Chapter 8:
Magi rushed the demon hoping the boy on the ground was ok. She thought she saw his chest rising and falling with breath. Just keep breathing, kid. She moved just in time. The suckers on the arm of the demon just missed her. She used her blade calling it by name, bringing it to life, and sliced off the tentacle. It didn't phase the demon. He—it—took another swing at her. This one hit her leg. She moved away before he could wrap it around her but was moving another one to her arm.
She shrieked. It really hurt.
The raum was holding Magi when Max and Rory got there. His suckers were biting into her arm. Rory came up from behind her and sliced the tentacles with his seraph blade. Black blood spurted out of the missing limbs and Magi fell toward the ground. She was still conscious so she rolled and ended on her feet. A wave of dizziness ran through her. She knew she had poison running in her blood, but she had to keep fighting.
She was favoring her arm. She picked up her discarded blade with her left hand. Max gave her look and a nod. They both rushed the other sides of the demon. Rory was on the right side. Magi took the back and Max got the left side.
Rory sliced through his chest. At the same time Max got to its head and slice through it. Ichor sprayed about and the demon began to shrink as it fell to the ground.
Max was on her phone. "Magnus, get here now. Meet us in the infirmary. We have a john doe, and Magi has been poisoned by a raum." She shoved the phone back into her pocket. Rory had picked up the unconscious boy, and Max helped Magi who was still holding on.
Because Magi had interrupted the demon, the boy was out but he was still alive. Barely.
Thank the angel, he is ok. She felt so weak. She leaned very heavily on to Max as she helped her home. They made their way to the infirmary. Just a few more feet and she could lie down. That kept her feet moving.
They got the boy on a cot as soon as they got in the infirmary. Magi climbed up on another cot and fell onto it heavily. She felt like sleeping. Or passing out.
"Think he's a Mundie?" She heard Rory say.
"I don't know him." Max replied to him. Magi was holding on to their words trying to hold on to consciousness. "Nephilim." She said and showed the boy's hand to Rory.
Magnus entered the room and rushed to his daughter's side to patch her up. He whispered to her in a tone so low that no one else would have heard him. "It's ok Magalie, I will fix you up. Just stay awake for me."
That was something that felt like it would be impossible. Her eyes were heavy; they wanted to close, and she wanted sleep.
Magnus's hands floated about her as he chanted. She saw Alec leaned against the wall close to her. She focused on him. He smiled at her in a way that said "You'll be ok." But she could see worry in his deep blue eyes.
"Dad." It was barely a whisper but she knew his vampy hearing would pick it up. He moved to her side. He took her hand in his and Magnus kept on with his spell.
He finished up with a nod. And he turned to work on the unconscious boy. Alec squeezed her hand gently and she knew now she could sleep. Alec kissed her cheek. "Get some rest, baby." Her eyes closed almost automatically at the permission.
The last thing she heard was "Alexander, why does this boy look like you?" And she was out.
{Line Break}
She woke up and noticed the room was empty except for the boy and her. She was hit with the feeling of a very empty stomach. Alec walked in then. "Your daddy is cooking if you want to get some food."
Her mouth started watering. Magnus was an excellent cook. "You read my mind." She said.
"I heard your stomach growl." He smiled. "Go get some food. You will feel better with a full stomach." She noticed he had a bottle of the synthetic blood in his hand too. It must be dinner time.
She moved toward the kitchen and soon she smelled the wonderful smell of dinner. She walked in on Magnus dancing to the music in his own head as he pulled something out of the oven. He turned and his chin was covered in what she assumed to be flour.
"Daddy, you got something on your face." Magi got up and wiped it off with a dishcloth.
"Thank you my precious. Are you feeling better?"
She nodded. "But I am starving so don't keep me waiting anymore."
He laughed and put the food on the table. Max and Rory were sitting together and Rory served up the food for everyone.
Magi ate like she hadn't eaten in days. The casserole was hot and moist and Delicious. "That was delectable, daddy." She said around the last mouthful.
