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Alec wakes to a throbbing headache, the feeling of hands on his body, and his head pillowed on something soft.
“Lucifer, we need to call an ambulance!” Chloe’s voice demands.
“Believe me, Detective, the last thing Alexander needs is a hospital,” Lucifer reassures.
“He was engulfed in flames! He could have third-degree burns.”
“Look at his body, Detective. Do you see any burns on him?” The hands on his body move to his legs, patting them down.
“I- I don’t,” Chloe stutters out. “How is that possible?”
“The power of a Nephilim is quite strong.”
“What does that mean? What are you talking about?” Chloe insists.
“Please stop shouting,” Alec groans. He raises a hand to his face to rub at his temple before swiping it down. He opens his eyes to see Chloe and Lucifer kneeling next to him. Lucifer’s jacket is gone which he can assume is what’s currently cushioning his head.
Alec thinks back to how he ended up on the floor, and looking around he sees that they’re still in the warehouse. The summoning circle is a few feet away from him and he immediately remembers what he saw. He sits up quickly, regretting the movement as the room begins to spin.
“Easy there, angel boy,” Lucifer says, steadying him. “You took quite the fall and I am not about to have you passing out on us again.”
He nods slowly to not make the nausea worse. He can feel Chloe’s eyes burning a hole into the side of his head. He turns his head and sees the many questions swimming in her eyes.
“Are you alright?” He asks, watching her eyes widen at the words.
“Am I alright?” She asks incredulously. “You were engulfed in flames and you’re asking me?”
“It’s his heart of gold,” Lucifer pipes up from his other side. “Always worrying about others before himself.”
Alec snorts but regrets it as his head starts to spin again. He rubs at his temples, trying to stop the world from turning when he feels a hand on his shoulder. The headache he was sporting slowly ebbs away. He looks at the hand and follows it to Lucifer’s face. He arches an eyebrow, wondering why the Devil is taking away his pain when he’s known for inflicting it.
“Don’t look at me like that, Alexander,” Lucifer smirks. “It will make me think other thoughts.”
Alec rolls his eyes and goes to push himself up. Chloe rushes to stand with him to give him a steady hand.
“Easy,” she says. “You were out for a solid five minutes.”
“I’m alright.” He sends her a smile. “Thank you, though.”
He walks over to where he tossed his stuff earlier. Everything seems to be intact but his phone has three missed calls from Jace. Alec silently curses himself for not blocking the bond a bit more before stepping into the circle. He redials the number and before the first ring ends, Jace is answering.
“Are you alright? What happened?” Jace gets straight to the point.
“I’m fine,” Alec sighs, grabbing his other gear. He can hear Lucifer and Chloe arguing behind him, but he ignores them to focus on his brother. “Just a bad run-in with some demons.”
“Alec, it felt like you were burning.”
“I was,” he tells Jace truthfully. “Thankfully, Magnus spelled my pants to keep me cool from the L.A. heat and apparently that means from any heat, including fire.”
He inspects his pants as he speaks. He’s going to have to ask Magnus if he’d be willing to do that with all his pants. Too many times has he had to throw a pair out due to venom spit from demons. Jace’s laughter rings in his ears.
“I’m glad to hear that,” Jace chuckles. “I was about five minutes away from having Clary portal me down there.”
“No portals necessary,” Alec reassures. “Not even here a day and I already got into trouble. Are you sure you didn’t rub some of your bad luck on me before I left?”
“Hey!” Jace barks through the line, though he’s laughing. “I am not that bad.” Alec doesn’t reply to that, remembering all the times Jace has been in over his head on patrols. “Okay, maybe I have, and would you stop with the eyebrows? I can feel them judging me from all the way over here.”
Alec huffs, bending down to grab his stele. He runs it over his iratze again and sighs in relief as any lingering aches go away.
“The eyebrows have relaxed,” he jokes. “I’m sorry for worrying you, but I promise I’m okay.”
