8
"When angels go bad they are worse than anyone else. Remember Lucifer used to be an angel." ~ Neil Gaiman, Neverwhere
"I should have known you would find me," I shot a glare at the man that stood a few feet from me. His triangular face was hard as stone and his pointed chin resembled a carving of marble from the Roman era. His hair was so fair that it was nearly white in contrast to his pitch black eyes. The tight leather jacket accentuated his muscular build which only served to intimidate those who were weaker, "Valentine Morgenstern."
"Yes, no one can hide from me. It is only a matter of when I want to find you."
"Why now then? Why do you need me?" I backed towards my portal and flicked my wrist slightly.
"You know why I need you. Your ability is useful, and I have a use for it."
"I don't take payment for my services."
"Who said anything about payment?" He grinned maniacally and I noticed dark figures emerge next to him. Two Ravener demons that had slimy, long, scaled, black bodies, long black tongues, multiple legs and claws, and an insectile cluster of eyes set dead center on top of its long domed skull.
I raised my hands and sparks flew towards the demons. "Don't underestimate me Mr. Morgenstern." I took another step towards the portal.
"It is you that should not underestimate me," he laughed as I watched his skin peel away. I was now looking at a young boy with blue hair. He appeared to be in his teens and looked like a character from an Anime.
I realized too late and turned just in time to see a glowing blade pierce my abdomen. A dark red liquid stained my shirt as a pain and burning sensation spread throughout my body. The true Valentine Morgenstern towered above me now as I hunched over in pain, blood dripping down onto the pavement.
"Like he said, I have no intention of paying you," he kicked me right where my blood was draining and I howled in pain, "Don't worry, you aren't going to die… yet."
I used my magic to calm the bleeding as Valentine knelt down, hoisted me over his shoulder, and turned to leave the alley. My portal faded as my energy drained and my eyelids fell after being flushed with a flash of light.
Moments Ago
Magnus's Point of View
I rummaged through my cupboards looking for coffee grounds before surrendering and conjuring up an order slip for the nearby coffee shop. It was then that a cracking sound came from the entryway and a bit of napkin flew to my hand. It burst into flame and a scorch mark in an ancient Warlock language appeared in my palm. It read, 'Help, Alley, Bad Owl, Him, Jeff.' I felt a chill down my spine as I realized what the short words meant. I reached into a drawer and grabbed a small stone. Tossing it into the air it vanished with a cloud of smoke. I extended my hands and the kitchen filled with light that faded into darkness. My nostrils were flooded with the smell of iron, sewage, and decay. I took in my surroundings quickly, snapped my fingers and sent a dumpster flying at the Ravener demons. A car alarm could be heard where the dumpster and demons landed. I had caught the attention of the only two figures left in the alley.
"Magnus Bane," Valentine's glare was filled with venom, "So he sent the message to you."
"Yes, he is my friend, and I'm afraid that he doesn't want to go with you," I raised my hand and Valentine flew into the nearby wall Jeff falling from his shoulder and hitting the ground.
Valentine collected himself, pulling out his blade and bringing it to a glow. "You Downworld scum shouldn't even exist."
"Well, this scum seems to have bested you," I smiled at him, "Also, any Shadowhunter with respect would not work with demons." I shot a look at the boy with blue hair.
"You are outnumbered," Valentine approached me and the demon boy also had a sword, "You won't win."
"Who said he was alone?" a familiar voice called out from the rooftop. An arrow flew down and buried itself into the chest of the blue haired demon, another went through his right leg, a third through his left arm. He screeched in pain and Mark jumped from the roof crossbow pointed at Valentine, a dark rune blazed his neck.
"Who are you?" Valentine gritted his teeth.
"I'm his boyfriend," Mark gestured to Jeff on the ground, "And if you are the one that did that to him, then you are as good as dead." An arrow flew from the crossbow and soar towards Valentine's head. It burst into flame inches from his face and he laughed.
"You have a Warlock with you?" I questioned, "I can't imagine what Warlock would stoop so low, but apparently you don't think we are all scum."
"I may let you live today, but it won't be for long," he glared at Mark, "You are as good as them. You aren't a Shadowhunter." He vanished in a burst of black flames as well as the demon boy. Mark ran to Jeff and turned him upward.
"Jeff, please open your eyes," he begged, voice cracking.
I knelt down next to him, "He's okay, he's still alive. He used his last bit of magic to heal his wound slightly. It was created with a Seraph blade though, so magic can't heal it completely."
