Look guys an UPDATE. School can be a bitch u_u specially when you are on your last year of university! Anyway here's the new chapter, I hope you like it! Tell me if you think I'm doing good or if this is getting boring, your opinions are what keeps me going, see you soon guys!
Chapter 2: Yet bitter the waking.
"So sweet caress, Never long to last…"
Illusive Consensus by Epica
Alexander Lightwood was surprised to wake up in an uncomfortable bed in The Institute's infirmary. Even more surprising though was the fact that Magnus was standing next to his bed, his expression unreadable.
"What happened to me?" Alec asked.
His voice sounded weak and his throat felt dry, Angel he felt so tired and sore!
"We were hoping you could tell us that" answered Isabelle from some other point of the room.
Magnus stepped away from his bed, allowing Izzy to take his place next to Alec, the warlock glanced in the shadowhunter's general direction, but never directly at him.
The shadowhunter was distracted by a sudden stab of pain in his heart, as if the blade of a misericord had been plunged at his chest. He gasped softly, stunned and winded due to the surprise, but he quickly put himself together in order not to worry his sister anymore.
Izzy placed a hand in his shoulders, forcing him down on the bed again.
"You're still not ok, you need to rest"
Once she was convinced that her brother wouldn´t move from his bed she sat down on the chair that had been placed beside him and continued what she had been saying.
"Do you remember what happened at the park?"
Of course he did, that was not something that could be easily forgotten, but he didn't say anything, he didn't want to make his siblings worry and Magnus would most likely feel bad about this, even if there was nothing going on between them anymore.
"We were ambushed by some demon, there was fire"
Izzy nodded. "We are not really sure what happened, we dodged those balls of fire, I saw one hit you in the chest, but then there were more and more coming at us, and a horde of iblis demons attacked Clary, Jace and me, when we finished them off we couldn´t find you anywhere, we searched the whole park for almost three hours and then you appeared out of nowhere in the same place where we were first attacked"
"Three hours?!" Alec was shocked, to him it had only felt like a few minutes at most.
He looked down at himself. There were thick bandages around his chest, but what little skin he could see looked thin and red. Oh Angel please, I don't want them to see the mark, it would be too hard to explain. Thankfully, as though reading his mind, Izzy explained the extension of his injuries.
"When we found you your chest was a mess of bloody, scorched skin, you also had a concussion and bleeding cuts all over your face and head, there was bruising in your neck, so whatever the thing that attacked you was, it probably tried to choke the life out of you. We brought you back here and tried to heal the worst of it with iratzes, but you wouldn't respond to them…"
At this, Izzy gave a sidelong glance in Magnus direction, but he kept acting as though he was in an empty room, listening to the air rather than the shadowhunters.
Alec couldn´t bear any more of that silent treatment, bracing himself for Magnus' reaction he addressed him directly.
"Is that why you came here Magnus?"
The shadowhunter hated being unable to hide the longing in his voice, but he guessed it was too late to shut up now.
Magnus finally turned his head to look at him, his expression almost managed to seem unreadable, but there were worry lines around his eyes and a slight frown in his brow, giving away the fact that he was far more worried that he cared to admit.
"Catarina asked me to come when you wouldn´t respond to her healing" after saying that Magnus walked over to Alec's bed and placed one of his hands in front of the shadowhunter's face.
"Your wounds seem to be healing properly now, though I can still feel a bit of an illness in your body, a day or two of rest should get rid of that".
I really doubt that Alec thought to himself. He was not going to tell any of them about Sonneillon´s curse, that didn't mean he would give up on trying to get back together with Magnus, but he didn't want to force him into getting back together, there would be no real healing or forgiveness if the shadowhunter used the wretched curse to guilt-trip his ex-boyfriend into taking him back, he could handle feeling a bit sick until he earned the warlock's love again.
Izzy, bless her, brought him back to reality by clearing her throat.
"I need to go check on Clary and Jace" she said, looking at Magnus "Could you stay with him while I go see them?"
That made Alec worry for both his parabatai and Clary.
"What happened to them?"
His sister just shook her head.
"Nothing you need to worry about" she replied with a half-smile "One of the demons grazed Clary with its claws and she's been running a bit of a fever, but you know how Jace worries, I'm just checking to make sure he doesn´t kill her while trying to play nurse, be right back!"