Footsteps approach from behind him and he sees an angry Chloe and an apologetic looking Lucifer heading his way.
“I gotta go,” Alec rushes out. “Patrol is about to finish up.”
“Alright, but just let me know if you need me,” Jace offers. “I could use a vacation.”
Alec gives a hurried goodbye, hanging up the phone and stuffing it into his pocket. He grabs the rest of his discarded items, slinging his quiver back on and glamoring his bow.
“Are you going to explain to me what really happened here?” Chloe demands. She jabs her thumb in Lucifer’s direction. “I’m getting sick of his games and that this is all the work of a greater demon.”
“Detective, it is not a game, I assure you. Alexander, back me up here,” Lucifer urges. “Tell the Detective that I am telling the truth.”
He can feel another headache coming on even with the freshly applied iratze. This is like dealing with Clary when she first joined the Shadow World all over again. Just the thought of that sparks his fight or flight response. He takes a deep breath to calm himself and begins.
“That over there,” he points to the markings on the ground, “is a summoning circle. It’s used to summon demonic beings to the mortal realm, which is the one we reside in. The killer you are looking for, named Azazel, is trying to summon another greater demon to this realm, but it was botched. He’s killing mundanes to take their souls to power the ritual. Only he messed up.”
He gestures for Chloe to follow him back to the ring. He points to the markings that he had noticed were wrong.
“You see those two symbols over there? Those are not in the correct positions,” he explains. “Though, even if they were, the summoning wouldn’t have worked because the greater demon he’s trying to summon is currently lost in Limbo.”
“Limbo,” she says slowly. He knows the look she’s sporting means she doesn’t believe a single word that’s coming out of his mouth, but he powers on.
“Limbo is a place where lesser demons can cross to get from Hell to the Mortal Realm. While it is easy for them to travel through these dimensions, it’s not as easy for greater beings. Many people have been lost to Limbo, never to be seen again. It seems that Azazel has found a way to make it work, but he got the summoning wrong and it backfired. You can tell from the scorch marks on the ground around the circle and the broken crates.” He gestures to the surrounding area.
“Azazel wants to bring back a being from a place which has never been done before, to my knowledge. I’ve read enough books on summonings and Limbo to know that you would need the power of at least ten mundane souls to maybe get this to work, but even then, it’s unknown if it would or not.”
“Three people have already died to this man and you’re saying, what? It’s to bring his friend back from Limbo?” She scoffs and looks to the roof like she’s asking for guidance. “Even if I did believe all of this,” she gestures at the circle. “I still have a killer out there who is going to keep going after people until he achieves a goal that might not even work. So how do we catch him?”
“Did the previous victims have anything in common?” He asks, possibly already knowing the answer. After the visit to the previous victim’s house, he’s eighty percent sure that he knows.
“Well, they were men, all older brothers aging from seventeen to twenty-four years old,” Chloe starts listing off. “All had similar markings on their body. Died from asphyxiation, but no visible marks on the neck or anywhere on the body. The coroner noticed specific calluses on their hands, but we couldn’t connect that to anything.”
“Archery,” Alec supplies.
“Archery?” Alec holds out his hand to her, showing off the calluses on his hand. He’s done archery for a decade now, and they’re a permanent marking on his hand.
“We get them when we don’t wear protective gloves while practicing. I’ve been known to forget quite often when I practice,” he laughs. “Whenever my husband catches me without them he magics a pair on for me.”
“Magic you say,” Lucifer pipes up from where he’s been silently inspecting the circle. “So not only are you married to a man but a warlock too. My, my Alexander, how scandalous of you.”
Alec and Chloe shoot him a glare from where they’re standing. Lucifer raises his arms in defeat and turns back to inspecting the circle.
“For another time then,” Lucifer huffs.
“So he’s going after older brothers that are archers,” she concludes. “That doesn’t really narrow down potential victims, but we can start looking at archery clubs around the city and see what we can find. Maybe we’ll get lucky and they all went to the same club.”
