“Your advice was a lot harder to follow when the box in question was being thrown at us,” Alec muttered.
Selina flinched before quickly regaining her composure. “Yes, well, there are always risks to certain things. Look at the mundanes driving around in their cars”—she motioned towards the window and the street outside—”even when they know many of them will be killed in those contraptions.”
“Don’t deflect,” Magnus snapped. “You’re not a mundane, and we’re not talking about a car. That box isn’t good for anything except being a prison. There’s no reason for anyone to possess it.”
“Last I heard, possessing such items isn’t illegal. Not all of our purchases need to serve a grand purpose.” She motioned at a small statuette of a dancing girl on a nearby shelf. “Some of them we merely collect because of the way they make us feel.” She clasped her hands together in her lap. “It’s unjustly tossing someone into a prison that will get you in trouble, and I think we can all agree that I didn’t do that.”
She could have been a faerie with the way she was talking around the issue, but a faerie would have been more effective.
“Look, Selina, you won’t face punishment,” Magnus said, “as long as you are upfront with us about everything you know about the box.”
Selina nodded. “I already know what you wish to ask, but you’re not going to like my answer.”
Alec’s stomach churned. “What’s the answer?”
“The box can’t be destroyed.” She was stone-faced. “It’s been tried before, and it was unsuccessful. That’s why the box’s previous owner was willing to sell it to me for such a nice price.”
Magnus looked no happier. He looked faintly sick, just like Alec felt. “Does that mean that no one knows how to destroy it or that it truly can’t be?”
Selina laughed. “Does it matter? If neither the previous owners nor I know how to destroy that box, then no one does.”
“How can that be possible?” Alec asked. “Anything can be destroyed with the right weapon. I fight with weapons crafted from angelic metal, but they can still be broken.”
Selina hummed thoughtfully, a glint of amusement in her eye. She looked to Magnus for him to explain.
“You’re right that anything can be destroyed with the right weapon,” Magnus said carefully, “but there are a few objects on earth which no one alive knows how to destroy. It’s just that they’re primarily objects that no one has a reason to destroy either, such as your people’s Mortal Sword.”
Magnus was right. As far as Alec knew, there was no way to destroy the Mortal Sword. But that was because the sword was no mere mortal object. It had been forged by Raziel himself. Of course an object with that amount of power couldn’t be harmed by anything created by humans. No random, unknown-until-now object should possess that much power.
“What does that mean about the box?” he asked in a shaky voice. “Where did it come from?”
Selina summoned a glass of wine into her hands. She didn’t bother to ask whether Magnus and Alec would like one as well.
“That is the question, isn’t it?” she noted. “I’m sure you felt the box’s magic, Magnus. No one knows if the box is angelic or demonic in nature, let alone how it was created.”
Darkness flashed across Magnus’ face. “I did experience that, yes. It was different than magic I’ve previously encountered.”
“There’s no way something like that can have an angelic source,” Alec said.
The angels would never create an object that could trap people so easily without any regard for whether they were innocent or not. He couldn’t imagine it, but Selina and Magnus were both looking at him with something akin to pity, which only made him feel worse.
“The more powerful magic gets, the harder it is to determine whether it’s demonic or angelic,” Selina said. “You see that a lot with older objects. The Princes of Hell are all fallen angels after all. Magic is all the same at its very core.”
It wasn’t the first time Alec had heard Downworlders voice similar beliefs, but he’d always struggled to entertain the idea. Of course he recognized that warlocks like Magnus ultimately got their magic from demons and yet could—and usually did—do good things with it, but when talking about magic directly from demons or angels, there was no way to compare the two.
“If you want to destroy the box, you’ll have to trace its origins,” Selina continued, her voice not the least bit empathetic to Alec’s inner struggle. “That’s the only way, but it’s not something I’ve had any luck with.”
“Three days,” Magnus said suddenly.
Selina looked at him in alarm. “What—”
“Three days,” Magnus repeated. “That’s how long you have to get out of the city.”
Selina’s face flushed with rage. “I’ve given you all the knowledge I possess. You said that I wouldn’t be punished.”
“Unfortunately, the information you provided us with was very little,” Magnus noted. His voice was cool, but he was otherwise calm. “That only proves how irresponsible you’ve been, selling insanely powerful objects that you don’t fully understand. I won’t have such business happening in my city. Not by warlocks.”
Selina sneered. “There are others in the city doing far worse.”
“And if I ever find solid evidence of such behavior by the warlocks of the city, I’ll take care of it.” He stood, dusting imaginary lint off his pants. “Now, I believe our business here is done.”
He gave Selina a short nod and motioned for Alec to follow him out. Selina seethed on her couch as she watched them go, but she didn’t try to put up a fight. She knew Magnus well enough to know that she couldn’t win.
Chapter 27: Chapter 24
Notes:
This chapter marks the halfway point in the story. Thank you to everyone who has read, left kudos, and commented so far. I really appreciate it. I hope you continue to enjoy the story!
Chapter Text
Alec fought against his urge to stare at Magnus as they left Selina’s house. He’d never seen Magnus so in his element as High Warlock before, making demands of other warlocks in the city, and it was affecting him more than he’d imagined it would.
They hadn’t talked about the kiss they’d shared in the box. As soon as they were free, destroying the box had taken priority, and aside from their first few seconds of freedom, they hadn’t actually had time alone. Alec wanted to discuss what had happened and finally make sense of what was going on between them, and he was frightened that, without the need to question Selina for information, Magnus was about to go back home, with no guarantee that Alec would see him again anytime soon.
“Would you come back to the Institute with me?”
He asked the question on a whim, without thinking through how he’d justify it. Magnus raised an eyebrow, and Alec flushed at how forward he’d sounded.
“I know that conversation with Selina didn’t give us as many answers as we hoped,” he continued, “but we should still look at the box to see if we can figure anything out. I don’t like the idea of it lying around the Institute for any longer than it has to.”
Magnus grimaced. “Neither do I.” He looked at Alec, his expression thoughtful. “But I think this is the end of my involvement. The Clave should handle the box from here on out.”
“The Clave?” Alec repeated in disbelief. Not once had he considered contacting the Clave since they were freed, though he knew he’d have to deal with them sooner or later. “I don’t know how I feel about getting them involved. There’s no telling what they would do with an object capable of imprisoning people like that. I’d rather we destroy it ourselves so we can be confident that it’s gone.”
He was surprised at how strongly he felt about it. While he and his siblings had flouted the law before, he’d never been as frightened of the Clave’s reaction to something in the way he was the box. After being trapped in it, he needed to be involved in its destruction, and he doubted the Clave would allow that. If they got hold of it, the box would be handed off to the Silent Brothers instead to be studied in the Silent City, where Alec would never hear what became of it. Instead of being destroyed, it would undoubtedly become a threat to someone else in the future.
“Whatever you decide to do, it will be without me.” Magnus’ expression was the same neutral mask he’d worn time and time again in the box.
Alec yearned to reach out to him again. He clenched his hands at his side. The kiss in the box had been a desperate move, nothing more than a plea to save themselves, but Alec had felt alive in that brief moment in a way he hadn’t in years. Part of him had dared to hope that it would change things.
“I trust you, Alexander.” Magnus smiled in a way that made Alec’s heart break further. “You’ll see to it that the box is destroyed. It was originally confiscated by the Nephilim anyway. This is your jurisdiction. Of course, I’m always available for hire. You know my rates.”
Alec exhaled in disbelief. Of course he was willing to pay Magnus for his work, but the fact that Magnus could so easily switch into business mode after what they’d been through together in the box made his stomach harden.
It was becoming increasingly clear that whatever happened between them while in the box might as well have happened to them in another world. It hadn’t changed anything except reopening Alec’s wounds.
“Even if it’s not about the box, I’d still like to see you.” Alec was surprised at himself for being brave enough to say it. His stomach churned as he twisted his hands together. “Maybe we could—”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” A slight quiver in Magnus’ voice was the only indication that he felt anything at all.
“Why not?” Alec’s voice broke, and he covered it with a cough. “After what we talked about in the box, I thought maybe we could continue talking.”
“Alexander…”
The pity in Magnus’ voice cracked Alec’s heart further. He looked down at the ground, embarrassed that he’d said anything at all.
“We should look at what the box provided us with as closure,” Magnus continued. “It wanted to upend our lives and make things difficult, but we both know the truth. You’re still the head of the New York Institute, and I’m still the High Warlock of Brooklyn. Out here in the real world, all the same challenges exist today as they did a few days ago. We wouldn’t be doing ourselves any favors by pretending things are the same as when we were in the box.”
Alec swallowed down bile. “But—”
“I’ll help with the box if you need it.” Magnus took a few steps back. “As High Warlock and one of the box’s victims, I owe you that much. However, I won’t blame you if you seek another warlock’s help instead.”
Alec laughed darkly. “Who? Lorenzo Rey? I’m sure he’d be a real asset.”
It was true. Regardless of what was happening between them, Magnus was the only warlock in the city who Alec could imagine coming to for help with a mysterious box that no one knew the origin of.
“Then I will help,” Magnus said with a frown. “When you need it. Right now, however, I do not see what I can do for you. Perhaps I could contact the Spiral Labyrinth. They would have access to more resources that might shed light on the box.”
