Heartburn ↣ Alec Lightwood

8. Surrender

"He'll never go for it. Not with Valentine trying to kill him." Alec thinks negatively.

"Of course he will. He'll blend in. Hide in plain sight." Jace assures.

"I don't know, it's seems-"

"-Trust me," Izzy cuts Alec off, "If Magnus is coming out of hiding, he's going to one of the biggest parties of the year." She smirks.

"Never underestimate Magnus' hedonism." Hodge hints while retrieving the controller from izzy.

"Or his greed." I huff.

"Come with me." Hodge says as everyone slowly gets up from their positions at the table. We follow him until he stops in front of the training room and gets out his stele, tracing over a rune laid over the marble tile on the floor. He then removes the tile to reveal a compartment which had a necklace hidden inside.

"A four-karat, unheated Burmese ruby." He says while holding it up in the air, "this necklace has special meaning to Magnus Bane as it was a gift from him to his then lover, Camille Belcourt." The ruby shimmered in the light as Hodge laid it flat in his hand to show the group.

"What, Camille and Magnus were lovers?" Clary asks clearly shocked.

"Warlock gets around." Jace jokes as he and Clary share a look to which I rolled my eyes at.

"Magnus bought it in 1857 for the price of his London townhouse," Hodge informs us, "Now, the jewel is enchanted by a spell that alerts the wearer to the presence of demons." Izzy reaches for the necklace and traces the intricate details.

"It's so beautiful." She says in awe while Hodge still holds on to the necklace.

"Magnus has longed to reunite with this necklace. Offer it to him." Hodge says as he gently swings the necklace towards me, "he might just take the bait."

Hodge motioned for me to turn around and I hesitantly did so, I gathered all my hair in my hands and felt the cold necklace slip around my neck, resting right above the hem of my t-shirt. I ran my finger over the delicate stone as this ruby glimmered in the light. I turned around and smiled at Hodge as Izzy gave me the side eye.

"I'll send Magnus a fire message to arrange the meeting." Jace informs as he starts to leave the room, "we have to get to Magnus before Valentine does."

✵✵✵

After each of us went to our own corners of the institution, I decided to train and practice with my daggers before the so called 'biggest downworlder rave of the year.' Just as I was about to leave my room, I heard a frantic knock. I opened the door to reveal a massive pile of wigs and dresses overflowing in the arms of a grinning Izzy.

"What's this?" I laugh nervously.

"This is the perfect opportunity to give you that makeover I've always wanted to do!" Izzy squealed  as she pushed past me and dumped all her dress up tools on my bed.

"It's just a party! Didn't I tell you when I get married I'll let you give me a makeover then?!" I mention, recalling the last time she tried to get me to wear dresses and makeup. So in order to get her off my case I told her that when I get married, she can doll me up then. Little did she know I was never planning on doing such a thing.

"That could be decades from now! I would probably be dead by then." Izzy jokes as I swat her shoulder playfully, "please? I'll get ravers drooling over both you and Clary." Izzy begs while folding her hands in a prayer position.