Bloodlines: An Alec and Magnus (Malec) Fanfiction

Chapter 16

"B-But Sebastian is dead!" I protest, staring at the note in hopes that the words will change if I stare at them hard enough.

"Yes, many thanks, Scotland Yard." Jace snaps sarcastically.

"Who killed them?" Izzy asks, finally sitting down. "Because it wasn't us."

"It was us." Helen says. "Helen and I."

"And you're sure you killed him?" I check.

"Pretty sure." Aline replies, then doubt flickers in her almond-shaped brown eyes. "But it was dark, and there was that enormous demon attack. We can't be positive, not really."

I sigh. "That...that does complicate things rather."

"I'm really sorry." Helen says sheepishly.

"Not your fault." Izzy replies. "You thought you'd killed him and he's laid low for months. You had no reason to doubt that he was dead."

"I'll call Clary." Jace says, pulling out his phone. "She knows Sebastian better than anyone."

"Tell her to bring Simon." Izzy adds.

And I know our situation is grave when Jace doesn't even make a sarcastic comment; just nods tersely and starts dialling.

Clary and Simon arrive half an hour later. Clary immediately delves into her backpack, pulls out a silver bracelet and drops it into Magnus's hand. I look across, as puzzled by the jewellery as Magnus seems.

"It was Sebastian's." Clary explains, sitting down next to Jace. "I thought you might be able to track him with it."

She seems quite unfazed that her dead brother is really alive, but she is extremely pale and Simon keeps casting her furtive, concerned looks that make me think that maybe she wasn't as composed when she first found out. Nonetheless, I can't fault her on her stoicism. She really is a shadowhunter through and through; it just took me a little while to see it.

Magnus nods and closes his hands around the bracelet, cupping it between his hands carefully. There's a weighted silence, where the others are barely breathing and I'm holding myself tense in case any movement disrupts the process, before Magnus opens his eyes again. He slumps against the back of sofa.

"I'm not getting anything. I'm sorry."

Then he glances over to me, realisation dawning in his eyes, and passes the bracelet over to me. I look down at the silver band reading 'Acheronta Movebo' and smooth my hand over it.

"My mom had it." Clary says. "He always wore it. I guess someone brought it to her when he supposedly died."

I nod, but look puzzled as to why I'm being given it. Then, as if in answer to my unasked question, Magnus nods and closes his hands around mine over the bracelet. I'm a warlock, I realise. Double the magic, double the tracking power.

"Magnus, I don't know if..." I start hesitantly, but he just smiles reassuringly, and squeezes my hands gently.

So I close my eyes and pretend I'm not being watched by everyone in the room. No one is really expecting me to be able to see anything, not if Magnus can't. No pressure...

I dig my hands hard into the solid silver of the bangle. My mind feels like it's folding in on itself, as if it's a collapsed mine tunnel and my head feels like it's burning. Words rush past me, and pictures and places, but it's like I'm grabbing at them and can't hold on. All these thoughts are like grains of sand, and all of them are running through my fingers, impossible to keep a hold of long enough to evaluate until –