Chapter 20

I'm never drinking again.

That was Alec's first thought. Whoever invented alcohol needed to be locked away for the rest of their life. And thinking about it now; which century was that even?

The omega felt like he was being beaten over the head with a hammer. Why? Just why would anyone drink if this was the end result; waking up the next day feeling as though you've had the life squeezed out of you by a Raum demon?

What Alec didn't know yet however, was that how he was currently feeling as he groaned in pain, wasn't simply just the effects of a night out spent drinking.

As Alec groaned, he rolled onto his side, hugging his pillow against his chest. It took a few minutes, but like a flash of light going off in his mind, he suddenly realized that something was off.

His pillow felt a lot firmer than he remembered.

Alec squished the pillow in his embrace to soften it, his eyelids fluttering a little, trying, but failing to open. Even the smell of his pillow was off as well, he noticed. It still smelled like him, but there was barely any of Magnus' scent, and it definitely didn't have the usual citrony smell of his favorite laundry detergent. In fact, it smelled very flowery; sweet. There was a hint of lavender.

It was then that Alec's eyes shot opened, looking slightly swollen around the lids and the whites showing a hint of redness as they widen, quickly shifting around, left, right, up and down.

This was not his pillow.

This was not his bed.

By the Angel, this was not his bedroom!

Panic instantly exploded in Alec's heart. He quickly sat up, only to then immediately lean forward, frowning as he clutched his head in pain, the sudden movement causing him to feel dizzy and nauseous.

Where the hell am I!?

Slowly massaging his temples, Alec began to look around the room, carefully taking in his surroundings, all the while trying his best to remain calm. There was no need to panic. Surely there was a perfectly reasonable explanation for whatever this was.

The room was fairly large and luxurious, decorated in gold, brown and red tones. The furniture all seemed to be from the victorian era, and even the gold colored sheets he was laying on, he realized were all of top quality. The walls were made of brown aged red bricks, and Alec noticed that there didn't seem to be any windows. Rather, curtains had been draped along the brick walls in such a fashion, they gave the illusion that they were indeed framing windows. He also spotted only one door.

Where the hell was he? Alec wondered for the second time. He was very certain that he'd fallen asleep in his own bed lastnight. Magnus had brought hi....

Alec paused, his eyes no longer shifting wildly around the room.

Where was Magnus?

As Alec's mind naturally brought forth images of the warlock, and he thought about the last time he'd seen his mate, he couldn't help but to look down, taking proper notice of himself. He was still wearing the blue pjamas he blurrily remembered Magnus had changed him into lastnight. He remembered that after Magnus had brought him home from the club, the warlock had tucked him into bed, but when he'd asked him to stay, he'd said something about having a meeting, so he wasn't able to spend the night.

Infact: was that even lastnight? Alec wondered. How long had he been here? Wherever here was. And how had he ended up here in the first place?

After some few minutes, and although he was still feeling a bit dizzy, Alec moved to get off of the bed. He needed to take a proper look around. However, before his feet could touch the floor, he heard a clinking sound coming from the other side of the door. Someone was opening the door. Thinking fast, Alec quickly layed back down, fixed his blankets, and once again closed his eyes, pretending as if he was still asleep.

Thus far he'd drawn two conclusions from his current situation. One; he'd obviously been abducted. As frightening a thought as that was, it was the only explanation that he could come up with that made any sense. He wished with everything he had, that this was just some kind of stupid joke, but nobody he knew played these kinds of games. Even Magnus' crazy surprises never got this weird. And two; whoever had taken him, most likely didn't plan on harming him, at least not for the time being.

Alec layed perfectly still, listening keenly. From the sounds of the foot steps, only one person had entered the room, possibly male, based on how heavy their steps sounded. And based on their scent, it wasn't someone that he was familiar with.

He continued to lay still until the other person had reached the side of the bed. He could feel their eyes on him, burning holes into his flesh as they stood silently watching him. At the close proximity, Alec couldn't help but notice that not only could he not hear the other person breathing, but other than their scent being that of a beta, they also carried the stench of death.

