Chapter 22
Bursting into an open area at the end of the hallway, Aidan Briosag was confronted by a hellacious scene. The Hellfire Club, alerted to the presence of their enemies, and led by the greater demon Balial, had trapped the small rescue party against an ancient stone wall, blocking any chance of escape. Briosag raced forward his feet slipping on the stone floor now slick with the blood of friend and foe alike. He was followed into the fray by Daniel and Shivvy.
The sudden, unexpected attack of Aidan and his companions caused a slight shift in the battle, although they were still heavily outnumbered. Balial turned away from Magnus to focus his demonic energy on Briosag, giving the other warlock a much needed reprieve. The demon made a serious mistake in assuming that Magnus was now so drained he posed no further threat. While Balial and Briosag traded lethal blasts of magic, and the air filled with the stench of sulfur and rotting flesh, Magnus, his face etched with fatigue summoned his last reserves of strength and began to burn runes into the ancient stone floor. He would send Balial back to the demon dimension from whence he'd been summoned, or die in the attempt.
Shivvy and Daniel threw themselves into battle beside Alec and the others, as they desperately tried to buy Magnus time to complete his efforts. If they could not eliminate Balial from the battle, all would be lost.
Also understanding Magnus' intentions, Aidan Briosag redoubled his efforts to push Balial back into the waiting protective circle. It was dangerous, however to be in such close combat with a deadly enemy, and the warlock narrowly missed a blast of magic that seared across his left shoulder. Every inch that the unsuspecting demon took backward towards Magnus was a costly victory for Briosag who prayed his magic would hold out long enough to get the job done.
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Aidan caught a flash of dark green and smiled to himself. Morag Nightshade had arrived and was making a move to slip away with Magnus and Alec's son, while the Hellfire club was distracted. It was not possible to create a portal within the keep itself, but if she could get the boy out without attracting attention, she would be able to portal him to safety. Aidan had met the warlock healer through Magnus, and they had become close. Morag had recently left her home in London, to join Aidan in Edinburgh. Their relationship added a richness to his life that he'd never thought was an option, during the terrible years when the Edinburgh downworld existed in secret to protect itself from the Scottish shadowhunters.
Magnus and Alec had spoken to Aidan privately before the rescue mission, and the High Warlock of Edinburgh set plans in motion to care for the child in the event his parents did not survive. An altercation of this magnitude between shadowhunters and downworlders would not go unnoticed, and if Gerrard McKenzie won the day, who knew what spin he would put on it. Any of Aidan's downworlders who survived would likely find themselves imprisoned, or worse, for attacking an upstanding member of the Clave; and, for his own safety, the child would have to disappear. Even Alec's family would not be able to protect him. Saying a silent pray for Morag and the boy, Aidan turned his full attention back to the task at hand. Gerrard McKenzie and the Hellfire Club would not win this day if he had any say in the matter.
~~~~~ ! ~~~~~
Morag Nightshade carried the sleeping child in her arms as she slipped noiselessly through the darkened hallway. A healer by trade, she had no gift for fighting, and yet as she held the small, warm body of the boy close to her, she understood the fierce protectiveness that mothers felt for their children, and that could turn them into formidable opponents, if those children were threatened.
Moving quickly, Morag passed several oak doors set deeply into the stone walls. Suddenly, up ahead, she heard the heavy tread of booted feet and shrank into the nearest doorway hoping her glamour, and the dark shadows would be enough to hide her and the boy form sight. As she held her breath, a small cadre of shadowhunters, in full gear, ran past. Were they Club members, or had the Clave been summoned? Either way, Morag knew that she had to get the child to a place of safety; that the boy might be in as much danger from the Clave as he was from the Hellfire club was not lost on her.
A few years ago, Magnus had used an illicit spell to allow his evil, half-sister Lucia to bear a child. Morag knew full well Magnus would never have agreed to the transaction had Lucia not kidnapped and threatened to kill Alec. At the last second, Magnus substituted his own DNA for Lucia's, creating a child that was truly his own and Alec's, the child that was now nestled protectively in her arms as she raced desperately to get out of the castle.
Only once in recorded history had there been another child of a runed shadowhunter and a warlock begotten through the use of forbidden blood magic. The baby and the warlock had been killed by the Clave. The shadowhunter had been stripped of her marks, and died shortly after. A shudder ran through Morag's body as she thought about what this discovery might mean for Magnus and his precious family. Gripping young Aiden firmly against her heaving chest, she burst out of a small wooden door at the base of the castle wall. Now she would be able to create a portal.
Morag shifted the boy to one arm and loosed the swirling magic that would take her first to Edinburgh, to collect some of her things, and then to some unknown place where she could hide the child and await the unfolding of events. Just as she had run headlong through the corridors of Eilean Donan, she now seemed to be rushing headlong into an uncertain future. Would either Alec or Magnus survive the battle with the Hellfire Club? And if they did, what about the Clave? Her thoughts also strayed to her beloved, Aidan Briosag whom she had left fighting by Magnus' side. If the Clave knew about the child's origins, she could not risk staying in Edinburgh and bringing their wrath down on Aidan's downworlders.