So I am on a serious roll right now with these updates, so here is another one!
Consciousness came in waves, and when it did, Clary wished it hadn't. She could see next to nothing through the haze of pain and her tear-filled eyes. What she did see, she could make no sense of, and she lacked the energy or the incentive to try. Her dreams, or maybe they were hallucinations, were vibrant and colorful, a constant repeating flow of familiar faces, though her poisoned brain moved slowly, and often they disappeared, moving on to the next before she could put a name to the face.
Even in her semi-conscious state, everything hurt. Her veins burned with fire. Her head pounded. Her stomach ached. She was nauseous and freezing, probably feverish. She felt like her limbs ought to be nothing but blackened husks at this point.
Yanluo approached her again now, his misshapen figure, made worse by her blurry vision, looming over her once more. Even in the dark, his smile gleamed venomously. He held up another syringe and, a second later, another onslaught of agony shocked her system back into a tormented sleep.
The three Shadowhunters jogged briskly down the sidewalks of Manhattan, getting further from Central Park and the showdown taking place there with every step they took. "Where are we going?" Simon asked, keeping pace surprisingly well beside Jace. He'd honestly been wondering the same thing. He doubted the Brotherhood had allowed Jem to tour New York City regularly enough for him to know his way around.
"Is there a chemical plant nearby?" Jem asked, as they slowed to a stop, "Or a landfill?"
"In Manhattan?" Jace asked, "Not likely, why?"
The Asian Shadowhunter's expression was grim. "If Clary's captor is who I think he is, the poison he's likely using smells strongly of burnt sugar. If he has a large quantity of it, the odor will be hard to conceal. An area with normally foul-smelling air would be the best cover up for it."
"How could you know what poison he's using?" Jace asked skeptically.
Jem's expression turned haunted. "Because it's the same demon who killed my parents and the same poison it tortured me with as a child."
Jace blinked, completely speechless for once. It was Simon who spoke up, after letting that shocking bit of information sink in for a few seconds. "Well, New York City doesn't smell the greatest normally, but…" He trailed off, realization dawning on his face. His eyes widened, "Wait. Burnt sugar? As in the smell that would surround an abandoned sugar factory?"
Jem began nodding. "Exact-"
The revelation hit Jace like a freight train. Why hadn't he thought of that? There was an old Domino Sugar factory right down the road from Clary's home. This whole time, she'd been so close. "Of course!" He took off running, not waiting to see if the other Shadowhunters followed. He flagged down a cab quickly and a minute later, they were heading toward the outskirts of the city, to fight a demon, and-Jace prayed they weren't too late, to get Clary back.
Alec watched his parabatai leave, half in a state of shock. Asmodeus was still talking, taunting Magnus and Jace, and all of them. Alec was honestly surprised the Greater Demon had let him, along with, Alec had noted, Simon and a familiar former Silent Brother leave so easily, though really, he had the opportunity to kill more Shadowhunters by staying. Alec had no doubt he could easily find the other three after all of this was over.
That, of course, was assuming Asmodeus won this war he had waged. Magnus' plan was a promising one in ensuring that that didn't happen, and Alec would have no problem supporting it if it didn't mean he would potentially lose Magnus to that very plan. Though it seemed there was a lot more to it than Alec had known. He didn't know how to feel about that. There was no time to feel anything about it now.
He looked away from watching Jace-nearly out of sight now, retreat, and looked at every single Shadowhunter his eyes fell on as he brought his eyes back around to where Magnus stood beside him, no longer looking at his father, but at him. And in doing that, Alec made a decision. He couldn't very well let all of them die out of his own selfishness. Magnus seemed inclined to go through with his plan with or without his approval, but Alec knew it wasn't easy for him and he knew now that he couldn't make things more difficult by not supporting him. What Magnus was doing was noble, and while Alec would not pretend to like it, he would stand by the warlock's side until the end. He was a Shadowhunter. It was his duty to make sacrifices for the good of his kind. He took a deep breath. "Tell me what to do."
Magnus saw the change in him immediately. Alec knew, because his eyes filled with a love and approval for him like never before. As their eyes met for that one second, something passed between the two of them. Alec had never felt something as right as that moment. And yet, he was terrified of what he was about to do.
Asmodeus had gone quiet, having noticed their exchange. "What is this?" he thundered. Magnus ignored him.
"I'm going to give you my power," Magnus said to Alec, whose eyes widened and then narrowed, confused. "Like you will physically hold it in your hand. The rune allows for that. It will make it a tangible weapon." He spoke so softly, Alec could hardly hear him, but it also meant no one else, particularly the Greater Demon, could either.
"How…?"
"When I tell you to, you'll have to toss it up. I will still have minimal control over it. I'll force it on him. Hopefully it will be enough to end this."
"What will happen to you?" Alec asked, unsure of whether he really wanted an answer.
Magnus hesitated and looked away before looking back at him again. "I don't know."
The answer sent another wave of pain through Alec, but he had resigned himself to doing what was right and he would deal with the results after. He had to. There was no other choice. He took a deep breath and nodded. Magnus stepped forward and cupped Alec's cheek in his hand. "I love you, Alexander," he said, gold-green eyes holding so much love and adoration, "Thank you for finally allowing me to live. "
"I love you too," Alec replied, eyes stinging, "I always will." Magnus held his gaze for another second; Alec could feel the dozens of eyes on them, before retracting his hand. The separation was almost physically painful.
