Chapter 2
They all walked up the steps to stop at a large opening. The whole group huddled together in what looked like to Kit, an abandoned, run-down fairground. He turned to see in the distance a huge Ferris wheel towering above them, seats hanging broken and rust clawing at the skeletal structure of the wheel. Kit had been to a Fairground once before when he was a child, his father had taken him and Kit remembered the day so vividly. It was all bright colours and music and the place seemed so alive. Kit had loved it. He loved this a little bit less. It was dark and a slight fog hung in the cold air and it seemed as though the life and energy he remembered had been sucked out of it. All the fun gone. Now forgotten memories and a fountain in the middle toppling over with unanswered wishes. A carousel where the horses didn't dance and swings hanging in the air on rusted chains.
There was complete silence until Julian spoke.
"Are you sure it was here?" he said, looking around, a little sceptical.
Ty looked up at his brother, genuinely confused, "Why would I say something I don't mean?"
"That's not what I meant, I just mean, look at this place," Julian gestured to the deserted area around them, "This doesn't make sense for this to be the place. No one comes here and that means there's no one to attack. So why would the demons be here?"
"Trust me, Julian, we'll find them and they'll be here," Ty said, completely sure of himself.
"Okay. Then we'll split up and take different sides of the fairground," Julian gathered the group closer together, "Cristina and Diego start at the Stalls over there and work your way round to the Ferris wheel, Emma and I will start at the carousel and work round to the entrance and Livvy, Ty and Kit, start at the Ferris Wheel and work round to the carousel. Look after each other okay?"
Everyone nodded and Kit watched Livvy move closer to Ty, only slightly as if it was an instinctive move more than anything else. He wondered for a second why they weren't Parabatai, but the last time he'd brought that up it left Livvy looking a little sad so he thought best not to bring it up again.
As they all started to move away to each of their starting points, Kit felt a hand on his arm. It was Emma.
"Stay close to them and don't do anything stupid or reckless," her voice was warning. She released his arm.
"Kit? Stupid? Reckless? Never," it was Livvy, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Emma laughed and disappeared to catch up with Julian. Livvy had skipped up to Kit's side.
"Oi, shush up you," Kit said narrowing his eyes at the Blackthorn girl and laughing.
She flicked her hair in a teasing manner and skipped forward, calling back to Kit, "You're a Herondale, boy, and reckless is in your genes."
"I'm not a Herondale," was all Kit said. Ty appeared by his side, his arm brushing the blonde boys.
"Reckless, yes. Stupid, probably," Ty said, glancing sideways at Kit. Kit gasped and then laughed, nudging Ty's arm.
"Guys, you've got it all wrong," Kit said as they made their way up a small hill, "Reckless, sometimes. Stupid, never. And good looking well, have you seen me?"
"And modest, always apparently," Livvy smiled a big smile.
They came to a stop at the bottom of the Ferris Wheel and Ty gazed up at how big it was. Scraps of metal hung swinging from it where old age and rust had worn the joints away. Some seats still looked in tact however most were reducing to nothing.
"I'm going to take a look over by the swings, why don't you guys try and get a better look from up there?" Livvy said stalking over to a large carousel like ride but instead of horses, hung old creaking swings on rusted chains.
"Does she mean, 'up there' as in up there?" Kit said, mouth open and pointing to the Ferris wheel.
"I think," Ty said and placed a foot carefully up onto the Ferris wheel. He clambered up through metal bars and into one of the swinging seats. He leant forward, reaching down carefully, one hand on a metal bar steadying the seat and the other outstretched to help Kit. Kit stood for a moment staring at Ty.
"Tiberius, you think I'm going up there?" Kit laughed in disbelief. He shook his head and shoved his hands into his pockets.
"No, I don't think anything, I want you to come up here with me?" Ty said reaching down a little further towards him. Kit looked him in the eyes and then the seat swung forward slightly. A creak came from the seat and it caused Kit to jump up onto a bar, grab Ty's hand and steady him. In that moment his heart had jumped into his throat. It wasn't too far off of the ground but he would have had a good headache hitting the ground from there, maybe a few cuts and scrapes.
"You're quick, very swift," Ty said smiling as if realising something, "and with no runes." Kit put his foot up on another bar and gripped Ty's hand tighter. It was cold in his and he struggled to pull his eyes from the swirling scars from previous runes that decorated his fingers.
"So that's not a thank you for saving you? You could have fallen," Kit said teasing him and hauled himself upwards towards the seat.
"Thank you," Ty said and then gave a gasp as Kit's foot missed a bar and he slipped. Ty let go of the other bar and grabbed onto Kit's arm with both hands. Kit let out a muffled groan of pain and Ty caught sight of his right forearm sliced open, scarlet red blood decorating his skin. Ty immediately threw himself backwards in the seat and hauled the blonde boy up with his own body weight. Kit used his feet, pushing himself into the swinging cart and he fell into a slump on top of Ty.
They lay there for a moment, a tangle of heaving breaths and two bodies against each other. Then Kit lifted himself slowly onto two elbows either side of Ty, his face hovering above the Blackthorn boy's. Kit was so close to him, Ty could feel his soft breath on his cheek and he got this strange feeling in his stomach. It wasn't unpleasant like it would be normally but a sort of ache in the pit of his tummy. Ty decided that he would welcome the feeling.
Kit stared down silently into two fierce ashen eyes. He could feel the other boy's heart hammering in his chest, against his own chest. They were so close.