Alec shook his head. “That’s something to consider, but for now, I don’t want to reach out to anyone outside of New York. I want to at least see if we can get a better understanding of it before word spreads too widely of what it is and what it is capable of. If we involved the Spiral Labyrinth, we’d increase the chances that the Clave would hear about it too.”
“The Spiral Labyrinth is used to working with discretion, but I understand your reasoning.” He stepped even further away. “Very well, Alexander. I suppose I will speak to you in the not-so-distant future. Until then, I wish you luck in deciphering the box.”
He was gone before Alec could think of a way to make him linger longer. Alec watched his retreating form until he disappeared around a corner. Pedestrians swerved around him where he still stood on the sidewalk without a glamour, some cursing at him as he passed. Alec didn’t bother to pay them any attention.
Jace and Isabelle were waiting for him when he got back to the Institute. Alec wanted nothing more than to go to his room and retreat into himself, but he forced himself to keep it together as he led them to his office.
“Where’s Magnus?” Isabelle asked as soon as Alec closed the door.
Alec fidgeted with the pens and pencils in the holder on his desk, not looking at his siblings standing in front of him. “He went home after we spoke with Selina.”
From the corner of his eye, he saw his brother and sister exchange a look. At some point, he’d have to give them more information. Sighing, he lowered himself into the chair behind his desk.
“He doesn’t want to be involved with the box in the future unless there’s something we need to hire him for.”
He was impressed at how controlled his voice sounded. Inside, he was anything but calm and collected.
Isabelle and Jace stared at him in surprise.
“Did something happen with Selina Hunt?” Jace asked. “Did she say anything we can use?”
Alec sighed and ran a hand over his face. “Nothing helpful. Basically, she doesn’t know about the origins of the box or any way to destroy it. No one knows if the box even has angelic or demonic magic at its core. So, basically, we have nowhere to start.”
“Did that frustrate Magnus?” Isabelle asked, leaning forward. “Maybe he’ll calm down after—”
“That’s not why he doesn’t want to help.”
Isabelle and Jace shared another look as Alec fiddled with the handle on a desk drawer.
“Alec,” Isabelle said slowly, “what happened to you and Magnus in that box?”
“At first, only a lot of awkward silence.” Alec stared down at the desk as he spoke, not trusting himself to keep his composure if he saw the sympathy in his siblings’ eyes. “Then we started to talk because we thought it was the only way we could figure out what the box wanted from us. Magnus ended up telling me some stuff about his past.” His cheeks warmed. “Eventually, we kissed.”
Alec flinched when Isabelle gasped.
“That’s when the box threw us out,” Alec said, finally looking up at them. “We didn’t get a chance to talk about it.”
“Did you try talking about it after?” Jace asked. “Is that when he refused to help with the box?”
Alec tilted his head back and forth indecisively. “Not exactly. He said he wouldn’t be involved as we were leaving Selina Hunt’s house. That’s when I tried to talk to him about it, but it didn’t go well.”
He leaned back in his chair, hating the sympathetic looks Isabelle and Jace were giving him.
“I just have to move on,” he said. “Obviously. I should have done so a long time ago.”
It was the most upfront he’d been with either of them about his feelings in a long time. For the past couple years, he’d insisted he was fine as he went on date after date. He’d always known that they saw through him. He’d never been a good actor. It was a wonder he’d managed to keep his sexuality a secret as long as he did. But, whether his siblings knew the truth or not, it made him feel vulnerable to admit it out loud.
He cleared his throat. “What’s most important now is making sure the box isn’t a danger to anyone else.” He leaned forward, suddenly slipping into professional mode. “Where is it now?”
Isabelle looked like she wanted to question Alec further about Magnus, but Jace had no problem answering his question.
“Catarina helped us store it in a smaller safe when she arrived, now that we don’t have to worry about someone popping out of it. She put all the same sort of charms on it. If anyone breaks in to steal it, each of us will be alerted on our phones.”
Alec nodded. “That’s good for now. I’m sure that we’ll need to study the box directly if we have any hope of destroying it though, so we'll have to figure out how to do that safely.”
He shuddered, already picturing the potential disaster if someone so much as touched the thing they were studying. He was going to have to be very careful about selecting the people who were allowed access.
“What about the Clave?” he asked, remembering what Magnus said earlier. “Did you speak to them while I was in the box? What do they know?”
“Yes, I spoke to Consul Penhallow.” Isabelle grimaced. “I had to alert the Clave that the head of the Institute had disappeared, and I couldn’t get away with not explaining the situation.”
Alec didn’t like it, but he did understand. With all the rumors running through Downworld, they wouldn’t have been able to keep the box a secret from the Clave for long anyway.
“And?” Alec asked. “What did they say?”
“I pushed to keep the box in New York, and they allowed it,” Isabelle said. “I’m not sure how that’ll change now that you and Magnus are free, but Jia was pretty sympathetic. I think you can convince her that this is the New York Institute’s problem to solve.”
Alec nodded. “Good. I hope it stays that way. I want to destroy that box myself.”
Chapter 28: Chapter 25
Chapter Text
There had been a time when Alec was a child when he’d desperately wanted to live in Idris. Everyone spoke fondly of it as the Shadowhunter homeland. It was meant to be the place Shadowhunters longed to return to while living elsewhere. Despite having been born there, Alec didn’t get to see it again until his teenage years.
At first, he’d been as enchanted as everyone else. It was thrilling to be able to walk the streets of the city and not worry about glamouring your runes or concealing your weapons. He loved finally having images of the city and surrounding countryside to match the descriptions he’d heard his entire life.
But the older he got and the more times he visited, the less enchanting Idris became. For one, it wasn’t home in the way New York was, Shadowhunter homeland or not. (That was something he avoided saying out loud to others, knowing it sounded almost sacrilegious to think such a thing.) Plus, since becoming head of the New York Institute, traveling to Alicante inevitably meant that he had business to attend to, and any business that involved the Clave was more stress than it was worth. This time was no different.
He hadn’t been surprised to receive the message from Consul Penhallow saying that she was glad he was safe but that they should talk. He was glad she had the sense to add niceties before her request, but that didn’t mean he was thrilled about the meeting. The fact that Jia Penhallow was as good as it got when it came to Consuls didn’t mean much. She was still at the mercy of the Clave and its laws.
The one saving grace about his trip was that Catarina Loss agreed to open the Portal for him. Eventually, he would have to face Magnus again, but he didn’t think either of them were ready for it to be so soon.
“It’ll be fine,” Isabelle assured him.
They were standing inside the Institute garden, where they were afforded a bit of privacy as they said goodbye.
Catarina stood a little off to the side, inspecting the brick wall that surrounded the Institute garden like she wasn’t listening in on their conversation. She’d been frosty with him since she arrived, and it made Alec wonder if Magnus had spoken to her about what happened in the box or if she’d drawn her own conclusions. He suspected it was the latter.
“I know it will,” Alec said. “That doesn’t make this any easier.”
He’d kept the box locked away in its safe beneath the Institute. Jia hadn’t asked him to bring it, and he didn’t want to risk touching it and being sucked inside while in transit. There was no telling what would happen if he was stuck inside that box while inside a Portal.
“The distance might do you good.” Isabelle was no longer talking about the business with the box.
“Izzy.” Alec cast a nervous look towards Catarina. “Let’s not do this now.”
Isabelle smiled. “Fine, but you know I’m right.”
Alec rolled his eyes. He didn’t actually think she was right. There was a deep ache in his chest that distance wouldn’t soothe, but tackling a difficult problem was a good temporary distraction but it wouldn’t mean anything long-term. He was only putting a pause on everything else while he convinced Jia that the box should stay in New York while they figured out what to do with it permanently.
He pulled Isabelle into a quick hug. “Keep things here under control for me while I’m gone.”
“Of course, big brother. You can always count on me.”
“I know.” He laughed. “Why do you think I place you in charge instead of Jace?”
Isabelle shook her head. “Don’t let him hear you saying that. Jace could lead the Institute if he wanted to.” She smirked. “Lucky for us, he doesn’t want to.”
Alec nodded at Catarina and watched as she cast the Portal against the garden wall. Alec took a deep breath. With one last smile to Isabelle, he stepped into the Portal towards Idris.
As soon as he arrived at the Gard, he was let into Jia’s office. He hated sitting across from her at her desk. It reminded him of when his parents had summoned him to the office at the Institute to scold him for not doing better in his training. At least the way Jia looked at him was never as severe as his parents, despite being Consul.
“Alec, thank you for meeting me today,” she greeted as he sat down. “I was relieved to hear that you and Magnus Bane returned safe and sound.”
“Thank you, Consul Penhallow.” He did his best to smile even as the memories of what happened in the box poked at the edges of his mind. “I’m relieved to be back as well.”
“I’m sure you are.” Jia leaned onto her elbows as she watched him. “I assume the box has been put somewhere safe within the Institute.”
“Yes, It’s in a safe in the Institute basement. It’s locked with a traditional lock, the key to which only I possess, and it’s also been charmed so that no Open rune or spell will unlock it unless it's performed by the same warlock who set it, which was Catarina Loss. Any unauthorized attempts to get into the safe will set off an alarm.”
