Chapter Text
Chapter 1
A spasm of pain traveled up Magnus’ spine as he carefully, but quickly, climbed back through the window that he had used to sneak into the mansion, and managed to quietly close it behind him right as Lorenzo came storming into the living room with Alec close at his heels.
With a shaky sigh, Magnus leaned back against the wall outside of the view from the pair and tried to wrap his mind around what he had just discovered. He knew it was going to be bad. Clearly, whatever was causing havoc around the city through the ley lines was a powerful being, but he never could have guessed this. They were going to need to call in some help with this one.
His hands were shaking as he recalled the rapid pulsing of the energy signatures, much stronger than anything he had ever felt before. At least he had the presence of mind to swallow his scream of surprise as he was thrown back against the wall. Little good that had done though. It felt like the whole building had shook from the impact, causing Lorenzo to come and investigate anyways.
Turning his head just enough to peek back inside the living room, Magnus caught sight of his boyfriend heading in the direction of the foyer with Lorenzo just a couple steps behind him, walking him out.
A low groan left Magnus’ lips as he stood up from the wall, sending another blast of pain through him. He sent a wave of magic over the injury to soothe his aching back before making his way around towards the front of the house, trying hard to keep his hands from shaking. Pausing briefly at the corner to make sure that Lorenzo had gone back inside, Magnus strolled over to meet Alec.
“What was going on down there?” was Alec’s greeting, which Magnus had to try hard not to groan at the memory of being sent airborne into the wall.
“We have a problem,” Magnus said with a frown.
Seeing the worry in the warlock’s eyes, Alec let out a soft sigh. “It is your father,” he guessed.
Magnus' mouth fell open as he tried to find the right words. He shook his head slightly before explaining. “There wasn’t just one energy signature. We’re dealing with two Greater Demons. One of them is my father, yes, but the other . . . This magic is very old and very evil. The demon responsible is as powerful as they come. Not like anything I’ve ever seen before.”
“So, along with dealing with Asmodeus, we have someone worse that he has teamed up with?”
Magnus nodded. “Yeah, much worse.”
Alec swallowed nervously as he turned away from Magnus’ worried stare. “We need to get back to the Institute then. We need to update everyone-”
“Alec, wait.” Magnus reached for his arm as Alec turned to leave. “It’s getting late. I doubt my father and his . . . friend will be causing anymore mischief today. Let's just go back to the loft and get some rest. We’ll deal with all of this in the morning.”
Alec must have noticed then how exhausted he felt, because he reluctantly nodded his head in agreement. “Yeah, okay. Do you want to portal us back?”
Magnus paused for a moment, considering this before shaking his head. “I used quite a bit of magic in there,” he said, nodding in the direction of Lorenze’s mansion. “It might be better if we walked back. Besides, there is something I need to talk to you about.”
Chapter 2
Notes:
Sorry about the delay in uploading. I was planning to post this chapter yesterday, but then AO3 was down for several hours.
Please leave a review with your thoughts, feelings, or ideas about what you think will be happening in this story. I would love to hear what you guys are thinking.
Chapter Text
Chapter 2
Just like its nickname suggests, despite the late hour, the citizens of New York seemed to have no plans of quieting down any time soon. Taxis and other cars were still driving by frequently, while many of the business signs were lit up brightly along the street. They passed by several restaurants that groups of people were still gathering in to eat even at almost ten o’clock at night.
Even with the steady flow of car horns, and people chatting and laughing with their friends and family on the street, Alec still noted how quiet the man beside him was as they slowly made their way towards home. Magnus’ shoulders were hunched with his head falling forward slightly. He did look exhausted. Maybe more than Alec initially realized.
“Hey, are you okay?” he asked, nudging Magnus’ arm gently.
“Yeah,” Magnus acknowledged, running a hand through his hair. “Just thinking . . . and all that magic I used at Lorenzo’s may have taken more out of me than I realized.”
They continued walking in silence for a while, Alec occasionally eyeing Magnus with concern. As they passed by a mother with a child that appeared to be around twelve, placing an order at a food cart, Alec remembered why Magnus had asked for them to walk home.
“So, what was it you wanted to talk about?”
Magnus tugged nervously at his ear before sighing. “Does it bother you? My . . . connection with Asmodeus?”
Alec shook his head. “We have no control over who our parents are, Mags. You aren’t your father.”
“That’s it? That’s all you have to say about it?”
“You thought I would judge you over who your father was?”
“You judged Clary when you found out who her father was.”
Alec’s pace slowed as he took in Magnus' words. “You heard about that?” he asked softly.
Magnus simply hummed in response. He hadn’t looked over at Alec since the start of this conversation. Alec reached out to grab Magnus’ upper arm, bringing them both to a stop in the middle of the sidewalk. Reluctantly, Magnus turned to look up at him.
“I didn’t know Clary then. Suddenly, this redheaded girl had appeared in our lives that Jace was instantly drawn to. She was raised as a mundane, suddenly dropped into this world, and wouldn’t slow down to question what she was doing or listen to anyone about the dangers of the Shadow World. I was terrified that her headstrong and stubborn personality would lead us all into trouble. When the news of Valentine being her father was revealed, yeah, I thought it was possible she could have been a spy. That her whole clueless and irrational behavior was all an act. But then I got to know her. The real Clary.” Alec stepped closer to Magnus, cupping his face with the hand that wasn’t still holding onto his arm. “These past couple of months, I’ve gotten to know you very well, Magnus. You’re smart, caring, brave, loving . . .” Alec shook his head, a smile playing on his face. “I could go on. The point is, unlike with Clary, I already know you. And you are the farthest thing from a Greater Demon.”
Magnus’ eyes softened at Alec’s words, and reached up to grab the hand that was still caressing his face. “You certainly have a way with words, Alexander.” He smirked at his boyfriend and patted his shoulder twice before stepping away to continue on their walk.
“While we’re on the subject of my family,” Magnus said, as Alec fell into step next to him again, “there is someone . . . Well, I guess I might as well inform you of two more of my family members.” He sighed before continuing. “I’m not sure how much you know about the bloodline of Greater Demons, but . . . Did you know that Asmodeus and Azazel are brothers?”
Alec came to a stop in the middle of the sidewalk. “Wait. So, you’re saying that it was your Uncle that switched you with Valentine?”
Magnus raised an eyebrow as he looked back at Alec over his shoulder. “Why do you think I don’t like talking about my family?”
Alec nodded once, accepting this as he started walking again. “Now that you mention it, I think I remember learning about that family connection in one of the demon hierarchy classes we took at the Academy.” Magnus hummed and gave a small nod as they continued on in silence for a few minutes. “Who was the other person you wanted to talk about?” Alec eventually asked when it seemed like Magnus wasn’t going to volunteer any further information on his own.
Magnus was silent for another beat or two before finally asking, “Have I ever mentioned to you about having a brother?”
“No,” Alec replied with a small shake of his head, “but considering the fact that Greater Demons can’t die, I would assume you probably have quite a few step-siblings out there.”
“Hmm, yes. Pretty sure all warlocks have at least a couple step-siblings, but I was referring to . . . a full sibling. A twin.”
Alec frowned. “You have a twin?”
Magnus nodded slowly, before adding, “A twin brother. Identical twins.”
Alec paused for a moment to take in this new information. “Do you not get along well with him either?” he ventured a guess.
His boyfriend shrugged. “We did go through a bit of a rough patch a few hundred years ago,” Magnus admitted. “I know you get along really well with your sister, but how do you think it would be if you saw and worked with Isabelle every day, year after year, for centuries.”
“I guess that could get a bit mundane after a while,” Alec admitted after a moment of thought.
“My brother and I just need a break from each other every now and then. We find that if we occasionally block out a year or two with no contact with each other, we get along a lot better when we reunite.”
“So that’s why I haven’t met your brother yet,” Alec said, putting the pieces together. “You’re in the middle of one of your ‘no contact’ periods.”
Magnus nodded. “Exactly. My brother and I are both known for being some of the most powerful warlocks out there, but together . . . We are a force to be reckoned with. If our father really is in New York, along with another powerful entity that he seems to have partnered up with, we could really use my brother’s help.”
Chapter 3
Notes:
There is an Indonesian to English translation guide in the end notes that you can use as a reference.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 3
Alec steps out of Magnus’ bedroom, pulling his shirt down over his chest. “Have you heard from your brother yet?”
Magnus was sitting on the couch in his living room, feet propped up on the coffee table, waving the fire message that was in his hand. “Just now. He says he wants us to meet with him in India first to discuss the problem in more detail before he agrees to help.”
“‘Discuss the problem’?” Alec frowned. “Your father is causing havoc around the city. I would have thought he would be jumping at the chance to help get rid of him.”
Magnus raised an eyebrow. “You know, just because he’s my twin doesn’t mean he’s just like me. Right?”
His boyfriend gaped at him as he floundered for a response. Sparing Alec further uneasiness, Magnus gestured for him to relax before setting the note on the end table and stood up.
“Look, I didn’t actually mention that Asmodeus was involved,” he admitted, slowly approaching Alec.
Alec narrowed his eyes at this news. “Why would you leave that out?”
“After our mother and step-father died, Asmodeus found us. He took us both in. He nurtured our darker impulses, teaching us the proper way to be warlocks.” Magnus shook his head with a sigh. “Even as a child, I could feel that something was off about the man, and as we spent more time with him . . . the things that he made me do, made us both do . . . It didn’t take long for me to want to leave, to get out from under Asmodeus’ thumb, but Miguel . . . There was a part of him that loved the attention. The praise that Asmodeus would give us after helping him with one of his evil schemes. We rarely got any kind of encouragement like that from our step-father, even before he realized what we were,” Magnus added with a shrug. “I tried for weeks to convince my brother to leave with me, but at the time he was too far gone. So, I left them both and I went to find shelter with the Silent Brothers.” Magnus turned away for a moment, avoiding his boyfriend’s eyes as he continued. “I don’t know what all Asmodeus put him through after I left, but I know he holds a lot of guilt for everything now. I can’t imagine having to face that man again will be very easy for him.” He shook his head sadly, locking eyes with Alec. “I didn’t think that it would be right to mention Asmodeus’ name to him in a note. I need to talk to my brother in person about what is happening.”
The look in Alec’s eyes had softened as Magnus talked, and he nodded slowly. “Yeah, okay. So, when are we going to see him?”
Magnus gestured to the robe he was still wearing. “Give me a few minutes to change and get ready. We’ll leave in half an hour.”
It was strange stepping through the portal in New York where it was a bright and sunny morning, into a town in India where the sun had already set for the night. Still, the street was well lit as groups of people moved past them, dressed up for a night out.
“Where are we?” Alec asked as he felt Magnus’ hand grasped his, leading him down the street.
“Agra, India,” he announced, pointing at a huge white structure off in the distance that was visible behind the buildings. “We’re only a couple miles from the Taj Mahal.”
Alec nodded, scanning the glowing signs that they were passing on either side of the ride. “And where are we going?”
“There is a club just down here that my brother said he was going to be at tonight. We are meeting him there.”
They walked in silence for the next couple of minutes, following behind a group of women in short skirts and skimpy dresses with their dates. They were laughing and talking in a language that Alec didn’t understand. Not surprising, him being in a foreign country. If it wasn’t for a couple of the men in the group glancing back at them, eyeing his hand that was linked with his boyfriend’s and whispering to each other, it wouldn’t have concerned him at all that he couldn’t understand what they were saying.
Magnus on the other hand, clearly did understand what seemed to be insulting comments about their relationship. Giving Alec’s hand a light squeeze, they slowed their pace down, allowing the mundane group to get farther away from them until they moved to get in line outside of a club with its name glowing in neon red; ‘Hellfire’.
“Come on,” Magnus said, pulling Alec down the alleyway beside the club. “We’re supposed to go in the back door anyways.”
“‘Hellfire’,” Alec noted. “Seems fitting considering our current case.”
Magnus huffed out a laugh, but otherwise ignored the comment.
Turning the corner to the back of the building, a big man with bright red skin and buffalo horns was just allowing three fairy women to enter the club before moving back to block the door. The warlock crossed his arms and glared at them as they approached.