"Good, now head up to your room because you need a good night's sleep." He was clucking like a mother hen. He took her arm to walk her to her room. "You two have fun." He said to the other two shadowhunters.
They got to her room and he doted over her. He fluffed her pillows, he tucked her in, and he kissed her cheek. "Do you need anything to help you sleep?"
"No, I think I can manage to sleep." She felt bone tired now that she was in her own bed. He sat next to her but she was soon asleep.
{Line Break}
Alec was leaving her room. He had come in and gently woken her up.
"Baby, I have something to tell you." He had gently caressed her hair as she looked at him. He smiled at her and took a breath. "The boy you saved today is Allen. He is your twin brother." She had looked at him, confused. "Aline had twins and she kept him. She gave you to us but she kept Allen. We never even knew about him." Magi heard the spite in his voice. Dad was pissed.
She had saved his life. She didn't even know him but somehow she had saved him.
She wiped the tears from her eyes. She got up and pulled on a robe over her cotton shorts and tank that way she wouldn't get cold. The institute always seemed cool even in the heat of the summer. She moved to the institute to meet her brother.
Magnus and Alec had left for the night so he was all alone and dozing in there. It made her feel sad that he was all alone. Alec had told her his name was Allen.
"Allen." She tested it out in a whisper. His eye came open and he looked at her. "Hi, I am your sister." She took him in. He looked just like her dad except the eyes slanted on slightly and he had a darker tone of skin.
"Magalie?" He asked.
She nodded. "But you can call me Magi."
"Magi, I hope you know I never knew about you. I would have wanted to know you if I did."
"I know. Me too."
She pulled a chair beside him and he dozed off again. But she stayed there and held his hand.
{Line Break}
She had fallen asleep with him in the infirmary. Her neck was stiff because she was in the chair still. He was looking at her. "Are you hungry?"
"Starving." He said with a laugh that sounded just like Alec's laugh.
"Come on, you probably need to move anyway. We can go get some cereal in the kitchen." They walked together to the kitchen. Magi pour cereal for each of them. "I hope you like Lucky Charms." She smiled.
"Of course. The marshmallows make it."
"Yes. Max thinks I am crazy to like little kid cereal."
"Max?"
"Maxine is my cousin. Our cousin. She is aunt Isabelle's daughter. You saw her yesterday probably."
"She has purple hair, right?"
"That's her. She is my best friend and parabatai." Magi explained while she sat next to him at the table.
"It must be nice to have a best friend who lives so close." He said almost wistfully.
"Yes, well, I only just moved into the institute, but we've always been close."
"I never had anyone else my age at the institute. I grew up with all adults really. There was one girl who came once to us for a while. She was visiting different countries on a kind of tour of institutes." He shrugged. "I never heard of anyone doing it before. Anyway, her name was—Gloria, I think. She was with us for about a month before she moved on to France."
"It sounds lonely." Magi said.
"I never missed having other kids around because I never knew what it was like, but I did think something was missing. I felt like I needed to know my dad. But maybe it was that I was missing my twin."
She felt like she should have known about him like that too. Maybe she did but she had Max to help keep her from being lonely. She put her hand on his. "Well, we have each other now."
"Yes, we can spend the day getting to know each other."
"Sounds good."
{Line Break}
She had left when Allen fell asleep. Her feet were taking her down a familiar path to Touch. She walked in and saw Isis behind the bar. She knew she needed to talk to someone. Her brain automatically went to her kitten warlock.
Isis sashayed to her. She poured her the usual drink and told her to go up and wait on her. The bar would be closing in an hour anyway. Magi used the inside stairs to the apartment. There was a code you had to key in to get through the door to the stairs but she knew it by heart now. She keyed it in and headed up as she downed the vodka and cranberry.
The apartment bar was stocked too, so she refilled her glass. She pulled off her jeans and sat on the couch in her panties and the tee she had on. She turned it on for noise and a show she knew Magnus loved was on. It was a decorating show where the contestants were given crazy challenges. This episode had them running around to decorate a house like it was a vintage video game.
It made her think of Simon. He would love that.
