Assassin, until the first moment (🇬🇧)

A call at midnight

Magnus had been gone for almost three weeks now; honouring his mission to track down Lilith and even though they spoke from time to time over the phone, Alec missed him terribly. Still astounded and overwhelmed by how quickly the assassin had obtained residence in his heart, sometimes he caught himself questioning if it was all just a dream? One that he would eventually wake up from. Sometimes, it felt just too good and too right to be true. But then Magnus would send him a message or call him, and every time Alec's heart began to flutter excitedly in his chest like bird's wings flapping through the air.

Alec had no idea where Magnus was right now. The assassin didn't want anyone to know his whereabouts, fearing it could leak out and in some way give Lilith an advantage. Alec wasn't happy that the assassin kept this a secret from him, but he understood. It was safer this way.

Alec had hoped Magnus would be back after only a few days, but the search for Lilith proved more troublesome than anticipated. Thus far, the assassin hadn't found a single trail that could lead to her. The assassin had reached a dead-end time and again, and Alec was getting all the more restless each time Magnus informed him he was back to square one.

Alec brushed his hands over his face while slowly letting out a deep breath, letting the air out between his teeth with a quiet, desperate sound. A yawn escaped him and Alec pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes to dispel the tiredness which now permeated his body and soul. The sun had already set a few hours ago but he wouldn't find any sleep this night. There were too many thoughts rushing through his head, keeping him wide awake. Hence, he had peeled himself from his bed again, to get some work done, but instead of answering any of his emails, he had frequently caught himself staring blankly at the screen, his mind miles away. 

Alec was exceedingly worried that something could possibly happen to Magnus, even if he was well aware that the assassin was more than capable of taking care of himself. 

In addition, the next full moon was due in two days, and the Duke feared that they would again wake up to horrifying news the following morning. Not one of the citizens had reported anything helpful to the police and the ongoing curfew wasn't as successful as they had hoped either.

On top of all of that, there hadn't been any further attempts on his life since the poison attack and the incident at the orphanage. Of course, Alec was relieved that they hadn't tried anything, but somehow he couldn't accept that the murderer had just given up. It felt like the calm before a storm and that made it all the more a nerve-wracking situation than it had been before Magnus had left. 

Moreover, Alec still couldn't find any reason why someone wanted him out of the way. He had been going over every little detail, over and over again, and had discussed it with Jace and Magnus but neither of them had come to any conclusion. It was evident that the murderer wanted to take the matter into his own hands after the path through the Assassin’s Order had failed, but the fact that Lilith had interfered and tried to complete the Mission on her own was still something that remained a mystery; it could only mean that she wanted to protect the actual perpetrator.

Alec rubbed his hands over his face once again as the door to his study flew open and Jace stormed into the room.

"Alec, we have a problem!"

"What happened?" Alec asked without raising his head from his hands.

"Check it out yourself."

Jace moved to the television and turned it on. Alec peeked out from between his fingers and stared at the screen on which Valentine Morgenstern was now staring back at them, a worried expression on his face which Alec didn't believe for one second.

"... think that the murderer will strike again during the next full moon, and it is an embarrassment that the police haven't solved the case yet."

"Do you have any idea who the full moon murderer could be, Your Highness?" the news presenter asked. She held the microphone so close to Valentine's chin that he took a step back, an annoyed glimmer in his eyes.