Overwhelmed [3] 《SHADOWHUNTERS》

Chapter Thirty-One

Three Iron Sisters were left in awe as they witnessed a paper-thin portal snap closed, breeze ceasing, made from the energy within the air itself like the magic of a Warlock. Meanwhile, the intense purple glow broke through the darkness of a bedroom on another continent. The wind swept up corners of blankets and the pages of books that had collected dust for months. 

The purple walls and soft carpet were recognizable almost instantaneously to those who had grown up in and out of the space they occasionally called home; the Lightwood townhouse on the edge of the village, where it backed up to an open, moss-covered lawn before the invasive forests began to swallow it whole. The group's steps were heavy as they found their footing from an unbalanced transition, and once the portal had spit out the last of them, it snapped out of existence and swallowed all of their light.

Only a touch of dusk allowed their eyes to make out the edges of furniture and bookshelves. Longford was the first of them to act on the instinct of retrieving her witch light, Isabelle following soon after. Alec tried to speak up and let the elite soldier know that they had made it to Idris, albeit a long walk away from the Council building. 

He halted his words when he heard a rustle throughout the darkened house, heart spiked. The setting sun had dipped low too low – their parents would have already left for the Council meeting. Jace knew this place well enough that one could imagine he might consider it a safe position to camp out. Now that it occurred to Alec, his parabatai rune was tugging from more than constant worry – his other half was closer than he'd been all week.

And still, Alec could not coax his grip into finding the blade on his belt. Maybe his mother was right, that Alec would let a cancer kill him and those he cared for most before he ever attempted surgery. His own inability to speak up did not fail his loved ones as he feared; each stiffened as a door opened further down the hall outside of Izzy's bedroom.

Everyone knew that they had not entered quietly, soundless runes left unactivated for all of those that could use them. Their shoulders were tight and – for those that used their lungs – breath fell shallow as weaponry was taken into grasp. The closed bedroom door had its knob turned from the opposite side. Isabelle stepped forward to meet whatever had come to threaten her family's safe place. She held out her witch light as her whip fell out of her hand, prepared to attack.

The door swung open. A shadow half of their height came into view. Their loud entry had summoned a concerned child to them, who held his own witchlight in his small hand with a stuffed cat's paw. The sight of Max Lightwood softened them all immediately, his pale blue pajamas wrinkled from an early night of sleep as he blinked up at them.

Isabelle's whip slunk back up into a bracelet quicker than Max could even have a chance to spy the weaponry that had been prepared for an intruder. As soon as the silver had stiffened into place, she bent down and approached him. "What are you guys doing home?" Her little brother's voice was rough. His stubbornness had remained fully in tact. "No one said you were coming home."

Andy felt a bit taken aback by the harsh looks the child shot she and Alec. Isabelle reached out to find Max' shoulders, a gentle touch as she made sure to erase any fear that may have remained on her face. Changes in schedule had been rather hard for him, from what little Iz had been able to find out from Maryse of his healing. "I know. We came to do something important, we won't bother you." Her voice was warm as honey, but something about it felt misplaced to Simon – like swapping out agave for the real thing.

Iz offered a rub to his shoulders, her smile shifting as she tried to keep it in place. Max looked normal, as if he was doing fine... but his family knew otherwise. The kid's shaggy brunet hair covered the scars perfectly. Alec spoke up from behind Isabelle, where he struggled to maintain a similar air of normalcy around the young Nephilim. "Mom and Dad left you here?" He could not keep the judgement from his voice. "By yourself?"