She had apparently dozed off during the show because next thing she knew Isis was falling onto the couch next to her. "Tony can close up tonight. I am exhausted." She said to Magi. Then she kissed her.
"I have had a crazy day, too. I found out I have a brother. A twin brother." Isis perked up her ears. Magi explained how she had found Allen and how it was crazy since he was actually a twin brother that was raised by her biological mother and her lover.
"That is crazy." Isis said when the story was over.
"He looks just like dad." Magi added.
Isis pulled her into a snuggle and yawned. "Want to go to bed and sleep all night long?"
"I never thought you would ask."
Isis tucked her into her side as they lay in the bed. She nuzzled into her neck. "I love how you smell, Magi."
Warmth shot through her that had no other name than happiness. Being here with Isis was the definition of happiness.
{Line Break}
Magi stretched and yawned as she woke up. Isis was looking at her with a look of hunger on her face. "You have taken over my whole world, Magalie. I am finding myself craving you. And I just woke up from this appetizing dream about you.'
Heat flushed her cheeks. Magi didn't think she could have that effect on someone. But it was how Isis had affected her, too. She pulled her into a kiss. Isis wrapped her long arms around her and pulled her in close. "What happened in your dream?" Magi asked against her lips.
"Let me show you." Isis said with a flash of heat in her eyes.
Her tongue traced the sensitive crook of her neck. Heat pooled between Magi's thighs as her beloved moved her mouth all over the exposed areas of her skin. She wanted out of her clothes so she could explore more. She tugged off the tee shirt she had gone to bed in and this exposed most of her. She just had panties on now.
Isis moved to the newly freed flesh of her shoulders. Everywhere her lips touched, sparks tingled Magi's skin. What she hadn't told Isis was that she had a dream about her too. And this was better than her dream could ever have been.
Isis closed her teeth over the budded rose nipple on the perky breast of Magi. She nibbled lightly as her hand moved to the band of the panties that kept the last bit of Magi concealed. Her fingers slipped into the underwear and made their way to the juncture of her thighs. The heat was slick and waiting for her. She moved over the sensitive nub. Magi's hips bucked and her breath hitched.
She crested loudly. Then she pulled Isis to her mouth again. She kissed her passionately. They rolled so that Isis was on her back and Magi repaid the favor. Her lips travelling over exposed skin. Isis pulled off her clothes. Magi's hands took a breast in each hand and teased the nipples with her thumbs. Her mouth journeyed over the trembling stomach of Isis and to her thighs. Teasing her with her mouth, she could feel the heat emanating from her core.
She itched to taste her. But she wanted to tease her longer. She moved slowly down her leg and to her knee. Then she traced back up her leg again. Finally she allowed herself to partake. She drank in the nectar of Isis. Her tongue played with the most vulnerable spot. Isis moaned out her name as she came.
Isis pulled up her face and kissed her. "Let's take a shower."
Magi knew this was far from over.
{Line Break}
She got back to the institute in time to change and get Allen. They were going to meet Alec and Magnus for dinner.
She walked with her brother to her dads' place. They lived in an old flat that Magnus had lived in since he's been in Brooklyn. Somehow no one has noticed how long he's been there. Magic was good for some things she supposed.
On the walk from the subway station, they were mostly silent. It was a bit awkward for her since she never knew what it was like to have a sibling. Max was as close as she got to having one. Her parabatai, her cousin, was like a sister to her. But a twin brother—it was mind boggling.
She had found out quite a bit about him the other night. He could speak fluent Chinese and English and he knew a little French too. She knew French so she had tested him a bit. They had laughed and talked all night while her cousin had gone out with Rory. For Max's benefit she didn't call Rory her cousin anymore. It was easy since they only meet about a month ago.
Allen was interesting to say the least. He was very shy and he had very feminine manners. She wondered if he was gay. But it could just be that he was raised by two women. He kept his hair shaggy and it was stick straight. It fell just above his shoulders and he had red streaks in it now. She had talked him into letting her do it. It made the blue eyes they shared stand out in contrast.
