Chapter four

As delighted as Magnus was to see Alec again, being incorporeal was much more frustrating in his presence.

Having learned his lesson the previous night, Magnus greeted the Chairman verbally but didn’t kneel to cuddle him. The snooty feline either remembered what had happened or chose to give him the cold shoulder for another reason.

“Not that I can blame you for your choice in companions,” said Magnus as he watched the Chairman wind around Alec’s ankles as he prepared the dinner bowl. “I’d like to be winding myself around him right now, too.”

Alec looked tired and dispirited, although he moved with more purpose than he did the previous evening.

Magnus narrowed his eyes, studying the differences. “You’ve learned something,” he decided. “Not the answers you want, but you think you’ve found a link.”

Alec’s surprise when the loft provided dinner for him was mirrored by Magnus’. His calm acceptance, after the fact, that the loft could just do things like that without a specific request was in stark contrast to Magnus’ continued bafflement.

Despite what fiction would have people believe, there was no such thing as sentient wards. At least, not in Magnus’ several hundred years of experience. Some warlocks had been able to fine-tune their wards to the point that someone unfamiliar with them might think they had a mind of their own, but in truth, they were doing what they had been designed to do.

Since their marriage, Magnus had s tweaked his wards to give Alec as much control over them as any non-warlock could possibly have, but that didn’t extend to sourcing and procuring food. No, that would require either directed thought—a magical AI—or a pre-existing agreement with a food production outlet to always have something hot and tasty ready on the off chance that the wards might activate.

As the person who’d built those wards from the ground up, Magnus knew for a fact that he hadn’t included any such functionality.

Then there was the ward’s reaction to Alec’s praise and thanks.

Even in the non-corporeal state he’d existed in for the last two days, Magnus had retained his innate awareness of the magical energy around him; it was a skill that most warlocks picked up at some point. He could see how the wards rippled in response to Alec’s touch.

Magnus was flabbergasted.

Alec continued as though nothing momentous had happened, as though he’d not upturned years of magical study in seconds.

Magnus shook himself out of his shocked stupor when Alec unlocked a tablet and began tapping away at it. Thankfully it was easy to see over his shoulder, seated as he was.

Magnus was soon caught up in the contents of the documents Alec was reading through, grateful that several hundred years of reading meant that he got through them much faster than Alec. That came in handy; it gave him time to think over what was written before Alec was ready to move on.

These ‘Chosen’ sounded worrisome. Though they didn’t look to be as much of an immediate threat as the Circle was, any group of nephilim who were hyped-up on their own superiority would inevitably turn against the downworld.

The discovery that the Chosen might have been trying to summon an archangel had Magnus wishing he could throw things. The sound of crockery smashing would be a balm to his offended sensibilities.

“I thought the Flat Earth Society was the height of human stupidity,” Magnus said, giving up on reading the correspondence that Alec was still diligently wading through. “The arrogance of these idiots!” He tried to imagine an archangel’s response to being summoned, caged, and exhorted as though it were a demon.

Magnus shuddered. “I think I’ve had enough of that for one night. It’s not like I can do anything about it right now.” A glance around showed that Chairman Meow was sitting in his preferred spot on the couch. “Huh. Will you let me just sit next to you, I wonder?”

Chairman Meow didn’t answer, just regarded his approach with half-closed eyes. As Magnus carefully sat at enough of a distance that he wouldn’t accidentally come in contact, the Chairman began to purr.

Magnus sighed. “So many simple pleasures of corporality that I miss.”

The Chairman’s purring must have registered with Alec; he put down the tablet and rose from the chair he’d occupied for the last couple of hours.

Magnus watched with appreciation as his husband stretched his long body. There was no doubt that nephilim tended toward the beautiful, but he congratulated himself that he’d managed to snag the most beautiful of all. Learning that Alec hadn’t spent years being besieged by men and women wanting a piece of him just proved how blind the children of the angels could be.

Alec wandered over and bent down to stroke the Chairman, unwittingly intruding into the space Magnus was occupying. Magnus watched them interact, pleased to see the lines around Alec’s eyes relax slightly, although it didn’t last long.

The Chairman’s purring increased, and he tilted his head to give Alec a better angle.

Alec’s verbal musings to the Chairman explained where Alec had come by all this new information. Although, why the Consul would share all of this with Alec so readily was a question that Magnus would dearly like the answer to. Magnus had thought that the information Alec was looking through had been gained by sneakiness, but if the Consul herself had given him access…what on earth was going on?

Only having part of the story was so frustrating!

Alec gave the Chairman one last stroke, then moved purposefully towards the private library. Magnus rose to his feet and followed, walking in just in time to hear Alec say, “Huh, Catarina really came through.”

Magnus, who hadn’t keyed Catarina into the very heavy wards that kept their private library private, knew better. Whoever—or whatever—had found these volumes and placed them here, it wasn’t Catarina.

Magnus stared suspiciously at the walls. “Was it you? Is this something else that you’ve taken on yourself? You’re combing the Spiral Labyrinth for appropriate research material?”

He watched as Alec looked through what was on offer. Some of the volumes were familiar to him, some of them not. Whatever the wards had become, they were doing a better job of scouring the Spiral Labyrinth’s library than Magnus could.

A thought occurred to him. “I wonder if they’ll do this for me, as well. It would be much more time-efficient than doing it in person. Blast this incorporeality!” Feeling petulant, he magically shoved at the stack of books in a futile expression of annoyance.

The stack of books toppled over. Magnus blinked in shock. “Did I do that?” He ignored Alec getting up to restack the books and tried again on another stack. Nothing happened. Magnus stared at the books, wondering if he’d really knocked them over or if it had just been a coincidence.

“At least I’ll have plenty to occupy my mind with tomorrow,” mused Magnus, giving up and settling in to read over Alec’s shoulder again. This was one of the books he’d not seen before; he didn’t want to miss anything.

Alec’s research mirrored that of the night before—primarily concerned with summoning and rifts—and while part of the information he was reading was well-trodden ground to Magnus, some of it was new enough that he needed to reframe his knowledge to make it all fit. It was exciting stuff, and it was infuriating that he couldn’t jot it down while it was fresh in his memory.

The second of the unfamiliar books that Alec had picked up, an ancient-looking volume titled ‘Benefits of Sympathetic Magical Energies,’ propounded the idea that it was possible to reverse another warlock’s magic if one fine-tuned the magic of the person casting the reversal to make it resonate as close to the original caster as possible.

The idea itself had been disproven centuries ago, but reading the woman’s arguments took Magnus down another mental pathway, and he suddenly realised what must have attracted the magical bolt to them in the first place. It was most likely because of the angelic energy that Alec had provided, which meant that angelic magic would be needed to fix it.

That blue orb hanging over the beach where the botched summoning had taken place was proof that, although the rift was closed, Magnus hadn’t managed to cancel the ritual altogether. In some fashion, it was still in process, although incomplete.

That lack of completion was possibly the only reason Magnus was still around.

It was nearing midnight when Magnus noticed that Alec’s eyelids were drooping.

“All right, that’s enough!” Magnus clapped his hands, hoping Alec’s subconscious mind would somehow register something.

He was gratified when Alec yawned, looking away from the book he was reading to check the time.

“Oh no you don’t,” said Magnus, recognising the indecision that crossed his husband’s face. “I know you shadowhunters think taking the time to sleep while there’s work to be done is a sign of weakness, but it’s been proven that a well-rested mind works far better than a tired one. Besides, there’s no one here but me and the Chairman to judge you, and I promise that we won’t tell anyone.”

Alec had an internal debate, finally picking up one of Magnus’ well-thumbed books on magical energy. He said something about taking it to bed with him, and Magnus was about to riposte with a comment about how they were truly an old married couple when Alec wanted to take books to bed, when he remembered that Alec wouldn’t hear him.

Sighing, he trailed after his husband.

Since their marriage, Magnus and Alec tended to sleep naked, only wearing nightwear on nights when they knew they’d be sleeping alone.

Watching Alec change into his sleepwear was, therefore, something that Magnus didn’t have much experience with. Alec was all economical motions and brisk efficiency, yet somehow that was more enticing than an actual striptease.

Magnus found himself in the strange position of having an incorporeal boner. “This is just ridiculous,” he muttered to the offending body part. It crossed his mind that if he could get an erection, he could probably jerk off. Which, if nothing else, would give him something else to do tomorrow when he inevitably ended up back on that stupid beach.

Despite his book, Alec fell asleep almost immediately. That pleased Magnus immensely until he realised he was left with nothing to do but roam through the loft or watch Alec sleep.

Magnus’ feet weren’t leaving glowing footprints in the loft, so he wasn’t surprised to discover that attempting to write on the walls didn’t work. His attempts to knock things over also failed. In the end, he sat next to Chairman Meow, who’d returned to his favourite spot on the couch. The Chairman woke at his approach and obligingly began to purr.

“I didn’t realise how much I’d miss just interacting with people,” Magnus said to him, fingers itching to run over the soft fur. “It’s not as though I haven’t spent weeks or months at a time on my own before; it’s just that those occasions were my choice, you know?”

The purring tapered off as Chairman Meow went back to sleep.

Magnus sighed. Not having his magic to play with brought back memories of that dreadful time, not so long ago, when he’d been without it. At least he had the comfort of being able to feel it, even if he paradoxically couldn’t touch it.

