The Price of a Life

"Don't come back to the Institute, go anywhere else, but there" came Izzy's anxious voice over the phone. Alec could hear static and an echo on the line as if his sister was talking from somewhere underground or perhaps even under water.

"Why? What happened?" he asked, his voice just above a whisper, a mixture of alarm, confusion and a hint of panic in his tone. Alec leaned a semi-conscious Magnus against the wall of the narrow passageway in which they had just sought refuge and looked back to make sure that Kat and Jace were behind him.

"The Inquisitor arrived with a team; they have taken control of the Institute and have confined all our people to their rooms. He is demanding your and Magnus' surrender."

"Where are you?" asked Alec, a multitude of thoughts fighting for attention in his mind. He looked at Jace once again and saw that he was unusually pale, almost pasty, sweat covering his forehead. Alec feared his brother would lose consciousness at any time. A deep wound bled profusely in his side, and Jace was covering it with Kat's sweater, the material quickly becoming soaked.

"Clary, Jeremy, Catarina and I and a few others escaped through the tunnels," Izzy replied. "We are heading to the Hotel Du Mort. We will be safe there."

"Okay," Alec said as he tried to collect his thoughts. "Do not tell anyone that we talked. I will call you back as soon as we are safe," he added and hanged up.

This is bad, he thought as he leaned his back flat against the wall and cautiously peeked out of the alley and towards the main road to make sure they had not been followed. Alec needed to figure out his next move fast. His team was in bad shape. Jace and Magnus were injured, and Kat was not doing much better. An ugly burn, the result of demonic lava, covered her right arm and shoulder, and she had used all her powers containing the force of the explosion that a few minutes ago had broken the silence of the night. Powerful and vengeful warlocks were pursuing them through an unfamiliar part of a city he had only visited once and for only a couple of days. He had called his sister to request that Catarina open a portal for them to return to New York but now their only exit strategy had fallen through.

Alec glanced up at the dark sky and saw a red cloud raising and rapidly expanding from the epicenter of the explosion a few blocks away. Orange and red flames glowed over the roofs of the ancient buildings reaching towards the Tuscan sky, and illuminating the tower of Badia Florentina, the church attached to the Florence Institute. Kat had managed to contain the worse of the explosion and she had done in Rome, but the blast had still been loud, and the resulting fire had reached part of the ancient monastery that housed the Institute. He could hear sirens in the distance, likely the fire department and police. Alec was unsure how many Shadowhunters lived in Florence. He had seen a few running out of the building a few minutes before, blades on hand, looks of surprise on their faces, but ready to defend their Institute. He hoped none of them had been killed in the battle or in the explosion.

Alec checked his belt and saw that he had used all his blades, and his quiver had no more than a couple of arrows left. Jace was not much better armed, the blade in his hand his only defense. Their stamina runes had been completely depleted and Alec was beginning to feel the exhaustion of the battle and of almost twenty-four hours of constant travel by portal, repelling attacks by warlocks and demons. He needed to come up with a plan fast or they would all be in bigger trouble than they were now.

He turned to look at Kat, hoping for suggestions. "We are on our own for now and we need to get out of here," he said as he reached for his bow, his only remaining weapon.

"I don't know if I have enough magic left to open a portal," Kat stated, her voice and face plainly revealing the pain and exhaustion she felt. "I can try though."

"I can lend you some of my strength," Alec offered. "Would that help?"

"No, I can do it," came the weak voice of Magnus from Alec's side. With his shaking right hand, Magnus held his left shoulder, as if he feared his arm would come out of its socket. Hours before, Alec had severed the chain that linked the electrum cuffs to allow Magnus more freedom of movement. Without the chain, the cuffs had resembled bracelets of sorts, clanking against the manacles. Now, the manacles and the electrum cuffs were gone, and only deep and ugly burns were left in their place. Alec suspected that Magnus' arms and possibly torso had also suffered burns; for the sleeves of his jacket were singed in sections. It was evident that the warlock could barely see for he squinted as if the little light that illuminated the alleyway hurt his eyes.

"Magnus, you are too weak," said Alec, putting a hand on the warlock's shoulder. Except for dragging him away from the explosion, this was the first time that Alec touched Magnus in weeks and as his hand made contact with Magnus' body, Alec felt the odd sensation of being anchored, of arriving at port after a long voyage. The sensation changed almost instantly, however, for as soon as his hand rested on Magnus, Alec felt part of his own strength leaving him, as if it was being pulled out of him.

