There are no days in Edom, no nights to be calculated. The fires burn every hour and never falter. The light is always dim and dark with a hum of uncomfortable heat.

Despite his seizing, despite the dark and the heat, the warlock voices no complaint. Lilith knows what he is feeling, knows what drinking her ichor is doing to him—Jonathan had expressed his thoughts noisily until she had forced silence upon him.

Magnus is not Jonathan, however. He is quiet and compliant. Sitting upright against the silk pillows, Magnus takes the spasms as they come, clenching his jaw against them, but never screaming or crying.

This one is stronger than her first, Lilith realises as she feeds him another glass of ichor, watching him drink until black runnels trail from the corners of his mouth. There is no fighting, no screaming or feeble crying. He is hungry for it like a babe for milk.

Still, Magnus sleeps somewhat regularly. Lilith understands how mundanes, even part mundanes like the warlock, value their schedules. She lets him sleep after every seizure. It is impressive that he is able to rest at all with the heat clinging to him and the ichor settling in his blood, racking him with shudders every few minutes. Jonathan barely slept the whole time he was in Edom.

The Queen of Edom stalks the crumbling walls of her castle, to which she had moved the warlock as soon as he was unconscious. She snarls at demons who venture too close, guarding her new child fiercely. His presence is drawing them in, the scent of mundane coming from him is familiar to the demons—familiar as their prey, but not as something found in their home. They come sniffing every so often and Lilith warns them away.

It goes like that until, when Lilith is hovering around the warlock as he sleeps, his body shaking in tremors and his skin slick with sweat, a new presence enters her home. She turns to meet it in the large entranceway, holds the golden cat's eyes steadily as they bore into her.

"Asmodeus," she says. "You sensed him."

The greater demon sniffs disapprovingly, his head high and insolent and Lilith cannot help but consider how closely he resembles the warlock he sired. "You're feeding him."

"Of course," Lilith replies, a slanted smile taking her lips, clicking her tongue when Asmodeus shakes his head in anger. "You never even considered such a thing, did you? You were content to let him retain his mother's blood, but she was weak and now she is dead."

"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Asmodeus snarls. "His power is unrivalled and now you have taken his humanity. He is a threat to us all. I am only alive now because his mundane blood gives him faulted emotions. Mercy… If you take that mundane blood away…"

Lilith casts him a sly smile, humming softly and wandering up to him. "You fear him."

Asmodeus meets her gaze levelly. "I know what he is capable of. You don't."

"He owes me," says Lilith. "I gave him life anew... You are nothing to him now. I am all he has."

Asmodeus startles a short laugh, but it comes mirthless and harsh. "He is not your son."

A shot of dark crimson engulfs Asmodeus and he is thrown onto his back, swallowing hard as Lilith comes to stand over him.

"I am his mother now," she growls, gesturing a manicured nail to him as she continues, "You... are nothing. You tried to make him strong by breaking his heart. I will empower him by tearing it out… You will have no impact on his life. If you come near him, I will destroy you."

Asmodeus glares up at her. "He is dangerous."

Lilith hums. "I know," she says, smiles. "You are right to fear him. After the hardships you put him through… well, I expect he will come for you as soon as I allow it." She leans close to him. "You will never rule Edom again. You will die in agony at the hands of your own blood, and he will come into his power."

"You can't do this," Asmodeus hisses. "The shadowhunter—"

"What shadowhunter?" Lilith growls, enraged by the mention of the Nephilim. "They cannot come here."

Asmodeus chuckles weakly. "There is a Lightwood," he says. "He is enamoured with my son, and Magnus with him. The boy will come for him. He will not stop until Magnus is taken from you and returned to the earthly plane." He huffs, pushes himself up when Lilith steps back a little. "Magnus will follow him. His love for the shadowhunter is stronger than his love for me or you, for anything else… You will lose him."

Lilith's mouth twitches in displeasure. "You go to earth and you tell the shadowhunter what has befallen his lover. You tell him and then you run. Magnus will come for you for his first kill as mine."

Asmodeus swallows hard. "You can't do this… You don't know what he's capable of."

"Oh, I intend to find out," says Lilith, a gaping hole opening in the floor, tinged blood red. "Run along now."

Asmodeus screams as it drags him down, desperate fingers clawing at the edge of the pit until it widens too much for him to hold and he is sucked down. His yell of anguish and rage echoes strangely up to Edom's ground until the pit snaps shut and swallows him down.

Lilith turns away in disgust, lip curled, but her expression settles when she sees him.

The boy is stood at a crumbling pillar that may have once been a doorway. He holds the stone with ring-adorned fingers, but the light that catches his jewellery is dull compared to that of the obsidian at his throat. It casts strangely when his mouth moves.

"Lilith…"

Black streaks spider-web upon the side of his neck. His eyes are golden and his pupils are slit like a cat's. There are gold sparks at his fingers, his magic taking a new hue to account for a new power. Lilith can still sense a hint of mundane inside, but it is buried deep beneath the ichor purifying his blood.

"Magnus," Lilith says as gently as she can. "You look much better."