Maybe now was the time to investigate that a bit more, pay more attention to how the magic moved, where it stopped. Surrounded by the comforting feel of his wards was a better place to experience magical failure than a beach that meant nothing to him; at least when he failed, he’d be able to feel the proof that this magic was still his.

Magnus closed his eyes so that he was better able to concentrate. It might have been his imagination—or wishful thinking—but it felt like his magic was closer to him than yesterday. Like the barrier keeping him from connecting with it was thinner than it used to be, thin enough that he could mould it with his fingers. Like a silken cover, only impermeable. He was working magic without actually doing magic.

In a way, it was as though he was practising with a wooden sword. Or, not like that at all, because a wooden sword could still cause damage if wielded correctly, but that was the closest analogy he could come up with.

Since he didn’t need to sleep, he occupied himself with this until just before dawn. Then, he relocated to the bedroom, hoping to catch Alexander when he woke.

v^v^v^v

When Alec opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Magnus, watching him intently. “That watching thing is creepy,” he murmured, even as a smile curled his lips. Maybe one day he’d be used to waking up to the realisation that he’d managed to get everything he always thought he’d never have, but today was not that day. “You owe me kisses.”

“You can see me?” Magnus asked urgently. “Alexander, listen; I’m not dead; something about the rift or the energy spike made me incorporeal. The ritual was never completed or properly cancelled; it’s still active back there on the beach.”

Alec frowned. “What are you talking about?” He reached out a hand to smooth Magnus’ brow. “Are you all right? You’re all blue.”

Magnus’ eyes widened, and he reached a shaky hand to touch Alec’s face. “I’m touching you. I can feel you. Oh, gods, Alexander…”

Alec was alarmed by the tears gathering in his husband’s eyes. “Hey, what’s wrong?” He sat up, reaching out to gather Magnus into his arms. Magnus came willingly, burying his face in Alec’s neck for a few brief seconds before pulling back to stare wonderingly at his face.

“Yesterday was over so quickly; I didn’t have time to savour your touch,” said Magnus, words tripping out of his mouth so fast that Alec could barely make them out. “Alexander, I’ve missed you so much.” His expression went from wonder to fierce in the blink of an eye. “We’re going to solve this. I will come back to you.”

“Magnus, you’re already here,” Alec pointed out fondly. “What’s all this about?”

“Promise me you’ll remember,” Magnus insisted. “When you wake up, you’ll probably dismiss this as a dream, wishful thinking, but I swear to you it’s not.”

Alec blinked. “You mean that I’m asleep? I don’t feel asleep.”

Magnus shook his head. “You’re in the place between sleep and waking. Somehow, it’s letting us interact together. Alec, listen to me: you need to go back to the beach and perform a closing ritual. Catarina can find you someone to help; ask her to contact Ayyash to help construct it. He’s a grumpy, egocentric curmudgeon, but no one has such an encyclopaedic knowledge of strange and esoteric magics as he does. Also, tell Catarina to convince Tessa Gray to help you. Remember that, Alec; Tessa Gray.”

Alec was confused by all of this, but Magnus looked far too distraught to be playing any kind of game. “Tessa Gray. Is that the nephilim-blooded warlock who can shapeshift? I think you’ve mentioned her before.”

Magnus smiled. “That’s the one. She’s not an expert in rift magic, but a closing ritual is well within her talents, and her dual heritage will give it a greater chance of success. Tell her that Magnus is calling in the one from Vienna, and she should agree.”

“Ayyash, closing ritual, Tessa Gray, the favour from Vienna,” repeated Alec.

Magnus’ smile widened. “We’re going to do this.” He reached down and touched a ring on a necklace that Alec hadn’t previously noticed he was wearing. “Sometimes I can feel it when you hold this, you know. It’s very comforting.”

Alec frowned at the ring. “Wait. That’s your wedding ring! Why aren’t you wearing it?”

“You’ll know why when you wake up,” replied Magnus, cupping Alec’s face in both hands. “My love, how I’ve missed you.”

“You said that already,” said Alec, leaning forward to kiss him gently. “Why don’t you remind yourself of just how present I am?”

Magnus’ eyes lit with the familiar flame of desire. “What a brilliant idea.” This time their kiss was less gentle.

“Mrow?” Chairman Meow hopped onto the bed.

Magnus broke off the kiss, resting his forehead against Alec’s shoulder. “Tomorrow night, dearest, it might be a good idea to shut the cat out of the bedroom.”

Alec laughed. “It’s so weird that you have a hang-up about that cat.”

“It would be like having sex in front of your children,” defended Magnus, starting to look more relaxed.

“Mrow?” the Chairman repeated, batting at Alec’s hand with one paw.

“I think he wants to be fed,” said Alec.

The Chairman was beginning to look annoyed at being ignored; his ears flattened, and his tail started to rise. “Mrow!”

Alec woke up.

Heart pounding, he stared at the empty place the dream version of Magnus had just occupied and willed himself not to break down.

This was the second morning in a row he’d dreamed of waking up to a blue-tinged Magnus. What was it the dream-Magnus had said? “When you wake up, you’re probably going to dismiss this as a dream, wishful thinking, but I swear to you it’s not.”

Alec desperately wanted the dream-Magnus to be real, for it not to be his mind playing tricks on him. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, willing himself calm.

Dream-Magnus had given him specific instructions, including a message to someone he’d never met referencing events he’d never heard of. If he could speak to Tessa Gray and confirm the message’s validity, that would prove that it really was Magnus, not some figment of his imagination.

Alec was out of bed and half-dressed before he realised that if it was Magnus, then his husband might still be in the room with him, just invisible and intangible. Alec took hold of Magnus’ wedding ring and put as much love into his words as possible. “I don’t know if you’re still here, but you should know that I’ll call Catarina immediately. Ayyash, closing ritual, Tessa Gray, Vienna.”

He waited, but there was no response. Feeling a little silly, he finished dressing and went into the kitchen to find his phone, Chairman Meow trotting after him. It was barely six am—he wasn’t expected at the Institute till eight—but Catarina had once told him that her body clock was so screwed up from shift work that there was no ‘good’ time of day to contact her, and he might as well call whenever he needed her.

Catarina, who was already awake, sounded glad to hear from him. Before he could go into detail about the reason for his call, she offered to swing by to talk and check on the wards.

Alec still wasn’t sure he wanted company in the loft, but he didn’t have a good reason to decline, especially when she promised to bring fresh-fruit vatrushka from a place Magnus liked to frequent.

Ten minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Catarina was on the other side, a paper bag in one hand and a coffee tray in the other, frowning at him.

“Come in,” said Alec, taking the coffee tray and closing the door behind her. “I’m surprised you didn’t just portal in.”

“I tried,” she replied, following him into the lounge and putting the paper bag on the coffee table. Two plates appeared next to it, along with freshly pressed cotton napkins. Catarina stared at them.

“Is something wrong?” asked Alec, concerned by her silence. He removed the disposable cups from the tray and set them beside the plates.

Catarina looked up at him. “Alec, how long has the loft been anticipating your needs like this?”

Alec shrugged. “I don’t know, exactly. A couple of months? It began soon after Magnus moved back in; I figured he’d done something warlocky to ensure I felt welcome.”

Catarina sat back in her chair and massaged her temples. “Alec, wards can be programmed to perform certain functions, but even the most sophisticated warding structures can’t act in anticipation of requests that have not been expressed.” She sighed. “What on earth has Magnus done? Why wouldn’t he tell people about an achievement like this?” She narrowed her gaze. “Unless… Please tell me that it’s limited to transporting objects already within the loft.”

“Uh,” said Alec, wincing. “Last night, when I was hungry, a hot dinner sort-of…appeared…in the kitchen.”

Catarina glared at him. “Even the wards protecting the Spiral Labyrinth, which have been twisted, stretched, adjusted, and added to so that they’re almost unrecognisable as wards, can’t do that. You need a level of sentience not able to be created with magic.” She opened the bag and divided the vatrushka between the two plates, taking one and biting into it.

Alec didn’t know what to say. “Did you run a diagnostic on the wards?”

Catarina chewed her mouthful slowly. “No,” she said when she was finished, “because I no longer have access to them. It’s why I couldn’t portal in. Although, you’ll probably be pleased to hear that from an outsider’s perspective, they seem stronger than ever.” The last words were said with some significance.

Alec was quick to catch on. “You mean they haven’t weakened at all, which is a sign that Magnus isn’t dead.”

Catarina hesitated. “It might be too soon to say,” she said slowly. “It’s true that I would have expected the wards to show signs of decay by now, but Magnus was one of the best warders I’ve ever worked with.” She made a face. “He was unfairly good at a lot of things, actually. Used to drive a lot of other warlocks around the bend.” She pushed Alec’s plate in his direction. “Eat up.”

“Which Magnus no doubt lapped up with a spoon,” said Alec, obeying her instruction while imagining the way Magnus was probably preening, if he was there.

“Luckily, healing was never one of his strong suits,” Catarina continued, “so I never had to deal with him turning up and making me look like a novice in my primary field of study.”

Alec had his mouth full, so didn’t answer.

