A little love

Chapter 4

Alec met up with Magnus a few more times after that, and he thought he might be falling in love. He knew that it wasn't against the clave, the idea of being in a relationship with a downworlder was so obscene that they never bothered to include it, but whenever he snuck away he always felt like he was doing something wrong.

There were quite a few times when Alec felt so inexplicably guilty that he wondered whether he would be better off stopping. Then he would see Magnus again, and all doubt would fly away.

It was easy to slip away, Alec was always so silent that people rarely noticed him, considering him more of an ornament than an actual person. Izzy knew something was up, but when Alec accidentally let it slip she was delighted. She assured him that she wouldn't breathe a word to anyone, her loyalty almost made Alec feel better about Jace.

Almost.

Jace was more distracted by Clary than ever, and Alec suspected that he might be sneaking out with her to do unsanctioned missions. He could feel his parabatai's guilt and adrenaline rush each time, but there was nothing he could do.

It came to a head when Alec was woken up by an intense rush of apprehension, and he swung his legs so that he was sat up. The tile was cold under his feet, but he ignored it as he slipped quietly down the hall.

Just as he suspected, when he rounded the corner he was met by the whispers of Clary and Jace as they grabbed their gear. In a moment of fury, he walked over and grabbed Jace's arm.

The blond turned on a time, eyes bright with anger before he relaxed.

"Oh, it's just you Alec." He sounded relieved, and Alec's anger was renewed. He glared intently at Jace, ignoring Clary as she tried to justify what they were doing. It didn't matter why they were doing it, not anymore.

Jace tried to brush past him, but Alec pushed himself back in the way. He begged for Jace to understand, for him to see the fear in his eyes and feel the impending threat, but his brother was too blinded by his affection for Clary to care.

"Get out of our way, we have to do this. Can't you understand that Alec!" Alec could understand, but he knew better than to think that they were above the law. The silent brothers wouldn't care about their reasons.

Truthfully, Alec was getting sick of being understanding. His entire life he had been 'understanding', and he was always the one to get punished for it. Izzy knew their parents, when she had realized that Alec was the scapegoat she had been appalled, furious at their parents for their unfairness.

To Alec, he had always known that it was his duty to protect his little sister, and that instinct had never gone away. She was reasonable and controlled, she would bend the rules but never broke them.

Jace was less observant. For a long time, especially after hearing about the way he was raised, Alec considered himself fortunate. After all, he barely ever got a bruise from his parents, and they always acted in his best interests, certainly, he was better off than Jace.

When Jace became a part of their family, Alec knew he needed to protect him, as much as he was able, and he had held that up. He knew that for as long as he lived he would hold that up.

But that didn't mean that it wasn't hard when Jace actively looked for trouble. Alec wished that he would see that Alec was suffering, but he never did. It wasn't his fault, Alec never told him what was going on, but he thought their parents could do no wrong, dismissing Izzy when she tried to explain.

Even when they were children it had never been this bad. The odd occurrence of sneaking out to go to a nightclub was nothing in comparison to this blatant disregard of the law. Alec bit back a scream of despair. Clary was going to ruin them.