Chapter 13
With practiced skill, Magnus throws the ingredients into his brass bowl and stirs them together. As the warlock worked at preparing the potion, Blaine focused his attention on the unconscious boy that was lying in front of him. The angry, black marks that were branching out around Kurt's chest seemed to be slowly growing before his eyes.
"What's happening?" Blaine asked as he watched it spread. "Is he going to be okay?"
"As long as we can prevent the venom from reaching his heart, he should be fine," Magnus explained, not looking up from his work.
A few more powders were dumped into the bowl before the warlock paused to snap and wave a hand over the concoction he had created, blue sparks left his fingertips and a swooshing sound followed the movement.
Magnus quickly peeled his rings off of his fingers before picking up the bowl and dropping on to his knees in front of the couch. Reaching into the bowl, he scooped some of the goopy substance into his hand and started to spread it over the ugly wound on Kurt's chest. As the substance made contact with the demon's mark, the goop gave off a ghostly glow.
"Alexander, can you grab the medical wraps and dressing from the bathroom? They should be in the bottom left side drawer," Magnus noted as he worked on the boy. Without a word, Alec jumped to his feet and ran off to get what his boyfriend had asked for.
"What about his father?" Blaine suddenly realized as Magnus was finishing up his task. "What are we going to tell him? I don't think he even knows that Kurt followed me out of his apartment."
Alec knocked three times on the door before taking a step back to wait. Looking back down the empty hallway he had just came down, he let out a tired sigh before hearing the door open and he quickly turned back to lock eyes with an older man wearing a brown baseball hat. An anxious look was in the mundane's eyes.
"Burt?"
The man blinked at him in surprise and scanned him up and down. "Yes?"
"I'm Alec Lightwood; Blaine's cousin. He's dating your son?"
Burt's eyes lit up at the information. "Kurt? Yes, do you know where he is? He and Blaine were both here just a little over an hour ago, but they have both disappeared. I've been trying to call Kurt but he won't answer his phone–"
"That's actually why I'm here," Alec interrupted the worried parent. "Kurt has been injured . . . Attacked–"
"What?! What happened? Is he okay?"
"He appears to have been attacked by a dog," Alec said, explaining the cover story him and Magnus had decided on. "He has a pretty serious scratch on his chest. Blaine brought Kurt to my boyfriend's apartment about an hour ago looking for help–"
"Your boyfriend's? If Kurt is hurt, he should be in a hospital."
"My boyfriend takes clients all the time. He heals people. Trust me, your son is in good hands with him," Alec said, trying to reassure the older man.
"Where is he?" Burt asked, his voice getting steadily higher. "Where is my son?"
Alec shifted his feet. "Look, if you let me in, I can leave the address of where he is with you, but it's getting late and Kurt is resting right now. You should probably wait until morning before going to see him."
"Wait until morning?" Burt stared back at him like he had grown a second head. "He is my son! You can't keep him from me."
"Hey, that is not what we are doing. We are trying to help," Alec calmly stated. "Magnus, my boyfriend, needs room to be able to work and help your son tonight. By morning, things should calm down enough at his apartment for you to come and see him." Burt sent the Shadowhunter an accusing look so he added, "I can leave you with Magnus' number as well as his address. That way you can call him to find out how Kurt is doing."
Burt sent him one last annoyed look before stepping aside to allow Alec into the apartment.
"I should be here when his father shows up," Blaine insisted as Magnus tried to shoo him out the door the next morning. "I witnessed the attack, and then just left with him without telling Burt where I was taking his son. I need to talk to him, and explain the situation–"
"You need to get to work," Magnus said, blocking the teen's attempts to step around him to approach the couch that Kurt was still lying passed out on. "I'm sure Burt appreciates the fact that you were there to help his son and to get him the proper care he needed."
Blaine paused in his attempt to dodge past the warlock and glanced around him at the still body that was lying in the living room. If it weren't for the steady rise and fall of the boy's chest, Blaine wouldn't have been able to tell the kid was still breathing.
The young Shadowhunter sighed in defeat. "Will you at least call me if anything changes? If he wakes up–"
"You will be the first person I notify."
"I've sent a request for us to move Valentine to the Gard in Idris. The Clave has approved of the transfer," Alec informed his gathered sister, parabatai, and cousin.
Izzy narrowed her eyes. "Why the transfer? Has something happened?"
Alec sighed. "Magnus has been acting depressed ever since he was switched with him a couple weeks ago. Being tortured by that agony rune has really affected him emotionally."
"Is Magnus okay?" Jace asked, his voice filled with concern.
Alec nodded slowly. "I'm going to be keeping an eye on him. Make sure he's doing okay but, in the meantime, I would prefer if Valentine were as far away as possible. Also, by moving him out of the city, it should help us completely restore our relations with the Downworld."
"Sounds like the right call," Blaine confirmed.
"Great." Alec sent the teen a small smile. "Izzy, you'll be leading the transfer mission. Jace, you will assist."
"Sure," Izzy said, nodding in agreement. "Um . . . Who are you going to get to create the portal to transfer Valentine?"
Alec hesitated for a moment. "I was thinking I would ask Magnus to do it."
"Really?" Blaine asked. "After everything you just said about wanting Valentine as far away from him as possible?"
