Hello! As promised, here's the new chapter. I really, really hope you like it! It's cheesy and maybe a bit cliche, but I don't care lol. Sometimes we need a bit of that in our lives. Anyway, please read the notes at the end because there are some questions regarding this chapter that I'll answer there.
Enjoy!
Chapter 11
Magnus followed Alec outside. He had seen the boy's face before he stormed out of the cave, and Magnus feared the worst. He didn't know how long Alec had stayed alone with Camille, but the chances that the Sea Witch had revealed something about the treasure were high. She knew a lot about it. Sea Witches always knew whatever happened in the sea. They never shared it, but that didn't mean they had no idea.
Magnus sighed. That had been the exact reason why he had asked Alec to stay behind. It was safer for everyone, but no, that stubborn man couldn't follow one order. One. Magnus liked him, but when he acted like a spoiled child, he really wanted to strangle him.
The exterior of the cave was deserted except for Raphael, who was lying on one of the longboats with his eyes closed as if he were asleep, but Magnus knew he wasn't.
"Did you see where he went?" Magnus asked.
"Who?" Raphael inquired, raising his head.
"Alexander."
"He got away again?" Raphael rolled his eyes. "Dios mio! I swear that boy will be the death of us all. He's reckless and foolish. Tonight I almost froze to death because he decided to steal one of the longboats! You owe me big time, Bane."
"Did he do it on his own?" Magnus asked.
"What?"
"Steal the boat."
"As far as I know." Raphael shrugged. "The men were resting while we waited, I guess he seized the opportunity to slip away. But we have to be careful, that behavior could be dangerous. He doesn't think too much before acting."
"Tell me about it." Magnus said, looking around. Alec was nowhere in sight. "I left Ragnor alone with Camille, could you go with him while l look for Alexander? I don't trust that Witch, but I have to find him...this place is full of traps, it's not safe."
"You know? Maybe if you let him fall into one, he'd learn to stop being so stupid." Raphael murmured, entering the cave and quickly disappearing from view.
Magnus sighed and walked to the side of the cave. The island was very, very small, so there weren't many places for Alec to hide, the problem was that it was already dark. The sun had set a few minutes ago and the only source of light came from the moon.
Magnus walked and walked, circling the cave until he found him. Alec was standing on a rock formation, throwing sticks, rocks and anything within his reach to the sea. He looked frustrated.
"You know? Poseidon is very sensitive. If I were you, I'd stop throwing things at his sea. It's not very polite." Magnus said.
Alec huffed, ignoring him and throwing a huge rock instead, making it splash hard against the dark surface of the water.
"You okay?" Magnus asked.
"Yes." Alec said, not even looking at him and just picking up some more rocks.
"You don't look okay." Magnus pointed out.
"I'm fine." Alec said, throwing more rocks. "Go back to her, I just need some air, that place stinks."
Magnus ignored Alec's request and instead of going back to the cave, he approached him and stood next to him. The rock was big enough for both of them.
"Why are you so mad?" Magnus asked casually. It was clear that something was eating him, but he didn't know what it was. To this point he was almost confident that it had nothing to do with the treasure because Alec was still there. He wouldn't have stayed if he had learned the truth, of that Magnus was certain.
"I'm not mad."
"Yes you are, darling. And I don't know why, but I get the feeling that you're mad at me, although I have no idea why. I've done nothing wrong. In fact, now that I think about it, I should be the one mad at you. You disobeyed my orders and that, Alexander, is called insurrection. If I weren't as kind as I am, you'd be dead already. Not many captains allow this kind of misbehavior to go unnoticed. Any other would have made you walk the plank or shot you right here." Magnus said, putting his finger between Alec's eyes.
Alec just rolled his eyes. It was clear he was not in the mood.
"What's wrong, Alexander?" Magnus asked again.
Alec remained silent. He had his eyes fixed on the sea and was fidgeting with his hands. He had run out of rocks.
"Are you going to force me to ask again?"
"You're hiding things from me." Alec finally said. "She told me."
Magnus rolled his eyes. Of course she had told him. "Didn't I tell you that she was very manipulative? That's why I asked you to stay behind, she's an expert when it comes to playing with people's minds."
"She seems to know you very well, I think you forgot to share that you two had been...lovers." Alec said, in a tone that Magnus hadn't heard before, but that made his heart beat faster.
Was he...jealous?
