Chapter 20
Jace's POV
Alec looked at me, his finger pointed to my face, he opened his mouth and... vanished! "Alec?" I looked at the spot where he stood a second ago more than dumbfounded. "Alec!?" As crazy and stupid as it seems I ran through the living room shouting his name, the others only recognized now that something happened. I stopped in front of Catarina, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her, I admit it, too harsh. "Have you done that? Did you send him away by magic?! Where is he?!" They all looked to the spot where Alec got ready a few seconds ago, then back at me. "I have to tell you that we didn't do something..." Izzy interrupted Catarina with a deadly calm voice: "Did he just vanish? Like thin air?" I looked at her, letting go of Catarina's shoulders. "Yes, just like that." Izzy watched Clary for a second before answering. "I think Alec is part of Asmodeus' games. Do you remember? It looked like that as he transferred Jocelyn and Luke back to Idris."
The thoughts in my head showed me pictures of Alec getting slaughtered by hordes of demons, downworlders and mundanes and Asmodeus laughing over all of it. "We have to talk to Maryse. We have to get him out of there." I grabbed my jacket and stormed out of the door. "Jace!... Jace!... JACE! I can make a portal to go to the institute, that's faster!" I stopped on the way downstairs and turned around, Catarina stood in the door frame, her arms crossed over her chest. "Yes... you've got a point there..." She rolled her eyes and went back into Magnus' apartment mumbling something like 'dumbass'. I hate warlocks, always knowing everything better...
Magnus' POV
Alec looked at me with a shocked expression, then back to Ezekiel. "Wait... How long have you been in here?!" I always loved it when his alabaster like skin blushed into a pink and then a red color, but he lost a lot of his shyness over the time. Now... he looked like a tomato and I had to snicker, although I was slightly embarrassed, too. Ezekiel is just a kid after all and I hoped he didn't hear and see too much. "Not very long..." He sat back on his calves and picked out some of the tissues from the box, which hopefully didn't mean that he was here since I cleaned us up. "... but you were really loud and I was curious, cause the last time I brought you some books and reading isn't very loud. Normally it isn't loud but I don't know what you do with books instead of reading so maybe it will be very loud. But for that, the sounds which came out of here were too strange..." Like always Ezekiel was talking non stop and Alexander looked just like me the first time I met that little guy without an 'off-button'. I smiled at Alec who pulled up the blanket until it hit his chin, as if he was trying to hide and whispered in my direction: "Is he ever going to stop?" I just shook my head.
"... so I don't think you made a tower out of books just to destroy it afterwards. It sounded like you have had sex..." Alec, who had grabbed the glass from the bedside table and took a sip of water, choked on the liquid and coughed loudly. "What? I know what sex is. My mom explained recently that you do it to make more little warlocks. Are you getting a little warlock now?..." I patted Alecs back to stop his coughing fit and grabbed his underwear from the ground so he could get dressed under the blanket. Ezekiel stopped rambling a few seconds because he was chewing some of the food he brought for us as it seems. "Ezekiel, are you here for another reason than bring in food for us and eating it yourself instead?" Alec moved under the blanket to get in his boxers and Ezekiel held his flat, open hand under his chin and let a few half mushed blueberries fall out of his mouth and into his hand to hide them. "I'm not eating your food..." He had the decency to look guilty after all. "...I'm just here to bring you the food and control it, so no one gets to poison you. And to tell you that Aaron is on his way to bring the nephilim to his right room in the wing with the other candidates. He will be here in about fifteen minutes..." I left the bed after checking if the loincloth is hiding all the right places. "Fifteen minutes from now on or from before your rambling started ten minutes ago?"
Ezekiel looked like he had to think about it a few seconds, took a napkin from the tablet and put the blueberry mud into it, as if he never chewed it, although his now blue-purple fingers told another story. "From now on..." Alec pushed the blanket away and stood up too, on my side of the bed. He picked up some clothes from the floor and as he wanted to pull his shirt on, Ezekiel already stood in front him and poked Alexanders stamina rune on his hip, taking a close look with curious eyes. Alec jerked away from the touch the shirt still covering his eyes, he pulled it down covering his Adonis chest and looking down on Ezekiel while taking one step back and hitting the bedside table. "Hey! Don't poke me!" Ezekiel just followed Alec and reached out for some naked, marked skin again, Alec tried to avoid his touch by walking backwards through the room and pulling on clothes at the same time. It looked so damn cute, I didn't even waste one thought about helping him and just snickered. "What is this rune for? Do you really have them everywhere? Like on your feet? I can see you got them on your legs, your arms, your back... How do you draw them on your back? I can't even touch my whole back, my arms are too short to reach everything..."