"I think assisting with the transfer might help Magnus, actually," Alec defended. "Playing a part in sending the man that helped to hurt him to Alicante . . . Verifying were he will end up . . . I think it would create some closure for him."
"Alright," Izzy agreed before addressing Jace. "We will need to remove Valentine's Circle Rune. The new wards in Idris won't let him pass with it on. Would you like to do the honors?"
Jace smiled. "Thought you'd never ask."
Magnus laid the palm of his hand against the mundane's forehead and frowned at the clammy texture that met his skin.
Kurt's father, Burt, had stopped by not long after Blaine had left to check on his son. Seeing the boy's heavily bandaged chest, the man was rightfully furious and wanted to take his son to a hospital to get 'properly' looked after. Magnus had done his best to reassure the frightened parent that he was completely capable of dealing with the injury himself and that all Kurt needed now was to sleep, and with some convincing, Burt finally relented to letting the warlock care for him.
The boy had seemed a little warm when Burt had eventually left to head off to work, but as the morning started to drift into the afternoon the fever only appeared to be getting worse. A few clumps of wet hair were beginning to cling to the teen's forehead from perspiring.
With a wave of his hand, blue sparks shot out of the warlock's fingers to attempt and cool the boy down a little. Relieved when the fever came down a few degrees, Magnus retrieved the half empty cups of coffee that had been left on the side table from when the mundane had come to check on Kurt.
He had just turned the corner into the kitchen when a cry sounded from the other room. Dropping the mugs, the china shattered on the tiled floor. Leaving the destroyed cups to clean up latter, Magnus dashed back into the living room to find the injured teenager now thrashing around on the couch. His hands were clawing at the bandages that were wrapped around his injury.
Magnus slid to his knees in front of the boy and gently pried the boy's hands away from the dressings. "Kurt? Kurt, can you hear me?"
"It hurts," the boy cried, drawing out the second word in a moan.
"Okay . . . Okay, just try and hold still," Magnus advised and got to his feet so he was standing over the boy.
Spreading his feet apart for balance, Magnus raised his hands over Kurt and rotated his wrists as he hovered them up and down the boy's chest and abdomen. Instead of sparks, a blue mist floated out of warlock's hands and floated down onto the body. Kurt let out a groan as he continued to twitch uncomfortably.
"How is that?" Magnus asked, not letting up on the treatment. "Is it helping?"
Kurt seemed to be about to nod his head when his eyes suddenly snapped open and he let out another cry in agony.
Kurt felt the darkness starting to slip away. He tried to fight it. Burning spasms were racking up and down his chest, and the closer he came to consciousness, the sharper the pain seemed to become. He just wanted to remain asleep. Let whatever was causing the intense fire under his skin stay a dull ache for as long as possible, but his body had other ideas.
By now the pain was searing through his chest like a branding iron making it impossible to drift back into the darkness. The burning grew – rose and peaked and rose again until it surpassed anything he'd ever felt before.
He could feel the pulse behind the fire raging in his chest. He wanted to raise his hands and claw his chest open, get rid of whatever it was that was causing this torture but he couldn't feel his arms.
He must have screamed out at some point because someone was suddenly there kneeling over him. Whoever it was rested their hands gently over his that apparently had been scratching at his chest like he had imagined.
"Kurt?" A voice drifted through the agony that was coursing through the nerves in his brain. "Kurt, can you hear me?"
He recognized the voice but he couldn't place it through the scalding heat that was growing inside his body. It wasn't Blaine. He could tell that much. Where was Blaine?
He opened his eyes to try and determine who it was next to him, but his vision was hazy. He couldn't make anything out of the man's face.
"It hurts," Kurt cried, hoping whoever it was would be able to make the boiling pain go away.
"Okay," the voice spoke up again and Kurt sensed the man moving to stand up. "Okay, just try and hold still."
Kurt squeezed his eyes shut and clutched his fists against the pain, his nails digging into his flesh. After a moment, a tingling sensation ran over his exposed skin. It was like a cool breeze was blowing straight onto his chest but the air wasn't stopping on the surface. His skin was absorbing the icy chill, filling up his body and blanketing the burning fire that had been scalding him just seconds ago. He couldn't help but let out a low groan as his body continued to twitch from the sudden change in temperature.
"How is that?" The calming voice returned from somewhere above him. "Is it helping?"
Kurt was about to nod his head in relief when a new feeling danced across his upper chest. Something hot was raking down his upper chest, cutting him like a knife, and he let out another cry in pain.
The cool breeze stopped abruptly, and the bandages that had been wrapped around him were suddenly gone. Whoever was doctoring him let in a sharp intake of breath before dropping to his knees in front of the couch. The man spread his hands out on Kurt's now bare chest, which was followed by a heavier wave of magic entering him.
Slowly opening his eyes again, Kurt blinked up at the man that was hovering over him. His vision was still blurry and he couldn't make out must of the man's features, but through the haze he did notice that his hair was brushed up from the sides of his head and pulled into a short mohawk on his scalp . . . and his eyes . . .
Kurt squeezed his eyelids shut before opening them again to stare at the blurry figure beside him, but nothing had changed. Through the foggy shapes . . . yellow eyes were peering intensely down at him.