Jia nodded approvingly. “Very good. I’ve long been impressed by how competent of a leader you are despite your young age, Alec. Your sister too. It’s nice to know that the New York Institute is in such good hands.”
“Thank you, Consul.”
Considering all the trouble they’d gone through in recent years, Alec spent a lot of time worrying that the Clave was going to wrestle control of the Institute from him. It was gratifying to hear Jia imply differently.
“You still haven’t learned more about its origins?” Jia asked.
“Unfortunately, no.” Alec settled in, able to tell that this was going to be a long conversation. “Magnus and I spoke to Selina Hunt, the warlock who sold the box to Lorenzo Rey, but she claims not to know where the box originally came from. And it did sound like she tried searching for information but came up empty-handed. One thing of interest that she did mention is that she isn’t sure if the box’s magic is angelic or demonic, and Magnus corroborated that based on what he observed while we were in the box.”
Jia frowned. “Interesting. Lorenzo Rey hasn’t shared much information since he’s been at the Gard either, but I’d hoped that was because he was ill-informed before making the purchase.” A look of decisiveness crossed her face. “We should have the Silent Brothers take a look at the box, maybe even the Iron Sisters. They’re our best shot at determining where this box came from.”
She reached out for a piece of paper, scribbling a quick note to herself across it.
Alec’s heart raced. That’s what he’d been worried about. As soon as the box was handed over to the Silent Brothers, he would be dismissed from the case. He’d likely never even hear what ultimately became of their investigation.
“I don’t disagree that the Silent Brothers would be helpful, Consul, but can I make a request?”
Jia looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. “What’s the request?”
“Let the box stay at the Institute.” He scooted forward to the edge of his chair. “The Silent Brothers can come there to inspect the box for themselves.”
“That’s not how the Silent Brothers perform their work,” Jia said with a frown. “They always take objects to the Silent City for study. That’s where they can complete their work in peace and use every tool at their disposal.”
“I understand that, but we’re talking about a box that traps anyone who touches it. Transporting it raises the potential for danger exponentially. I’m not saying the Silent Brothers aren’t competent enough to transport it safely, but I think keeping it in one place is the safer option.”
Jia narrowed her eyes as she watched him, but she didn’t look angry. “There’s more to your request than that, isn’t there, Alec?” she asked.
Alec hesitated. He didn’t miss the way she’d addressed him by his first name instead of as “Mr. Lightwood.” He’d known Jia since he was a child. He wanted to believe that she would hear him out. Maybe she would even take sympathy on him if she heard his real reason.
“I want to help destroy it,” he admitted. “Being trapped in that box rattled me. I don’t like how easily someone can be locked away, whether they deserve it or not. I’d like to play a role in destroying it, even if that role is only in keeping an eye on the process and ensuring it runs smoothly.”
Jia watched him thoughtfully for a moment before she scribbled more down on her scrap of paper. “Very well. I will pass on your request to the Silent Brothers. I can’t guarantee that they’ll allow it, but I will use what sway I have as Consul to push for the box to remain at the New York Institute for the time being, provided it is well-protected.”
Alec breathed easier. “Thank you, Consul.”
He knew it was far from a guarantee. The Silent Brothers weren’t exactly keen on breaking tradition, and not even the Consul could exercise full control over their order. Much of the way they worked had been the same for centuries, if not a millenium, and they weren’t particularly influenced by the outside politics of the Clave. But having the Consul on his side was at least something. It was enough to give him hope.
Neither Isabelle nor Jace were particularly thrilled when Alec arrived back in New York and filled them in on his meeting with Jia.
“I never have liked the Silent Brothers.” Jace shivered despite standing next to the fireplace in the office. “I know they’re our healers and whatever, but I can’t get past the creepy demeanor.”
“The problem isn’t what they look like, Jace.” Isabelle leaned back in one of the chairs, her arms crossed against her chest. “The problem is that they’ll take control of everything themselves and refuse any help. The Silent Brothers don’t work alongside regular Shadowhunters. They do things themselves.” She stuck her bottom lip out in a pout. “I really wanted a closer look at that box myself.”
Alec rubbed a hand over his brow. “I did what I could. We’re lucky Jia entertained the idea of the box staying in New York instead of going to the Silent City. I couldn’t protest the Silent Brothers being involved at all. I’ll feel better at least knowing the fate of the box.”
He slumped down in the chair and let his head thump against the back of it. He was exhausted. He hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since before he was sucked into the box. Since he got out, he’d been moving a mile a minute trying to sort everything out.
“I could use a drink,” he muttered.
Jace’s attention snapped to him, a smirk already on his lips. “That could be arranged.”
Alec should have said no. Despite his comment, what he needed more than anything was to go to bed, but the thought of being alone with his own thoughts wasn’t comforting. Memories of what happened between him and Magnus in the box were still swirling around in his mind, demanding that he pay attention to them, and it wasn’t like Alec could always be guaranteed to make the smartest decisions when it came to what was best for him.
“Where did you have in mind?” he asked.
The place Jace had in mind turned out to be the Hunter’s Moon because of course it did. They rarely drank anywhere else. At a mundane bar, they had to worry about glamours and not saying the wrong thing too loudly. At the Hunter’s Moon, they only had to ignore less than friendly looks from the occasional Downworlder.
As they entered, Alec second guessed his decision to come. It was the first time he’d gone out anywhere since the box, and he knew rumors were swirling about what had happened. He braced himself to hear whispering, but thankfully, most of the patrons were content with focusing on themselves. Few of them glanced his and Jace’s way as they walked towards the bar where Maia stood. She looked over at them as they approached, and her brow immediately furrowed in sympathy. Alec’s stomach sank. Of course Maia had heard the talk. As a bartender, she heard about everything that happened in New York’s Shadow World.
“Hey,” she greeted, her eyes lingering longer on Alec than on Jace. “You doing okay?”
“Does everyone know?” Alec asked, unable to resist getting answers. He glanced around the bar, but few people were looking at him. If anything, they were deliberately avoiding it, like they often did with Shadowhunters in the Hunter’s Moon.
Maia raised an eyebrow. “Does everyone know what? I’m only asking because of what you’re doing with your face.”
She gestured at his brow, and Alec flushed. Jace patted him encouragingly on the shoulder, but he couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Oh,” Alec said lamely. “Sorry. Selina Hunt said there were already rumors about what happened. When you asked, I figured you’d heard them.”
“Selina Hunt?” Maia asked in curiosity. “Is that the warlock who trades all those dodgy artifacts?”
“That’s the one. Can I have a glass of whiskey?”
“Same for me,” Jace said beside him.
They both took seats at the bar as Maia poured their drinks.
“Well, I haven’t heard anything, if that makes you feel better,” she said as she passed their drinks across the counter.
It did, actually. If Maia hadn’t heard anything, then talk about him and Magnus being trapped in the box couldn’t have spread as far as he’d thought it had. He supposed that made sense. Selina would have been paying extra close attention to any news related to the box after all. She’d hear the whispers before anyone else.
Still, he braced himself for Maia to ask more questions until a patron further down the bar gestured for her attention. She turned away from them as she went to take the patron’s order, and Alec breathed easier.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Jace asked, picking up his drink. “Or would you rather I tell you about all the ways Simon tripped and fell on his ass yesterday during training?”
“The latter.” Alec took a long swig of his whiskey.
He didn’t particularly care about Simon’s mistakes in training. As head of the Institute, he was supposed to make sure all the Institute’s trainees were on the right track, but Simon was a vampire who Jace was training purely out of the goodness of his heart (no matter what Jace claimed when questioned about his decision), which meant that Alec didn’t have to care whether Simon was making progress or not.
Jace launched right into a story about how Simon had overestimated the heaviness of his weapon after switching to a lighter sword and had stumbled as a result. It was an incredibly minor error considering how new weapons fighting was to Simon, but anything was a welcome distraction compared to Alec’s own thoughts.
For a while, he was content to let Jace go on, even when his stories shifted to how much better Clary was doing in her training compared to Simon. But by the time he’d finished his fourth glass of whiskey, he was growing impatient with Jace’s stories. They were no longer keeping Alec’s thoughts of Magnus at bay. The warlock was the only thing he could think about, and Alec couldn’t keep quiet about it any longer either.
He launched into a story of his own about what happened in the box. Jace’s eyes widened, but he let him continue without interruption, despite having heard the story once before. He nodded along at all the right parts and didn’t fault Alec for his dramatic embellishments when it came to the ways he felt wronged.
“How do you kiss someone and then refuse to talk about it?” Alec asked, gesticulating widely.
“I don’t know, man,” Jace agreed. Alec was too far gone to register the flatness of his tone.
Alec went to take another drink but found his glass empty. He put it down a bit too harshly on the bar. It clanked loud enough to get Maia’s attention.
“Another, please,” Alec said, pushing the glass towards her.
She regarded him with narrowed eyes. “I don’t think so. I’m cutting you off.”
Alec frowned. “What? Why?”
Beside him, Jace chuckled and didn’t provide any back up.
“You’ve had enough,” Maia said with a shrug. “You’re already going to regret this tomorrow, which, need I remind you, is a Tuesday.”
Alec frowned at her, unsure why tomorrow being Tuesday mattered. “But—”
“No.” Her tone left no room for argument. She grabbed a glass from underneath the bar and filled it with water, which she slid across the counter to him. “This is the only thing you’re getting for the rest of the night.”
