História The Fall - 1884-Pt2

Tuscany, Italy

 

Ragnor emerged from his portal, watching over his shoulder as his mate emerged after him. He used every ounce of his concentration to keep the portal open when Catarina let go of his ankle, watching as Terra, Becky, Deacon, Olly, Celeste, Elaine, Jocelyn, and finally, Valentine all emerged from the portal. 

 

Once everyone was clear, flapping their wings to stay afloat, Ragnor shut his portal down and turned to his mate, gesturing to the ground. Luckily, they had emerged over rolling hills. The closest mortal settlement was still far away, as he had hoped.

 

“Where are we?” Catarina asked as she landed next to Ragnor, staring around. All she could feel was relief, knowing that she had finally returned to the mortal realm. She was now in the same realm as both of her fathers.

 

“Tuscany, in Italy. I’d say around early afternoon,” Ragnor said, looking around too. It had been three centuries since he had visited the mortal realm. This had been the region that he had spent most of his younger years in, exploring and studying the mortals.

 

“Everything is so bright,” Valentine muttered, blown away by the color that surrounded them. And the sky! So blue, the sun bright, had him blinking. The last time he had been anywhere so beautiful, it had been the Heavenly Realms. So far, the Mortal Realm paled in comparison to the heavens but it was so much nicer here than Edom.

 

“It’s beautiful,” Jocelyn said, unable to stop staring at the trees and grass that surrounded them. Everything was so vital and healthy. She wanted to inspect it all in great detail, imagining drawing it all.

 

“I can see why our children spent their nights sneaking away here,” Elaine said, turning her face toward the sky with a shiver. The Mortal Realm wasn’t as warm as Edom, a small breeze blowing over her skin.

 

“There are worse places to be exiled,” Olly commented to his mate and Celeste, all three of them trying to gawp at everything at once.

 

“What was your realm like?” Celeste asked. She wanted to slip her sandals off and see if the bright green ground below her was as soft and squishy as it looked.

 

“The sky was blue like this but we had two suns. Like Edom, rarely anything grew there but Ragnor says that is because it was too hot for anything to grow,” Olly replied, smiling when Deacon’s hand slipped into his own, their fingers entwining. It felt amazing to be holding his mate’s hand. And even more amazing that nobody was staring at them, ready to ridicule them.

 

“I visited your realm once, looking for answers to the curse. I’d never been so hot in my life. The realm made Edom feel cold,” Deacon said, tugging his mate and sister forward when Catarina gestured for them all to gather around. 

 

“As I was so young when I was last in this realm, I don’t know the layout or how far away we are from the cabins. So I’m going to try and create a portal by memory. Ragnor refuses to leave my side so he will come with me. If I can get it right, I’ll come back for the rest of you,” Catarina informed the group after discussing it with her mate.

 

When everyone else agreed, Catarina focused on the cabin she had shared with her dads, pulling up the clearest memory she had, all three of them sprawled in Magnus and Alec’s bed, eating breakfast. When she had the image firmly ingrained in her mind, she waved an arm and took hold of Ragnor’s hand, pulling her wings close to her body as she did.

 

**

 

Rocky Mountains, Colorado.

 

Ragnor’s stomach plummeted faster than his body when he followed his mate through the portal with a nod to the others. They had stepped into thin air on the other side. His mate’s hand, sliding from his grasp, had a low growl bursting from him until he realized why she had let go.

 

Catarina spread her wings, angling them to catch on a thermal. She had been positive she had it right but a memory of learning how to fly had snuck into her head a split second before she had stepped through the portal. At least they had emerged over the lake in their mountain hideaway.

 

Catching the current of warm air under her wings, Catarina rose, breathing a sigh of relief when Ragnor followed suit and spread his magnificent wings.

 

“You certainly know how to make an entrance, my dear. Are we close?” Ragnor asked his mate, surveying the lake and mountains, far below them as his heart, lungs, and stomach settled back in place.

 

“This is the place,” Catarina confirmed, aiming for the outcropping that she had first met Magnus on. The sound of wings behind her had her looking over her shoulder, grinning when she saw her Alpha’s eyes glued to her wings. Putting on a burst of speed, she chuckled when another growl burst from Ragnor’s throat. The sound did things to her.

 

The sudden urge to chase his Omega shot through Ragnor, surging through his wings as he sped up. The feeling intensified when Catarina looped in the air to fly higher. A grin spread over his lips as he gave chase, a small shiver running through his wings when he saw how graceful his mate was. 

 

Catarina sped up, zig-zagging through the air, looping around and around her mate whenever he drew close. The outcropping she had been aiming for was forgotten for a moment in her excitement. Maybe she fluttered her wings in his direction a little before she drew them in close and plummeted in a corkscrew that stole her breath. 

 

Ragnor dive-bombed his mate, pulling his wings close to his body when he fell into a death drop, headfirst. It worked well enough for him to gain speed, his heart thundering at the sight of her falling through the air. He was sure she was insane and the most beautiful creature he had ever seen in his long life. 

 

Reaching out, Ragnor scooped his mate out of the air when he reached her, waiting a few more heart-stopping moments before he spread his wings and rose on the nearest thermal.

 

“You are breathtaking,” Ragnor murmured, burying his face in his mate’s neck.

 

“So are you,” Catarina said, wrapping her arms around Ragnor’s neck, her head tilting back when Ragnor’s nose skimmed up her own neck. The feeling of his skin on hers sent a deeper shudder through her wings and down her back. “Over there,” she said, breathlessly, pointing to the outcropping.

 

Ragnor changed direction, holding his mate close as he approached the outcropping Catarina pointed out. He would have put her down as soon as they landed but he was enjoying holding her at that very moment. 

 

“I spent more than a few nights sleeping on this rock before my dads built our cabin in the valley,” Catarina said, looking up into Ragnor’s eyes. The more she looked at her Alpha, the more she liked what she saw. The strong jaw and shine in his eyes caught and held her attention. She was sure the lines on his face were frown lines but she thought they only made him more handsome.

 

“This valley is beautiful,” Ragnor said, unable to look away when he set Catarina down on her feet. She was short enough that he had to tip his head down to look at her, caught up in the shine of tears she had in her eyes. This was obviously a place that was dear to her, somewhere that brought out her emotions. 

 

Raising one hand, Ragnor wiped the tear from Catarina’s cheek when it rolled down her face. “I hope these aren’t tears of sadness,” he said softly. 

 

“They are a mixture of everything,” Catarina said, staring up into her mate’s eyes as images of her childhood flowed through her head. She didn’t pull back when Ragnor’s lips brushed her cheek, over the tracks of her tears, nor when he moved to the other side. A tingle remained where his lips pressed against her skin. 

 

Ragnor cupped Catarina’s cheek, searching her eyes before moving to brush his lips against hers. A smile tugged at the corners of his lips when she kissed him back, her lips soft and plump, perfect against his own. 

