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Alec didn’t think much of the first three letters. They all came with the stacks and stacks of mail that piled on his desk everyday.
All three ended up in the garbage bin.
This fourth one, though…
Alec leaned back in his chair, feet propped up on his desk and eyes flitting through the lines on the parchment. He hadn’t been on his feet since the sun went down, so the only light he had to read the letter was the flickering flames in the hearth to his left.
– To the Head of the New York Institute,
The third warning has gone unheeded.
So shall payment be made, Alexander.
They hadn’t mentioned his name before.
Alec tapped his finger against the parchment. His eyes were stinging from the hours upon hours of reading in near darkness. He glanced up at the clock on his wall. Nearly ten already.
He’d been here far too long to think about this clearly. Alec stuffed the letter into a drawer of his desk and stood with a dramatic stretch. The rest of his work would have to wait until tomorrow. If it didn’t, he had a feeling a certain warlock would be quite irritated with him.
And Alec hated it when Magnus was upset with him.
Grabbing his coat from the back of his chair, Alec swooped out of his office and down the hall, nodding his goodbyes to the few hunters that were still working.
He popped up the collar of his coat and hurried down the steps, out the door, and into the snowy, wintery landscape outside the Insitute.
Magnus offered to portal him home many times before, but Alec didn’t see the point in it. He enjoyed the cold anyway. The cool bites at his cheek and the snow in his eyelashes did wonders to wash away the fatigue that came with his duties.
Today might not have been all that terrible if Clary hadn’t botched her mission with Izzy. But even if she was new at this, Alec still had expectations—ones that wouldn’t change simply because she was new to all this.
Izzy’s injury wasn’t anything awful, but it was enough to piss Alec off.
The paperwork didn’t have much to do with the exhaustion pulling at his bones and eyelids. It was the worry. Alec knew as much. He felt the same way when something happened to Jace.
Adrenaline rushes always led to spirals of tired eyes and a groggy mind, for him especially.
Alec found the sidewalk with his shoe and trudged forward, hands stuffed in his pockets. A smile suddenly tugged at his lips.
He imagined Magnus, fretting and frowning over Alec’s rosy cheeks and red nose. Then, the snap of his fingers and the warmth of his hands as he magicked the cold right out of him.
It wasn’t the magic itself that Alec cared about.
It was the person casting it.
A nagging pulse twitched in Alec’s instinct. In the corner of his eye, a dark blur. He imperceptibly quickened his pace, ears perked and eyes dancing.
“You’re quite observant.”
Alec turned. Wind blew against his face, and a torrent of snow drifted past him.
Standing in the dust of white stood a figure with ram’s horns curling out of their head. A warlock of some kind, then.
“Can I help you?” Alec bit out.
The figure snapped. A ball of flame appeared in their hand. “Aren’t you cold, Alexander?”
“Not particularly.” He removed his hands from his pockets and subconsciously prepared them to materialize his bow. Alec did not find it amusing that this warlock knew his name. “If you need something, you can file a report at one of the stations located near—”
“My grievances aren’t with the Shadowhunters,” the warlock prattled.
Alec stepped back cautiously. He wasn’t that far from Magnus. If things took a turn for the worst, he could always head for the wards surrounding the loft.
“Then what do you want?” he asked.
“I want—”
The fireball snapped forward.
Alec dipped to the side, wincing as the blast singed the back of his coat. In a split second, he had his bow in his hand and an arrow pointed at the warlock’s chest. “You’re in violation of the Accords—” He danced around another stream of fire.
The warlock advanced steadily, magic flitting around his hands.
Alec danced around the attacks, nocking and loosening arrows that clattered uselessly against a shield. With each arrow fired, he stepped back, barely gaining the ground he needed.
That meant—
There wasn’t enough time to finish the calculation. Alec hit the end of the sidewalk and bolted to the side, narrowly avoiding a blast of ice. He zig-zagged between cars and put as much distance between him and the warlock as possible.
He could see the light of the apartment building in the distance. If he could just—Alec slid to a stop, bow up.
The warlock stood there, head tilted. “This would all be much easier if you just behaved.”
“Chances of that happening are slim.”
The warlock chuckled. He looked behind him and pointed with his thumb. “What? You trying to make it to Bane’s wards?”
Alec’s breath caught.
“I wouldn’t worry about making it there. You’re already trapped.”
Shit. He was such an idiot. Alec glanced at the ground around him. Sure enough, he’d walked himself right into a runic circle.
To leave it, he’d need time, his stele, and cover.
This situation offered him none of those things.
So Plan B. Alec loaded his bow, aimed it at a window in the distance, and fired. Almost as soon as he did, something suddenly gripped Alec’s body—like an invisible hand squeezing around him. Alec bit back his scream and let his bow clatter to the ground.
The warlock stepped closer to him. “I’m centuries old, child. Did you not think I would use something other than simple elemental attacks?”
