Just Bite Me Already

Chapter 8

Alec darted to the kitchen doorway and picked up the crossbow that rested against the wall before following Magnus through the double doors that led to the throne room. It went against his better judgment to let Magnus go first but he used the time to load the crossbow with a bolt that Magnus handed him. Pulling the tight bowstring easily and setting it in place, he held it ready, his eyes narrowing when he saw who their "guest" was.

"Is this supposed to be a compromise, Magnus?" Lilith asked when Magnus entered the room behind her. "As flattered as I am that you would put another throne in here, I am afraid I don't like to share. I won't be sharing my realm or the title of..." she cut off when Magnus wasn't the only one to enter the room.

"Lilith. I suggest you move, you're in my seat," Alec said when he circled the thrones, glaring at the sight of Lilith, sitting in his throne as though she owned the place. Arching an eyebrow at her, he slid into the seat when she vacated it and trained his crossbow on the two men that Lilith had brought with her. He had a feeling he knew who one of them was.

"What are you doing here, Lilith?" Magnus asked in her direction as he sat down in his own throne. He wasn't looking at her, he was staring at the two men that she had brought with her. Or more specifically, at one of the two men that she had brought with her. There was something wrong about him, something that would have had his hackles up if he'd had any.

Alec was also staring at the second man, his nostrils flaring. The second man looked a lot like the first -who he took to be Cain- but with longer, straggly hair, sallow looking skin, and a vacant expression in his dead eyes. The guy was thin to the point of gauntness and he smelled like death. The guy's scent had his fangs snapping out, a low growl building in the back of his throat.

"It's Alex, isn't it?" Lilith asked, staring at the guy who had sat down next to Magnus. The shock of seeing him there was quickly fading to be replaced by a mixture of anger and caution. She was positive the last time she had seen him -briefly, in Magnus' apartment- he had been a Shadowhunter. It looked like things had changed.

"Actually, it is King Alexander Lightwood-Bane of Edom," Magnus said, sliding his hand into Alec's where it rested on the armrest of his throne, staring her down. "You should bow before your King. Either that or get out. I don't particularly care which," he said, raising an eyebrow at her when Lilith practically choked on thin air.

"King? I don't think so. You seem to forget that this is my realm, Magnus," Lilith growled, staring incredulously at Magnus, her eyes flicking to Alec when he gave her a pointed look.

"Magnus? I don't recall him giving you leave to use such formalities. That's King Magnus Lightwood-Bane of Edom to you," Alec said. The title, "King Alexander", sounded ridiculous to him. But there was no way that he wasn't showing Lilith a united front with his husband.

"I would let Edom freeze over before I call him King," Lilith spluttered, unbelieving of their sheer audacity. "This is my realm! I bow to no man..."

"Correction, this was your realm. You lost your title as Queen the day my father took it from you, with my magic," Magnus interjected, letting flames of red magic coalesce in his free hand, the magic licking up his arm. "I took his place as ruler of Edom when I banished him to Limbo. Now get out, before my father finds himself with some company," he said.

"Don't even think about it," Alec said, his voice low and harsh when Lilith started moving in Magnus' direction. The furious expression on her face had him raising his crossbow and baring his fangs at her with a hiss.

"Cain, do something about the Vampire," Lilith shrieked as she skittered back, smarting that she still wasn't at full power. All it would have taken was a flick of her wrist to see Alec off - if she had enough power.