"Don't touch me, Alec," Magnus said and gently pushed Alec's hand away. "I am weak and my body is searching for ways to replenish the magic powers I have lost."

"Neither of you are in any condition to open a portal," Alec stated. "Jace, are you able to walk?" he asked turning to his brother.

"Yes," said Jace, his voice breathy and barely a whisper. "We can look for a place to hide and wait." However, as he spoke he reached for the wall for support as if his legs were about to give out.

At that moment, they heard footsteps approaching and voices nearby, warlock voices, searching for them. The darkness was momentarily broken by the glow of magic light coming from the entrance to the alleyway. They flatten themselves against the wall behind a garbage dump, and, holding their breaths, stood still for what felt like an eternity until the warlocks moved away.

"We are sitting ducks here," said Kat. "We need a portal, or they will find us."

"I can do it," Magnus repeated, tentatively moving away from the wall hoping his legs would not give out. He couldn't remember ever being so weak. He had not an ounce of magic energy left in him, and whatever he had, he was about to use to attempt opening a portal. But he had to do it; Alec and Jace were in mortal danger.

"We can do it together," said Kat standing beside him. "Between the two of us, we may have enough magic left. The portal will stay open for a very short time though, so we better know where we are going."

"My penthouse," offered Magnus.

"No," interrupted Alec, "the Inquisitor has likely sent people there searching for us."

"I know where," said Kat. "Do you remember Magnus where we stayed the last time I visited you?"

Magnus nodded as Kat put her uninjured hand on his shoulder, her face immediately registering the effect of lending Magnus the little energy she had left. Magnus lifted his arms and tentatively waved them around. Magic sparkles sputtered irregularly from his hands, as if an old engine was misfiring. But after a couple of tries, a portal finally opened in front of them.

"Okay, let's get out of this hell hole," Alec said lending his body to Jace for support. They then closely followed Kat and Magnus through the portal.

They emerged in a bright and luxurious penthouse suite at the Grand Park Hotel in New York City, its floor to ceiling windows overlooking the park and the illuminated Manhattan skyline in the distance. As soon as they stepped through, Jace collapsed and Alec had to drag him to a nearby sofa. He was bleeding badly and his skin had acquired the color of grey ash.

"I got you, body," Alec whispered as he placed a pillow under his parabatai's head. "We need a doctor," he stated to no one in particular, unchecked panic in his voice.

"No, we need warlock magic," said Kat, reaching for her phone. A second later she was on the line with Catarina and less than two minutes after that, Catarina was emerging from a portal in the suite's hallway.

"Alright, what do we have here?" she said in the matter-of-factly voice she used with his patients at the hospital.

Half an hour later, Jace rested comfortably in one of the three bedrooms that made up the suite and Catarina was on the sofa with Magnus examining his wrists. "These burns are bad," she declared as she run a hand a few millimeters above the injuries, blue and purple magic pouring from her fingers. "Unfortunately, being the result of demonic energy I can only soothe the pain; they will have to heal on their own as you replenish your powers. How far up your arm do they go?" she asked lifting and peeking under the cuffs of Magnus' grey shirt.

"Not too far," said Magnus dodging the question. "I will be fine."

"You have never been stoic, Magnus; do not start now," she said in the tone of a schoolmaster reprimanding her pupil. "You stink to high hell, I suspect your nerve endings are shut and you cannot see very well, can you?"

"It was the flash from the explosion hitting my eyes," Magnus replied with the hint of a coy smile on his face. It was not completely true but true enough, he thought. "It will pass, I can already feel my energy replenishing. I will be fine after a few drinks and a good steak."

"Okay," she replied in a tone of resignation. "It is your funeral, after all." After a few more ministrations, she stood up and headed towards where Alec and Kat were standing in the hallway. Alec was again on the phone with his sister.

"Kat wants to know if Jeremy rescued the thing the two of them were working on in the lab," Alec was asking Izzy in a cryptic tone. After listening for a second, Alec nodded at Kat and she sighed in relief.

"I have to go back," Catarina told Kat as Alec walked a few steps down the hallway so he could hear his sister better over the phone. "They may need a warlock in case they need to run. You should stay here until you feel better. We think that the Inquisitor may monitor the phone lines, so we must keep communications to a minimum for now, and stick to old-fashioned fire messages. I haven't use one of those since the last time I dated a downworlder in the fifties," Catarina added in a sarcastic tone. "Can you ward the room, Kat, or do you want me to do it?"

"I can do it," replied Kat who was already feeling stronger after Catarina's healing touches. "But before I do, I should go downstairs and check us in. We don't want to be caught trespassing."