“Look for anyone with the name Alex, Alec, and Alexander,” he admits. “I think Azazel is going after people who are like me.”
“Like you? Why would he do that?” she asks.
“I shot him with an arrow in the chest and sent him back to hell last year.” Lucifer barks out a laugh at that, walking towards them.
“Dear brother got one-upped by Nephilim? Oh, he is definitely out for revenge.”
“Okay, even if I did believe this whole angel and demon nonsense,” she waves a hand nonchalantly. “Does this mean that you are in danger?”
“Most likely,” he sighs; this whole favor is getting worse by the minute. “Azazel probably has been stewing in Duduael waiting for an opportunity to get back at me. The fact that he’s trying to summon my husband’s father really nails that on the coffin.”
“Wait, your husband’s father?” Lucifer is practically bouncing up and down with excitement. “How did dear father-in-law get sent to Limbo?”
“Magnus sent him after he found out his father made a deal with me to get Magnus’ magic back. It’s a long story that I don’t really feel like telling right now,” he finishes, receiving a pout from Lucifer.
“And Magnus’ father, what does he have to do with all of this?” Chloe asks, trying to get the conversation back on track.
“I don’t know. Magnus told me that Azazel and Asmodeus never really-”
“Asmodeus is Magnus’ father?” Lucifer bellows, interrupting Alec. “Of course that slimeball would be involved in this. My brother cut off contact with me centuries ago. Bastard decided that I was too much of a child to be around. Should have known it was for ulterior motives. How old is Magnus? Would he happen to be around 400 years old?”
“Not the point, Lucifer,” Chloe grits outs. “Okay, we should get back to the precinct and start looking up archery clubs.”
“Yeah,” he agrees, but grabs Chloe’s arm before she makes her way towards the exit. Lucifer is already out the door.
“I’m sorry,” he rushes out. “I know this really isn’t what you expected when Lucifer brought me here and I just want to say, I never thought it would revolve around me the way it has.”
“Alec,” Chloe sighs. “I don’t understand what’s going on, but for some reason, I believe you more than I believe him, even if none of this makes sense. Lucifer is a good guy when he wants to be, but every time he’s tried to explain, it always felt like a joke. You though? You told me everything like you were recounting a police report and it makes me want to believe you.”
The more time he spends with Chloe the more he sees her . He’s going to have to make that phone call to Idris after all of this is over.
“You are not the first person in my life to be thrown into the Shadow World later on in life,” Alec laughs as the image of a stubborn Clary pops up in his head. “Though you are taking it a million times better than she did.”
“Glad I’m not being annoying,” she laughs as well. “Come on, I’m sure Lucifer is about a second away from barging back in here.”
They make their way towards the exit before Alec remembers and excuses himself. He grabs one of his arrows and makes his way back to the summoning circle. With quick movements, he scratches and destroys the markings so that no one who comes across the circle can reactivate it and hurt themselves. Satisfied, Alec makes his way back to Chloe who has a questioning look in her face.
“Wouldn’t want a mundane to come in here and reactivate it,” he clarifies.
Chloe hums and looks back at the circle, terrified. When they get outside Lucifer is surprisingly in his car, sporting an irritated look on his face. If Alec had to guess, he’s upset about his brothers.
“I’ll see you at the precinct?” Alec points over to Lucifer. “I think he and I need to talk.”
“Yeah, sure.” Chloe’s eyes don’t leave Lucifer as she walks towards her car. “See you two in a bit.”
The car ride to the precinct is quiet. Anytime Alec looks over at the Devil he sees the man’s white knuckle grip on the steering wheel. He knows he should ask what’s wrong, but doesn’t know where to start. Luckily for him, Lucifer breaks the silence.
“Would I have been that bad of an uncle?” Lucifer blurts out.
“What?” That was the last thing he thought the Devil would say.
“I know I have been stingy about children and I dislike being around them, but I could have been a fun uncle!”
