the storm inside | kitty (boyxboy)

31 | The Shadow Market

They returned to the Institute, Kit smiling like a madman—which he probably was—and Ty looking away very shyly.

Magnus was there to greet them. "I don't know what happened to Dru, but it's very serious. I'll need you to go to the Shadow Market—"

"The Shadow Market?" interrupted Julian. "You can't let them go on their own! It's too dangerous, let me or Emma or Alec come along—"

"No," said Magnus firmly. "You'd be useless because you'd be worrying about Dru, and I need Emma and Alec here to protect the Institute. Everyone else is on their travel year, damn. I won't be able to do any protecting from attacks because I'll be protecting Dru."

"What do you need?" asked Ty.

Magnus handed them a list. "Just get all these and hurry back. No one should be able to give you trouble because this list is enchanted and declares you both under the protection of me. Now hurry, we don't have much time."

Magnus tossed them a sheet of paper with questionable contents. Eye of Newt? Avalanche Echo? What even went into the potions he was feeding Dru with? Kit eyed the list suspiciously; Ty grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the Institute once more.

Kit led them to the Market under the bridge, jolting back memories of the hushed, partially-illegal business Johnny Rook had indulged in. Kit had often stood quietly behind the booth, eavesdropping on all the secrets, as Johnny Rook had taught him.

Ty held Kit's hand tightly, keeping his head low. They were wrapped up in coats to hide their runes, the Voyance rune on the back of their hands caked in Emma's makeup. They approached each stall carefully, but thankfully, the stall owners didn't really bother looking at them.

They'd found all the items on the list, except the last one.

Powder for Healing and Cure of Diseases—Faerie stall #124

Kit recognised the stall. It was the one where Ty had released the faeries and pixies and goblins from the iron cages not so long ago. They walked towards the booth carefully. The owner was engaging in a very heated discussion with a vampire.

"... I'm telling you, goblin blood tastes horrid! Why do you want to try it?"

"For fun, obviously. It's not like you've tasted it before, unless... you have?"

"I—of course I haven't!"

Kit cleared his throat. The owner held up a hand to his companion and turned to look at Kit and Ty. A flash of recognition seemed to cross his face, but it quickly disappeared. Kit heaved a sigh of relief.

"What do you want?" the faerie snapped.

"Do you have a 'Powder for Healing and Cure of Diseases'?" asked Kit. He showed the list to the faerie.

It was a mistake. The faerie sniffed at the paper, then narrowed his eyes at them. The Powder lay on the table, already taken out by the faerie. He gripped it tighter. "I remember you," he said, and Kit's breath caught. He could feel Ty stiffening beside him.

"You must have made a mistake—"

"No." Kit saw his hand moving behind his back. Suspicious, Kit's hand inched towards the dagger hidden in his coat pocket. "No wonder you looked familiar. You're the Nephilim who broke open all my faerie cages, aren't you?"

He didn't give Kit a chance to deny anything. Just as he finished, a bottle of sizzling liquid came flying towards Ty's head. Ty ducked just in time; the owner glanced down the hand that was holding the potion.

Was. Kit had managed to swipe it, having the skills of a thief, trained since young. "Run!" he yelled at Ty, tucking the powder into his coat. Kit threw the dagger at the stall, cutting through a rope and collapsing the stall.

He could hear the faerie's cry of fury and footsteps behind them. Without turning back, he knew they were being chased.

Kit and Ty skidded to a stop. A group of werewolves stood in front of them, baring their teeth. Kit sharply glanced around, noticing the faerie and a group of vampires behind them.

They were well surrounded. Damn it.

Kit pulled out a seraph blade, mumbling a "Michael" under his breath. Ty had grabbed several throwing knives from his boot. At the sight of the bright angelic weapon in Kit's hand, the Downworlders surrounding them backed off a bit, but still wary.

It was two versus, what, fifteen? It was a completely unfair match, plus Kit and Ty had to keep in mind not to kill anyone while everyone surrounding them wanted to kill them. At least if Hypatia showed up, they could protest that they hadn't done anything. The faerie guy had started it.

Except the chances of Hypatia showing up before their slaughter was nearly zero.

Meanwhile, a werewolf had taken a pole from somewhere and was shaking it at them.

Not exactly a comforting thought. Kit knew it was a doomed match, unless some miracle occurred. The werewolf yelled and lunged at them. The circle around them was growing tighter as Downworlders took weapons in their hands.

Kit stabbed the werewolf in his thigh with his seraph blade. The werewolf gave a cry of pain and crumpled to the ground. His comrades, infuriated, lashed out with claws and similar poles.

Ty whirled around, launching his knives with inhuman accuracy and precision. Kit closed his eyes, and imagined the blade taking form in his hand. There was a bright glow, which startled their attackers, then the angelic sword's shape appeared.

It was the one which Kit had received, as a gift, in Edom. Kit spun and slashed a vampire's leg. "Aim for their legs and break the circle towards the exit," murmured Kit as he pressed his back against Ty's. He felt Ty give him the tiniest of nods, then swiped the sword as several werewolves' legs.

Ty had swapped his throwing knives for throwing stars. He tossed a few onto the ground, then threw them at the vampires, rendering their super speed useless. Together with Kit, they paved a way out, then ran.

Their pursuers gave chase, but the throwing stars Ty had thrown onto the ground tripped them over and slowed them down slightly. It wasn't until the familiar outline of the Institute loom up in front of them, did Kit and Ty slow down.

Kit's lungs burned and he stopped for a while, his hands on his knees. He looked up at Ty. "We... did... it..." he managed.

Ty bent over and hoisted Kit onto his back. Kit gasped, still breathing hard. "We did," said Ty, beginning to walk towards the Institute. "Now rest, courageous idiot."

Kit grinned, winding his arm around Ty's neck and ruffling Ty's hair. 

***

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~𝔂𝓸𝓾'𝓻𝓮 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓭, 𝓭𝓸𝓷'𝓽 𝓵𝓮𝓽 𝓪𝓷𝔂𝓸𝓷𝓮 𝓽𝓮𝓵𝓵 𝔂𝓸𝓾 𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝔀𝓲𝓼𝓮~