“Bukankah aku sudah membiarkanmu masuk?” the bouncer asked, staring at Magnus.
“Itu mungkin saudaraku. Kami bertemu dia di sini,” Magnus said in reply.
The man then turned to study Alec, scrunching his eyebrows at the sight of the rune on his neck.
“Kami tidak mengizinkan Pemburu Bayangan di sini. Ini seharusnya menjadi tempat yang aman untuk Downworlders. Tidak bisa mengambil risiko perkelahian pecah.”
Magnus shook his head at this. “Dia bersamaku. Kami di sini bukan untuk memulai apa pun.”
Alec glanced back and forth between the two, completely lost in trying to figure out what was happening.
The red warlock turned his piercing stare back at him, and Alec’s posture instinctively stood up straighter.
“Dia tidak bisa membawa senjata apa pun ke dalam. Dia harus meninggalkan mereka di sini,” the bouncer commented, studying the pair suspiciously.
Magnus sighed before turning to Alec. “Do you have any weapons on you?”
“Just my bow and arrows . . . and my stele.”
“Apakah Anda ingin tongkatnya juga?” Magnus asked the guard and received a single nod in return.
“You’ll have to leave it all out here,” Magnus explained apologetically, but Alec simply nodded in acceptance and let go of his partner’s hand to grab his gear from his shoulders, the glamour disappearing as his hand touched them. Handing them over to the bouncer, he then retrieved his stele from his inside jacket pocket and handed that over as well.
Juggling the objects now in his hands, the warlock gave a sharp nod and moved aside to allow them to finally enter the club.
Magnus’ hand snaked back into his again as they found themselves in an empty, white hallway with doors on either side leading to a kitchen, storage room, offices, and possibly an entrance to a basement. The muffled sounds of music seemed to be coming from the door on the opposite side of the corridor.
“Just a warning,” Magnus started as he led Alec down the hall, a light flickering overhead as they passed under it. “My brother can be a bit hard to get along with, especially at the beginning. He doesn’t trust people easily.”
“Honestly, I suspected as such,” Alec admitted, squeezing Magnus’ hand. “Especially with everything you said he dealt with under your guy’s father. I can’t imagine how he must feel about Shadowhunters with all the prejudice that has been going on between our two races.”
Magnus sent his boyfriend a sad smirk and nodded in agreement. “Maybe just let me do most of the talking,” he said before opening the door at the end of the hall, and they were both instantly hit with the loud pounding music of the club’s main room.
Notes:
Bukankah aku sudah membiarkanmu masuk? = Didn't I let you in already?
Itu mungkin saudaraku. Kami bertemu dia di sini. = That was probably my brother. We are meeting him here.
Kami tidak mengizinkan Pemburu Bayangan di sini. Ini seharusnya menjadi tempat yang aman untuk Downworlders. Tidak bisa mengambil risiko perkelahian pecah. = We don't allow Shadowhunters here. This is supposed to be a safe haven for Downworlders. We can't risk a fight breaking out.
Dia bersamaku. Kami di sini bukan untuk memulai apa pun. = He's with me. We're not here to start anything.
Dia tidak bisa membawa senjata apa pun ke dalam. Dia harus meninggalkan mereka di sini. = He can't bring any weapons inside. He has to leave them out here.
Apakah Anda ingin tongkatnya juga? = Do you want the stele too?
Chapter 4
Notes:
There is an Indonesian to English translation guide in the end notes that you can use as a reference.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 4
It was pretty dark inside the club. If it wasn’t for the colored strobe lights circling the room, Alec wouldn’t have been able to see much, but his ears . . . The music was unnecessarily loud, forcing the packed crowd to have to yell over the volume just to be heard by their friends. Him and Magnus had been here for not even five minutes, and Alec’s ears were already ringing from the intense noise while he could feel a headache growing behind his eyes.
Alec held tight to Magnus’ hand as the warlock elbowed his way through the horde of people, not wanting to lose sight of him.
When Magnus paused for a moment to look around, Alec leaned towards his ear to be heard over the noise. “How are we supposed to find your brother?”
Magnus didn’t reply right away, standing on his tiptoes to try and see over the crowd, that at first Alec thought he hadn’t heard him. He was about to try again when Magnus reached behind him to touch Alec’s arm before pointing over the customers in the direction of the far wall. “There he is! Come on.”
Dragging Alec past a few more groups of dancing mundanes, an opening in the crowd suddenly appeared. A red velvet rope blocked off this full side of the room and the people on the dance floor were giving the rope a respectful distance. On the other side of the rope, a long, white leather couch stretched from one corner to the other along the wall with cube and rectangle shaped tables sitting sporadically in front of the couch, a blue glow resonating from within the boxed tables.
Just off to their right, past the velvet rope, sat a man that did look just like the man standing next to Alec, at least in facial appearance. He had the same olive colored skin tone and dark black hair, but that was where the similarities stopped. Unlike Magnus, this man’s hair laid flat on his head, parted to one side. He was clean shaven, no makeup or nail polish, and Alec couldn’t spy any jewelry on him. He was wearing a traditional Indian outfit. Alec didn’t know the name of the garment, but it looked like a long white shirt with red designs stitched on to it and red pants. The man was surrounded by mostly fey, but a few warlocks as well. He seemed to be in a deep conversation with the faerie woman next to him when they approached the rope, caressing her arm.
“Miguel!” Magnus called to him, causing the man to turn in their direction. A frown cast over the man’s features and something dark seemed to flash in the warlock’s eyes that floored Alec. “Bisakah kita berbicara secara pribadi?” his boyfriend continued as if nothing had transpired between them, and Alec assumed he must have been seeing things in the low light of the club.
The man turned back to the woman he had been talking to, leaning close to say something in her ear and patted her arm before getting to his feet. He then gestured with his head for the pair to follow him.
Alec and Magnus followed the warlock from the other side of the rope until they reached an opening. With a small nod, Magnus’ brother gave the bouncer permission to allow the two of them to enter before continuing towards the far wall where a door stood. As they drew closer, Alec was able to make out the sign that was posted on it announcing it as the “VIP Room”.
“Nah, ini kejutan. Saya tidak berharap untuk mendengar dari Anda belum,” the man stated as he opened the door and walked inside.
This room was set up in a more cozier sitting room style than anything they had seen in the main room of the club as well as being well lit, which made Alec sigh in relief. At the very least he could get a break from the strobe lights. Magnus shut the door behind them, surprisingly cutting them off completely from the noise in the club, revealing this as a soundproof room.
“Sesuatu yang besar telah terjadi-” Magnus’ brother said, before spinning around to face them only to stop mid sentence when he caught a glimpse of the deflect rune on Alec’s neck. His expression instantly turned into a glare as he stared accusingly at Magnus. "Mengapa kamu membawa Pemburu Bayangan ke sini?"
“English, please,” Magnus said calmly. A much more relaxed expression was on his face opposed to the identical one standing in front of them. “Alec isn’t fluent in Indonesian and I don’t feel up to interpreting this whole conversation for him. Especially since it’s not even necessary.”
“Why did you bring a Shadowhunter here?” the warlock practically growled through his teeth, not taking his eyes off of Alec.
Under the accusing glare, Alec found himself straightening his posture and clasping his hands behind his back. Magnus liked to call it his ‘soldier stance’, which honestly, considering the fact that his boyfriend’s brother didn’t seem to trust Shadowhunters very much, it probably wasn’t the kind of appearance he should be showcasing.
“I told you my boyfriend was going to be joining me,” Magnus said.
“Yeah, your boyfriend! Not this-” Miguel started to make a wild gesture in Alec’s direction before realization dawned on his face, and he slowly lowered his arm. “The Shadowhunter is . . .” His eyes darted back to Magnus. “You’re dating a Shadowhunter?”
Alec opened his mouth to say something in his defense, but Magnus rested a hand on his upper arm, stopping him.
“Would you mind waiting outside?” Magnus asked, gesturing with his head towards the door. Alec was about to reject this before his boyfriend leaned forward to whisper in his ear. “I think I’ll have better luck with him if we speak alone.”
Alec glanced at Miguel once more before nodding to Magnus. “Yeah, alright.” He gave a little squeeze to Magnus’ shoulder before opening the door that led out to the main party floor and closed the door behind him.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Miguel steamed and Magnus let out a small sigh before turning back to face his brother. “Getting close to one of . . . them.”
“Miguel-”
“This is one of those possessive type of relationships, isn’t it?” Miguel scowled, crossing his arms over his chest. “What, is he your master and your his . . . pet?”
“No!” Magnus protested, his voice rising considerably. “Alec isn’t like that. We are equals in this relationship.” He paused to let out a long breath. “Could we have this conversation later? You know I wouldn’t have contacted you if it wasn’t an emergency.”
Miguel narrowed his eyes at him. “And what could be so important that the Shadowhunters have to be involved?”
Magnus started by explaining the events that had taken place at Lorenzo’s party and how Alec had helped him sneak back inside the property the day prior.
“There is a Greater Demon loose in New York,” Magnus finished up his story. “Well . . . two technically.”
“Doesn’t that fall under the job of the Shadowhunters? Why do we need to get involved in this? More importantly, why do I need to get involved? I don’t live in New York. That’s way out of my jurisdiction.”
“It is our problem when one of them is Asmodeus.”
Miguel’s features froze; his eyes grew rounder while his arms fell to his sides. “Asmodeus . . . He’s in this realm.”
Magnus nodded once. “He has partnered up with another demon. We haven’t figured out who the second one is yet, but-”
Miguel abruptly turned his back on Magnus and took a couple steps farther into the room. “I can’t help you.”
“Miguel . . .”
“I don’t want to see that monster again,” Miguel groaned, his shoulders slouching slightly.
“And you think I do?”
Miguel suddenly spun back around, taking a few angry steps towards Magnus. “You don’t understand. Last time I saw him . . . That man manipulated me. Brainwashed me into doing . . . horrible things.”
“We were children,” Magnus said with a small shake of his head and lowered his voice. “We didn’t know anybody.”
Miguel shook his head, a desperate look on his face. “I can’t be in his presence again,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
Magnus gave this a moment of consideration. “Could you at least come by the New York Institute to give us a hand in fixing the ley lines? That corruption needs to be purified as soon as possible.”
Notes:
Miguel! Bisakah kita berbicara secara pribadi? = Miguel! Can we talk in private?
Nah, ini kejutan. Saya tidak berharap untuk mendengar dari Anda belum. = Well, this is a surprise. I wasn't expecting to hear from you yet.
Sesuatu yang besar telah terjadi-. Mengapa kamu membawa Pemburu Bayangan ke sini? = Something big must have happened-. Why did you bring a Shadowhunter here?
Chapter Text
Chapter 5
Miguel had told Magnus that he would think about going to New York to help with their ley line problem. He was dragging his feet on making his decision. The last thing he wanted to do was get involved with Shadowhunter business, and he couldn’t wrap his head around why Magnus would.
The last time he had seen his brother, Magnus would never have willingly gotten involved in their affairs. Well, unless he was getting paid for his work, but that's besides the point. If Magnus was dating one of them, he probably was no longer getting paid for his hard work. Miguel couldn’t understand why his brother couldn’t see that he was being used, and like hell was he going to be dragged along by this Shadowhunter’s controlling behavior.
Magnus and his kind heart . . . Miguel wasn’t going to allow himself to be so gullible again.
Yet, when Magnus texted him the next morning and told him the meeting on how they were going to deal with the corruption in the ley lines was about to start, Miguel found himself absently creating a portal to take him to the New York Institute. At the very least, he should be there to keep an eye on his wayward and besotted brother.
Magnus was waiting for him right outside of the Institute when Miguel stepped out of the portal.
“Come on,” Magnus said, turning to open the door for them. “The meeting is about to start.”
Miguel squinted his eyes at the setting sun that was peeking out from the side of the building, and hurried to take the stairs two at a time to catch up with Magnus before the door could swing shut behind him. Even being fully used to portaling around the world at his leisure, the sudden changes in time zones could still be jarring.