Alec came back after a minute, his phone still in his hand, deep concern evident on his face. He turned the phone over and removed its battery, and then asked Kat to do the same with hers. If the Inquisitor tried to track them through their phones, he would not get very far. Izzy and her team were taking the same precaution. There would be no communications by phone between them for now.

The conversation with Izzy had been extremely alarming. Inquisitor Dearborn had found a way to travel with a team and had arrived at the Institute in the middle of the night. He had orders from The Clave to take control and had demanded that the warlocks and Alec be surrendered. Apparently, Alec, like Magnus, had become a fugitive of The Clave. He suspected that the latest images from the Florence Institute' security cameras would go a long way to support Dearborn's accusations.

Thankfully, Izzy, Clary, Jeremy and a few others had managed to escape and were hiding near the Hotel Du Mort under Luke's protection. Catarina had raised wards and conjured disguising spells that would hopefully prevent any attempts to track them.

"Don't come here; it isn't safe," had been Izzy's reaction when Alec offered to go to the Hotel Du Mort. "At least for tonight we are safe where we are; let's not tempt fate. You should rest and regain your strength. You will need it to stop these attacks and clear yours and Magnus' name. You also need to look after Jace or Clary will never forgive you if something happened to him. No one, except for Catarina, knows where you are; so, stay put," had been Izzy's last pronouncement before she hanged up. Alec thought that his sister, as usual, had all the qualities of a leader including the commanding voice.

When Alec came back to the seating room, Catarina announced that she was leaving, that Jace would sleep at least until morning, and that he was healing fine. "Get some sleep," she told Alec and she patted him on the arm before leaving.

"I am going downstairs to check us in," Kat announced as she followed her friend out of the suite, "I will also order us some food. Lock the door behind me."

After closing the door, Alec leaned against it for a moment. He was exhausted but knew he could not sleep. He was wired and his mind was just too crowded with thoughts and images of the events of the last twenty-four hours. The whole mission had been an uphill battle from the moment it started. As they had suspected, Annaliese and her people had anticipated that Alec and his team would use the manacles to track them, and had made sure to take them on a vertiginous pursuit from portal to portal across who knows how many thousands of kilometers.

As soon as they stepped through the portal in New York and emerged in a corner of a library in the villa in which Magnus had been imprisoned, they had been attacked by two of Annaliese's warlocks. The villa had been booby-trapped and a series of explosions had brought the roof and walls down on them. The rest was quickly engulfed in flames. Alec and his team would have been trapped hadn't Kat opened another portal. Thankfully, the tracking spell worked and Magnus could guide them through in pursuit of the warlocks. The chase had not been easy though, and over the next several hours they had played a game of cat and mouse that put their strength, stamina and skills to the test. They followed the warlocks and emerged in the middle of a forest where a pack of raverner demons was waiting. From there, the chase took them to the desert near Abu Dhabi where they lost the trail for a couple of hours and were attacked by a pack of achaieral demons. They then tracked the warlocks that eluded them at the villa to a dark alley somewhere in Istanbul, where they finally caught up to them. After a fight that resulted in the death of one of the warlocks, they followed the survivor to Florence where they emerged in an alley not too far from the Institute.

Alec suspected that the warlocks had not been trying to lose or kill them, but simply to confuse them and exhaust them. He was certain that the plan all along had been to weaken them to such an extent that when they finally arrived at their destination, they would be too tired to mount an effective defense. He also suspected that Khuno and Annaliese had planned to recapture Magnus before they set up the explosion in Florence. And, they had almost succeeded, Alec thought as walked back into the seating room.

Alec looked around and realized that he was alone in the room. Magnus was nowhere to be seen. A renewed rush of anxiety washed over him and for a moment, he thought of the last time Magnus had disappeared without as much as a warning, and how much that abandonment had upset and unsettled him. The fear was unreasonable; but then, most fears are. He wondered where Magnus could have gone. He was injured and Alec was sure he could barely see. The blast he had received had been such as terrible blow to Magnus' system that not even his condition as a warlock had been able to protect him. Alec heard movement coming from somewhere down the hallway, like the sound of someone stumbling over furniture, and he involuntarily breathed a sigh of relief.

He followed the sound in the direction of the master bedroom. The whole suite was quite big. In addition to the bedroom where Jace now slept, there was a second bedroom and a bathroom to one side of the seating area. The master bedroom was in a wing of its own on the opposite end. As he walked into the sparsely illuminated room, Alec understood why it was called the master bedroom. It was certainly the biggest and most luxurious of the rooms, with a huge bed in the center, covered with crispy white linen, a separate seating area with its own fireplace, enormous floor to ceiling windows, and a door leading to the biggest bathroom Alec had ever seen. The bathroom was in darkness and the only light came from the lamp on a night table beside the bed.

