Father's Blood
Despite being a common method of transportation for the Nephilim, a method that he had used many times, portals still unsettled Alec. Perhaps it was the sensation of not being completely in control, or the fear of ending somewhere unintended, or worse, of getting lost somewhere in between, unable to find a way out. Perhaps it was the fact that the experience remained always somewhat unpredictable and uncontrollable. Commonly, portal travel took no more than the blink of an eyes, and felt like being sucked by a vacuum or swallowed by an enormous beast just to be expelled or spitted out in another place. But sometimes, the journey took longer as if the connection between the point of origin and the destination was not completely established. It wasn't much, perhaps just another second. When this happened, while he was in the portal, Alec could look around and see his own distorted reflection in the walls of the tunnel that linked the place he had been to the one he was going. And, if he looked back, he could see the place he had left behind rapidly shrinking until it became no larger than the head of a pin, while the place where he was going expanded until it occupied his whole frame of vision.
The experience was particularly unsettling when someone else guided him through the portal and his destination was unfamiliar. Those kinds of portal travel required implicit trust on the person guiding the trip. Alec couldn't help thinking that the chances of getting lost were higher when someone else was in the driver's seat. In those occasions, he made the effort of completely clearing his mind to not alter the destination. The sensation was less unsettling when it was Magnus the one to guide him across the event horizon; for he felt his presence, the touch of his hand, the scent of his skin, or he could simply stare at the back of his head as he stepped through. He trusted Magnus so completely that Alec never feared getting lost with him. Magnus was, after all, one of the first people to master portal travel.
When it was Alec the one guiding Magnus, he sometimes reached for his hand to ensure that Magnus was close behind. When other people relied on his navigation skills, he made absolutely sure to clear his mind of all thoughts except for the image of his destination because he never wanted to be responsible for the loss of anyone.
As he and his team gathered on the roof of the Institute, Alec checked again the seraph blades fastened to his belt, the dirks hidden in the pockets of his Shadowhunter jacket and attached to his lower arm, and the stele fasten to his right leg. He also made sure his bow and quiver were properly glamored and secured to his back, paying attention to one arrow in particular, an arrow without an arrowhead. Freshly drawn runes were visible on his arms and neck: runes of strength, stamina and healing.
Magnus, already wearing his long leather coat, came to stand in front of Alec. "All ready?" he asked with a reassuring smile as he arranged the collar and pulled up the zipper in Alec's jacket.
"As ready as I will ever be," replied Alec with a corresponding smile, as he searched in his jacket pockets for his leather gloves.
"You do remember where we are going, don't you?" Magnus asked, a touch of anxiety in his voice.
"Yes, Magnus. Don't worry, I won't get us lost."
They had agreed that Alec would be the one guiding the team through the portal that would take them to Venice. It had been Kat's suggestion because she feared that Annaliese would be monitoring the energy that portal travel releases, and Alec, being under the protection of Magnus' spell, might be less likely to be detected. Rather than transporting into the Venice Institute, in which none of them had ever been before, or to a random alleyway, they had decided to go to the apartment where Alec and Magnus had stayed during their vacation. Magnus argued that this destination would likely be safer because the wards he had erected while they had stayed there would still be somewhat operational. The apartment belonged to an old mundane friend of Magnus' and he had agreed to let them use it as headquarters in exchange for Magnus' assistance with some future business venture that Alec preferred not to know about.
Alec looked from Magnus to his team gathered around the roof. Everybody was in full combat gear, and their faces betrayed a mixture of nervousness and anticipation, as if they knew that this was the battle that would decide the war. Several small cases containing their equipment and the tools and supplies that Kat, Magnus and Catarina would need for their magic making were set on the floor by their feet. Izzy and Raphael stood a little apart from the group, and Alec could see a pained but also stubborn expression in the young vampire's eyes. Raphael was waging a difficult battle with his own instincts, but as Magnus had observed, he was determined to win. Luke and Catarina stood close by and Alec suspected that this was on Raphael's request. He was certain that there was an agreement between the vampire and the werewolf, an agreement that would require Luke to stop Raphael the moment he lost control. Alec hoped it would not come to that.
