Chapter Text
“Come on, Alec, lighten up a bit!” Jace yelled out over the loud music, “We’re at a party!”
“Exactly, big brother. Let loose!” Isabelle encouraged, grinning at Jace.
Alec rolled his eyes and kept his grip on his seraph blade that sat against his hip. “You both do realise that we are on a mission, right?”
“Yes, but from what I hear, Magnus throws the best parties, and we are always working so hard. Why can’t we have a little fun?” Isabelle said, as she glanced around the party, checking out the different creatures that were there. Not a single Shadowhunter in sight – except for them, of course.
“I don’t think Clary would approve of you partying,” Alec said, raising an eyebrow.
Isabelle shrugged. “She trusts me, I trust her. We would never hurt each other.”
“And you?” Alec asked, facing Jace.
“Simon knows I like a good party. I’m not going to cheat on him,” Jace explained, taking a step forward into the crowd. “Come on. We might as well get what we came for.”
Alec’s heart clenched. He wished he had what they had. That bond. That explicit trust with someone.
Ever since Alec Lightwood was a young boy and he had learnt about soulmates, that someone out there was made just for him. He would constantly talk to his parents and siblings about how excited he was to meet them, how excited he was to spend the rest of his life with them. The notion of a single person being who he needed in life as much as they needed him was so magical and Alec spent each day of his life waiting to meet the Shadowhunter who would take his breath away and steal his heart. As each year passed, he felt like his chances were getting slimmer. His friends and siblings naturally found their soulmates and he had yet to find anyone. He never talked about it with his siblings, always trying to be the big brother, stoic and born leader that he was, but he held onto the tiny sliver of hope inside him that there was someone out there waiting to meet him as much as he was waiting for them.
Alec hated clubs. He especially hated this one. The music was pounding in his ears and he grimaced, a direct opposite of how excited his siblings looked. This was definitely their scene, not his. Alec preferred order and peace and quiet, so that he could at least hear his own thoughts. The club was filled with a range of creatures, vampires, warlocks, and seelies, dancing and grinding against each other to the beat of the music playing out of the abnormally large speakers. Waiters walked around with multi-coloured drinks on trays, one of them offering Alec a drink but he knew better than to trust what was in one of those shot glasses. A Downworlder party was the last place Alec had expected to be on this particular night and he couldn’t wait to get the chance to leave.
The Shadowhunters pushed their way through the crowd of sweaty bodies, Alec scowling the whole way through. Jace clapped him on the back, grinning, and Alec could only roll his eyes in response. Jace jerked his chin in the distance at a warlock, most likely the owner of the club, sitting on what seemed to be a throne atop a small set of steps, indicating that that person was their target for the night. Alec nodded and lifted his head to take a quick glance.
Alec only looked for a second. He swore it was a second, but it was like time had stopped. For a second, it was like the music around him had stopped and everyone else disappeared, his vision zooming in on that one person. For a second, he felt his heart skip a beat and his lungs constrict in his chest, making it hard for him to breathe. For a second, he was frozen in his position, feet stuck to the floor as his vision filled with only that man.
Isabelle’s hand on his back brought him back to reality as she looked at him with worry. “Alec are you okay?”
Alec shook his head to clear it and blinked a few times, not understanding what had just happened to him. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Let’s go.”
Isabelle kept her hand on Alec’s back – in a way, it kept him grounded and calm – as they made the rest of the way through the crowd. It took them no time at all to reach their target.
Jace cleared his throat as they reached the bottom of the steps where the warlock was sitting on his throne. The warlock, who was whispering something into a faerie’s ear with a smirk, turned to look at them and immediately scowled.
“Ah, Children of the Nephilim,” the man said, gracefully standing up from his seat, his eyes regarding them with disdain. “I don’t remember inviting any of you to my little soiree.” The man waved his hands around, indicating to his event, as little blue sparks of magic left his fingers. “This may be a public club, but this is a private party.”
“Magnus Bane, we need your assistance,” Jace said, almost like an order and Magnus certainly didn’t like being ordered around.
“And why should I help any of you?” Magnus asked, looking down at the Shadowhunters, raising his eyebrows.
“It’s about Asmodeus,” Isabelle explained.
“Oh, my wonderful, marvellous father,” Magnus said sarcastically. “What has the old man been up to these days?”
“There’s been a high influx of demons over the past few days. We think it’s him.”
“Why do you think it’s my father?”
“There’s a very high energy signature, one that can only be given off by a Greater Demon. Only a Prince of Hell can control this many demons at one time.”
“Then it could be anyone. Maybe Azazel broke free and has decided to terrorise Earth.”
“Oh, he also left this,” Jace said, pulling out his phone and holding up a picture of a six-pointed star with lines that overlapped joining each point with each other, showing no start or end to the star. “This is his pentagram, isn’t it?”
Magnus visibly tensed, a twitch in his face indicating his repulsion. “It is,” he replied, voice hard.
“So, will you help us?” Jace asked, pocketing his phone.
Magnus thinned his lips and hummed, looking between the three Shadowhunters. “I’ll help. I don’t come cheap.”
