Brothers by Blood (Alec Lightwood twin)

Chapter 71

ISABELLE'S POV

I walked into Alec's office only to find him reading over some papers, but he looked up when he heard me at the door.
"What is it Izzy?" He asked.
"Valentine's Circle rune has been removed and I've assembled my team." I reported.
"Good. I'll feel a lot better when he's out of the Institute." He said, getting up and walking over to me.
"Have you secured Magnus for the transfer?" I asked as we begun walking back to the Ops Centre.
"I think we should consider using a different warlock." He suggested. "Catarina Loss lives in-" He began, but I cut him off.
"We're talking about portalling the Clave's Most Wanted into Idris. There's not many Warlocks with that clearance. Besides, I want the best, and that's Magnus." I stated.
"Look, Magnus isn't exactly in a great place right now. He hasn't been sleeping." He told me. We stopped at the top of the steps that descended down to the main part of the Ops Centre.
"What's wrong?" I asked, concerned for Magnus' wellbeing.
"I don't know. He says nothing's wrong. But I can tell he's not alright." Alec replied.
"You know, some people find it hard to ask for help. If Magnus is hurting, he might push you away." I advised.
"Thank you for the advice, but I know Magnus. He needs his space. We can use a different warlock." Alec replied. Before we could discuss it any further, Sebastian walked up to us.
"There you are."
"Any update on the mole?"
"Yeah. Whoever it was is a clever one. Left absolutely no trace. But I've been auditing personnel files. I've found a few Shadowhunters who have a personal stake in wanting Valentine dead. Family members killed, relatives lost to the Circle. All with enough access and clearance to pull it off."
"Send me the list when you're done." Alec requested. Before any of us could say anything else, I noticed someone who I hadn't seen in years, but who I was close to when I was in Idris.
"By the angel!" I exclaimed, smiling and walking down the stairs towards the person.
"Aline!" Alec called, a huge smile on his face. She turned around and smiled happily at us.
"In the flesh." She replied, spreading her arms out. I immediately went to go and hug her.
"It's been years." Alec said.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, the smile on my face still present.
"I would've given you both a heads up but I didn't want to spook my dear cousin." She said, looking accusingly at Sebastian. I noticed Alec look at Sebastian suspiciously. She then walked slowly towards him, narrowing her eyes slightly. "Who disappears for half a year only to show up here." She said. Sebastian paused and looked down. Suddenly, she smiled again. "Come here, you gorgeous Englishman." She said, before hugging him.
"It's good to see you, Aline." Sebastian said, slightly stiffly. Another Shadowhunters suddenly came up to Alec to tell him something, so he excused himself to go deal with it, but not before looking back at Sebastian with a look that I couldn't place. "We were all so worried about you. We thought you were dead." She said, her voice was small by the end of the last sentence.
"Yeah, I'm...I'm really sorry." Sebastian apologized.
"Your Aunt Elodie was beside herself. Then after she found out that you were safe, she still hadn't heard from you. So she asked me to come here to make sure you're alright." Aline told him. "Are you really a Yin Fen addict?" She asked softly on the end.
"He's clean now." I said for him, as he looked like he was speechless.
"I feel terrible. I should have called. I guess I'm just ashamed, you know? I guess I'm not as perfect as everyone thought." He said. It looked like he was having trouble with words,
"Trust me, I never thought you were perfect. But something is different about you." She said. I could tell that she was suspicious by her tone, but I decided not to worry about it right now.
"Well, you can tell them all he's a hero. He saved my life, and helped us defeat a greater demon." I said.
"Yeah, look, I'll, um I'll fill you in on all the gory details once I finish this report. How about dinner? Eight o'clock?" He asked.
"Absolutely." She said with a smile. He then smiled, before walking away to finish his report. Aline gazed after him for a moment before turning back to me.
"So, where's Jace and Ben?" She asked curiously.
"Jace is either down in Valentine's cell removing his Circle rune or doing something else. Ben, I'm not sure exactly. Wanna go find him? He'll be so excited you're here. After everything that's happened lately, he needs something happy." I said. She frowned.
"What do you mean?" She asked curiously. It then dawned on me that she probably didn't know about everything that had happened.
"Oh, didn't you hear?" I asked.
"No." She asked, caution in her voice.
"It's a very long story, so how about we walk and talk as we go find him?" I suggested.
"Sure." She replied. With that, we began our search for Ben.
"So, let's start at the beginning. In the space of the last three months, Ben has been kidnapped and tortured by Valentine, almost had his heart ripped out by a demon that was possessing me, and almost killed by the Seelie that was attacking and killing Shadowhunters in New York by carving their runes out and making it look like a Downworld revolt." I said. By this point, we had completely stopped. Aline's expression was one of complete and utter shock. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was hanging open, her expression one of horror.
"Is he alright?" She asked in shock.
"He will be. He's up and about now, but is taking it easy." I told her.
"I need to see him." She said urgently.
"Relax, he's ok. I promise." I said, comforting her. "Let's go check his room." I suggested.

Once we got to Ben's room, we saw that the door was closed. I knocked on his door and a few moments later heard a "Come in" call from the other side of the door. I turned to Aline.
"You stay here out of sight, and when I say 'There is someone who wants to see you', reveal yourself." I told her, my voice soft so that Ben couldn't hear me. She smirked and nodded, not saying a word. She moved to behind the wall and we nodded at each other.
I opened the door to see Ben sitting on his bed reading a book. He looked up at me.
"Hey Iz. What's up?" He asked, closing his book and putting it down. I grinned. He looked at me suspiciously, obviously knowing what the look on my face meant.
"There is someone who wants to see you." I told him. Before he could say anything else, Aline revealed herself. Ben's face lit up in happiness.
"Aline!" He exclaimed, looking and sounding exactly like Alec had when he first saw her. She rushed over to him and embraced him in a hug.
"Isabelle told me what happened to you. I am so glad you're alright." She said. They smiled at each other.