 

Catarina felt like a shock ran through her whole body when Ragnor’s arm tightened around her waist, pulling her flush to his chest. It had been a while since she had even kissed anyone. And even longer since her entire body had awoken at the touch of another. She didn’t even remember any of her lovers ever making her feel like this. 

 

The desire that flooded Catarina had her deepening the kiss, breathing heavily when she licked into Ragnor’s mouth. Her hands slid up her Alpha’s chest, curling around his neck to pull him further down, every inch of their bodies pressed against one another.

 

“I’m sorry if I’m being too forward,” Ragnor said when he emerged for air. It hadn’t felt like he was being too forward. Kissing Catarina, holding her that close, felt right. But she was a Princess. Maybe she had been raised as one of those prim and proper ladies that never got caught up in physical attractions before they met their mate. 

 

Catarina almost snorted. As far as she was concerned, he hadn’t been forward enough. Just the way her Alpha’s breathing had turned heavy made her want to finish what they had started but the others would be waiting for them.

 

“Not at all,” Catarina said, going up on her tip-toes to press her lips to Ragnor’s in a chaste kiss. “I want to show you something,” she said. The way her mate’s pupils blew had her laughing, hard. “Not that,” she chuckled, breaking from Ragnor’s grip. Without another word, she dashed forward and leaped off the edge of the cliff, screaming with delight as she plummeted through the air once more.

 

Ragnor was pretty sure his heart stopped. Without a moment’s hesitation, he followed his Omega over the side of the cliff, his eyes closing in silent thanks when she spread her wings, thirty feet below him. Spreading his own wings, he rode a thermal down in a spiral to land at the foot of the cliff with his mate.

 

“You are insane!” Ragnor muttered, pulling Catarina close once more.

 

“That is something you will grow to love about me,” Catarina grinned, laughing when her mate rolled his eyes. She got the feeling Ragnor and Alec would hit it off. Turning toward the cabin she had shared with her dads, she led Ragnor toward it. “It looks so much smaller,” she said, smiling when she saw how overgrown her garden was. There was a certain beauty to the wildness of it.

 

“How old were you, last time you were here?” Ragnor asked, hearing the tremor in Catarina’s voice. When she stepped forward, he tightened his grip on her hand and followed her toward one of the three cabins.

 

“Ten years old. This was our escape, the only place we could be together as a family. Not long after my fathers built this, my aunts and uncles built their own,” Catarina said, gesturing to the other two cabins. 

 

Catarina led her mate up the steps that led to the cabin, pressing her hand to the wooden door when she reached it. Her step faltered when she felt the hum of her dad’s magic beneath her hand. Even after all of these years, the protections and the preservation spells that he had placed on the building still stood. After a deep breath, she pushed the door open and led Ragnor inside. 

 

“It hasn’t changed one bit,” Catarina said, staring at the place she had once called home. It felt tiny now, compared to when she had been a child but it was everything. Every memory of the place came rushing back in a deluge, forcing her to shake her head to try and clear it and the tears those memories produced. The fireplace was cold and the air was stale but nothing had changed, everything in its right place.

 

Ragnor inspected the cabin. The room that they had stepped into was small but it looked as though it would be cozy with the fire lit and some drapes over the windows. The wood of the building was a deeper, richer brown on the inside while the outside had silvered with the weather and age. Although he hadn’t been there all those hundreds of years ago, he realized that everything in the cabin must have been imbued with preservation spells. 

 

If Catarina hadn’t told him that the building hadn’t been entered in three centuries, he would have thought everything was almost new. When his mate moved to the east side wall, heading for one of the three doors, he followed.

 

“This was my room,” Catarina said, pushing the door open. A laugh escaped her when she saw how small the bed was, the covers strewn over the straw mattress. As though she had only just woken and thrown the cover back. Stepping closer, she picked up the sleepshirt that was strewn on the bed, shaking her head at how small it was. 

 

“So, you’re messy then?” Ragnor teased, smiling when his mate rolled her eyes. The smile that broke over her face was radiant.

 

“I’m a free spirit. I refuse to be forced into such trivial tasks as making the bed,” Catarina corrected her Alpha. “I’m joking. I’ve grown out of it. Much more tidy these days,” she said, folding the shirt and placing it neatly on the bed to prove her point. With one last look around her old room, she reentered the living room and opened the middle door of the three. 

 

“Washroom,” Catarina said, gesturing into the room, remembering how her father used to brush her wild hair. And how her dad hadn’t been so gentle. It made her smile.

 

Ragnor nodded, looking into the room before following Catarina to the last door. 

 

“This was my dads’ room,” Catarina said, stepping into the last room. The bed was made neatly, a leather tunic folded up on top of the cover. Crossing to the bed, she sat down, gathering the leather into her hands. Magnus’ scent had faded but she still held it to her, wishing he could be there, Alec too. “Mother of demons, I miss them,” she said, unable to stop the hitch in her chest.

 

Ragnor sat down next to Catarina, wrapping her up in a hug, holding her shaking body to his chest. He let her cry, wondering how she had lived the last three hundred years.

 

“They took me in when I had nothing. I was so terrified after I lost my mother. Alec found me hiding in a bush. I was certain that he and the other two angels with him were about to slaughter me. Instead, they took me in, gave me a home and a family. They made it easier to deal with the loss of my mother. And then they were gone. I would have been nothing without them. I owe them everything,” Catarina said, burying her face in Ragnor’s neck.

 

“We will find a way to break this curse. I promise,” Ragnor said, swearing the words in an oath. If that was what it took to make his Omega happy, he would do everything in his power to see that it was done. 

 

“Thank you, for understanding,” Catarina said, pulling back to look into Ragnor’s eyes. When he brushed her tears away, she pressed a kiss into his palm, thanking every angel and demon that she’d found a mate that understood her need to help her family. “Come on, the others are probably going out of their minds,” she said.

 

Ragnor followed Catarina from the room and the cabin, noting that she kept hold of the tunic that she had picked up. Closing the door behind him when they reached the porch, he created a portal to lead her back to the Tuscan countryside. 

 

When Catarina stepped through the portal after Ragnor, it was to find the majority of her family wearing grooves into the grass with their pacing. “Sorry, I needed a moment,” she said when Elaine descended on her. “Are you all ready?” she asked quickly to avoid the chewing out that Elaine obviously had on her mind.

 

Once everyone had taken each other's hands and formed a chain, Catarina stepped back through the portal once more, able to focus better now. She led them to the lake’s shoreline, in front of the three cabins.

 

“The middle one belonged to Izzy and Simon, the one on the right belonged to Clary and Jace,” Catarina said when everyone was through the portal, nodding to Jocelyn, Valentine, and Elaine when they stepped toward the cabins she had indicated. “We are going to need more cabins, I think,” she said, eyeing the group.

 

“There’s plenty of room,” Valentine said as he followed his mate toward the cabin Catarina had indicated as Clary’s. The valley was spectacularly beautiful, the panoramic view of the mountains, breathtaking. He could see why his daughter had disappeared here at every available opportunity. 

