Chapter Eight

Magnus was startled awake the next day by the sound of someone kicking the chain link that made up his kennel. He was surprised he’d fallen asleep at all, if only briefly, and it was probably more from sheer exhaustion than comfort that he was able to close his eyes and get some semblance of rest. “Rise and shine, mutt,” Hodge said, shifting the two plates in his grip so he could unlock the kennel door and let himself inside. “Time for breakfast. I wouldn’t want you to think we’re bad hosts during your stay here.”

 

His nose smelled the contents on the plates even before Hodge dumped them into the two empty bowls that he had noticed the day before. The agent’s face twisted into a devious grin and Magnus was instantly suspicious. “You can eat your proper meal,” he said, indicating the first bowl that appeared to be wet dog food straight from the can. “It has all the nutrients an animal like you needs. However, if that’s not up to your liking, then you have option two. People food is not recommended for animals,” he explained, touching the side of the bowl with the tip of his boot. 

 

Magnus glanced between the two, knowing that there had to be some sort of catch. The sight of the medium-rare steak and potatoes had his stomach growling and he was suddenly reminded that he and Alec never had a chance to stop for lunch the day before. When was the last time he’d eaten? Some time the day of the full moon surely. It was far too long for someone with a werewolf’s metabolism, that was for sure.

 

The wind shifted again and a metallic scent wafted by and he wrinkled his nose. “You drugged it.”

 

Hodge’s grin turned into something a little more feral. “That would be an awfully inappropriate way for me to treat an ‘honored guest,’” he said and Magnus could hear the air quotes around the words. “But consider it a little motivation to make the right choices. If you continue to hold on to this notion that you're human, you’ll get your steak dinner and all its extra added seasoning. If you accept the truth about your existence, realize that there’s nothing remotely human about you and that you’re just a dog in need of a master, your daily meal will be provided to you free and clear of any additives.” 

 

Magnus glanced between the two bowls again. His nose didn’t pick up on any drugs in the dog food but he refused to touch the vile concoction. Maybe if he’d been in his wolf form it would have been different but a human stomach was not intended to eat Purina Moist and Meaty or whatever the hell it was they’d dumped from a can. “I can see you’re having trouble deciding — such a shame after we went out of our way to take care of you. I’ll give you some time to make up your mind but I expect one bowl or the other to be gone by the time I come back. You won’t appreciate the repercussions of turning down our kindness. Valentine wants to get a good look at you…and he wants to start your training. You are probably going to want to be well-fed for that.”

 

The kennel door was locked again and Magnus was left alone with his thoughts once more. The steak and potatoes were still steaming in the early morning chill and Magnus’ stomach growled once more. He knew that Hodge wanted him to go for the human food, knowing that Magnus probably would refuse to stoop low enough to eat the contents of the other bowl, so the drugs really hadn’t been much of a surprise when his nose had first picked them up. He chewed on his lip as he considered his options. The dog food was certainly out of the question, no doubt that it would only make him sick if he even attempted it. The steak practically had him drooling but the drugs were worrisome. On one hand, he was fairly certain that they wouldn’t go through all this trouble to get him here just to kill him after a single night but there were still plenty of other ways a chemical cocktail could make him suffer. 

 

No, the only thing he could do was to ignore both and take whatever punishment came his way for turning down his kidnapper’s hospitality or whatever bullshit Hodge was trying to pass it off as. He could go a few more days without food, he told himself, and as long as he survived those next few days Luke and the pack and Alec were coming for him. Just hang on, his partner’s voice rang in his head. Just hang on a little bit longer, Magnus. That’s all you have to do for us. We’ll be there as soon as we can.

 

By the time Hodge and Valentine returned, it was nearly noon from what Magnus could tell by the sun’s position in the sky above. Both men entered the kennel though Valentine lingered by the door, just out of range of Magnus’ chain. “This is really the one you picked? He’s smaller than I expected.”

 

Magnus felt his breath leave his body as a memory flashed through his head. His father, after paying Magnus’ own girlfriend to change him and locking him up, remarking something nearly identical upon seeing his son’s canine form. He felt himself shrinking under the gaze of the two men, his wolf screaming at him to run, fight, flee.

 

“He’ll do,” Hodge replied, seemingly ignoring Magnus’ reaction to the comment. “Why go after the Alpha when the runt will suffice? We can still test the serum on this one and fine-tune it for the others. They’ll fall in line soon enough.”