Jace and Clary stood close together, and Jace was double checking that Clary's gear and weapons were secured. Kat almost mirrored Jace's actions a couple of meters away as she too checked Jeremy's gear.
Alec momentarily hesitated and old feelings of insecurity and uncertainty threatened to weaken his resolve as he realized the full weight of his responsibilities as a leader. These were not just his family and closest friends; they were also the people in his charge. It was his duty to bring all of them back safely. If he didn't, it would be his duty to account to The Clave and loved ones for any lives lost.
Noticing his anxiety, Magnus placed one hand on Alec's elbow and the other against his cheek, and the gesture made Alec turn and fix his eyes on Magnus. "Everything is going to be okay," said Magnus, not a thread of doubt in his voice. "You are tenacious and brave Alexander, and I have no doubt that you will do the impossible to fulfill this mission and take care of your people."
Alec smiled gratefully and returned the sentiment by imitating Magnus's gesture and putting his own hand against Magnus' cheek. "Thank you," he whispered and then kissed him, softly and gently on the lips, completely unconcerned about the witnesses standing around.
"Scarcherry," he then said, his voice commanding, as he turned to one of the Shadowhunters standing at ease by the door leading into the Institute. "Please try not to break anything or start a new war while we are gone."
"I will do my best Alec," replied the young Shadowhunter eagerly.
"We've received reports of increased demon activity in all major European cities," Alec informed Scarcherry. "It is likely Annaliese trying to distract us. Keep all teams on high alert and double patrols in the city. Also, do not forget the Hotel Du Mort."
"I won't forget," the other man replied and Magnus thought that Scarcherry was too young to bear the responsibility of an institute, but so was Alec. Alas, this was the life of a Shadowhunter; they were trained from infancy to become warriors.
"The Institute is all yours," stated Alec as he extended his hand and shook Scarcherry's. "You will do great," he added and with his other hand patted Scarcherry on his upper arm.
Alec nodded at Kat and she waved her arms in a circle, calling on the forces of nature to bend space and create a portal. Orange sparkles ignited and shoot from her fingers and created a whirlpool of energy, a whirlpool that built up as it swirled until the energy pierced space and the portal finally appeared.
"Jace, you bring up the rear," Alec ordered as he came to stand at the front of his team.
Alec stepped through first. While he was keenly aware of the presence of Magnus and the rest of the team a few steps behind him, Alec cleared his mind of all other thoughts except for their destination. He recalled the image of the entry hallway of the old and elegant palazzo where he and Magnus had stayed during their visit to Venice; its antique red tile floors; its high ceilings; its walls covered in antique and priceless tapestries that contrasted with the modern furniture; the mosaic windows; the majestic wooden front door that opened to a small bridge that crossed the canal that flowed in front of the palazzo; and the steps to one side of the front entrance leading to a side door for guests arriving by gondola.
The palazzo had been his favorite lodgings during their vacation. It wasn't a hotel, but rather the home of Magnus' old friend. It had been quiet and private, without servants, housekeepers, or restaurants. Alec had cooked their meals in the old kitchen and had made Italian espresso in a space-age coffee maker that brewed everything from regular coffee to some sophisticated drinks that Alec had never had or heard of before. He and Magnus had enjoyed the privacy and quietness and had spent long hours in the living room on the upper level, standing by the window, the arms of one wrapped around the other, looking out towards the canals and at the gondolas passing by. They had made love with abandon on the soft rug in front of the fireplace, unconcerned that anyone would walk in on them. It had been wonderful and memorable, a place where new love could be freely explored. Now the freshness and vividness of the memory reassured Alec that he would have no issue guiding his team back to that place.