 

“I need to go see my dad,” Catarina said, leading her mate over to the fire pit and stone benches that surrounded it while everyone else explored the cabins. 

 

“Do you have any idea where he is?” Ragnor asked, taking a seat next to his mate. The shake of her head had him patting her shoulder, her face downcast. “Any idea where to start looking then?” he asked.

 

“No, but this is his tunic. I can track him with this,” Catarina said, holding the tunic up. She should be able to get a read on Magnus’ location with it. In theory. 

 

“We need a plan,” Ragnor said when Catarina gripped the shirt in her hands, blue magic sparking at her fingertips. 

 

As much as she wanted to get to Magnus as soon as possible, Catarina nodded. They didn’t know where he was or what kind of situation they could be portaling into. 

 

“When did you last eat?” Ragnor asked when Catarina’s stomach gave a fierce growl. He shook his head when she just shrugged. Snapping his fingers, he lit a fire in the pit and conjured a side of beef to roast on a spit along with a pot of vegetables. He didn’t know when any of the others had last eaten but he was just as hungry as his mate.

 

“If there’s one thing I’ve missed about this realm, it is the food,” Ragnor said, shaking his head at his Omega when she let out an impatient huff. “I like to head into situations with a plan,” he said, already knowing that Catarina was chomping at the bit to get going. 

 

“Well I’m not waiting all day for that to cook,” Catarina said, speeding the cooking up with her magic. She didn’t have time to wait around while the half a cow cooked. It wasn’t long before the others emerged from the cabins. More than a couple of them had red-rimmed eyes. 

 

“That smells amazing. What is it?” Deacon asked, approaching the fire pit, practically dragging his Alpha toward the mouthwatering smell that emanated from the sizzling meat.

 

“Beef. It is divine,” Ragnor said, conjuring plates while everyone settled around them.

 

“As soon as we have eaten, I want to go and find Magnus. He needs to know that we are here and that we won’t be there to meet him if he resets again,” Catarina said to the group, accepting the plate that her mate handed her. “He should be with Clary and Simon, hopefully. If Lorenzo hasn’t split them up during this lifetime,” she said. 

 

“Who is Lorenzo?” Olly asked, watching Ragnor shore big chunks of the meat off the spit and float them out to everyone's plates. 

 

“He is the High Warlock,” Catarina said, dishing out the vegetables, ensuring that she didn’t end up with any carrots or peas. She still hated them. Looking up, seeing the blank expressions on Ragnor and Olly’s faces, she elaborated. “A warlock is what they call a demon who has fallen, here. Lorenzo Rey is… in charge of all the warlocks.” 

 

“How many demons are actually here?” Ragnor asked, settling on the stone bench to inhale the contents of his plate. The beef was just as delicious as he remembered it being. They didn’t have cows in Abraxus. 

 

“We don’t know for sure but we think around 100, maybe more,” Elaine said, watching Catarina eat. The girl barely chewed her food. Simon always managed to give her a few snippets about his life. They usually managed to piece together a picture of how things were in the Mortal Realm once Simon, Clay, and Magnus returned to their punishments from the snippets they were given during visits.

 

“And they’re all mated to angels?” Olly asked, his eyebrows in his hairline. “Is it mean to say that I’m glad you’re a demon and not an angel?” he asked his mate quietly, trying to imagine what his life would be if he had to live through the curse. He might have only just found his mate but the connection that he felt to Deacon had him pulling his mate closer until Deacon sat flush to his side.

 

"No, I'm thankful too. I've seen the consequences of the curse," Deacon said, nuzzling into his Alpha's neck. The thought of living without him was already intolerable. 

 

“If there is someone in charge of the demons, does that mean there is someone in charge of the angels too?” Ragnor asked.

 

“Yes. Jonathan Shadowhunter,” Valentine said around a mouthful of the delicious meat. He was already anticipating seconds. “We don’t know who he is though. The name isn’t familiar to my mate or me from our time with The Host,” he said.

 

“The Host?” Ragnor asked, his eyebrows rising once more.

 

“We are fallen angels. Simon’s father was too,” Jocelyn said, Elaine, nodding along. Not all demons had fallen.

 

“Maybe we could get Magnus to take us to Lorenzo. Or ask Alec to take us to Jonathan Shadowhunter when we reunite them,” Ragnor suggested. If they were going to find answers, those two would probably be the best people to talk to.

 

“We can’t reunite my fathers until we find a way to break the curse. It always resets when they meet. Or when Clary meets Jace or when Simon meets Izzy. Maybe we could deliver messages for them though? Act as a go-between? If they don’t actually meet face to face, it might stop the curse from resetting,” Catarina said, wondering how she was going to find her father. She would have to scour the cabin to see if there was anything of Alec’s there.

 

“We should leave soon. I want to see my daughter,” Jocelyn said, putting her empty plate aside. “We can bring them back here. They might have information that will help us,” she said.

 

“That sounds like a plan. If they are living here with us, we can keep an eye on them, hopefully, stop them from resetting,” Elaine said. She turned to Becky and Terra when everyone agreed. “Why don’t you two and the kids start on building a few more cabins while we go get them?” she asked.

 

“I wanted to come with you,” Becky said, unable to keep the disappointment from her voice.

 

“It shouldn’t take too long. You’ll see them soon,” Elaine said, cupping her daughter’s cheek. She shook her head when Deacon made to protest too. “It’s going to be too much for them if we all turn up at once. We will bring them straight back,” she said.

 

“We will get started,” Celeste said, pulling Deacon up by the scruff of his tunic when he made to complain again. “You can build a love nest for you and Olly,” she said to him, giving him a shove in the direction of the forest, laughing when her brother’s face lit up.

 

Deacon didn’t take much more convincing. He pulled Olly along with him, already eyeing a spot for their cabin.

 

“Want to share a cabin, Grandma?” Celeste asked when everyone else stood up.

 

“Sure, baby. Pick us a nice spot. Somewhere sunny,” Elaine said before Celeste took off after her brother and Olly. “She's old enough to move out,” she said to Becky when she saw her wilt a little. “It’s about time they both flew the nest,” she chuckled. 

 

“We haven’t lived alone since before Deacon was born,” Terra whispered to her mate, pulling Becky along after their kids, wondering if Becky would be up for making a couple more.

 

“Can we talk for a minute, before we go?” Catarina asked Ragnor quietly. When he nodded, she pulled him away from Elaine, Valentine, and Jocelyn. “I wanted to talk to you about our mating,” she said when they were alone, taking Ragnor’s hand in her own. 

 

“If Asmodeus doesn’t fall for the rumors, he will come looking for me. I know it is rushed, and I don’t want you to feel like you’re obligated to mate me but if we have already exchanged feathers when he finds us, there is nothing he will be able to do about it. I wouldn’t have chosen it like this but will you mate me tonight?” Catarina asked.

 

“I would mate you right this moment if we had the time,” Ragnor said, almost growling the words. Just the thought of Asmodeus turning up and trying to take his mate from him made him want to rip one of his feathers out and speak the words that would bond them.