Alec frowned down at the glass before taking a reluctant sip.
Maia lingered, frowning down at a glass as she wiped it. Only once she’d placed the glass away did she gather the courage to say what she’d been thinking.
“You know, I couldn’t help but overhear some of the things you were talking about.”
Alec stiffened. How badly had he embarrassed himself? The bar was empty enough that he hadn’t thought anyone would hear him talking to Jace. Even when Maia passed them, she’d always seemed busy with other things.
Maia leaned over, her elbows on the bar. “You said that Magnus never opened up about his past when you were together. Have you considered that him avoiding you now has nothing to do with you and is instead because he’s embarrassed about what he shared with you?”
Jace let out a low whistle. “Smart.”
Maia rolled her eyes. “To me, it just sounds like common sense.”
“But why would Magnus be embarrassed?” Alec asked with a frown. “I’m not going to judge him for anything.”
Maia shrugged. At the other end of the bar, a customer called for her. She motioned that she’d be there shortly.
“There has to be a reason he avoided telling you before,” she said. “Our fears aren’t always based in reality.”
She left to get the other customer a drink. Alec stared after her, stunned into silence.
Jace clasped his shoulder. “Come on. I think it’s time for us to head back.”
Alec didn’t have it in him to argue. Maia’s words hung heavy in his heart.
Chapter 29: Chapter 26
Chapter Text
Alec woke up the next morning with a pounding head and a healthy dose of embarrassment. It wasn’t the first time he’d gone too far at the Hunter’s Moon, but it never got less mortifying the next morning.
To make matters worse, he’d forgotten to close the blinds before he collapsed into bed the night before, and the morning light streamed through the window, directly into his face. He groaned as he fumbled for his stele on his bedside table. His fingers hit it, knocking it further away, and he cursed under his breath as he propped himself up on his elbow to reach it.
Stele in hand, he sat up against the pillows, squinting against the light, and drew an iratze across his forearm. He always felt guilty using a rune that was meant to heal them after battle to ease the symptoms of a hangover, but he didn’t feel guilty enough to forgo it. Especially not when he had a meeting with the Silent Brothers later that day.
He shut his eyes at the reminder, willing himself to have the strength to get through the day. The Silent Brothers’ ability to read people was uncanny, considering they spent the majority of their time underground and isolated from the world. They’d know just by peering into his mind that he’d been drinking the night before, and nothing Alec did would be enough to cover it. He would just have to play it off.
Glancing at his alarm clock, he saw that he still had a few hours until they arrived. That was better than nothing.
Alec ate breakfast with Isabelle, talking again about his meeting with Jia while trying to pretend like he was perfectly well-rested. Either she believed his act or she was more interested in the fate of the box than Alec’s poor decision-making.
“We should hear from the Silent Brothers later today,” he told her. “Jia said they would send someone to the Institute. Either they’ll take the box back to the Silent City or they’ll allow it to stay and look over it while at the Institute.”
Isabelle stabbed her French toast a bit too forcefully with her fork. “I get that there’s no way to avoid their involvement, but what I wouldn’t give to be able to study that box on my own. I considered doing it while you and Magnus were trapped, but I was worried about accidentally harming the two of you in the process. Now though? I’m aching to get my hands on it.”
Alec shot her a sharp look.
“Not literally,” she promised, “but surely you’re curious about it too. An object where no one can tell if it’s demonic or angelic in nature, unlike anything we’ve heard of before? Imagine being the one who figures out how it works.”
“I’d love to be the person who did, but only so I could destroy it.”
Isabelle nodded, but she didn’t look like she agreed with him strongly enough for Alec’s liking. She stared down at her French toast.
“They might agree to let you observe,” Alec said, taking pity on her. He thought it was actually rather doubtful that they would, but anything was worth a shot.
She grinned. “Do you think so? Working with the Silent Brothers would be an experience in and of itself, wouldn’t it?”
It would, but not necessarily a good one in Alec’s opinion. He’d never felt particularly comfortable around the Brothers. They may have been their greatest healers, but the way they could get inside your mind made him uneasy. It was true, though, that those outside the Brotherhood almost never got to see how the Brothers worked. Even when they healed the sick, other Shadowhunters were often made to leave the room. Isabelle’s request would be a long shot.
“When they get here, you should greet them with me,” he said. “We’ll see how it goes.”
The atmosphere of the entire Institute always shifted when Silent Brothers arrived. This time was no different, but the whispers took on a more curious tone than usual. As soon as Alec saw the Brother for himself, he understood why.
I’m Brother Zachariah.
The man before him used telepathy to communicate like all Silent Brothers even though his mouth wasn’t stitched shut. His eyes were in a similar state, closed but not stitched. Alec had heard before that new Silent Brothers could temporarily be in such a state, but Brother Zachariah wore robes with runic designs that indicated he was a full-fledged Silent Brother, one who should have been much further along in the process.
“Hello, Brother Zachariah. I’m Alec Lightwood, the head of the New York Institute.”
Zachariah inclined his head in acknowledgment. It was a strangely human gesture for a Silent Brother, and Alec was surprised to find it almost alarming when he was used to the very stiff behavior of every other Silent Brother he’d ever met.
“This is my sister, Isabelle,” he said, gesturing at Isabelle who stood beside him.
She waved, a curious look on her own face as she took in Brother Zachariah’s eccentricities.
Alec had expected at least two Brothers to come, considering the situation, but he wasn’t about to complain that he only needed to deal with one, especially one who appeared somewhat unconventional. Maybe that meant that Brother Zachariah might go along with Jia’s suggestion that the box be kept in New York.
“Let us show you where the box is,” Alec said.
I would appreciate that.
Alec cleared his throat and motioned for Brother Zachariah to follow him, ignoring the chill that traveled down his spine from being in close proximity with someone otherworldly.
Zachariah was silent as Alec and Isabelle led him to the basement and the safe where the box was stored. His steps didn’t make noise, just like the other Silent Brothers. It had always struck Alec as odd that they were so statue-like yet silent when they moved. Alec had to glance over his shoulder several times to check that Zachariah was still behind them.
When they reached the safe, Alec unlocked it carefully. Even though Catarina had reassured them that the key wouldn’t set off the alarm, it was the first time he’d tried it, as he hadn’t been eager to be face-to-face with the box again. The safe door swung open, revealing the box nestled inside.
“This is it,” Alec said, stepping aside so Zachariah could see inside the safe.
Zachariah stared at the safe as if inspecting it, despite his eyes being closed. It appears to be as secure as it can be in an Institute.
Alec stiffened at the “in an Institute” part, prepared for Zachariah to start talking about the need to transfer the box to the Silent City. He was surprised when that wasn’t the direction the Brother went in.
Zachariah peered around the rest of the room. I see that this room has enchantments on it as well.
“Yes,” Isabelle said, “Catarina Loss set it up so that the box can be moved into the room once the safe is opened without the alarms going off, for safe studying.”
Zachariah nodded, a strangely human gesture for a Silent Brother. I see no reason why I can’t complete my work here as Consul Penhallow requested.
Alec breathed easier, sharing a smile with Isabelle. They probably shouldn’t push their luck, but he felt optimistic.
“My sister Isabelle would like to assist you if possible. She’s curious to learn more about the box.”
Zachariah’s face remained the same neutral expression that all Silent Brother’s wore. I would welcome the help. From what I’ve heard of the box so far, it won’t be easy to uncover its origins.
“I can tell you everything I’ve learned so far,” Isabelle said, her voice eager in a way that seemed to amuse Zachariah.
Alec hadn’t even known that Silent Brothers could be amused.
Very well. Perhaps that is where we should start.
Alec cleared his throat. “I’ll leave you two to it then.” He took a hesitant step towards the door.
Zachariah inclined his head as a farewell. Feel free to come and go as you please. I know you must have many duties to attend to as head of the Institute.
Alec nodded, feeling very out of sorts. Over the years, he’d developed certain expectations when interacting with Silent Brothers, and Brother Zachariah was upending many of them.
He’d always thought he wanted the Silent Brothers to seem more human, but as he left, it was that very thing that had made Zachariah feel more off putting than any other Silent Brother he’d met.
That afternoon, Alec ate lunch with Jace in the Institute cafeteria. Isabelle was nowhere to be seen, still caught up in analyzing the box with Brother Zachariah. If nothing else, Alec was grateful that the Silent Brother hadn’t emerged from the room since Alec left them there. He could almost forget that a Silent Brother was haunting the Institute.
“Do you think they’ll be able to destroy it?” Jace asked around a mouthful of his BLT.
Alec shrugged. “Who knows? The Silent Brothers have access to a whole treasure trove of information that other Shadowhunters, and even Downworlders, don’t have access to. It’s possible they already have a theory about the box that Brother Zachariah is forbidden to tell us about.”
Jace scowled. “That’s the worst part, isn’t it? They may have agreed to keep the box here, but what if they figure out the truth behind it and refuse to explain it to us? With that kind of ambiguous magic, we could easily be talking about something that becomes one of the Silent City’s secrets.”
