Brothers by Blood (Alec Lightwood twin)

Chapter 80

*At Magnus' loft*

LUKE'S POV

I had gone to Magnus' lost to talk to him about the fire message that Cleophas had sent me about Valentine and the Soul Sword.
"So you're telling me your sister's still alive? I don't understand what this has to do with the Downworld." He said, slight confusion in his voice.
"Cleophas sent me this fire message. It appears that Valentine's holding her captive. Magnus, she said he still has the Soul Sword." I revealed.
"That's impossible." He replied.
"Look, I thought the same thing, but the Clave lied." I said.
"I have to tell Alexander." He said, turning to head towards the door, but I grabbed his arm to stop him.
"Wait. Alec is Head of the Institute. He might already know." I suggested.
"No. I just saw him. He would've told me if he knew. He would never keep something this important from me." Magnus insisted, before heading out the door. I knew this was going to end in tears.

*At the Institute*

ALEC'S POV

I was sitting in my office when I felt like I was being watched from my doorway. I looked up to see Magnus in the doorway. Oh no. Had I forgotten another date? Was I supposed to be somewhere?
"Please don't say you've been waiting for me all this time." I said, more of a statement than a question.
"No. Just wanted to see you." He said calmly.
"Is everything OK?" I asked, standing up to walk over to him.
"I thought so. But now I'm not so sure." He said.
"What's going on?" I asked, frowning.
"You tell me, Alexander. From the day I met you, the one thing I knew I could count on from you was honesty. Absolute, total honesty." He said. Oh no, he knows about the Soul Sword.
"I can explain." I said, but
"You knew about the sword?" He said, more of an accusation than anything else.
"I just found out. I swear." I said slightly defensively.
"When? When did you know? Tonight? When I talked about trust. Did you know then?" He asked, firing questions as me. I hung my head.
"I did." I said softly.
"OK." He said simply.
"Look, I was worried that if the Downworld found out, there'd be widespread panic. It could have led to a rebellion." I told him.
"And you didn't trust me to stay quiet?" He countered.
"I didn't say that. I didn't want to ask you to have to keep a secret from your own people. That wouldn't be fair to you." I explained.
"Oh. You're just like the Clave. Making promises you never intend to keep. Oh! Transparency?" He asked.
"Magnus! Magnus, let's not make this personal." I tried to reason with him.
"How can I not make it personal? Valentine wants me dead. He wants all of us dead." He exclaimed.
"I know."
"And after I bared my heart and soul. I told you things I've never told anyone. You looked me straight in the eye and lied." He said, hurt present on his face. Technically, I didn't lie to him because the topic never came up in conversation.
"Magnus, I didn't-" I began, but he cut me off.
"I guess it runs in the family." He snapped. Stalking out of my office.
"Hey! That's not fair. Magnus!" I called after him, but in my heart I knew he was long gone.

BEN'S POV

After the fight that I just heard, I knew that Magnus had stormed out of the room. It was obvious considering that Alec was calling after him, as well as the fact that he didn't even acknowledge that I was there as he walked past me. I knew something had happened and I needed to find Izzy. I'd get her to talk to Alec whilst I went to talk to Magnus. I didn't want either of them doing anything drastic because of this miscommunication. The outcome was unclear, but I definitely knew that it wouldn't be good.

*Later – at Magnus' loft*

LUKE'S POV

Magnus was pacing back and forth in his loft, so much so that I could almost see the anger radiating off him.
"Magnus, calm down." I reasoned.
"Was he ever going to tell me?!" He exclaimed, hardly paying any mind to what I had just said, or even me for that matter.
"I don't know. Look, he didn't tell-" I began, but he cut me off.
"I trusted him, Lucian, more than anyone. And this is what happens?" He said.
"Hey. I know you're hurting. I get it. And I'm sorry. But you gotta settle down." I tried to reason.
"No. Now is not the time for settling down." He snapped.
"Yes, it is. Alec is trying. Trust me, he's on our side. He would never do anything to hurt you." I said.
"It's too late for that now. The Seelie Queen was right. We can't trust the Clave. They've deceived us again. Only now, Valentine is free, and the sword's missing and the survival of the entire Downworld's at stake. We need to tell her." He said.
"I don't trust her. I never have." I told him.
"She's the most powerful person in the Downworld. If we want to stop Valentine we're going to need the Queen's help. I'll arrange a trip to the Court." He said.
Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Magnus narrowed his eyes at his front door, he walked over to the door and opened it, only to reveal one of the Lightwood twins. By the positioning of his deflect rune on his neck, I'm fairly sure it was Ben.
"Did Alec send you?" Magnus snapped.
"No. I overheard you guys arguing. I saw the distressed look on Alec's face as I walked past his office and decided I had to come and see you. I am not being offensive in saying this, but I sensed that one or both of you might do something drastic, so I asked Izzy to talk to Alec, and I decided to talk to you since you probably didn't want to talk to Alec right now." Ben said calmly. Thank goodness he was being calm about it. "Please don't do anything rash because you are angry Magnus. The fate of the entire Shadow World is at stake. If you tell the Seelie Queen about this right now, then it could end up starting a war between the Downworlders and Shadowhunters. Do you really want it to come to that? We have a common enemy. Valentine is trying to destroy the Downworld completely. Despite how untrustworthy and corrupt the Clave has become, they are not attempting to destroy the Downworld in the way that Valentine is planning to, nor do they plan to in any way. I know you don't trust Alec right now, and him lying to you wasn't his best course of action. But he was trying to protect all of you. He does trust you, he just didn't want you to carry the burden of having to lie to your own people and those you love as he has to right now." Ben explained. The look on Magnus' face showed that he had calmed down, if only slightly.
"Was he ever going to tell me?" Magnus demanded.
"I don't know, only Alec can answer that question. However, I do know that he would never do anything to intentionally hurt you." Ben said.
"We can't trust the Clave." Magnus said.
"I agree. However, The Clave do not make up the entirety of the Shadowhunters, just like the Seelies do not make up the entirety of the Downworld." Ben replied, his voice even. I could tell that even he didn't fully trust the Clave, if at all.