His Big Secret

Chapter 8

Alec couldn't help but feel instantly relieved when he heard the perimeter alarm go off. He needed the distraction after having a god-awful day so far. First, he woke up to find Magnus had already left earlier that morning to talk with the Seelie, which honestly Alec could do without (it also meant he missed out on his earlier morning Magnus cuddles, not that he was sulking or anything). He arrived at the institute to find Jace, Izzy and Clary pestering on what happened with the wolves and how Alec could find and get Clary and Simon back unharmed (Clary only remembered Alec negotiating with the alpha for the safe return of her and Simon. She didn't remember anything about Alec being the high mage or Simon's relationship with Raphael). Alec stood by his ideals and refused to tell them; it was too risky. Then, just to top everything off, Lydia Branwell appeared disguised as Valentine Morgenstern and started bossing everyone around. Who does she think she is? Just because the Clave sent her doesn't mean everything his family worked towards could go down the drain because one woman didn't like how things were running.

So instead of picking fights with the Clave representative, Alec stormed off to check the perimeter with Jace, Clary and Izzy. The moon was high in the sky as Alec slowly approached the area where the alarm was triggered with his bow and arrow out, ready to shoot; he wasn't taking any chances. Not with Lydia, not with Clary, not with his family, and certainly not with whatever was waiting for them in the dark.

"Stay where you are," Jace shouted when he spotted a figure in the dark, it seemed to be holding something, "And drop what you're holding".

Alec felt his heart freeze. Raphael was here. Why the hell was Raphael here? The vampire hated the Shadowhunters. He only got along with Alec because Alec showed he was close with Simon and Magnus and cared for the Downworlders, while the other Shadowhunters didn't. But that didn't explain why Raphael was here. He wouldn't dare set foot near Shadowhunter territory unless something had happened. Alec let his eyes trail down to the person Raphael was holding, his eyes widening as Raphael stepped into the moonlight to reveal what or who he had. It was Simon. Pale, dead Simon.

They brought Simon and Raphael into the crypt below the institute. Raphael lay Simon's dead body on the stone table. Alec didn't know what to think. His friend was dead. His best friend was dead, the one person who could understand and accept the two parts of his life, the one where he's a shadowhunter and the other where he is the High Mage of Brooklyn working with the High Warlock to protect their warlocks under their care and the other Downworlders in Brooklyn from the threat that the Shadowhunters and the Circle posed. Simon understood that, and now he was dead.

"What the hell happened, Santiago?" Alec growled, pulling Raphael away from the others and towards the back of the crypt. His hand was tight on Raphael's arm.

"Camille, she did this to him. She turned him," Raphael replied.

"I thought the clan overthrew Camille. Why the hell would she go after Simon," Alec asked. That made little sense. Magnus told him that not long after Simon's original vampire kidnapping, the New York Clan revolted against Camille, overthrowing her and putting Raphael in charge of the clan.

"Revenge," Raphael said. It was the only reason he could think of for Camille to attack his boyfriend, "Simon texted me, saying he was coming to the hotel. Then, the next thing I know, I hear him screaming and find Camille sucking the life out of him. I could only get my blood into his system before Si... died,".

"Don't we get to hear this story? You killed Simon? Vampires broke the accords," Jace said, wrapping his arm around Clary and letting her cry into his chest.

"The vampires are not behind this, just Camille. She attacked Simon on her own," Raphael explained. He didn't want to deal with these shadowhunters; he had only brought Simon here so he could get to Alec. After all this time knowing Alec at the council meetings and through Magnus, Raphael never got Alec's phone number. Considering Magnus wasn't here, Raphael couldn't go to him for help.