“You can’t be serious right now,” Alec sighs. He looks to the sky and wonders if Raziel is laughing at him.
“I’m completely serious, Alexander! I know Asmodeus didn’t like how I ran things in Hell, but I at least thought he would share with me that he had a son!” Lucifer all but shouts. Alec covers a laugh behind his hand before schooling his expression.
“You don’t scream the responsible type,” Alec smoothly speaks. “Maybe Asmodeus just wanted to raise Magnus on his own?” Even Alec winces at that sentence. After what Magnus told him of the horrors that Asmodeus made him do, he would never defend that monster.
“Oh please,” Lucifer snorts. “My brother is a lot of things and being able to raise a child isn’t one of them. Let me guess, he forced Magnus to do unspeakable things under the guise that it was his right. That it was his duty as the heir to Edom to reign down on those beneath them.”
Alec doesn’t have to answer that. He’s pretty sure the anger on his face says it all. He too easily remembers the nights after Iris took Magnus and dug up old memories that Magnus would have preferred to have kept in the past. Too many times has Alec had to hold his husband as he cried that he was a monster and didn’t deserve to be loved. Alec held him tight every time, reminding Magnus of all the good he has done and how being manipulated as a child was not his fault. That he is loved by so many people.
“That is true,” Alec agrees easily, fists clenching for a moment before relaxing them. “If it does make you feel better, Magnus has more of your traits than he does of his father.”
Lucifer huffs, shaking his head. The car has come to a stop outside the precinct but neither of them make a move to get out of the car
“I’m serious. You both own well known clubs in your cities. You’re not ashamed about your sexual preferences and who knows about it. You both help those less fortunate than you, even if your dealings don’t end happily.” That gets a laugh out of the Devil, but Alec continues to rattle comparisons off. “You both right your wrongs even if you don’t see it. And, you both care about the people closest to you.” Lucifer looks over to him at that remark.
“You may not see it Lucifer, but you got me out of that summoning circle, moved my unconscious body away from it, and proceeded to use what looks to be an expensive suit jacket to cushion my head.” Alec nods to the dirty piece of clothing between them. “For someone who claims to be heartless, you have a lot of heart.”
Alec’s eyes might be deceiving him, but he’s pretty sure there’s a faint glimmer to the Devil’s eyes. Lucifer coughs and goes about shutting off the car and getting out. Alec watches the man press his hands down the front of his button-up before walking to his trunk to pull out a clean suit jacket to throw on.
“Right, well Alexander, we should head inside before the Detective starts to get suspicious.” Lucifer waves at the entrance to the precinct. Alec shakes his head at the man as he gets out of the car. For his first day in L.A., it’s not turning out as bad as he expected, sans the whole stepping into a summoning circle.
They have been at the precinct for an hour now. Chloe got them an unoccupied interrogation room to start going through the lists of the local archery clubs around the city. Thankfully there are not a lot of archery clubs, but there are a lot of names to go through.
Lucifer got annoyed about five minutes into the search, stating this was boring and departed for Lux to check up on his club and hasn’t been heard from since. That left him and Chloe to go through the list of names.
“Are you sure you’re okay going through these files with me?” Chloe asks for the millionth time.
“I assure you, Detective Decker-”
“Please call me Chloe.”
“Chloe,” Alec corrects, continuing to flip through the papers in front of him. He looks up and offers a smile. “This is the bread and butter of my job in New York. I sit behind my desk and do nothing but look through reports and sign off on patrols.”
“What exactly is it that you do?”
“I am the Head of the New York Institute. I am in charge of all shadowhunters that reside under its roof. I approve of all patrols, reports, and arrests that happen within the Shadow World of New York and the surrounding states. I used to go on patrols myself before I started working on my current project that takes up most of my time now.”
“It must be a big project to take you off patrols,” she comments, obviously trying to get more information out of him.
