Assassin, until the first moment (🇬🇧)

Ritual of the Bayang Hitam

"If there’s anyone here who looks hot and sexy, it's you," Alec said, causing Magnus's cheeks to take on an even darker tone. Beautiful, Alec thought.

It was a rare occurrence that Magnus blushed, even when Alec was to compliment him. Alec enjoyed it all the more - instigating such a reaction. But, this also made it that more difficult to resist his wonderful boyfriend.

Alec inhaled slowly, trying to gather himself so as not to continue where they had left off a few moments ago, but he couldn't stop himself from taking a second look at the clock...

"Do you think we still have time for something quick?" Alec asked, not caring how desperate and needy he sounded.

Magnus shook his head without lifting it from the position against Alec's chest.

"As much as I would like to accept your proposal, it is out of the question to tear the Order's attire from your body. If I were to, I would certainly like to take my time and do it prop-"

Magnus fell silent when a knock echoed loudly through the room. The assassin straightened himself and ran his hands over his black tunic to smooth any creases before asking the interloper to enter, his voice flowing with authority.

Another shiver ran straight down Alec's spine. Shit… Oh, how he wished for nothing more right now than to hear Magnus' authoritative voice, but under other circumstances. He bit his lower lip and shook his head, trying to drive the erotic image that had popped into his head out of his mind. There would be time for that later…

Alec quickly withdrew himself from the mirror, ran his hands over the black tunic once to smooth it, and then stood beside Magnus with a neutral expression on his face.

The heavy wood door opened and Raphael entered. He bowed and promptly knelt on one knee in front of Magnus, his head bowed and eyes lowered.

"Everything is ready, Tuan."

Alec saw Magnus' shoulders tense, but the tightness vanished just as quickly as it had appeared. He knew that Magnus still found it uncomfortable to be addressed with the title his father had carried over the last thirty years.

"We'll be down in ten minutes," Magnus informed him.

Raphael nodded, rose from his humble position then glanced up briefly at Alec and back again at Magnus. The assassin's right eyebrow twitched briefly, but his face remained expressionless, not revealing what was going through his mind at that moment. Although Alec had an inkling as to what that might be, he pursed his lips tightly together to stop the smile that was insistently tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Without uttering another word, Raphael hurried from the room, closing the door behind himself. Magnus turned to Alec and held out his hand towards him, an amused grin on his lips.

"Let's get it over with it as quickly as possible, Alexander."

"As quickly as possible?" Alec asked, raising a questioning brow.

"I have something very important to do afterwards." Magnus coyly winked at him.

A knowing grin appeared on Alec's lips. He took Magnus' hand and let himself be lead out of the room.

***

Alec stood in the front row between the senior members of the Assassin Order, looking around in amazement. 

The room was bathed only in dim but warm light, it didn't hide the room's actual capacity. Alec was sure it could easily accommodate a few hundred people. He had been surprised to learn that there was a room of such size within the Edom Duke's mansion, even more so when he found out how many assassins were part of the Order.