Miguel was surprised to see how empty the Institute looked as he followed his brother down the hallway into what appeared to be the Ops Center. The few times that he had been inside any of the Institutes around the world, Shadowhunters were always scurrying around and working on their machines. Busy and hard at work. He frowned and a small shiver ran up his spine at the empty feel to the place. Not being able to see his enemy inside their home, it made him feel like he was being hunted.
He was slightly relieved when the echo of voices was heard from somewhere farther in the room they were about to enter. Turning the corner into the Ops Center, Magnus hurried ahead of him to join the group of Shadowhunters that were circling around a table, quietly pushing his way through the crowd until he was standing a step behind Alec. Miguel silently stopped beside his brother, folding his arms across his chest as he half listened to Alec explain his plan for purifying the ley lines.
“You’re going to use the Angelic Core?” one of the Shadowhunters on the other side of the table interrupted Alec aggravatedly. “Are you serious?”
“This is our only chance to stop the corruption,” Alec patiently explained, leaning against the table. “We are going to flood the ley lines with angelic energy. Put an end to this, once and for all.”
“So your plan is basically divine Drano?” somebody joked to their left, but Alec ignored the comment to instead bring up a hologram image of the Institute.
“The only problem is that the Institute is not built on any ley lines.” The guy across from them gave his leader a look that said ‘I told you it wasn’t going to work’. Miguel narrowed his eyes at the man. He might not agree with many of the Shadowhunter tactics, but no one should speak that way to their superior either. “At least, not yet. That’s where Magnus comes in.”
Blindly ignoring the look the aggressive man was sending their way, Magnus boldly stepped forward and changed the image that was floating over the survice to the room the Core was presented in, a red light glowed underneath the projection to symbolize the demonic corruption that was flowing under their feet.
“I know a spell that’ll allow me to temporarily divert the flow of the magic at the core. Once the ley lines are in place, you’ll tap into the core, and we can kiss the demonic corruption goodbye,” Magnus explained. Near the end of his speech, he gave a dramatic gesture over the table and the neon red instantly receded away.
Miguel gave a small smirk behind his brother’s back. At least his dramatic flare hadn’t changed a bit.
“Right,” the nasty one drawled out in exasperation. “And what happens if a demon shockwave hits while you’re using your magic?” Placing his hand over the hologram, the Shadowhunter did a motion as if he was spinning a top, causing not only the red glow to reappear around the entire image, but the picture of the core silently blew up in front of them before disappearing completely from view. “The core will be totally exposed.”
Miguel had issues with most Shadowhunters, but he definitely hated this one.
“Well, that doesn’t look good,” somebody said, expressing concern over what they had all just witnessed in the simulation.
“If we’re lucky, it’ll only vaporize the Institute,” Magnus said.
“But what if we’re not lucky?”
“Better not to think about that.” The words left Magnus’ mouth just loud enough to be heard in the room, and Miguel caught the slight nervous tic in his brother’s fingers.
“This is a risk we have to take,” Alec spoke up again, coming to his boyfriend’s aid.
The angry Shadowhunter across from them clearly didn’t like the sound of that.
“The whole point of building the Institute away from the ley lines was to avoid something like this,” the man said before gesturing in the direction of Magnus standing in front of him. “Why not just quarantine the warlocks outside the city?”
While Magnus simply sent the Nephilim an annoyed look, Miguel narrowed his eyes into slits as he stared daggers at the man and hugged his arms tightly around his chest. How dare he blame the warlocks for what was going on! They-
“Because kicking innocent people out of their homes isn’t going to solve anything.”
Miguel’s head whipped around to stare in wonder at the back of Alec’s head. A Shadowhunter . . . vouching for them?
Miguel barely heard the provoked cries that rose around him as his eyes widened in shock before slowly reverting his eyes away, biting the inside of his cheek softly in thought.
“That’s enough!” Alec yelled, gaining everyone’s attention once again. “This isn’t just about the warlocks. You know what happened at the hospital. Everyone is at risk. We are-”
“Um . . .” Miguel hummed softly as he stepped up next to Magnus. “Sorry to interrupt, but I think I may have a solution to the uh . . . possible ‘destruction of the city’ dilemma.”
Ignoring the shock double takes the people gathered were giving the pair of identical looking warlocks, Miguel kept his eyes focused on Alec as he nodded for him to continue.
“If something were to go wrong with Magnus’ plan in clearing the ley lines, there probably isn’t much that could be done about protecting the Institute, but if I were to create a form of shield around the building, any possible explosion could be contained to this block.”
“You can do that?” Alec asked, a small look of hope in his eyes.
Miguel let out an exasperated huff. “I’m a Bane. Of course I can.” Which his brother let out a small chuckle at, shaking his head. “I would suggest evacuating the Institute to be safe, but we should at least be able to contain the destruction, if something did pray tell went awry, to this area.”
“Alright.” Alec nodded in agreement before turning back to face his team. “You heard him. Evacuate the Institute. Essential personnel stay behind.”
Before Miguel could turn and walk away from the table like the others, he felt a hand grab his arm and turned back to lock eyes with Magnus. Giving his arm a little squeeze, his brother sent him a small nod in thanks for stepping up, a ghost of a smile on his face.
“Magnus,” Alec called from behind them, and Magnus turned to arrange their meet up by the elevators in a few minutes to head down to the level where the core was located.
“So, what changed your mind about helping us?” Magnus asked, turning back to his brother.
Miguel watched Alec’s back as the man walked away. “Has he always been that way?” he asked instead.
“What?” Magnus frowned, following his brother’s eyeline.
“You’re . . . boyfriend. Has he always been mindful of the Downworlders in the area?”
A smile appeared on Magnus’ face as the conversation turned to Alec. He gave a small shrug. “Alec has always had a kind heart, but I may have helped to open his eyes to how innocent many of the Downworlders are,” he admitted.
“Magnus?” The warlocks turned as one to find three Shadowhunters staring back at them with perplexed expressions. “Do you want to introduce us to your . . .?” The blonde one left the question unfinished as he gestured to the look alike that was standing next to Magnus.
“This is my twin brother, Miguel,” Magnus introduced. He then pointed to each of the Shadowhunters in turn. “That’s Jace and Isabelle, Alec’s siblings, and that’s Clary, a good friend of the Lightwood family.” Magnus’ eyes turned back to where he saw his boyfriend disappear. “I should go and get ready.”
The others nodded as Magnus ran off to find Alec, leaving Miguel alone with the three Shadowhunters. He was surprised when they instantly seemed to welcome him into their group as they waved for him to follow them.
“So, is there anything you need from us in order to create this . . . magic barrier?” Jace asked over his shoulder.
“No. I just need to know where the center of the Institute is.”
“That’s probably roughly the center,” Isabelle noted, pointing towards the landing of a small staircase that was on one end of the Ops center as they walked across the room.
Miguel gave a small nod. “That’ll work.”
“Come on, move it!” Isabelle called to a group of Shadowhunters that were standing around a computer screen. “We don’t want to be inside if this goes badly.”
While most of the people gathered turned to walk away, one man turned to face them. “We’re not going anywhere,” the man announced, and several still in earshot paused in their retreat.
“You heard Alec, Raj,” Jace said, getting in his face. His next words were spoken louder, clearly meant for everyone that was still standing around. “Your orders were to evacuate.”
“Yeah, I know the orders. Look, I’m all for helping out the Downworlders, but we can’t let Lightwood destroy the Institute to do it. Without it, we leave New York completely defenseless.”
“That’s not your call to make,” Clary said, taking a step closer to the arguing Shadowhunters.
“We don’t have time for this,” Miguel whispered to Isabelle beside him. “Alec and Magnus are preparing to cleanse the ley lines as we speak.”
“Doesn’t matter anyways,” Raj continued, before Izzy could voice any kind of reply. “I’ve already locked him out of the system.”
“Then unlock it,” Jace demanded, grabbing Raj’s shoulder. Raj reached for Jace’s wrist in retaliation, and twisted it. The blonde rolled his eyes at the pathetic attempt, before twisting loose of the grip and grabbing Raj’s upper arm, using it as leverage to spin the man around and slammed his head against a table, holding his arm behind his back.
“Now!” Isabelle added, her hands on her hips as she watched Raj’s sad attempts to get out of Jace’s hold.
“Not possible,” Raj started, but Jace twisted his arm making him cry out. “Even if it was, my answer would still be the same.”
“Get out,” Isabelle ordered one last time to the few stragglers that were looking on, before moving over to the computer herself and started pushing buttons.
“Can you undo it?” Clary asked, watching over her shoulder.
Izzy shook her head. “No, not anytime soon.” Spinning around, she started to push Clary in the direction of the exit. “Go create the barrier,” she told Miguel before calling over her shoulder. “Jace, we have to go. Bring Raj with you.”
Keeping a firm grip on Raj’s arm, Jace stirred them in the direction of the exit.
“What about the computer?” Miguel heard Jace ask as he headed over to the staircase landing. He heard the woman say something about a manual system before they were out of earshot and he was left alone.
Miguel took a deep breath. He rubbed the palms of his hands together, causing sparks of magic to appear as he watched the doors close behind the last retreating Shadowhunter.
“Here goes nothing,” he mumbled under his breath before slowly pulling his hands apart, a small ball of green magic forming in between.
With a grunt, he quickly thrust his hands out so that his arms were raised at his sides, forcing the ball to instantly expand to circle the outskirts of the building and felt the instant strain in his arms that always came with using so much power.
Alec allowed Magnus to rest on the floor of the core’s control center for a few minutes before helping him stand up. The warlock was a little shaky on his feet at first, but quickly steaded himself and they slowly made their way back to the elevator.
“You sure you’re okay?” Alec asked, concern was written all over his face as he studied Magnus who was leaning back against the wall of the elevator.
“I’m fine, Alexander.” Magnus waved off his concern. “I just need to take it easy for a few hours. Get my strength back.”
Magnus pushed himself away from the wall as the elevator made a soft ding before the doors slowly rolled open, allowing them out onto the main floor. A couple small groups of Shadowhunters were just making their way back into the building as they did so.
“Alec!”
Alec turned to find Jace walking towards him with Raj, his arms being held behind his back by his parabatai. Clasping his hands behind his back, Alec listened with a frown on his face as Jace explained how it was Raj that had locked him out of the computer system.
Alec nodded once as Jace finished. “Take him to his room. Have a guard stationed outside his door. I’ll deal with him in a couple hours.”
With a scowl in Alec’s direction from Raj, Jace pushed the man ahead of him down the hallway towards the dorm rooms. Miguel passed the pair as he walked over to Alec and Magnus, sending a glare of his own in Raj’s direction.
“That one is a piece of work,” Miguel noted as he drew closer, folding his arms across his chest.
“He’s always been difficult.” Alec sighed. “Most Shadowhunters are taught from a young age to respect their superiors and follow directions without question. He never seemed to learn that though. Raj always does what he thinks is best. Fuck the rules.”
Miguel snorted at that, a small smile appearing on his face as Isabelle and Clary approached from the other direction.
“Well, the Institute is still standing. I’ll take it that means everything went well?” Isabelle asked them.
“Other than the small hiccup with being locked out of the system.” Alec nodded, glancing in the direction that Jace had disappeared with Raj.
Magnus shrugged, nudging his boyfriend with his arm. “I held it together long enough for Alec to work out a back up plan.”
“So I guess you didn’t need me after all,” Miguel added, taking a step closer to Alec to allow Isabelle and Clary to pass him as the girls continued on to the Ops Center.
Turning to face Magnus’ brother, Alec shook his head. “Things very easily could have gone wrong today. I appreciate you being here and helping us. You could have prevented a lot of casualties if things had turned out differently.”
Miguel raised an eyebrow at the recognition Alec was giving him for the small part he had played with fixing the ley lines. Since his arrival at the New York Institute, the Shadowhunters had not been anything like he was expecting; minus Raj. He was starting to think that he had been wrong to accuse Magnus of being brainwashed by these people.
At the closer proximity to the new warlock, Alec’s eyes narrowed slightly as he noticed something. Unlike Magnus, his brother didn’t have a birthmark over his right eye. Before he could fully take this in, and how it changed what he had always assumed about identical twins, Magnus spoke up.