More than ten beats passed before the person finally spoke. Seeming to be leaning over the bed, they sounded in a rough voice, "We already know that you're awake, so you can just stop...."

But before they could finish their sentence, Alec's eyes snapped opened. Both of his hands shot up, grabbing hold of the person's neck. Just as he had suspected, it was indeed a vampire, a male vampire to be exact.

"Who are you? What's this place?" Alec questioned, his voice firm and his eyes murderous.

The vampire did not respond.

Even though squeezing the neck of a vampire wasn't exactly cutting off their air supply, with enough pressure, one could still cause them pain, as well as some temporary damage. Breaking their necks was even better, because although it wouldn't kill them, it at least left them immobilized for some time, giving the other party enough time to either retreat, or capture. It was very unfortunate that Alec currently barely had any strength at all in his limbs. He hadn't really noticed it before, with his pounding head ache on top of everything else, but his body was feeling especially weak. Right now he was using all of the strength he could muster and was just barely keeping the vampire under control. Infact, he suspected that the vampire was purposely allowing him to have the upper hand. Still....

Seemingly unperturbed, Alec pressed, "Answer me!"

However, the vampire hadn't the chance to respond before another voice sounded in the room.

"Oh, I see you and my dear, Walker are already getting aquainted," the new comer sounded, voice smooth and charming, an accent of some sort embleshing each word.

Alec's gaze instantly shifted to find a woman clad in all black, standing just inside of the room. She was very beautiful; pale, milk white skin, her shoulder length blonde hair perfectly styled, and the black dress she wore stitched to her curvy body. She was truely a sight to behold; the very defination of a femme fetal. Alec recognized her immediately.

.....Camille.

Releasing his hold on Walker, Alec shoved the vampire back before moving to sit up properly with his back against the headboard. He watched as Camille made her way further into the room. Her every step was made with grace and elegance; stopping in the middle of the room, enough distance between her and the feet end of the bed.

Alec said nothing, simply schooling his features.

Seconds passed. Minutes passed. Still, not one word spoken. He could tell that Camille was waiting for some kind of reaction out of him, for him to say something first, to perhaps ask who she was, and that only made Alec even more determined not to engage. Besides, they're really was no point. Seeing her; he already understood what was happening. What was the point in wasting his energy asking unnecessary questions?

Time continued to tick by, but still the three people in the room remained silent. Walker had moved to Camille's side as soon as Alec had released him, joining his master as she stared the shadowhunter down. However, Alec did not falter, keeping his gaze trained on them as well, his expression remaining unreadable.

If only he truly felt as calm as looked.

Inside, Alec's mind was working overtime, racing a mile a minute as he step by step reviewed this his current situation. Yes, he had indeed been abducted. Whatever sliver of hope he may have had that this was all just some elaberate joke, had now been thoroughly squashed. Not only that, he now also knew who the perpetrator was, and could therefore surmise their motive.

However, although some of his questions were now answered, there came deluge of others.

Based on his lack of strength, nausea, the head ache and dizziness, plus the fact that Camille and her lackey had somehow how managed to drag him from his bed to wherever the hell this was without him knowing, it was obvious that he'd been drugged. Which also begs the question: with what had he been drugged? How long would the effects of this drug last? Did the drug have other effects that he didn't yet know about? How did they manage to get into the Institute without anyone being alerted? Did his family already realize that he was missing? And if they did, would they even be able to find him? Would Magnus be able to find him?

Alec's mind was riotous. It was all he could do not to lose his cool.

Camille on the other hand, seemingly having lost all patience after who knows how long, finally spoke up. Cutting through Alec's thoughts, her voice forceful, she asked, "Aren't you going to say something? Aren't you going to ask who I am?"

Slowly blinking away his slight daze, "Should I?" Alec threw back, seeming truly unbothered.

