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"Alec Lightwood. Alec Lightwood. Alec Lightwood."
The recording sounded through the Institute, jarring Alec awake from the fitful sleep he'd been in the middle of.
"Alec Lightwood. Alec Lightwood. Alec Lightwood."
He attempted to rub the sleep from his eyes, looking at the door of the bedroom he and Cass shared questioningly. Still half asleep, he made his way to the door and was almost slammed into by a man he didn't recognize.
"Alec Lightwood."
The man said his name again, sounding like he was almost asleep himself.
"I'm Alec Lightwood. What is it?" he asked, knowing the man was under some sort of trance.
"We have your wife," the man said in his sleepy-robotic voice, and Alec was completely alert immediately.
"Where is she?" he asked, taking the man by the collar and shaking him. At that moment, Jace and Isabelle appeared close by, taking in the situation.
"Where did he come from?" Jace asked, and Alec shook his head.
"No idea."
"We have your wife," the man repeated, and Alec shook him again.
"He's a mundane, Alec," Isabelle observed, taking a closer look at the man. Alec let go of him, looking him over. Sure enough, Isabelle was right. The man had no obvious indicators of being a part of the Shadow World.
"Where is my wife?" Alec asked, and the man looked at him blankly.
"We want protection," the man said, and Alec furrowed his brows at him.
"What? Protection from what?" he asked, and the man just repeated the same sentiment again. "What kind of protection?" Alec asked, his voice desperate.
"Tomorrow in the courtyard, 9PM," the man said, pulling a knife out of his pocket.
"No!" Isabelle yelled, making a move for it. She wasn't fast enough, though. The man drug the knife across his own throat, blood pouring out of the wound.
"Jesus," Jace said, kneeling with the man's fallen body. "He's dead."
"Fuck," Alec said, looking around, wishing Cassia was there.
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Cassia strained against her restraints, startled when hands closed around her arms and lifted her. She'd had a blindfold on since her encounter with the vampire the day before and she was starving and starting to feel just slightly hopeless.
She felt her restraints being taken off of her and instantly started to fight, to no avail. There were at least three people holding her back, keeping a tight grip on her.
"Where are you taking me, huh? I haven't done anything wrong!" she yelled, listening as one of the people holding her back snickered in the back of their throat. "What is this? What are you doing?" she yelled, panic rising quickly inside of her. She tried to lash out again, tried to kick against them and slow them down, but nothing worked. Even though she was a skilled fighter on a regular basis, when she was being held back and was blindfolded, she felt like she was all but useless.
Giving in to them, she let them lead her. They loaded her into what felt like a van and as soon as they did, her brain felt like it was on fire with what she knew to be the force of multiple shadowhunters trying to track her, which obviously meant she was on land again.
"Alec," she whispered, not sure if he'd be able to sense or hear her. Some shadowhunter married couples could do that; when one was in danger, the other one could sense them or even hear their thoughts. They'd never had a chance or reason to test out whether or not the theory might work, of course. "Alec," she whispered again, doing her best to get a clear picture of him in her head.
Suddenly, the earth felt like it was shaking beneath her and she could hear him. Her head felt like it might split apart, but Alec was there.
"Cass? Cassia, I'm here. We're coming for you. Hold on just a minute longer."
Before she could even really think about Alec's words, the van came to an abrupt stop, lurching forward like it had run into something. The men that had been sitting around her guarding her suddenly seemed to disappear. Cass felt around in the darkness and sure enough, she was suddenly alone in the back of the van.
"Cassia!" Jace's familiar voice cut through the silence and Cass stumbled toward where she thought it had come from. She got to the back of the van and fell automatically into his familiar arms. "Whoa, you're alright little one. Hang on, come here," Jace said quietly, his voice soothing. She'd never been so happy to hear his stupid voice in her life. He removed the blindfold from her eyes and the gag from her mouth and she gasped loudly, happy to be able to take in fresh air again. He untied the ropes from her wrists and ankles and she fell forward clumsily, her limbs feeling like they were about to fall off. Jace caught her easily, picking her up and carrying her bridal-style. Normally, she would've fought against him, but she didn't have the energy. She looked up at him, admiring the multi-colored eyes she'd been enthralled with since childhood as she felt herself slipping into unconsciousness.