“You know, I don’t think you two have been formally introduced,” Magnus amused, gesturing between the two men as he went on. “Alec, this is my brother, Miguel. Miguel, this is Alexander, my boyfriend.”
Alec extended his hand out in greeting. “It’s nice to meet you, Miguel.”
Miguel made a face at the name, but reached for his hand in return. “Magnus is one of the few people I allow to call me by that name. I prefer Mike.”
Alec smiled at him, giving his hand a small squeeze. “Mike then.”
Notes:
Thanks for reading!! Please leave a review. I'd love to know your thoughts on this story so far.
Chapter Text
Chapter 6
For the next couple of days, Miguel busied himself with his list of High Warlock duties. Anything to help keep his mind preoccupied from the strange circumstances that partook in his involvement at the New York Institute. He didn’t know what he would do if he allowed himself to be taken in by the Shadowhunters' seemingly warm and open acceptance of him. It was just too weird, too abnormal of a response from Shadowhunters that he couldn’t permit himself to simply accept that things were really that different in New York. He had been taken advantage of too many times in the past to make that kind of rash decision now . . . but Magnus was refusing to give him the time to think.
Miguel let out a low growl between his teeth as he heard his phone ping on his desk, and massaged the headache that was growing behind his eyes. He didn’t need to check it to know it was his brother sending him another text. The Greater Demons were still loose in the streets of New York, and Magnus was desperate for a response from him on his decision on whether he was going to help.
He let out a sigh of relief when he heard the sound of a portal opening up out in his living room. A new client was just what he needed for a distraction. Miguel leaned back in his chair and waited a moment for the expected knock on his office door, before granting access to his guest . . . and groaned in annoyance as the man stepped inside.
“Nice to see you too, brother.” Magnus smiled as he closed the door softly behind him. “You’ve been ignoring my calls.”
“Most people would take the hint.”
“Sadly, we don’t have time for your usual antics. You know what we are up against,” Magnus reminded him, folding his arms across his chest.
“I never gave you my word that I would help you with the Greater Demon issue,” Miguel reminded him. Leaning forward over his desk, he picked up his pen again to study the paperwork in front of him, tapping the instrument softly against the hard surface.
“You said you would think about it,” Magnus said in an accusing tone, stepping farther into the room. “There are two very powerful demons running rampant in New York. We don’t exactly have the time for you to work out all of your childhood trauma first.”
Miguel sent a glare his brother’s way without raising his head, and Magnus sighed before finally taking a seat in one of the available chairs in front of the desk.
“I’m sorry. I know more than anyone what kind of stuff you went through with our father,” Magnus said, lowering his voice. “But you seemed to be getting along with some of the Shadowhunters there, right? Starting to relax some in their presence. Knowing what Asmodeus is capable of, you are still willing to leave them to his mercy?”
Miguel leaned back in his chair, playing with the pen in his hands. “You thought spending a few hours in the presence of Shadowhunters would magically reverse years, centuries, worth of abuse and resentment between our races?” He paused before adding, “I’ll admit, I may have been wrong about those Shadowhunters that you have become friends with. They definitely seem to be a less prejudiced bunch, but,” he turned his head away and lowered his voice before continuing, “. . . I’m still not looking forward to seeing our father again.”
“You won’t have to face him alone at all,” Magnus promised. “We’ll take him on together.”
The man behind the desk shook his head slowly. “I don’t know.”
Magnus slowly exhaled in thought. Tilting his head slightly to one side, he studied his brother’s solemn expression. “You just said that you have become fond of those Shadowhunters. Do you really want to leave them to have to face off against such powerful forces by themselves? They could really use our help with this, Miguel.”
Miguel glanced up at him accusingly, something suddenly clicking in his brain. “Is that why you talked me into helping with the ley lines? You wanted me to see for myself how they were. You wanted me to . . . to care about them in some regard.”
A small smile crossed Magnus’ face and shrugged his shoulders. “Busted?”
Setting the pen down, Miguel folded his arms on his desk.
Magnus sighed and leaned forward in his chair, resting his elbows on his knees. “I’m sorry, brother, but we are more powerful together. I don’t . . . I don’t know if I can do this by myself.”
Chapter Text
Chapter 7
Stepping out of the portal, Miguel paused to stare up at the old church that disguised the New York Institute. The last time he was here, less than a week ago, he truly didn’t believe he would ever come back. Especially not so soon. Even now, a part of him didn’t want to have to step foot inside the structure, his body feeling antsy at the idea. At least that Raj character was no longer working here. That knowledge helped slightly.
Wringing his hands, Miguel took a deep breath. He could do this. Just go in and find one of the Shadowhunters that Magnus was friends with. Inside this structure that was crawling with Nephilim, at least he knew he could trust them.
With one last apprehensive glance up at the gray spires that towered above him, Miguel forced a neutral expression onto his face and climbed the stairs that would lead him inside the church.
Pushing passed the heavy entrance doors, Miguel paused in the lobby, his anxiety rising. Nephilims were everywhere. Walking around the hallways, and hard at work in the Ops center straight ahead of him. The place was filled with the chatter of Shadowhunters conversing with each other over paperwork and computers, walking back and forth before him in the hallways.
Last time, they had all been gathered together in preparation for the meeting, but this, them filling up the open space, walking around as separate individual predators instead of all gathered together . . . It was way more intimidating. It was almost too much. Luckily, they all seemed to ignore him as he huddled nervously by the door, scanning the crowds for a familiar face.
Miguel perked up when he heard someone call out a name he recognized. Turning his head slightly to follow the sound, he caught sight of a blonde man with wavy hair calling to someone that was out of view.
“Hey, Jace.”
Pushing away from the door, Miguel quickly walked in this man’s direction as he continued to talk to the individual.
“Alec promoted me to Head of Security. And if you have a minute, I’d love to pick your brain.”
As Miguel drew closer, he didn’t hear a response from Jace, who was apparently in the adjoining corridor.
Disappointed in evidently being ignored, the man slowly turned away, mumbling under his breath what sounded like, “I guess that’s a no,” as he walked by.
Sparing the man a small glance as he passed him, Miguel stopped outside the opening. Jace stood with his back to him, apparently waiting for an elevator. He hesitated to approach him though when a familiar redhead seemed to appear out of nowhere from a different direction.
“Jace!” Clary called as she drew closer to him. The woman slowed at the lack of a response from the man, and hesitantly reached out to touch his shoulder. “Jace, what’s going on?”
Miguel frowned as Jace suddenly broke out of the trance he was under and spun around at the contact, looking around as if he didn’t understand how he had gotten here.
“I’ve been texting you since Izzy and I got back from the club,” Clary said, ignoring the flabbergasted expression on her boyfriend’s face. “Where have you been?”
Finally meeting Clary’s eyes, Jace spoke in a shaky voice, “I have no idea.”
Just then, the elevator door beeped and slid open behind him. With a glance over his shoulder at the sound, Jace took a step backwards saying something about needing to be alone right now, and that he was going to go and lay down in his room for a while. Clary tried to follow Jace into the elevator, but he waved her off saying they will talk later.
Miguel’s frown deepened as the door closed between the couple. “Is he okay?” he asked, walking over to the distraught girl.
Clary spun around and seemed to relax some when their eyes met. “Mike, hi.” She glanced over her shoulder at the elevator doors, letting out a small sigh. “I-I don’t know. Something has been off with him since the day we killed Valentine.”
“Off how?” he asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms in front of him.
The redhead bit her lip softly, and Miguel could tell she was hesitating in confiding in him for some reason. He would have assumed it was because he was a warlock, but she was one of Magnus’ friends. From the way his brother talked about his Shadowhunter friends, they were all pretty open and welcoming to Downworlders.
“He hasn’t been sleeping well,” she admitted, “and he's been wandering off for hours at a time. It’s like- It’s like he’s trapped in this daze all the time. His mind keeps wandering off, and he either can’t focus on something at all or he gets hyper fixated on it.”
Miguel tilted his head to one side. “Hyper fixated?”
“On finding the Owl,” Clary admitted. “Jace thinks it’s my brother, Jonathan. He’s become determined to track him down. Been losing sleep over it.”
“The Owl?” he asked, squinting his eyes in confusion.
“Right, we should catch you up on what has been happening since you were here last. Magnus is with Alec in his office.”
“Isabelle and Andrew found security footage of the Owl attacking a mundane man. In the footage, he’s dressed all in black with a mask covering his face,” Alec explained, bringing up a grainy still frame of the creature on his tablet to show Magnus and Miguel.
“Andrew?” Magnus asked as Miguel studied the image.
“Andrew Underhill. I just recently appointed him as Head of Security.”
Miguel tapped a finger on the screen in his hands. “So Jace thinks that this is some guy named Jonathan? How can he tell? That could be anybody.”
“Valentine injected Jonathan with pure demon blood while he was still in Jocelyn's womb,” Magnus said. “We’ve had some experience dealing with him already.”
“Jonathan had this creepy fixation on Clary,” Alex added. “With Jace’s feelings for Clary, he is desperate to keep her brother away from her.”
“But you don’t agree with his Jonathan theory?”
Alec turned to face Miguel. “We fought Jonathan a couple weeks ago. Jace stabbed him and threw him off a bridge.” He gave a small shrug before adding, “It’s hard to come back from that.”
“Clary mentioned that Jace has been acting weird lately; not sleeping, wandering off for hours and not remembering where he’s been,” Miguel admitted, leaning forward in his seat.
“Didn’t you look into Celine Herondale’s medical file? Jace’s mother had some mental issues, right?” Magnus asked. “That stuff can be hereditary.”
Alec nodded. “I already brought it up with Jace. He freaked out on me. Said I was calling him ‘crazy’ by comparing him to his mother.”
“Has Catarina or Magnus taken a look at him?” Miguel asked, nodding in his brother’s direction when mentioning him. “Maybe a warlock could detect something wrong with him.”
“No, but that’s not a bad idea,” Alec said, running a hand through his hair. “I also don’t like the fact that he can’t remember where he has been or what he’s been getting up to. Maybe I should assign someone to follow him for a while. Keep an eye on him.”
“I’ll do it,” Miguel volunteered instantly.
Alec blinked in surprise. “Really?”
Magnus sent him a knowing look from his chair across from him. “You really don’t want to have any part in tracking down Asmodeus, do you?”
Miguel hesitated, before slowly sitting back against the cushion. “You got me here. I’m offering to help. That’s what you wanted, right?”
“Miguel-”
“I understand you will need my help when going face-to-face with our father, but, until then, I want to have as little to do with the Greater Demon side of this case as I can,” Miguel pleaded. “I’ll help out in other ways until then.”
“I don’t think-”
“That would be a great help, Mike,” Alec interrupted, sending his boyfriend a warning look. “I would appreciate it. Just keep me updated on what you find out about Jace.”
“Of course.” Miguel nodded before moving to stand up. “If that’s it for now, I have a meeting in India I need to get back for.”
“Thanks, Mike,” Alec called after him as the warlock headed out of the office. Clicking out of the security files on his tablet, he set the device aside before getting up to head to the Ops Center with Magnus.
“Do you mind filling me in on why you assigned my brother the job of following your wayward parabatai around, instead of doing the actual job we called him in for?” Magnus asked, falling into step beside him.
“I’m giving him a distraction.”
“He doesn’t need a distraction, Alexander. He needs to be helping me track down Asmodeus and figuring out what he’s planning. Not to mention the other Greater Demon that is on the loose that we still need to identify.”
“Do you really think that is a good idea?” Alec came to a stop at the railing that looked over the Ops Center.
“What? Foiling the demons’ plans?”
“Forcing Mike to help with investigating their plans,” Alec emphasized. “He already knows he’s going to have to face his father at the end of all this, but making him have to be consistently in the middle of it? That’s just going to force him to wallow in his anxiety and bad memories.”
“Yeah, but-”
“And not only that, but your brother doesn’t trust Shadowhunters,” he reminded his boyfriend. “What do you think will happen if something goes wrong during the battle and he doesn’t trust us to have your back if you need it. Giving Miguel other jobs to help out with in the meantime could help build up his trust in us for when it counts.”
Keeping his head down, Miguel carefully made his way around a few tables in the Ops Center. He was just about to turn down the hallway that would take him to the entrance of the Institute when he caught sight of a familiar blonde man heading outside.