 

“Well, I want at least one of my dads to be there,” Catarina said, a little sadly. She would have given anything to have them both there but time was against them. “Maybe we could have another ceremony when they are reunited for good; if that’s okay with you?” she asked.

 

“Of course,” Ragnor said. It would be no chore to have two mating ceremonies.

 

“What about your family? They won’t be there,” Catarina said, feeling a stab of guilt in her gut. She didn’t know the first thing about her mate’s family and she had already turned his life upside down.

 

“I don’t have any family. My mother was a demon. She was killed in one of Abraxus’ many civil wars. My father was a mortal, born to this realm, and the laws that it is subject to. He died centuries ago. I never met him,” Ragnor said. Olly was his only family. He had practically raised the boy.

 

“I’m so sorry,” Catarina said. She hadn’t meant to open up old wounds. 

 

“War is a way of life where I am from,” Ragnor said with a small smile. “I lost them both centuries ago.”

 

“How old are you?” Catarina asked as she led the way back to her waiting family.

 

“473,” Ragnor replied. “Do you want to do the honors?” he asked quietly, noting the curious expression on Elaine’s face.

 

“Sure,” Catarina grinned, sliding her hand into Ragnor’s before returning to Elaine, Valentine, and Jocelyn. “We’re going to have our mating ceremony tonight, after we’ve brought my dad, Clary, and Simon home,” she announced. 

 

“Oh, sweetheart! Congratulations,” Elaine cried, pulling both Catarina and Ragnor into a bone-crushing hug. ”Welcome to the family,” she said to Ragnor, grinning when his eyebrows shot up, as though he hadn’t considered that fact.

 

Catarina hugged Jocelyn too, laughing when Valentine offered them a congratulatory handshake. Valentine wasn’t really a hugger. 

 

“We should glamour ourselves. There might be mortals nearby,” Catarina said to her mate. She liked his skin tone and the horns on his head but they would probably give any near-by mortals a heart attack with their appearances. When Ragnor agreed, she pulled on the glamour she had used as a child, her skin darkening to a deep brown, the same skin tone her mother had had. 

 

“This is the glamour I used when I resided in the realm,” Ragnor said when he pulled his own glamour on, his skin turning white, his hair turning a darker gray, horns disappearing. His eyes roved over his mate when he saw her dark skin. She looked just as beautiful as she did with her blue complexion. 

 

“What about us?” Elaine asked, gesturing between herself, Jocelyn and Valentine.

 

“You will all pass for mortals as long as you keep your wings hidden. And maybe glamour your eyes, Jocelyn,” Catarina said, retracting her wings. When everyone else’s wings disappeared and Jocelyn’s eyes turned from red to deep green, she retrieved her dad’s tunic and concentrated her magic on it.

 

As soon as she felt the connection, Catarina opened a portal. She kept her focus on the connection to the tunic when Ragnor took her hand, leading them all through after Ragnor had taken hold of Elaine’s hand, Jocelyn and Valentine joining the chain.

 

**

 

Kowloon, Hong Kong

 

Sunrise crept over the mountains that surrounded the city, illuminating the entire peninsula. Even the beauty of Lion Rock, lighting up with the morning sun, however, wasn’t enough to distract Izzy.

 

“I’m bored. We haven’t seen anything all night,” Izzy moaned to her brothers, kicking a pebble out of her path. The foothills of the mountains were strewn with them.

 

“Go back to the Institute and get some rest then. Our patrol is almost over anyway, might as well get some sleep,” Alec said, stepping over the pebble.

 

“Rest? Is there any such thing?” Izzy asked with a scowl. “Why can’t we patrol the city?” she asked.

 

“Because we are pains in the asses and we’re being punished,” Jace grinned, laughing when Izzy snorted. “Good Shadowhunters get to patrol the city and hunt warlocks. Bad shadowhunters get the foothills and the pointless demon patrol,” he quoted their Head of Institute, Coldwell. 

 

“Gods above, he is as dry and dusty as the dirt beneath my feet,” Izzy muttered, letting her whip snake down her arm and over the palm of her hand. 

 

“He kind of has a point though,” Alec said, twirling one of his arrows through his fingers. “Maybe if we stopped sneaking off to drink with the mundanes…?”

 

“It was your idea!” Jace choked out, turning on his brother in indignation.

 

“I never forced either of you to come along,” Alec shrugged, batting Izzy’s whip away when she flicked it in his direction. She was right, patrolling the hills was boring. Not that patrolling the city was any more interesting. Half of the time, they didn’t know why they bothered trying to police the warlocks at all. It wasn’t like the warlocks actually did anything. Then again, their entire lives were boring. 

 

"Maybe we can ask Jonathan Shadowhunter for a different post?" Jace mused, wondering what life would be like in England or France or Portugal. Anywhere but Kowloon. "Maybe other Shadowhunters actually live exciting lives," he shrugged. 

 

"Come on. Sunrise means patrol is over. Let's go hand off so we can go to bed," Alec said, turning downhill to head for the city. 

 

Izzy followed her brother, winking at Jace when he fell into step beside her. Boredom had her flicking her whip out, grinning when she flicked it at the back of Alec’s foot.

 

“Stop it,” Alec muttered over his shoulder, almost tripping on his sister’s whip. He had barely taken another five steps when he heard the crack of the whip again. “Stop it!” he said, narrowly avoiding the electrum. A third crack of the whip had him jumping over the tip as the whip snaked out to wrap around his ankle. “Izzy, stop!” he yelled, turning on his sister, his eyes narrowing when he saw both of his siblings shaking with suppressed laughter. 

 

“I’m bored!” Izzy replied, yanking her whip back when Alec made to grab it. The laughter died in her throat when a portal opened up behind Alec’s back. 

 

“Alec!” Jace yelled, grabbing his brother’s arm to yank him away from the portal. He pulled his seraph blade out of its scabbard when warlocks started emerging from the portal. They could have passed for mundanes; if it weren’t for the portal. It certainly wasn’t a shadowhunter portal.

 

Izzy gathered her whip, flicking it to her left. The electrum stiffened, turning into a staff. She took up a defensive stance in front of Alec while he unslung his bow and nocked an arrow.

 

Alec drew a bead on the woman who stepped from the portal, aiming for the spot between her eyes. Maybe he was imagining it but he was pretty sure he saw shock in those dark eyes before they filled with tears. 

 

Alec allowed himself a moment to look over the other two women and the two men that followed the first, assessing the threat, but his eyes unerringly found the first woman once more. Only the single word she cried made him falter, his fingers pausing on his bowstring, holding it taut as confusion swept through him.

 

“Father?” Catarina yelped, staring at Alec. She had been expecting to run into Magnus, not this. Ragnor’s tight grip on her wrist was the only thing that stopped her from dashing forward when she realized what had happened. She hadn’t found one of Magnus’ tunics, she had found one of Alec’s.

