"You can break my soul, take my life away, beat me, hurt me, kill me. But for the love of God, don't touch h i m." – from Tumblr by Unknown Author
Chapter 9 – Risking Your Life for a Shadowhunter – Part Two
"A little overdressed for this, aren't you?" Jace provoked Magnus as they crossed the Institute's corridors, followed by Isabelle, Luke and half of his werewolf pack.
"Spare me your judgement, Mr. I'm-Better-Than-Anyone," Magnus snapped right back.
Isabelle sighed. If she weren't so damn nervous she would have chastised them like she'd do to some misbehaving kids. Emotions were high. After leaving the warlock's lair they decided to use a portal to get to Boston. Jace would lead them straight to the warehouse, and Luke had offered his and his pack's help with the mission, even though Magnus strongly objected to it.
He didn't want more people involved in this than it was necessary; he didn't want to create a blood bath. This was between him and Valentine; he should be the only one risking himself, not a pack of people who had family waiting at home.
Magnus had changed his clothes to a black shirt and a black blazer jacket with light silver markings drawn on it, wine colored pants, matching wine colored tie and black military boots. He had also put on some black glittery eye shadow with a snap of his fingers. Jace's opinion was that his change of clothes was completely unnecessary and time wasting, but Magnus's clothing had its purpose.
The blazer had been magically altered many years ago to contain a various amount of inner pockets, which he filled with all the magical objects he thought could be handy in case of a battle. Magnus wasn't facing Valentine unprepared.
They entered Jace's bedroom and Magnus set up the portal against the wall. Jace led them through and they landed on a street that ended in a field of grass and trees. There weren't any buildings or people around.
"This is the place, I swear," Jace said convincing the others and himself.
"It must be glam-" Isabelle started, but before she could finish her sentence, Magnus snapped his fingers, letting some blue sparks escape them, and the field of trees was replaced by the abandoned warehouse.
Magnus took the lead and everyone followed him to the main entrance which was locked. Magnus exploded it out of their way with a wave of his hand. Everyone could see how pissed he was.
"So, what's the plan?" Jace asked as they entered the building and he kept up with Magnus. The others were following them.
"Hmm?" Magnus pretended to be too distracted with where they were going to answer.
"Magnus, tell me you have a plan." Jace sounded a bit panicky.
"Oh, I have a plan. And you will stay out of it," was all Magnus said as they reached an open door in the middle of the corridor on the left which led them to the main hall.
It was empty, except for the people in it. Valentine and his crew were all standing in the middle of the room. Magnus was the first to reach them, stopping right in front of Valentine.
"Well, I believe we have a special guest, gentlemen," Valentine spoke to his shadowhunters. "I knew you wouldn't let me down, Jonathan," Valentine said facing Jace, who was standing next to Magnus looking at his father with rage.
Magnus counted twenty-two Shadowhunters including Valentine. They were outnumbered, but Magnus knew they could take them down. He also noticed a portal ready to be used on the wall behind Valentine's side of the room.
Magnus kept probing the room until his eyes fell on an unconscious Alec, laid down on the floor at the left side of the room, guarded by a shadowhunter. Magnus's face twitched in pain when he saw him like that and he felt his heart sinking down his body.
"Alec!" Isabelle shouted her brother's name and ran towards him, but when she was only a few steps away, she was hit back by some sort of barrier.
"What the hell…" she mumbled confused.
Seeing this, Magnus raised his hand and sent out some blue flames in Valentine's direction, but there was an invisible wall blocking his magic from him.
"Magic and intruder blockade. Interesting. Not unexpected, though," Magnus said facing Valentine with a deadly glare. There was no sign of the kind, playful Magnus they all knew. That Magnus was buried deep and he wouldn't come back to the surface until Alec was safe again.
"You will regret this," he threatened Valentine. "Most people know not to mess with a High Warlock. Well, the smart ones do," he added mischievously.
"You don't frighten me, warlock," Valentine said in a carefree manner.
Maybe he should. I would be frightened if he looked at me like that, Isabelle thought as she was watching them scared to death of what would happen next.
The werewolves positioned themselves behind Magnus and Jace ready to jump at the enemy's slightest move.
"Oh, you didn't have to bring them," Valentine said as he gave Luke a disdained look. "I was hoping we could settle this peacefully."
Luke's, Isabelle's and Jace's faces told him they weren't giving him that.
"Let's get this over with, shall we," Magnus continued and it was obvious he could barely hold himself back from attacking Valentine with all his fury. "You give us Alec and you can have me."