Miguel frowned at the retreating form. He could have sworn that Jace had told Clary that he was going to take a nap. Where was he going now?
Taking a quick scan of the residence in the room, he couldn’t spot the redhead close by. Pulling out his phone, he took a look at the time. He did have about an hour before his meeting. With a sigh, he returned his phone to his pocket and hurried to catch up with Jace.
Hopefully he wasn’t going far.
The sun had completely set in New York as Miguel pushed his way outside and descended the stairs. Making it to the sidewalk, he looked both ways before spotting Jace with the help of the street lights, two blocks away crossing the street.
Creating a portal, Miguel walked through only to reappear at the street corner that the Shadowhunter had crossed. Making sure to stay at least half a block away, he continued to follow the Shadowhunter as he made a couple more turns before finally approaching the pier.
Frowning, Miguel kept himself half hidden behind a building as he studied the man. He was leaning against the railing looking out over the water.
Leaning his shoulder against the wall, the warlock continued to watch the man for a few minutes before letting out a heavy sigh. Well, this was boring. Taking out his phone, he checked the time again. If he didn’t leave soon, he was going to be late for his meeting.
A soft whooshing sound drew his attention back to what was happening on the pier. Jace was now standing up straight, staring off at a black form that was approaching him.
Something about the Shadowhunter’s stance didn’t seem quite normal to Miguel. There was change in the air. It was similar to Jace’s weird trance state from earlier, but things seemed darker somehow. He was still trying to puzzle through the strange foreboding he felt under his skin, when the woman finally stepped under the street light to talk to Jace and Miguel froze as an icy chill ran up his spine.
The woman’s long black hair fell straight down her back as she reached Jace in an eerily calm manner. Yet, the way she carried herself had an air of supreme authority and power.
He had once heard Tessa Gray describe her as a ‘demon woman with snakes for eyes’ and, in his opinion, no other description described this woman quite so well.
“Lilith.” The name slipped between his lips so softly he wasn’t sure if he actually said it out loud. His eyes grew wide in recognition. Slowly stepping away from the corner, he rested his back against the wall as the unwelcome stream of memories came rushing to the forefront of his mind.
He knew the demon back from his years in Edom when he was learning from his father. It hadn’t been that uncommon for one of them to get involved in the others' schemes, or offer to help out at any point over those almost three decades he worked side by side with the demons, but that didn’t mean that they always agreed with each other's tack-ticks. Asmodeus and Lilith hadn’t always been on the friendliest of terms, but they got along well enough to be given the label ‘frenemies’. And now it appeared as if they had teamed up to . . . Well, he still wasn’t sure what the plan was, but if those two were behind it, they were all in serious trouble.
And if Lilith, of all people, was the one that had gotten her talons into Jace . . . If she was the cause of his strange behavior . . . He needed to tell Magnus. He needed to warn Alec.
Turning back down the street, Miguel stumbled slightly on shaky legs, but managed to stay on his feet. He only made it a couple steps though before he paused. There was an opening in the buildings on the left a few meters ahead of him. Blinking a few times to attempt to get his eyes to adjust to the darkening surroundings, Miguel could have sworn there was a figure standing in the shadows just inside the alley.
Sweat beaded at the back of his neck as a strong feeling of him being watched grew. His body felt hot and another shiver ran up his spine.
He was about to push off of the wall and make a dash across the street to make a portal, but felt a cool wisp of magic curl around his body paralyzing him in place.
Breath coming out in small, shallow bursts, Miguel raised his eyes anxiously to the dark form that was still hiding from him. As he watched, red smoke seemed to seep from the figure's body and crawled towards him along the sidewalk. Eyes widening in fear, Miguel tried to break free of his invisible bonds, but that only seemed to make them squeeze tighter around him and it became even harder for him to breathe.
The smoke moved along the gray concrete floor until it reached Miguel’s feet. Then it started to climb higher and higher, moving up Miguel’s body until it reached his face. His body tensed up as the colored smoke began to seep into him from his mouth, nose, and ears before disappearing inside him completely.
All at once, his body relaxed. The bonds, that just seconds ago felt like they were squeezing the life out of him, had vanished. He shook his head slowly, trying to bring himself back to the present and he looked around in confusion.
What was he just doing?
Where was he?
Frowning, Miguel pulled out his phone and mumbled a curse word under his breath. He was late for his meeting.
Doing his best to shake off the antsy feeling that was dancing over his skin, he quickly made a portal back to his home in India.
Chapter Text
Chapter 8
Trying to ignore the strange pressure in his head, Miguel stood with his arms folded across his chest as he watched the screen fast forward in front of him. Isabelle was busy going through the footage they had received from the latest mundane attack and she wanted him to take a look at it with her.
It has been a couple days since he agreed to help Magnus and the New York Shadowhunters with their latest arrangement of problems; two Greater Demons running rampant, the Owl attacking innocent mundanes, and . . . whatever the hell was going on with Jace.
“Right here.” Isabelle pushed play on the video and together they watched as the figure dressed all in black stalked its prey, before pouncing at the woman and seemed to breathe some kind of red magic into the mundane.
“What is that?” Isabelle asked, pointing at the screen. “Some kind of spell?”
“Red smoke.”
The weird feeling in his head suddenly grew more intense, and Miguel reached a hand up to massage the area, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment. This strange sensation had been present since the day he promised Alec he would help him watch over Jace. He had never felt anything like this before.
It wasn’t a headache exactly. He wasn’t really in any pain. It was more like a faint, foggy feeling that would reside in one section of his brain. At certain times during the day, that strange sensation would grow to make him feel confused or lose focus.
“What?” Isabelle spun around in her chair to look at him, and Miguel dropped his arm back to his side.
“What?” he asked, staring at her blankly.
“Red smoke?” She frowned. Still seeing the confusion on his face, she tilted her head to one side and pointed at the paused image on the screen. “You called this ‘red smoke’. Do you recognize it?”
Miguel blinked at the still image, taking it in again. The creature that the Shadowhunters had apparently dubbed “the Owl” was seen straddling the blond woman, prying her mouth open with one gloved hand. The red substance was pouring out of the mask and into the woman . . . and that continuous pressure that he had been feeling inside his temporal lobe increased. Unconsciously, he felt his glamour drop. Narrowing his eyes, he shook his head, trying to shake off the sudden daze that had drifted over him.
“Mikey? Are you-?”
The lights in the room suddenly went out and the screens in front of them flickered before flashing to black. The only light was pouring through the stained glass windows along one wall from the setting sun.
“What’s going on? Underhill?” Isabelle asked, jumping out of her seat as the man in question rushed by them.
“Security cameras are out.” He approached one of their hologram tables and typed at the keyboard with no luck. “Everything is down.”
Miguel vaguely heard another Shadowhunter asking something about a backup generator, but his attention was focused on the colorful windows. A black, somewhat distorted figure due to the glass, was running through the yard.
In the confusion, Miguel was able to slip out of a side door unnoticed by anyone else and ran after the trespasser. He followed him across the courtyard until the man turned a corner out of view. Miguel ran after him, but came to an abrupt halt as he turned the corner and scanned the area in bewilderment. The man was gone.
Miguel finished up his late dinner of chicken curry and rice in India before portaling to Magnus’ apartment in Brooklyn just as the sun was starting to peek out through the buildings on the horizon. He shook his head as he stared out of the balcony window. The huge time difference between his home country and New York was really starting to mess with his daily schedules.
“Mike?”
Surprised, Miguel spun around to find Alec staring back at him in equal astonishment at the warlock’s sudden appearance. Alec seemed to gather his wits first.
“Are you looking for Magnus?”
“Both of you, actually,” he said, taking a few steps closer to the Shadowhunter. Only then did he notice what Alec had been doing before his unexpected entrance.
He recognized the black box that Alec had open on the table. It was known as a Zeman Memory Box, which was fitting seeing as Magnus used it to-
His thoughts were cut off by Alec, motioning towards the box.
“I was just-”
“Snooping through my brother’s things?” Miguel acknowledged. “Don’t worry. I won’t say anything.” He knew Magnus would be able to tell that things had been moved around anyways.
Alec gave a small nod in thanks before turning back to the box’s contents. “Do you know what all this stuff is? I mean, this photo . . .” He held out the photograph for Miguel to see.
Miguel nodded slightly in recognition. “George.”
“You know him?”
“I’ve met him. Once.” Miguel tilted his head to the side as he studied Alec’s expression. “Surely you are aware that warlocks can be very . . . promiscuous beings.”
Just as Alec turned around to place the photo back inside the box, Miguel felt something strange happening inside his head. That strange foggy feeling slowly slipped out from the deep reaches inside his brain and spread, causing his head to become hazy. His pupils shrank to pinpoints causing his vision to become a little blurry, but at that point he wasn’t really there anymore.
“I know,” Alec replied, not realizing that anything had changed in the room. “Magnus has been open about having many other partners before me.”
“Maybe he’s cheating on you.”
Alec stiffened at the accusation, spinning around to face the warlock. “What?”
Miguel frowned back at him, his face blank. He seemed to be looking right through him.
“It’s what you’re thinking isn’t it?” Miguel asked. He came to stand next to Alec and stared down at the open box.
“What? No, I-” Alec’s eyes drifted back to the contents, his expression unreadable. “Magnus wouldn’t do that.”
Miguel’s eyebrow raised a friction at the uncertainty in the Shadowhunter’s voice. Something about it caused a shift inside his mind. He shook his head as he moved over towards one of the couches, the fog lifting.
“Where is Magnus?” the warlock asked, changing the subject. “I really do need to talk to the two of you.”
“Umm.” Seeming distracted, Alec softly closed the box and slipped it back where he had found it on the bookshelves. “He- He’s visiting with a client this morning. Why?”
“I think I saw the Owl at the Institute last night.”
The Shadowhunter spun around, giving him an accusing look. “Wait, what do you mean ‘you think’? Why didn’t you tell us yesterday?”
Miguel waved off the accusations, propping his feet up onto the coffee table. “It was only for a moment before the figure vanished outside of the building. I spent several hours afterwards trying to track down the creature, but nothing yet.”
Alec rubs at the bridge of his nose as he leaned against the table behind him. “You still should have told us.”
“Well, I’m telling you now.” He sighed. “You’ve heard that Magnus and I are more powerful together, yes? I’m hoping that with a combined tracking spell, it may be enough to pick up something.”
A few hours later, Alec, Magnus, and Miguel met behind the Institute.
Out of the corner of his eye, Miguel watched as Magnus attempted to rub one of Alec’s shoulders, which Alec quickly shrugged off and moved a step away from the warlock. Miguel was confused when a feeling of gleeful accomplishment washed through his body. Frowning, he did his best to shake off the emotion and proceeded on with their investigation.
“It was right after the lights went out yesterday,” Miguel explained as he led the pair across the open field. “I saw a figure dressed all in black run past those windows, and when I chased after him, he disappeared around here.”
A blue mist of magic protruded out of Magnus’ palm and seeped into the ground in front of them as they walked. As the spell skipped over the grass, dark blue glowing footprints lit up their enemies escape route. Making their way around the corner though, the footprints suddenly disappeared.
“Portal?”
Miguel slowly shook his head as Magnus bent down to get a closer look at the area in question.
“I don’t think so.” Miguel sighed, crossing his arms across his chest. “I would have heard it if magic was being used. And I was right behind him. There’s no way he could have created a portal and disappeared through it before I rounded that corner. I would have at the very least have caught the portal closing behind him.”
“So, what? You’re saying he just . . . disappeared? Is that possible?”
“Greater Demons have that power,” Magnus reminded them, standing back up. “And I do detect small traces of demon residue present here.”
Alec blinked in confusion at this. He shifted his weight before continuing, “Are you saying that the Owl is a Greater Demon?”
“Doubtful,” Miguel jumped in. Nodding towards the still glowing footprints he added, “While I can detect the small presence of demon residue, it’s not powerful enough to have been left by such a creature . . . And as well as there being traces of a darker force, there is also . . .” Here Miguel shared a look with his brother.
Alec glanced between the two of them. “What?”