Catarina put her plate aside, cradled her coffee in both hands, and looked out the window to the dark clouds gathering in the otherwise slowly lightening sky. “The truth is that I don’t know what to think. I learned long ago how destructive indulging in false hope could be—the cycle of excitement and depression—and these days, I’ve got Madzie to consider.”

Alec finished eating and mirrored her position. “The last two mornings, I’ve dreamed that Magnus was with me.” When Catarina opened her mouth to reply, he hurried on. “At first, I thought it was just dreams, but this morning was harder to dismiss.” He sighed. “In these dreams, I don’t remember what happened at the beach, but Magnus does. Yesterday he was so surprised I could see him, he nearly cried. Then my phone woke me up, and I thought it was just…one of those things.”

“Alec,” said Catarina, worry and compassion in her eyes, “I know it might have seemed real, but—”

“But this morning, he was prepared,” replied Alec. “I still didn’t remember anything, but he explained that I was asleep and that when I woke, I might try to brush it off as wishful thinking. He told me I should get you to bring someone called Ayyash and Tessa Gray to perform a closing ritual at the site of the rift; also, to tell Tessa that he was calling in some favour she owes him from Vienna.”

Catarina frowned. “What the hell happened in Vienna?”

“I don’t know,” answered Alec. “All I know is that’s what the Magnus in my dream said to pass on. Something about her dual heritage being helpful.”

Catarina twisted her cup around in her hands, gazing thoughtfully at it. “Was that all he said?”

“There was some other stuff, but it was more personal.” Alec touched Magnus’ wedding ring. “He said that he got a warm feeling when I touched his ring.”

Catarina’s eyebrows rose. “Do you mind if I take a look at it?”

“Sure,” Alec agreed. “Do you need me to take it off?”

“No, just hold it out towards me,” Catarina instructed. Pale blue wisps of magic floated out of her fingers to hover around the ring, then drew back. “There’s definitely an open connection to something. It looks too fragile to trace, unless you don’t mind the possibility of the link breaking.”

“No!” said Alec, tucking the ring back into his shirt. “I mean, no, thank you. What if the connection to the ring is all that’s holding Magnus here?”

“It’s unlikely that something so tenuous would successfully tether someone as powerful as Magnus anywhere.” Catarina drained her coffee cup and rose to her feet. “Was there anything else you wanted to talk about? Tracking down Ayyash might take a while, so I want to get started as soon as possible.”

“You believe me.” Alec slumped back in his seat and ran a hand over his face. “I was half expecting you’d tell me I was just imagining it.”

“It’s possible,” admitted Catarina, “but not probable. I know that you’ve never met Ayyash because he hasn’t left the Spiral Labyrinth in decades. His interests are esoteric, and he himself is not well known except to other warlocks. Tessa Gray and Vienna…that will be the real clincher.” She came over and rested a hand on Alec’s shoulder. “If my choices are between coincidence or Magnus managing something crazy and insane that no one has ever done before, I pick Magnus.”

“Me too,” agreed Alec, getting up and stretching. “I’ve asked Lorenzo to host a cabinet meeting at his place this evening so we can talk this whole thing out. If you, Ayyash, and Tessa want to join us, you’d be welcome.”

“You didn’t want to hold it here?” asked Catarina sympathetically.

Alec shrugged. “To be honest, I don’t feel up to having visitors.”

Catarina nodded slowly. “Yes. Huh.” She gave herself a little shake. “Can I open a portal to the Institute for you?”

“No, thank you,” said Alec, “I could do with a run.”

Catarina hesitated. “Do you mind if I open one for myself?”

“Go ahead,” replied Alec, slightly confused.

Catarina made a gesture, and a portal whirled into existence. Catarina sighed and muttered, “For fucks sake,” under her breath. She turned to Alec. “I’ll send you a fire message when I’ve contacted Tessa and Ayyash.”

“Thank you,” said Alec, smiling at her.

Catarina walked through the portal, which collapsed behind her.

Alec fished out Magnus’ ring and tried to pour all the love and hope he felt at that moment into it. “We’re going to get you back, Magnus, I promise.”

v^v^v^v

It was raining heavily by the time Alec left the building. The raindrops on his face and the rivulets that trickled from the edges of his hair to run down his back felt refreshing, and he covered the distance between the loft and the Institute in good spirits.

The run did nothing to dispel the sudden influx of energy he was feeling. He had a quick shower, let his secretary, Paul Alatini, know that he wanted to see his siblings when they were free, and went straight to his office to clear his desk of the paperwork that had built up over the night.

He was finishing his review of the patrol reports when Izzy and Jace came in.

“Good timing,” Alec said, sending the final report back with a request for further clarification on the blade loss they’d tried to slip into the narrative. He put the tablet down and looked up to see his brother and sister staring back with serious, concerned faces. He blinked. “Is something wrong?”

“We’re worried about you,” said Izzy, Jace nodding beside her. “I was going to give you three days to do your turtle routine before making you sit down and talk about it, but—”

“You’re in denial,” interrupted Jace. He set his jaw and stared Alec right in the eye. “I know it’s hard, but ignoring Magnus’ death, acting as if it’s something to be solved, it’s not healthy.”

“I’m not ignoring anything,” Alec protested. “Magnus isn’t dead, guys; he’s—”

“Yes,” said Izzy firmly, “he is.” She came closer. “This isn’t like when he went to Edom; his atoms overloaded, and he exploded into nothingness. We can’t just get him back from that. You’re focusing on this investigation of the Chosen to distract yourself from the truth, and you’ll end up crashing harder for it later.”

Alec sighed. “Magnus isn’t dead. Catarina agrees with me; she’s agreed to talk to a couple of warlocks on Magnus’ behalf and see if we can reverse whatever happened.”

Rather than looking reassured, Izzy looked even more worried. “Am I going to have to call mom? I talked with Catarina yesterday, Alec, and she didn’t mention anything li—”

“That’s because we discussed it this morning,” interrupted Alec. He folded his arms across his chest. “I understand why you’re worried, okay? But don’t be.”

“What happened that made Catarina suddenly change her tune?” asked Izzy suspiciously.

Alec looked at the ceiling so he wouldn’t have to see their expressions. “It was my dream this morning. Magnus was in it, gave me some instructions.” He repeated what he’d told Catarina.

Izzy’s brow was still creased. “You’re sure that it was really Magnus?”

“I’d never even heard of Ayyash before,” replied Alec, “and I have no idea what the deal is with Vienna. I admit that some of my reading last night mentioned unexpected effects of interrupted rituals, but there was nothing about a specific ‘closing ritual’ that could be used in those cases.”

Jace’s eyes widened. “You mean Magnus could really be coming back?”

Alec nodded, trying not to let his smile split his face. “It’s not a guarantee, and no one’s ever done it before—”

“But we do impossible things all the time,” finished Jace.

As if the timing had been planned, a fire message whipped its way towards Alec. He caught it, glancing over the lines scribbled in Catarina’s familiar handwriting. “Ayyash and Tessa have both agreed. We’ll make a plan tonight at Lorenzo’s.”

Chapter five

Watching Alec’s discussion with Catarina without being able to contribute was an irritant only offset by the burgeoning hope that this whole mess might finally get figured out.

The situation had changed from ‘mostly hopeless’ to ‘mostly hopeful’ so fast that he had a bit of mental whiplash going on. Not that he would forget what Catarina said about his talents; when he was corporeal again, he wanted to find out just whose nose had been put out of joint by his general awesome badassery.

Magnus was also annoyed that Catarina had been clued into the weirdness of the loft’s ability to anticipate Alec’s needs. Thankfully she didn’t know about the ‘borrowing’ of books from the Spiral Labyrinth. If Magnus had his way, no one—aside from him and Alec—would ever find out.

Another change was that the warm feeling he got when Alec held his wedding ring had changed into a raging torrent of energy. Magnus was left feeling as hyped up as if he’d reached the pinnacle of a two-week seelie bender, with no way to release some of that energy.

This time he was almost glad to be transported to the beach when Alec left the loft. Even the bad weather didn’t dampen his spirits.

The tide’s advance and retreat hadn’t touched the writing he’d made the previous day, which made walking the borders much easier. He didn’t have to pay attention to landmarks, just walk in his own footsteps. There was no change, which was a relief. Any shrinkage would be concerning; it would be a sign that whatever kept him in this state was becoming unstable.

Not something he was looking forward to.

He amused himself for a while by doing flips and backflips along the water’s edge. It wasn’t quite the same as when he was corporeal; his sense of balance in this strange version of his body wasn’t as good as when he was solid. On the other hand, falling didn’t hurt, so there were pros and cons.

His hope that he could use up some of his energy was dashed. It seemed that incorporeal bodies didn’t burn energy from exercise, or if they did, it wasn’t enough to be noticeable.

In any case, Magnus kept feeling the surges that he associated with Alec holding his wedding ring. They kept him buzzing, making meditation out of the question. He briefly considered playing a little five-on-one, but quickly discarded the idea.

“What to do, what to do…”

It was shocking how modern technology had trained him into needing diversion. Before the invention of the television—or even the wireless—Magnus used to pass away idle afternoons by composing bad poetry or perhaps practising with his various musical instruments and attempting to write music for them. In retrospect, both the hurdy-gurdy and the theremin had been mistakes.

