Not by Blood - BEING REWRITTEN IN SEPARATE STORY

Chapter Forty Two

EDITED 5/30/2020

Alec had somehow made it to his apartment. He honestly wasn't sure how he had done it; all he knew was that it had hurt like hell and still did. His arms and legs burned each time he moved them, even if he only flexed a muscle. The runes that were no longer there had taken up the appearance and feeling of third-degree burns. To put it frankly, Alec Lightwood-Bane was in complete and utter agony.

He had made it though, and he was proud of himself for it. It may have taken a few hours, or at least it felt that way, but Alec had made it home. So, he leaned against the wall next to the door and knocked as hard as he could on the double doors. He waited for a minute and then knocked again. He waited. He pounded on the door frantically for a moment and then waited once more. This time the door was wrenched open and a furious, heartbroken looking Magnus stood there.

Alec flinched back at the look in his eyes and watched as the fury drained from them, leaving shock. Magnus just stared at him for a long moment and so Alec did the same. He examined Magnus' new look.

His hair was not styled, in fact it was messy and standing up in every direction. His face was bare of any makeup, his cheeks were tear stained and moisture was collecting in his unglamoured, puffy eyes. He was wearing Alec's clothing, a plain black t-shirt with a blue button up open on top of it and a pair of well-loved sweatpants as well as a pair of plain black socks.

The Omamori charm that Alec had gifted Magnus so many months ago was gripped between shaking fingers.

"Magnus." Alec rasped. His throat was screaming, it needed water, as did his body. He had been deprived of it to the point that he would have died had Jia not taken mercy on him. He wouldn't have needed an execution.

"Alexander?" Magnus' voice wavered with emotion and was thick with tears. He moved forward and grabbed the hem of Alec's shirt, pulling it up to just above his heart, finding no wedded union rune. He didn't find any runes, only the ugly burns. "You aren't . . . dead?"

"No, Magnus." Alec shifted his weight slightly and let one of his hands fall to Magnus' shoulder. "I'm alive. I'm here with you. Everything is okay." He blinked and let the glamour on his eyes fall, showing Magnus his Warlock Mark. No one could fake or replicate a Warlock Mark,

Magnus' bottom lip quivered as the tears started to fall, streaming down his cheeks. Alec watched sadly as the man he loved fell apart right in front of him. Magnus seemed to be magnetically pulled right into Alec's arms.

Alec still had one hand braced against the wall and moved the other so that it was wrapped around Magnus' shoulders instead of resting on one of Magnus' shoulders. He carefully pulled Magnus into his chest trying not to cry out as Magnus settled against him with a sob.

Magnus shook with the force of his cries, wailing in Alec's neck, thankfully not on the side that his deflect rune used to be on. "I thought you were dead!" Magnus cried. "I thought you were gone!"

"I would be if it weren't for Jia." Alec whispered. "They left me in the cell for four days, they never came back. I never had food or water, I was dying of dehydration when she came down and deruned me."

"Alexander." Magnus sniffled. "Please, I can't lose you again. This is killing me inside; it's breaking me little by little. I cannot lose you."

Alec laid his head against Magnus'. "I'll do whatever you need me to."

"Let me wrap you in bubble wrap and never leave the apartment again?" Magnus suggested with a humorless laugh.

"If that would make you happy, I'd gladly do it, however impractical."