Magnus sighed before turning to face him. “As well as demon residue, there is also the presence of angel blood.”
“Are we talking about demon possession?” Alec asked, staring intently at his boyfriend before glancing at Miguel. “You’re saying that one of the Shadowhunters here is being controlled by a Greater Demon to . . . attack mundanes?”
Miguel nodded once. “It appears that way.”
Magnus’ eyes drift back down to where the footprints came to an abrupt stop. “My concern is . . . to what end.”
Chapter Text
Chapter 9
“Can you detect who the Shadowhunter is?”
Miguel shook his head. “The essence is too entangled with the demon particles. Given a little time, Magnus and I may be able to untangle the two and hopefully be able to identify at least one of the parties.”
Magnus had to leave soon after their investigation to visit with more clients, which left Miguel alone with Alec to try and work through what little information they had.
“Did you check the security footage? Maybe we can figure out what the Owl had been up to here,” Miguel suggested, leaning back in his chair.
“I already tried,” Alec said, as he skimmed through something on his tablet. “The power outage we had yesterday really screwed up our systems. We lost a couple hours of footage at least.”
Miguel nodded slowly in consideration. Something about the black figure he had seen yesterday seemed vaguely familiar. It had been playing on his mind since the person had disappeared so suddenly. Everytime he tried to draw forth that memory though, that weird pressure in his head intensified.
And then there was the demon residue that had been left behind. What he had told Alec about the signature not being powerful enough to have been left directly by a Greater Demon was true, but that wasn’t everything he had felt. While the Shadowhunter essence dulled the energy signature of the demon he was being controlled by, it didn’t damper the power behind it. Whoever this poor Shadowhunter was, they were obviously being controlled by something very powerful.
Pursing his lips in silent thought, he slowly shook his head as he leaned forward in his chair. “Any updates on Jace? How has he been?”
Alec sighed. “Nothing new. He’s still acting strange, not remembering things clearly . . . I did finally convince him to seek help from the Silent Brothers. He’s going to be heading to the Silent City first thing in the morning.”
Miguel nodded slowly. “Probably for the best. Where is he right now?”
“He said he was going to go out with Clary to watch Simon’s performance at the Hunter’s Moon. We don’t know how long the Silent Brothers will choose to keep him in the Silent City, so he wanted to spend some time with his girlfriend before he leaves.”
Alec hesitatingly made his way down the corridor to Magnus’ loft. He knew he had messed up by snooping through his boyfriend’s things, but what he had found inside that box . . . It did worry him slightly. Mike’s accusation of Magnus cheating on him kept circling in his head all day. He couldn’t imagine Magnus ever doing such a thing. They loved each other after all. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t shake off the feeling of dread running through his veins.
He was just reaching for the doorknob when it suddenly swung open, a woman with straight black hair that flowed down her back was standing right in front of him. He blinked at the woman in sudden surprise.
The corners of the woman’s mouth turned up in a small smile. “Pardon me,” she replied in an eerily calm voice. She nodded once as she moved to step forward with an air of supreme authority.
Subconsciously, Alec slid to the side to allow the woman to exit before heading inside the loft. Before closing the door, he couldn’t help but glance once more at the woman as she retreated down the hallway.
“Magnus?” he called, moving farther into the apartment. He heard the reply come from the open door of his boyfriend’s home office. Walking in, he found the warlock working on something at his desk in the corner of the room.
“Who was that?” Alec asked, gesturing behind him as he leaned slightly on the worktable in the center of the room.
“A client,” Magnus explained, moving some papers around. “She asked for an anti-love potion.”
Alec squinted his eyes in confusion. “That’s a thing?”
Magnus sent him a smirk before elaborating. “She has a former lover that is still obsessed with her. She asked for something that would help dispose of those feelings. For both of their sakes.” With that, Magnus got up to grab something from the shelves and headed over to his work table. “Now, do you want to tell me why you were acting standoffish towards me back at the Institute?”
Under the side eye that he received from the warlock, Alec nervously glanced around the room.
“Miguel told you?”
Magnus shook his head sadly. “I’m a warlock, Alexander. I know when things are out of order.”
Alec let out a heavy sigh, leaning more of his weight against the table. “I had no right to go through that box. I know, it was an invasion of your privacy. I am truly sorry, Magnus.”
The look in Magnus’ eyes warmed at his boyfriend’s words. “Apology accepted.” After a pause, he softly added, “Did my brother tell you what all that stuff was?”
“Why do you ask?”
Magnus shrugged. “Just . . . trying to figure out why you seemed upset about it earlier. Did Miguel say something?”
“He may have insinuated that you have been cheating on me,” Alec admitted slowly. “That those items are trophies from your affairs.”
The warlock’s eyes grew round in surprise and he quickly shook his head, resting a hand on one of the Shadowhunters’. “Look, I don’t know why my brother would tell you that, but that isn’t true at all. I have never cheated on you, Alexander. I wouldn’t.”
“I didn’t think you would,” Alec said. “I just . . . I guess when Mike mentioned it . . . Having that idea put in my head . . .”
“You started to spiral.”
Alec hummed softly. After a moment of silence, Magnus patted Alec’s hand before turning back to his work.
“What is all that stuff then?” Alec couldn’t help but ask.
“Honestly, my brother was sort of on the right track. Not about me cheating on you,” he quickly added. “But each of those items belonged to someone I loved and outlived. A different committed relationship for each one.”
“Well, why do you keep it?”
“I’m over 400 years old, Alec. My memory is far from perfect. I keep those mementos to remember them by. Look, you know my history. I’ve always been honest with you about that.”
Alec paused to consider this. “Are you saying that when I die, if I’m lucky, maybe one of my arrowheads will end up in that box?”
“I don’t even wanna think about you being gone.”
“Well, one day, I will be. And you’ll just move on.”
“I’m immortal!” Magnus snapped in frustration. “It’s not as if I have a choice! I can’t change what I am and neither can you.” With a soft sigh, he lowered his voice and took a step closer to his boyfriend. “Look, can we just stay in the here and now? I wanna cherish this moment with the one I love,” he explained, reaching out to hold Alec’s hands in his.
Looking down at their clasped hands, Alec knew he was probably being a little unreasonable. This was his first relationship after all. For all he knew, it was completely normal for people to keep some things that belonged to their past lovers. Izzy, he knew, still held onto a few t-shirts from exes that she now used to sleep in. For some reason, though, this just felt slightly more disturbing. Some of these people had been dead for centuries, essentially, and Magnus was still holding on to their property.
But he didn’t want to argue about this anymore tonight.
“You’re right.” Alec looked up, meeting the warlock’s eyes. “I love you, too.”
“Good. Now, how about I whip us up some martinis.” Magnus gave his hands a squeeze before dropping them and moved to head out of his office. “There was actually something else I needed to mention to you as well.”
Alec stood in the entrance separating the apothecary from the living room, leaning his shoulder against the frame.
“What is it?” he asked, watching Magnus pour the drinks.
“You know that demon’s energy signature that my brother and I detected behind the Institute?” Magnus paused long enough to look up and waited for him to nod before continuing. “When I first examined it this morning, something about it seemed vaguely familiar. I think it was too entangled with the angel essence for me to piece together at first where I had sensed that residue before.”
“But you’ve figured it out?” he guessed.
Magnus nodded grimly, handing Alec his drink. “It’s from the other Greater Demon that I detected at Lorenzo’s mansion. The one that has teamed up with my father.”
Miguel made his way down the sidewalk at a steady pace. He knew he should just portal home. He had another meeting in a few hours back in India and he still hadn’t organized his notes from the last one. His fellow warlocks in Agra have been having issues with the local werewolf clan. He was supposed to be meeting with the clan leader to discuss the problems. He could also use a nap beforehand as well.
Lately he had been feeling like he was being pulled in two different directions. Trying to keep up with his responsibilities as High Warlock in India and helping the Shadowhunters in New York had left him feeling exhausted, and the time differences between the locations certainly hadn’t been helping the matter.
He could just leave now, he knew that. Jace was going to be heading for the Silent City in just a matter of hours. He would get help there. His job on that matter was done. But he couldn’t help but feel like he should check on the blonde Shadowhunter one more time regardless.
Turning the corner, Miguel came to a stop outside of the Hunter’s Moon and looked through the window. The place was packed, but he could still easily make out Simon who was standing on a raised platform as he performed his set. The muffled sounds of singing and chatter could be heard drifting out onto the street.
As Miguel scanned the crowd, a few people moved out of the way, opening a direct eyeline to the bar where he spied Jace ordering a drink. Clary was nowhere in sight though. Miguel didn’t have time to ponder this for long before a woman with straight, long black hair stepped up next to Jace. Her back was towards the window, but something about the woman’s posture screamed recognition.
Frowning, Miguel waved his hand in a small gesture and a cloud of green magic circled his left ear.
“Could you do a girl a favor and get me one of those?” The woman’s voice drifted into his ear.
“I’d love to, but I don’t think my girlfriend would like that very much,” he heard the blonde respond.
“I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just you seem to be the only person who can get any service around here.”
Jace gave the woman a small smile and nodded once before turning to address the bartender. “Can we get one more?”
While Jace was looking the other way, Miguel watched as the woman poured something into Jace’s drink; a dark blue liquid. He raised one eyebrow in concern.
As Jace took the offered drink from the bartender and started to hand it to the woman, Miguel quickly swung the door open, his spell dropping as he entered. He tried to push his way through the crowd towards the pair, but it was slow going.
The woman said something else to Jace before they clinked their glasses.
“JACE!” Miguel cried, but it was too late.
Miguel watched helplessly as Jace took a sip of his drink. The man blinked once before his expression went blank and he stood rigid, facing the woman that had just spiked his drink.
“Good.” The woman still had her back facing Miguel, but he imagined an evil grin on her face as she watched the Shadowhunter in front of her. “Now nothing will come between us. How do you feel?”
“Like a new man.”
Seconds later, Miguel made it up to the pair and forced himself between them. Placing his hands on Jace’s shoulders, he studied the man before him.
“Jace? Jace, are you okay?” He shook the Shadowhunter a little to try and grab his attention, but he just stared right through him.
“Don’t bother,” came the snarky reply behind him. “He’ll only listen to me now.”
Miguel turned his head, planning to send a smart retort back. His mind suddenly went blank, though, as he did a double take at the woman.
His eyes grew wide in horror. Lowering his hands from Jace’s shoulders, he slowly turned around to face the Demon, making sure to keep his body between her and the Shadowhunter.
“Lilith.” The name slipped from his lips as a lump formed in the back of his throat. “What are you doing here?”
A cold smirk played across her mouth. “Oh, darling. I don’t think this is the place to be discussing such things. Besides, I believe your father will want to be a part of that conversation.”
Miguel blinked in surprise. “My father?”
“Don’t play dumb. I’m sure the Shadowhunters have discovered our presence by now.”
The warlock just gaped at her, unable to find his voice.
“Tell you what,” Lilith replied, sickly sweet, in the silence. “I’ll talk to your father and arrange a meeting for the three of us to talk everything over.” She glanced at the clock on the wall behind the bar. “How about nine o’clock tonight? Outside the abandoned warehouse at the pier. Okay?” She sent him one last evil smirk before acknowledging Jace, still standing obediently in his trance state behind Miguel. “Jace, you know your orders. Don’t disappoint me.”
Miguel looked between the two of them in confusion. He almost missed the snake-like woman turning and disappearing into the crowd. At that same instance he sensed Jace walking away from him.
“Wait, Jace!” but the huge crowd of people made it impossible to follow him and he quickly lost sight of the Shadowhunter.
This wasn’t good.
What the hell just happened?
A meeting with his father and Lilith to openly discuss what they were planning? He needed to get in touch with his brother and Alec. They needed to know about this.
Miguel paused to glance at the clock on the wall and a whine escaped his lips.
Nine o’clock was just over half an hour away. That didn’t leave him with much time to find Alec and Magnus, update them on everything he just learned, and form a plan of attack before the meeting. He knew that was what Lilith wanted. She didn’t want him to have time to get back up. He either had to suck it up and go face down two powerful Greater Demons by himself or lose the chance to gain this very necessary information.