“What do you want?” Isabelle asked.
Magnus’ eyes focused on the tall Shadowhunter with black hair who wasn’t even paying attention to him. “Him.”
Alec hadn’t been paying too much attention to the conversation, knowing that his siblings could handle it. They were better at negotiation and relations with Downworlders than he was anyway. He was better suited to sticking to the shadows and watching his siblings’ backs for any potential threats that could come flying at them any second. With this many Downworlders in one place, Alec was on high alert, one hand gripping tightly onto his bow as his other hand held onto the leather strap of his quiver going across his chest. It was his sister’s elbow nudging him that brought him into the conversation. Alec looked at his sister with annoyance before turning to face the warlock.
Magnus Bane was lean and tall, his well-fitted suit shining each time the lights from the club hit it. His hair was styled up into a quiff, the fiery red tips standing out against his black hair. He had different lengths of necklaces adorning his neck and various piercings on his ears. His slender fingers were fiddling with one of the many rings he was wearing, his black nail polish a contrast to the tan skin of his hands. Magnus Bane was clearly an excessive man, not someone Alec tended to associate with.
“If you’re checking me out, you should at least look at my face, pretty boy,” Alec heard a smooth voice say, forcing him to lift his head.
All it took was the locking of their eyes for Alec to tense up and freeze. It happened again. The world stood at a standstill as everything and everyone around them faded away. There was a pang in Alec’s chest and even with his brain telling him to move, Alec couldn’t. His heart was hammering against his ribcage, getting faster as each second passed by. His breath caught in his throat as heat was building inside his body. Everything was feeling tight and hot, every fibre in his being vibrating, and Alec didn’t understand it. He had never felt anything like this before. There was a faint calling of his name but Alec couldn’t even register it. All he could see was the man in front of him and the shine of his eyes as the man moved towards him.
Alec didn’t even notice Magnus was standing right in front of him until he felt a soft hand on his cheek, the touch allowing him to finally take in the breath he had been holding. Alec closed his eyes and leaned into the touch, relishing in the warmth against his skin. He couldn’t explain it but the touch felt like it was something he didn’t even know he had been craving for his entire life. It was something that was supposed to be there all along and he had just been missing it, longing for it.
“Who are you?” he heard a low voice whisper, somehow relaxing all the tension in his body.
“Alec,” he breathed, opening his eyes and looking deeply into the man’s golden cat eyes. Alec smiled and cupped the man’s face in his hands. “Your eyes are beautiful.”
“Alec. Alexander,” Magnus said just as soft, the name just rolling off his tongue and filling Alec with so much warmth.
“Alright, that’s enough,” Alec heard Jace huff, his hand grabbing the back of Alec’s shirt and pulling him away, breaking Alec out of his trance.
Alec frowned, furrowing his eyebrows, not exactly sure of what had just happened to him. He shook his head and staggered back, trying to get rid of the haze going on inside his head. The room was spinning and Alec tried to keep his eyes on the floor to gain his bearings. His hand was gripping tightly to his shirt over where his heart was and he unconsciously rubbed the area in an attempt to get rid of the numbing pain that was only growing in his chest.
“What did you do to me?” Alec rasped, glaring up at Magnus, their eyes locking once again.
“I didn’t do anything,” Magnus protested, his voice strained. “We’re s –”
“No!” Alec exclaimed, clutching at his shirt even tighter. “You’re going against the Accords. What spell did you put on me?”
Magnus took a hesitant step closer to Alec. “Alexander, darling, I would never hurt my soulmate.”
Alec heard Isabelle let out a small gasp, his focus entirely on Magnus. “What are you talking about? Who’s your soulmate?”
“You.”
It took a second for the revelation to start settling in. The way his body reacted when he looked at Magnus from clear across the club, the way his body reacted when he locked eyes with Magnus, and the way his body was reacting in this very moment, it all made sense. But it wasn’t something that Alec could accept. There had to be a different logical explanation.
By the Angel, his soulmate couldn’t be a warlock. It just couldn’t be.
Alec’s eyes widened in panic. “No… I- I need to get out of here.”
Turning on his heels, Alec ran through the dancing crowd as fast as his staggering legs could take him. He could hear Jace calling out his name behind him but he ignored it. He couldn’t stay in this place, not with the warlock there. The walls were closing in on him and the people were getting too close to him. He wanted to yell at people to get out of his way but he couldn’t get a word out, he could barely breathe. The longer he was in this place, the more he felt like he was suffocating. The only thing that was making Alec get out of this place was his determination.
It wasn’t until Alec got outside onto the street that he was able to take a few deep breaths, letting the fresh night air fill his lungs. He bent over with hands on his knees, trying to breathe, before hitting his chest with his fist, hoping the pain he could feel around his heart would dissipate.
Alec knew that every soulmate meeting would be different. No two were ever the same, but they were magical and meaningful. Two souls finding each other always were. This… This was not. It wasn’t right. He refused to believe it.
There was no way he could stay here any longer. Alec needed to leave. He stood up as best he could, panting as he turned his head both ways, looking up and down the street. He made a quick turn down the street and staggered his way back home to the Institute.