 

The blond man glanced over at the two bowls that Magnus had ignored with a deep sigh. “And here I had such hope for you. I thought you’d be smart enough to make the right choice. I did tell you there would be consequences for your actions, did I not?”

 

It was then that Magnus noticed the cattle prod that had been dangling from the other man’s wrist. “No,” he pleaded, backing himself into a corner of the kennel to try and get away. He still remembered the pain from the previous day. “No, please…”

 

“Quiet, dog,” Valentine growled as Hodge stepped closer to Magnus. “You’ll do as your master commands and mutts who don’t behave get punished until they learn their place.” He nodded his head slightly and Hodge took that as his cue, jamming the prongs of the cattle prod into the flesh of Magnus’ shoulder quicker than the werewolf could even think to react in his already weakened state. 

 

The pain was instantaneous as six thousand volts of electricity coursed through his body. He was dimly aware of another sharp, more precise pain in his arm. “This is another version of what you were given before the full moon. It’s supposed to do much of the same thing, only this one is fast-acting since the silver content is higher. We haven’t had a chance to test it yet. Consider yourself lucky to be the first to experience something that will change the world,” a voice said, though Magnus couldn’t be certain if it was Hodge or Valentine or someone else altogether. The pain was ringing in his ears and the world around him sounded muffled and underwater.

 

The edge of his vision began to fade into a bright white. The world went silent. 

 

And then he was sitting on the familiar white sands of a beach he knew well but hadn’t seen since childhood. The waves lapped against the shore and he heard the too familiar cry of a tern in the distance as it hunted for its dinner. Magnus’ feet were buried in the warm sand and the clothes he’d been wearing earlier had been switched for thin, cooling linen. The beach itself was empty but Magnus wasn’t surprised to find that, somehow, he wasn’t alone. 

 

“Who are you?” He asked, looking up at another version of himself — wolf gold eyes on display. The other Magnus was dressed similarly but there was something about the way he held himself that suggested that he was anything but human. “What are you?”

 

The other Magnus looked around slowly before taking a seat in the sand next to him. “An unusual choice for a mental escape, I’ll give you that, but I do suppose it’s our heart’s desire to return to one of the only places we’ve known comfort when we’re aching.” Golden eyes locked onto him and Magnus felt like they were staring into his very soul. “You know who I am. What I am.”

 

When Magnus had seen his own wolf gold eyes, he’d known what he was looking at, even if it seemed like a rather far-fetched theory at the time. “You’re…me. Well, my other me. My wolf,” he said finally though he hardly believed it himself. He’d told Alec that his wolf felt separate from himself at times because it had its own likes, dislikes, and opinions but seeing that separation like this was certainly not what he had meant at the time. 

 

His Wolf tipped its head. “In a manner of speaking, yes.”

 

“What are you doing here? Why are we here?”

 

“Your body is in pain right now. Your mind is having a difficult time processing it. You brought us to this refuge as a way to keep your mentality intact through the trauma,” the Wolf replied, giving him a long, slow blink. 

 

Despite the calmness of the beach, Magnus could feel the echo of pain in his physical body and inhaled sharply. “It’s different this time. Last time… It felt like burning under my skin but I was still mostly coherent…this time, though, it’s like molten lava in my veins and it’s burning me from the inside out. I…I don’t know if I’ll survive this. This is only the first day they’ve had me in captivity, I can’t even begin to imagine what else it is that they have in store,” he said softly as he wrung his hands nervously in his lap. 

 

The Wolf reached over and placed a single finger on Magnus’ chin to turn his head toward him. “You will get through this. You must. You are a survivor. Is this any different than what your father did to us? What these two tried before?”

 

“My father just wanted to control me — I wouldn’t have been of any use to him if I was in too much pain to move,” Magnus replied bitterly. “And it’s only because of Alec that Hodge and Valentine didn’t get their hands on me the first time they poisoned me. I got lucky.”

 

“Luck has nothing to do with it,” the wolf said with a hum. “What makes you so certain that they won’t come for you?”

 

“Oh, I think they’ll certainly try but I was working that case too and I know that we were no closer to finding Valentine than we were when we started. It was only because we tracked Hodge that we were able to get so close in the first place. That won’t be an option this time, the fact that Hodge is still here means he knows his cover is blown.”

