Not by Blood - BEING REWRITTEN IN SEPARATE STORY

Chapter Twenty

EDITED 5/30/2020

"What happened?" Alec yelled as he ran into the infirmary with Clary close behind him.

"I don't know." Izzy replied. "I found him like this in my room."

She gestured to the young boy in the hospital bed. He was unconscious, pale and he had a bandage wrapped around his head.

"Oh my God, Max." Clary gasped, taking a hold of her younger brother's limp hand.

"We should send him to Idris." Alec told his sisters. He was gripping the bed rail so hard that his knuckles were turning white. The white hot fury was coursing through his veins and making his blood boil. This happened in his institute, to his younger brother. "See what they can do."

"The medics said that in his condition he won't be able to survive the transfer." Izzy said, shaking her head.

The siblings were silent for a moment until Jace rushed into the room, Sebastian close behind him.

"Max!" Jace gasped, rushing up to the end of the bed. "We checked the Institute's security camera footage. Whoever attacked him is somehow covering their tracks."

"Has he been able to talk?" Sebastian asked, staring down at the boy lying unconscious in the bed.

Izzy heaved a sigh. "Not yet. He's unconscious."

"I don't understand." Clary cried, leaning into her brother's side. "Who'd want to hurt him?" Alec wrapped an arm around his sister's waist but didn't react anymore than that, his gaze remaining on his baby brother's slack features. Clary wrapped her arms around Alec's torso and clung to him, tears beginning to pool in her eyes.

"I'm going to find out." Alec grumbled, gripping his sister tighter.

"Get Robert and Maryse here." Jace told his Parabatai. "The rest of this will figure this out."

"I'll stay with Max." Sebastian volunteered. "If he regains consciousness, perhaps he can ID his attacker."

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Jace led the way into Izzy's room, walking unsteadily. "From the traces of blood outside the door, it seems Max was attacked somewhere else and then he came here." Jace told Clary.

His voice was hoarse and wavery, he almost sounded like he was about to throw up. Clary didn't blame him. The sight of her younger brother laying in that hospital bed, unconscious was enough to make her stomach turn.

"Do you have any twos?" Clary asked, sitting cross legged on her bed in Magnus' loft, smiling at her younger brother who was laying on his stomach across from her.

"Goldfish." Max beamed, proud that for once, his sister wouldn't be getting a card from him.

Clary chuckled. "It's 'go fish' Max. Not Goldfish."

"Oh." Max said, then he shrugged. "Close enough."

Clary laughed again as she plucked a card from the middle stack, looking up to catch Alec's eye as he stood in the doorway, arms crossed leaning against the door jamb, watching his two youngest siblings with a warm smile. She grinned as he noticed that he'd been caught and he winked at her.

"Got any fours?" Max asked excitedly, moving the game along.

"He was probably looking for help." Clary said, trying to force herself to stay in the moment.

They crouched down next to the blood stain in Izzy's carpet and grasped each other's hands, seeking comfort from each other.

"Clary." Jace said all of the sudden as he reached under the bed. Clary's eyes snapped to the object that he'd pulled out.