“It is,” Alec grins. “I am working with other Institutes around the globe on getting them set up with Downworld Deputy Programs with their local downworld residents. After the success of the program in New York, other institutes around the world started to call me about how they can start their own to bridge the gap that our ancestors created. I’m actually in the process of helping ten different cities launch theirs.”
“That’s incredible,” Chloe states. “So you truly are a pretty big deal then. Lucifer’s words, not mine.”
“I guess you could say that,” he shrugs. “I just see it as the right thing to do. It took a few encouraging nudges from my husband, but I finally got my head into gear and started changing how we run things around the world and it’s about time that we did it.”
“So your husband, Magnus.” Chloe puts her elbows on the table and her head in her hands. “Tell me more about him. Lucifer seemed thrilled at the idea that he’s a magician.”
“Warlock, actually,” Alec laughs as Chloe’s face reddens. He looks at the wedding band on his finger.
“He’s the best thing to ever happen to me,” he admits. “It’s unheard of, a Shadowhunter and a Downworlder getting together, let alone marrying each other. The hatred and bigotry that my people have held over Magnus’ people and others with demon blood in them were strong when we first met. It was more with the older generations, but me, my siblings, and other Shadowhunters my age are changing that. We were faced with a lot of challenges at the beginning of our relationship.”
“How long have you been together now?”
“We just celebrated our one year anniversary of us getting together. Our wedding anniversary is in November.”
“Wow, that’s so sudden,” Chloe comments.
“Well, when you know, you know,” Alec chuckles. “I have never felt the way I have with Magnus. He is my other half. It’s said in my society that we Nephilim love once and fiercely. They are right. I will never love another person the way I love Magnus.”
“That sounds like something out of a fairy tale.”
“Most fairy tales and legends are true,” he says. “If you truly want to believe everything I told you then you’re going to have to start believing Lucifer too.”
“That’s easier said than done,” Chloe snorts. “I don’t know half of the time if Lucifer is telling the truth or not.”
“He’s always telling the truth,” Alec attests. “He may be a fallen angel but he has no need to lie when he punishes those who do.”
Chloe leans back in her chair and stares at him like he just told her where to find the Mortal Cup. He understands the shocked look at the revelation; it's a lot to take in. If he were in Chloe’s situation he probably would have locked himself away in an asylum for talking about angels and demons.
“You know,” he interrupts her thoughts. “This is probably a terrible thing to ask and feel free to tell me off but, were you by chance adopted?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Chloe demands sitting up straight. Alec holds his hands up in peace.
“It’s just that you remind me of someone I know, who is also a Nephilim,” he acquiesces. He pulls up his contacts on his phone. “Her name is Lydia Branwell. She once mentioned having an older sibling that was taken from her family at a young age and you share a striking resemblance to her.”
Alec holds out his phone to Chloe. She looks down at the photo he’s pulled up of Lydia, a young female with a pulled back ponytail wearing a dress suit. Seeing the photo and Chloe next to each other it’s hard not to see the resemblance.
“I don’t- I don’t know what to say about that,” she slowly gets out. “Why say anything?”
“Because of your Sight, Chloe. You have the ability to see through my glamors that mundanes should not. The runes on my body are not to be seen by the mundane eye; if the Clave were to find out that I am revealing them to you, I could be severely punished for it,” Alec confesses, his expression softening. “I also know that Lydia has said nothing but wonderful things about her older sister who is missing, and I think you both deserve to know the truth of whether or not you are siblings.”
Chloe hands his phone back to him silently. He allows her to process that information. It’s a lot to take in, especially with him only being here for a single day. Good thing I got here early then, he thinks as he watches Chloe come to a conclusion.
“I understand what you’re saying,” she finally says. “Just give me time to think about it? I don’t know if I am ready to find out that my life has been a lie.”