 

This time his Wolf tapped two fingers in the center of Magnus’ chest. “You can feel the bonds, as pulled thin as they may be right now. I know you can feel the rest of the pack. The comfort they are trying to send your way, the determination they have in bringing you home. They won’t rest until you are safe and the pack is together once more.”

 

He closed his eyes once more and grabbed the pack bonds in his mind, giving them a gentle tug. He felt pure relief come flooding through the bonds that he was reaching out followed by a wave of love and home and family. They were coming, they were telling him, they were going to find him and bring him home. Just hold on, he felt, just hold on a little bit longer and everything will be okay.

 

But there was something else there now that he was focusing on his connections to the pack. It was warm and comforting, determined and possessive. It was dangerous…in fact, it felt as home to him as this very beach did. His mind danced around the thin threads, wanting to wrap himself up in them and hide away from the world. It wasn’t a pack bond, not quite, it felt nothing like what he had with Catarina or Raphael or Ragnor. No, this was something different, something strange. He wasn’t sure what it was just that it was addicting and safe and he wanted so much more. 

 

“Ah,” his Wolf said with a hint of amusement in his voice. “So you’ve noticed then. I was wondering how long it would take you.”

 

“Noticed what?” Magnus asked suspiciously. 

 

“You’ll figure it out.”

 

He narrowed his eyes. “Why are you being so cryptic?”

 

The wolf grinned at him. “I’m not being cryptic, I’m being coy. Like I said, you’ll figure it out but focus on that feeling of home and focus on the love your pack has for you. You’ll make it through this because they want you to, they need you to.”  

 

 Another wave of fire went through his physical body and Magnus gasped. “I think our time here is almost up,” his wolf said. “You are about to lose consciousness. Just hang on a little bit longer, Magnus. You’ll make it through this…”

 

The rest of his Wolf’s words were lost to him as the beach disappeared around him and Magnus fell into darkness.

 

----------

 

The next few days passed by in an infuriating blur that had Alec pacing around his Loft like a caged and starving tiger being tempted by a piece of meat. They were no closer to finding Valentine, Hodge, and Magnus than they had been the day his partner disappeared and each hour that ticked by only brought them closer and closer to the next attempted summoning. Dr. Holland had given them nothing else useful and they were left fishing for scraps in the files and databases the Institute had kept on their agents over the years. 

 

Alec growled, tired of reading the same words over and over again in a different format, and threw the file across the room in frustration, getting a look of concern out of the Alpha werewolf currently seated in his living room. “Alec, you need to calm down. Getting worked up isn’t going to help,” Luke said slowly and Alec had to bite back the urge not to growl again. Even as angry as he was right now, he knew better than to challenge an Alpha werewolf. 

 

“I’m not a child,” he said petulantly. 

 

“No,” Luke agreed. “You’re not but you are tired and frustrated and someone you care about is missing and you feel like you failed. When was the last time you slept? Or ate something? You have to take care of yourself if you want to be in any shape to bring Magnus home.”

 

Alec wanted to argue that any time he wasn’t focused on the case was valuable minutes and hours that they were losing. It was a fight he’d had with his siblings and Catarina multiple times over the last week. He ate when they shoved something in his hands, slept when they forced him into a chair practically with a gun to his head and told him to rest. He’d grab an hour or two in that scenario — it was all he was willing to sacrifice when Magnus was still out there alone, possibly injured, and reliving one of the worst times of his life. 

 

He knew Magnus was alive because a few times since his partner’s disappearance, the other wolves had felt his presence through the pack bonds. The connection was weak — no doubt due to distance, Luke had said — but they’d done their best to offer him what comfort that they could. While Alec was more than thankful for the proof of life, he couldn’t help but feel jealous of their connection with the other wolf. He wanted to feel Magnus’ emotions and pain and fear like they did. He wanted to be the one to offer comfort. 

 

Alec had gone back to pacing, ignoring the file he’d thrown at the wall in favor of another when Clary sat up rigidly. “Farm. Dr. Holland specifically said it was a farm, right?”