 

“Catarina, what is it?” Ragnor asked, uncertainly, his entire body tensing up from the distress he heard in his mate’s voice. His eyes roved over the trio before them, his brow furrowing in confusion when his eyes swept over the black marks on their skin. They looked suspiciously like angelic runes, although, they were black, and not the fabled gold he had heard of.

 

“Ragnor, we found Alexander, not Magnus,” Catarina whispered around the lump in her throat. It had been far too long since she had seen her father and the thought of him wrapping his arms around her brought tears to her eyes. She was a lot bigger now and Alec didn’t look as tall as he used to but she knew it would feel just as good to be in his strong embrace once more. 

 

Catarina let her eyes sweep over her father, aunt, and uncle. Her heart broke when she saw their black runes, their wings gone. They all looked amazing but she missed the golden runes and beautiful white wings. Just the thought of what she had lost had her stepping forward without another thought. She had to peek over her mate’s shoulder, however, when he pulled her behind him with a snarl.

 

“Is she talking to you?” Jace asked Alec quietly, staring at the woman who peeked out from behind a gray-haired warlock’s shoulder. He sure as fuck didn’t have any children. Neither did Alec for that matter but the woman was staring right at his brother. 

 

Seeing the bald male warlock pull the red-haired female behind him, Jace widened his stance and pulled a second blade from the scabbard at his left hip, ready for the attack that was sure to come.

 

Jocelyn wilted against her mate’s back. Pain filled her stomach. They had come so far only to end up finding Jace, Alec, and Izzy, instead of their daughter. It was the same pain she had been living with since Clary had fallen. The tense set of Valentine’s shoulders told her he was just as devastated as she was. 

 

“Who are you?” Alec asked. Five warlocks stood before them all together, all of them glancing from him to his siblings. Their expressions ranged from shock to confusion.

 

“Father, it’s me, Catarina. Mother of demons, I’ve missed you,” Catarina said, inspecting every inch of her father. The blank expression on Alec’s face had her turning to the others. “Uncle Jace, Aunt Izzy…” she trailed off. They looked just as confused as her father did. Not one of them recognized her. It wasn't like when Magnus, Clary, and Simon returned to Edom at all. They always knew who she was. 

 

“I don’t think that was Magnus’ tunic,” Elaine said quietly, reaching out for Catarina’s shoulder when she saw the shake of Catarina’s body.

 

“They don’t recognize me, Elaine,” Catarina said, sadly. It was then that she remembered her glamour was up. There were no mortals nearby so she let it drop. “Father…” 

 

“Why do you keep calling me that?” Alec asked, confused by the ripple of unease that settled in his stomach when Catarina’s skin turned blue. Something about the woman nagged at a tiny corner of his brain. He didn’t know why he would recognize her. In truth, he didn’t but something inside him told him not to hurt her. 

 

“Do we know you?” Izzy asked, staring at Catarina when she moved out from behind the older looking male’s back. It was obvious that they were together from the protective stance that he had taken in front of her. 

 

Izzy’s eyes kept flicking to the woman who stood next to the couple, the one Catarina had called Elaine, wondering why Elaine looked so familiar. A voice in her head whispered that she shouldn’t be aiming her staff at them. 

 

“You know us,” Elaine said, however brief their previous meeting had been. “Put your weapon away, Isabelle. We aren’t here to hurt you. Simon would never forgive me if I did,” she said, holding up her hands to show that she wasn’t using her magic. 

 

“Simon?” Izzy asked. For some reason that was beyond her comprehension, she lowered her staff, more confused about why she would trust the warlock than the action itself. 

 

“My son. Your mate,” Elaine replied, taking a tentative step forward. She stopped when Jace raised both of his swords.

 

“I don’t have a mate. And if I did, he wouldn’t be a warlock,” Izzy muttered, gawping at the woman. She had never heard of anything so ridiculous in her life. In fact, she had never even wanted a mate, repulsed by the mere thought. Something in the pit of her stomach, however, told her that the woman wasn’t lying.

 

“Father, you need to remember,” Catarina said, raising an eyebrow at Jace when he didn’t lower his blades as she stepped forward. “I need you to remember me. And dad, you need to remember him too,” she said, squeezing her mate’s hand when a small growl escaped him. “They won’t hurt me, Ragnor. Not when they remember who I am,” she said to her Alpha.

 

Alec stared at Catarina. The warlock seemed to have no sense of self-preservation at all. When she approached him, however, he didn’t raise his weapon. Something inside him made him feel sick at the thought of hurting her. He shook his head at his siblings when they both stepped closer, uncertain expressions on their faces. 

 

Every instinct in Ragnor’s body screamed at him to pull his mate back, not to let her near the armed trio at all but he let her go, staying close in case she needed him. 

 

“You found me when I was a little girl. I was terrified but you took care of me. You gave me a home and a family, remember?” Catarina asked Alec, approaching him slowly with her hands raised. “You all took me in, a lost demon,” she said, including Jace and Izzy. They looked equally as confused as her father.

 

“Why would we take a demon in? We are Shadowhunters. We don’t take demons in, we slay them,” Alec asked skeptically, his grip on his bow tightening slightly. He’d thought she was a warlock, not a demon. Whatever she was, she wasn’t making any sense. They had lived their entire lives at the Institute, hunting demons, policing warlocks. He had definitely never taken any children in.

 

“Because I’d lost everything and everyone I’d ever known. You were kind to me when you could have slaughtered me. But then again, you don’t slaughter innocents, do you?” Catarina asked, breathing a sigh of relief when Alec’s bow and Jace’s blades lowered slightly. 

 

Valentine relaxed a fraction when Jace, Alec, and Izzy lowered their weapons slightly, the threat to his mate not as serious. He refused to move from in front of Jocelyn, however. The threat wasn’t completely gone. 

 

“We need to find our children,” Valentine said to Elaine. He saw the same pain he felt, reflected back in Elaine’s eyes, knowing that she wished they had found Simon, as much as he wished that they could have found Clary.

 

Elaine nodded, turning to Catarina, ignoring Jace and Alec when their weapons came up once more. “Stay here, keep trying. We will find your dad, let him know that you’re here,” she said. 

 

“Okay, portal back to the cabins. Find something of Clary or Simon’s and track them with it. Send me a fire message when you find them,” Catarina said, squeezing Elaine’s hand.

 

“I will. Ragnor, look after her,” Elaine said, gripping Ragnor’s shoulder when he nodded. She had no doubt that he wouldn’t let any harm come to her surrogate daughter. “It was good to see you again, Isabelle. Take care of yourself,” she said to her son’s mate before creating a portal.

 

“Stop!” Jace said, raising his swords once more when three of the warlocks turned for a portal. “They are going for reinforcements,” he muttered to his siblings, stepping toward the portal, himself. 

 

“They’re doing no such thing,” Catarina scoffed, rolling her eyes at her uncle as she waved Elaine, Valentine, and Jocelyn off. He was being ridiculous. “They just want to see their children. Your mates,” she said, gesturing to Izzy and Jace.

 

“We don’t have mates,” Jace growled, his eyes narrowing when the three warlocks disappeared. He wasn’t convinced they weren’t going to come back with other warlocks to take them down.