“Fuck you,” Alec spat. The pressure tightened. A small scream tore itself out of him.
“I was quite…fascinated that you didn’t respond to my letters, Alexander.” The warlock walked around him, eyes sparkling with amusement. “But now that I see you, I don’t think it was arrogance that stopped you.”
Oh. That’s who this was.
Alec fought for air, not able to do so much as thrash in his bonds. His words came out in a desperate wheeze.
“Yes, yes. You want to know my motivations and all that nonsense. None of that is important for you to know. You’re just a piece of something much larger.”
Any second now. Any second and his message would—
Alec slammed into the concrete with enough force to rattle his brain. His head cracked against the ground, sending bolts of pain crackling through him. He gasped, cherishing the pain if it meant he could finally breathe.
Flashes of blue and orange zipped through the air around him.
Raziel, he looked beautiful.
Magnus, wearing only his sweatpants and a loose silk robe, was beating the living hell out of Alec’s attacker. His eyes were blazing, teeth bared and cat eyes out in full glory.
The other warlock was on his knees, bleeding from just about every place he could.
Magnus raised his hand with a rageful scream.
“Magnus!” Alec pushed himself onto his elbows before the pain became too much. “Alive,” he muttered. “I need him alive.” He got that much out. Alec let himself fall again.
The warlock disappeared with a flourish of Magnus’ fingers. And then he was here. With Alec.
“Alec? Darling, are you—?” Magnus kneeled over him. “Just hold still. I’ll take care of you.”
“You looked really hot doing that,” Alec mumbled.
“Did I really?”
“Mmm.” Alec blinked. There were two Magnuses now. Even better. He grinned. “There’s two of you.”
“Let yourself go to sleep, darling.”
Alec could, now. Because Magnus was here.
“So…what happened?”
Alec took another sip of his tea and glanced up at the team assembled before him. “This really isn’t—” He stopped at the look on Magnus’ face.
The classic: we’ve talked about this before and you know it.
“I’ve been getting letters from someone.”
Jace had a murderous twitch in his jaw. Alec could feel the anger burning through his parabatai . In fact, if Clary wasn’t standing beside him with a hand on his arm, he’d probably be pacing the room and demanding answers.
Alec continued, this time looking at Izzy, who was sprawled out on the couch with Chairman Meow. “The first three were warnings. I didn’t pay much attention to them because I get threats all the time. It’s part of the job.” He set his tea to the side. “A fourth letter came yesterday. That’s the one I asked you to bring, Izzy.”
She dug the note out of her pocket and flipped it open. “The third warning has gone unheeded. So shall payment be made, Alexander.” She scowled. “That’s hardly creative.”
“Something caught my attention on that one, though,” Alec explained.
“He used your name.” Jace shook his head. “You should have told me about this, Alec.”
“I get threats all the time. Hardly any of them are credible. You can’t expect me to come running to you every time I get a mean letter.”
“Actually, I would love if you did that. So shit like this doesn’t happen.”
“You need to refocus your anger,” Magnus snapped at Jace. He grabbed the letter out of Izzy’s hand. “What did you get from the warlock, Jace?”
“The typical bull. Lots of flowery words that don’t add up to much. The Silent Brothers are having their fun with him now.”
Alec leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling. “As much as I appreciate the intervention, guys, everything is taken care of. I’m all healed up, the warlock is in custody, and we’ll get the full picture soon enough.”
“I don’t like that you’re so okay with this, little brother,” Izzy said. “If you hadn't been so close to the loft, you would have never been able to flag Magnus’ attention like that. The arrow you shot was lucky, if anything—”
“Magnus, where did the arrow land?” Alec asked.
Magnus frowned. “The armchair. It tore a centuries-old cushion in the process.”
“Not an accident, Izzy. Everything turned out fine—”
“Everything turned out fine, except for your concussion and bruised ribs,” Jace snapped. “You could have died.”
Alec pressed the bridge of his nose and tried to hold in the anger building inside him. “Raziel…”
“I think, Alexander, that your friends are trying to say that next time, we’d like to know if you’re getting a repeated threat.” Magnus lowered himself onto the couch next to Alec. He brushed some of the loose hair out of Alec’s eye. “Does that sound fair?”
“Yeah,” he breathed. “Yeah, that’s fair.”
“Good. You three can leave now.”
All three began their protests, but the portal was already sliding over all three of them. As soon as the portal shut, the silence snapped into place.
“Are you alright?”
“I’m—” Alec pressed his lips together. Honesty. They talked about that a lot. “My head hurts,” he whispered. Warm hands touched his temples. The blissful feeling of Magnus made the flicker of pain dwindle.
“How’s that?”
“Wonderful.” Alec sighed, letting his eyes flutter shut. “Thank you. For understanding.”
“Of course, darling. Just…promise me something.”
“What?”
“Shoot me a text before you leave the Institute. That way I know if something like this happens again.”
“Okay. I promise.”