 

“Yes, he specifically said farm,” Isabelle answered tiredly. They’d all been working overtime trying to bring Magnus home and Valentine and Hodge to justice. “Simon put together a list of everything within two hours of the city and referenced and cross-referenced everything to try and see if there was any sort of connection between Valentine or Hodge and found nothing. There are too many to check them all but we’ve sent teams to investigate some of the more promising ones and they’ve all turned up empty-handed.”

 

“Stephen Herondale’s grandfather had a farm,” Clary said, turning the book that had been in her lap around and pointing to a clipping from an old newspaper. “They grew corn, mostly. A few other crops but that was their big one. They called it quits and moved to the city in the sixties after one of their workers fell into a grain silo and met a pretty gruesome end. They passed away in the nineties and the farm was left to Stephen. It’s been abandoned ever since.”

 

Simon glanced over and typed the name into his phone, scrolling for a few seconds before he glanced up. “Bent Tree Farm… this place is like four hours from the city. We didn’t think to search that far because it would have been fairly inconvenient to drive back to NYC every time he wanted to try and summon a demon.”

 

“Inconvenient but not impossible,” Alec muttered, his mind already racing with his need to leave now. “Do we have an address? GPS coordinates? A vintage map? I don’t care, Simon, get me something.”

 

“Chill, Alec. We have an address and I’ve already texted it to your phone but you can’t just go in guns blazing…that’s why we’re in this whole situation in the first place,” Simon replied, giving Alec a look that said he knew he was right and challenged him to even try to argue. 

 

“Simon’s right, big brother. We need to do this together.”

 

Alec clenched his teeth but knew it wasn’t a fight he was going to win, especially given that he was still recovering from a gunshot wound he received during their last encounter. “Fine,” he said finally. “But we need to leave now. It will already be dark by the time we get there…unless we take a helicopter.”

 

“Don’t think Jia’s gonna approve that one,” Jace spoke up. “The storm to end all storms is heading our way as we speak. Radar looks monstrous. We’ll have better luck in the cars than anything in the air will.”

 

He swore under his breath, knowing that was the quickest and most convenient option of getting up there. “We leave now. Simon — I want you and Clary to stay here and find me anything you can on that farm. I don’t care what laws you have to break — when I say anything, I mean everything.”

 

“I’ll stay here with these two and offer my assistance on the research side of things,” Ragnor spoke up. “I have a knack at that sort of thing and I’ll be more useful here than I will out there.”

 

Alec nodded to him before turning toward the other wolves with an expectant expression. “Of course, we’ll go with you, Lightwood but if you don’t mind, I think I’m going to shift before we leave. Trying to do it in the back of a van is miserable,” Raphael explained. “Excuse me.” He disappeared into Alec’s spare bedroom and shut the door.

 

“I think it’s best if I stay as I am,” Catarina said with a smile. “Especially given the mess you got yourself into last time and as the Alpha, Luke can pull on the power in the pack bonds and make his shift almost instantaneous. He can focus on the drive up and any information Simon, Clary, and Ragnor find out can be relayed to me.”

 

Satisfied with her response, Alec turned his attention to his siblings. “You best believe you have another thing coming if you think you’re going to leave either of us here,” Jace said with a snort and a stubborn cross of his arms. “While I’ve got half a mind to throw you in the trunk and drive you the four hours up there, I won’t. Nor will I make you ride with us. You’re going to be an absolutely miserable person to deal with over the next few hours and I don’t want any part of that.”

 

“That does not mean you leave us in the dust,” Isabelle told him angrily, pushing her finger into the middle of his chest until he backed up a couple of steps. “We’re in this together. I nearly lost you once and I absolutely refuse to do it again. If we split up, there better be a damn good reason for it and you better stop yourself and call for backup before you go in alone or so help me Alec, I will kick your sorry ass halfway into next year.”

 

He held up his hands in surrender and she finally backed off. Luke looked toward the door that Raphael had disappeared into. “He’ll be a few more minutes yet. If you want to head out, we can make up for our lost time on the road.”

 

Alec was relieved that he wouldn’t have to wait a second longer. He turned toward Simon with narrowed eyes. “Don’t burn down my Loft while I’m gone or I’ll skin you alive.”

 

Simon’s eyes went wide as Clary snickered. “Rest assured, Mr. Lightwood,” came Ragnor’s voice from the kitchen where he’d likely disappeared to make another cup of tea. “I’m more than capable of preventing a fire or three.”