Alas, his poetry had never been anything worth sharing, and his musical compositions even less so. Not that it mattered; he needn’t fear ridicule when there was no one to hear or see his laughable attempts.

He had no musical instruments, but he could write his thoughts.

Magnus eyed the vast area of sand available for his ‘writing.’ No time like the present.

v^v^v^v

Instead of the usual five or six attendees at that night’s meeting, they had more than three times that number. Izzy and Jace refused to be left behind, and Underhill had also expressed an interest. Somehow Maryse got wind of it, and she invited herself and Luke.

Maia brought Bat with her, and Meliorn was there, along with the unseelie representative, Lenara. Simon’s connection to the Brooklyn Vampire Clan was still shaky, so he’d brought the new leader, Natasha, and she brought her second, Arctarin.

It wasn’t really a cabinet meeting anymore; it was more of a general inter-faction assembly of those who wanted to restore Magnus Lightwood-Bane to his usual self.

Lorenzo loudly objected when Simon pointed that out, insisting that his only goal was to ensure that the botched ritual was closed off so that those in his jurisdiction were safe from erratic magical discharges, but no one believed him.

As promised, Catarina turned up with two other warlocks in tow. Tessa Gray seemed nice, if a little withdrawn, and Ayyash was blunt to the point of rudeness. He didn’t bother introducing himself and made no attempt at the usual pleasantries.

When Alec thanked him for agreeing to help, Ayyash looked down his nose with a sneer. “I’m here because Catarina persuaded me that I’d find it interesting,” he said. “Otherwise, I couldn’t care less what mess Bane managed to get himself into.”

“Lightwood-Bane,” replied Alec automatically. He wondered if Ayyash had a problem with mixed marriages or if it was shadowhunters in general that made him so bad-tempered. He nodded to Lorenzo, who had come to stand beside him.

Ayyash grimaced. “Ugh, I wish people wouldn’t go around changing their names. It’s such a bother, having to constantly deal with people calling themselves this and that. But then that’s the modern warlock for you, inconsiderate and rude. Rey.”

Lorenzo raised his eyebrows. “Ayyash.”

Catarina rolled her eyes. “Yes, how dare people put their happiness above your minor annoyance.” She smiled at Lorenzo and Alec. “Please excuse Ayyash’s bad temper, Alec; he doesn’t like being out of his comfy little tower.”

“I’m glad someone recognises the trouble I’ve been put to,” said Ayyash, looking around. “Why on earth do we have to meet at such a garish, badly decorated bordello? Couldn’t you lot have come up with something a little easier on the eyes?”

Lorenzo’s ‘practised host’ smile froze, and his lips curled back slightly, revealing more teeth. “I didn’t know you were in the habit of visiting bordellos, Ayyash. I suppose someone like you finds it difficult to find congenial company elsewhere. Which reminds me, have I introduced you to my partner, Andrew? He’s around here somewhere.”

“Don’t bother unless you expect to keep him around for a couple of hundred years or so,” said Ayyash dismissively, ignoring the crack about his inability to get a lover. “I’ve no intention of wasting my time otherwise. Now, can we be done with all this chit-chat? I’m here for the rifts and rituals, not to make small talk.”

Alec stifled a smile. Ayyash was one of the rudest people he’d ever met, but it was so all-encompassing and malice free it was hard to be annoyed with him. “We should probably get started,” he said. “Just grab a seat anywhere,

As soon as everyone looked settled, Alec gave everyone a rundown of the events at the beach. He began at the moment they’d arrived and finished when he walked through the portal Lorenzo made back to the Institute.

“Further investigation led us to a secretive sect of shadowhunters, their apparent purpose to elevate themselves above ordinary nephilim, thus bringing them closer to the angels. We think the failed ritual Magnus and I discovered was supposed to summon and compel an archangel, although we haven’t been able to confirm that.”

Natasha grimaced. “What do you need us for, then? Surely shadowhunters don’t need downworld resources to deal with a few rogue members?”

Alec raised his eyebrows. “I don’t need you; this part of the meeting is purely for transparency. To the best of my knowledge, the Chosen haven’t specifically targeted downworlders—or anyone really—but that could change. Given the upheaval caused by Valentine and his Circle, I felt that it was important that you be made aware of a possible threat.”

Maia had chosen to stand rather than sit, perhaps because it made looking down her nose at Natasha relatively easy. “Don’t you think you should wait until he’s finished before leaping to conclusions?”

Natasha’s eyes flashed with anger.

“Hey, calm down,” said Simon, moving between them so that he broke their line of sight to each other. “Aside from the whole ‘crazy shadowhunter group’ thing, we’re all here to help Magnus, okay? We’re supposed to be co-operating, not picking fights with each other.”

Alec nodded his thanks at Simon. “At present, the Clave is cautiously investigating the Chosen. For all we know, this one attempt at a summoning might be the entirety of their operations to date. The Consul didn’t believe it was necessary to inform anyone outside the small investigative team she’s gathered but gave me leave to act as I see fit.”

Alec looked around, making eye contact with everyone individually. “I’d ask you to keep this knowledge to yourselves for now. If the Chosen turn out to be more sinister than we currently think, we don’t want them to become aware that they’re under scrutiny; that would give them time to disappear underground. At present, we know where they are and the identities of many of the members. That advantage disappears when they find out that we know.”

Jace and Izzy handed out tablets Izzy had already prepared. She’d condensed the information Jia had given them the previous day down to a summary. She’d hurriedly added the file they’d received that afternoon in response to Alec’s request for further clarification on the ritual they might have used.

Alec had expected to wait longer for anything useful, so he’d been pleasantly surprised when Aline stopped by ‘to see Izzy’ with a thumb drive that she slipped into his pocket.

The thumb drive contained some badly taken photographs of someone’s attempt at putting together a ritual. The images were blurry—parts of them to the point of incomprehensibility—and some diagrams were only partly captured, but hopefully, there was enough for Ayyash to work with.

“We’re going to need these back,” Izzy said, handing the last one to Maia. “We’d prefer it if you didn’t make personal copies, but we understand that we can’t stop you if you do.” Her smile was wide and only slightly shark-like. Alec knew she was going to pay close attention to anyone who went ahead and copied the files despite her request.

Ayyash disregarded the information on the Chosen and went straight to the images. Without so much as a questioning look in Lorenzo’s direction, he waved a hand at one of the beautifully papered walls, rendering it dark grey. He then made magical versions of the images, increasing their size to somewhere between A4 and A3, and placed them high enough to be visible to everyone in the room.

Alec carefully didn’t look in Lorenzo’s direction.

“Hmm.” Ayyash spent some time adjusting each image’s orientation until he was satisfied, then stood and stared at them with unblinking eyes.

Maryse and Luke were sharing a tablet. It would have looked cosy and romantic if not for the expressions of shock and incredulity regularly crossing their faces.

As Maia read, her eyebrows lifted so high they looked as if they were going to disappear into her hairline.

Bat, beside her, looked astonished. “I didn’t know you even could summon archangels. Wouldn’t that be terribly dangerous?”

“The logistics of the summoning wouldn’t be any more dangerous than with demons,” Ayyash answered absently, still staring at the images. “But confining an angel in one place, stopping them from turning you into so much kindling before you have a chance to speak with them…yes, dangerous indeed.”

“We’re taught that summoning an angel is only ever a last resort,” Jace explained to a blushing Bat. “Raziel gifted us with the means to summon him without consequence once, with the understanding that once was all we were going to get, so we better really mean it.”

“Wow,” breathed Bat, staring at Jace like he was the best thing he’d ever seen.

Jace didn’t notice; if he did, it didn’t show. “Yeah. Angels are pretty badass.” He frowned. “Valentine managed to summon and trap one. Maybe that’s where these guys got the idea? I mean, he managed to avoid repercussions.”

“Valentine was a lunatic who only lasted as long as he did by having other people do most of his dirty work for him,” snapped Maryse, not looking up. “You can bet your blade that he didn’t perform the summoning personally.”

“Valentine never intended to let Ithuriel go,” Izzy reminded them. “The Chosen seem to think that if they argue well enough, the angel they summon will come around to their way of thinking.”

“Can you brainwash an angel?” asked Simon. “Would encanto work on them?”

Natasha straightened in her seat. “I don’t know, and I wouldn’t want to be the one to try it.” She exchanged a glance with Arctarin.

“We don’t intend to find ways to make their job easier,” said Alec firmly. “Keep in mind that, although they might not have shown violent tendencies so far, they are supremacists. I highly doubt they would consider any bargain with non-nephilim to be binding.”

“Of course,” Natasha replied, with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

Alec resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Ayyash, what are your initial impressions?”

“That shadowhunters are idiots,” Ayyash responded. “Rather than starting from scratch and building their ritual from the ground up, they’ve taken an existing ritual—one that has been reportedly used to successfully summon and bind a greater demon—and attempted to adjust it to an angelic inhabitant.”

“What do you mean, ‘reportedly’?” asked Catarina.

“What I mean, is that I recognise the base symbol structure,” snapped Ayyash. “This…thing…began as one of the summoning rituals Fester Gore published in his book, Summoning Rituals and Their Aspects.” He gave her a significant look that only appeared to confuse her. When she didn’t respond, he pinched the bridge of his nose as if he was in physical pain. “I never thought there would come a day when I missed Magnus Bane, but at least he would understand.”