And Asmodeus working side-by-side with Lilith? It didn’t make any sense. They needed to know what was going on.
The headache in Miguel’s temporal lobe intensified.
Notes:
Thanks for reading!! Hope you're enjoying the story so far.
Chapter Text
Chapter 10
Instead of portaling to Magnus’ loft to update him and Alec, Miguel decided to go straight to the pier where this meeting with Asmodeus and Lilith was to be held. He may not have time to get others involved, but he could stake out the location and try to get a feel for what was about to go down.
He did make sure to send off a quick text to Magnus letting him know that he saw Lilith at the Hunter’s Moon interacting with Jace and that he would update him with more information if he learned anything else, as well as one to the werewolf pack leader back in India to let him know that they would need to reschedule their meeting; the response he received back was not too pretty, but oh well. Tenzin would get over it. He had bigger problems right now.
Miguel waited a few minutes to see if Magnus would reply back, but received nothing. Probably . . . otherwise engaged at the moment.
Slipping his phone back in his pocket, Miguel looked up at the warehouse that stood about the length of a football field in front of him. He spent a few minutes just standing there, his feet stuck in place, just staring at the structure. His eyes scanned from one window to the next, but he could see nothing moving inside. And yet he could sense something ominous about the place.
His father was here. He could sense his magic close by.
Miguel debated with himself again on whether or not he should text Alec and let him know about the situation. It would definitely make him feel better about going inside that dark building to converse with two Greater Demons by himself if he let someone know where he was first.
Taking his phone back out, he typed out a long message giving Alec as much detail about the situation as he could before returning the device to his pocket once again. That done, he took a deep breath before forcing his legs to step forward towards the towering structure before him.
He cringed as the hinges on the door screeched as he entered and decided to leave it open behind him. If Asmodeus and Lilith were here, he knew they would have heard the noise, but the sound had already skyrocketed his own already anxious thoughts.
Taking a few steps inside, Miguel scanned his dark surroundings before allowing his glamour to drop, the space instantly brightening noticeably with the assistance of his cat eyes.
Hesitantly, he walked farther into the building, his ears straining to hear the sound of other footsteps. The sound of his own footfalls seemed to echo off the walls.
Miguel’s nerves were just starting to settle a bit when the familiar whooshing of a portal being opened behind him reached his ears. Before he could spin fully around though, a strong force of magic sent him flying, his back slamming against the brick wall.
The warlock’s head fell forward as he groaned in pain. Someone let out a triumphant laugh, and a cold shiver ran up Miguel’s spine.
Slowly raising his head, Miguel’s eyes lock onto Asmodeus. The evil smirk the demon gave him sent an overpowering sense of fear and dread through his body. His head screamed at him to run, but he found that he couldn’t move. Suddenly, he could feel the magic that wrapped around his wrists and ankles that was securing him to the wall.
“You actually showed up,” the demon taunted, his bright yellow cat eyes also on full display. Asmodeus slowly walked forward as his eyes gave a courtesy glance around the space. “And you came alone.” At this, he raised his eyebrows.
“They know where I am,” Miguel defended, instantly wishing he had just gone to Magnus’ loft first to get everyone together. At least he did send out those texts. “Backup is on its way.”
Asmodeus hummed under his breath.
“Why are you here? What do you and Lilith want?” Miguel asked, desperation clear in his voice. That was what he was here for, after all. The sooner he could gather the information that Lilith had promised, he would be allowed to leave . . . he hoped.
He now realized how stupid this whole thing was.
“I don’t even understand why you two are working together. You guys have never gotten along in the past, always at each other's throats.”
At this point, words were simply falling out of him due to his anxiety, he wasn’t fully aware of what he was saying. He just hoped that whatever happened from here, he would be let go, unscathed, afterwards. A good way to make that happen would probably be to shut up. The last thing he wanted to do was to upset the demon.
“You’re right,” Asmodeus said, giving a small nod. “Lilith and I have never been on the best terms with one another, but desperate times, you know?” By now, his father was standing just a few feet in front of him. “Not only do we both have a relatively similar goal at the moment, but we also came to realize that if we both coordinated our plans at the same time, it would cause more havoc and confusion for those that may try and put a stop to us.”
With Miguel’s back pressed up against the wall, his father was blocking any form of an escape, even if the demon’s magic wasn’t holding him in place. His heart was pounding in his chest and he was starting to find it difficult to breathe. He shivered as the cold in the bricks seeped into his skin.
“Similar goal?”
Asmodeus tilted his head to the side, the smirk appearing again. “Our children.”
“Your . . . children?”
“Yes. You have always known that my greatest wish from my boys is to have both you and Magnus living with me in Edom, ruling by my side. It’s where you two belong.”
Miguel viciously shook his head back and forth. “I have lived that life before. I have no wish to return with you. And there is no way Magnus would agree either. He hates you. We both do.”
“Oh, you will both join me, I assure you. All it takes is finding the right motivator. I’m thinking of vengeance for Magnus.”
Miguel blinked in surprise. “Vengeance? Magnus?”
Asmodeus just grinned back at him. “Your brother can have such a big heart. He cares deeply for his friends and loved ones. If someone close to him were to say . . . betray him in an unforgivable way, were to break his heart, it would open him up to influences that he wouldn’t normally indulge in. All it would take would be me sliding in when he is at his most vulnerable. Teaming up with me to get revenge on the one that hurts him, it would be a great bonding experience.”
Lowering his head, Miguel closed his eyes and shook his head. He hated to admit it, but Magnus could very well be taken in by what Asmodeus was describing. He still didn’t think his brother would ever agree to return to Edom though. And he didn’t even want to know what his father’s plans were to try and convince him to return as well.
“I still don’t understand,” Miguel admitted instead. “Why team up with Lilith? She doesn’t have any kids of her own.”
“Maybe not in the traditional sense, but there is one boy that has her blood in his veins.”
Miguel stared back at him, confused. He could hear rain softly hitting the roof outside the building, and he desperately just wanted to go home and slid into his nice warm bed. He was so tired. Not even the fear swirling inside him could fight off his exhaustion. Part of him wondered if his father was doing something to him.
Asmodeus tilted his head to one side as he studied his son. “Does the name Valentine Morgenstern mean anything to you?” It was like an electric shock ran through Miguel’s body at the name, and his father smirked. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
Valentine had always been more of a problem for the Downworlders and Shadowhunters in America, specifically in New York, considering that was where he lived, but the man’s main goal in life had been to rid the world of Downworlders. Amongst his people, that name struck fear in them worldwide.
“What does that man have to do with Lilith?” As soon as the words were spoken out loud he regretted the question. He was sure he didn’t want to know the answer, but his eyes wouldn’t leave his father's intense stare.
“Valentine liked to indulge himself in many experiments during his life. Most of them involving torture to the Downworlder creatures he hated so much.” Asmodeus made a disgusted look at that thought, but his features quickly returned to normal as he went on. “But there was a couple that he did on Shadowhunters as well; pregnant women specifically.”
That got Miguel’s attention. He had heard about this. Magnus had mentioned something about it to him just a couple days ago. Did Magnus and the Shadowhunters know that it was Lilith’s blood that Jonathan was injected with though?
“Clary and Jace, for example. When their mother’s were pregnant with them, Valentine injected pure angel blood into their wombs. As a result, it has given them both . . . exceptional abilities.”
Miguel closed his eyes for a moment, allowing the information to set in. He tried to think back over the past few days, but he couldn’t think of anything that Clary or Jace had done that was atypical of any other Shadowhunter. Though it's not as if he had been tagging along with them on demon patrols either.
“As well as this, Valentine apparently thought it would be a good idea to implant demon blood into a fetus too.”
Miguel looked up before murmuring under his breath, “Jonathan.”
The small grew on his father’s face. “You have heard of him.”
“Magnus told me about him. That he was injected with demon blood. That was Lilith’s?”
Asmodeus hummed. “Yes, and she’s not too happy with Jace’s actions; sending her son back to Edom.”
Miguel’s eyes widened, the pieces falling into place. “That's why she’s gotten ahold of Jace? He killed her son, now she wants his help to bring him back.”
“It also helps that he found himself in a vulnerable state during their attack on Valentine, making it all the more easier to get her talons into him.”
Miguel shook his head, trying to wrap his head around all this new information. “Why . . . why are you telling me all of this?”
“Because I need your help.”
“My help?”
“Your part is not all that different from Jace’s involvement in helping me raise my son.”
Miguel’s head whipped to the side at the new voice and winced at the sudden appearance of Lilith as she stepped out of the shadows.
“W-what?” He cursed himself at his wobbling voice, and tried to stand up straighter in the presence of the second Greater Demon now in front of him.
“Your job,” Lilith continued, and Asmodeus took a small step to the side so the female demon could stand right next to him directly in front of the warlock trapped against the wall, “is to help in the process of convincing your brother to return to Edom. You need to trick someone that Magnus is exceptionally close to, and get them to destroy his heart in an unforgivable way.”
He grinded his teeth together as he tried to fight off his fear. “Why would I help you?”
“It has come to my attention that Magnus has recently gotten into a romantic relationship with a Shadowhunter, correct? I know how much you hate them,” Asmodeus taunted, a snarl in his tone.
“You simply need to show your brother that his latest conquest isn’t the trustworth sort. How you choose to go about this, is up to you,” Lilith explained, her tone unnervely gentle.
Miguel shifted nervously against the wall. “And if I refuse?”
Asmodeus raised an eyebrow in surprise, and an anxious shiver slid up the warlock’s spine. Upsetting his father in any manner had never been a pleasant experience.
“I wouldn’t have thought you would approve of such a match. Don’t tell me you have grown soft for the Shadowhunter as well,” the demon taunted, narrowing his eyes, but then gave a small shrug. “No matter. I can just continue to control your actions like I have been the past few days.”
Miguel flinched against the wall as he stared into his father’s eyes.
What was he talking about?
“Yes,” Lilith said, resting a gentle hand on Asmodeus' arm. “We certainly have ways to make him biddable.”
Asmodeus sent her an evil smile. “Hmm, just like you’ve done with Jace,” he replied and Lilith smirked back at him before turning her snake eyes back to their prey.
Miguel’s eyes grew large in alarm as his father raised his arm, a cloud of red magic leaving his fingers and flowed straight at him. He had a brief flash of something familiar being about this scene, before the magic began to flow into his mouth, nose, and ears and everything went black.
“You may also want to erase the memory of your conversation about Jace’s involvement in all of this,” Lilith said, studying the slightly slumped over form of Asmodues’ son up against the wall, the magic that Asmodeus had used to pin him there being the only thing holding him up. “We wouldn’t want him revealing anything to the Shadowhunters before we are ready.”
“Of course.” Amsodeus gave a slight nod before jerking his wrist slightly to finish his spell.
Chapter 11
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Chapter 11
Alec slowly opened his eyes, only to groan and squeeze them shut again from the glare of the sun shining through the loft’s bedroom window. With a soft sigh, he rolled over to find his boyfriend still fast asleep next to him. A small smile appeared on his face for a moment before memories of Magnus’ box drifted back. Reaching out, he gently ran his knuckles down the side of Magnus’ face.
He didn’t think this would be so hard. People had tried to warn him over the past couple months, trying to tell him that relationships between Shadowhunters and Downworlders never worked out. They were too different. Alec didn’t truly believe that. Yeah, they were different, in a lot of ways, but that didn’t mean that this couldn’t work out, right? The only thing that he was struggling with was the looming reality of Magnus’ immortality and what issues that would bring up for them down the road. The last thing he wanted was to grow old and become a burden to the warlock. Magnus didn’t deserve that.
He still had a lot that he needed to discuss with Magnus about their possible future together.
With a soft sigh, Alec rolled over to grab his phone from the nightstand. After noting the time, Alec took a minute to scroll through the notifications that had come through from the night shift. Nothing urgent seemed to be mentioned until he reached the last text message he had received from Magnus’ brother. It was a long text where Miguel appeared to have been nervously rambling about something that happened at the Hunter’s Moon. Alec let his eyes skim over the words until he paused at a name he vaguely remembered from his time at the academy. Fear clutched his heart before he quickly returned to the top of the long paragraph to read it more closely.