 

----------

 

Between the drugs and the pain, Magnus lost track of days. Realistically, he knew it hadn’t been long. He couldn’t feel the pull of the moon under his skin yet so he knew that it hadn’t been anywhere close to a month. He took each day as they came, finding sleep in any moment that he could, and taking comfort in the feeling of his family through the pack bonds and that unknown yet safe feeling of home his Wolf had pointed out during one of his hallucinations. He still couldn’t put a name on what that connection was yet but when he was out of here and no longer in danger, he intended to find out.

 

That day started like any of the others had — Hodge came early, presenting him with the same choice of two bowls, and like the previous days, he dug into the steak and potatoes as soon as the man had left. He’d learned after the first day that the drugs in the meat only served the purpose of making his mind a little fuzzy. His werewolf metabolism took care of that quick enough and by the time they were ready to drug him with one of the silver serums they were testing, the first drug had worn off completely. Besides, the steak gave him more strength than the disgusting dog food would and he would need that in the days to come. Regaining his energy was worth an hour or so of haze.

 

He felt the moment the drugs started to kick in and he propped himself up against the chain link to prepare for a world that spun like a broken kaleidoscope. Colors passed by his eyes, the sun beat down on him from above, and the birds flying overhead kept him company. It was…almost peaceful. 

 

Eventually, the sound of shouting broke through the little bit of comfort he found and he struggled to focus his mind on what his ears were hearing. It was Valentine and Hodge, of that he was certain, arguing inside the old farmhouse. It wasn’t the first time they’d done so since bringing him here so it really didn’t surprise him. He tried to make out the words — knowing that any tidbit of information he could learn would only help him in the long run. 

 

“I give you one simple job and you are unable to complete it? What good are you to me and my cause if you are just going to continue to be useless?”

 

“Val, please, have some sense. We’re twenty miles from the closest town and that ‘town,’ if you can even call it that, has only one hundred and fifty people. They’re going to notice if someone goes missing. I know you want to try again tonight to keep with the timeline and all,” Ah, Magnus thought to himself. So it had been a week since the last attempted summoning. At least he hadn’t lost months of his life to the two men like he had his father all those years ago. “But I really think we should take this cycle off and regroup. We can find another city to throw them off our tracks. Boston, maybe — plenty of college kids no one will notice missing. Or hell, Jersey —”

 

“Enough!” Valentine shouted, loud enough that Magnus needed to fight the urge to cower even though he wasn’t even remotely part of this conversation. “You know how important this is to me — everything we’ve been working for all these years and yet you continue to fail me time, and time, and time again. You were supposed to cause a distraction and get them to look the other way and you failed. You were supposed to put those vile monsters somewhere safe where we didn’t risk them burning down an entire forest and you did not. You were supposed to take the wolf into custody during the full moon and you failed. It’s only by sheer luck that you managed to take it in the next day. And now you fail to provide me a sacrifice for tonight’s ritual and you want me to delay everything when we’re so close? When we know those idiots from the Institute won’t interrupt us? They have no idea this place exists. We should have done it here from the start.”

 

Magnus could hear the ever-growing panic in Hodge’s voice. Valentine was a predator — if he’d been a wolf, he would have been an Alpha. The blond man didn’t stand a chance in terms of power. “Please sir, there’s still time. We’ve got a few hours before night falls. I’m sure if I leave now, I can find some transient that will suit your purpose…”

 

Valentine must have made some motion to shut the other man up. Hodge’s words came to an almost immediate stop. There were a few tense moments of silence between them. “No, I think I’m tired of putting my success in your incapable hands, especially when I’m so close to greatness. You can easily be replaced by others wanting a chance to change the world for the better. I think you can better serve my cause in a different way.” Hodge screamed something that sounded like ‘NO!’ before a shot rang out and the farmhouse was quiet once more.

 

Magnus’ eyes went wide, the last remnants of the drug coursing through his body instantly dissipating due to adrenaline and fear. He hadn’t expected Valentine to turn on his partner, not when Hodge had apparently played such a crucial part in the man’s crazed plan. He heard the squeaking hinges of the door to the house that indicated that someone was coming his way. Magnus’ wolf was telling him that he needed to hide. He needed to be safe. He needed to keep himself alive. 