Suddenly, Alec's behavior made a lot more sense and Magnus felt something strange igniting inside him. Could this really mean what he thought it meant? And if so, should he take the chance? It seemed that Magnus's brain and heart were on a declared war. The Danube or Alec, Alec or the Danube. He couldn't have one without losing the other. Ultimately, he stopped thinking too much about it and just did what he thought was the best.
"Well, my apologies, Alexander, it must have slipped my mind. She was part of my life, yes, but it happened a long time ago. And just so you know, nobody knows me better than you at this point. You discovered all my secrets with your little game the other day." Magnus said, expecting some sort of reaction from Alec, but the boy was still ignoring him.
"You don't believe me, do you?"
Alec finally looked away from the sea and locked eyes with Magnus. The answer was there: no.
"I'm not lying...haven't I proven myself to be a terrible liar?"
Alec let out the ghost of a smile.
"Really, Alexander. Nobody knows me better than you do. I've told you things I've never told anyone before."
"Why?"
Magnus sighed. Could this man be any more oblivious? He had been flirting and pouring his heart out for weeks and this man still couldn't see it. "Because I like you, you idiot."
"You-you like me?"
"Of course I like you. Why else would I have agreed to share so much with you? I'm very protective of my life. The day you proposed that game I knew I was going to lose; I knew you'd learn things about me that I hadn't shared with anyone, but I didn't mind because I wanted you to know them. I wanted you to get to know me. And maybe this is a wild guess, but I want to believe that the source of your anger resides in the fact that you're jealous of Camille, and if I'm right, then that's because you like me too, so having this conversation seems a bit pointless. We could end it right now and skip to the part where we kiss." Magnus said. He knew he was probably making the biggest mistake of his life, but he couldn't care less.
"I'm-I'm not jealous of Camille." Alec said, although Magnus could see he was lying. "But you're right, I-I like you too."
Magnus instead of wasting any more time with overused words, leaned over and kissed Alec. The effect was immediate. He knew it, he had known it for some time now. Alec was special—more special than anyone had ever been.
"See?" Magnus said, a little out of breath. "That's better." He added, leaning again and this time practically devouring Alec.
o-o-o-o-o
Alec was an excellent swimmer and therefore he had never experienced what drowning felt like, but now that he was kissing Magnus, he supposed that the feeling was somehow similar. Kissing someone was like drowning yourself in the sea of someone else's soul. It was an unnerving feeling, but yet the best experience he had had so far.
Kissing Magnus was the best.
The pirate tasted like rum, sea water and Magnus, a lethal mix to which Alec was already addicted. He had his arms around Magnus's waist, pulling the pirate as close as he physically could. He had never wanted anything in his life as he wanted Magnus. He had tried to put aside the things this man made him feel, but it had been impossible. In the past days, the pirate had slowly stolen his heart and now that he knew he wasn't alone in this madness, he didn't want to let go.
"Oh, Alexander." Magnus said, letting out a groan from the back of his throat. That sound had an immediate effect on Alec, but he decided not think too much about it.
In fact, he didn't want to think too much about anything right now. He just wanted to keep kissing Magnus until his lips hurt, so he did. He kissed him, and kissed him, and kissed him.
He had never kissed anyone before, but he doubted that any kiss in the world could top what kissing Magnus felt like.
"Seriously?" A voice said, making them jump scared. "Couldn't you wait until we were back on the ship?"
It was Raphael.
"What do you want?" Magnus asked. "Didn't I ask you to go with Ragnor?"
"Aye, and I was there, but the potion is ready. So unless you want us to stay for the night, we should leave...pronto."
"Oh."
"Yeah, oh...now hurry, okay? She doesn't want to give us the potion; she says you asked for it, so you're the only one who can claim it."
Magnus nodded. "Okay, give us some minutes."
"Sabes que esto va a ser un inconveniente, ¿verdad?" Raphael said.
Alec didn't understand that last part, his Spanish was bad, but he didn't exactly care. Magnus didn't seem upset or anything.
"I know." Magnus said. "Thank you, Raphael. We'll be there in a minute."
Raphael walked away. Alec heard him muttering something else, but he couldn't make sense of it; his attention was back on Magnus and Magnus only.
"Well, I guess we have to go back." Magnus shrugged. "You heard him, it's time to go."