Magnus turned back to face his father. The Greater Demon raised his eyebrows, again looking amused. "Did you have a nice moment there?"
Magnus ignored him. "You say that my offer of my immortality, of my power, isn't enough to satisfy your requirements this time, is that correct?"
Asmodeus sneered. "You had your chance, stupid warlock. Any privilege you may have one held in my eyes vanished the day you defied me to help Shadowhunters. Now you will suffer with the rest of them. You will all serve me now."
Magnus raised an eyebrow theatrically. "And what if that decision is not yours to make?"
This time, Asmodeus did laugh out loud; a single, loud bark of a laugh. "And who are you, who is any one of you, to tell me what is and isn't my decision to make? I hold every card here. You are nothing. I could have killed you a hundred times over by this point. In fact, I don't know why I haven't." All round them, the demon hordes went on the offensive again, attacking suddenly, and the Shadowhunters and werewolves were forced back into battle with them, the suddenness of it taking a toll on some of them.
Magnus spoke up quickly, before his father could say or do anything else. "I'm not giving you a choice, Father. You forget. You may be immensely powerful, but you have not left me with nothing. I have power of my own, and I intend to use it, every last ounce of it, to ensure that you will not be returning here to bother those I love again."
"You are nothing!" Asmodeus boomed, "You are but an ant I crush under my shoes. You are worthless! You were born so and you will die in the same condition! You have no control over me. You are foolish to even think as much. And, my son, have no doubt that I will end you. Your time, foolish warlock, is long up!"
"Get ready!" Magnus called and turned toward Alec again, eyes closing tightly. His chest began to glow slightly, the familiar, sparkly blue glow that Alec associated with his magic, only it was brighter now than it had ever been before, a sapphire sun radiating out of him. It grew brighter and brighter, bigger and bigger, until it was no longer inside him, but in the space between the two of them. "Take it," Magnus said weakly, collapsing to his knees.
"What are you doing?" Asmodeus demanded furiously, surprisingly remaining where he was-for now. Alec's heart was hammering. Hesitantly, he reached forward and took the shining blue orb, slightly bigger than a basketball in size, in his hands, just as it began falling toward the ground. The second it came in contact with his skin, Alec knew why Jace had mentioned his and Clary's extra angel blood being preferable. The power contained in the sphere was immense, and quite obviously evil in origin. He was immediately forced into a battle of will, fighting against the desire to give in and be consumed by the immeasurable power he held in his hands. Never had Alec better understood the tendency of warlocks to become evil than in that moment. Magic was evil; he'd always known that, but he felt it now like he never had before. Resisting the force of such malicious, raw power was almost impossible. Raziel's blood ran in his veins, and even it was almost not enough. They had nothing to help them.
"Now," Magnus wheezed from the ground, so weakly, Alec almost missed the command; he was so absorbed.
The Greater Demon must have lost patience because he launched himself forward with a shout of "Enough!" but he was too late. Alec tossed the orb into the air, which was harder than it should have been-it seemed almost glued to his hands, and Magnus, with an obvious final effort, thrust his hand out and the sphere came to life and shot toward Asmodeus, who, though he was stronger, was taken off guard. It seemed to grow as it neared the demon, absorbing his power and combining it with its own. The Greater Demon looked astonished for half a second, before crying out, so loud it echoed across the fields and fighting, resounding through the trees beyond. "No-o-o-o!" He collapsed down then, in a similar fashion to the way his son had, but he began crumbling then, slowly, until he was but a pile of ash on the ground, which the breeze blew away a moment later. Alec stood, mouth agape, amazement dominating every part of him in that moment. He wasn't even completely sure what had just happened; only that Asmodeus seemed to be no more.
With their leader gone, the demon army lost any semblance of cohesion that remained, and the Nephilim and lycanthropes looked to have little trouble with the rest of them. Alec didn't join them though. He looked from the spot on the ground that had formerly been the Greater Demon, the source of his every problem in the recent months, to Magnus, who was sprawled in a heap on the ground. His shock was replaced with an intense fear then, and he was suddenly able to move again. He bent down over his boyfriend's limp form, heart in his throat.
The taxi dropped them off a block away from the old factory and after flinging a handful of money at they driver and not waiting for the change, Jace was out and running, Simon and Jem keeping pace on either side of him. The scent of burnt sugar permeated the air around them and made Jace feel slightly sick, knowing what he did now about it.
They stopped outside the side entrance, the door of which was broken, the handle and lock busted. All three were breathing heavily from the long sprint, but neither of Jace's companions looked interested in resting, which was good, because Jace wasn't sure he would have let them anyway. He hoped with everything in him that this was the right place. They had neither options nor the time if it wasn't.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Right behind you," Jem answered. Simon just nodded, procuring a Seraph blade from his belt, which was missing some of its stock from the battle.
"Okay," Jace said, and, taking a deep breath, with his own weapon in his hand, he kicked the door open and led the way inside.
Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for more. :)