Internally, Magnus was gathering up all the energy he could to strike on Valentine, break the blockage that was separating them and also protect Alec, all at the same time. He knew he could break the barrier, but it would take a lot from him and Alec's safety might not be guaranteed. What if he wasn't fast enough? It would be a very risky move. He rubbed his fingers against each other in pure anxiety.
"No deal," Valentine answered with a smirk. "You didn't really think that I was going to just hand him over?"
"For you own good, I was hoping you would," Magnus threatened him. But Valentine didn't even flinch. Magnus let out a frustrated sigh.
"Fine. Then step up and kill me. Run your blade through my heart. What are you waiting for?" Magnus hoped he wasn't too provoking. He was waiting for Valentine to take a step and then he was going to attack.
"Actually, I have a different kind of negotiation in mind." Valentine surprised everyone with that statement. Jace and Isabelle exchanged confused looks and Luke raised his eyebrow.
"So you're saying… You don't want me dead?" Magnus did not see that coming. The shock made him loose some of the energy he's been building up inside.
"Oh, I want you dead just like I want all the Downworlders dead. But your death can wait." Valentine took out a piece of paper out of his jacket. Magnus, Isabelle, Jace, Luke and the werewolves watched him with intrigue.
"For now, I would like to make a contract with you," he said folding down the paper. "You will offer me your magical services in exchange of Alexander's life."
Magnus's jaw tightened at hearing Alexander's name coming out of that monster's mouth.
You did not just say his name… you do NOT get to say his precious name, you piece of trash. Magnus felt the thought burn him up like fire, but he needed to control himself. He had to focus now more than ever. He took a deep breath.
"And what kind of magical services would those be?" he asked keeping his voice low and neutral.
"You will find out as soon as we cross that portal," Valentine said pointing to the portal behind him with his thumb.
"Magnus, no," Jace objected firmly. "This is a trap. It has to be."
Valentine looked at Jace hurt, like he betrayed him.
"Why the hell should we trust you?" Jace snapped at him.
"I am many things, Jonathan, but a liar isn't one of them. A deal is a deal and I stick to my word." To prove his words, Valentine took out a small knife and a pen from his pocket and made a small cut on the palm of his hand. He ran the pen across the cut making his blood be the ink, and then signed the contract.
Then he walked over to Alec, took a pocketknife from the shadowhunter by his side, took Alec's hand and repeated the process. He dropped some of Alec's blood on the contract.
Magnus felt his body tense even more as he saw that. Now he had a good guess about what Valentine was really proposing… And he didn't like it at all.
Valentine walked back to Magnus and handed him the signed contract.
"As you can see, the terms include you attending all my wishes that require your magic and they also prohibit you from harming me in any way. Sign it and I will give Alec the antidote and he will be free to go with his family."
"Why did you put Alec's blood on it?" Jace asked after snatching the contract out of Magnus's hand to take a look at it.
"For insurance," Valentine said without taking his eyes off of Magnus. "If you, for some reason, decide to break any of these terms before finishing the job I have for you… Your boy will suffer the consequences."
Magnus pulled the contract back from Jace and stared at it for some long seconds. Magical contracts signed with blood were very powerful and once he signed it he'd be obligated to fulfill Valentine's orders without exceptions. If he refused, Alec would die.
With a snap of Magnus's fingers a pen materialized in front of him and he used magic to cut through his hand's skin. He dipped the pen in his blood and looked up at Valentine.
"You heal him first and I'll sign," he said thinking this was his last chance to fight back.
But Valentine was no fool. "You sign it or let him die. I can get another warlock to do this for me, eventually. But there's only one of Alec, isn't there?"
"Wait," Isabelle interrupted them. All eyes turned to her. "How do we even know he's still alive? You could be just fooling us," she said with forced determination. She's been staring at Alec for the last couple of minutes and the way he laid motionless scared her even more.
It made Magnus mad when he realized he'd been so overpowered with fear he hadn't even considered this possibility. God bless Isabelle for using her brain, he thought.
Valentine nodded to the shadowhunter next to Alec, so he grabbed Isabelle's arm and pulled her to their side. He pushed her hard to the ground and Isabelle fell on her knees, but she ignored the pain and crawled to her brother.
"Alec…" she whispered desperately as she pressed her fingers on his neck to check his pulse. He was so cold and pale that the terrible thought of them being too late crossed her mind. Then she felt a very weak pulse that made her sigh in relief.