 

His eyes shifted toward the dog house and his body was moving before his mind had a chance to catch up with him. He hadn’t even thought twice about trying to sleep in the only shelter in the kennel. It had, by some miracle, stayed cool and sunny since he’d been taken. He hadn’t wanted to stoop so low and demean himself any further than he already had but the feral, animalistic part of his brain was screaming at him that a dangerous predator was heading his way and he needed to keep himself safe.

 

Magnus pushed himself into the back of the dog house as the kennel door opened. His nose picked up Valentine's scent — full of fury and power and now tinged with the unmistakable metallic burn of fresh blood. Another bowl dropped sloppily in front of the kennel — this one filled with raw steak and rib bones and blood that Magnus knew did not belong to the cow that had been butchered for his meal. “You, at least, can still be useful to me. Holland’s serum still needs to be tested and despite a few hiccups, you’ve proved yourself an obedient beast. Tonight the ritual will finally be complete and tomorrow, the world will change and if you accept your place in life and keep doing as you're told, you’ll be by my side to see it.”

 

He didn’t move but he knew Valentine didn’t expect an answer from him. He’d learned early in his captivity that good dogs don’t speak back to their masters. His body had had to heal multiple burns from the cattle prod prongs before he’d finally learned that lesson. Valentine left him alone after that, likely to go prepare for the summoning he had planned for that evening. Magnus waited until he heard the latch on the kennel close and lock before he deigned to breathe again. This was not good. Very, very not good. Hodge was dead, Valentine had apparently gone even further toward the dark side, and Alec and his pack had absolutely no idea where he was or what was happening. He glanced down at the bowl and its nauseating contents, pushing it to the other side of the kennel with the tip of his toes. Magnus gave the collar around his neck the heavy chain attached to it a weak tug. He needed to get out of here….and fast.

 

----------

 

Alec had been ready for this moment since the day after Cat had driven him home from the hospital. His bow and the specialty arrows he’s made were sitting in his quiver by the door. He’d dismantled, cleaned, reassembled, and double checked his weapons time and time again. Luke had sent Raphael back to the Institute early on to repack Magnus’ go bag because he was likely in need of a change of clothes. Everything was primed and ready — they’d only needed a tangible lead to follow before they set up.

 

He’d taken his own vehicle again as he hadn’t returned to the Institute since he’d been discharged from the hospital. They’d split up, of course, at Jace’s suggestion. His siblings would take Jace’s car and follow him. Luke would take himself and two of his pack members in his own vehicle once Raphael had finished shifting. They weren’t calling in additional backup from the Institute — in this case there was no time — though he had no doubt Jia would send someone once he called to update her on what they found. 

 

He waited until he was on the highway with miles to go before he’d need to take an exit before he called her. “Mr. Lightwood — to what do I owe this pleasure? You’re supposed to be recuperating, are you not?”

 

“I’m fine,” he answered, knowing it wasn’t entirely the truth but what she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her. “And we have a lead but we have to move now. We know Hodge and Valentine left the city and we haven’t been able to find any tips about their whereabouts. Dr. Holland told us that Valentine was staying at some sort of farm but we’ve run scans on everything within a two-hour driving distance and have found nothing. It seems the Herondale family did have a farm about four hours north of the city. It’s been abandoned since a farming accident took the life of one of their workers years ago. Apparently, it was left to Stephen Herondale.”

 

“And after his death?” She asked, and he heard her typing away on the other side of the phone. 

 

“Not entirely sure yet, Simon’s doing some research now with Ragnor’s help. I hope to have answers shortly.”

 

There was a pause on the other end of the line. “And what makes you so certain they’ll be there?”

 

“My instincts,” Alec replied without missing a beat. “And Luke’s knowledge of how Valentine would act. He doesn’t believe he will risk coming into the city where we might stop him again because he was so close to bringing the demon through last time. He’ll want to be where he has the greatest chance of success — and that would be somewhere that he doesn’t think we have any chance of finding him.” Another thought crossed his mind. “Though I don’t think it would hurt to get with the NYPD and have them up their patrols tonight — focusing on any large and abandoned buildings or any area with a heavy homeless population. They need to get their sacrifices from somewhere.”

 

“I’ll contact the Chief of Police. In the meantime, please don’t tell me you’re going alone, Alec.”