Later, he would think that perhaps he had been too confident; perhaps he hadn't taken enough precautions; perhaps he should have let Magnus guide them. For as soon as he stepped through the portal, the journey felt different than others, sluggish somehow. It was as if they were walking against a strong wing or through water; or as if they were carrying heavy weights tied around their ankles. He anxiously looked to one side and saw his and Magnus' reflection on the silvery walls of the tunnel, but then something or someone grabbed Magnus and began to pull him away. Alec saw the look panic in Magnus' eyes as Magnus reached with his hand, but before Alec could take hold of it, Magnus was gone, plucked out of the tunnel by an invisible force. As soon as Magnus disappeared, whatever had slowed their progress let go and, in the blink of an eye, the portal expelled them at the other side.
"What was that? What happened?" asked Izzy as soon as she stepped onto the palazzos' ground floor entrance, her voice unable to conceal her panic. She coughed, bent forward and put her hands on her knees as if trying to catch her breath or control her nausea. "I have never experienced portal travel like that before."
"Neither have I," added Jace and he placed a hand on Clary's back either to comfort her or to steady himself. Clary looked unusually pale and Alec thought she was also fighting the urge to throw up.
Magnus was gone, taken from him, Alec frantically thought; panic and nausea growing in his chest and gushing through his body; old and familiar feelings and memories of abandonment and absence suddenly returning. Magnus was gone, gone, he repeated in his mind, but where and how? As if obeying an unconscious impulse to go after Magnus, Alec took a step in the direction of the portal that at that moment was closing, the last of its sparkles dimming and disappearing into thin air. He was about to ask Kat to reopen it, but remembering his mission, stopped and called on all his willpower to bring his desperation and panic under control. "Get a grip; your team needs you," Alec told himself, "get a grip and think."
"Magnus is gone," said Clary echoing Alec's frenzied thoughts. "I didn't know people could be abducted from portals. What are we going to do?"
Jace, Izzy and Jeremy started talking all at once offering possible answers to Clary's question even though their voices and faces betrayed mostly confusion, disorientation and anxiety.
"Kat, do you have any idea what happened?" Alec asked and his voice commanded the others' attention. As he turned to the warlock, he noticed that she too was deeply troubled.
"I am sorry Alec, I have never seen someone interfering with a portal like that before. Annaliese must have found a way to track Magnus, or perhaps she had demonic help."
Alec took his new phone out of his pocket and dialed Magnus' number but after a few moments of silence, all he got was a message on the screen saying that the call had failed to connect. "Annaliese must have him," he said turning towards Kat and Catarina, a statement in search of confirmation. "Can we track his location? Can we use the protection spell he cast on me to track him?"
"I am not sure but I can try," replied Kat.
"I would advise against that," interrupted Catarina. "I know my expertise is mostly healing, but even I know that the moment you try to use your magic link to Magnus to track him, Annaliese will detect the energy and she will know where you are, Alec. She will come after you."
"And we will be ready, what is wrong with that?" asked Jace who always preferred preemptive action to waiting.
"Listen Alec," Catarina said grabbing Alec by the shoulders, her intense blue eyes fixed on him. "You know that Magnus' spell doesn't only protect you; it also protects his powers. Annaliese is going to do everything she can to harness Magnus' magic for the summoning. But she doesn't know yet that Magnus entrusted part of his magic to you. Do not make it easier for her to achieve her goal by revealing your location."
"I agree with Catarina," added Kat. "She needs Magnus' at full power for the summoning, which means that she cannot harm him. That gives us until about three in the morning when the final star comes into alignment to find out where she is keeping him."
"Do you think she is going to attempt to use magic to force Magnus to submit?" Clary asked.
"I don't think so," Kat responded. "For the summoning to work, I suspect that she needs Magnus to be in full control of his powers, and she doesn't yet know that Magnus locked some of those powers away. Let's hope she doesn't find out until it is either too late, or we have a plan."
"Okay then," stated Alec and he imbued as much certainty and authority into his voice as he could master under the circumstances. "We stay on mission and we trust that Magnus will do his part. I need to call Eldermark and get an update on the situation," he added as he headed up the stairs and towards the palazzo's living quarters, his phone in hand. "Kat, can you raise wards around this place? We cannot afford being detected. Jace, Fray and Luke, secure the perimeter, make sure all entrances are locked; Jeremy, set up the equipment; this will be our command center while we are here."
