MARGO ▸ ALEC LIGHTWOOD

twenty-five ; the chase

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: THE CHASE

Margo and Alec were wrapped up in the sheets, wrapped up in each other. She was tracing the runes on his chest when he spoke, for the first time since the pair had been intimate an hour ago.

"I've never seen them so angry," he mumbled.

Margo looked up at him, providing him with a reassuring smile. "Just give them some time."

He shook his head. "After what I did... I don't think they'll ever forgive me." He turned on his side, wrapping his arms around Margo. "I'm sorry Mom said that to you." He was referring to the fact that Maryse had spat the whole I can't believe we raised you speech at Margo. "She didn't mean it. She was just angry."

"You don't regret it, do you?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Of course not."

She broke out into a grin. "Then that's all that matters."

She pulled Alec into a kiss but before their lips met, a rushed knock sounded on his door. "Alec! Margo!" Isabelle anxiously spoke, continuing her incessant knocking until the pair quickly dressed and opened the door.

Upon seeing the look on her parabatai's face, the smile on Margo's face immediately dropped. "What's wrong, Izzy?"

The young Lightwood's eyes shifted between her brother and her best friend. "It's Lydia."

The pair followed her down to HQ. Along the way, Isabelle explained how she had found Lydia in Robert's office, knocked out, and when she runed her, all she repeated was Hodge's name. Upon further inspection, she noticed the Mortal Cup was also gone.

Isabelle took her seat at a corner, pulling up the camera footage of the night as Clary, Alec and Margo stood by her. Jace walked up to them, immediately getting asked how Lydia was. "Better. I called Magnus and he's doing what he can to help her, but it's bad. And you were right, Izzy; the Cup is definitely missing. So is Hodge."

"Maybe he was attacked too?" Clary suggested as Isabelle went through the public footage. "Or, maybe he's the one who attacked her?"

Margo shook her head. "Hodge? Are we talking about the same Hodge? The guy who brews hot chocolate every morning and listens to Bing Crosby?"

Isabelle agreed. "We've known him our entire lives. He would never do that to us."

As the footage came up, it revealed that Hodge was in fact the one who attacked Lydia. The footage showed him taking hold of the Cup, causing a unanimous gasp to sound through the friends. "Guess there is a certain traitor type – the kind that likes hot chocolate and Bing Crosby," Margo commented.

"I led him right to the Cup," Jace muttered.

"We treated him like family. How could he do this to us?" Alec asked, baffled.