Alec had considered that very scenario since leaving Brother Zachariah with Isabelle, but Isabelle was also the one bright spot in that line of thinking. Very little got past her. It would be nearly impossible for Zachariah to have a breakthrough and Isabelle not have any clue what was going on.
“He agreed to work with Isabelle,” Alec pointed out. “It doesn’t seem like he plans to be secretive about it. At least not for now.”
Jace grunted in agreement.
“I just want it gone,” Alec said. He slid the tomato that had been falling out of his sandwich back into place. “If that comes at the price of secrecy, then so be it. The only proof I need is that it’s destroyed.”
Isabelle came to find him as soon as Brother Zachariah left. Alec had been boxing in the training room to let off steam after an otherwise monotonous day of paperwork and meetings. He slipped off his gloves when he saw her come in.
“How did it go?”
She leaned back against the wall, her arms crossed over her chest and her expression thoughtful. “Working with Brother Zachariah was definitely…something.”
He didn’t need her to elaborate on that. He knew exactly what she meant, but she was bursting with things to say after the day she’d had.
“He’s not like any other Silent Brother I’ve met,” she continued. “He’s so…human. I always thought that was what was terrifying about the Silent Brothers. I didn’t get why anyone would choose to join them when they had to become some weird robotic sort of specter. At least the Iron Sisters are clearly still human. But Zachariah, while very much a Silent Brother in some ways, feels so much more normal to talk to.”
Alec grabbed a towel and began dabbing the sweat away from his face and neck. “Did you happen to figure out why?”
Isabelle frowned, shaking her head. “He didn’t offer an explanation, and it felt rude to ask. It’s probably another one of those Silent Brother secrets. I think he knew I was curious though, maybe because of their whole mind projecting powers.”
“I’m sure he’s used to people being curious.” Alec leaned against the wall beside her. “What about the box?”
Isabelle’s eyes lit up at the reminder. “We didn’t learn anything new, except he did tell me that the Brothers don’t have any records in the Silent City that match the box. It’s as much a mystery to them as it is to us.”
Alec wondered if that was why Brother Zachariah, who seemed so odd, had been sent. Most of the work with mysteries was done in the Silent City, possibly by Brothers who never even left the city.
The only times the Brothers usually left was for routine assistance, like healing or performing rune ceremonies. Maybe Zachariah’s uniqueness had to do with his work. It was the only guess Alec had.
“He’s going to contact the Spiral Labyrinth,” Isabelle continued, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “He said there’s some hope that they’ll have information the Brothers don’t. Can you believe it? I’m helping solve a mystery that both the Silent Brothers and the Spiral Labyrinth are working on.”
Alec couldn’t help but smile even as his stomach twisted. With the Spiral Labyrinth involved, they were less likely to need to call upon a local warlock. The chance that he would see Magnus any time soon had greatly diminished.
Chapter 30: Chapter 27
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The next morning, Alec was hard at work on some paperwork when there was a knock on his office door.
“Come in!”
He expected it to be Underhill with an update on how the overnight patrols had gone. When the door opened to reveal Brother Zachariah instead, Alec startled before quickly trying to cover it by shuffling the papers on his desk around.
“Brother Zachariah, good morning.”
Good morning to you as well. He hovered in the doorway. I will not bother you for long. I only wished to let you know that I have arrived. I was hoping someone could let Isabelle know I am here.
Alec stood and stepped around the desk. “I’ll find her and tell her. She’s likely in the training room at this hour, but as soon as she hears that you’ve arrived, I’m sure she’ll get down there right away.”
Thank you.
He moved to leave the office before Alec called to him.
“Brother Zachariah.” He shifted nervously. It felt strange to thank a Silent Brother. They weren’t the kind to say ‘you’re welcome’ or show any outright gratitude for the thanks. “Thank you for letting Isabelle help you with this.”
He swore he saw the faintest ghost of a smile on Zachariah’s lips. Of course. Her contribution has already been invaluable. It’s remarkable how learned she is at her age. Truly.
Alec bit back the retort that a lot of that was because of their strict upbringing and the expectations of their parents. They’d never had the option of being anything less than the best at what they set out to do, though it was true that Isabelle had always reached those expectations more easily than Alec.
“Yeah,” Alec said. “She loves getting involved in projects like this.” And because he couldn’t resist asking, he added, “By the way, will you be handling this case by yourself or are there other Brothers working alongside you?”
For now, it will be only me visiting the Institute. We do not wish to interrupt the regular functioning of the Institute and know that our presence can be a distraction to those not accustomed to seeing us daily.
Alec thought he detected a touch of humor in Zachariah’s voice, something Alec hadn’t known Silent Brothers were capable of.
I have enlisted the help of the Spiral Labyrinth, Zachariah continued. A warlock there is using the information I’ve provided her with to search for anything useful the Labyrinth has on the box, but I do not imagine they will come to see the box itself. That is rarely how the Labyrinth operates.
Alec knew very little about the Spiral Labyrinth other than that it was the center of warlock learning and that warlocks were very secretive about how it functioned and what was inside it. Despite that, he’d heard mentions of the Silent Brothers and the Labyrinth working together before. He wasn’t sure about the extent of communication between the two organizations. It surprised him that the Brothers would even reveal the existence of a potentially dangerous object to the Labyrinth considering how contentious relations between the warlocks and the Clave had been throughout the centuries.
“I understand. Sorry to keep you. I know you have a lot of work to do and that it must be a hassle doing it here instead of the Silent City. I don’t want to impede your work.”
Zachariah waved a hand through the air. It’s no trouble at all. I understand your curiosity. I would feel the same if I were in your position. Besides, I have wanted to visit the New York Institute for quite some time.
Alec’s eyebrows shot up. “Us? Why?”
He’d never heard of the Silent Brothers having an interest in anything outside of the Silent City unless it was a direct threat to Nephilim.
That is a long story that I’m afraid wouldn’t be of much interest to anyone but me. He took a step towards the door. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I believe we both have work to do.
He stepped out of the office without another word. Alec watched him go, feeling strangely like he had whiplash. Somehow, learning more about Zachariah had made him seem even odder.
Why would he have any interest in the New York Institute? They’d drawn quite a bit of negative attention since Valentine resurfaced. Maybe Zachariah had a past experience with the Circle. That was the only thing Alec could imagine. Unless Zachariah had lived in New York before he was a Silent Brother. Alec couldn’t remember the last time a member of the New York conclave had joined the Brotherhood, and Brothers were meant to swear off all aspects of their mortal life, but Zachariah was so different from the other Brothers that Alec wasn’t sure if that applied to him.
Jace walked into the office, ripping him from his thoughts. “You okay?”
“Uh, yeah. I was talking to Brother Zachariah. He just left.”
“He is odd, isn’t he?” Jace frowned at the door. “There was something in the way he looked at me when we passed each other in the hallway that felt really weird.” He shook his head. “Anyway, I have an official write up on Clary’s current skill levels for you, from her training.”
He brandished a few pieces of paper in the air before placing them on Alec’s desk.
“Yeah, thanks,” Alec said, his mind still drifting through space.
Jace clapped him on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it too much. Strange or not, Zachariah will be able to get rid of that box. It’s what the Brothers do.”
Alec nodded. He didn’t doubt that part. Jace was right; it was what Silent Brothers did. It wasn’t like the life of a random Silent Brother was his business anyway.
He picked up the papers Jace had left on his desk, scanning the information as if he cared about it. He knew how Clary was doing in her training. They patrolled together frequently, but at least it was a task he didn’t have to give much thought to. He’d welcome anything that might quiet his mind.
Notes:
Next week's chapter will be an interlude from Magnus' POV.
Chapter 31: Interlude 4: Magnus' POV
Notes:
So, I'm sick. As I post this, my fever is the lowest it's been since about noon yesterday, and I don't feel quite so exhausted. (Here's hoping it stays that way!) I did my best to thoroughly proofread this one last time before posting, but it's entirely possible that I've missed things.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
After the debacle with the box, Magnus had every intention to take a week’s vacation. He didn’t even want to leave his apartment, aware that word of what had happened to him was spreading around the Downworld. Eventually, he would have to combat the rumors, but for a few days, at least, he needed time to mentally recenter himself.
He didn’t think that was too much to ask for, but apparently, Catarina did. She showed up at his apartment unannounced a few days after he’d been freed from the box, a concerned crease in her brow from the moment he opened the door for her.
“If you’re here because you’re worried about me, you needn’t bother. I know a thing or two about self-care.”
Catarina eyed him as they sat down opposite each other in the living room. “Do you?”
He caught her side-eyeing the half-drunk bottle of wine sitting open on the coffee table. With a flick of his wrist, it was gone, as was his freshly refilled glass.
“Yes,” he said. “You should know that by now. It’s been a while since I’ve had a vacation. I was thinking Ireland. I could use some time out of the city. You know how I long for the countryside from time to time.”
Catarina pointedly ignored his vacation plans. “I just spoke to Tessa. The Clave asked the Silent Brothers for assistance with the box, and they’ve assigned Brother Zachariah. He, in turn, reached out to the Spiral Labyrinth, and Tessa was the one to take up the case.”
That was all entirely unsurprising. Magnus had been waiting for Jem to take a keener interest in New York since Jace learned he was a Herondale. No doubt he had played his hand well to get the job. And Tessa handled most of the requests Jem made to the Labyrinth.