"That was um, clumsy of me," Kit said, so close to Ty's face and neck he could smell him. He smelt of burned sugar and apples and Kit took a deep breath as if to breathe it in.
Ty raised his eyebrows with a cheeky smile, "So that's not a thank you for saving you? You could have fallen."
Kit laughed, "You're unbelievable. Thank you Tiberius." He added emphasis to the thank you. Kit shuffled up into a sitting position and Ty immediately felt his absence. He was no longer touching him but as Ty struggled up into a sitting position too he realised he had his legs stretched out on either side of Kit's body. Ty leant back on his hands. Then his eyes turned a soft dark smoky colour.
Ty reached out and moved the sleeve of Kit's jacket back up, revealing a mess of sticky blood. Kit just drew in a breath. "Great. First mission and I'm injured, not even by a demon but defeated by a Ferris wheel that's not even moving," Kit sighed in frustration. Ty laughed.
"I know you said no runes but I could give you an iratze if you like," Ty said leaning forward and examining it. The blood was bright red against his pale hands. Kit rid himself of his jacket leaving him in a tight black t-shirt.
"Okay," Kit said shifting his body between Ty's legs so that his arm was facing Ty.
Ty retrieved his stele from his belt and slid his fingers under Kit's arm. Kit shot Ty a look as his fingertips felt as though they'd sent a spark under his skin. Kit thought his veins were filled with fire and Ty's touch was burning holes in him. Ty moved closer to the boy, so close that his thighs were touching Kit's body and his chest was inches away from the blonde boys arm.
"Are you ready?" Ty said flicking his eyes up to meet Kit's gaze. Kit just nodded and fixed his eyes to where Ty touched the stele to his arm. A searing pain exploded under his skin then, not pleasant like when the Blackthorn boy had touched him but this felt as though Ty were threading fire into his skin, setting his whole arm ablaze and then it all stopped. Kit hadn't realised he'd bitten down on his lip and shut his eyes. When he slid them open he watched as Ty finished the iratze, unfolding one last black swirl near the rim of his sleeve. Ty leant back to admire his work then tucked the stele back into his weapons belt.
"It won't hurt like that every time, usually just a slight sting, but that was your first for a long time, probably since you were a very young child," Ty said. Kit traced the rune with his fingertips, softly following the angles and curves now woven into his skin.
"You mean because my father lied to me my whole life and I grew up hating my own kind and living with people that were nothing like me," Kit said not looking at Ty.
Ty paused for a moment then spoke delicately, "I understand you." Kit looked up confused.
"Not with the whole being lied to and hating my own kind thing but I've grown up different to everyone around me," Ty said, staring down at his hands. They started to flutter and he locked them together to stop it.
Kit looked up at his eyes and they refused to return the look.
"What do you mean?" he said.
Ty's hands began to flutter slightly again, "I think differently to everyone else and Julian always says, it doesn't matter, it doesn't separate me from anyone else and if anything it makes me special but I don't know. Some Shadowhunters don't like it and sometimes it frustrates me. Sometimes I don't understand what people are saying like when they say one thing and mean another. I just don't understand it."
Kit stared at Ty's fluttering hands and they were moving so quickly, it were as though they were the wings of a butterfly trying to stay in the air. He could see Ty was anxious.
"Don't," Kit whispered, placing his hands over Ty's moving ones. They instantly stopped and Ty look up at Kit's face as if he was unsure of what Kit's action meant.
"Don't doubt for one minute that you're special. You're surrounded by adults who have been studying these demonic attacks for months and have figured out nothing. You have one afternoon on these cases and you've discovered where and when the next attack is. We're out here now because of you Tiberius," Kit said, leaning closer to Ty.
Ty peeled his eyes away from Kit and looked at their hands together, "Tha-that doesn't make me special, that just makes me" –
Kit interrupted him, stealing his own hand back from the boys and placing it under Ty's chin, "Clever. It makes you clever. But Ty what makes you special, is that you are the way you are and it's that look in your eye that you get when you solve cases and puzzles. That look in your eye most of the time. That genuine look of pure excitement and happiness that makes everyone around you smile too. You're so beautiful Tiberius and you don't even know it."
Ty glanced down at Kit's hand under his chin and turned his face downwards so that his lips ever so slightly brushed Kit's fingers. So lightly it was as if they never even touched but Kit felt it. Kit felt it like a pulse of electricity awoken under his skin. As Ty turned his face back up to look at Kit, the blonde boy dropped his hand and drew a deep breath.
"We should go higher if we're going to get a better look," Kit said standing and causing the seat to rock slightly. Tiberius nodded and stood up. They both began to climb the metal bars, when they heard a loud piercing scream.
"What was that?" Kit spoke quickly, his eyes worried. Ty began climbing down messily and missing two or three bars at a time. Kit followed him down but he was too fast to catch up with and by the time Kit had reached the ground Ty was sprinting away from the Ferris wheel, seraph blade in one hand, a small, silver knife in the other. His weapons glinted silver and blue in the moonlight as Ty disappeared round a corner. Kit ran. He ran as fast as he could and was on Ty's heels soon enough but heaving for breath. Ty then stopped at the hanging swings, his eyes searching desperately. He was anxious but his hands weren't fluttering this time, they were steady like a warriors hands should be. He turned to Kit who had pulled his seraph blade from his belt. Ty's eyes were cold and grey.
"That was Livvy who screamed," Ty said, looking around once more, "And now she's not gone."