Ezekiel stopped following Alec and tried to reach his back with his right hand and then with the left hand, his tongue poked out at the side of his lips in concentration and there it was... Alec (fully dressed again... a shame...) watched the kid and smiled while shaking his head. He had to be thinking about Max, for me kids always have been screaming and crying and cat abusing banshees like Clary had been, but Alexander was an older brother and saw the child's behavior with completely different eyes. He got down on his knees in front of the boy, now on the same eye level and took his hands. "I will answer your questions, when you answer mine, deal?" Ezekiel's eyes shined like diamonds and he bit his lower lip nodding for an answer. "You're very good in sneaking around, I think. How long have you been inside of this room invisible before we got to see you?" Ezekiel chewed his lip a second before giving it free and answering: "Just a few minutes. Really, I didn't spy on you!" "I believe you. You're very talented in sneaking around, like I said it. We nearly have them everywhere, that's why other nephilim help us to draw them, like on our backs. I can't do that alone either." I could see that Alec loved children, his complete demeanor showed it, but at the same time hurt flashed through his eyes. I thought about Catarina and felt the hurt flash through myself, I still couldn't ask him the most important question.
"Ezekiel, when Aaron will be here in a few minutes... is it possible to give me a little time alone with Alexander?" Ezekiel locked his green eyes with mine and nodded before he got invisible and I hope so, left. I closed the distance to Alec and kissed him without hesitation. I felt his hands gliding over my naked skin to my back and pulling me closer. My lips parted to grant his tongue the access it claimed and moaned at the contact, my hands found their way into his disheveled hair and I deepened the kiss. As we needed to breath, we leaned our foreheads together and Alexander said slightly out of breath: "There is so much we need to talk about..." I kissed his lips with a soft touch, instantly getting lost in the feeling, the tickling that lingered on my skin after every touch of Alec. I pecked him again. "I know..." And pecked his full, super soft lips again. "I'm not sure if I really want to hear the answer to that question... but I have to ask sometime..." I looked to the ground, avoiding Alexander's gaze, like I avoided to ask that question all the time. "... What happened to Catarina? Did she had to suffer?" Alec looked confused. "She is okay. She had a deep cut on her forehead and a concussion, but Tessa healed her..." "She's alive...?!" "Yes, for sure." I nearly cried out of joy She's alive! For Lilith's sake, she's alive... I smiled brightly just happy and thankful that this collector bastard had lied to me. I kissed Alec harder this time, pushing him back until his back hit a wall. Hope blazed up inside of me again. He gasped and I let my tongue past his lips and pressed my body into his, my hands found their way under his shirt and I melted as I heard his moans.
Somewhere in the depth of our mind we heard the door opening but we didn't stop kissing and touching each other until I felt the chain connect to my collar. "Don't make me pull you away from him on the chain. Keep a little bit of your pride." I broke the kiss and turned my head to glare at Aaron who stood at the door. "Mister Lightwood, I'm here to bring you over to your room." I really didn't understand it, why did my father let him bring over to me and then take him away again? Just to torture me? Had he been somewhere near and could feel that we had sex, cause I didn't want to give him his private show with some random guy or girl? I grabbed Alexander's hips harder under his shirt und subconsciously pressed my body closer to his. "Alexander..." I kissed him again, I didn't want to loose him again, I wanted to hold him forever, feel his skin arise to goosebumps under my fingers, like it did now. Then I was pulled back at my collar, feeling the burning acid on my skin again.
Alec's POV
I felt how Magnus was ripped out of my arms and saw him stumbling backwards grabbing his collar and his face contorted with pain. I saw red and stormed over to Aaron, my fist connected to his jaw the pain of the contact only made me angrier. I punched him again, but my next move, the knee directed to his stomach was blocked. Instead I punched his face again, but he just moved his left hand a bit and I got distracted by Magnus' scream. I let go of Aaron and could catch Magnus in the last moment before he sank down to the ground, his eyes squeezed shut, screaming in pain, his hands trying to rip off the collar which was surrounded by red sparks and his legs just giving up under him. "Magnus!" I held Magnus in my arms but he didn't realize it, he just fought against pain whose cause wasn't visible, writhing in my lap. I looked to Aaron. "Stop it!" He waited a few seconds more, then moved his wrist again as I smelt burnt flesh and saw the raw, blistered, red skin on Magnus' throat under the collar. The red sparks vanished and Magnus stopped screaming shortly before he got unconscious. I let my hand glide over his cheek even if he couldn't feel it.