"But I can!" Mark moved quickly, tearing open Jeffs shirt and placing the tip of his Stele just above the wound. Black marks flowed out of the tip as his hand moved like that of a professional painter. The symbol resembled the number three turning into a lowercase 'h' with the vertical line of the 'h' going through the center of the three. The rune glowed brightly as the wound slowly began to heal. Mark's graceful hands weren't done yet as his Stele moved above Jeff's heart. The symbol that flowed out was a circle with a lowercase 'h' going through it. The left and right sides of the circle also had little lines coming out of it.
I placed my hand on Jeff's forehead and began to syphon some of my magic to him.
"I knew I shouldn't have left," a tear dropped from Mark's eye, "He was attacked just the other day and we knew that Valentine was in town."
"There was no way you could know that he was going to be attacked at this moment. He was almost to my place and I have wards up protecting it from Valentine."
"I should have seen him off before returning to the Institute."
"You can beat yourself up the rest of the night, but at least you were here now. If you didn't show I don't know if my magic could have saved him."
"Thank you," Mark looked up to me and wiped his eyes, "I wouldn't have been here if you hadn't summoned me."
"I gave you the choice. The stone would only portal you to a place that you really wanted to be."
Mark smiled, "So he is going to be okay?"
"Yes, but he needs rest," I opened a portal in the side of the coffee shop, "You are welcome to join us."
Mark and I hoisted Jeff between us and carried him through the portal to my apartment, placing him on the bed in the guest room. I snapped my fingers making a pair of black pajamas appear, perfectly folded on the bed. "Those should fit you nicely. Restroom is down the hall and the Chairman is around here somewhere. He probably won't like you, but he doesn't like anyone so don't take it the wrong way."
"Thank you."
I just waved him off and retreated to my room finally letting my exhaustion hit me. It had been too long since I last fought this thoroughly, but I knew there would be more to come. Collapsing on my bed I drifted off to sleep.
Jeff's Point of View
"Mr. Jenni," the voice of my nightmares rang through my head as I awoke in the small dank dungeon of the Dark Sisters' house, "You do want to keep your sister safe don't you?" Mrs. Black was scowling at me with her piercing black eyes.
"How am I supposed to believe that you have my sister? Or that these aren't just false memories that you are trying to plant false memories inside my head."
"I suppose you don't know, but do you really want to risk her safety?" Mrs. Dark toyed her fingers.
"Alright, what do you want me to do?"
"Take this," Mrs. Black shoved a lock of hair with a small pink ribbon, "You are going to focus on the hair. Try to pull something out of it."
I turned the hair over in my hand a few times. It felt very dry, almost frail. I closed my eyes and focused on the hair. The silky-ness of the ribbon. The chestnut hue. Upon doing so I felt a sharp pain in my right side more towards my back. I felt my bones tighten and shrink down, my hair growing rapidly from my head. A scream rising from my throat and my eyes opened.
Upon my chest was a small cat with short legs and a fluffy, round body. His eyes were a bright blue and his breath smelt of fish as it wafted towards my face. His small paw batted my nose as I gave him a long pet from the top of his head to the tip of his tail. Satisfied with the amount of attention he has received, he trotted out of the room as I rolled over to see Mark lying next to me. I rubbed my eyes thoroughly, causing a strand of cat hair to burn my retina. I decided to dismiss myself to the restroom to rinse the intrusion from my eye.
Magnus's guest bathroom was a royal purple with gold accents for the faucets and knobs. The shower curtain was a white silk with light blue orchids that appeared to be hand stitched. Once my eyes recovered I noticed that my shirt was missing, and I had a scar on my abdomen. The memories of last night flooded back as I felt the Seraph blade piercing through me. Magnus must have received my fire message, but why was Mark here?
I exited the restroom and walked to the kitchen where Magnus was shuffling through his cupboards. "Good morning," I greeted him causing him to startle as he turned to me.
"I didn't expect you to be up for at least a few more days," Magnus walked over and inspected my scar. "Those runes that he used must have been extremely powerful."
"Runes?"
"Yes, as I am certain you noticed, I summoned Mark when I received your message. I may be powerful, but taking on Valentine by myself would not be wise."
"But you put him in danger, what if you both got hurt?"
"Love is a very powerful magic," Magnus grinned cheekily, "I think he loves you."
"No, it is too soon for that," I shook my head, "He can't be…"
"Well, he called you his boyfriend last night," Magnus continued to grin as I flushed a bright red.
"No, you must have misheard."
"Based on your reaction I think that you may love him too."
"Magnus," I groaned, "Stop edging me on. You know how quickly and hard I fall in love with people."