Alec only just managed to stop himself from insisting it was Lightwood-Bane.

Ayyash continued. “Fester Gore was a hack. He never actually summoned anything bigger than an Imp, and even then, he managed to get that wrong. His summoning diagrams are very pretty, but you won’t gain any advantage when using them. For most rituals, it’s less of a concern, but with a summoning…it’s unbelievably risky. Summoning through a rift is already fraught with the possibility of disaster, but using a non-functional base?” He shook his head.

Izzy leaned forward. “If the Chosen built their ritual on a non-functional base, then how did they manage to create a rift that Magnus Lightwood-Bane, the warlock that closed a rift between Edom and Alicante—had trouble closing?”

“Because the magic they stacked on top of it was real,” replied Ayyash. “Angelic runes, for the most part, interspersed with something that looks like Akkadian cuneiform and a hodge-podge of various other logographical languages.”

“But wouldn’t that render the ritual inert?” asked Tessa. “Non-magical symbols would break the ability of the magical symbols to form a connection.”

“Any symbol can be imbued with power, if the person drawing them means them enough,” explained Ayyash, pulling a notebook and pencil out of nowhere and starting to scribble away. “The more times a symbol is used for a specific purpose, the greater the affinity it builds, but there always has to be first use.”

“You mean that a rune should be used more than once?” asked Simon, frowning. “Is that why shadowhunters draw new runes directly over old rune scars?”

Ayyash shook his head, continuing to write. “That’s a different subject. I’m talking about building affinity in a rune, whereas angelic and demonic runes came pre-affinitised, so to speak.” He frowned and crossed something out with short, jerky motions.

Everyone in the room stopped talking and reading to watch the irascible old warlock. There was something fascinating about his focus, the intensity of his gaze and the oddly matter-of-fact way he was speaking.

“For example, the base language used in most European runeology—for those not of demon or angel blood—is the elder futhark. Now, the first person who used any of those symbols with the intent for them to hold real power would have needed great personal reserves and an almost fanatical belief in their purpose to succeed in getting those runes to do anything other than look interesting. The next person—possibly the first person’s apprentice or some such—had already seen the rune in action, so their belief was already high, and the rune worked easier. Possibly better.”

“I can see where this is going,” said Izzy. “By the time people have been using the runes for a couple of hundred years, much less personal belief is required.”

“Exactly. You can’t automatically discount any symbol as ‘not a rune’ until you know more about who drew them, and why. Interpretation of a rune is also fluid. What a person who wants to hide his gold might mean by ‘protect’ will vary greatly from what someone going into battle might mean.”

Alec had learned a lot of this in his recent reading. “I understand that base diagrams exist to give rituals stability and guide purpose. What are the possible ramifications of a non-functional base?”

Ayyash sighed. “In theory, it’s possible for the ritual to proceed perfectly: for the caster to achieve their purpose and for nothing terrible to happen. In reality…it would be like building your ritual on a house of cards. The slightest misstep, or an unexpected breeze at the wrong moment, and the net of magic that’s been woven collapses. If the rift has been opened, it goes wild. At that point, anything could happen.”

Alec winced. ‘Anything’ had included Magnus being dematerialised.

Ayyash stopped writing, frowning down at his workings. He looked up at Alec. “Catarina tells me Magnus contacted you and instructed you to perform a closing ritual.”

Alec nodded. “He said that you should construct it but that Tessa,” he gestured toward her, “should be the one to perform it, that her dual heritage would help.”

Ayyash snorted. “What would have helped, was if he’d given a bit more detail, although I imagine he didn’t fully understand it himself. Still, if he’s floating around like a ghost then that’s proof in and of itself that the ritual hasn’t ended.” He tapped his pencil several times against the paper. “Fine. I’m ready. Tessa, Catarina, Rey…” He squinted at Alec. “Andrew? Adrien? Whatever. Catarina told me you wear a ring that still connects to Magnus, yes? You should come too. Let’s get this over and done with.”

“Wait,” said Tessa. “You’ve created a whole new closing ritual, here and now? Based on that?” She gestured at the images which still graced Lorenzo’s wall.

“Shouldn’t we test it?” asked Catarina, echoing Alec’s first thought. “What if something goes wrong?”

Ayyash rolled his eyes. “Neither of you has any hope of understanding my work.” He waved his diagram at them. “I have no intention of wasting my time trying to educate you. I’ll go with you to the site to make sure there isn’t anything there that could throw my calculations off, and I’ll walk you through building the base and performing the ritual. When you’ve spent three decades or more focused on the subject, I might even deign to explain how I came up with it. As to testing it, sure. Find me someone else who currently exists in null space, being kept connected to reality by a fragile tether of love and shared magic, and I’ll happily test away.”

Tessa and Catarina exchanged a glance.

A cracking noise made Alec realise that he was gripping the tablet he was holding hard enough to break it. He carefully put it down, sending an apologetic glance Izzy’s way. “I agree; the sooner we take care of this, the better.”

Izzy and Jace stepped up to flank Alec. “We’d like to come along too, if we may,” said Izzy

“Me too!” agreed Simon, looking more excited than Alec had seen him look since he discovered Clary had been stripped of her runes and lost her memory.

“I don’t care who comes to watch, so long as they don’t get in the way and stay quiet,” replied Ayyash. “Rey, you’ve been to the spot in question. Hurry up with that portal.”

Lorenzo looked ready to argue, but Underhill—who had moved to stand next to him—nudged him gently. Lorenzo gritted his teeth and opened a portal with a flamboyant gesture that Magnus would have been proud of.

v^v^v^v

Magnus was still working on the first stanza of his latest poem—inspired by Alec’s innate skill and increasing versatility in bed—when a portal opened just outside his carefully marked-out area.

He straightened up, blinking in surprise.

Alec was first through the portal, followed closely by Izzy and Jace. Then Ayyash, Catarina, and Tessa, at which point Magnus stopped paying attention. His husband was dressed in the spare ‘badass’ suit he kept at the Institute, one of several that Magnus had cast careful glamours over to conceal any weaponry that Alec wished to carry, thigh holster included. Magnus had feelings about that thigh holster, feelings that Alec was all too aware of.

“Sayang, your ability to get things done quickly and efficiently while looking hot enough to burn water never ceases to be a complete turn-on,” Magnus commented, approaching the edge of his space. His eyes roved over his husband, noting the banked excitement, hope and dread barely hidden beneath his controlled demeanour.

Izzy and Jace were sticking to him like glue, which was good to see. Catarina and Tessa were together, talking in voices too low for Magnus to overhear.

“When Magnus and I arrived, the rift was over there,” said Alec, gesturing over to the correct area of the beach.

“Impressive recall,” congratulated Magnus.

Ayyash looked around; face screwed up as if he’d just discovered a corpse that had been rotting in the sun for a week. He whirled on Alec. “Are you telling me those simpletons didn’t even have the sense to make a stable platform? Did they draw their ritual on sand?”

“I didn’t get a proper look,” admitted Alec. “I was more focused on the open rift. But you knew the location was a beach; why is it surprising that they worked in sand?”

Ayyash made a disgusted noise at the back of his throat. “Any thickhead should be able to reason that…you know what? Never mind.” He strode forward, crossing the invisible line into Magnus’ area. As soon as he was over that line, he stopped, eyebrows raised. It was as shocked as Magnus had seen Ayyash in the three hundred years he’d known him.

Alec followed on his heels. “What’s wrong…” He stopped, too, eyes wide. “Are you seeing what I’m seeing?”

Ayyash rounded on him. “You can see this? What am I saying? Of course you can. Why not?” He looked almost angry. “It’s no crazier than the rest of this.”

The remainder of the group—was that Maia and Bat? What were they doing here?—crossed into the blue zone too, but only Catarina and Tessa seemed to be able to see what Ayyash and Alec had already noticed.

Catarina approached the area that held Magnus’ efforts at poetry while Tessa was looking at the stick-figure diagrams.

“Wow,” said Tessa, mouth quirked up in that way she had when she was trying not to smile. “Someone was bored.”

Catarina abandoned her reading to come and see what Tessa was looking at. She tilted her head thoughtfully. “You think these are ideas, or memories? I wouldn’t have thought someone so tall would be so…flexible.”

Izzy laughed. “There’s a rune for that, you know. A good example of what Ayyash said about runes having different interpretations: I’m sure the angels never meant for the flexibility rune to be used for sex, but it’s the main reason most of the shadowhunters I know wear it. Alec never bothered with it until recently.” She looked at the ground a little wistfully. “I wish I could see whatever you’re looking at.”

Alec’s ears were bright red. “We should probably move this along,” he said, glancing over the glowing writing. He stopped, reading over the poem Magnus had been writing when they arrived. “This one isn’t finished.”

“I wonder if…” Magnus reached out and wrote, ‘Still in progress, sayang.’ Then he looked up at Alec, who’d frozen.

Alec looked right at where Magnus was standing. “Magnus! You’re here!”

“Where else would he be?” Ayyash muttered. He was still standing where he’d stopped, just inside the blue-zone line. He’d raised his hands, and soon tendrils of dark, almost blood-red magic floated around him. “Hmm.” Looking solely at his magic, Ayyash walked over a bunch of Magnus’ writing to stand directly beneath the glowing blue orb. “Here. We’ll need to perform the closing ritual here.” He raised his voice. “Everyone not involved, please step back beyond the line marking the affected space.”