Aaron stood beside us and watched me. "I will heal him when you promise to come with me without any more resistance." I nodded but didn't stop to caress the soft skin of the man that I loved so much. Aaron sat down beside us and laid one hand on Magnus' throat, he winced slightly but didn't wake up. The red sparks of the other warlock sank into Magnus' skin and the caramel color I used to love, came back slowly. His eyelids fluttered open a few minutes later and his beautiful gold green eyes locked with mine. "Hi honey." "Hi" He whispered back and leaned deeper into my hand. His keeper let the chain snap back to his wrist and leaned over. "Let us lay him down on the bed, he needs some rest." He wanted to pick Magnus up but I stopped him and took Magnus in my arms. In the point that he needed to rest Aaron was right, Magnus weakly wrapped his arms around my neck and could hardly stay awake. I laid him down on the bed and crawled his cheek again, I kissed him carefully and waited until his breath became slower, showing that he drifted off to sleep. "I love you." I whispered into his ear and kissed his cheek softly.
I nodded in Aaron's direction and stood up to follow him out of the room. It felt as if we were walking for hours, my mind always drifted back to Magnus and I hoped he really was okay. When we came to the wing with the other candidates, I felt as if they were watching or glaring angry at me as we passed the open common room. "Did something happen? They won their fights too, so why are they looking at me in that strange way?" Aaron didn't say anything he just grinned and walked ahead. Some of the candidates walked after us as if checking on which room was mine. The room I got wasn't very different from Magnus' and I just took a long shower before I went to bed and tried to sleep. I had to confess, I was sore and the shower felt good but didn't soothe my muscles enough. I liked it rough, but this time Magnus was angry and depressed, it wasn't like angry sex after an argument, but the good thing about it was that I literally could still feel him. It took a while to drift off to sleep but with very nice thoughts of Magnus in my mind.
Magnus' POV
"Hey sleeping beauty, wake up. Your father is waiting." I opened my eyes and flinched as I saw Aaron sitting on the bed. "Piss off." I pulled the blanket up and over my head to hide under it. "Go take a shower and hurry up, I hate waiting." Aaron threw the blanket on the ground and stood up in the same motion. I groaned loudly and turned around, my eyes still closed. "And what will you do when I won't get up? You're not allowed to kill me. You can burn my skin until I faint or use other magic torture, but that won't make me faster." Aaron grabbed my jaw in a grip of stone and turned my head around, making me look at him. I tried to loosen his fingers with mine but couldn't get between his fingers and my skin. "I could kill some slaves, start with Emerald, she's here to help you again. I'm not interested in you or them... I just want to do my job. No matter what it takes." With every word his fingers pressed harder into my flesh, it felt as if he could break my jaw with just one hand if he wanted to. He let go of me and looked to the door. "Emerald!" The door opened and the young woman entered the room. I realized just now that the chain to her collar laid loosely on the floor and got shorter again with every step she came closer, he didn't even disconnect it when she had to wait in front of the door. "Help him to take a quick shower and get him dressed."
I sat up in the bed, my hand on my chin and moving my jaw from side to side to check if it's okay. Emerald showed me how to get out of the loincloth but the collar stayed on my throat, even when I took the shower. I got a new loincloth, a golden colored one with green, filigree decorative forms and looked like an egypt slave again after the snake-bracelet found its way back onto my upper arm. I let my mind flow to the memory of blazing hope... that was only last night, when Alec told me that Catarina was still alive and healthy... that was when Alec was with him... and now it just disappeared again and fear took over. Today may be the day I will see him the last time for two years... I recognized just now, that I shut out the hope in being rescued from that destiny. "Emerald, how is it possible for our keeper to stay close to me, even when I'm aroused? Is he so self-possessed that he can stand it?" Emerald smiled insecure and said: "No. It's very hard for me to control myself in your near, only the fear is bigger. But your father is a prince of hell, the demon of lust, he needs people around who can't be influenced by that. Aaron is an eunuch, he knows how to arouse someone, but not how to be pleasured. And our master has the opportunity to control a weak spirit, corrupt it or steal thoughts of lust out of it..."
Emerald stopped in her tracks as a heavy knock on the door echoed through the bedroom. "What the hell takes you so long!?" She laid the hairbrush away and opened the door. "We are ready." I felt the chain connect to my collar and followed this poor guy to my father, lost in my thoughts. I nearly ran into his back and recognized that we were in a large room, looking like a living room in some kind of way. My father sat on a couch and took the end of the chain Aaron gave him. "How was your late evening, after the first game?" He grinned like a Cheshire cat and played with the thin chain. "You know exactly how my time with Alexander went, don't you?" He pointed to a chair left to me. "Take a seat." I looked to the chair and back to him without moving. "That wasn't an offer you can decline." I sat down and looked to the window on the other end of the room. Outside were trees with green leaves, colorful flowers and the sun was shining, it was beautiful and peaceful. The room was all white like everything here, like we were in heaven... I almost laughed at that thought, if my father was maybe a little homesick?