“Sounds like all the right people are on the case then,” he said with a falsely large smile.
“Are they?” Catarina asked flatly.
Magnus lounged back in his chair. “They’ll have it under control in no time. That box may be destroyed by the time I leave for County Tipperary.”
“You’re the High Warlock.”
“And I banished Selina Hunt from the city,” he said. “Good riddance. I’ve done my part.”
For a second, he thought Catarina would snap at him, but she was used to dealing with frustrating patients at the hospital. She took a deep breath.
“Magnus, what happened between you and Alec Lightwood in that box?”
Magnus stared at her. “Do you really need to know the specific details? I was locked in a box with my ex for several days. Isn’t that enough information?”
“Magnus…”
He didn’t like the sympathy in her tone. He walked over to his liquor cart, no longer worried about whether she judged him for it or not, and poured himself another glass of wine. He poured one for Catarina too, and she didn’t protest when he handed it to her.
“I may not need details,” she said as he sat down, “but I’m your friend, and I'm here to talk if you need it.”
“I know you are,” he said quietly, “but I can’t right now, Catarina, I really can’t.”
She knew him well enough to know what he looked like heartbroken. Knowing someone was there to witness it was validating in itself. She scooted to the end of the sofa and placed a hand on his knee.
“Would you like company in Ireland?”
Magnus laughed in sudden surprise. “I don’t think I’d be opposed.”
Notes:
Sorry to anyone who really wants to see Magnus in Ireland. Unfortunately, some...stuff is going to come up before he gets there.
Chapter 32: Chapter 28
Notes:
Thanks to everyone who left well wishes on the last chapter. I'm still dealing with some congestion but otherwise am feeling way, way better than last week.
I hope you enjoy the chaper!
Chapter Text
Alec caught a glimpse of Brother Zachariah before the Silent Brother slipped out the front door of the Institute. Isabelle had already taken up her usual spot in the Ops room in front of one of the computer monitors, typing away as she filled in her case notes. Alec pulled up a chair beside her.
“How did it go today?”
Isabelle shrugged. “There’s not much to report.” She leaned back in the chair and turned to face him. “Our progress is pretty much at a standstill while the Spiral Labyrinth looks into the questions Brother Zachariah sent them. Zachariah still wants to look over the box for clues while we wait, but we haven’t found anything useful so far.”
“Will the Spiral Labyrinth want to see the box?”
Unlike the Silent Brothers, the possibility of the Spiral Labyrinth taking a more active role in the investigation intrigued him. They were a secretive group. No one aside from warlocks knew much about them, even other Downworlders. Alec wasn’t even sure how much the average warlock understood about the way they operated. There were rumors that the Clave and Spiral Labyrinth communicated with relative frequency, but no one except those in the highest positions within the Clave knew if that was true or not, and most Downworlders were inclined to believe it wasn’t. How could the Clave work closely with a group of Downworlders?
The Labyrinth was said to be older than Nephilim, meaning there was a lot of knowledge the warlocks there could draw on that the Silent Brothers didn’t possess.
“Zachariah doesn’t think they’ll need the box,” Isabelle said. “They’re apparently content with just a description of it. He said there's a great repository of information there, and all they’re really doing is comparing the information we gave them with the information they have to see if there are many matches.”
That sounded like a slog, though Alec was sure they had spells to help them with the task.
“With Brother Zachariah reaching out to the warlocks,” he said slowly, “he doesn’t think a warlock is responsible for creating the box, does he?”
Despite the way Selina and Magnus spoke about the box’s magic as being a mystery, Alec didn’t want to rule the possibility out until there was definitive proof. The only people they knew who’d previously had possession of the box were warlocks.
“He doesn’t think so.” Isabelle shook her head. “He said if it was, the Labyrinth would have gotten back to us quicker. Warlock magic is their specialty after all.”
Alec grunted in acknowledgement. That information was a relief, but he was embarrassed to admit that. He’d always known Magnus wasn’t at fault for the box, but he was surprised at how badly he didn’t want a warlock to be behind it at all.
“Does Brother Zachariah have any theories?” Alec asked.
“None that he’ll share with me,” Isabelle said with a frown. “But I do have a theory of my own.” She leaned forward, a sudden bright smile taking over her face.
Alec chuckled in amusement. “And what’s that, Iz?”
“I think it’s faeries,” she said, sounding far more confident than was warranted considering how little they knew about the box.
Alec raised an eyebrow. “What makes you say that?”
“No particular reason.” She shrugged. “It’s just a feeling I get whenever I look at the thing. No one knows whether the magic is angelic or demonic. Legend says that the fey descended from both, which means their magic is a mix of both, even if it’s been millennia since the first faeries were born.”
It was a tempting theory, especially considering the lack of any others. Still, they’d need a lot more evidence than that before they went accusing anyone. The last thing Alec needed was conflict with the Seelie or Unseelie Courts because they were too hasty in making accusations.
“Fey magic is recognizable,” he pointed out. “Magnus would have known that was what he was looking at right away.”
“Maybe it wouldn’t be if it was really, really old.” Isabelle’s voice went low, like she didn’t want her theory to be overheard by anyone else. “A lot of people say that faeries were the first Downworlders. Many fey themselves claim to have been around longer than humans. Maybe the box dates from a time when fey magic was closer to its angelic and demonic origins than it is now.”
“It’s possible, I guess,” Alec said. “Did you mention any of this to Zachariah?”
Isabelle nodded, her smile fading into a thoughtful frown.
“What did he say?” Alec asked.
“Nothing much. I don’t know if the silence was disagreement or some kind of Silent Brother rule against speculating before you have any proof. It’s weird. He’s just human enough that sometimes I forget he’s a Silent Brother. Then he’ll do or say—or not say, I guess—something that reminds me that he’s separate from the mortal world. I still don’t know what to make of him. The Brother Zachariah mystery is almost as interesting as the box.”
“Yeah, well, don’t get too distracted by it. He’s doing you a favor letting you help him. If you get on his bad side, he could tell you that he’d prefer to work alone.”
Isabelle rolled his eyes as he stood up. “You don’t need to remind me, Alec. You know I won’t slack off.”
“Of course I do.” He patted her briefly on the arm. “I’ll see you later, Iz. Keep me updated?”
“Absolutely,” she promised as he left.
A few hours later, Alec sat in his office, trying not to think too much about the theory Isabelle had presented. It was compelling, but there was no concrete evidence to back it up. As head of the Institute, he didn’t want to grow suspicious of any particular group before he had a real reason to be.
Outside, the sun had gone down. Alec should have been finishing up work for the day, but he kept telling himself that he could check a few more things off his to-do list before he locked his office for the night. He’d always been a night owl anyway. That came with the territory of being a Shadowhunter. He was pretty sure they were predisposed to it, and if they weren’t, their training forced them to be used to it.
He stiffened when Jace slipped in through the door. At such a late hour, that could only mean one thing.
Sure enough, Jace wasted no time perching himself on Alec’s desk and making his proposal.
“You’ve done enough for today. Come out with me.”
Alec groaned. He’d been expecting Jace to pester him into eating dinner or maybe even training. Not this. This was overkill, even for Jace.
“No way. That last hangover is way too fresh in my mind for me to go out. You’re going to be waiting a long time before I agree to go drinking with you again.”
Jace rolled his eyes. “You don’t have to drink. It’s all about loosening up and relaxing for one night. And it’s not just you and me who are going.”
Alec looked up at him slowly. Jace’s smile was far too wide. It made Alec uneasy.
“Who else have you invited?” he asked.
Jace shook his head, his smirk only growing. “If you agree to come with me, you’ll find out. If not, your loss.”
Alec sighed and threw the file he’d been looking at down on his desk. “Fine. But I’m not drinking!”
“Yeah, yeah,” Jace said dismissively as he stood from his desk. “Just get a move on.”
Alec had a terrible feeling that he was going to regret his decision to go along with this.
Chapter 33: Chapter 29
Chapter Text
When Jace said they weren’t going out by themselves, Alec figured that meant Clary and Isabelle were tagging along. That was what he mentally prepared himself for. He wasn’t too surprised when Simon also showed up at the coffee shop Jace had chosen. Now that Simon was dating Isabelle, on top of being Clary’s best friend, Alec had begrudgingly accepted that the vampire was a permanent feature in his life that he had to get used to.
Maia showing up was more surprising. He knew Simon was close to her, and Isabelle and Clary had both gotten to know her well too. She and Jace had also had some fling that Alec still struggled to wrap his mind around. Alec had come to like her since they’d been working closely together, him as the Head of the New York Institute and her as the local werewolf pack leader.
So, okay, the more he thought about it, the less he should have been surprised that Jace had invited her along.
He knew what Jace was doing. He thought overloading Alec with people would force him to think about something other than Magnus for one evening. When he and Jace drank alone together, Alec hadn’t been able to stop his thoughts from drifting in that situation, so a loud, rambunctious group might work better.
Jace underestimated how easy it was for Alec’s mind to wander even as the conversation carried on around him.
He should have been participating more, but he didn’t have much to say. That wasn’t for a lack of trying by the others. They asked him plenty of questions, but all Alec could give them back was one-word answers. The most interesting thing that had happened to him lately was getting stuck in that box, and he couldn’t talk about that without also talking about Magnus.
