Hey everyone! This story is coming to a close (sad face!) but I reckon there are one or two more chapters left to write! I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint! I got a couple chills typing it up ;) As always, thank you for following me and leaving reviews! My first story experience on this site has been incredible thanks to you guys! I'd love love love more reviews; they get me through the day! Happy reading!

Alec tossed and trembled in his fever-ridden slumber. In between his murmurings of indistinct words I caught the soft call of my name. I gingerly dabbed the skin of his bloodied chest with a wet cloth, my eyes never leaving his face. A collage of dark bruises now covered his entire torso, slashed here and there by cuts and stab wounds. I grabbed a fresh cloth and pressed the cool, damp material to my parabatai's forehead. Alec sighed softly.

"Talk to me, Magnus."

The warlock looked up as he finished cutting open the legs of Alec's pants. "I don't even know where to start."

I grimaced as I looked at Alec's bare leg; the flesh from his knee down was dark purple and swollen, bent at an awkward angle. Magnus shrugged off his jacket, letting the leather fall to the floor, and placed his palm over Alec's shin, making my parabatai flinch.

"There's a break and internal bleeding here." Magnus straightened and rubbed a hand over his face, sighing heavily.

"What's wrong?" I asked, alarmed.

"The bone has already started to set, but not in the right position." Magnus looked at me, his eyes hard. "I'm going to have to re-break it before I can heal it properly."

"So?" I said, perplexed by his melodramatics. "Just keep him out cold and do what you need to do."

"Jace," Magnus hissed, "you don't understand. I cannot concentrate on keeping Alec comatose and re-breaking his leg and healing him at the same time. I need to do this properly. And even if I did manage to do all those things at once without passing out, there's no way I'd have enough energy left to tend to the demon blood poisoning afterwards."

"Then we don't have a choice, do we?" I muttered, more to myself than to Magnus. "What do you need me to do?"

"You're going to have to hold him down. The intensity of the pain is going to wake him up instantly. Just keep him still so I can heal his leg faster."

I removed the cloth from Alec's forehead and tossed it onto the vacant infirmary bed beside us. I scratched my head, debating which position would give me the best grip without hurting him.

"It's probably best if you just get on top of him," Magnus instructed, answering my unasked question.

"What?" Heat flooded into my cheeks, despite the warlock's casual tone.

Glowering at me, Magnus raised his hand and I felt my feet lift from the floor. I hovered above Alec's bed, bending my knees when told to do so. Magnus set me down gently with my legs straddling my parabatai's hips. My embarrassment ebbed as I stared down at Alec's face, twitching and damp with sweat. I kept my body raised and my weight balanced on my knees, awaiting further instruction.

"Scoot back so you're sitting on his thighs and hold his shoulders down."

"What about the stab wound in his thigh?"

"That will be the least of his worries. Are you ready?"

I slid back and repositioned myself, pushing Alec's shoulder into the mattress with my right hand and pressing my left hand into his pectoral to avoid touching the wound hidden under the bloodstained gauze pad. The fever-induced heat of Alec's skin burned my palms. I took a deep breath and exhaled, collecting myself.

"Okay."

"Keep him still."

There was a moment of silence before the sharp crack sounded behind me. Alec's eyes flew open and his chest arched under my hands, an ear-splitting scream bringing tears to my eyes. He panted heavily and thrashed underneath me. His movements, though still weak, were stronger than I had anticipated. I pressed more of my weight onto him to hold him down.

"Alec," I said softly, "it's okay."

"Just kill me," Alec whimpered. "Please, just kill me."

I leaned forward and pressed my forehead gently against his. "I'm not going to let you die."

Alec's hand lifted to grasp my arm, his unfocused blue eyes gazing into mine. "Jace?"

"I'm here."

A pain-filled tear slipped from Alec's eye and followed the path of the cut spreading down the side of his face. He blinked rapidly. "You're not real."

"Yes I am," I insisted. "You're not hallucinating, Alec. You're home now. I'm here for you, and so is Magnus."

At the mention of the warlock's name, Alec's eyes widened and he dug his nails into my arm. "Please don't let him touch me, Jace."

I straightened, still pinning Alec down, as Magnus appeared beside us. The hurt in his tired eyes was unmistakable. The warlock reached out to touch Alec's cheek, but pulled his hand back when Alec flinched away from him, his eyes filled with terror.

"Get away from me," Alec said weakly, pleading.

Magnus reached out again without saying a word. Alec's body went limp again as the warlock's fingers pressed against his forehead. I carefully slid off the bed and rested my hand on Magnus's shoulder.

"He's not himself," I reminded him sympathetically.

Magnus shrugged my hand off. "It doesn't matter.

"Alec loves you." My voice was firm. "Demon blood isn't going to change that."

"We'll see." Magnus set to work on the puncture wounds at Alec's elbow and neck.

My jaw set and my hands clenched, I hurried to the other side of Alec's bed and glared at the warlock, willing him to look at me. The daggers I was shooting out of my eyes didn't even faze him.

"What are you saying, Bane?"

Magnus kept his eyes trained on Alec, the blue sparks from his fingers radiating under my parabatai's pale skin. "I should leave him, Jace."

My face fell, taken aback. "What are you talking about?"

Magnus looked at me through the tops of his eyes, his magic still at work. "There is a chance that Alec is going to die in this bed. I don't know if I can fix the all damage in time to save him. Let's say he lives, though. You saw the way he looked at me just now. Alec is petrified of me-"

"Because of his hallucinations," I interjected.