"He's alive, but barely," she announced and held her brother close to herself protectively.
While Valentine waited, Jace was thinking of some alternative solution. Losing Magnus wasn't how he wanted to get Alec back; he knew his brother would take it badly. But he couldn't think of anything useful. Valentine had clearly made up his mind and wouldn't back off from his plans.
Similar thoughts were going through Magnus's head. But he was determined to do whatever it took to save Alec. He could think about escaping from Valentine later. He had the time. All that mattered now was Alec.
He accepted the defeat, took a deep breath and signed the contract. Valentine took it back with a satisfied smile. Magnus had never felt so eager to destroy someone in his entire life.
Jace closed his eyes and shook his head. Magnus didn't let his eyes off Valentine. Now he had to do his part. And Valentine did. He turned to the shadowhunter behind him, and took a syringe out of the box he was holding. The syringe was full of a brown liquid that Jace recognized immediately as the antidote.
Both Magnus and Jace were holding their breaths as Valentine walked to Alec in an agonizingly slow manner. He crouched down next to him, looked at Isabelle who was pressing Alec tight to her chest and raised his eyebrow. She loosened her grip around Alec a bit, giving Valentine a look of pure hatred and let him get closer.
Valentine stuck the syringe in Alec's neck, injected the antidote, then stood up and walked back to Magnus. Nothing happened for a few seconds and Magnus started to feel the heat of desperation and anger in him. His eyes glowed with yellow and he was shaking when Alec finally moved.
"Alec… can you hear me?" Isabelle asked desperately and held his face towards her. Alec opened his eyes slowly then they closed again. Isabelle wasn't sure he saw her, so she called his name again.
"Alec, look at me," she insisted and Alec opened his eyes a bit wider this time.
"Izzy?" he whispered to her. He didn't have the strength to speak up, but Izzy was so happy to see him better that she smiled and tears of relief were running down her cheeks. She hugged him and he tried to sit up.
"Where are we? What's happening?" Alec asked with his voice slowly returning to him. She held his back to help him sit up and Magnus looked away. Now that Alec was getting better he didn't dare to look.
If he looked at Alec just for a second, he would have failed. He would have run to him, hugged him and kissed him like Alec never knew he could. He wanted to do all that and he wanted to take him home. But he couldn't. There was nothing he could do now that he had signed Valentine's contract. So he forced himself not to look. It was easier that way.
Valentine stepped in front of him. He pressed his hand against the invisible barrier and, with a gentle breeze, it was gone.
"After you," he said and showed the way to the portal with his hands. The shadowhunters were already leaving through it.
Jace stepped up between Magnus and Valentine saying "I'll go with you. You shouldn't face this alone."
But Magnus stopped him pushing him back with the back of his hand.
"No. You stay. Alec needs you," he said quietly, fighting off his tears.
Isabelle watched and she knew how much those selfless words hurt Magnus.
Alec looked around and noticed Magnus, Jace and Valentine.
"Magnus?" he said in a way that broke Magnus's heart. He strongly avoided looking in Alec's direction and started walking to the portal.
Alec realized what was happening and fought Isabelle to get out of her hold.
"Alec, stop!" she said and held him firmly.
"No! Izzy, let me go… do something!" Alec managed to stand up with some difficulty, but he was still not strong enough to get out of Isabelle's firm grip. He struggled against Isabelle and watched as Valentine held onto Magnus's arm and they stepped into the portal without looking back.
Isabelle only let Alec go when the portal closed behind Valentine and Magnus. He took a few unstable steps towards the wall that had sucked the portal in and Jace followed him.
"Alec, take it easy, buddy." Jace was concerned about his brother.
"No. Magnus…" Alec whispered to himself and went out of air. Nothing mattered. Magnus was gone. Valentine took him away. His nightmare came true.
Magnus is gone.
The weight of Alec's loss mixed with the weakness caused by the demon blood crushed him. He didn't have enough strength to keep going. He didn't even want to keep going.
Magnus is gone.
That thought echoed in his mind like torture. He closed his eyes and hoped that when he opened them again, Magnus would be standing in front of him.
But when he reopened his eyes, instead of having Magnus back, everything Alec looked at became blurry and he felt his legs go numb. He was falling down and Jace caught him just before he collapsed on the floor.
A/N: PLEASE review! It means the world to me! :) Also, if anyone knows the author of that quote, let me know, so I can give them credit.
