Hell's Angel✗ // JACE WAYLAND

XXVI

I woke up alone. The room wasn't familiar, nor was the smell that drifted through it. It smelled of herbs and... alcohol?

"Oh good, you're awake."

I blinked up at Magnus who was now standing in the doorway, a margarita glass in his hand. He looked a little fuzzy.

"Where the hell am I?" I yawned, raising my hand to scratch my head. I felt like I hadn't bathed in days.

Magnus only rolled his eyes. "She sleeps for a week and is still tired when she wakes up."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "What are y– A WEEK?"

He gave me one of his looks. "Well that is what I said, Athena."

I gritted my teeth. "What the hell have I been doing asleep for a week? I'm supposed to be–" My breath caught in my throat as a hellish idea passed through my mind. "Where's Elias? Is he okay? Is the institute okay? Is J–"

"Athena!" Magnus raised his voice, cutting me off. He gave me a moment to let me catch my breath before continuing. "Everything is...fine."

I narrowed my eyes, scrutinizing his face. "You hesitated."

He sighed, setting his margarita down on the dresser to his right. "Well what do you expect? After everything that happened, you can't expect your relationships with any of them to be normal again."

That set a lump in my throat, but speaking of things that happened... "Why didn't you tell me?"

I didn't want to think about Eli or Izzy or Alec or Jace. I wanted to pretend that things were okay for right now.

Magnus feigned innocence. "They're a lot of things I choose to keep from people. You'll have to be a bit more spec–"

"THAT I'M HALF DEMON YOU IDIOT!" No holding back now.

Magnus's look suddenly became solemn. "How did you find out?"

"Does that even matter?" I cried. "Why would you not tell me? And what the fuck is my real name because I gained enough fucking information to know that it wasn't Athena."

"Why do you assume that I know th–"

"You're Magnus Fucking Bane! You know everything!"

"Well, I–"

"And you knew my mother so you're bound to know something! So start. Talking."

Magnus seemed more annoyed than nerved. "Okay, fine. Yes, your name is not Athena."

"Yeah, I kn–"

"It's Azel, same as the demon I imagine you met at some point. I don't understand how you could possibly know any of what you're telling me if that wasn't the case." He paused, staring at the edge of my bed as if he saw a ghost before his eyes met mine once again. "Your mother used to call you Hazel because of your eyes."

I cast my gaze towards the sheets beneath me, not able to look at the somber look in Magnus's eyes anymore. Especially not when he talked about my mother.