Izzy turned around and walked out of the infirmary, leaving Magnus and Alec alone. The silence between them made for an atmosphere so awkward and tense it made the shadowhunter feel like he could cut it with one of his seraph blades.
Magnus glanced at the door and then back at his ex-boyfriend anxiously, as if weighting his options.
"You don´t have to stay you know, I'm not going to pass out again".
The downworlder stared at him with a look that said Yeah, I don't believe that. Magnus moved closer to Alec's bed and sat on a plastic chair placed next to the bedside table. For the first time in weeks Alec had a good look at his ex-boyfriend and noticed that he looked exhausted. He looked a bit pale and had bags like crescent moons under his eyes.
"You look tired" The Nephilim said.
Magnus chuckled "Indeed. And you look sick"
"Hmmm" Alec didn´t quite know how to react to that, but he was curious, so he asked.
"How badly was I injured?"
Magnus thought about it for a moment and then explained "Isabelle already told you about the burn in your chest and your concussion, right?" Alec nodded.
"Catarina called me because her healing magic didn´t work on your burns no matter what she tried, and the injuries started a high fever that was becoming worrisome for your health, especially because of your body's lack of reaction towards magic and runes."
"How do you mean?" Alec inquired.
"Your siblings told me that when they tried to draw iratzes on your skin they would become red and swollen, like burns, and vanish after a few minutes, healing almost none of your injuries, only the most superficial cuts and bruises and Catarina's magic didn't have an effect on your burns either, it only helped to stop the bleeding of your head wound, so I'm guessing that the fire had some sort of curse in it, because I had to channel my magic directly into your body and let it spread rather than just treat the injured areas ".
Alec paled at the mention of the word curse but hoped that it was not too obvious, he still didn't understand the reason of Magnus fatigue though.
"Is that why you look so tired?"
Magnus looked uncomfortable at being asked that question, he fidgeted in his seat before looking up at him.
"Well yeah… I had to treat you for almost 6 hours before you started responding and your fever finally broke."
Alec's eyes widened and he stuttered "S-six hours? Just for my fever to go down? How long was I unconscious?"
"36 hours" Magnus replied "You had us all really worried."
Us Alec thought, a glimmer of happiness and hope sparking with those words. He was worried about me too. Alec wanted to voice those thoughts and thank the warlock for all his troubles but instead tripped over his own words like he always did and ended up saying something entirely different.
"I thought you didn´t want to see me ever again"
At that, Magnus looked up at him, a brief flash of anger crossing his features.
"The fact that I'm angry at you does not mean I would ever let you die, I thought you knew me better than that"
Alec flinched "You are right, I'm sorry. I just didn't expect to see you here"
Magnus approached him and cupped one of the shadowhunter's cheeks in his palm.
"This is why I didn´t want to see you" Magnus said with a sigh "I was so worried, I just…"
He trailed off, dropping his hand from Alec's cheek. It didn´t escape Alec´s attention that the warlock was avoiding his gaze.
This time Alec thought very well about what he was going to say before speaking.
"Thank you. For everything"
Magnus sighed it was a sad, tired sound that made Alec's insides clench with worry.
"You have to be more careful" the warlock said, agitation marring his words "You were in such a poor condition, if you had received treatment a bit later than you did you could have died"
By the end of his tirade, the downworlder's chest was rising and falling heavily, his clenched fists resting above his knees. Alec almost reached out his arms to comfort him but thought better of it. That was probably the last thing that Magnus wanted at the moment. Comfort that came from him.
At last, Magnus looked up and straight at him. Alec's thoughts were completely sidetracked at the sight of those green-gold eyes, he could have stayed like that forever, enraptured by the beauty of his love's gaze.
Before either of them knew what was happening their lips collided together. The kiss lit on fire in a symphony of lips, tongues and teeth. Magnus placed a hand on the back of Alec's neck and pulled the shadowhunter closer to him by the waist with his free arm. Alec let out a low, pleased sound between a moan and a sigh, both his hand shot up and grabbed Magnus' dark hair. That elicited a moan from the warlock who moved his hands from the shadowhunter's waist and head and went to roam the nephilim's back underneath his shirt. The cold hands that caressed his still fever-warm skin made Alec shudder, but it didn´t matter, it just added to the sensation. And he was happy so damn happy. The moment was broken though when the hand that Magnus wasn´t using to explore his back went to rest in Alexander's sculpted chest, making him wince, which made the warlock drop his hands from the shadowhunter's body and separated from him.