 

Ragnor took Catarina’s hand when she let out a snarl of frustration. They were getting nowhere fast. 

 

“You need to find something that will trigger their memories of you from before the curse was set,” Ragnor said, rubbing his thumb over the back of Catarina’s hand to calm her when his mate took a deep breath, letting it out with a sigh.

 

Ragnor didn’t like it one bit when she stepped forward again, going toward the people with the pointy weapons but he understood that she needed to. He stuck close to her side, eyeballing the weapons that were still aimed at them.

 

“Alec, you buried my mama and took me to the man who would become my dad. You fed me and brushed my hair and tucked me in at night. You kept me safe. Isabelle, you braided my hair. Jace, you blushed like a virgin when I picked flowers for you. You know me, all of you. You just don’t remember,” Catarina said, coming to a stop in front of her family. She badly wanted to reach out but they hadn’t fully put their weapons down.

 

Alec shook his head when an image of a small blue-skinned girl popped into his head. He was brushing her hair, gently pulling a comb through her wild curls, her eyes closed blissfully. 

 

“What are…? Are you using magic on me?” Alec asked, trying to shake the image loose. Another replaced it, the little girl pulling at his chest hairs, asking endless questions, her bony elbows and knees digging into his ribs. "Stop putting things in my head," he growled, scared by the images. 

 

“I'm not. It’s not magic, it’s a memory. Please remember, Father,” Catarina said, hopefully, leaning into Ragnor’s side. She met her father’s gaze when he looked up at her, uncertainly. 

 

Another image popped into Alec’s head, the little girl, snoring like a pack of demons. And another, holding her while she slept, putting her to bed. The girl, refusing to eat her vegetables. Waking up on a mountain, the girl snuggled into his side, along with a man. 

 

“Cat… Catarina?” Alec asked, gasping for breath when he was flooded with images of the little girl. His daughter, his baby girl. 

 

Trying to reconcile those images with the woman who stood before him, Alec’s eyes widened with realization. Catarina wasn’t a little girl anymore. She was a full-grown woman. 

 

“You remember me?” Catarina asked, letting her eyes flick from her father to her aunt, then her uncle. Both Izzy and Jace were shaking their heads, brows furrowed as deeply as Alec’s was. 

 

“You’re just a little girl though… how…? How are you so big?” Alec asked, reaching for his daughter. His grown-up daughter. Her head came up to his chest now. Wrapping his arms around her, he pulled her tight against his body, breathing her in as she shook in his arms. “My sweet girl,” he murmured, pressing a kiss into Catarina’s hair.

 

“I’ve missed you so much!” Catarina sobbed, standing on her tip-toes to bury her face in her father’s neck. She took a deep lungful of his scent in, hugging Alec harder. A croaky laugh escaped her when Alec pulled back from the hug, looking her up and down, shaking his head. He still looked astonished that she was so big.

 

Izzy elbowed her brother out of the way when memories of Catarina came flooding back to her. “You look amazing. So big!” she whispered in Catarina’s ear, floored by the fact that they were the same height. Reluctantly, she released Catarina to Jace when he stepped closer. 

 

It took Catarina a moment to remember that her mate was there but she did, finally, when she heard a shuffling noise behind her. Letting go of Jace, she stepped back and took her Alpha’s hand, pulling him forward. 

 

“Father, I want you to meet my mate, Ragnor,” Catarina said, her hand tightening its grip on Ragnor’s hand, silently praying that Alec would accept him.

 

Alec stared at the warlock… demon, he realized, when the man’s glamour dropped. His stomach dropped through his asshole. Not because the demon’s skin was green, or because he was a demon, but because his daughter had found her mate. 

 

“When did this happen? Are you true mates?” Alec asked, looking the man over. Reaching out, he shook the demon’s hand when Ragnor stepped forward, nodding his approval. He could see how protective Ragnor was of his daughter.

 

“It’s pretty recent. And yes, we are true mates,” Ragnor said, shaking Alec’s hand. If anyone had told him that he would be shaking hands with an angel, when he had woken that morning, he would have doubted their sanity. “It’s nice to meet you,” he said, shaking his head. Those were some words he never thought he would have uttered to one of The Host.

 

Jace took Ragnor’s hand too when it was offered. He barely saw the guy though. Instead of Ragnor’s face, an image of a beautiful red-haired woman filled his mind, along with his heart, his arms aching to hold her. The feeling was disconcerting. He was pretty sure he’d never seen the woman before in his life but a snide voice in his head chastised him for forgetting her. She was vitally important to him, her name on the tip of his tongue. 

 

“We were looking for Dad when we found you,” Catarina said, melting into Alec’s side once more, watching Ragnor shake hands with Jace and Izzy.

 

Alec’s stomach lurched when the image of a man popped into his head. The man was beautiful, his golden eyes glowing as he watched him brush Catarina’s hair. The image filled him with a peaceful feeling. It was so right that he didn’t even question it at first. They were his family, as surely as Jace and Izzy were. He loved them both, fiercely.

 

A cold shudder swept through Alec as more and more memories started assaulting him, flooding into his head in a deluge. There were too many of them, coming at him from every direction, too quickly for him to sort through.

 

Izzy stumbled, reaching out to Alec and Catarina to steady herself. One name filled her head, pushing down the wave of memories that engulfed her, memories of her and her mate, her and her family, that threatened to drown her. “Simon?” she cried, holding Alec’s arm tightly.

 

“Father?” Catarina asked, tearing her gaze away from her aunt Izzy to look up at her father when he went stiff in her arms. Her brow furrowed when she saw a soft glow had sprung up around him. Jace and Izzy too, she realized, looking from Alec to them, and back again. 

 

“Magnus!” Alec cried, more images flooding in, images of the three of them together, laughing, crying, flying. The image of a pair of black wings, speckled with bronze, dipping toward his own wings, pushed past it all. My wings, he thought, as an image of his own white and silver wings, brushing Magnus’ black ones, filled his head.

 

“I have to find Clary,” Jace muttered, almost tripping over himself as he looked around for his mate. He could barely breathe from the cold feeling that radiated from the pit in his stomach, his head filled with the memory of placing his feather in Clary’s wing.

 

“I have to go, little one,” Alec said, past the lump in his throat. Not only had the memories of his family reared up, but those of his lifetimes since the curse had begun. He knew what was happening. “I love you,” he whispered, pulling Catarina into his arms, his lips brushing over her head. “Keep her safe,” he said to Ragnor before the cold engulfed him entirely.

 

“Father?” Catarina cried, stumbling into Ragnor’s arms when her father disappeared in a blinding flash of light. “I don’t understand. He never met Dad again. Magnus wasn’t here to set the curse off. None of them were. They didn’t meet their mates. He can’t be gone,” she muttered, sagging into Ragnor.

 

Ragnor held Catrina close to him, staring at the empty space where the angels had been, not a few minutes before. Hearing about the curse was one thing. Watching it happen was another altogether. They had just vanished, before their eyes. 