"Yes, because of the demon blood. That's not my point. The damage to Alec's mental state is substantial. He may eventually overcome this fear of me, but from that point on, whenever he looks at me, all he'll be able to associate me with is the time Sebastian spent torturing him. His suffering will never end as long as I'm near him."

"You don't know that. Your faith in Alec is shaken. He's more resilient than you think. You're his saving grace, Magnus, not his torment."

"Is this the same resilience he carried after I dumped him?" Magnus scoffed. "Give it a rest, Jace."

I kept my voice calm against the tidal wave of fury inside me. "You're just scared, Magnus. You're afraid of losing him."

Magnus was silent for a moment. "I walked away from him without a backward glance, but to have him ripped from me..."

I watched the slight rise and fall of Alec's chest. "Why don't you just block his memory, like you did with Clary?"

"I would never!" Magnus growled, as if offended by my suggestion. "Not without his consent."

"Why not?"

"His memories are not mine to take." The warlock's eyes caressed Alec's face. "Besides, I know how it feels when someone secretly tries to take something of yours that is not his or hers to take. Alec would never forgive me if he found out, and I would never forgive myself."

I started to say more but the words died in my throat as my mouth suddenly went dry. I stared harder at Alec's chest, my heart racing.

"Magnus-"

"I'm not putting a block in his mind, Jace. Just drop it."

"Magnus!" I yelled impatiently. "I don't think Alec is breathing!"

The warlock's head snapped up. "What?"

"His chest isn't moving."

Magnus pressed his fingers against Alec's wrist, his eyes panicked as he searched for a pulse. A searing pain suddenly burst through my chest. I cried out and fell forward, barely catching myself on shaky arms before I could collapse on top of Alec. It felt like a clawed hand was squeezing and pulling at my heart and lungs. Dry heaves wracked my body as my parabatai rune began to scorch my skin. I could feel blood seeping into my gear.

"Magnus-" I gritted my teeth against the agony, my fingers clenching around fistfuls of bed sheets.

"His heart stopped."

Magnus placed his hand over Alec's chest and zapped him with a jolt of blue electricity. Alec's body arched, but remained motionless after. I groaned, the pain stinging my eyes with tears. Magnus jolted my parabatai again, all the blood rushing from his face when Alec was still unresponsive. The warlock stepped back, breathing heavily, his hands in his hair.

"Magnus," I begged, still hunched over, "save him. Please."

Magnus looked at me, frightened and lost. When his yellow eyes fell again on Alec's face, a look of clarity and determination passed over him. He stepped up to the bed and placed his hands, one on top of the other, onto Alec's chest. Magnus rhythmically began pushing down, flashes of blue appearing with each compression. With lightning speed, he reached over, tilted Alec's head back and pinched his nostrils before covering Alec's lips with his own, breathing into him.

I curled my fingers around Alec's still-warm hand, praying soundlessly as the pain continued to rip my insides to shreds. Magnus repeated the process over and over, a constant sapphire light emanating from his hands as his compressions became more frantic. He breathed into Alec again.

"Come on." He started the compressions once more. "Come on!"

Alec. I clenched my parabatai's hand tighter. Don't leave me. Please, Alec. Don't let go.

Magnus pulled his mouth away from Alec's and studied him. Tears streamed from his furious blazing eyes. He raised his hand and a crackling ball of blue light began to form in his palm.

"Alexander Gideon Lightwood," he shouted through gritted teeth, "you get your ass back here now!"

The warlock slammed the ball of light into Alec's chest. Ripples of silver-blue glimmers spread from Alec's center to the rest of his body as his back arched up off the bed. His eyes tore open and he sucked in a long gasp of air, jackknifing himself into a sitting position.

The pain in my chest ceased as suddenly as if someone had snapped their fingers. I took a minute to catch my breath as the shock left my body trembling. Alec was still sitting up, staring at his feet, traumatized. His breathing was ragged, but he was alive.

The overwhelming relief almost sent me crumbling to the floor. Instead I wrapped my arms around my parabatai, holding his head against my shoulder and breathing in his scent. My own tears dripped down the naked skin on his back, snaking paths down to the blistering scorch marks that disfigured his flesh.

"Jace," Alec sobbed softly, tremors returning to his body as his arms closed around me.

"Don't you ever do that again," I said, my voice breaking.

"Jace," Alec repeated, as if he still couldn't believe I was there holding him.

I stroked his hair. "You're okay. Let's lay you down, Alec."

I gently rested my parabatai back against the mattress. Alec reluctantly unwrapped his arms from around me, his face haggard and paler than the white pillow behind his head. I pushed his dark hair back from his forehead, watching his breathing intently. My heart began to slow as the rise and fall of Alec's chest evened out.

"Jace?"

"Yeah?"

Alec's startlingly blue eyes caught mine. "I'm really tired."

"Okay," I whispered. "Go to sleep."

Alec reached for my hand. "Will you stay with me?"

I tightened my fingers around his, a gentle squeeze. "You're not getting rid of me that easily."

A small smile tugged at Alec's lips before his head lolled to the side, his face peaceful. I exhaled and ran my free fingers through my hair. The weight that had been crushing me had finally been lifted, but I felt odd, like there was no longer anything holding me to the earth. I wondered if it was a result of the shock. When I looked up, the question poised on my lips, Magnus Bane was gone.