 

“No, nothing of the sort. I’ve already been scolded by my sister. Jace and Isabelle are following behind. Cat, Luke, and Raphael are probably on the road already, They were waiting for Raphael to finish shifting before they left but Luke said they could make up the time on the road.”

 

“I hope your theory is correct or else I’m sending numerous agents on a four-hour wild goose chase,” Jia replied with a sigh. “Please keep me updated. If you learn anything else and feel like more agents need to be dispatched, let me know. Remember Lightwood, our main goal here is to stop Valentine before he can unleash a demon on the world. As we saw with the announcement about the hellhounds, the people aren’t quite ready for more creatures of their nightmares to become a reality.”

 

“Understood,” Alec said as he disconnected the line even if he was already adding and amending his promise in his own head. His first priority was to find Magnus, make sure he was okay, and get him somewhere safe. Only then would he focus on Valentine and bringing the crazed ex-agent to justice. 

 

His phone rang seconds later and Alec growled. He glanced down at the screen but didn’t recognize the number. He didn’t have time for small talk and pleasantries — not with his partner’s life on the line. “Hey there, Alec!” Simon’s overenthusiastic tone came from the other side of the line. “We’ve found something!”

 

“Just spit it out, Simon, I’ve got about two hours left of this drive and I need that time to come up with a plan.” It was only partly the truth, Alec had already come up with a dozen plans while they had been trying to find a lead. He just needed to figure out which one of those would work for them best.

 

“Okay! Jeez — sorry. So we’ve followed the paper trail, so to speak. It seems that after Stephen Herondale’s death, the property was seized by the state as the Herondales had no heirs to pass it to and no will was ever found. It sat idle for a few years before it was finally put up for auction. Amazingly, there was only one bid — you would think that someone would want to snatch up all that property — and that buyer actually offered well over the asking price. Unity Co. bought the property and it seems to have gone through a number of different shell companies before finally culminating in, drumroll please, Circle Corp LLC…though why anyone would give an evil demon-summoning group an LLC is beyond me. Don’t they have rules and regulations to follow? Can’t have political allegiances and bullshit like that?”

 

“You’re thinking of a 501c3,” Ragnor added helpfully. It sounded like he, Clary, and Simon were likely still in Alec’s living room, circled around the small table. “Anyone can start an LLC. In fact, many lottery winners —”

 

“Not the time,” Alec growled, though he’d already filtered out any of their unnecessary chatter. “So the Circle and ergo Valentine have owned the Herondale property for years now. How did we not find this? All the Institute resources at our beck and call and someone couldn’t put all the puzzle pieces together before now?”

 

“Well, not to toot my own horn or anything but they didn’t have me,” Simon said, though it was immediately followed by what sounded like a slap and a cry of pain. “Fuck, Clary. That hurt. What was that for?”

 

“I was the one who found the clipping about the Herondale property. You can’t take all the credit.”

 

“Children, please not now,” Ragnor’s voice rang in, and Alec could hear the same exhaustion and frustration he experienced any time he had to deal with his siblings and their friends. “Mr. Lightwood — I think that certainly gives you enough probable cause to search the property, does it not?”

 

“I’ll call Jia back right now. Let me know if you find anything else,” he said, disconnecting the call before anyone could say anything else. He was already dialing the Director seconds later. Hang in there, Magnus. We’re almost there. Just a little bit longer. 

 

----------

 

When Alec’s phone finally alerted him that he’d arrived at his destination, it was to a fork in a gravel path well off the beaten road. His bars had been going in and out for the last ten miles or so and he’d resorted to a well-worn map of New York state that he kept in his glove compartment (and that Jace and Isabelle were constantly making fun of) to make sure they kept on the correct path. His siblings were right behind him and true to his word, Luke had caught up quickly once he was on the highway. 

 

Alec dialed Simon once more. “Before you say anything,” he said as soon as the other man had picked up the phone, stopping any random tangent he was about to go on before it started. “Can you check the satellites and tell us what we’re looking at? We’re in the middle of nowhere. I haven’t seen a car or even a house in miles and the tree cover is so dense, I don’t even think the helicopter could land even if it wasn’t about to start raining.” He’d been hoping for some small weather-related miracle — that the rain would hold off for the rest of the night so they could work at their own pace but the thunder had started up about twenty minutes ago and the rain was now a steady drizzle. Jace and Izzy were huddled under one small and ineffective umbrella, Catarina had elected to stay in the car with Raphael (Alec couldn’t blame them — he didn’t know if a wet werewolf smelled the same as a wet dog but he didn’t exactly want to find out.) It was only Alec and Luke who were using the tall trees as any sort of shelter but just generally letting the now steady drops pelt against their skin. 

