Chapter 9

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WOOHOO! New cover! yay! maybe new title, I don't know :P

{post write, june 10, 2017: there's that stupid emoji again -_- and yeah i made both a new cover and title since I wrote this book, so there you go}

Instantly Magnus snapped out of his haze. "Clary, go get holy water. As much as you can. Isabelle, Jace, hold him down for me. Make sure he's secure. Maryse, try to calm him down and distract him. This will be extremely painful, so he needs to be reassured that he will be ok," Magnus instructed, his professional calm instantly settling in. The immature, sarcastic façade that was there earlier was gone. In its place was the all serious, 852-year-old High Warlock of Brooklyn.

Clary nodded and left the room again to get holy water. Then she popped her head through the door and asked, "Where would I get holy water?" Jace sighed softly and gave his girlfriend the directions to get to some holy water. She nodded and was off. The blond shadowhunter turned back to Alec, dropping to his knees so he could hold him down.

"You're going to be ok, Alec," Maryse soothed as Alec's eyes widened in panic when Isabelle held down his other arm. He had lapsed back into the strangled choking sounds, so he wasn't screaming anymore. Something changed in his eyes, something sinister. Magnus instantly recognised what it was, but decided to hide his diagnosis from the others until he could confirm his suspicions. Alec's body thrashed as he tried to jerk out of Jace's and Isabelle's grip, but he stopped when Magnus leant over him, their noses almost touching.

"I'm just going to clean out the wound and have you drink some holy water, ok? It will hurt, but I need you to be a big boy and not move," Magnus said, but it seemed like he thought he was talking to a child.

Alec's face contorted into a look of rage. He tore out of his siblings' grips and tackled Magnus to the ground. "Don't you talk to me like that, you worthless son of a-" Alec started his insult, but was cut off when Magnus pushed him off and pinned him down. Looks like he found his voice, Magnus thought dryly.

"You know perfectly well what I'm the son of, so I'd be careful about angering me. I was already considering leaving you ungrateful shadowhunters on your own this time; be grateful I've actually stayed this long," the warlock whispered coldly. The look in Magnus' eyes made Alec stop struggling and lay back, allowing Magnus to do what was needed. Magnus sat up, pleased, and rummaged in his bag for a few things. "Ok, I'm going to have to insert a cleaning rod doused in holy water inside the actual wound so I can stop infection. Then I need to inject holy water into your bloodstream to eradicate the venom that's inside you." Magnus stopped and looked up, noticing the nervous cough Jace gave to get his attention. He looked a little scared.

"Are you sure that's safe?" he asked softly. The concern he was showing for his friend made Magnus' heart swell a little. If only I had had a friend like that, he thought. Then he was all business again.

"Yes, I am 67% sure that this will not kill or affect dear Alec in any major way," he said. Three heads snapped up to look at Magnus in astonishment.

"Sixty-seven percent sure?! Sixty-fucking-seven percent sure?! How could you be so unsure?! This is my son we are talking about! I cannot lose another son! Especially not because some stupid warlock couldn't be completely sure that he won't end up killing my baby!" Maryse yelled. Her face was pure red in rage. The fury was rolling off her in tsunami-sized waves. Magnus was so surprised -and scared- that his eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

"Um... W-well, I suppose it would be more like 72% sure..." Magnus trailed off as he noticed he wasn't really helping. Then he sighed. "Listen, this is the only way I can help him. If I don't do this, then Alec has a 100% chance of death. I don't know about you, but 72% chance of life sounds a hell of a lot better than 100% chance of death." He looked around the room expectantly. Their heads were bent down somberly, praying that their family member would be ok.

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