"Yes, you should," said Camille.

"It's fine," Alec shrugged. "I don't really care."

If vampires could blush, Camille's cheeks would have no doubt grown red in anger. Alec could tell that she was fast becoming annoyed. He was probably ruining whatever grand speech she had planned by not giving her the reaction she had expected. He remembered Magnus telling him how big she was on dramatics; always putting on a show.

Taking a step closer, but still keeping her distance, Camille insisted, "Oh, but you really should care." Her voice dragging, "Who I am, I'm afraid dear, Alexander, will impact your future greatly."

"Don't call me that," Alec snapped, annoyed with her use of his full name. The way she had said it was very much mocking. "My name is Alec."

With that, the room once again fell silent. After about a minute, Alec sighed. Not wanting to get into another staring contest, he decided to simply play along with her game. Perhaps the sooner he gave her what she wanted, the sooner she would leave him alone. Then, he could focus on figuring out his escape.

Rolling his eyes, "Fine," Alec drawled. "Who are you?"

Camille smiled, blood red lips pulling back to reveal perfectly straight white teeth. "I'm actually extremely disappointed that Magnus hadn't told you about me."

"I'm sure if you were someone important, he would have," said Alec.

"Ouch," Camille feigned a pained expression. "Such a firey one aren't you? Then again, Magnus did always like them with a bit of an attitude."

Once again Alec rolled his eyes.

"Anyways," Camille daintily waved him off with one of her perfectly manicured hands. "Enough of the pleasantries. I'm Camille, Magnus' mate. Even if Magnus have neglected to tell you, I'm sure you've heard about me."

Alec very much wanted to laugh. But, on a second thought, he decided against it, asking instead, "If your Magnus' mate, then who am I?"

Camille, not missing the slight curve of Alec's lips, narrowed her eyes, "Someone who had better not cause me any trouble. We wouldn't want me to break my deal with your little friend by ripping out that perfectly, pure angelic heart of yours', now would we? Speaking of which..." Camille glanced over her shoulder, her smile almost giddy. "My dear," she called out. "Why are you still hiding? You can come in now."

It was as if time stood still; that moment just before your whole world explode.

Alec's mask of indifference finally broke as all of the blood drained from his face in an instant, a shock expression overtaking his features. "Y-you...." he muttered shakily, his heart sinking as a tall familiar silhouette slowly filled the doorway and began making it's way into the room.

Shock quickly turned into anger.

Alec was seeing red. "Bastard!" He roared.

"I'm sorry, Alec. But this was the only way."

~ooOoo~

Calculating from the time he'd tucked his mate into bed, it has been almost twenty four hours now since Alec's disappearance. And with every minute that ticked by, Magnus was one step closer to completely loosing it.

Someone had the guts to touch that which belongs to him.

The alpha's emotions were a warring mess as both anger and fear gripped his heart, threatening to tear him apart from the inside.

How could this have happened?

He'd just tucked Alec into bed and everything was fine. They were just out celebrating for Edom's sake. Alec had said those three heart stopping words. And now....

Now less than twenty four hours later, and his whole world was falling apart.

This was not happening.

Magnus refused....

He refused to give into his fears. He refused to allow himself imagine, to even consider the possibility of any harm coming to his mate, to his Alexander. He would not give life to those dark thoughts and imageries that wanted to flood his mind. He needed to hold himself together. Now was not the time to let his anger get the better of him. It was not the time to fall into despair.

If there was one thing he'd learnt throughout his over four hundred years of life, it was to never allow your emotions cloud your judgement.

People tended to do the most vicious and vile things whenever their senses become clouded by anger, but even worse so, when clouded by fear. And he, himself, was no exception.

The meeting with the Lightwoods had been a tumultuous one, filled with accusations upon accusations.

Emotions were high and one could have cut the tension in the room with a knife.

Fortunately, Magnus had been able to somewhat calm himself down by simply keeping all of his focus on the task at hand.

....and that was finding his mate.