"Sorry" Magnus said "That shouldn't have happened"
"What?" Alec was still too stunned by the kiss to understand what Magnus was trying to say.
"You're better now" The warlock continued "I should probably go"
"No! Wait, please!" Alexander tried to hide the desperation in his voice but failed miserably. He quickly made a grab for Magnus' wrist and pulled him closer with every ounce of strength he had –which was not much, given the condition he was in.
"Don't go" Alec pleaded, not caring about how pathetic he sounded "Please don't leave me"
Magnus simply shook Alexander's hand off and put some more distance between them for good measure before addressing the blue eyed boy again "This is not good for either one of us, I shouldn´t have done that and I apologize, I shouldn´t have let my feelings get away from me like that"
"Don´t!" Alec said, choking back a sob. At this point he didn´t know if his physical pain was stronger than the emotional one, but he was in agony. Yet, he needed to talk to Magnus, ask for his forgiveness one more time, even if he knew it was most likely no good.
"Don´t apologize" The boy continued between labored breathes "I love you and just now you proved that despite my mistakes you still love me too. I'm sorry. Words will never describe just how sorry I am, but if you could just forgive me, give me another chance-
Magnus cut him off.
"I already HAVE forgiven you, Alexander. And I will always love you, that won´t change, but forgiving does not always mean forgetting and I can´t forget. You betrayed my trust. I understand why you did it, but it was still wrong of you, it was not your choice to make".
The boy just sighed sadly, his blue eyes shining with the threat of unshed tears, he looked up at his ex-boyfriend and shot him a tiny half smile that didn´t reach his eyes.
"I should probably stop now right? No matter what I say, it won´t change anything"
"No, it won´t" the other man confirmed, his green-gold eyes shining under the infirmary's fluorescent lights. He approached Alec's bed again and caressed one of the boy's cheeks with his knuckles.
"I have already told Isabelle that if something like this were to happen again she must contact me first. You have to be more careful Alexander. You cannot die, I wouldn't be able to bear it"
When he was done talking he dropped his hand from the shadowhunters face and turned away, heading straight for the door.
Alec's stomach clenched painfully when he realized that Magnus didn´t look back a single time before walking out of the room. So that's it he thought to himself He doesn´t intend to ever see me again unless my life depends on it. If only Magnus knew…
But Alec couldn´t bring himself to tell him, it would have felt like guilt-tripping him into a commitment he would have never agreed to make otherwise and Magnus would do it, no doubt about it, he loved the shadowhunter that much. And so, Alec had preferred to keep quiet, setting the man he loved free of such a responsibility. Sonneillon be damned! He would find a way to break the demon's stupid curse by himself.
In that moment a fit of coughs raked through the shadowhunter's body. He gripped the bed sheets tightly with one hand while the other shot up to cover his mouth. The coughing fit went on for a few minutes and left him sweaty and winded when it finally passed. His sides felt sore and he was lightheaded, but all that paled in comparison to the terror he felt at the sight in front of him.
The hand he had used to cover his mouth was sprayed with tiny dots of bright blood. His blood.
He didn´t understand, Sonneillon had said he had fifteen days to break the curse before it claimed his life. True, he had been unconscious for a day and a half, but it was still far too soon for his body to be this deteriorated. What had that damn demon said?
"…Those fifteen days are a rather subjective matter. It's all up to Magnus really"
That bastard! So this is what he had meant when he said Magnus' actions could accelerate the process. The warlock had turned his back to his own feelings and this was the result.
Alec's panicked ramblings came to a stop with the sound of footsteps shuffling down the hall. It was most likely Izzy. Back to check on him, he quickly rubbed his blood-stained hand against his dark sleeping pants, glad for once about the fact that his black clothes could conceal the small amount red liquid. He leaned down on his pillow, fighting to control both his breathing and his panic.
By the time the doorknob turned Alec had finally managed a look of apparent calm, even if it was just pretense. He had to keep a strong front, for his family. He didn't want to make them worry.
He just hoped he had the strength to keep up the façade a little longer. Just enough to either get rid of the curse or destroy Sonneillon before he tried to come after the people he loved.
When the door opened and his sister walked in, smiling at him he could do nothing but smile back. Alec told himself that everything would be fine and gave his whole attention to Izzy, reassuring her about his health, because that was what was most important right now, that his siblings didn't worry, he would figure out the rest alone.