 

“How does it restart?” Ragnor asked, pulling Catarina upright. “Catarina, focus. How does it work? What happens, exactly?” he asked, urging his mate to pull herself together.

 

“I… uh…” Catarina shook her head, trying to clear the shock away enough to focus on what her mate was asking her. Taking a deep breath, she forced herself past it. “They usually meet and the curse restarts. They… they… the demons are pulled back to Edom and the angels…”

 

“The angels what?” Ragnor asked when Catarina trailed off.

 

“I don’t know. I don’t know what happens to them,” Catarina said, looking up into Ragnor’s eyes. “We think they go back to being babies, like the demons. But we don’t have a clue where they go,” she said. 

 

“Babies…?” Ragnor asked, staring at his mate.

 

“Their entire lives reset. They come back as children. The demons do, anyway. We just assumed the angels did too,” Catarina said.

 

“The tunic. Try and track him down with the tunic,” Ragnor said, looking around for the tunic. He snatched it up off of the ground where his mate had dropped it when they’d emerged from the portal, handing it to Catarina.

 

Catarina took the tunic, focussing her magic on it. Nothing came to her, no sense of where her father could be, no pull, dragging her toward him. She looked up at Ragnor, shaking her head.

 

“Keep trying,” Ragnor urged, watching Catarina’s eyes fill up with tears once more. A frustrated growl burst from him. This was not how he had imagined meeting his mate. She had cried more times than he could count since they had met.

 

Catrina did try again, once, twice, three times, on the verge of giving up when she felt a flicker. A faint presence, something familiar. It was enough for her to pour her magic into the spell, focussing as hard as she could until the feeling grew.

 

“I’ve got him, come on,” Catarina said, shakily, waving her arm to create a portal. She focussed on her father, stepping through the portal when Ragnor took hold of her elbow.

 

**

 

Edom

 

Clary hit the throne room floor hard, just managing to catch herself on her hands before her face smashed into the stone. Her head snapped up when she heard a booming sound, looking wildly around for the source of the sound. She was thrown by the fact that she was even there at all but the sight of the destroyed throne room just pushed her confusion to a whole new level.

 

Scrambling to her feet when Simon and Magnus hit the ground next to her, Clary ducked low and moved to quickly pull the two of them behind a large chunk of rubble, narrowly avoiding a blast of purple magic. A moment ago, she had held her parents in her arms, topside, now she had been deposited into what looked like a warzone.

 

“What the hell happened? Why are we here?” Magnus muttered, crouching low as he pulled Simon up from the heap he had landed in beside him. The destruction around him caught his attention fast. “What happened here?” he asked, looking around when the sound of his father’s voice reached him over the explosions. 

 

“The sly, underhanded King of Abraxus happened,” Asmodeus yelled, firing another fireball through the massive hole in the wall where the doors to his throne room had once stood. “That cowardly traitor stole my granddaughter and I want her back!” he snarled.

 

“Liar! Where is my son?” Almadan bellowed, throwing a bolt of sizzling magic through the hole in the wall. “You lured me here under false pretenses and stole my son, Asmodeus. I want him back. Now!” he screamed.

 

Magnus’ eyes widened as he met first Clary’s and then Simon’s gazes. The shake of Clary’s head stopped him from correcting his father. Only the fact that he had been talking to Elaine, a couple of moments earlier stopped him from throwing himself into the melee to find his daughter. 

 

They had only spoken for a few moments, their reset having already kicked in before Elaine, Valentine and Jocelyn had emerged from a portal in their living room. 

 

They were all still confused. Not only about why they had started glowing, memories chasing each other through their heads, but also about how the trio had managed to find their way topside. Elaine had barely had a moment to inform him that his daughter was with her father before the curse had consumed them.

 

“He doesn’t know,” Clary whispered, close to Simon and Magnus’ ears. She didn’t have a clue who the King of Abraxus was talking about but they had just been informed that Catarina was perfectly safe. In the mortal realm, no less.

 

“Maybe Catarina’s search has developed,” Magnus suggested quietly, ducking more fireballs. He didn’t know how she had gotten to the mortal realm or why she was there. The possibility that Edom had become too dangerous for her flitted through his mind, leaving him to wonder if he would ever see her again.

 

“Something must have happened. They must have had to escape,” Simon said, unknowingly coming to the same conclusion as his friends. 

 

Magnus erected a shield around himself, Clary and Simon, and shot to his feet. If his daughter was on the run, Asmodeus would have no hint of her whereabouts from him. 

 

“Where is my daughter?” Magnus snarled, lashing out with his magic in all directions. He still wanted to know what had happened to make her run in the first place. Knowing his daughter, and how much shit she had put up with to stay in the realm and meet them during their resets, it had to be something big. 

 

“That sneaky bastard has kidnapped her,” Asmodeus growled, grinning at his victory. There was no way the traitor and his handful of pitiful servants could stand against him and Magnus. He had no doubt that his son would go to war to get Catarina back.

 

Magnus turned on the guy who was still firing purple bolts of magic into the room, surrounded by his own shield. “What is he talking about?” he asked, thankful when Clary and Simon flanked him, their own magic sparking over their hands. 

 

“Magnus, I assume? We had a deal, our heirs were supposed to be mated to one another and your father reneged on his end. He kidnapped my son and started spouting this nonsense about me taking his heir!” Almadan shouted. He strengthened his shield, ready for the attack when he saw the rage that flashed in the newcomer’s eyes.

 

“You tried to sell my daughter off in one of your deals?” Magnus bellowed, rounding on his father, Almadan, forgotten. Every shady thing that Asmodeus had ever done to him reared up, all at once. None of those things, however, held a candle to what his father had done now. 

 

Magnus’ magic erupted from him in a hale of fury, blasting out to wrap around his father’s body. He knew, all too well, what it was like to be a pawn in one of his father’s deals. Memories of how he had felt when Asmodeus had tried to offer him up to Camille only infuriated him further. 

 

“You never learn, do you? Even after all of these centuries, all the shit you’ve pulled? And now you think you can sell my daughter off to the highest bidder. Like you did with me?” Magnus raged, pouring more magic into the thick strand he’d wrapped around Asmodeus like a whip.

 

Simon added his magic to Magnus’, equally as furious. As far as he was concerned, Catarina was family to him. He loved her as much as he loved Becky. It didn’t matter that she was in the mortal realm with his mother, Asmodeus had gone too far this time. 

 

An enraged howl of pain erupted from Asmodeus when a third rope of magic wrapped around him, from Clary, cutting into his skin. Magnus’ magic had cut right through his shield, so great was Magnus’ anger. 

 

Asmodeus hadn’t banked on Magnus finding out about his deal and couldn’t afford to go up against Magnus, Clary, Simon, and Almadan. Snapping his fingers, he reset his son and his friends, screaming when their magic cut further into him momentarily before they disappeared. 

 

The second Magnus disappeared, Asmodeus created a portal and launched himself through it. He needed to recover and gather his forces before the leaders of the other realms found out about the stunt Almadan had pulled. And he needed to find his granddaughter. If that meant invading Abraxus to find her, then that was what he would do.