Alec just nodded; he didn't know what else to say or do. What had happened between them a few minutes ago could make things awkward between them. Alec had so many questions and yet he didn't dare to ask because, what if he had misunderstood Magnus's intentions? What if he was imagining something that wasn't there? Yeah, Magnus had said that he liked him, but...how much? And, what did that really mean?
"Come here." Magnus said, pulling him for another kiss and stopping Alec's internal freak-out monologue. "I have to confess that, of all the things I have discovered about you since we met, Alexander, this is by far my favorite. You're an excellent kisser."
Alec smiled, blushing at the speed of light, but the sudden compliment gave him some confidence to speak his mind, so he did. "What does this make us? Some sort of lovers? A couple?"
Magnus smiled. "All of the above, I hope. But I like partners in crime better."
Alec chuckled, ducking his head to hide his flushed cheeks.
"Come," Magnus said, grabbing Alec's hand, "let's get out of here."
Alec followed Magnus without complaint. He felt like walking on water and he just couldn't stop smiling. His mood had changed so abruptly that he was still a bit disoriented.
They entered the cave and Magnus released his hand.
"I have your potion, darling." Camille said, quickly approaching Magnus, as if to claim him. And even though Alec had lied when he had admitted not being jealous of Camille, he didn't feel like he had felt half an hour ago. His vision was no longer red, and that feeling of wanting to kill her was gone. He was now immune to Camille.
"I heard." Magnus said, taking the tiny glass bottle that Camille had in her hands.
"You know what to do with this, so just pour the mixture on a map and follow the trail. But be careful, it won't last forever, so use it only when you're ready to face him." Camille said. "I shouldn't be telling you this, but if you really want to beat Valentine Morgenstern, you need a bigger crew. You better than anyone know that for you to get what you want, you'll have to make some sacrifices."
Magnus didn't respond and just walked to the exit of the cave with Ragnor and Raphael following right behind him. "Good riddance, Camille." He said, walking away.
Alec had been so immersed in his own thoughts about how fast his feelings had changed that he had virtually stayed behind. So he shook his head and turned to follow them, but Camille stopped him before he could take a step.
"Wait!" She said, pulling him from his arm. "I have something for you." She added, handing Alec what looked like a folded piece of paper or maybe some kind of map.
"I don't want anything from you."
"But you do want this, trust me." She insisted, trying to put the piece of paper in Alec's hand.
"No, thank you." He said, quickly.
"Don't be stubborn, boy, consider this a gift from me."
"I don't want any gifts from you. Thank you."
"Dear, if you were half as intelligent as you seem to be, you wouldn't reject this. Have you heard what happens to those who reject a gift from a Sea Witch?"
Alec shook his head. "Why do you want to give me a gift?"
"That's my problem, now accept this and don't tell anyone about it."
Alec frowned, but accepted the paper, placing it inside his coat. He didn't know what happened to those who rejected a gift from a Sea Witch, but he didn't want to find out. He could always just burn whatever she had given him later.
"When you know everything there is to know, don't forget who helped you." She warned him, smiling a wicked smile.
Alec frowned, but just walked away, almost crashing against Magnus. Apparently, the pirate had noticed his absence and had returned for him.
"What took you so long? I thought you were behind me." Magnus said.
"I was, but she stopped me."
"What for?" The pirate asked alarmed.
Alec thought about telling him what had happened between them, about the gift she had given him, but for some reason he didn't. "To warn me about the same she had told me before, but don't worry, I didn't let her get into my head this time."
Magnus just gave Alec a smile and grabbed his hand. "Raphael and Ragnor took one of the longboats already, so whether you like it or not, you're stuck with me."
"Good." Alec said with a smile.
He was more than okay with being left alone with Magnus. In fact, he had already thought of that possibility. He had brought another boat when he had come to the island, so it was obvious they would have to split to take them both back to the Avenger.
"We have to hurry, the tide is rising a bit. Maybe you did offend Poseidon."
"You're joking, right?"
"Of course, I'm joking, Alexander." Magnus laughed. "Though I didn't lie when I said he was very sensitive. He is."
Alec rolled his eyes and climbed the boat, taking the oars immediately. Magnus hadn't moved from where he was standing.
"What?"
"Nothing," Magnus smiled. "I was just admiring you. You are a beautiful sight."
"Oh, shut up!" Alec exclaimed, turning red as a tomato. "Didn't you say we had to hurry? I want to leave this island as soon as possible."
