Alec gaped at me with wide eyes, I gave him a soft smile.《Save it》I then smirked.
The basement was now empty and silent, all demons were killed. Our team met up, and Magnus stood close beside me. He whispered something into my ear, words I haven't heard for years at that point.《Your eyes》
《You mean..?》I whispered back and gulped.
《How long have you managed to keep it down, biscuit?》
《I don't know.. Five years?》
《Something must've unlocked it again》he massaged his chin,《I wonder what the reason could be..》
The only one beside Magnus who noticed my unnatural wide pupils was Mark, who kept staring at me with a low profile. Only the two of them knew about that, maybe even Julian, but he was all busy with coming up with a plan.
《So what next?》Jace asked impatiently.
《There is a ladder that will guide us to the back entrance of the Hybrids court. Only four of you will jump down the closed arena and kill demons, the rest of us will look for the door》
《I will go down firs-》Jace started fiercely.
《Julian and I will》Alec demanded, Jules nodded.
《Not without me》Emma crossed her arms on her chest,《And Rach》
《Obviously》Alec rolled his eyes in annoyance and sighed loudly.
《Wow, very mature of you》I gasped dramatically. He threw me a side glance and quickly dismissed it. Being moody, I see.
~
The ladder brought us all on a high narrow steel grid pathway. I took a step at a time, carefully, and almost stumbled to my feet a couple of times. I was terrified of heights. I felt a strong hand grabbing my right arm, keeping me steady.
《I-I got this》I abruptly pulled my arm away from Alec's grip.
《Really?》he arched his eyebrows with a superior look.
《Stop being mean to me》I scoffed and quickly looked away.
《You probably didn't notice but.. the only way to jump in the arena is reaching the other side. By walking on that》he whispered with a smirk and pointed at a very narrow side path against the wall, so narrow it would only fit half of my feet.
《No problem》I lied with a fake smile, my voice cracking a little.
《No problem, uh?》he teased with a mischievous smirk.
When it was time for me to walk parallel on that such narrow side path, I took a quick glance at the height difference. It was at least twenty meters. I sucked in a deep sharp breath, exhaling slowly. Alec was already halfway there, his arms glued on the wall. I slid against the wall slowly and suddenly an empty spot caused me to lose my equilibrium and my feet helplessly slid down.
I closed my eyes in fear, waiting for the impact, or some kind of collision, but I found myself hanging helplessly in the middle of nowhere instead, Alec's arms tight around my waist.
I breathed heavily, and so did he. He slowly pulled me up back on my feet. In the silence of the moment, all I could hear was our heavy breaths and Alec's heart almost pounding out of his chest.
《Hey》he spoke in between breaths. I glanced up at him, a tear escaping my eye. I opened my mouth but no word slipped out. Nothing.
When we finally reached the other side, a few moments later, Alec offered his hands for me to take and pulled me to his fine chest. I held onto his shirt and buried my face against it, sobs leaving my dry throat softly. He wrapped his warm arms around me and held me tight, his dry lips blew a kiss on my head.
《T-Thank you, b-by the way》I managed to speak as we pulled away from the hug.
《I almost had a heart -attack》he quietly answered, his hands still shaking.《W-what if I hadn't had the reflex-》
《Alec, hey》I smiled reassuringly,《You just saved my life. I owe you one》
He smiled weakly and suddenly grabbed my arm. He slid his stele from his tight black pants' back pocket and started drawing a new rune on the interior of my right arm.
《This one will sting a little, you can scratch me if you feel like to》Alec's voice softened, as he offered his free arm for me to squeeze.
Sting??! My vision got blurry for the amount of pain, my skin visibly burning at the touch of his stele. I breathed out and squeezed his free arm, trying hard not to hurt him.
《Fearless》he smiled, his heartbeat slowly recovering.《You ready to jump?》
《As ready as I'll ever be》 I nervously sighed.
He climbed up a half wall and turned to face me. Back-flip?? Was he nuts?? He offered his hands for me to take.
《C'mon, we have tried this plenty of times》he encouraged.
《On a mat!》I widened my eyes.《And my feet would always trip while landing!》
《It's going to be good, I'm here with you》he insisted. I breathed out and placed my hands in his.
~
It was a matter of seconds before Alec pulled me up the wall beside him. He intertwined his fingers with mine and gave me a soft nod. Time to jump. May Raziel help me. The time seemed like it had slowed as we flew in the air with a black-flip and, fortunately, landed just fine on our feet.
《Shorty》Alec called, I glanced up at him.《Fight for me》
I gulped at his words. I knew he meant it like I had to fight and make him proud, trying not to get hurt. However, as twisted as it sounds, my heart shrank and I had to bite my bottom lip to stop my heartbeat from racing.
I swiped away any unnatural thought by sliding my Seraph Blades out of my back belt. I was ready to fight, yet so terrified of facing the Master of Hybrids.
I probably had to die. After all we've been through, the fights, the good times, I had to die. And I wasn't one bit ready.