Oo, it's getting serious! I had planned on a bit more filler before this point but, oh well. If you're confused, hopefully things will be explained. I know the last chapter was terribly vague, but there is a meaning to my madness. I promise.
I will update as soon as possible but I have like a billion things on my plate.
Many many thanks to Isabelle Lightwood for beta reading this and helping to make it less crappy.
Reviews=Faster updates. Seriously, tell me what you think, even if you hated it.
Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING.
Magnus had never thought much about blood. But now, as he stood half-transfixed in the doorway of the Institute, it was all he could think about.
It was everywhere; dripping from the doorframe, smeared in crimson streaks across the floor, gathering in sticky puddles. And all of it was reflected back to him a million times, in a hundred mirrors. Even to Magnus, who had seen more death and pain than almost anyone alive had, it was nauseating.
He heard the elevator doors clang shut behind him, heard footsteps ringing at the other end of the hall, but it wasn't until Isabelle mauled him that the fog in his head cleared.
"Isabelle," he said, trying to sound firm, trying to keep the shaking from his voice and trying not to feel the uneven thrumming of his heart. He wanted to scream, but he swallowed it back. "Isabelle." The girl just let out a strangled sob; her tears dying his coat with salt water. "ISABELLE." Magnus had to forcefully detach himself from her before she stumbled backwards a few steps, sliding on blood.
He had never seen her in such…disarray. She wore all Shadowhunter black, her hair a ruffled ebony sheet framing her deathly white face. The only color on her was her blood-spattered gold whip—stuck through her belt and trailing limply on the floor—and the blood, some hers, some not, that covered her like a second skin, painting her in scarlet.
Distractedly, Magnus dragged a hand down his shirtfront, smoothing out wrinkles. His palm came away crimson.
"What happened?" he asked, and new tears spilled down her cheeks, sparkling with color like prisms in the light. "And be quick about it, my time is valuable."
Something hardened in her then. Suddenly she stood up straighter; suddenly her expression was smooth and emotionless as glass. "We went demon hunting," she said, and her voice was strangely detached. Distant. "It was a nest of Kuri, God, there were tons of them. We weren't prepared for it. It was just me, Jace and Alec. Clary didn't even go. No one expected so many." At this her façade slipped, revealing the frightened girl inside. "Jace—well, you know Jace."
"Yes," Magnus said. "Unfortunately. Now keep going."
"He didn't want to run. Alec and I turned to go but he just laughed at us. I thought maybe that that Jace had gone when he found Clary." Isabelle shook her head. "I guess it's just who he is. But anyway, one of the Kuri saw him, and spat poison. Jace wasn't even looking. But Alec was"—she made a half—choked sound—"and he jumped in front of him. Old habits die hard or something. Jace and I fought back the demon and got him here, but…" She looked up at Magnus then, glacial blue eyes shining with tears. "He's dying Magnus. You have to help him. Save my brother, please."
But Magnus was already gone. All that was left was a swish of coat tails and a trail of footprints marked out in blood.
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At first, the infirmary looked empty. The beds were all made up, the lights dimmed, the air still. But then Jace's hair glittered faintly at the end of the room and Magnus' eyes fell on the boy bundled up in the bed.
He looked like death incarnate. His curly hair was lank and stringy, plastered to his forehead with blood and sweat. His face was glistening, sweat pouring over him the way rain ambles down windows during violent storms. More blood stained the tangled sheets, pushed aside so they half-revealed a bubbling wound on his chest. Pus and skin roiled angrily, flecked with spots of yellow-green Kuri poison. The rest of his skin was paper white and shining, his hands bunched around the blankets in tight fists.
"Took you long enough," Jace drawled. He was as bad as Isabelle. Shadowhunter clothes smeared with stripes of drying blood, slowly healing cuts marked out on his arms and face like crimson runes. Every bit of him oozed lazy confidence. Every thing except his eyes. They were huge, gold, and scared.
"Out," Magnus commanded, shedding his coat and tossing it aside. Jace raised his eyebrows at him as the warlock strode across the room, hooking the leg of a chair with his foot and dragging it underneath him as he sat.
"Why?" Jace challenged. His eyes gleamed with the hint of rebellion. "Why should I?"
"Because you'll interfere with my spell, now scoot." Magnus waved his hand and the chair beneath Jace disappeared. If he hadn't been a Shadowhunter, he would have been sent plummeting to the floor. As it was he just barely managed to brace himself against the wall and push himself upright. He glared, but complied, slamming the door so hard the floor shook.
Magnus rolled his eyes. Prima donna, he thought, before turning to Alec. The boy's eyes were slitted and far away, only the faintest hint of blue hidden behind dark lashes.
"Oh darling," Magnus breathed, brushing back Alec's limp hair. "You really did it this time, didn't you? You stupid, stupid boy." Magnus had to bite back tears. This is ridiculous. I don't cry. I never cry. Stop crying.
Alec's eyelids fluttered, making Magnus jump. "Magnus?" he croaked, his voice weak and strained. "Is that you Magnus?"
"Yes darling, I'm here," the warlock whispered, summoning the magic lurking like a sleeping animal deep within his chest. It rose to his fingertips in a shower of blue sparks, ran through his veins like fire, made his pores crackle. "I'm going to make you better, just hold on a little longer."
With a sigh, Alec closed his eyes, a languid smile playing on his lips. "Love you Magnus," he slurred.
"I love you too Alec," Magnus said, placing his hands on either side of the boy's face. Sizzling blue magic enveloped the pair of them, wrapped them in a sparkling cocoon. "Forever and ever."
And he began to heal.
Teehee. I'm just waiting for someone to figure it out. I'm also waiting for people to get tired of my cliffhangers and shoot me in the face but hey, then you'll never know what happens. :)