He drained the last of his coffee (yes, that was nearly as bad an option at ten in the evening as the alcohol had been, but as a Shadowhunter, he could handle a sleepless night better than a drunken one), and pushed his chair back from the table. “I’m going to get another drink.”
Clary all but jumped up. “Let me go with you.”
Alec shrugged off her eagerness, too exhausted to read into it even if he should have.
The coffee shop wasn’t packed, but there were more customers than Alec would have expected at the late time of day. Alec and Clary got in line behind several others waiting to give their orders.
“How are you doing?” Clary asked.
Alec shifted on his feet. He hated that question at the best of times. “I’ve been better.”
There was no use in lying. Clary was more aware of the situation than he’d like her to be. After so long of relying solely on Jace and Isabelle, it was still jarring to have a larger friend group who checked up on him and wanted to know if he was okay.
Clary nodded and bit her lip. “I visited Magnus the other day.”
Alec’s heart clenched as a customer finished their order and moved to the side. They all took a step forward.
“How was he?” His voice shook.
He shouldn’t ask the question. He should have changed the subject immediately. There was no answer Clary could give that would actually make him feel better, but he yearned for any piece of information she had.
Clary frowned. “He said he was fine, but it was obviously a lie. I always felt like Magnus was good at masking his real emotions, but now… You can tell that he’s upset, even when he says he’s not.”
Alec took a deep breath, willing away the tears that stung at his eyes. Hearing that made him want to rush to Magnus’ apartment and wrap him in a hug, but at the same time, he wanted to scream. He’d tried to talk to Magnus after all, and it had been Magnus who refused.
“Yeah, well, he can always talk to me if he changes his mind,” Alec said flatly.
Clary observed him, her expression thoughtful. Alec looked straight ahead. They were now the next people in line, and he was determined not to be in the middle of an emotional conversation whenever the cashier asked them what they wanted. Clary sensed the finality of their conversation, falling silent.
By the time they made it back to their table, Clary was all smiles, not betraying a hint about what they’d discussed near the counter. Alec envied her. He knew his own emotions were still playing across his face, and there was little he could do to stop them.
Alec expected at least Clary and Isabelle to walk back to the Institute with him and Jace. Instead, the two of them and Simon decided to go play video games at Simon’s apartment. (Alec still couldn’t believe the sort of mundane stuff Isabelle had gotten into since dating Simon.) Alec knew that Jace would have gone with them if he didn’t think that Alec needed to be looked over, and that made him feel even worse about himself as they walked the darkened streets back to the Institute.
“What did you and Clary talk about when you were getting more drinks together?” Jace asked, his tone making it clear that he knew exactly what the topic of conversation had been.
Alec bit back a sigh. There was no use pretending like it was nothing. Clary would crumble when Jace inevitably asked her about it. “She told me she went to see Magnus, and she didn’t think he was doing well.”
Jace grunted. He’d obviously heard the whole story from Clary already. That figured. There were few things that Clary knew that Jace didn’t and vice versa these days. If Alec were to tell Jace and make it clear that it was confidential, then he was sure his parabatai wouldn’t betray his trust, but outside of that, Alec could pretty much assume that what one of them knew, the other did as well.
“Are you doing okay?” Jace asked.
Alec sighed and ran a hand over his tired eyes. “What do you expect me to say at this point? I’m obviously not.”
Jace was quiet for a second before he said, “Maybe you should visit Magnus yourself.”
“No,” Alec said. “That’s a bad idea. I asked him to talk, and he said no. He’s the one who declined to continue being part of the investigation of the box. He doesn’t want to see me. Showing up at his apartment uninvited would make things worse, not better.”
“But if he’s doing as badly as Clary says—”
“Jace, no.” He came to a stop, whirling around to face Jace. “He’s the one who pulled away. If he wants to talk to me, then that’s on him. He knows I tried to start the conversation. The ball’s in his court. It’s not up to me anymore.”
Jace wasn’t happy with that answer, but Jace’s emotions didn’t change the reality of the situation. He hadn’t seen and experienced what Alec had. Alec kept walking, increasing his pace to get to the Institute faster.
“I still think you should consider it,” Jace said. “The two of you really do need to talk. Like normal people, not prisoners in some creepy box. You should force the conversation. Make him say whatever it is he’s thinking to your face.”
Alec shook his head. “No. Jace, drop it.”
He did, but Alec felt him stewing beside him as they kept walking. Inwardly, he sighed. He couldn’t fault Jace for wanting Alec to talk to Magnus. He just wanted Alec, his parabatai, to be happy. Part of him yearned to show up at Magnus’ apartment and demand they talk too. It took all of his willpower to resist that pull, and the more they talked about it the harder it was, which was exactly why he couldn’t stand to hear Jace say it anymore.
One word too many, and he’d break.
Chapter 34: Chapter 30
Chapter Text
The firmness with which Alec rejected Jace’s idea of showing up at Magnus’ uninvited had been something of a front. It was true that he had no plans to visit Magnus. Logically, he knew that nothing but more pain would come from such a move. Magnus wasn’t someone who changed his mind when pushed. If anything, he would dig his heels in further and refuse to engage.
If there was any chance of things improving between them, it would have to be Magnus who sought Alec out.
That didn’t mean that Alec wasn’t tempted to do exactly what Jace had suggested. A fantasy version of such a confrontation played constantly in his mind. In his dreams, he went to Magnus’ apartment and demanded to be let in. He said exactly what was on his mind, Magnus saw reason, and they were together again, as easy as pie.
It was an excellent fantasy, but it wouldn’t play out anything like that in reality. Alec told himself that over and over whenever he was at risk of giving in and going to see Magnus. He didn’t want Jace in his ear making the temptation even worse.
The coffee he’d drunk that evening bit him in the ass that night when he lay awake fantasizing about those exact sort of fantasy scenarios. By the time morning rolled around, Alec felt almost as terrible as he had when hungover, and he was more determined than ever to shoot down any activity Jace proposed unless it was going on patrol.
Killing demons might have been the one way he could spend his evenings that would actually make him feel better.
Coffee may have been what had gotten him into his current mess, but he still sought it out first thing that morning, filling a large travel mug to the brim and slipping out of the cafeteria with it unseen. He was going to need the caffeine if he had any hope of getting through the day.
He’d hoped to drink at least half of it before he needed to speak to another living soul, but Brother Zachariah had other plans. Alec rounded the corner to his office and found the Silent Brother standing right outside the doorway waiting for him.
“Brother Zachariah, good morning.” It took all of his willpower not to sound as grumpy as he felt.
If Zachariah noticed anything off, he didn’t show it. Not that Silent Brothers were ever particularly expressive.
Good morning, Alec. I wanted to speak to you right away. The Spiral Labyrinth responded to my request for any information they have that might relate to the box.
Alec unlocked his office door and pushed it open. “I’m glad to hear it.”
He motioned at a nearby chair, offering Zachariah a seat, but the Silent Brother shook his head and remained standing in front of Alec’s desk, making Alec feel almost guilty as he took his own seat. He downed as large a gulp of coffee as he dared while it was still piping hot.
“Did they uncover anything useful?” he asked.
Yes. They believe the box was created using ancient fey magic. Your sister is very clever.
Alec raised an eyebrow. Zachariah must have known Isabelle had discussed her theory with him because he didn’t bother to explain why the Spiral Labyrinth’s conclusion would mean that Isabelle deserved praise.
“Does that put us closer to destroying the box?” Alec asked.
Zachariah folded his hands in front of himself. Yes and no. It gives us a direction to explore, but it doesn’t give us concrete steps. I wanted to get your opinion on inviting the fey into the discussion of the box’s fate. A faerie could provide valuable insight, but I understand that the current political situation is fraught.
Alec sighed. The Clave’s current relationship with the fey was far from the worst it had ever been, but there was no denying that it hadn’t been great since Jonathan Morgenstern wreaked havoc.
“If you think it’s necessary, then we can certainly discuss it further.”
As of now, we have lines of questioning that we can explore by ourselves. I’m also unsure that the fey would be accommodating of our requests, despite how helpful their assistance would be.
Alec was inclined to agree. Even if the fey were willing to help, it would come at a price and create a headache (primarily for Alec, most likely).
“Fine by me. Is there anything else I can do for you?”
He hoped the answer was no and he could be left alone with his coffee. Of course that was too much to hope for.
Yes, a warlock would be useful. The Spiral Labyrinth is unable to spare one to New York at this time. They suggested hiring someone from the city.
Alec’s heart raced. He knew where Zachariah was going before he said it.
Magnus Bane would be the best choice. He has the most experience in this city, and he already has prior experience with the box. The Spiral Labyrinth put his name forward as well.
Alec did his best to keep his expression neutral. As far as he knew, Brother Zachariah knew nothing about his personal relationship with Magnus or how spectacularly it had imploded, and Alec hoped to keep it that way.
He cleared his throat. “Of course. I’ll contact Magnus today. He already promised to help us if he was needed. There shouldn’t be any problem getting him to agree.”
Zachariah didn’t need to know that Magnus had given that promise reluctantly. Hopefully, Magnus would get along well with Zachariah and Isabelle, and Alec could stay out of the way. Zachariah never needed to know the landmines everyone else was tiptoeing around.