Magnus had made his way from the living room to the master bathroom slowly, by memory, and holding on to the wall. Although he felt his body healing, he could still not see very well and light hit his eyes with the sharpness of a dagger. His legs shook, his body felt heavy, and the initial ringing in his ears had become a constant buzzing. His wrists and arms burned, and the smell of sulfur, fire and smoke coming from his clothes and skin was unbearable. Magnus couldn't remember the last time he had been this exhausted and dizzy. In fact, he couldn't remember ever having depleted his powers to such an extent.

He sat on the edge of the tub, his head in his hands, the image of Khuno's expression edged forever in his mind, the warlock's look of disbelief and surprise just before his eyes went blank and his chest exploded. Magnus would have never believed that their journey in the last twenty-four hours would end this way. In fact, for most of that time, he had thought that they would die before they even made it to their destination. Magnus had felt so terribly powerless when they had been attacked by warlocks and demons; unable to use his powers; prisoner to the manacles and to the spell that, while allowing him to track the warlocks, continued to smoother his magic.

Alec, Jace and Kat had shown incredible bravery, however. He had seen Alec fight before, but this time, his movements were even more seamless, sinuous and certain. Alec had always been a protector, willing to put his life on the line to keep Jace, other Shadowhunters and even Magnus safe. That had not changed this time. Yet, there was also a new determination in him, borne, Magnus thought, out of both a commitment to stop the attacks and an anger that Magnus had not seen before. This latest war would change Alec forever, he had feared, and had felt terribly sad that a part of Alec's innocence and purity would be left on this battleground.

"Khuno is dead, he is dead," a voice repeated in Magnus' head as if the thought was rattling inside his skull looking for a place to lodge itself. He couldn't believe that the man that had meant so much to him once had died such a futile and useless death, and he couldn't believe that it had been him the one to kill him. He had had no choice; he had to protect Alec, Magnus thought, as he replayed the events in his mind.

As soon as they had gotten to Florence, Magnus had felt the pull of Khuno's powers attempting to reactivate the manacles. That had convinced him that they were in the place chosen for the attack. But by the time that they got to the courtyard in front of the Institute, Khuno and his people were already there and in bigger numbers than in their previous encounter. This time, the two warlocks needed for the ritual that would trigger the detonation were unwilling participants. They were restrained with heavy chains and tied to a spot on the ground surrounded by three of Khuno's warlocks. Five other warlocks stood with Khuno forming a perimeter a few meters away from the target. The two chained warlocks –a man in his fifties and a woman that looked no older than twenty and whom Magnus had met briefly during a trip to China a few decades ago –had initially resisted, trying in vain to free themselves. But as soon as the other warlocks began to chant, they went into a sort of trance, their eyes as black as tar, their faces turned towards the sky, and their voices joining in the chanting as it gained in speed and volume.

Suspecting what was likely to happen next, Alec, Jace and Kat had done all in their powers to prevent the explosion. Magnus saw Jace injure and likely kill two warlocks, and two of Alec's arrows also hit their targets. Kat attempted to stop the explosion by isolating the epicenter with the use of a magic shield, hoping, Magnus suspected, to close the rift. But, as a well of fire opened in between the two chained warlocks, one of their guards casted a spell that threw a lobe of hot lava in Kat's direction hitting her on the shoulder and arm, and she lost control of the spell.

Jace was injured when one of the warlocks commanded several metal bars to detach from the fence surrounding the courtyard and threw them with the force of lances at him. Jace couldn't repel all of them and one got him in his right side, cutting through protective jacket and flesh and lodging itself between his ribs. Jace pulled it out, a look of surprise and confusion in his angelic face before falling to his knees. He would have collapsed completely, if Magnus hadn't run to grab him and drag him out before a worse fate befell him.

It had become quickly apparent that they were outnumbered and outgunned. With no control of his powers and with Khuno's ongoing attempts to activate the manacles, Magnus couldn't do much. He resisted with all his strength the pull of Khuno's powerful spell on the manacles while evading the waves of magic the other warlocks threw at him to knock him out. All throughout, he kept a constant eye on Alec, afraid for his safety and certain that Khuno would eventually make a move against him. That was, after all, the reason why they had been led in this endless chase. Khuno had wanted to exhaust and weaken the Shadowhunters so they would become easy prey. Khuno's plan was to kill Alec and make Magnus helplessly watch.