“It’s not been a lie,” Alec soothes, his hand reaching out to cover hers. “I am sure that the mundanes who raised you are wonderful people. This does not take away from that. Even if it is revealed that you are a Nephilim, you still have the choice to continue the life you have made here. No one can take that from you. The Clave will have to go through me and Lydia before they can even lay a finger on you or your family if it is discovered you are the missing Branwell.”
Alec squeezes her hand before letting go.
“Now let’s finish going through these stacks,” he adds. “Wouldn’t want Lucifer to drop by and complain we haven’t made any progress.”
Chloe laughs at the remark, shaking her head. They fall back into companionable silence as they sift through all of the clubs’ names and members.
They’re on the last stack when Alec’s phone starts to ring. He doesn’t recognize the number as he presses the button.
“Hello?”
“Hello, Mr. Lightwood.” Alec sits up straighter, he knows that voice. “It’s been a while hasn’t it?”
“How did you get this number?” he demands, causing Chloe to whip her head towards him. Seems like that is a common question she hears on the job.
“There’s no need to speak in that tone with me. I just want to speak to the man who’s the reason for all of this.”
“I’m not the one that’s killing people, Azazel.” At the mention of his name, Chloe goes out the door to call for a tech to trace the number.
“Aren’t you though? The way I see it, none of this would have happened if you hadn’t sent me back to Duduael the way you did.” Alec’s grip on the phone tightens. He knows that it’s not his fault but something in the back of his mind is already weighing on him.
“You swapped my husband’s body with a mass murderer,” he seethes. “I should have aimed for your head.”
“Be careful what you say, Mr. Lightwood. We wouldn’t want our... mutual friend to get hurt.” Alec’s blood turns cold as he listens to a person struggling and cursing in the background. Chloe comes back into the room and halts her movement as he leans a hand on the table. He could pick that voice out in a crowd of a million people.
“Magnus?” he whispers.
“Alexander, don’t listen to him!” He hears his husband shout. “Don’t give him what he wants!”
“That’s enough out of you, dear nephew,” Azazel chides.
“I swear to the angel if you hurt him,” he croaks. Chloe grabs his arm in support.
“We wouldn't want that now, would we? You and I both know how fickle warlocks can be. Especially warlocks that are royalty. Well,” Azazel chuckles through the phone, “former royalty. You and Bane made sure there was nothing left of Edom after your daring rescue mission.”
“What do you want?”
“You of course. What better way to bring back Asmodeus than with the man who destroyed both of us.” He can hear chains rattling in the background and he assumes Magnus is struggling against whatever he is bound to. “I’ll text you the address. I think it’s a given that I expect you to come alone.”
The dial tone rings loud and clear. Lowering the phone to the table, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath.
“Alec,” Chloe says softly. Her hand is rubbing up and down his arm. He doesn’t realize it’s because he’s shaking until he sees his hands and the vice grip he has around his phone.
“He has my husband.”
“We’re going to get him back,” she states. “We won’t let Azazel hurt him.”
Alec nods wordlessly and rubs at his eyes. This is just his damn luck. He doesn’t know how Azazel got to him. Magnus should have been safe in New York. That was the whole point of not telling him and now Magnus is in the hands of the man who got him tortured.
Tortured because of you, his dark thoughts tell him. He grabs his coffee mug off the table and flings it at the wall, shattering it.
“Dammit!” He yells as a man enters the room.
“Dan, please tell me we got something,” Chloe pleads. Judging by the grimace on his face, they weren’t able to trace the call.
“I’m sorry, Chloe, the call wasn’t long enough.” Chloe curses under her breath and thanks Dan before the man leaves the two alone.
“Alec,” Chloe tries again, approaching him. His phone pings and an address appears. Judging by his vague knowledge of L.A. from the few times he’s visited, he’s pretty sure that the location is an abandoned factory.
“He said to come alone. I can’t- I won't risk my husband’s life.”
“I understand that, I do,” Chloe brushes his shoulder, “but we should at least tell Lucifer. I won’t get the police involved if this is the work of a greater demon, but please,” she begs. “Let me call Lucifer.”