Excellent. Thank you, Alec. Please let him know that I welcome his company whenever he has time to come by.
As soon as Zachariah was out the door, Alec slumped in his chair. He gripped his coffee close, taking another blessed sip, and closed his eyes. He longed for bed even more now that one of his tasks for the day was contacting Magnus. As head of the Institute, liasoning with warlocks was one of his official duties. It wasn’t something that was often placed in the hands of others, but it was so, so tempting to hand it off just once.
He’d barely had time to enjoy his solitude when an overjoyed Isabelle rushed into his office.
“Brother Zachariah said you’ve agreed to ask Magnus for his help.”
Alec bit back a groan and placed his coffee on his desk. “Speaking of Brother Zachariah, aren’t you supposed to be helping him right now?”
Isabelle shrugged. “I ran into him on his way to the basement. I told him I’d be right there. After he told me about Magnus, I had to double check that it’s true.”
“It’s true,” Alec said. “Zachariah thinks Magnus is the best warlock to hire in the city because he obviously is.”
Magnus was always going to be part of the destruction of the box. Alec knew Magnus had been aware of that even as he tried to extract himself from the situation. That didn’t mean Alec was looking forward to making the request.
“And you’ll do it?”
Alec glared at her. “Of course I will. When have I ever been unprofessional? There’s nothing out of the ordinary about the head of the Institute hiring a warlock.”
“And you’ll be the one to hire him? You won’t send someone else?”
Alec sighed. Trust his sister to know exactly where his mind had gone.
“I’ll get him here,” he said. That was true even if he sent someone else.
If Isabelle noticed that his words weren’t an exact confirmation, then she’d decided to go easy on him because she didn’t push it further.
“Now, shouldn’t you be helping Brother Zachariah with the box?” Alec said pointedly.
She rolled her eyes but left.
Alec picked up his coffee again. It was starting to get cold. He shouldn’t have left the lid off the mug while speaking to Zachariah and Isabelle. He couldn’t stomach cold coffee. With a sigh, he stood up. It was way too early for a second trip to the cafeteria, but at least he wouldn’t be around if someone else showed up at his office.
Alec knew Isabelle was right that he should be the one to talk to Magnus, but his heart wouldn’t let him. He found Rohan Cunningham on his way back from the cafeteria with his second steaming cup of coffee for the day.
“Rohan, can I speak to you for a moment?”
The young man came to a stop, his eyes a little wide. He’d just come to New York from York, England for his travel year and always seemed to be in awe whenever Alec spoke to him.
“Of course, sir.”
“Could you find Jace for me and tell him to come to my office?”
Rohan’s eyes widened further at the mention of Jace. Alec always forgot how notorious Jace had become outside of New York until he saw someone who didn’t know him well react to his name.
“I’ll find him right away, sir,” Rohan promised with a decisive nod.
Alec watched him hurry away with satisfaction. At least there were some benefits to being head of the Institute.
Alec managed to get down most of his coffee before Jace arrived. His parabatai didn’t waste any time on pleasantries.
“What’s up?” He flopped himself into one of the chairs across from Alec’s desk, twirling his stele between his fingers.
Alec kept his posture straight, trying to be the picture of head-of-the-Institute professionalism so Jace wouldn’t question what he was about to ask of him. “Brother Zachariah wants Magnus’ assistance with the box. I need you to go to his apartment and offer him the job. We’ll pay his usual rate, obviously.”
Jace stopped twirling his stele, clutching it between his fingers, and Alec tensed, waiting for the response that he knew was coming.
“Why would I do that?” Jace asked slowly. “The normal procedure when the Institute hires a warlock is you sending him a fire message asking for a meeting and then setting it up yourself. It’s always the head of the Institute who does the actual hiring.”
Alec cleared his throat. “Right, but Magnus already knows about the box, so we don’t really need a meeting. And he knows us, so he’ll trust that you’re speaking on my behalf. He doesn’t need to worry about us refusing to pay him or anything like that.”
He stared into the dregs of his coffee.
Jace’s chair creaked as he threw a leg over one of the arms. “Yeah, no. I won’t be doing that. You may be my boss, but I’m your parabatai. I’m not going to let you be a coward.”
Alec stiffened. Even if he’d hoped differently, he’d known Jace would refuse, but that didn’t make the sting of it any better.
“It would be better this way,” Alec insisted. “This should be about destroying the box. Mine and Magnus’ relationship isn’t what’s important right now. If you want to pressure me into talking to him, do it later, once the box is no longer a threat.”
Jace took his time observing Alec. Alec stared back, daring Jace to challenge him on it.
“I’ll go,” Jace said finally.
Before Alec could exhale in relief, Jace continued. “But only if you come with me.”
Alec opened his mouth to protest, but Jace held up his hand. “I mean it.” He sat up, removing his leg from where it was thrown over the arm of the chair. “I’m not asking you to confess your undying love for him. Just come with me and do your normal head of the Institute duties. That’s all. I’ll be there for moral support.”
They stared at each other for a moment, and it was clear that Jace wasn’t going to back down. Part of Alec’s own brain was fighting against him too. Wasn’t seeing Magnus again the very thing he’d been fantasizing about?
This wasn’t his fantasies. He wasn’t going to confess his love or anything ridiculous like that. If he did go, the meeting would be entirely professional, but he couldn’t deny that he was curious about seeing Magnus, especially when he was doing poorly, if what Clary said was true.
“Fine.” He ignored the whoop of celebration that Jace let out. “I’ll go with you, but only if you’re on your best behavior.”
Jace smirked at him. “When am I not?”
“You’ll do most of the talking.” Alec stood from his desk, trying to make himself appear as authoritative as possible. As if that ever worked with Jace.
Jace stood as well, eyeing Alec. “That’s weird when you’re the head of the Institute and will be standing right there. Why would I do the talking?”
Alec shrugged. “It’s not like we’ll successfully hide anything from Magnus. He knows what happened between us. He at least suspects how I feel. He’ll be relieved that you’re the one taking the lead instead of me. He won’t question it.”
Jace regarded him for a second, but Alec was surprised when he nodded. “Fine. I can handle that.”
Alec took a deep breath of relief.
“Everything will be fine,” Jace assured him as they approached Magnus’ apartment building.
Alec rolled his eyes, ignoring his racing heart. “Jace, the more you say that, the more I think that you’re the one secretly panicking.”
Jace flashed him a smile. “Never. I have complete faith in your ability to charm the High Warlock of Brooklyn. I’ve seen it with my own eyes enough times.”
Alec’s cheeks warmed. “I’m not going to be charming anyone. We’re here about official Institute business. That’s all. Please remember that.”
He also had very little faith in his own ability to charm—whatever he and Magnus had before, he’d never have called himself charming—but he didn’t know how to argue that one without sounding pathetic. He steeled himself as they approached the buzzer for Magnus’ apartment.
After he pressed the button, the familiar answer of, “Who calls on the High Warlock of Brooklyn?” made Alec’s stomach lurch.
“It’s Alec and Jace.”
His voice was shakier than he would have liked, and the use of just their first names wasn’t typical of official Institute business, but it was too strange to tack on their family names as if Magnus didn’t know who they were.
The pause stretched on for too long. Jace pushed Alec out of the way to speak into the buzzer himself. “It’s about the box. Brother Zachariah wants your help.”
There was still no answer, but the door that led into the apartment building unlocked with a click. Jace gave Alec a quick look before he tugged the door open, motioning for Alec to go in ahead of him.
Magnus was quick to open the door for them when they reached his apartment as well. As they stepped inside, Alec noted that the decor had changed since the last time he was there. Alec was grateful for it. It made it easier to pretend like this wasn’t the place where he and Magnus had once been intimate together.
Magnus wasted no time getting to the bottom of why Jace and Alec had come either.
“Brother Zachariah requested my help?” he said, watching Alec with narrowed eyes. As if Jace had thrown out the name ‘Zachariah’ to manipulate him for some reason. “He’s in New York? Working on the box?”
Alec’s plan to have Jace do most of the talking flew out of the window as he answered without thinking about it. “Yes, he is, and the Spiral Labyrinth told him that the box is likely fey magic. We’ve decided not to ask for assistance from the fey for now, but he wants the help of a warlock. He specifically requested you.”
He expected Magnus to take some pushing before finally relenting, but after a few seconds of careful thought, Magnus said, “If Zachariah is here, then of course I’ll help. There’s no one better to be working on the problem.”
Alec’s eyebrows rose. From the way Magnus spoke, it was clear that he knew Zachariah, and it seemed like it was more than just a professional acquaintance as well. Magnus knew many, many people, but a Silent Brother was new. They so rarely left the Silent City or worked with warlocks beyond the Spiral Labyrinth that Alec didn’t understand how Magnus could come to know them on a personal basis. Silent Brothers didn’t even have personal relationships.
They were called ‘silent’ for a reason. Even though they could project their thoughts, Alec had always imagined them down in the Silent City never speaking to each other unless it was necessary for their work. He knew they could communicate with each other inside their heads and apparently did so on a constant basis, but he had a hard time wrapping his mind around that from their outward demeanor.
There was a story there, between Magnus and Brother Zachariah, and it was yet another story that Alec would never get to hear, now that he and Magnus were no more.
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