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Alec didn't end up going to Idris. He'd been sent the notice by accident by someone who hadn't been paying enough attention to who they were sending the message to. It was a relief for both of them; especially after the kiss they'd shared, neither of them particularly wanted to be away from the other when they were just getting into the groove of feeling out their relationship, whatever it was.
"It's almost... boring around here right now," Cassia sighed at the end of a Monday in which she'd had absolutely no work to do other than overseeing everyone else's work.
Alec looked at her from his spot on the sofa at the side of their bedroom. He studied her in a way that made her slightly uncomfortable and then he smiled, surprising her.
"What?" she asked him, and he rolled his eyes and sighed loudly, looking up at her through his long eyelashes.
"Maybe I think you're pretty cute," he said, and she laughed out loud at the thought of a husband behind shy about telling his wife he thought she was cute. She continued laughing, getting up from her spot on the bed and walking over to him. He opened his arms for her and she settled into his lap, still slightly surprised by how gentle his touch was.
"Maybe I think you're pretty cute too," she admitted, planting a sloppy kiss on his cheek. He recoiled dramatically, sticking his tongue out at her.
Before they could do or say anything else, the door of their room burst open and Jace stepped inside, looking at the two of them like they were doing something terrible and absurd. Cass stood out of Alec's lap, facing Jace.
"Whatcha doin'?" she asked sarcastically, cocking her head to the side and motioning for him to explain why he'd just burst into their bedroom.
"The Institute is under attack," he told her, seemingly snapping back to reality.
"What?" Alec's voice piped up from behind Cassia and they both gave Jace severe looks.
"Demons. I don't know how they got in, but there's a lot of them," he explained, and both Alec and Cass snapped into warrior mode, pulling on boots and grabbing weapons.
They followed Jace down into the main area of the Institute and, sure enough, there were demons all over fighting everyone that was able. The three fell into battle easily, all three of them skilled fighters.
They killed demons left and right, and when they were all seemingly gone, the three of them set out to search the Institute to make sure they were actually gone, instructing everyone else to stay where they were and stay on guard.
As soon as Jace and Cassia were far enough away from the group, he pulled her aside, looking at her seriously.
"Are you guys... together?" Jace asked, and Cassia looked at him like he was absolutely stupid.
"Together? We're married, Jace. Plus, we've got much bigger things to worry about. Now is not the time for this," she told him, doing her best to sound stern and serious.
"I know... I just... I miss you," he told her, and she frowned at him, not surprised at all that he'd pick the most inopportune moment to have the relationship talk that they'd both been avoiding.
"Jace..." she trailed off, knowing that they shouldn't even be pausing their search, let alone taking the time to talk about anything. Before she could say anything else, he grabbed her and kissed her roughly. She fell into him for a moment, her feet stumbling beneath her. As soon as she regained her footing, she pushed him away from her. He looked at her with wide eyes, seemingly surprised at her reaction.
Someone cleared their throat beside them and both of them looked up as Alec crossed his arms, giving them both a stern look. Cassia pushed past Jace, giving Alec a look as she passed him as well to continue her search.
"We'll talk about this later," Alec said to Jace, moving to follow his wife. "Wait. Where's Cass?" he asked, and Jace jogged across the room to look down the long hallway in front of them. Cassia should've been immediately visible in front of them, but wasn't for some reason.
"Cass?" Jace called and both of them set off, looking in rooms and anywhere else she could've been. They met back up the end of the hallway, both of them looking concerned and shaking their heads.
"She's gone," Alec said, panic evident in his tone. "She's gone!" he yelled, and Jace grabbed him by the shoulders to steady him.
"We'll find her. Calm down. We're going to find her."