He dressed a lot like Alec. He always wore big black shirts and jeans. It made her think about the great nature versus nurture debate. He was so like Alec. He blushed at the littlest things. Some of the ways he would look at her or he would stand a certain way that screamed Alec Lightwood-Bane.
He was smiling now at her. And she realized he had asked her something. She had been in her own world. "I'm sorry, what did you say?" She blushed a bit embarrassed.
"I was asking what it was like being raised by Alec and Magnus." He said again with nothing but kindness and patience in his voice.
"I don't know what to compare it to." She laughed. "It's like waking up to a walking glittering rainbow and his complete opposite. Magnus is like a ball of energy and glitter. He's the guy you watch your Saturday morning cartoons with. He showed me how to put on makeup. Probably a lot sooner that dad wanted. He's how I got my fabulous style. He's my daddy." She giggled thinking about him now. "Dad is so calm and collected. He is always the voice of reason. He is really smart. He was the one to kiss my boo boos when I was young. He was the one to tuck me in and read to me at night. I never did without anything I wanted. I couldn't imagine growing up with any other parents. It is strange to see how we both turned out, though. What about living with Aline and Helen?"
He shrugged. "They are both really awesome. Helen grew up so many brothers and sisters. Her stories made me always want some siblings."
"How come they never had any more?" She knew there were ways to get kids if you really wanted them. Obviously. That was where they had come from.
"I don't know. Mom—Aline, I call her mom—she just never found anyone else she said she would think about having a kid with and she didn't want to do the anonymous thing. Mama—that's Helen—couldn't carry kids. She had some sort of medical thing. I don't really know much about it." He sighed. "I am glad I have you now though. I know we're pretty old and we might not have all the little kid memories but I really want to be in your life and you be in mine now."
"Yeah, I'd like that, too." She slowed and turned to walk up the walkway to the place she calls home. She took out her key that she wore on a chain around her neck like she always saw her dad do. They went up the stairs and into the apartment. "Dad? Daddy?" She called out to them.
Magnus came out first in all his colorful glory. He was wearing his signature rainbow leather pants and a black tank with a bejeweled set of lips on it. "Magi, hey sweetie. Hi, Allen. Alec will be out soon. Can I get you something to drink?"
Allen shook his head and they sat in the living room. All that was in there was a sofa for three. It was purple. Magnus snapped his fingers and made a recliner appear. It was deep black leather and he sat in it and leaned back to prop his feet up. His bare toes were painted tangerine to match his fingers.
Alec came out. There was a disheveled look to him and Magalie was pretty sure they had just got done ravishing each other. Alec didn't blush anymore but he looked sheepishly as he padded out to the living room to join his kids on the couch. His navy colored sweater and jeans was his normal ensemble.
"I thought we might go to Taki's and have a family dinner." He said as greeting. "We should get to know each other before you go back home." He directed that to Allen.
"I don't know when I will be leaving." Allen said quietly.
"I know. I don't need you to rush through it or anything, but I talked to your mom. She wants you home as soon as possible because she misses you. I understand that. If Magalie went to visit Aline I wouldn't want her gone long."
She was shocked by that statement. He had seemed so unmoved by her going to the institute.
"Yeah, but she knew about her mom her whole life. You guys never hid it from her. She knows who she is. I was left out of this. I knew I had to have a dad somewhere but I didn't even know your name until a couple of weeks ago. I deserve to be here to get to know you. I am going to stay for as long as I want." He had started his statement quietly but anger had colored it and the volume increased toward the end. He blushed when he was done.
"Of course. We will just keep in touch with your mom. You can stay with Magalie at the institute so you are able to keep your training up and studies. You can come see us or we can come see you whenever you want us to." Alec put his arm around his son.
Magi watched them as they walked out of the apartment and got a cab. She thought about all the things they missed out on. What would it have been like to have a brother her whole life? She thought about how Alec and Izzy were together. She knew they were close. They were like best friends. She couldn't help but feel like she had been cheated out of something really good.
A/N: Ok, longest chapter ever! Hope you liked it. More to come soon.