"We are being attacked from multiple fronts," said Eldermark, Head of the Venice Institute, at the other end of the line, his voice strained from anxiety. "In the last hour, hordes of ravener and shax demons have attacked mundanes all over the city. We are also suffering from a rogue vampire infestation, most of them newly ascended and feral with hunger and what looks like demon poisoning. We have asked the local vampire clan for help, but we don't have enough personnel to deal with it all. We have no records of these many attacks since the fall of the Venetian Republic in the eighteenth century, and I do not have to remind you how that ended."
"Where are the vampires coming from?" asked Alec. He was looking out the window in the living room, standing pretty much on the same spot where he and Magnus had spent hours watching the gondolas navigate the canals. As night fell, the city grew dark and quiet, quieter than he remembered. He and Magnus had been here in summer and the city had been teeming with tourists. It was now fall and the number of tourist had obviously dwindled. It was fortunate, he thought; they didn't need any more mundanes putting themselves in danger by venturing out at night along dark canals and alleyways.
"I am afraid most of them were passengers in the cruise that went missing," Eldermark replied, "which means that more might be coming. That ship was almost full. We need help."
"Can you ask the other Institutes to send reinforcements?"
"Yes, but there is no way for those reinforcements to get here; we don't have access to a portal and there are no friendly warlocks left in the city," replied Eldermark.
"We can help with that. We have three accomplished warlocks in our team; if you get reinforcements, we will get them here." He didn't tell Eldermark that Magnus had been taken; it was better to keep that information confidential for the moment. He didn't want panic or suspicion to interfere with the mission. "I will also send as many members of my team as I can spare to lend assistance," he added.
After finalizing arrangements, Alec hung up the phone, and for a minute longer, he stared out the window. "Where are you Magnus?" he whispered, the question coming out in a sigh, and he willed the words to fly out into the night in search of Magnus.
Magnus and Alec had spent hardly any time apart since Rome. They had slept together, eaten together and worked together constantly. Now Magnus was gone and Alec felt like he was missing a limb or part of his brain, or that he was standing in the freezing cold without a coat. He had to deploy all his willpower to focus on the mission, and a permanent knot had lodged itself in the pit of his stomach. He needed to find Magnus; he needed to know that Magnus was okay; he needed Magnus like he needed his lungs to breath. Without him, Alec felt unstable and lost.
The night before and in the shelter of his room, he and Magnus had promised each other to do everything and anything to stop Annaliese from opening the rift; not matter what it took. Now, that promise weighted heavily on Alec and he was afraid of what honoring it would require of them. "Magnus," he whispered once again, "send me a signal; help me find you."
Alec lifted his hand to his chest, searching for the comforting feel of Magnus' arrowhead, but it was not there anymore. Instead, just the chain hung loosely around his neck. He moved his hand to the left and placed it on the spot where he knew Magnus carried the omamori charm on his own chest. The memory of the mark and the love it signified reminded Alec that, even though he felt the same absence now that he had felt in Barcelona, this absence was not absolute or hopeless. The mark of the charm and its magic bound him to Magnus, and no distance or absence could weaken that bond; of that, Alec was certain. "I will come for you," Alec whispered, tenacity and determination clearly evident in his reflection on the glass window.
At that moment and not too far away, Magnus was bringing his own hand to his chest, a sudden sensation of warmth emanating from the omamori charm, the echo of Alec's steady heartbeat comforting and reassuring. He had regained consciousness just a few minutes before and was still feeling the confusion and physical effects of the terrible ordeal of being snatched from a portal: an ordeal that he could only compare to being picked up by a tornado that spun him around before dropping him from a great altitude. The pain had been so intense that he had passed out and was just now beginning to get his bearings. He sat on a hard surface, his back against a cold wall, and when he tried to stand up, he realized that shackles attached to heavy chains restrained him and prevented him from moving around. An all too familiar sensation of having his power stifled suggested that the restrains were also a preventive measure against any attempts to escape by magic means.
