Not by Blood - BEING REWRITTEN IN SEPARATE STORY

Chapter Seventeen

EDITED 5/30/2020

Sorry to keep you waiting! I worked really hard on this chapter and making sure that it came out all right. Enjoy.

Magnus stood outside the door to Alec's office and listened to the sounds of crashing and breaking glass from within. He flinched when there was a particularly big crash. He turned to Izzy who was leaning against the wall across from the door.

"Is Jace here?" Magnus asked warily. "Or perhaps Samuel? Just in case he throws something when the door opens."

"No, Jace is out and Simon hasn't been here since the breakup."

"I was really looking forward to seeing one of them get hit by a flying stapler." Magnus griped before pulling the door open and walking into the office. He was struck silent by the scene he walked in on. The shelves and tables were bare, the things that once decorated them sat broken on the floor. The mirror that had been hung on the wall near the couch was cracked and had blood near the site of impact, indicating that Alec had punched it. Alec was standing in front of his desk, hunched over and gripping the sides of it, blood running down his knuckles as his shoulders heaved with how heavy his breathing was.

Magnus waved a hand and blue magic flowed out over the shattered glass and mended everything that had been broken. Knick knacks and decorations flew back to where they belonged, and the mirror looked like new. Alec straightened up as his things returned to his desk and he slowly turned around.

"Alexander." Magnus breathed as he took a few steps forward.

Alec sniffed and looked down at his bloody hands, turning them over to examine them. "I, uh," he took a shuddering breath. "I think I broke some stuff."

His face was red and puffy, as were his eyes. His cheeks were tear stained, a few tears still falling down his cheeks.

"I'll say." Magnus closed the distance between the two of them, grabbing Alec's wrists and letting his magic flow down into his boyfriend's hands. He looked down at Alec's hands and watched as the skin healed, knitting itself back together. Once the skin was healed, he vanished the blood, cleaning Alec's hands and he lifted them to his lips, kissing them. "Isabelle told me what happened."

"I feel like a failure." Alec admitted, freeing his hands from Magnus' as he rounded his desk and sat in the plush chair. "I just, how can I go on, leading these people and acting like I'm not the guy who let Valentine get away? The guy who let my sister's... I don't know what he is to her now, but he's obsessed with her. He'll find a way to hurt her, Magnus. I did this."

"Izzy was the one in charge of the transfer. Not you." Magnus reasoned.

"But I put her in charge of it." Alec returned.

"No matter what I say," Magnus sighed, sitting in the chair across from Alec's desk. "You will find a way to spin it and make it your fault."

"That isn't what I'm doing!" Alec defended, sitting up straight and looking at Magnus indignantly.

"That's exactly what you're doing." Magnus replied calmly, leaning forward in his seat. "I'm not trying to place the blame on Isabelle. The blame belongs to whomever on the team set Valentine free. Okay? You and your sister are blameless in this."

Alec shook his head. "The clave won't see it that way."

"They may not." Magnus agreed, nodding his head. "But what's important is that you do not blame yourself."

"How can I not blame myself, Magnus?" Alec pulled on his hair. "Valentine is out there again! He'll probably try to decimate the Downworld again. That includes my soulmate, my daughter, my sister's soulmate. Simon, Luke, all of them! That's on me, whether I'm at fault or not. It happened at my Institute, under my supervision."