𝔀𝓸𝓾𝓵𝓭 𝓲 𝓵𝓲𝓮 𝓽𝓸 𝔂𝓸𝓾?| 𝓪𝓵𝓮𝓬 𝓵𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽𝔀𝓸𝓸𝓭

Chapter Thirty

(heyyy party people! sorry for the delay, this took a long ass time to write, BUT we're 3/4 of the way through this- congrats if u made it this far!! i love each and every single person who reads this book- you are incredible, and ur making my dream come true!! anyways, sotc is unlock it, ctrl superlove remix, by charli xcx. happy reading!<3)

Ness' Pov

Alec and Izzy got on the whole Inferni thing straight away, but with Jace AWOL, it was just me left rattling around in the Institute like a marble.

Sometimes, it sucked not having clearance. 

I was tapping the end of my pen on the dining table, trying to write notes into my latest read (Lolita, by Vladamir Nabokov, in case you were wondering) and failing. I could blame it on the book, sure, because it was a masterpiece, and you couldn't write much about that, but really, it was because I was bored, and distracted. And worried, because Alec had already been kidnapped once, and I didn't want it to happen again. 

He refused to talk about it, so none of us actually knew what had happened to him, but it couldn't have been good. And it was my fault too, which made me feel horrible. I hated my family. Passionately. 

My phone buzzed, knocking me out of my boredom, and I scrambled to answer it, worshipping the distraction.

Magnus Bane is calling you.

"Mag?" I answered, hardly able to contain my ecstasy. "Hey, what's with the phone call? I thought you were out of town!"

"Your boyfriend called me" he chuckled. "Asked me to entertain you, since he's gone."

"Who, Alec?"

"Mhm. Was just testing you to see if you'd finally relieved that dire sexual tension that was floating around. I mean honestly, being around the two of you made me overheated."

"Magnus!"

I rolled my eyes fondly into the phone.

"You don't need to be dating someone to "relieve that dire sexual tension"" I teased, mocking him, and there was an audible gasp at the other end.

"Miss Birch, what are you keeping from me?" he scolded, and I giggled.

"Come pick me up and I'll tell you all about it" I said coyly, and I could hear him setting up for a portal. 

"You will not believe how quickly I'll be there."

"So, was it like a minute?" Magnus asked, as he sipped his cocktail. I choked on mine.

"Magnus" I gasped. "You're unbelievable!"

"No, see Sweetpea, that's where you're wrong" he corrected, holding up one finger to stop me. "The only unbelievable thing about this is how long it took to happen." 

I shook my head, and took another sip.

"So, he called you, did he?" I asked, interested. Mag nodded.

"Mhm. He said, and I quote "Hey, Mag, listen, Blondie's all on her own and I don't want her to go crazy in the Institute by herself, so if you're around maybe she could go over? I just don't want to think of her on her own just hanging around. I don't know, anyways, call me back." you two are honestly too pure" he mocked, and I nudged him.