 

**

 

Idris

 

A wave of deja-vu almost made Catarina dizzy when she led her mate out of the portal they’d stepped into. She clutched Ragnor’s arm, looking around until she realized that they weren’t in the valley where the cabins were situated. They were surrounded by mountains and there was a large lake but it wasn’t their home. 

 

“It looks so familiar,” Catarina muttered. The sound of crying babies had her spinning on the spot. Only when she almost toppled over did she realize that she was standing on the edge of a crater. 

 

“Is... is this… where they landed when they fell?” Ragnor asked, staring wide-eyed at the huge crater. Just imagining the impact that it must have taken to create it made every bone in his body ache.

 

“It must be,” Catarina said, spotting movements in the center of the crater. Without even thinking, she took off, spreading her wings and launching herself into the air to reach the center faster. 

 

“Catarina!” Ragnor yelled, taking off after his mate, wondering if she had even looked further than the crater. On the other side of it, past the lake was what looked like a giant fortress. 

 

Catarina landed in the center of the crater, her breath catching when she found three crying babies, two boys, and a girl. She had no doubt that the boy with the thick mop of dark hair was her father, and that the boy with the few tufts of blonde hair was her uncle Jace. Her aunt Izzy had no hair at all but there was no mistaking her pretty brown eyes. That and the tiny black runes kind of gave it away. 

 

“They look like they’ve just been born,” Ragnor muttered when he landed next to his omega and spotted the babies. The sound of horses hooves had him stiffening, his head snapping up to see where it was coming from.

 

“What is it?” Catarina asked, her own head snapping up to look around when she felt the tension rolling off of her mate. She heard it then, the thunder of hooves.

 

“Someone is coming,” Ragnor muttered, pulling a glamour over himself and his mate, turning them invisible. Looking up in the direction that the sound was coming from, he pulled his mate away from the crying children when two horses appeared at the edge of the crater and two figures swung themselves down from the saddles.

 

“What are you doing?” Catarina hissed when her mate pulled her away, swiftly, putting some distance between her and her father. 

 

“I don’t know. Something doesn’t feel right,” Ragnor replied, just as quietly, pulling Catarina halfway up the edge of the crater in the opposite direction from the newcomers. He pressed his finger to Catarina’s lips when it looked like she was about to argue with him. Something about the strange man who climbed down the side of the crater didn’t feel right to him. He tried to get a read on the man’s scent but the wind wasn’t blowing in their favor.

 

Jonathan Shadowhunter led Annalise Knightborn down into the crater, searching the surrounding area as he did. Something felt off about the place. As though something or someone was watching them. He took a deep breath in, noting a faint lingering scent that he couldn’t put a name to.

 

When Jonathan reached the center of the crater without anything attacking them, he bent and inspected the babies. Upon finding them well, he pressed his stele to Izzy’s chest and marked her with her angelic rune, passing her to his - admittedly confused - shadowhunter when he was done.

 

Ragnor pulled Catarina further back when she tried to move toward the center of the crater again, keeping his eyes firmly on the woman who stood guard over the man and babies. 

 

“He’s hurting them,” Catarina muttered when Ragnor refused to let go. She had spent enough time with Deacon and Celeste when they were babies to know the difference between a cry of hunger and a cry of pain. And her father, aunt, and uncle were certainly crying in pain.

 

“I don’t like it, Catarina. Something is wrong. Don’t you feel it?” Ragnor asked quietly, trying to see what the man was doing. He nudged his mate to get her to move, so he could see from a better angle but the man straightened up and held the last baby to his chest, having handed the other two over to the woman. 

 

“We can’t let him take them,” Catarina hissed, starting forward when the two strangers traipsed up the side of the crater and mounted their horses. 

 

Ragnor had no choice but to follow when his mate broke from his grasp. Ensuring that their glamours were still in place, he raced after Catarina, across the crater, fear for her lurching in his gut.

 

Catarina put on a burst of speed when she saw the strangers set their horses in a fast gallop toward the fortress they had come from, running flat out across the crater and up the other side. As soon as she stepped out of the crater, the towers of the fortress lit up red. 

 

“Warlocks!” Jonathan yelled, spinning his horse to look for the danger. “Knightborn, take the children back to the Gard,” he said, handing Jace over to the woman before creating a portal for her with his stele. 

 

As soon as Knightborn leaped off of her horse and through the portal, Jonathan yanked a seraph blade from its scabbard and turned his horse with his knees and a tug on the reins. He skirted Lake Lyn when he saw the intruders.

 

Catarina spread her wings and aimed herself at the portal, desperately trying to get to her father but it was too late. It closed behind the woman who’d taken her family. With a frustrated growl, she turned on the leader, Ragnor’s glamour falling away as she did. 

 

Ragnor dropped the glamour that he held over him and his mate, and took off, launching himself into the air. He saw no point in trying to hide any longer, not after his mate had revealed herself. The flashing towers were obviously a signal against intruders. 

 

“Demons,” Jonathan muttered to himself when he saw the two demons descending on him. He’d thought them warlocks. The sight of the female, gathering power, left him with no choice. His people were out of sight and there was nobody left there to see him. 

 

Yanking a second blade from his holster, Jonathan launched himself from his saddle and unfurled his wings, beating them furiously to gain some height. He aimed himself at the two demons, dropping the glamour over his runes as he flew.

 

Ragnor almost fell out of the air when the man launched himself off of the horse. He’d known that something wasn’t right, the moment he had seen the man. Before that, even. An angel, however, he hadn’t been prepared for. The sunlight bounced off of the angel’s pure white wings, easily fourteen foot in total, and the black runes on the angel's exposed arms turned bright, glowing gold. 

 

And the angel was flying straight at his mate.

 

Catarina halted in mid-air and aimed a huge bolt of blue energy at the angel, shock running through her. The mortal realm was supposed to be no man’s land. A territory that neither demons nor angels could claim. The angel wasn’t supposed to be there.

 

Ragnor flew to his mate’s side, sending a green fireball after the bolt of energy she had let loose. “We need to leave,” he said, creating a portal while the angel was busy deflecting their magic.

 

“But my father, Izzy, Jace…” Catarina replied, sending a second bolt of energy out. 

 

“He’s an arch-angel, Catarina. There’s nothing we can do for them right now. We'll find a way to come back for them, I promise. But we can’t go up against him,” Ragnor said, ushering his mate through the portal when the angel turned and flew straight at them. 

 

Ragnor knew enough battle magic to be able to defend himself for a short period of time but he was a scholar, not a warrior. He couldn’t protect his mate from a battle-hardened arch-angel.

 

“What the fuck is going on in this realm?” Catarina growled when she landed on the shore outside her cabin, collapsing on the pebble-strewn sand in a shocked heap. 

 

“I don’t know. But we are going to find out,” Ragnor replied, closing the portal behind him and landing on the ground next to his mate as the others descended on them.