It was almost completely dark, but Magnus knew that he was in a basement, perhaps even a crypt. He could tell by the way noise carried and bounced off the stone walls and low ceiling. A smell of humidity that was all too familiar to anyone who had spent any time in Venice impregnated the air. The room was cold and he was glad for his long leather coat.
With a gentle flick of his fingers, he conjured up a small flame on the palm of his hand, the flame warming him a little and providing some modicum of illumination. While the sound of breathing, the shuffling of feet and the movement of bodies had already alerted him that he was not alone, the light confirmed this assessment.
Tall and narrow iron cages stood spread out around the room. Some of their occupants sat slumped over on the ground, either asleep or unconscious, others stood and held on to the bars, their bodies fidgeting and their eyes wild. The familiar coopery smell of blood and sulfur overpowered the scent of humidity in one corner of the room, and the look of agony and the fangs in some of the faces told Magnus that at least some of the prisoners were vampires, newly ascended and half-staved vampires by the look of it.
"What is happening to me?" asked a woman in a fancy dress torn at the sleeves, who laid in one of the cages, her voice betraying intense pain.
The bald potbellied man in the next cage turned his head in the direction of the voice. "Martha is that you?" he asked.
"Stanley" the woman called out. "What happened?"
"It is okay Martha, it must be a nightmare," Stanley tried to reassure her, and Magnus hoped he could tell Stanley and Martha that everything would be okay.
He looked in the other direction and recognized the werewolves from Luke's pack who were confined to almost identical cages than the vampires, their expressions vigilant and almost wild. Two of them seemed to be struggling to control their impulse to transform, and Magnus could see claws and teeth extending. Luke's werewolves were all alive and apparently uninjured despite their obvious state of anxiety.
"Hey guys," he said in a casual voice that he hoped didn't appear completely fake. "Nice of you to invite me to the party. But who are the other guests?"
One of them, a young new werewolf that everybody called Bart, nodded and gave Magnus a faint smile. "We don't know," he replied. "Some of them were already here when we got here." He then gestured for Magnus to turn and look behind in the direction of the other side of the room, an expression of deep concern on his face.
Magnus followed Bart's gaze and directed the light to the other side of the room, opposite from where the vampires and werewolves were being kept. There in a corner stood a larger cage, its floor covered in old rugs and blankets, and seating on them mundane children. There were about ten of them, the oldest looked to be about eleven. They were dressed in colorful t-shirts as if they were just coming back from a party or the park.
The children were eerily silent, and they sat in the dark, perfectly still, their eyes lost in the distance, apparently oblivious to the scene unfolding in the rest of the room. In front of the cage, chained to the floor sat a small and skinny girl, perhaps no older than eight or nine with long platinum hair that reached almost to her waist. Perhaps feeling Magnus's gaze on her, the girl turned and looked at Magnus with the most striking blue eyes framed by a slim face, the skin the color of cinnamon. Her expression was a mixture of fear, sadness and resignation. Except for an extra set of nostrils located on the ridge of her nose, the child reminded Magnus of Catarina. She wore a colorful purple kurta with silver embroidery around the collar and cuffs, and she was obviously a warlock, a still not fully grown one. Magnus realized that it was her the one responsible for the children's stillness and look of enthrallment.
"Hello," he said in his most reassuring tone. "I am Magnus Bane. What is your name?"
The child tilted her head in a gesture of curiosity or query as if trying to ascertain the meaning of Magnus' words or determine whether Magnus was friend or foe. "Sarah," she replied after a pause, her voice tentative and shy. "They told me to keep the children quiet," she went on in unaccented Punjabi. "I am making them believe that they are playing at the park. I don't want them to miss their mamas and papas"
"That is nice," Magnus said and hoped his limited Punjabi would not fail him. "Do you have parents?"
"Yes," Sarah replied and for a moment, her lower lip trembled as if she was about to cry. "My mama, papa, and little sister must be scared because I didn't come home. Two men took me from my village and forced to help them. When I tried to run away, they chained me. I don't want the children to miss their mamas and papas," she repeated and sniffled.
"My friends are coming and together we will help you get back to your family," Magnus told her and he hoped he would be able to fulfill his promise.