“We can’t see the line,” Jace pointed out.

“Then I suggest you ask someone who can,” replied Ayyash.

Catarina sighed. “Come on, this way.” She gently ushered everyone back over the line, although Magnus was interested to note that Meliorn and his unseelie companion had avoided crossing it in the first place.

Alec turned to join them.

“Not you!” snapped Ayyash. “Come here. Is it safe to assume you brought the ring with you, or are you too dim-witted to make even the most obvious connections?”

Alec assured Ayyash that he had the ring while not appearing to be the least bit offended. He seemed amused, almost fond. Magnus’ turbulent emotional state tipped over into overwhelming affection for his husband, who, without even trying, was winning over warlocks left, right, and centre. There was Magnus, of course, and Catarina and Madzie. Even Lorenzo, particularly after that whole Edom mess.

Now Tessa, who’d avoided shadowhunters for several decades, was watching him with approving eyes, and even Ayyash—not known for tolerating warlocks under a hundred years old, let alone shadowhunters only halfway through their twenties—was treating him with the same respect he’d give Magnus. Since Ragnor’s death, Magnus was one of the only warlocks still around who could give Ayyash a run for his money in the ritual magic department, and Ayyash might have been an egotist, but he was honest enough to admit it.

“Stand back,” instructed Ayyash, magic still writhing around his fingers. “No, further than that. Just…stand behind me for a moment. I need to create a stable work area.”

As soon as everyone had placed themselves to his liking, Ayyash released the magic he’d been holding. There was the faint smell of ozone, and then a broad section of the sand in front of Ayyash suddenly melted. Ayyash frowned in concentration as he moved his fingers, shaping the molten glass into a level platform with slightly raised edges. He frowned a bit, magic dancing over the top, then he used one hand to hold it in one place while the other directed his magic into the structure itself, leaching the heat out and dumping it into the ocean.

This went on for several minutes until Ayyash finally released his magic, a cooled, level, amorphous-solid platform with the base for a ritual pre-engraved on the surface.

“Impressive,” said Alec admiringly.

Magnus silently agreed. It was a casual display of power and prowess, the warlock equivalent of strutting. It looked easy, but molten glass was deceptively difficult for warlocks to work with unless their purpose was to create a pile of razor-sharp shards.

Ayyash sniffed, although Magnus could tell that he was pleased. “Magically demanding, but not requiring much finesse,” he lied. “Of course, ensuring that the quick cooling doesn’t shatter the result can be tricky, but it’s well within my capabilities.”

If the man wasn’t flirting with Magnus’ husband, he might have been more amused.

Alec just nodded, standing at parade rest. “So, what happens now?”

“Now we get to work,” replied Ayyash. “Tessa, come here. Please follow my instructions exactly. I’ll place illusions of the symbols you need to draw, trace over them with this.” He presented her with a black crayon. “As you draw each one, you’ll need to concentrate on its meaning. Four of them will call the winds, the other four the elements. Can I assume you know enough of runeology to recognise them?”

“Yes. I might not be an expert, but I have prepared a ritual before,” Tessa said, taking the crayon and approaching the platform. Eight red symbols were glowing on its surface.

“Is this going to be dangerous?” asked Alec, watching her begin to draw.

Ayyash pursed his lips. “Depends on your definition of ‘dangerous.’ It won’t hurt anyone outside the ritual zone and probably won’t hurt anyone inside it.”

Alec raised his eyebrows. “Probably?”

“It’s experimental,” said Ayyash with a shrug. “I’m absolutely the best person on the planet to help you with this, especially if you want Magnus back, whole and in one piece. Given that Magnus is the warlock involved, I’d give us a sixty-eight per cent chance of complete success, but…”

“But that still leaves a thirty-two per cent chance of something going wrong,” finished Alec, shoulders tensing slightly. “Well, so long as we get Magnus back—and don’t accidentally finish what the Chosen started and accidentally summon an irate archangel—I’ll count it as a win.”

“It wasn’t an archangel,” replied Ayyash, observing Tessa’s work with a gimlet stare.

Magnus frowned. He could have sworn the information Alec was reading had mentioned archangels specifically.

“What were they trying to summon, then?” asked Alec.

Ayyash grimaced. “They were reaching right for the top. They were going for seraphim. No!” he said to Tessa, who’d looked up from her work, startled. “Don’t pay any attention to us; just get on with those sigils!”

Tessa grumbled but bent back down.

Magnus was glad that he currently didn’t have to worry about going faint with shock. Archangels being pulled to earth against their will would have been bad enough; what kind of idiot thought that summoning and trying to bind seraphim was a good idea?

“One of the seraphim,” Alec said, sounding numb. “They were trying to…” He gave himself a shake. “Were they aiming for a particular representative, or just whatever their spell happened to catch?”

“I didn’t see anything that looked like a specific name,” replied Ayyash. “Whoever took the photos didn’t manage to get the entirety of the ritual, and it’s possible that one or more of the pictograms was meant to represent a specific being. At this point, it really doesn’t matter. The idiots were fishing for the biggest fish in the ocean while sitting in a leaky boat with a fishing rod made of sticks and rope.”

“These runes are done,” called Tessa.

Ayyash patted Alec on the shoulder. “Don’t worry about it; worrying won’t change the outcome; it’s counterproductive and a waste of time and energy.”

Alec’s answering smile was tight and fake, and it dropped the moment Ayyash turned away to instruct Tessa.

It took an hour for Ayyash to be satisfied with how the ritual components were laid out. Twice he removed what she’d done, chiding her for losing concentration.

Magnus noticed Tessa starting to lose her temper, but he could also see that the angrier she got, the more decisive and confident her work became. Was Ayyash pissing her off on purpose?

Alec watched the whole thing with a focused intensity that Magnus had only witnessed him apply in two areas of his life: life-threatening crises and sex. Lately, there had been far more of the latter than the former, and Magnus had developed a slightly Pavlovian response to it.

There was no point in Magnus trying to fool himself. He had that response to Alec doing just about anything. It was all Alec’s fault for being so beautiful, talented, and tall. Maybe one day, Magnus would grow accustomed to knowing that, of all the men in the world, Alec had picked him, but he doubted it would be for a good long time.

Just as Tessa was about to blow her top, Ayyash pronounced himself satisfied with her efforts.

Tessa glared at him. “Can I get on with performing the actual ritual, now?”

“In a moment,” replied Ayyash. “We need one more thing.” He looked over to Alec. “Magnus will need to rebuild his body from scratch. It would be impossible—that sort of thing requires more power than any single warlock has access to—but thanks to the physical tether, we can reroute the energy caused by the closing of the rift directly to him. Can you place the ring in the centre of the ritual area without touching anything? Or should I use magic?”

Alec cast a measuring eye over the carefully drawn lines and swirls. “I’ll be fine.” He removed the necklace and unthreaded the ring, tucking the chain into his pocket. Then, stretching a leg out behind him for balance, he extended his body in one fluid, graceful motion, leaning down to set the ring down so softly there was no sound. It looked like a smooth, practised move.

Magnus desperately wanted to rip Alec’s pants off right there on the beach, but even if it wasn’t physically impossible—and if Alec would have allowed it, which Magnus doubted—he needed to focus on building a functional body, using nothing but energy.

Ayyash watched with raised eyebrows. “Very well, I believe we’re ready to begin.”

Chapter six

Clouds covered the sky. If he didn’t have to keep track of the moon’s cycle as part of his job, Alec would have had no idea there even was a moon that night; the coverage was so complete.

Ayyash finished laying several strange items he’d pulled seemingly out of nowhere in a circular pattern on the sand around the platform. “Adam, come and stand next to the platform,” he said. “Magnus, you stand wherever you feel is best. Oh, and try to limit the screaming. I have sensitive ears.”

Alec did as instructed, his skin still prickling with the familiar feel of Magnus’ magic. On the sand in front of him, a glowing heart appeared.

“I love you too,” Alec whispered.

Beside the heart, a crudely drawn erect cock appeared.

Alec had to stifle the urge to laugh. “Stop that! We can discuss that when you’re back to your usual self!”

Ayyash frowned at him. “If you’re quite finished?”

“Absolutely,” said Alec, glad that his siblings’ antics had long ago necessitated him learning to keep a straight face under provocation.

Ayyash narrowed his eyes but didn’t respond. “Once we start, I want everyone to be silent until I specifically say that you can speak again. Understand?” He eyed everyone, those outside the ritual zone as well as those inside it. Whatever he saw must have satisfied him because he sniffed and turned back to his fellow warlock. “Tessa, you may begin.”

Tessa nodded, taking a deep breath in before letting it out again. She stood tall as she faced east, her feet on the outer ring of the ritual she’d painstakingly drawn. The words she spoke weren’t in any language Alec knew, although parts of it seemed familiar. Her clear voice rose and fell in a rhythmic cadence for a little under a minute before falling silent.

For a moment, all Alec could hear was the dull rumble of the ocean, small waves breaking on the shore and then sliding back. Gradually, he noticed the air filling with magic and electricity. His hair lifted off his scalp, and the occasional crackle started making itself heard.

