Species change
Kiss me on the mouth and set me free
Sing me like a choir
I can be the subject of your dreams
Your sickening desire
Don't you want to see a man up close?
A phoenix in the fire
Alec pulled the leather jacket a little tighter around himself, slightly cold and very nervous. It wasn't every night the Dumort was open to those other than the Night's Children. But they had decided to host a party. An invite was easy to snag when you were sneaking around with the clan's golden boy.
Light poured out of the Dumort like the windows were vomiting rainbows of color. Alec felt for the card in his pocket. A line ran around the block, most of them probably vampire subjugates, waiting to see their masters. They disgusted Alec but in his own way, he was one of them. Only Jace wasn't after his blood.
He skipped the line, handing the bouncer his invitation and slipping inside. The music was heavy instrumentals and the bass threatened to shatter his ribcage. He found a staircase and started climbing anyways, watching his steps. Most people seemed to have crowded on the first floor anyways.
He was about halfway up when he lifted his eyes to find Jace standing on the next landing, watching him expectantly. Alec stood up a little straight and tried to fight the smile coming to his lips.
Jace beckoned him forward, his lips moving but the sound lost to the music. He disappeared down a corridor and Alec moved a little faster to keep up. He barely caught a glimpse of Jace as he rounded each corner. Standing in a doorframe of an abandoned room was a faerie couple, sipping their drinks, watching him hurry by disgustedly.
He didn't care what they thought. He didn't care what any of them thought.
It was exactly what it looked like.
So kiss me on the mouth and set me free
But please don't bite
Jace caught Alec in his arms as soon as he rounded the corner. He tangled his fingers in Alec's hair, determined to ruin it to the point of hideousness tonight. He tried every night and failed. Alexander Lightwood was incapable of flaws with the exception of his species.
It was horribly unfortunate to fall in love with a Shadowhunter. Someone made sure to remind him of that every day. But it was hard to see the end when the present was incredibly clear.
Alec pulled back a little bit, trying to catch his breath. Jace pulled a little tighter on his hair, urging him back. Their lips collided again and this time Jace pulled them out of the hallway and into his modest room.
Immortality had instilled a desire for wealth and beauty in Jace yet. He was relatively young but young meant new and the vampires liked new things to look at.
Jace liked to look at Alec. Even in the darkness of the room he could make out most of Alec's handsome features.
His head struck the wall as Alec pushed him back against it. The walls were fragile and it wasn't uncommon for some of the lower vampires to have windows into one another rooms. Everyone was prone to violent streaks and walls were often the victims. But the wall didn't break beneath him.
Alec's fingers ably undid the buttons on Jace's shirt.
He sighed, enjoying the flames running through his body.
Until it was a different kind of pain, less pleasurable, more demanding.
"Alec--" Jace gasped, trying to escape Alec's touch. He was overwhelmed with sensory overload. He leaned back, trying to dull the roar in his head. He twisted his legs with Alec's, turning him so Jace was facing the wall now, pressing the kisses against Alec's neck. It helped clear his mind a little.
Jace was in love with the way the blood rushed just under Alec's veins, pulsing faster with every ticking second. Blood--
You can coax the cold right out of me
Drape me in your warmth
The rapture in the dark puts me at ease
The blind eye of the storm
Let's go for a walk down Easy Street
Where you can be reborn
The next kiss hurt more than the rest and made him fall into Jace a little more than he should have.
It hurt because Jace was digging razor sharp incisors into his neck. He relaxed a little more. What was the harm in just a little big longer?
Alec pushed Jace away with more force than he had intended. The teeth tore free and Jace went stumbling back, wiping his lips with the back of his hand.
"Go," Alec ordered, pressing a hand to his neck.
"Are you--"
"I'm fine," Alec said, pulling his hand away. He'd heal just fine with an iratze. "Please go take care of whatever you need to do."
Alec fell onto Jace's bed as the door squealed shut.
And kiss me on the mouth and set me free
But please, don't bite
"Alec?" Jace asked, standing over the Shadowhunter boy. He felt sharper now that there was blood in his system. Alec opened his eyes. They were slightly greyed with the poison in his system, dulling his senses.
Alec stared up at him, sighing shakily.
"I'm so sorry," Jace said.
"I know you can't help it," Alec said. "But there is no way in hell I'm become one of those zombie subjugates. I'm not. I'm not going to get addicted and I'm not going to push my luck. You have to keep yourself in check--"
"I slipped up," Jace said. "I just forgot. I got caught up."
