Just Bite Me Already

Chapter 15

Magnus left his potion room to see where Alec and Cain had gotten to. They had spent the morning discussing strategies for breaching Lilith's defenses before he had decided to finish off a new batch of potion grenades, as Simon had called them. Alec and Cain had muttered something about training before scampering off.

Having Cain in their space over the last few days had been easier than both of them had expected. He had plenty of insider knowledge about Lilith, tidied up after himself, and had the decency to knock before entering a room. All in all, Cain made a good houseguest, unlike Simon. Simon really did make himself at home when he was told to.

Magnus smiled when he thought about how Cain and Alec had hit it off rather well. Cain had shared some stories of the centuries that he had walked the earth, mainly stories about old wars and the kind of weapons he had favored in his early days, snaring Alec's interest and sparking several debates.

Magnus didn't mind so much that Cain and Alec spent most of their time training but he'd had to search Alec out a few times over the last few days, usually finding him holding some heated discussion with Cain. The whispering was starting to make him paranoid, considering how many times the conversations had ceased the moment he approached the pair.

Like now.

Sweeping Alec's training room with his gaze when he paused in the doorway, Magnus saw them huddled in the corner, holding another heated, whispered conversation. Alec's hand gestures were even more expressive than usual.

"Is everything okay?" Magnus asked when Alec stopped the conversation and approached him. The expression on Cain's face, over Alec's shoulder, seemed one of discontent. No, not discontent, more like exasperation.

"Fine. Did you want to go train with your magic?" Alec asked, pressing a kiss to Magnus' cheek.

"Sure. I wanted to have a word first though. In private if you don't mind, Cain?" Magnus asked, turning to the vampire in question.

"Not at all. I'll meet you both outside," Cain said, sighing when Alec ignored the pointed look he gave him.

Magnus pushed Alec back into the training room and closed the door behind him when Cain headed out to the throne room. Snapping his fingers, he placed a silencing spell on the room before turning to Alec.

"What's going on?" Magnus asked, deciding to get straight to the point.

"What do you mean?" Alec asked, shrugging when Magnus raised an eyebrow at him.

"You two are planning something," Magnus said, folding his arms over his chest. The look of innocence on Alec's face was a little too carefully crafted. "Every time I walk into a room the two of you clam up faster than a Seelie when confronted with a direct question," he continued when Alec refused to meet his gaze.

"We're not. We're just discussing tactics, that's all," Alec said with a tight smile, clasping his hands behind his back.

"What kind of tactics?" Magnus asked suspiciously. Alec was so bad at lying that he always knew when Alec was telling him the truth. Alec was telling the truth but he was still suspicious.

"The quickest way to take Lilith down," Alec said, fighting the urge to fidget under Magnus' scrutinizing gaze.

"That's all?" Magnus asked, his eyebrows creasing into one line, Alec was telling the truth again. He still wasn't buying it though. Cain seemed to be permanently on edge whenever he walked into the room, giving Alec pointed looks, keeping his mouth shut whenever he approached.

"Absolutely," Alec said, smiling when Magnus nodded and brought the silencing spell down. "Are you ready for training?" he asked, sliding his hand into Magnus' when Magnus led the way out of the room.