Every other thing could be dealt with afterwards. Right now, finding Alec was the only thing that mattered. And Magnus was ready and willing to do whatever he needed to do in order to have his mate back in his arms where he belonged; safe and sound.

And at the moment, that meant not burning down the New York Institute in a fit of rage. It meant putting aside his differences and working with Alec's family.... Peacefully. No matter how difficult it was proving to be.

Magnus had explained that he'd personally placed a new set of wards, different, as well as a lot more powerful than the ones that they'd originally hired him to place around the Institute. He'd explained that these new wards prevented anyone with even a drop of demon blood from entering the Institute without him being alerted.

Needless to say that this news had drew some ire, as well as prompted a lot of questions from the Lightwoods, questions that Magnus was neither ready nor willing to answer.

Magnus had also explained that it was precisely because of these new wards, that he suspected one of Alec's fellow shadowhunters. He'd of course made sure to leave out Edom's current problems when queried as to why he'd felt it necessary to do this, stating simply that he'd wanted to make sure that his mate was as safe as possible in case any downworlder or demon got any wild ideas. Which was technically true. So....

With downworlders and demons out of the picture, that left only the shadowhunters as the prime suspects.

This drew an even greater uproar amongst Alec's parents. They just didn't want to believe that one of their own, a shadowhunter under their command, could have actually done such a thing. However, the facts could not be denied. Even without Magnus' wards as a factor, the first suspects in cases such as this were usually those closest to, or with relatively easy access to the victim.

And so next, came narrowing down the long list of suspects.

There were over fifty shadowhunters currently stationed at the New York Institute.

Personally at the top of Magnus' list was still Alec's family, more specifically Alec's parents, despite their adamant denial. Although Robert didn't seem the type to make such a move, Maryse was just desperate enough. Therefore he couldn't rule them out. At least not yet. So, despite his current cooperation, he still had her in his sights.

Maryse had of course denied the accusations, even going as far as claiming that she was actually starting to accepted their relationship. However, with things as they were now, she had reverted back to her original opinion; that Magnus Bane was indeed not a good choice of a mate for her son. And likewise just as Magnus had her in his sights, she too had Magnus in her sights; believing him to bear some responsibility for her son's disappearance, whether directly or indirectly. Which she had no problem voicing.

"Even if he wasn't the one who took Alexander, how can we be sure that it's not one of the many people that he's wronged over the centuries?" Maryse had suggested as she looked to her mate for support. "How can we even be sure that what he says about the wards are true?"

Needless to say that Alec's little band of misfit's had been exasperated with the constant back and forth, having to act as referees between Maryse and Magnus.

Having had enough, Jace had spoken up, suggesting, "We need to take a look at the surveillance footage first, before anything else. Although, if Magnus is right, and I believe that he is, and it's one of our own, then I doubt we'll find anything."

Everyone seemed to look at each other in agreement.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Magnus said eagerly. "Let's have a look."

"Right," Robert nodded.

The group of them had then headed back to the Ops room.

Large touch screen computers as well as other mundane technology, used in combination with their own nephilim technology, were set up in intervals throughout the Ops room.

Following on Jace's heels, they all gathered around the main hub, where several large screens were attached to each other.

Jace and Simon got to work immediately, both of their hands swiping across, from one screen to another, opening one file then another.

Simon explained, "Although we don't have any cameras in the living quarters, we do have cameras set up in most of the shared spaces. Except the for toilets of course." He chuckled nervously, then grunted softly after receiving an elbow to the side from Izzy.

The others didn't pay him much attention as he continued his explanations. Their focuses were solely on the screens, watching as he pulled up one video after another, quickly scanning through them. This continued on for some time, Izzy and Clary joining in as well.

Jace's main focus was the footage from the cameras located closest to Alec's room. There were two cameras in total. One was located at either end of the long L shaped hallway where theirs, Clary, Jace, Izzy and Simon's as well as Alec's bedroom were all located.