"I'm going home," Alec said.
"Alec--"
"I'm not feeling good, Jace." He sat up and Jace stumbled back.
"Just call me when you get home, okay?"
"Okay," Alec agreed, already at the door.
Aah, I'm pulling on your heart to push my luck
Aah, cause who's got any time for growin' up?
Kiss me on the mouth... bite
Kiss me on the mouth... bite
The phone rang in the middle of the night, sending shock waves of pain through his head.
Only, it wasn't night-- the blackout curtains were just drawn tight. Jace let it ring for a moment more before finding his phone in the darkness, answering with a groggy hello.
"Get up," Lily hissed.
"Lil, you are literally downstairs," Jace said, rolling back into the pillows.
"The Nephilim want to meet with you--"
"What?"
"I should rephrase that-- the Nephilim want a vampire representative and I'm sending you. Get up." The line went dead.
Jace wasn't one for subjecting to authority but Lily was vicious and he liked his head intact.
........
Jace arrived in the Sanctuary a little after dusk. Night had been closer than he originally though. He didn't bother knocking. He just walked in. His mind feared the worst.
The female epitome of Alec was waiting for him.
"And you are?" she asked curtly.
"You're awfully rude," Jace pointed out. How Alec could be related to her was beyond him.
She crossed her arms, staring at him defiantly.
"Okay," Jace ceded. "Jace."
"Last name?"
"Hot-one."
"Ah, funny." She frowned. "We have a bit of a problem--"
"I assumed."
"Our brother disappeared two nights ago and he's been sick ever since. The symptoms are consistent with vampirism."
He-- Jace replayed the night in his mind. He hadn't fed on Alec long enough-- He hadn't--
"Well, uh, there's not much you can do," Jace stuttered.
Alec would be one of them now and that thrilled the dark part of Jace-- but he'd lose his Shadowhunter identity, his pride.
"I need to try anything," she said. Alec had to remain a Shadowhunter. Jace couldn't force him into his world.
"If the symptoms truly are what you think they are, then I've heard stories-- only stories-- that drinking holy water can purge the system of the poison."
Poison I gave him, he thought.
Kiss me on the mouth and set me free
Sing me like a choir
I can be the subject of your dreams
Your sickening desire
Don't you wanna see a man up close
A phoenix in the fire
"He's not entirely conscious enough to be drinking," Isabelle said.
"IV line?" Jace suggested.
"We--" She started mumbling out options to herself.
"Can I stay?"
"What?"
"I'd like to stay," Jace said.
"You-- Why?" Isabelle asked.
"I'd just like to," Jace said.
So kiss me on the mouth and set me free
But please don't bite
Jace fell asleep as the sun began to rise outside. He was on a wooden bench, inscribed with runes.
A shaking hand woke him up though.
Jace opened an eye sleepily. Alec was watching him.
"Hi."
"Oh--" Jace sat up, looking around the Sanctuary. It was deserted. Alec was crouched on the ground beside him.
"We're alone," Alec promised.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm better," Alec said. "I have to drink a gallon of holy water an hour according to Isabelle. Who said she heard that from a vampire who was in the Sanctuary."
"I never specified how much--"
"Well that's what she's decided," Alec said. "It hurts like hell."
"Then that's a good sign," Jace said. "You know, relatively speaking; you know what it is--"
"Yeah," Alec said.
"Are you mad at me?"
"Not at you," Alec said. "I'm frustrated. I'm tired. My body hurts. I'm mad that this happened and-- I--"
Alec fell silent, something heavy reflecting in his eyes.
"And I have to end things with you," Alec said.
Jace was frozen.
"I apologized--"
"It's not about what happened last night," Alec said. "It's about everything, Jace. It's the fact that this can't work."
"Alec," Jace sighed. "Alec, please--"
"I can't keep sneaking out," Alec started. "I can't keep lying. I can't come home in the middle of turning--"
Jace's mind thought at thousand miles per hour, trying to find a way to fix everything.
He kissed Alec, cutting him off mid-sentence.
Alec gave a sad whimper from underneath Jace but he didn't stop.
"Jace," Alec whispered, pressing his cheek against Jace's. "Jace, I love you but I can't."
"And I can't leave you alone," Jace said. "I'd spend every single day and night on this bench-- this incredibly uncomfortable bench-- to even see you for a second every day. You can't just leave me. I won't let you."
"I don't want to keep hiding," Alec said.
"I'll make it worth it for you."
Song: "Bite" by Troye Sivan.