The Last Hours: Chain Of Thorns

Chapter 05

Chapter 05:

Bloody Cobblestones

Matthew was the first to run forward, James close on his heels. Luckily, James had thought to bring a seraph blade along on the walk, just in case, and he thanked the Angel that he did. He pulled the blade out now and named it.

"Orifiel," he said, and the blade blazed up in a white blinding light. The golden man jerked away from James, bits of flesh hanging in his right hand.

It was coated in blood.

The throat-less man dropped to the ground, painting the cobblestones with scarlet liquid. The living hatted man bolted, but not fast enough to escape the golden man.

With the lightning fast speed he had used before, the golden man whipped over to the fleeing hatted man's side and jumped into his back. The combined force brought both of them down. A sickening crunch sounded out into the nightly air before the golden man straightened up and turned to look at James and Matthew, a grin plastered on his face.

But something was off about the grin. It took a second for James to really notice, but he did.

The golden man's canines were razor sharp.

A vampire, James thought, wide eyed.

"A vampire." Matthew breathed out at James' side, speaking his exact thought aloud.

"Indeed, Shadowhunters." The golden man closed his mouth, hiding the pointed teeth. "Now, why was it you were spying on me and my associates?" He pointed limply at the body beside his foot. Blood had already begun to pool around it.

"Well, for starters, we heard the name of a fellow Shadowhunter." James used the term lightly. "So, we simply followed you and just now witnessed you breaking the accords." He tipped his head towards the body beside the golden man.

"You do know," James continued, "that we are, by law, allowed to kill you right here." He pointed at the ground with the hand that wasn't holding the seraph blade.

The golden man sighed deeply, though it didn't seem like he was worried about being slain. "Yes, I assume that is true. Though," the golden man looked back up at the parabatai and James suddenly tensed, "I'm not exactly worried about either of you."

"What's your name?" Matthew asked. He was weaponless but his fists were balled and raised.

Remember, anything can be used to help you in battle, James voice echoed in his mind. Literally, anything. He hoped Matthew remembered that.

"You don't truly need to know my name," the golden man said. "It's not as if I wish to leave you both alive. But I'm in a good mood now, considering I've already had my fun." He gestured weakly to the bodies. "I shall let one of you live, in exchange for my name and the other one's life."

He caught James and Matthew glancing at each other and laughed. "So, who shall it be?"

James spoke faster than Matthew. "Me."

"No, James!" Matthew pressed a hand on James' chest and held him back. "Don't be suicidal. We can kill him."

"No, you definitely cannot." The golden man smiled, showing off his pointy teeth. "I will kill both of you before you can even lay a finger on me. You may be parabatai but you're still no mach for me. I'm different."

"What?" James whispered, catching Matthew's sideways glance. "How... How do you know that we're parabatai?"

"Well, I'm not an idiot." The golden man chuckled again. "I may know little bit about Nephilim politics and rules, like how they should be willing to lay their lives on the line for their other brothers and sisters, but you," he pointed at Matthew, "looked like you were about to die. The look in your eyes almost made me shudder. I've heard about what happens when one's parabatai dies. It does sound quite painful, honestly."

"Shut. Up." Matthew said through his teeth, just before James dove forward.

Matthew tried to catch him, reaching for the back of his jacket, but failed. James was able to slip away by rolling over the wet cobblestones.

He could hear Matthew yelling for him to stop, but it seemed like all the sound that was reaching his ears had dulled. All that mattered was getting to the golden man, placing the seraph blade against his throat, and getting answers.

The golden man was standing there for one second and James' blade was almost slicing into him, the tip just piercing his throat-

Suddenly, the man was under him and had wrapped his arms around his torso. James' eyes widened as he was tossed up into the air and into a building's wall. Pain laced his back as he slumped down onto the ground, his vision blurring.

James stared at the ground, his breaths coming out in quick puffs. He couldn't force his head up at all. He only listened for sounds.

A scream.

A crack.

A thump.

A voice beside his head.

"Don't worry, Shadowhunter."

The golden man.

"He's not dead, just injured severely."

James' blood went cold as the golden man pulled back on his hair so he could see Matthew lying on the ground.

He wasn't moving.

A sudden rage pumped into James' body.

He wasn't going to let his parabatai die.

He wasn't going to die.

James tightened his grip on the seraph blade, his left hand's knuckles going white. With one sudden burst of strength, he swung the blade upwards quicker than he had ever swung a blade before.

The blade connected with the golden man's right arm. He jerked back, screaming as the holy blade kissed his skin. James jumped to his feet, surprisingly alive with new energy.

He drove forward and started swinging at the golden man, using fighting technics he had known for years.

He struck the golden man's body multiple times before grabbing his enemy's shoulder and using his body to push up and over the golden man. He landed softly behind him and brought his blade back to deliver the killing blow; a shot through his back, severing his spinal cord and piercing his heart.

But the golden man twirled on his heels and caught the blade in his hand, the heavenly metal burning his right hand's skin.

From where James stood, he could see that the golden man's gray eyes had bits of green floating inside them.

"Desmond Jagger," the golden man said, and James assumed it was the vampire's name. "Ac Infernum, consumptis."

The hell bringer, James thought, translating the words the golden man, Desmond, had said in Latin.

"I'm quite powerful." Desmond continued, eyeing the blade he held. Smoke had begun to rise up from his hand. "I'm surprised you can keep up with me and not die immediately. Though I can sense it on you. You're different, too."

Before James could say anything, Desmond dashed around James within the blink of an eye and sprinted down an alleyway, his golden locks disappearing into the darkness. James thought about running after the vampire, but then he remembered his parabatai was lying on the ground, possibly dying, and dismissed the thought.

He jogged over to Matthew's body and checked his pulse first. It was weak but it was there. Next, he pulled a stele out of his pocket and tore of Matthew's sleeve so he could draw an iraze. The healing rune made Matthew twitch slightly under James grip, but not enough to throw off the whole rune.

Once finished drawing the rune, he slipped the stele into his pocket and hauled Matthew to his feet, slinging one of his arms around James' shoulders for support.

While they slowly limped back towards the Institute, Matthew muttered into James' ear weakly, "Why didn't you go after him?"

"I'm your damn parabatai, Matthew." James answered. "I care."