A projection appeared in front of me, like in the arena yesterday, but it showed Alec and me and our actions from last night. I gulped audibly, my hands fisted the material of my loincloth over my knees. "Yes. I know exactly what you did when you were together with your little nephilim... although 'little' is the wrong word for him. I could see why you chose him, he's very attractive and he really was blessed..." "Stop it! Stop talking about Alexander like that and stop showing me this!" I felt the tension in my whole body, my muscles quivering under the attempt to not attack that bastard. Asmodeus snickered and pointed to the projection. "I'm not the only one who saw that. I don't know if the other candidates will be more impressed of your nephilim or if they lost some respect, because he was thoroughly fucked like a cheap whore and by a warlock. The sounds he made... ohhh..." My father closed his eyes at that, leaning back and licking his lips. I couldn't stand it anymore, I shot up and jumped onto his lap, my fist connected to his jaw over and over again. I felt the lower half of his face get slippery from blood and heard his laughter, he didn't do something, he just laughed between my punches, his skin cracked again, more blood flowed and he laughed.
I was yanked back and away from my father. I never really felt the strong arm wrapped around my shoulders and stomach. I was pushed into the chair and held down by magic. My father grinned in my direction, the blood gave his needle like teeth a strange color, he looked like an animal which had eaten its prey a second ago. Blood ran down his lips, chin and throat. He shook his head in a fast motion and everything was gone... the blood, the wounds, the stains on his shirt, as if nothing had happened. "I hate you so damn much! I hate you!" I tried to attack him again but couldn't move. "Slow down, tiger. I needed that little porn movie to show off the price. The others should know what they are fighting for. And the sexual tension yesterday..." My father took in a deep breath with closed eyes and quivering lips as if he had an orgasm in just that moment. "...it was overwhelming." He looked over to me again. "You don't know how many guards I needed to hold them back in the guest wing. They still were a little raged when the Lightwood boy went over there." I'm sure my eyes showed the fear I felt. "Don't worry. I protected his room heavily. There wouldn't be any fun today when he would have been killed in his sleep last night."
I saw a glass with an amber colored liquid and ice cubes standing on the small table next to the chair and tried to reach it. My father saw it and let the spell go so I could reach it. I downed the liquid in one big gulp and felt the burn in my throat, Whiskey. I grabbed the crystal decanter and filled the glass again to down the liquid a few seconds later. "Wonderful. Now you drank something, go and get something to eat and after that someone will bring you into the arena for the next game. I don't want you to collapse because of hunger, I was told you didn't eat a lot. Have fun."
I was pushed into another room, something like a dining room and ate some pancakes with chocolate syrup, they just reminded me of Alec, but they didn't taste so good like the ones he made for me. After my breakfast two guys brought me into the garden as it seemed. Everything became a little blurry and somehow the men had to take more of my weight than my own legs, they nearly carried me. "What... I'm not... I'm not feeling well..." I panted and felt sweat forming on my forehead. What wuas wrong with me? And how fucking large was this garden? The guys said nothing, they just heaved me up over two white steps and sat me down on a bench which stood on stone tiled elevation and then left. I tried to grab their arms again and nearly fell off the bench, I felt like I was drunk or ill, my skin tingled and I just couldn't breath good enough. "Wait!... Don't leave... Don't leave me..." I took a look around and just saw green, then I heard my father's voice and saw a projection of him, sitting in his throne, above me in the blue sky. "Welcome back today! I hope you all had a refreshing night and enjoyed our entertainment program as much as I did! The task today is somehow relaxing in comparison with yesterday. All you have to do is... find the neko and steal a kiss. I'm sure you can smell him! Feel the thick cloud of arousal that surrounds him, like last night! Five of you will go the next round, so do your best and remember, he can run, but he can't hide! Let's start!"
Fuck... What?! That's why I'm so dizzy, that motherfucker gave me an aphrodisiac! I took another look around and tried to concentrate on my surroundings instead of my body. Everywhere were hedges much too high to overlook them... this was a damn maze! I stood up from the bench and wobbled over to the next hedge leaning against it for support. I had to find him, kiss him, he had to get to the next round. "Alexander... I will find you..."