"I feel… strange," says Magnus, lifts an absent hand to his throat, fingertips skimming the ridged lightning-crack of obsidian. "What is this…?"

Lilith hums and reaches to gently touch his neck. Magnus doesn't flinch. "An unfortunate side-effect from using the ichor to heal your wound… How is it now?"

Magnus purses his lips in reluctant consideration, but his hands come to unbutton the first few clasps of his shirt, pulls it down by one side of his collar to reveal his collarbone. The gash is the centre of the web, the epicentre of the spread. His skin is black crystal.

"I had to pull a few resources from the pit," admits Lilith, absently touches the filled-in wound. "Obsidian… It will protect you. Nothing can break it but heavenly fire."

"Heavenly fire," Magnus repeats curiously, not quite a question.

"Angelic energy, dear one."

Magnus nods slowly like he understands. "Thank you," he says suddenly, startling Lilith into meeting the golden cat's eyes. "I understand what you risked by helping me. I should have killed my father when I had the chance instead of simply banishing him back here… He will not be pleased with you."

"Your father is nothing to you now," says Lilith. "I know what he did to you. You talk sometimes when you sleep." The warlock turns his gaze away from her, brow furrowed at the wall. "There is nothing to fear, child. Asmodeus is gone. I have cast him to the Earth."

The golden eyes widen almost comically. "You did what?" he demands, magic sparking his fingers. Lilith watches calmly at his lack of control, pleased by her work. "This is exactly what I attempted to avoid by coming here! I don't want demons loose from this realm."

"To protect your friends," says Lilith. "I understand. I loved once. I know the lengths we will go to save our most beloved… Your shadowhunter… you care for him?"

Magnus blinks rapidly, his eyes taking a distant cloud. "I… Alec… His name is Alec."

There is a clacking sound from the arched entrance. Lilith looks to see an edomai creeping into the room. It crawls stiffly and unnaturally forward, turns a twisted head to Magnus, snarls loud and crackled. The warlock casts his magic out in a sudden rage, watching the lesser demon shriek and burn under his power, reducing it to ash in seconds. The fire lights the obsidian at his neck, casting it like lightning across his skin.

It flares a wild light in his eyes.

"Magnus," Lilith says, concealing her anger—and her shock—as much as she can. "That's not how we behave here. I understand you marvel at your new power, but your rage must be channelled appropriately. We must still maintain some degree of control."

Magnus growls inhumanly. "My blood is on fire," he snarls, slamming a shot of magic to some half-melted candles, sending them flying into the wall with such force that the wax breaks and shatters on impact. "It burns. I don't understand what's in my head. Forgive me if I'm a little irritable and I destroy a few of your repulsive demons."

"Do not speak to me like that," Lilith snaps, her own power flaring.

The crimson rush is cast aside by a careless sweep of Magnus's hand and a crater burns into the wall of her castle.

Magnus glares at her, darkness encasing his eyes, shining in the fire-light of Edom. "You can't hurt me," he says, flames dancing at his fingers. "I am in constant pain. I don't know what it means anymore. I don't even understand what I am!"

Lilith allows her expression to soften, casting her eyes down briefly to quash her anger. "Pain will purify you," she utters, reaching a hand to stroke a curved nail down his cheek. A slit of blood wells in the path of her nail, but Magnus doesn't flinch. "You are exquisite… You are my Prince of Edom…"

Magnus clenches his jaw. "What do you expect me to do here if I cannot hurt your demons? I want to go to earth, but I need to contain them."

"They obey you," says Lilith. "They must. Your power is unrivalled here now, with the combination of blood in your veins. You are their prince… They would line up to be slaughtered if you commanded it." She tilts his head. "But you won't. You have much more pressing concerns… on the earthly plane."

Magnus frowns. "I can never leave here. The rift will reopen."

"It won't matter. They will obey you, remember…? And, if they become antsy, I will remind them of who their prince is. I will keep the rift sealed for you if you desire it."

Shaking his head, the furrow of Magnus's brow simply deepens. "Why would you do that?"

"Because this is important," Lilith says. "Because you must kill your father. He is a threat to that world and to ours… Go to earth and do what you need to. Do not hesitate this time. Do not give him mercy."

Magnus breathes out slowly, looks down to his magic-engulfed hands. "Somehow I feel as though mercy is no longer an option I can consider."

Lilith lifts her chin, struggling not to let her pride overcome her too soon. It is everything she had hoped for. The pain means nothing to him, the power courses in his veins, the blood of the Queen of Edom and the usurper king means that there is no dispute. Magnus Bane is the ruler of this realm. However, she knows that the boy must still prove himself.

"Take your revenge," she orders, placing her fingers beneath his chin, tilting his head up to her, "and return to me. You will return immediately after the kill, will you not?"

Magnus nods shortly. "Yes."

"Yes… mother."

Magnus's eyes narrow, golden irises glinting in the firelight of Edom. He pulls his head away, a sliver of disapproval in his eyes, those foreign eyes. Lilith forces a smile.

"We can build up to it."