"Always so bossy." Magnus said, taking the other pair of oars and joining Alec. "But your wish is my command, my love."
o-o-o-o-o
Magnus and Alec reached the Avenger after some time. Ragnor apparently had already instructed the men about their new destination because they were moving around, preparing the ship to sail again. They were going back to the Spiral to get more crew, following Camille's last advice. It was not that they trusted her, she was the last person they would trust, but having more men among them before facing Valentine didn't sound like a bad idea after all.
"Come with me?" Magnus suggested, looking at Alec. The boy nodded and followed him to the helm.
"You know how to move it, don't you?" Magnus questioned. Alec nodded nervously. "Then do me a favor and get us out of here while I go get something from my quarters real quick, okay?"
"You want me to...?"
"You can't?"
"No, of course I can, but-"
"What?" Magnus questioned. "Didn't you say that one day you wanted to be a captain? For that to happen you have to practice."
Alec nodded nervously, but didn't hesitate to take the helm. Magnus just observed him and smiled. "I'll be right back, okay?"
Magnus walked to his cabin and rummaged among the possessions he had until he found what he was looking for—a quill and a scroll. The scroll was a bit battered, but it didn't matter...it would work anyway.
He walked out of the room and joined Alec. The boy had managed to turn the ship in one single movement. Now they were heading north, away from Camille's cave.
"Looks like you're a natural." Magnus said, standing on his tiptoes behind Alec and breathing down his neck.
"I-I love this." Alec confessed.
"Of course you do, darling." Magnus agreed. "Now here, take this." He said, handing him the quill.
Alec looked at it with confusion, but Magnus didn't waste any time and just opened the scroll in front of them, revealing a small map of the world.
"What's this for?"
"You'll know in just a second," Magnus said, taking Alec's hand and guiding it to a point in the middle of the Atlantic. "Put an X in there for me." He instructed him.
"What's in there?" Alec asked curiously.
"Our next heading." Magnus said simply.
Alec turned his head in confusion. His beautiful eyes were shining like two stars of the night. "The Spiral!?"
Magnus nodded. "This map is for you. Now you know how to get there."
"Magnus I…" Alec said, he was smiling broadly. Magnus had once shared with him what it meant to share the location of the Spiral Labyrinth. It was an act of infinite trust.
"Shhh, you don't have to say anything...I know." Magnus said. "Now, take us there, Alexander."
Alec nodded enthusiastically, looking quickly toward the stars to guide himself. After a few minutes the ship was on its way, moving smoothly across the water.
"Now all we have to do is keep it steady." Magnus said, shouting instructions to the men so that the ship followed its course and arrived in one piece to the Spiral.
"Ragnor!" He shouted again, calling his First Mate. The pirate was there within seconds. "Take over the helm for me, please."
Ragnor nodded, immediately taking over and standing behind the helm.
"And you." Magnus added, pointing at Alec. "Follow me."
They walked together to Magnus's cabin, and Magnus closed the door behind them.
"What are you orders, captain?" Alec joked.
Magnus loved this side of Alec. He had seen it once or twice in the last couple of weeks and he loved it.
"Well, sailor, I have a very special task for you. The Spiral is two days away, so you'll have all this time to show me all the things you can do with that mouth of yours."
"Is that so?"
"Aye, are you up to the task, sailor?"
Alec smiled a big smile. "Aye, aye, captain." He said, leaning over to start fulfilling his task.
"See?" Magnus said. "It wasn't that hard to follow an order."
Alec rolled his eyes, and Magnus burst out laughing. Whatever happen in the future was not on his mind at that moment. He had some days—maybe one week—to come up with a new plan to avoid losing Alec and the Danube. But until then, he was just going to enjoy whatever this was and forget about all the things that could go wrong because there was a lot that could go wrong. Not only his ship and Alec's brother's life were at risk, but now their own hearts as well.
And those, Magnus thought, weren't worth losing them for anything in the world.
So it finally happened! About time, don't you think? I hope you liked it! Raphael's line in Spanish says: "You know this is going to be inconvenient, right?" (Thanks to Gabs on tumblr for the help with that one).
Anyway, now, back to the questions I promised to answer. Is that piece of paper what you think it is? Is he going to find out the truth about the treasure? Am I going to break your hearts after only one chapter?
Yes, that paper is exactly what you think it is. Also yes, he's going to find out at some point. Were you really expecting any different? And finally, no. I'm not going to break your hearts so soon, so breathe and enjoy all the Malec!
See you on Friday!