"The lady told me to forget my mama and papa; that she would be my mother from now on, but I don't want to forget them." Despite her distress, Sarah's voice carried unusual determination, and Magnus recognized in the voice the signs of a secured child. This was a young warlock who, he thought, was growing up safe and certain in the love of her mundane family.
"I will take you back to them," Magnus promised again, the words carrying even more determination than before.
"I see you have met young Sarah," came a familiar soft voice from the doorway and, almost simultaneously, several candles came alight all over the room. Some of the vampires became agitated, and they lifted their noses in the air in an instinctive gesture aimed at assessing danger or the presence of blood. The werewolves stood in a position of alert, ready to transform, attack and defend. The only ones who remained completely oblivious were the mundane children. "She is adorable, isn't she? And a talented warlock to boot."
Annaliese walked into the room, her face looking as young and innocent as he remembered, her long black hair tied in a ponytail, her eyes devoid of glamor except for the one that concealed her scars. She wore black jeans, high-heeled boots and a short black jacket over a red shirt, and if he didn't know that she was a dangerous warlock, he would have thought that she was a teenager on her way out for a night with friends.
"I didn't know you were in the business of abducting children and making vampires, Annaliese," Magnus replied trying to keep his voice as casual and as devoid of feeling as he could. With Annaliese you couldn't show weakness; she was able to smell it a mile away.
"I rescued Sarah from people who will never understand or love her the way her own people will," Annaliese retorted. "And as for the vampires, since you have kept your vampire friends from me, I was forced to make my own. I would have done the same with the werewolves but I couldn't wait for a full moon. Don't worry, I only chose nasty, mean and disagreeable people."
Two warlocks followed close behind Annaliese, carrying bags of blood which they proceeded to throw into the vampire cages. Suddenly, Stanley and Martha as well as the other vampires sniffed the air and, detecting the scent of blood nearby, growled and showed their fangs, and just like that, any remainder of humanity left in them was gone. The vamps became all instinct, an all-consuming desire for blood overpowering all other drives and unleashing a feeding frenzy. They sank their fangs into the blood bags and for the next few minutes, the sound of sucking and swallowing as well as the smell of blood almost obscured all other sound and smells.
"I used a few vampires affected by demonic poison we captured in Berlin," Annaliese said as if answering a question that Magnus should have asked, a look of pride in her eyes. "And I have infused this blood with the demonic energy released in the explosions. You may have done me a favor, after all Magnus. I wanted to take vengeance on you by taking people you care about, but this solution is much more elegant and effective."
"What have you done Annaliese?" Magnus asked, a pleading tone unintentionally creeping into his voice.
"What have I done?" she asked in an accusatory tone. "What have you done? You forced my hand; because of you I made these vampires; their fate and the fate of their victims is your fault. But no matter, they might not live long enough to cause much damage. Not all of them will survive the summoning. Mother needs their energy, you know. It is like a lifeline, she needs to latch onto their life force to climb out of Hades, in the same way that she needs your connection to her beloved son."
"Annaliese, you don't have to do this," Magnus said.
"Yes, I do Magnus," she replied, her voice full of conviction. "Yes, I do. I am tired of being an outsider, of being rejected and looked down upon as if I was scam, garbage, refuse. The question is why aren't you willingly helping me? You have also suffered; you have also been called demon spawn; why don't you want to embrace Mother?"
"We are part human, Annaliese. We are not all-demon. Do you think Lilith will love us as her children? She will wreak havoc and destroy everything in her path, us included."
"She will not destroy us; she made us; she wants us to live in her kingdom."
"That is wishful thinking Annaliese," Magnus said giving up all pretense to emotional detachment. "You are as delusional now as you were in Batavia all those centuries ago and look what happened then. How many of your people did you lose? How many humans died? How many have died since?"
"Quiet!" she shouted, her ruby-red eyes shining so brilliantly that they almost overpowered the light from the candles. "The deaths in Batavia and in Berlin were your fault. Your betrayal caused all those deaths. As per the warlocks that have given their lives in the last few weeks for our cause, those sacrifices were needed. Mother will reward our sacrifice by reunite us with those we have lost; she has promised to give Khuno back to me."
