Chapter Ten
A/N: Thank you to ImaginationStories and Veridissima for reviewing the last chapter. Sorry for destroying your souls!
The sound of her heeled boots clicking against the floorboards no longer even registered on Jocelyn's mind, but she continued to pace nonetheless, imagining it may be the only thing stopping her going mad with worry. The only sound she could hear was the ticking clock, each passing second bringing her closer to Magnus' arrival, bringing her closer to discovering the truth.
The procedure was a simple one, or so she had been told, a few minutes of spells and she would know for certain. Magnus had even offered to carry it out the same day she had discovered her pregnancy, but Jocelyn had refused. Knowing the possibility of her child's fate was a huge blow, having it confirmed would have been too much for her heart to take.
It was all the redhead could do not to burst into tears when she heard the knock at the door, the anticipation almost too much to bear. Instead she took a shuddering breath and opened the door, revealing the warlock, smiling encouragingly, though the sparkle did not quite reach his eyes.
"I'm a little early, I know, but I thought you would want to know sooner rather than later." Magnus stated. That much was probably true, even if Jocelyn was not sure she would want to know either way.
"We'd better get on with it then." Jocelyn breathed, leading Magnus into a guestroom. She did not want this to happen in the room she shared with Luke; she would not risk destroying her one safe space with the memory of losing her child.
"Do you want me to explain all this?" Magnus asked. Jocelyn shook her head. She already knew as much as she needed, or wanted, to know. The warlock seemed to have anticipated her answer, because he moved towards his spell book before she had even had time to respond. "Alright. We'll discuss any consequences after we know what we're discussing. There's no point getting riled up over nothing."
'What you hope is nothing.' Jocelyn corrected him, but she did not speak the words out loud. It was difficult enough to unwrap her arms from her abdomen for Magnus to examine her; it felt like the last protection for her baby had been taken away.
"Okay, just try and relax." Magnus instructed. Jocelyn could have laughed at the absurdity of the instruction. She was a mother, her child's very life threatened. There was no scope of calm in this situation.
The examination could only have taken ten minutes, but it felt like years, Magnus' hands seeming to move through water as he cast the necessary spells. The glow seemed to pulse from his fingertips, almost blinding in its intensity, until eventually Jocelyn was forced to close her eyes. She had done her best to avoid doing so. Whenever she did, all she saw was a baby with tufts of red hair and beautiful blue eyes.
"You can sit up now." Magnus told her eventually, his voice quiet, monotonous. Jocelyn was not quite sure if he was trying to spare her feelings, or if he was simply fixated on assessing her results. In all honesty, she did not know if either option was better.
If she had thought her wait was agonising, anticipating Magnus' arrival, it was never compared to sitting at the edge of the settee, digging her nails into her palms as she watched the warlock consult his spell books.
By the time Magnus came to sit beside her, Jocelyn was close to tears, her own thoughts driving her to distraction. He took her hand in his own, looking into her eyes, his own holding the faintest reflection of their true feline nature, a testament to the energy the spells had required. For a moment, she was reminded of the time Luke had been impaled with the demon blade, when she had sought out Magnus for comfort and protection. It was difficult to believe, considering the way they had met, that she would have come to rely on him as much as she had.
"Jocelyn, the baby is alive." Magnus began, not bothering to build up to the announcement. Jocelyn almost forgot to breathe, her open mouth slowly spreading into a smile. "That's the main hurdle to get over. The baby's alive and developing, there doesn't seem to be any problem from being a mix of Nephilim and lycanthrope. You've just made history."
Despite Magnus' jovial tone, the redhead could not help but feel there was something she was missing. Perhaps after all she had been through, she had developed a sense for danger, or perhaps this dangerous situation was simply too good to be true.
"Magnus, what aren't you telling me?" Jocelyn was a direct woman, she did not believe in wasting time, particularly not when it came to the safety of her children.
The warlock flicked his fingers, ridding them of a few excess sparks of magic, then looked over his shoulder, checking the clock on the mantlepiece. "What time is Luke going to be back from his meeting?"
"His portal to the Gard is at five, he should be back maybe half past." Jocelyn explained, almost gabbling as she tried to reach her point. "What's wrong? Why do you need to see him?"
"I just think you might need a bit of support right now." The warlock's eyes had turned to the photographs lining the mantle, childhood snaps of Clary, the sunset wedding photograph Maia had taken of her and Luke. There was an empty space, waiting for a photograph of the new baby. "The baby is healthy, but there are abnormalities in it's blood. It's nothing to do with your genetics, they're all present. It's almost likeā¦"
Magnus trailed off, unable to speak the word. It would have been terrible enough news for a normal mother, to have to impart the news that their child had been harmed, that they had been reached by evil forces before they had even left the woman's body. Jocelyn's eyes began to glimmer, her mind lost in the past, the terrible smell of blood and ichor as she read Valentine's immaculate scrawls upon the page of the journal, the moment when her heart had broken in two. She did not have to voice the words, but she did, if only to give the pain a chance of leaving her body.
"Like an experiment."
A/N: I will explain everything next chapter, I promise! For now, please review!