"Yes, but this is the first time that I think you found a good one," he winked before returning to his rummaging, "Now, I don't know why I constantly act like I am going to make my own coffee." He turned to the counter and summoned an order slip, "Would you like something?"
"I'll take whatever form of a Caramel Frappuccino that they have," I sat at one of the bar stools, "What should we do Magnus? You and I know how dangerous Valentine can be. The Clave won't do anything about him."
"We can't act on our own or else the Clave will act against us. I wouldn't do well in the Spiral Labyrinth."
"Alright, I am going to Alicante."
Magnus stopped filling out the order form for the coffee. "You are what?"
"Consul Malachi wanted to meet with me, and I shall fulfill that request."
"I do not think that is a good idea. I do not like him."
"I can take care of myself Magnus. Don't forget that I am a Shadowhunter. They may not want to believe it, but I can cary marks and ignite a Seraph blade."
"You know what the Clave thinks of people that are different," Magnus snapped the coffee order off to the shop.
"Yes, but what else can we do. I saw Valentine with my own eyes. They can't reject that. I'll testify by the Mortal Sword."
"Remind me again why we are friends?" Magnus looked at me scrupulously.
"Because I keep things exciting and live on the edge?" I laughed.
"Well, I suppose you do," Magnus snapped and our coffees appeared. He had a knack of knowing exactly how long it would take.
"I'll be leaving tonight, after my meeting with the Downworlders."
"A meeting with the Downworlders? Who? Why did you not tell me?"
"Umm because I just came up with it last night before I was attacked."
"Did you inform the Seelie Queen? She won't want to be left out of any meetings."
"No I did not, like I said, a bit preoccupied Magnus."
"Alright," Magnus looked through a drawer and removed a large maple leaf that he set ablaze in the palm of his hand, "It will be tonight, at my place. Inform whoever else you are expecting to meet us here. We already have the wards up against Valentine here."
"Okay," I grabbed a four sticky notes from the same drawer that Magnus pulled the leaves from and made one out to Raphael, Luke, Abby, and the other to Clary. They burst into smoke as I sent them off to their recipients.
"Why are you inviting Clary?"
"Because we were attacked by wolves and vampires while retrieving her friend, and in order to ease them off I had to tell them that we could all meet and have a formal discussion."
"What is to be discussed?"
"I am using my power to reveal if the Lightwoods are working with Valentine."
"What?!" Magnus's jaw dropped slightly, "You cannot do that to the Heads of the Institute."
"They will never know Magnus, and we need to know where their loyalty lies. We both know about their past."
"Yes, but they are the authority in this area. We can't be doing secret investigations of their character."
"No one will know Magnus. Don't worry about it."
"I will blame you if we get caught," Magnus sipped from his coffee, "You are not getting me exiled."
"I will gladly take all of the blame. They can exile me to the Spiral Labyrinth."
"Exile?" Mark's voice interrupted us, "Who is being exiled?"
"Nobody," Magnus smiled, "Well, I can exile myself if you two want to be alone." He gave a sly wink before sipping more coffee. Mark and I both flushed with embarrassment.
"Don't worry. It is just that using my powers to investigate the Lightwoods isn't exactly 'by the book,' and could get me in trouble if they were to find out."
"I won't tell them."
"Of course not," Magnus sipped his coffee again, "But Clary might, or her little boyfriend Jace. He is parabatai to that cute boy."
"Alec? You like Alec?" Mark looked at him skeptically.
"He is cute, but Shadowhunters are trouble and tend to live very short lives," Magnus paused, "No offense of course. I'm sure you two will last forever."
"I think you should go for it Magnus," Mark winked, "You only live once, even if it is for a very long time."
Magnus waved him off, "Alright, that is enough Shadowhunter boy. Don't you have something to retrieve before the meeting tonight?"
"While you do that, I have something I need to do," I told Mark, "I can't go with you to the Institute anyways. It would be too suspicious. I'll be back before you know it."
"No, I'm not going to let you go somewhere on your own."
"He won't be alone," Magnus interjected, "Abby is going with him."
"She is?" Mark's eyebrows rose.
"She is," I nodded, unconvincingly, "I have an important training exercise for her."
"Alright," Mark pecked me on the cheek, "Please be safe."
"Of course," I pulled him into a tight embrace and proceeded to open a portal for him to get to the Institute. He gave me a final smile before dashing through.
"Where are you going?" Magnus crossed his arms and gave me an evil glare, "You are in no shape to go anywhere."
"I will be alright Magnus. I'm leaving New York, but I'll be back."
"You aren't going to Alicante are you?"
"See ya later Magnus," I raised my hand and summoned a portal, barely hearing Magnus's shouts of protest after me.