As the fire reached the man and the woman at the center of the circle, and their screams pierced the silence of the night, Khuno had made his final move. Magnus had seen the determination clearly in the warlock's eyes, in the malicious smile, in the certainty in his step as he veered directly towards Alec, a ball of dark red magic growing stronger and hotter in the palm of his hand. Magnus had seen that evil determination before, once over two centuries ago when Khuno set fire to a ship full of screaming people.

Magnus glanced at Alec and could almost see the calculations he was running at a blinding speed in his head, as Alec tried to determine the best strategy. Khuno was too far for Alec to do any damage with his seraph blade. So, Alec reached for his bow, but Magnus knew that there wasn't enough time to even nock an arrow. He suspected that Alec knew this too.

Khuno released the magic fireball, its energy forming a tail that made it look like a minute comet making its way through the air with the speed of a bullet. Time seemed to stop for Magnus. In that instant, he saw long centuries of solitude and darkness; centuries without Alec, without his smile, without his chivalrous and brave gestures, without his tuneless whistling as he tidied up Magnus' apartment or made coffee, without the taste of his lips, and the touch of his long fingers. He also saw a world that would be so much darker and so much more dangerous without Alec's bravery and selflessness. He knew at that instant that he would willingly leave his very life on that courtyard, and at that very moment, if it ensured that Alec would live; that he would rather face an eternity in hell if it meant that Alec would go on.

Magnus run at full speed to intercept the deathly blow before it hit its target, and as he stepped between Alec and the magic, he crossed his arms at the wrists in front of his chest. It had been no more than a protective gesture, or perhaps the result of instinct. The fireball hit the manacles with the force of a missile, and Magnus felt his ribs and chest bone being compressed against his heart, and he thought his chest would crush. In that second, Magnus concentrated all the magic energy locked in his body, all the magic that he had been unable to access due to the restrains on his wrists, on one single spot on his chest. I was that spot above his heart on which, weeks before and in the darkness of a hotel room in Barcelona, he had worked a spell to protect the only thing Alec had given him that he couldn't depart with.

As he had done when he first felt the drain on his energy during the first explosion, he concentrated his whole being in that place on his chest and on the memory of Alec, the memory of that moment in which Magnus wanted to live for an eternity, that moment in which Alec gave himself to Magnus unconditionally and without restrain. Perhaps certain that this would be the last second of his life, Magnus had wanted to take that memory with him into the next world, so he could live in it forever. Perhaps he thought that the soul can find peace and rest in those best moments of one's life, and that was the best moment for Magnus.

It would take Magnus a long time to understand what happened. Perhaps it was an unexpected effect of the bargain he had made all those weeks ago in the darkness of that hotel room, a bargain to protect and safeguard the only thing that mattered. The fact is that when the fireball hit the manacles and the electrum cuffs, they absorbed the magic, its energy heating up the metals until they turned red. Magnus felt the heat expand from his wrists up his arms and chest until every single cell in his body felt like it was on fire. For a second, unrestrained magic came out from his fingers in multicolor sparkles, as if the power was trying to escape.

Magnus looked at Khuno, the arrogant smile still on that face and in those eyes, telling him that he would never be able to protect Alec, that his death would be futile. Calling on a strength he didn't know he had, Magnus concentrated every cell in his body and every thought in his mind on the task of gaining control of the magic wildly coursing through him. With that same strength and concentration, he projected the power in Khuno's direction, the magic releasing like lightening from the manacles and hitting Khuno square on the chest. Magnus felt himself being propelled backward and the last image before darkness overtook him was of Khuno's surprised expression as his chest exploded.

Didn't Khuno believe that Magnus would kill him? Magnus wondered now as he examined the burns on his wrists by the faint light filtering into the bathroom from the bedroom. Did he believe, until the very last minute, that Magnus would eventually walk to his side? Perhaps Khuno didn't realize that he had already gone so far that Magnus would never join him. He killed Khuno, not only to defend Alec, but because seeing Khuno's arrogant smile, Magnus had understood that Khuno would never stop; he would never stop believing that his cause was right. He had to die.

He wished now that he could cry for Khuno; for after all, he had been a friend once, someone significant, a lost child, like Magnus had been. Khuno, like Magnus, had been unloved and rejected so many times, looked down as scum, as an abomination by the rest of the world. But he couldn't cry for the child Khuno had been because Khuno and Annaliese had killed that child a long time ago.