 

“Yep, pulling that up now. It is…wow. Um, okay. Well, there’s a lot of land. I mean like… twenty miles or something of land. Everything is covered in trees now so I can’t see where most of the buildings are but there are a few peeking through. I can see about six? Seven maybe…I can’t tell if this one is just a weird tree or what. And the thing is, guys, these things aren’t even remotely close together. It’ll take ages to search them all and it’s coming up at midnight so you’re probably running out of time,” there was a pause and the sound of Simon frequently typing before he spoke again. And that storm is nasty and it’s going to be right on top of you shortly. I’m talking like full hurricane season in Florida-type winds here.”

 

“So we split up,” Alec said without even thinking. “We cover as much ground as we can as quickly as possible.

 

Isabelle slapped him on the shoulder hard enough that he was fairly certain the spot was going to bruise. “Alexander Gideon Lightwood,” she growled and he couldn’t help but wince at the use of his full name. “What did I say back at the Loft? We do not split up.”

 

“Iz, I know it’s not ideal but be realistic. We’re rapidly running out of time. We have to do this search on foot. Splitting up is the only chance we have of finding Magnus and stopping Valentine. We have no choice. I’ll be careful alright? You and Jace stay together. The wolves stay together. I promise I will stop and call if I think I need back up and I bet if anyone can get to me quickly, it will be Raphael. I promise I’ll call if I find anything, alright? Or if I have any feeling that I’m about to walk into a shit show. We need to do this. We can’t waste any more time.”

 

Isabelle looked like she was about to argue but Jace squeezed her arm gently. “Stay safe, brother. Don’t do anything that I wouldn’t do.” He turned his attention from Alec’s face to his phone. “Simon — we’re going out in three groups. Care to guide us there?”

 

“Sure thing! Three groups actually works perfectly because I believe there’s a fork in the driveway. Is that correct?”

 

Luke nodded though Simon couldn’t see it. “Three paths — Left, Center, and Right.”

 

“Great! Well, the left and right paths seem to be one road that circles around the entire property. Those are going to be the longest routes but they also touch the most building clusters. Given that Alec’s still recovering and should be taking it easy, I’d suggest Luke and the pack go left — the topography looks a little more hilly that way — and check three buildings that way. Jace and Isabelle go left and check the two and possibly a tree, possibly a building and Alec can go straight up the middle. It looks like that used to be the farmhouse. Maybe a barn and a carriage house…it’s kind of hard to tell. That’s a straight shot down the road about half a mile or so. Easy enough to do on foot.”

 

“Everyone okay with that plan?” Alec asked, ready to argue with anyone who disagreed. He was already grabbing his bow and quiver out of his trunk and strapping his handguns into their thigh holster. 

 

“Stay in constant communication,” Catarina said as she and Raphael jumped out of Luke’s car. “That goes for everyone. Remember, there are no heroes.” The wolf took off at a brisk run down the left path and Catarina and Luke ran after him to catch up.

 

Isabelle hesitated for only a moment before she pulled Alec close and placed a light kiss on his cheek. “Don’t do anything stupid. We’ll find him but I don’t want it to be at your expense.” Jace only nodded to him before he grabbed his sister’s hand and they headed down their assigned path. 

 

The rain started to pick up — the steady drops now felt like pebbles against his face. He went to shut his car door and something half-covered with an old quilt caught his eye. He pushed the blanket to the side and found a forgotten pair of bolt cutters that he’d purchased when his neighbor’s kid had her bike stolen by bullies but had found it a few blocks over chained to a tree. Alec, of course, wasn’t going to report it to the NYPD, not when he was perfectly capable of handling it himself (and scaring a few children into playing nice in the process.) That had been three years ago and he hadn’t used the things since. He was about to leave them but something was nagging at him that they could be useful. What could it hurt to take them? Hodge had taught them, after all, that anything could be used as a weapon if you were desperate enough. He grabbed the black rubber-coated handles and rearranged the arrows in his quiver so they’d fit inside. Now, he had a partner to go find.