At a signal from Ayyash, Tessa resumed speaking. This time she sounded commanding, imperative. The air was saturated with power. Alec wasn’t surprised when a glowing blue energy sphere erupted into the space where the rift had once been.

At the same time, a glowing blue outline of Magnus appeared beside him. It was indistinct and wavered slightly, but it was still recognisably his husband. Alec reached out to grab his hand, but while Magnus was no longer invisible, he was still incorporeal.

Magnus gave him a tight smile before turning his attention back to Tessa, who had begun repeating three words over and over again.

“Samagra! Visarjana! Atmanepada!”

The glowing sphere started to rotate, then gradually increased speed until it spun faster than Alec could see. Its resemblance to the angelic core that powered the Institute was impossible to miss, and suddenly Alec was terrified about what that would mean for Magnus.

Magnus had been able to shove the power of the Institute’s core into the leylines to cleanse New York of Lilith’s corruption; he’d also worked with Alec to form a close connection with the core. But, could he withstand the direct influx of power that Ayyash had spoken of? Suddenly, Ayyash’s admonition about the screaming sounded less like a bad joke and more like an actual warning.

Magnus’ grim expression as he watched Tessa didn’t do anything to calm Alec’s fears.

“Samagra! Visarjana! Atmanepada!”

As the magical saturation of the air around them rose, becoming more turbulent with every moment, it seemed like the world was tinted with the same blue that Magnus was lined in. Alec’s hair was tossed around as though he was in a maelstrom, but Tessa appeared unaffected, her hair still and unruffled.

“Samagra! Visarjana! Atmanepada!”

The magic started making his skin feel like it was being scoured with sandpaper. Alec gritted his teeth and endured.

“Now!” Ayyash shouted.

Tessa’s hands rose and then extended outwards towards the roiling ball of magic. They lit with golden, misty flames that licked up through her fingers and then formed a golden orb.

“SAMAGRA! VISARJANA! ATMANEPADA!”

The golden orb rocketed from Tessa’s hands; when it reached the wild magic where the rift had been, it split then closed around it, enveloping it completely.

“SAMAGRA!” Tessa shouted. Her extended hands were empty but open, as if her golden magic was still held in them. Then she began to bring her hands together as though she was squeezing a ball and making it smaller. A short distance away, the now golden orb began to contract. It became smaller and smaller until it was no bigger than a grapefruit.

“VISARJANA!” Tessa pulled her hands slowly towards her body, the magic moving with her actions, lowering towards her until it hovered directly over the centre of the carefully drawn design on the glass platform.

“ATMANEPADA!” Tessa dropped her hands suddenly, the ball of magic falling with them until it hit Magnus’ wedding ring. It disappeared, sucked into the ring as though it had never existed.

At Alec’s side, the indistinct blue form of his husband threw back his head and screamed to the sky.

Magnus started to brighten. Within seconds he was too bright to look at, bright enough that even with his hands over his closed eyes, Alec could see it.

The roiling magic in the air stopped; now, it was focused entirely on Magnus. Alec rubbed his thumb against the wedding ring on his finger, hoping with all his heart that Magnus would once again manage the impossible.

The screaming stopped nearly a minute before the light died.

Alec opened his eyes.

v^v^v^v

Magnus had expected it to hurt; that didn’t mean he was prepared. The pain was excruciating, the coruscating energy raging through every aspect of his being, increasing and increasing until he thought it would drive him mad.

He’d reached the point where he just wanted it to end and didn’t care how, when the pain lessened slightly. Alec’s face swam before his mind’s eye, love and trust in his eyes. Magnus abruptly recalled that he was supposed to use the energy to rebuild his body.

It was one of the hardest things he’d ever done, but Magnus put aside the pain enough to focus on his task. He’d promised Alec he’d do everything in his power to make it back to him, and he intended to keep his promise.

Having a purpose made dealing with the agonising pain easier. The block keeping him away from his magic had been blasted away by the rush of power, so Magnus grabbed it with both metaphorical hands, using it to wrestle with the energy infusing him.

As the son of arguably the most powerful denizen of the hell realms, Magnus commanded ample power for the magically intensive discipline of transmutation: changing the base nature of an item from one thing to another. It had become much easier as science progressed; the more a warlock knew about something, the better their magic worked with it.

But medical science had never been Magnus’ strong suit. He knew enough to get by, and the strength of his magic allowed him to brute-force many types of healing where delicacy and knowledge could be compensated for. Still, he lacked the detailed knowledge of humanoid bodies and how they worked that would be necessary if he were trying to create a body other than his own.

Thankfully, his magic’s familiarity with his body was enough that the brute-force method of conjuration should work, given sufficient power.

There was a lot of power available. All Magnus needed to do was channel it.

That sounded simple until one realised it was akin to directing a tornado. While the magic of the rift might have once contained some order—although, given the ineptitude of the ones who created it, Magnus doubted it—it was now chaotic, untamed. It resisted being forced into compliance the way any wild entity would.

Magnus struggled with it for what seemed like an eternity. He was starting to despair when another form of power slid into the mix. Magnus instantly recognised it as the angelic core from the New York Institute. There was no time for Magnus to wonder why or how it had happened; the introduction of the angelic core’s power acted as a surfactant, allowing Magnus access to the entirety of the energy.

From there, he allowed his magic to guide him, trusting in it to an extent he never had before.

The pain he was in grew less and less as the tamed rift magic sank into the creation of living cells, building enough to produce one living, breathing, fully functional body.

Magnus knew the process was complete when his magic stopped directing the influx of power into him, letting it flow out into the world.

Time to see if it worked.

Magnus opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was his husband staring at him in wonder.

“Magnus!” Alec lunged forward, scooping him into his arms with something that sounded almost like a sob.

Magnus clung back with all his strength. “Alexander,” he said, unable to come up with anything else. “My Alexander.”

Alec pulled back just enough to stare into Magnus’ eyes. His own were glassy with unshed tears, and his smile was wide but tremulous. “You did it. You did it!”

“You made it possible,” countered Magnus, running his hands up over Alec’s shoulders to grip the back of his neck, pulling him closer. “You trusted me; you got everyone here…I’ve missed you so much, sayang; I can’t tell you how much.”

There was an audible sniff from nearby. “I rather think it was me that made it possible.”

Magnus’ attention was dragged away from Alec to where Ayyash and Tessa were standing side by side, watching them. Tessa was smiling slightly, eyebrows raised, but Ayyash wore his usual expression of distant distaste.

“Thank you both so much,” Magnus said, not letting go of Alec for even a second. “Tessa, you were brilliant! Ayyash…” He faltered, not sure what he could say.

“I’m pleased to see that my hypothesis about the levels of magical output generated was accurate,” replied Ayyash, banishing the items he’d laid around the ritual area away with a flick of his fingers. “My instruments will have recorded some immensely valuable data on the matter.” He sniffed again. “Some clothing wouldn’t go amiss.”

Magnus abruptly became aware that he was naked. Not that he minded much—nudity was nothing to be ashamed of, especially when one was as stunning a specimen as Magnus was—but there was a time and place for it, and this wasn’t it.

A wave of his hand and he was clad in one of his familiar outfits, the feel of silk and leather against his skin delightful in the extreme—although not as delightful as Alec’s skin under his hands, of course. With a snap of his fingers, his wedding ring was back where it belonged.

The world was no longer shaded in blue, and Magnus couldn’t be happier about it.

v^v^v^v

Alec’s ability to concentrate on anything but Magnus’ miraculous return was shot to hell. He vaguely noticed being hugged by Izzy, Jace, and Maryse, congratulated by Underhill, Simon, Luke, Meliorn, and even Lenara, who astonished Alec by declaring that her king would be pleased.

As far as Alec knew, the Unseelie King cared for little outside the Seelie Realm, let alone the fate of a warlock. But Lenara couldn’t lie, so she believed what she said to be true. Something to consider later.

Natasha and Arctarin were the only ones who didn’t seem thrilled at Magnus’ success. Even Lorenzo looked relieved, although he made a poor attempt at masking it once he realised Magnus had noticed.

Catarina, like Alec, refused to budge from Magnus’ side. “You scared a decade off my life, you bastard! Don’t think for a second that I’m letting you out of my sight until I’ve done a full examination! Tessa, I’ll catch up with you later.”

Tessa nodded. She looked tired, which was understandable considering the energies she’d been manipulating.

“Cat, your week at the Lab isn’t up,” Magnus pointed out, looking a little apprehensive. “Why don’t you wait until then? You can bring Madzie over; we can have a ‘back to life’ party.”

“Madzie doesn’t know there was ever anything wrong with you,” Catarina countered. “She’s spending the week with Kalda, and they…you know what? It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re not going to get rid of me that easily.”

Izzy hugged Magnus again, hard, and then hugged Alec. “Don’t even think about coming back to the Institute for the next forty-eight hours,” she told him. “Turn your phone off. I’ll send you a fire message if any emergencies crop up that the rest of us can’t deal with.”

Alec nodded, only too glad to obey. Izzy hugged him once more and then started to corral the other non-participants, asking Lorenzo for a portal back to the Institute and promising everyone to arrange another meeting for the following week.

“I won’t be coming,” said Ayyash when Izzy informed him that he was welcome to join them. “I have no interest in the puerile posturing of a bunch of imbeciles. Just send along any ritual data you manage to find.”

