Angel Blessed

16. Raising Hell

In less than ten seconds, there was an extra large pizza sitting on the counter and I stared at Magnus wide eyed and with my jaw on the floor. He winked and flicked his hand a few more times and the pizza was in the oven. He sighed contently and walked into my personal bubble... and stared straight into my soul. I couldn't move. I couldn't speak. I was held prisoner in his feline eyes and I wasn't sure I wanted to be set free.

Electricity zapped between us and we stumbled back confused... Well, I was confused. Magnus looked like he saw a ghost and was downright terrified. The color drained from his face and he stared off into space. "Magnus?" No reply. "Magnus?" I stepped closer and tapped his cheek. Immediately, the electric zap came back. This time though, it felt like it fried off my epidermis and our bodies couldn't decide whether they wanted to cancel every air molecule between us or be on different planets.

I looked at my hands then at his grim face. "What was that?" I whispered breathlessly. Magnus only looked at me with grief and... was that... shock? His world looked tilted off-axis and I hope I was reading the cards right. He must've caught on with my thoughts because the moment my lips tipped down in a frown, a mask slide across his face, and no cracks were left to expose the emotions hidden behind it.

"Something in here smells fantastic." Izzy sild through the open doorway and a dreamy look crossed her face before she turned to look at us. She frowned and crossed her arms. "Is everything okay?" I opened my mouth to tell her of the odd situation but Magnus came back to his senses and cut me off before I got the chance.

"Everything is perfectly splendid. Little Miss Golden and I were just conversing about our favorite pizza toppings." He cupped a hand beside his mouth and feign a whisper. "She likes pineapple on hers." I slapped his arm and again, the electricity zapped through my body.

I ignored it and prepared to tear the man another asshole. "It might be a fruit but don't knock it until you try it." He gasped horrified and went to hide behind Izzy. Something tells me that he didn't just move for dramatic effect. Izzy let out a laugh and the ding of the oven timer went off. As if trying to remind me that I haven't eaten in over 12 hours, my stomach let out a loud roar and they both laughed at my predicament.

The blue mist surrounded his hands once more as he used his magic to take the delectable treat out of the oven and place it carefully on a cooling rack. The black-haired girl clapped her hands excitedly and reached out for a slice. Before her hands could make contact with the steaming pizza, Magnus slapped her hand and opened a drawer to dig around for something. "There you are." He pulled out his hand to reveal a pizza cutter.

Right... we needed that.

My stomach grumbled angrily again when I inhaled the aroma of food. I absentmindedly put a hand there to lend comfort to my aching stomach and stepped closer to the kitchen island. Magnus made quick work of slicing the pie into eighths and we all grabbed a slice. I groaned as the tang of the tomato sauce danced and mingled with the sweetness of the pineapple.

"I thought you didn't like pineapples." Izzy squeezed around a mouthful of food. I kept gobbling down my share but stopped when I could feel his stare burning a hole through my face. I looked up the same time as Izzy and he looked away shamelessly. "Magnus?" He looked at her and gestured for her to repeat her question. She did as told without any suspicious looks like earlier and he laughed when he heard her.

"I don't like pineapples on pizza, no, but since little one over there was the reason I made the pizza in the first place, I decided to add some to her half." I narrowed my eyes at him when Izzy wasn't looking and he feigned innocence. Not once had we conversed about our favorite toppings, so why was he behaving like he had prior knowledge of my preferences? I ignored his presence and continued to eat another three slices of the stringy goodness.

By the time I was finished and cleaned up, everyone had already gathered in the room Clary had drawn the pentagram. I walked quietly to join them.

"Okay. We're ready. Everyone take your rightful place on the pentagram." Glad that I didn't choose a grand entrance, I stealthily tucked myself in the corner farthest from Clary... and Magnus. Everyone here had an important role to play and I wasn't going to be the chick that distracted them and made everything go to hell... literally.

I leaned against the wall as everyone stood around the triangle and watched as Jace helped Clary find her spot. The pentagram had five points, so I really wasn't needed in the grand scheme of it all, and I had no problem with that. I was never a fan of the ouiji board and shit like that so the fact that I wasn't needed to summon this memory demon was quite relieving more than anything else.

"We must initiate a bond. Once the bond is sealed, it cannot be broken until the demon retreats. No matter what happens, we must not let go of each other's hands." Magnus paused and let the warning sink in. An ominous feeling settled in the pit of my stomach and I hoped it was just the pizza trying to settle. Magnus held out his hand to Alec and once they connected a small boom echoed around the room. The same thing happened for Alec and Jace, and every hand that was joined with another.

The more hands that connected, the more deep purple mist I could see forming around the room. It was working then.. "I will lead the ceremony, and you all must do exactly as I say. The demon's name is Valak. And at some point, it will ask for payment in exchange for Clary's memories." Magnus announced and I nodded in agreement. Not once did I expect to get what we wanted without giving in return. Nothing ever goes for free.

"What do you mean? What kind of payment?" Jace tensed in irritation.

Magnus only smirked and let out a sigh. "We will see. Let us begin" He began speaking in a very foreign language and the only world I could decipher was the demon's name. As Magnus kept chanting, I looked at the other's faces. They seemed worried and nervous... partly excited. I smiled at that. We're shadowhunters, when aren't we looking for danger? I did understand the panic etched into their faces though. It was only natural.

The moment Magnus stopped chanting, I felt a slight tremor in my core and black started to invade the confines of the pentagram. No one else was looking at black mist covering the ground so I could tell that it was my far-from-normal sight alerting me of another presence in the room.

"The necklace. It's pulsing." Isabelle was right. The ruby pulsed its blood-red and made me think that maybe my eyes were better than the charmed rock, considering I picked up on the demon's presence before it did.

Wind rushed into the room and a thick black fog descended into the pentagram. "Valak is among us, do not break the bond!" Magnus informed. The wind pulled and pushed at them.

"Hold on!" Jace shouted at Clary and tugged her a little closer to him.

"I'm trying!" She hissed as she fought back the restless breeze.

Even though everyone's full attention should be on the thing they were trying to contain, two sets of eyes landed on me. Alec's eyes searched mine for any uncertainty and fear while Magnus's just embedded comfort and confidence in me. This was quite odd because I was perfectly fine outside the pentagram but they were worried about me. I could understand Alec's attention but Magnus's just unnerved me. I was going to demand some answers from the warlock later.

Their focus went back to the pentagram and Magnus began shouting over the wind. "It is time, the demon demands payment!" My body stood at attention my mind raced with possible demands.

"What does it want?" Alec hollered.

"We must each relinquish a beloved memory of the one you love the most." At that, Izzy's memory was taken first. It was one of her brother smiling. Clary's was one of her mom, Jace's was... one of himself. I rolled my eyes at that and Alec...

Alec's was of me laughing my ass off with Izzy. It didn't last long, but it was enough to make my brain stall and my nose to take a deep breath. Another memory came from the tall man and I wasn't surprised to see one of Jace as well. He was his parabatai and nothing was wrong with that... but Alec seemed to think differently. "No, it's not true! The demon deceived me!"

"Do not break the bond!" Magnus warned once more.

"Alec, it's okay!" Izzy shouted over the wind. She tried to comfort her brother but that didn't seem to be working at all. My nerves were on edge and everything seemed to be moving in slo-mo now.