"Annaliese…" Magnus said but with a snap of her finger, Annaliese silenced him, all sound drowning in Magnus' throat before it could pass through his lips. Annaliese had never been a powerful warlock. In fact, she had never managed to master more than the simplest of magic. Her power laid in her capacity to command blind loyalty, and to awake in others an irresistible desire to protect, love and possess her. Magnus had wondered many times whether enthrallment was her true and only magic ability. That and a capacity for hatred that was almost without compare. Still, she had now managed to silence him with the simplest of spells, likely because Magnus' powers were being smothered by his retrains. He didn't feel that his powers were being drained the way they had been before; rather it was like he couldn't access the full extent of his magic, as if his magic remained out of reach.
"I can see that you remain a traitor, Magnus. Not only you are a human lover, but even after all they have done to us, you still consort with the Nephilim," she said, her voice full of vile, disgust and anger. "Your relationship with that Shadowhunter makes me sick; it is unnatural," she added between gritted teeth.
She then gestured to a warlock that had remained quietly standing at the doorway, and as he approached, Magnus thought that the man looked older than most warlocks he knew, perhaps in his sixties. He carried an old leather medical bag and had the demeanor and bearing of a small-town physician, including the small rounded glasses set low on his nose.
"Before you killed him, Khuno told me that you were shielding your powers from me," Annaliese went on. "Declan here is what you might call a diagnostician. He can unravel and find a way to undo almost any spell. He will discover how you are doing it and how to fix it. He tells me the procedure can be painful, so I will give you a last chance to comply."
Still unable to speak, Magnus replied with a casual shrug of his shoulders, as if indicating that he was as puzzled as Annaliese by her inability to gain access to his powers.
"You disappoint me," she said and placed a hand on Magnus' face, the softness of the gesture a striking contrast to the hardness and hatred in Annaliese's eyes. "Declan, do what you have to do but do not drain more of his powers that necessary. Remember that we need him."
"Yes Ma'am," replied Declan in a heavy Irish accent. "I will not damage him… much," he added and gave Magnus a menacing smile. He then signaled for the warlocks who had just finished feeding the vampires to hold Magnus down and, opening his medical bag, produced a vial with a greenish liquid that he proceeded to pour down Magnus' throat. Not only was the taste vile, but the liquid burned as it went down, and the sensation expanded until Magnus felt that every cell of his body was on fire.
Magnus had learned in his very long life that not all warlocks had the same powers or faculties. Some like Catarina were more in tune with the healing energies of nature. Others were more in touch with the threads that connect this world to the demonic realm and were particularly adept at summoning demons. Other were somehow in touch with the forces of time and could predict events yet to come. Some were good at potions, some were good at spells. The older warlocks got, the more spells and powers they could master. Yet some, like Annaliese, never developed their full magic potential no matter how old they got to be, and some skills and spells remained elusive to even the most accomplished of warlocks. Some forms of magic were also so dark that all but the most wicked avoided them. As a High Warlock, Magnus was exceptionally powerful and skilled, but he had always stayed away from the darkest of magic, despite having mastered some of its secrets.
And then, there were those rare warlocks who had the powers and skills needed for unraveling and revealing the secrets, forces and powers involved in magic. Almost any warlock could understand or undo a spell if they knew what incantations and forces had been used and what powers had been called upon. However, there were spells that were not written anywhere; spells that had been conceived by chance or, as in Magnus' case, out of sheer necessity; or spells which origins were so obscured and complicated that their structure, functions and secrets were not easily discernible. Those spells could only be understood and potentially undone by warlocks who possessed the skill of diagnosing magic. Those warlocks didn't need to know the spell to undo it because they could use their powers to reveal the threads and knots that tied magic forces together, and could potentially disentangle those threads and lose those knots in order to render the spell inoperable. Declan was apparently one of those warlocks.
