Brothers by Blood (Alec Lightwood twin)

Chapter 73

*In the cabin in Brocelind Forrest*

NO ONE'S POV

"I have spent years clinging to my memories of freedom, imagining what I'd feel when I finally made it back. Would I be happy? Angry? Hard as I'd try, I could never quite picture it. In the end, I felt nothing. Just the unforgiving cold of the winter air. I guess it's true what they say you can never go back home." Jonathan told Valentine. "Sit." He commanded, kicking a chair towards Valentine.
"Why bring me here?" Valentine asked, genuinely curious as to what his son's plans were.
"Because I realized the thing that was missing was you. You made me what I am, father. Everything you did to me created this. And now it's my turn to repay the favor." Jonathan said.
"How is this possible? How did you manage to escape?" Valentine asked curiously.
"Frankly, I'm a little bit disappointed that you haven't figured it out already. You should remember Azazel." Jonathan said, his voice hinting at slight disappointment.
"Azazel? So you're the reason that demon switched me with the warlock?" Valentine asked.
"Not exactly. You see, I made a deal with him. I summoned him out of Edom and he helped me escape. Once I was free, I returned the favor." Jonathan explained. He paused, leaning against one of the tables. "I'm afraid it's not a very nice place." He whispered. "The first day I was there, they started burning my skin." He stated. "Just one layer at a time. They said I was too pretty for their world. Too human. So they made me hideous. But they also taught me how to use my demon blood how to draw from its power. See, I may be grotesque in my own skin, but with it I have power that you could only dream of." Jonathan taunted Valentine.
"Then why keep the Verlac boy's visage if you're weaker for it?" Valentine asked curiously.
"I think it rather suits me. Don't you? As does the accent. A bit more charming than a demonic beast with burnt flesh." Jonathan replied.
"Jonathan I know what I did to you was horrific, but let me make it up to you. Azazel wanted the Mortal Cup. Unchain me, and it's yours." Valentine offered. Jonathan walked over to Valentine and bent down so they were both at eye-level.
"You still don't understand, do you? See, I don't give a damn about your Mortal Instruments. I never have. I used Azazel to stage an attack on the Lightwood girl in order to gain access to the Institute. Whatever he did after that, however...amusing...it was none of my concern." He told Valentine.
"And yet you wouldn't have just brought me here if you were just going to torture me to death. So what are you planning?" Valentine questioned.
"Don't worry, father. You'll find out soon enough." Jonathan replied lowly, a slight smirk appearing on his face at the end of his sentence. He stood upright again
"Don't waste your strength." Jonathan said. He grabbed a fire iron and walked over to the fire, putting it in as he faced away from Valentine. "Or, um did you forget that you kept me prisoner in this god-forsaken basement for almost a year? I spent every single one of those nights fighting against those chains. If there were a way out, I would have found it." Jonathan stated, not looking at Valentine but clearly talking to him.
"Jonathan, you brought it on yourself." Valentine replied.
"You sure about that?" Jonathan asked.
"You killed that Timberworth boy. I had no idea what was next. If I would be next." Valentine explained.
"I would never have killed my own father. Albert was an experiment." He said.
"Jonathan."
"What?" Said person snapped. He turned around to look at him. "You spurred my interest in science. Gave me my first chemistry set. Taught me the basic laws of physics. When I saw Albert on the bridge, I was I was just curious." He said. He raised the searing hot fire iron. "Would a 32-foot fall kill a boy?" He asked, slowly lowering the fire iron as if it were following someone falling, his eyes also following it. "Yes, it will." He said.
"Your "experiments" started to attract attention. I had no choice but to send you away." Valentine countered.
"Don't lie to me!" Jonathan snapped, pointing the fire iron at Valentine. "Of course you had a choice." He continued, getting closer to him.
"No." Valentine replied, almost as if he was trying to convince himself as well as his son.
"You just chose the other boy." Jonathan continued, not even listening to his father.
"No."
"You sent me to Hell to protect him." Jonathan sneered.
"That's not true I sent you to Edom because you were out of control." Valentine said, trying to explain his decision.
"I was out of control." Jonathan said, his voice almost a whisper, and a hint of what looked like insanity in his eyes.
"Yes." Valentine answered. Jonathan scoffed then grabbed the scorching hot iron, which made a sizzling noise as he touched it, as if it were nothing.
"YOU MADE ME THIS WAY!" Jonathan screamed, fury in his eyes. He then stood up, walking back over to the fire and placing the fire iron on a stand next to it in order for it to cool. Jonathan then walked back over to Valentine kicking a bucket closer to him so he could sit across from him. "Do you remember my eighth birthday? It was the day you gave me my first seraph blade. I was so excited to use it that I snuck out of the cabin on my own." Jonathan said.
"I was worried. I didn't know where you went. It was at least an hour until I found the blood in the snow. I thought something terrible had happened." Valentine told him.
"But it wasn't my blood, was it father? By the time you arrived, I had already skinned the beast. A rather large werewolf as I recall. See, I wanted to give you its pelt as a trophy. I wanted you to be proud of me." Jonathan replied.
"Oh, I was so proud." Valentine said honestly. Jonathan stood up.
"Out of everything that you taught me killing was always what I was best at. It's ironic, isn't it? That that should be the reason you came to hate me. The reason you sent me to Edom." Jonathan said, walking over to grab a knife from a shelf behind Valentine.
"You're right. What happened to you, it was my fault. But I never hated you." Valentine said earnestly. Jonathan turned back to him before walking over to him, holding the knife.
"Oh I understand completely. And I feel exactly the same way. Enjoy your time in Edom." Jonathan snarled, slicing his hand and letting his blood run freely to the floor, creating flames and a pentagram around Valentine. He then walked over to pick up something that he had had in his possession for a while now. He walked back over to Valentine, the Soul Sword in his hands.
"Oh, I bet you'd love to get your hands on your precious Soul Sword now. Well, you're in luck. I'm gonna be sending it with you. Considering my Demon Blood, it didn't seem wise to leave such a powerful weapon just lying around, even if it is deactivated. It seems a rather fitting end to you both, don't you think? You always cared more about the Mortal Instruments than you did your own son." Jonathan sneered.
"That's not true. Despite everything I've done, I have always, always cared about you." Valentine said sincerely.
"Do not lie to me. If you truly, truly cared about me, you would have never sent me away." Jonathan stated.
"I made a mistake. It was Jace that was-" Valentine tried to say, but Jonathan cut him off.
"SHUT UP!" Jonathan said, swinging the sword towards Valentine. He grabbed it mid swing and it lit up.
"The sword still compels the truth. Jonathan not a day goes by that I don't think about you. Where I am not haunted by that decision I made to send you to Edom. I have always dreamed of creating the ultimate warrior, and now that dream is a reality. You have always been my greatest creation, son. Always!" He said truthfully. Jonathan looked at him over the flames, searching his father's face for any signs of dishonesty, but none appeared.