“Magnus.” Alec grabbed the warlock’s shoulder, shaking him awake. “Magnus, get up. We need to find Mike.”
Magnus slowly pushed himself up on his elbows, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “What about Miguel?”
“He went to a meeting with Asmodeus and Lilith last night. Alone,” he explained. Throwing the covers off, he jumped up to get dressed. “Check your phone. He said he sent you a text as well.”
“Wait. What? Lilith?” Magnus scrambled to grab his phone, quickly clicking over to his text messages.
“I think we just found out who the other Greater Demon is.”
After attempting to call Miguel several times with no answer, Alec suggested to his panicking boyfriend that they portal to his home in India to start their search there.
Moments later, Magnus burst out of a portal into his brother’s estate. “Miguel!” the warlock cried as he ran around the main floor.
“I’ll check upstairs,” Alec called after him as Magnus disappeared around a corner.
Alec couldn’t help but take a quick glance around the place, admiring the traditional Indian style of the decor, before taking the stairs two at a time. A house plant rested near the wall to the left at the top of the stairs. Stepping past it, Alec turned right at the landing and started to make his way down the hallway. He spared barely a glance at the wall decor as he walked by the artwork.
“Mike?” he called. “It’s Alec. Are you here?”
He passed by a few open doors as he walked, stopping briefly to give a quick scan of the interiors before moving on once finding them empty of the warlock. Halfway down the hall, he came to the first closed door he had located on this level.
“Mike?” Alec called, softly knocking on the door. “Are you in there?”
Hearing no answer, Alec reached to turn the doorknob to find his boyfriend’s twin brother laying sprawled out on the bed. Staying long enough to take in the fact that the warlock was sleeping, Alec hurried back to the landing to call down to Magnus, telling him that he had found Mike.
“What do you mean he’s sleeping?” Magnus cried, as he joined his boyfriend on the second floor. Worry was laced in his tone as he marched determinedly past him towards the bedroom. “It’s almost five o’clock in the afternoon here.”
“It’s 7:30 in the morning in New York,” Alec reminded him. “He has been jumping back and forth a lot lately. His sleep schedule may be all screwed up.”
Magnus simply scowled as he strolled into the bedroom and approached his brother’s passed out form, leaning over to gently shake him.
“Miguel,” he called softly. When the warlock didn’t respond, he shook his brother harder, clearly getting more desperate. “Miguel, get up.”
The warlock woke with a start, bolting up in bed. His eyes were huge as he stared back at the couple in surprise, but that wasn’t what caused both Alec and Magnus to take a step back in shock. Miguel’s eyes were glowing a bright red.
“Miguel?” Magnus asked cautiously.
Miguel blinked a few times as he took in his surroundings, and his cat eyes slowly returned to their normal light orange color.
Taking in the presence of his house guests standing at the side of his bed, Miguel scowled at his visitors. “What are you doing here?” he demanded, his hands clutching at the blanket that was covering his lap. “You can’t just show up unannounced like this!”
“Sorry for the intrusion,” Alec muttered under his breath.
Magnus sent the Shadowhunter a look, before folding his arms across his chest and turned his full attention back to his brother. “What did you expect us to do? You sent us each messages saying that you were going off to meet with two . . . two . . . extremely powerful Greater Demons by yourself last night; and then when I tried to call you this morning, you wouldn’t answer your phone. What were we supposed to think? How could you be so stupid as to put yourself into that situation on your own?”
Miguel closed his eyes, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. “What are you talking about?” he mumbled.
“Are you okay?” Magnus frowned, his anger turning into concern.
“Y-yeah,” the warlock mumbled. “I’ve just . . . been getting these weird headaches . . . or something.”
“Or something?” Alec questioned, tilting his head.
“What messages?” Miguel asked instead.
Magnus raised an eyebrow. “You texted both of us saying that something went down at the Hunter’s Moon last night with Lilith and that you were heading to a meeting with both her and our father to discuss what they're planning.”
Miguel shook his head that was still in his hand. “I don’t know what you're talking about.”
“What do you mean you’ve been getting weird headaches?” Alec tried again.
Miguel slowly raised his head. “They aren’t really headaches. It’s more like . . . I’ve been having these strange episodes lately where I go into a bit of a fog. And I’m losing time. Whenever it happens, I don’t remember what transpired during the episode.”
“How long has this been going on?” Alec asked, his concern growing.
“I don’t know . . .” he mumbled. “It started around the time you asked me to keep an eye on Jace.”
Alec shared a look with Magnus.
“Did you have one of these episodes the other night? With Asmodeus and Lilith?”
Miguel shrugged. “Maybe. I don’t recall meeting with them.”
“You know, it sounds a little bit like what has been going on with Jace,” Alec pondered out loud.
“Would you allow me to give you a head-scan?” Magnus asked, wiggling his fingers so that blue sparks appeared.
Miguel hummed softly, turning to lower his feet to the floor. “Fine. Let's do it downstairs though. I’m starving.”
While Miguel sat at his kitchen table enjoying a turkey sandwich, Magnus waved his hands to activate his magic and slowly scanned his brother’s head for anything wrong or unusual.
“I can detect a faint presence of something,” Magnus said, withdrawing his magic. “Catarina is more experienced with healing spells, though. Would you allow her to try?”
Miguel groaned in annoyance as his brother pulled out the seat next to him. “Do you really think it’s necessary? I’ve been so busy lately, with everything going on in New York and my responsibilities as High Warlock here. It could all be due to a lack of sleep.”
“You’re the one that said you were missing chunks of time. That’s concerning, Miguel.”
Miguel sighed, but reluctantly agreed to get his head prodded by their warlock friend.
“Jace is supposed to be heading to the Silent City for treatment today,” Alec reminded the pair, “but now I’m wondering if these two situations really could be linked. If I can convince Jace, do you think Cat could check him out for a magical explanation as well before he leaves?”
Notes:
Thanks for reading!! Leave a comment and tell me what you think is going to happen next.
Chapter Text
Chapter 12
Less than half an hour later, Magnus created a portal to send Alec right outside the New York Institute, telling him that he was going to go ahead with Miguel to visit Catarina and that once Alec located Jace, to text him and he will open another portal for them.
Taking the stairs in front of the entrance two at a time, Alec threw the door open and strolled past the small crowd of Shadowhunters that had snapped their heads around at his loud entrance to stare at him. Ignoring them, he hurried into the Ops Center and scanned the open floor for his wayward parabatai. Not spying him, his eyes did land on a familiar redheaded girl and he headed over to her instead.
“Clary?” he asked as he approached. “Have you seen Jace today?”
Looking up from the computer she was working on, the woman nodded. “Yeah, he returned early this morning just long enough to pack a bag before leaving again.” At Alec’s bewildered expression, Clary frowned. “I assumed he was heading to the Silent City for his treatment. He was supposed to leave today, right?”
“Yeah, I just didn’t expect him to leave so early. Did he say anything to you before he left?”
She shook her head. “No, but he was acting weird again. The same things as before. It was like he was stuck in that trance again and was acting cold towards me.” She paused before continuing. “Do you really think the Silent Brothers will be able to help him?”
Alec sighed. “I hope so . . . But whatever is going on with Jace, I think Mike is experiencing something similar.” He quickly explained what they had found at Mike’s house in India and the strange symptoms that the warlock had expressed suffering.
“So, you think they're connected?”
Alec shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. Magnus took Mike to see Catarina, and I was hoping that she could run a scan on Jace before he left as well, but I guess it’s too late for that now.” Alec took out his phone to update Magnus about Jace’s whereabouts, and to let him know that Cat would not be needed at the moment for the Shadowhunter.
Clary nodded slowly. “And what about that meeting Mike mentioned in his text message? Did he really go by himself to confront two Greater Demons? That doesn’t seem like something he would agree to do.”
“Mike claims he doesn’t remember anything about it. He doesn’t even remember sending us the texts.”
“Is it possible that the demons have something to do with all of this then? Maybe they wiped Mike’s mind after their meeting.”
Alec considered this for a moment. “It’s certainly possible they messed with his mind in some way, but if we are sticking with the suspicion that Mike and Jace’s symptoms are linked, that would mean Jace is being controlled by Greater Demons.” A shiver ran up Alec’s spine at the thought. “I should send a fire message to the Silent City. Let the Silent Brothers know about this new information. Maybe they can discover something more while Jace is with them.”
Alec left the Institute early that day to make it back to Magnus’ apartment before he returned. He still needed to talk to his boyfriend about his concerns for their future relationship. He was ashamed at how much that box of mementos from Magnus’ ex lovers had shaken him, but if he was going to be able to move on from these feelings, he needed to open up to his boyfriend about it.
He had been working on his cooking skills recently, and he thought that preparing dinner for the two of them would not only ease some of the nerves he was feeling about the approaching conversation, but he also wanted to make the warlock happy. They had both been working hard lately, and could use a relaxing night in; just the two of them.
Alec had just taken the chicken off of the hot stove to cool and was draining the pasta when he heard the front door open. He felt his body tense up and forced himself to relax. This was Magnus. He didn’t have to fear having a conversation with his boyfriend, no matter how intimate the subject.
“Something smells good,” the warlock commented as he appeared around the corner.
“Yeah, I thought I’d cook for us tonight.”
Magnus smiled at him. “Well, that was kind of you, Alec. Is there anything I can do to help?”
With Magnus’ help in pouring the champagne and setting the table, the couple was soon sitting around the table ready to eat.
“Mmm,” Magnus hummed after taking his first bite of the Chicken Parmesan. “This is delicious. I didn’t know you knew how to cook.”
Alec shrugged and picked up his glass of champagne as an excuse to not have to meet Magnus’ eyes. “I’ve been practicing lately.”
Not seeming to notice the mood Alec was in, the warlock nodded his head. “I can tell. Maybe you should give your sister some types. I’ve heard from Jace that she isn’t . . . Well, the best in the kitchen.”
“I’m glad you enjoy it.” Alec twirled some pasta onto his fork. “Maybe you should save the tongs I used for your little box.”
He could sense the warlock freeze next to him for a moment at the comment. Before responding though, Alec could have sworn that he saw a small smirk play on Magnus’ face for a moment. “Alec . . . Do you want to talk about it?”
Alec sighed. “It’s not really the box of mementos itself that’s bothering me. It’s our future, and what it would look like for us. Your immortality . . .”
Magnus tilted his head to one side. “My immortality?
Alec leaned forward as he tried to think of the right words to use to express how he had been feeling lately. “I can't stomach the idea that one day, I'm gonna be old and feeble, and becoming this . . . burden to you.”
There was a pause in the conversation at this, and Alec sensed the mood in the room shift.
“OK,” Magnus noted, typing his fingers against the table rhythmically before continuing. “Maybe the reason why you're having such a hard time processing this is because this is your first relationship.”
The Shadowhunter narrowed his eyes at this comment. “Right,” he said slowly, “because the whole immortality thing, that's no big deal. This is all just because you're the only guy I've ever been with.”
Magnus sat up straighter and held a hand up, as if to try and calm him down. “Alec, all I'm saying is every relationship is complicated. Perhaps ours wouldn't seem so daunting if you would have been with at least one person before me.”
Alec felt his breath catch in his throat. This was not at all how he expected this conversation to go. It sounded like Magnus was trying to tell him that he needed to see other people to gain more dating experience. How that would solve this particular problem, Alec wasn’t sure. Was Magnus suggesting that they take a break?
In an attempt to try and not show Magnus how upset what he was saying was making him, Alec snapped back with a sarcastic comment. “So . . . what, I should go sow my oats?”
“You're putting words in my mouth, that's not what . . .”
“And you're twisting this into something that it isn't,” Alec interrupted. Looking directly at Magnus, Alec suddenly felt like something was wrong. Not fully grasping what was off just yet, his mouth continued with his tirade before he could stop it. “I'm not a child, Magnus.”
“Then stop acting like one!”
Alec just stared at the face of his boyfriend in shock. Magnus had never spoken to him like that before. Like he was scolding a child.
In a moment of clarity, Alec suddenly realized what was off about the warlock sitting in front of him.
“. . . Mike?”
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