“Thank you, Ayyash,” said Alec, more grateful than he knew how to express. “If there’s anything you need, any possible way I can help you in return….” In his peripheral vision, he saw Lorenzo ushering the spectators through a portal.

“Yes, yes, I very much doubt I’ll ever find myself in a situation that requires your aid to resolve,” replied Ayyash. “In such an instance, I will, of course, avail myself of your…expertise.” His nose wrinkled slightly. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got ground-breaking research to conduct.”

“I’d like to read over your conclusions,” said Magnus. “If you like, I can give you a rundown on what it was like from my side of things.”

Ayyash sighed the sigh of someone who has been greatly put upon. “Stop by, if you must,” he said grudgingly. “Just don’t expect me to feed and house anyone.” He took one last look around the area before snapping his fingers. The glass platform he’d created for the ritual crumbled back into sand. “I’m sure you’ll be able to clean up your mess.”

Before Alec could ask what mess he was talking about, Ayyash had called up a portal and walked through. It winked closed.

Tessa rolled her eyes. “Don’t mind me, Ayyash; I’m fine.” She rolled her shoulders, then yawned. “I’m going to sleep for a week after that one.”

“Let me make a portal for you,” offered Magnus. “It’s the least I can do after all the effort you put in today.”

Tessa yawned again. “So long as it’s gratis. I’m not passing the Vienna favour back.”

“You can have Genoa, too,” promised Magnus. For the first time since his corporealisation, he took both hands off Alec at once, although he grabbed Alec’s hand again when the portal stabilised. Alec was only too happy to oblige him.

“Thank you,” said Tessa. “I’ll see you soon, Magnus. Alec, it was nice to meet you.”

“You too,” replied Alec, “and thank you.”

Tessa waved a dismissive hand. “Ayyash did the hard stuff. My part was draining but not difficult.” Without waiting for further discussion, she left.

Alec realised it was just him, Magnus, and Catarina remaining.

Catarina frowned at Magnus. “Wasn’t making a portal a little reckless, considering you’ve just come back from the dead?”

Magnus raised his eyebrows. “Firstly, I was never dead. Secondly, I would never risk Tessa’s life with a portal I was unsure of. I know my magic, Catarina; I know my limits and what I’m capable of.” His expression softened. “I know you’re worried, but I really am fine.”

Catarina stared at him for a moment before looking away with a sigh. “If it was a year ago, I would take your word for it. But a lot has happened, Magnus. All that business with trading your magic to your father…the attempt at a magic transfusion…I’d feel better if you let me scan you.”

Alec felt Magnus’ body go tense. “How long would it take,” he said quickly, hoping to forestall the inevitable push-back from Magnus.

Catarina blinked in surprise, as if she’d forgotten he was there. “A cursory exam should only take a minute, but a more in-depth examination of—”

“How about a compromise,” Alec interrupted. “Do the short exam now, and later, when Magnus feels more up to it, you can run the longer tests.”

Magnus narrowed his eyes at Alec, although he didn’t let go of his hand. “Excuse me?”

“You rebuilt your body from scratch,” Alec pointed out. “Come on, Magnus. If anyone else had done it, you’d be right there wanting answers.” He lowered his voice. “Would you do it for my peace of mind?”

Magnus sighed, and his expression softened. “All right, Alexander. A quick exam now, and I’ll submit myself to Catarina’s tender mercies on another occasion.”

“I want to run tests on you, too,” Catarina informed Alec. “The connection between the two of you shouldn’t be possible. Then there’s the fact that you can see and interact with magic, not to mention whatever it is that’s happening at the loft.”

Alec realised rather ruefully that objecting would be hypocritical, so he just nodded.

“Good. I’ll hold you to that,” Catarina promised. “Now, step away from each other, please. Magnus, take that ring off. I don’t want whatever you’ve done to it to mess with my results.”

Magnus rolled his eyes but passed the ring to Alec. Alec ran his fingers over its familiar edges before folding his fingers around it.

Catarina was already working, her pale blue magic darting around Magnus in a manner that reminded Alec of tiny fish. Then Catarina spread her fingers, and the magic rushed back, sinking into her skin. “You’re fine.” The words were almost grudging.

“As I said,” replied Magnus. “Now, if you don’t mind, my husband and I are overdue some sexytimes. I’ve had any number of thoughts that I haven’t yet had the opportunity to follow through on; your presence is cramping our style.”

Catarina smirked. “Yes, I’ve seen some of the ‘notes’ you’ve been taking.” She glanced down at the sand, where the glowing writing and stick-figure pictures Alec had seen when he’d entered the ritual space still glowed dimly. “I’ll leave the two of you to your reunion. Magnus, I want you to note anything that seems strange or unusual.”

Alec took a closer look at the stick-figure pictures. They were all reasonably faithful representations of things he and Magnus got up to when they felt playful. He cleared his throat. “Good. Nice to see you, Catarina.” He waited for her to leave, then turned to his husband. “Magnus? Can we go? I think Chairman Meow would like to see you.” Remembering the ring he was holding, he offered it back to his husband.

“He could already see me,” Magnus replied, taking the ring and putting it on. “Whenever you were in the loft, I was there with you. When you weren’t at home, I was here.” He gestured towards the beach. “But I can’t wait to touch him again. Sitting next to a fluffy, purring cat and not being able to pet him was almost at tortuous as not being able to talk to or touch you, Alexander.”

Alec didn’t know how to feel about that. Being able to see Alec and the cat was probably good for Magnus—being stuck on this beach for three days straight would not have been fun—but it felt a little strange. Would Magnus have expected Alec to be more devastated? Did he think Alec didn’t care enough about his husband being blown into smithereens? Izzy had often told him that sometimes it was hard to tell when something actually upset him, and she’d known him all his life.

Magnus made an elegant gesture, a portal springing to life in front of them. “Come on, darling. Let’s go home.”

v^v^v^v

Magnus hadn’t been entirely honest with Catarina. He was fine, but that didn’t mean that everything was normal.

All his senses were on overdrive; he was seeing, smelling, and feeling things he’d never noticed. None of it was overwhelming, exactly; it was just a lot.

The feel of his wards running over his newly made skin again made him shiver in reaction. As soon as the portal closed and he felt them close tight around them, he let himself relax.

“I’m home,” Magnus said, looking at the familiar space with new eyes. “I can’t believe we actually did it.” He turned, burrowing into Alec and breathing in the smell of his skin. Curious to see if his sense of taste was heightened too, he tilted his head back for a kiss.

Alec was only too willing to oblige, quickly turning the kiss filthy. When he lifted his head, his pupils were blown wide, his cheeks flushed, and his lips red. Magnus imagined his face was probably in the same state.

“You know what?” Magnus asked, backing towards the bedroom. “Let’s talk about this later. For now, I have a better idea.” He interspersed his words with quick kisses.

“You have the best ideas,” Alec agreed, reaching out to push open the bedroom door before Magnus could crash into it. “Know what else would be a good idea? If you got rid of these clothes we’re wearing. Right now, I don’t have the patience for buttons or zips.”

With a snap of his fingers, Magnus obliged.

The first time was hard and rough, Alec driving into him with a strength he didn’t often bring to their bed. Magnus felt just as desperate and gave as good as he got, digging his fingernails into Alec’s back, arching his back to get him deeper.

In the aftermath, Magnus’ magic cleaned them up and tucked them under a blanket. Magnus was occupied with holding his husband as he finally shattered into pieces, releasing all the pent-up grief and anguish he’d not let himself feel until then. “It’s okay, sayang,” he soothed. “It’ll take more than a few crazy nephilim to take me away from you.”

“I couldn’t face the thought that you might be gone,” Alec admitted when he’d regained control. “I managed to keep going by concentrating on getting you back, but there was always this little voice in my head telling me that this was it, that I’d had more happiness than I deserved and that this was the price.”

“That’s ridiculous,” said Magnus firmly. “You deserve all the happiness, my dear.” He smoothed Alec’s damp fringe away from his beautiful eyes, dropping another kiss on those lips just because he could.

“Then it’s good you made it back to me.” Alec’s smile was soft and glowing. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’d like for you to fuck me now.”

Magnus blinked. No, he didn’t imagine it. Alec was glowing. Alec was also leaning in to kiss him rather seriously.

Magnus decided to worry about it tomorrow. “I would be delighted to, darling.” He rolled them over so that he was hovering above Alec. “But later; first, I have something to take care of from earlier.” He started kissing, licking, and gently biting his way down Alec’s long body. “You know how watching you be all athletic and skilled makes me get.”

Alec laughed. “Magnus, you’re like this all time.”

Magnus nipped slightly harder at the sensitive spot just below the hip bone, enjoying Alec’s sharply indrawn breath and the way his skin went tight in reaction. “I’m not sure what your point is.” He ran his tongue in a circle around the head of Alec’s straining erection.

“Never mind,” replied Alec, starting to sound wrecked. “Magnus, are you going to…Magnus!”

The glowing, the strange matter of the loft’s wards, the Chosen; these things could wait till later, when he didn’t have the most beautiful man in the world in his bed, writhing under the ministrations of his tongue, teeth, and hands.

Magnus devoted all his attention to enjoying the moment.