What Magnus didn't know yet was that Declan's methods consisted of a combination of potions and spells. The potions neutralized any resistance and revealed any weakness; The spells and incantations dug and probed deep into body, mind and soul to expose not only the structure and architecture of a spell, but also the most secret desires behind any magic. Over the next endless hours, Magnus experienced what it was truly like to be turned inside out as Declan administered potion after potion followed by steady streams of spells that cut through, dug out and shredded any barriers and walls that he put up to defend the secrets of his magic. The shackles around Magnus' wrists and ankles made it impossible for him to resist, and with every passing moment, Declan exposed more of the mystic forces that run through Magnus and that made him a magic maker.
Magnus pushed every thought of the spell he had cast that night in Barcelona deep into the darkest and most secret corners of his mind; those corners where he kept those secrets and memories he never wanted to remember or tell anyone; those corners where his worst transgressions and experiences dwelled. Calling on whatever magic he could access, he pushed deep into his flesh any physical signs of the spell, including the omamori mark on his chest and the invisible threads and knots that tethered him to Alec. But everything was ultimately futile; he just didn't have the strength to hide the spell from the relentlessly probing powers of the diagnostician. When Declan finally reached the secrets of the magic he had instinctually used all those centuries ago to kill his stepfather, Magnus knew that his last line of defense was about to fall and that he had lost the battle. By the end of it all, Magnus felt that Declan had stripped him completely naked and had then continued peeling off layers after layer of skin until flesh and bones were exposed, and all his secrets were out in the open.
"It is the Shadowhunter boy," Declan informed Annaliese when she came back a few hours later. "This warlock bound the powers of his father's blood to that Nephilim," he added, disgust plainly evident in his voice.
"Can you unbind them?" asked Annaliese.
"No very easily," Declan replied. "The spell is very unique. I have actually never seen a spell like that before. I cannot wait to record it in my book." Declan rubbed his hands together as if he was in the presence of a delectable morsel of food he couldn't wait to taste.
"I don't care about your book," Annaliese snapped. "How do we undo the spell?"
"We may not need to undo it," replied Declan. "If the warlock entrusted his father's powers to the Shadowhunter, you just need to convince the boy that to stop the summoning he needs to kill the warlock. The boy is a soldier, isn't he? If he attacks the warlock with the intention to kill, the bond will be broken."
"But we need Magnus alive," Annaliese argued.
"That is why you need to time things perfectly. You must open the rift at the moment the bond breaks and the powers return back into the warlock. If the rift is open, Lilith can latch on to her son's blood and climb out of Hades. Trust me," Declan added, lovingly putting a hand on Annaliese's arm. "Didn't I tell you that I could snatch the warlock from the portal?"
"It is risky," Annaliese said. "How do we know the Shadowhunter will attempt to kill Magnus?"
"Believe me, he will. The Nephilim's only mission in life is to prevent demonic invasion. That mission supersedes everything, and there is no way that the Shadowhunter will put a warlock before his mission. We are demon scam to them, after all."
Annaliese made a gesture and she and Declan took a few steps away from where Magnus sat slumped against the wall. Magnus could hear them whisper but couldn't make up what they were saying. He observed though that Annaliese rested both her hands on her abdomen as an expectant mother protectively holds her belly. After exchanging a few words with Declan, Annaliese closed her eyes and bent her head forward as if she was praying. Magnus had not noticed this gesture in Annaliese before and something about it was disturbing and sinister. There was a power emanating from the spot where Annaliese's hands rested, a dark power that seemed to suck all light from the room.
"I guess we better make sure that the Shadowhunter boy isn't late for his date with you Magnus," Annaliese stated with a malevolent smile when she came back to where Magnus sat. "I had hoped to use his blood, but I guess I will have to get me another Nephilim for that." She then reached in her pocket for her phone and dialed a number as she walked out the room.
Magnus saw her leave through blurred vision. He was tired and his whole body ached, but he had heard the plan, every word of it a nail that sealed his fate. He had also felt that sinister energy that emanated from Annaliese, an energy even more evil than Annaliese herself, an energy waiting to be unleashed. He needed to do something, he thought; he needed to send a message to Alec, warn him, tell him that the situation was direr than they had anticipated.