From what I could find,

Lempo is thought to be a god of love and fertility in Finnish folklore.

It is believed he is a trickster or a fiend

and is not to be trusted.

Belial is known as a devil according to Jewish and Christian texts.

He and his sons are mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Mostly they

are described as 'worthless'. No wonder Lorenzo is always trying to

claw his way to the top. He probably doesn't want to be

associated with his father's reputation.

I couldn't find much on the demon himself

but I wouldn't trust him either. I'll ask Lorenzo about him.

You owe me big time for that and I intend to collect, Magnus.

As for Nessraya, I couldn't find anything about her.

Maybe she's never been to this realm before.

Whatever you're up to, please be careful. Both of you.

I don't like what I've found so far. But I'll keep looking.

Maybe when Madzie is older and able to protect herself better

we could come and visit. She's too young now and I can't leave her alone.

I miss you, Magnus.

I'll send any more information your way as soon as I find it.

Take care,

Catarina.

"It's not much, is it?" Alec asked, chewing his lip when he looked up from the message that was burned into the ground of the training yard. They had spent the morning in the training yard, he, Magnus, and Cain all working individually on their skills before the message from Cat had shown up.

"It's only been two days, Alexander. I'm sure she will find more," Magnus said, reaching out to tug Alec's bottom lip from between his teeth. "Have a little faith in her," he said, moving to cup Alec's cheek.

"I do. I just wish we knew more about them," Alec said, leaning into Magnus' touch. As helpful as the small amount of information was, he preferred to be better prepared than they were. "The time is set, Magnus. Two days isn't enough time for her to gather more information. We're putting our trust in these demons, I'm putting your life in their hands. I just want to be sure it's the right decision," he said.

"We have no choice. We can't go up against her alone," Magnus said, privately agreeing with his husband. He would be putting Alec's life in their hands too. "Two days will have to be long enough. She grows stronger every day. We can't leave it any longer."

After the meetings they'd had with their new allies, it had been decided that they would strike in two days' time, giving their allies enough time to gather their forces. They were hoping that taking the fight to her, choosing the time and place, would give them the advantage.

The plan was simple. Gather their motley crew of demons, portal them all to Lilith's castle, and take her and her horde down as quickly as possible. The small armies that their new allies had promised were to take Lilith's demons on while Magnus, Alec, Cain, Lempo, Belial, and Nessraya planned to find and ambush Lilith, and those closest to her, in a direct confrontation.

With the revelation that Simon had indeed managed to destroy Lilith's 'army' of the undead with one of his grenades, they had decided to strike when Lilith was at her weakest - before she could make any more mindless slaves. Magnus just hoped what they had would be enough.

"I wouldn't trust Belial anyway so it's nothing we didn't already know," Cain said, gripping the hilts of his swords loosely. "As for Lempo, he's probably smarter and more devious than he looks. What do either of you know about Succubi?" he asked.

"The Clave had a few files on them. They use their beauty to ensnare and bewilder their enemies on the battlefield. They make their enemies fall in love, or at least lust, at first sight then they attack when the gullible lay down their swords," Alec said with a shudder.

"Hence the bubble of magic that I held around us at our meetings," Magnus said to Cain. They'd had a second meeting the day before to discuss their strategy for the attack on Lilith. Nessraya and her cohorts had once more tried to get through their defenses.

Magnus had found it mildly amusing, much to Alec's chagrin, to watch Nessraya's composure slip as she had tried in vain to ensnare Alec. Succubi didn't understand sexuality. All they saw was a male resisting their advances without any effort. But in her anger, Nessraya had revealed that she had turned against Lilith because she didn't want to share the spotlight with another woman.

They all privately agreed that Nessraya saw herself as Queen of Edom material and didn't want any competition from Lilith. As much as they hated Lilith, they could admit that her human form was beautiful and Nessraya probably saw her as a threat.

"Succubi make formidable warriors. When Nessraya lost her composure at our first meeting she showed her true face. Those teeth and claws that she hides are as deadly as her beauty. Succubi are vicious and hold grudges until the object of their ire is either theirs or dead. They are as happy to feed on their lover's blood as they are to take them to bed," Magnus surmised.

Magnus only had a second to kick some dirt over the grave dirt message when his wards announced the arrival of a guest. Their guest turned out to be Lempo. And he was alone.

"Lempo, we weren't aware that we had scheduled another council," Alec said, stepping forward so that Magnus could hide the message properly. "Are the others with you?" he asked, confused and surprised that Lempo was there alone.

"No, I haven't come about the battle. I wanted to meet with you privately, King Magnus," Lempo spoke to Magnus but his eyes flicked to Cain. He didn't bother excluding Alec, it was obvious that Magnus and Alec were a team and where one went, the other would follow.

Cain looked to Magnus and Alec. The small nod that he received from Magnus had him leaving them to it, returning to the wooden post that he had been hacking at when Catarina's message had arrived.

"Follow us," Magnus said, turning for the entrance to his and Alec's home. Curiosity and suspicion niggled at him as he led the way into the throne room, doing his best to suppress the shudder that crawled down his spine from Lempo's deep, despair-inducing voice.

Alec took his throne next to Magnus, eyeballing Lempo. He had been wondering when one of them would turn up alone. Each interaction with their allies left him with the sense that they held no loyalty towards one another.

In Alec's opinion, it had only been a matter of time before one of them came seeking some favor that they didn't want the others to know about. He had been banking on it being Belial, which only made him more curious about Lempo's intentions.

"How can we help you?" Magnus asked when he and Alec were seated. With a snap of his fingers, he produced a chair for Lempo and watched as the demon settled his odd droopy form into it. Now that he had received Catarina's message, he realized that Lempo resembled quite a few fertility statues that he had seen over his centuries. Which should have prepared him for what Lempo was about to say. But didn't.

"I have a request to make. I would like you to open the rift for me," Lempo said, seeing no point in drawing it out with sweet, ass-kissing words as Belial would do.

"We have already told you, the rift will remain closed," Magnus said, a frown of annoyance settling over his features. "I will not have demons running loose in my home realm to feast on its inhabitants..."

"I do not feed on human flesh," Lempo interjected, cutting Magnus off, continuing when both Magnus and Alec stared at him. "But I do wish to travel to your realm to feed. There are very few demons like me left. We do not feed on flesh or blood, but we do feed on human emotion. There is no other food source for me or my people. I need access to your former realm or we will perish."

"It is too dangerous. I'm sorry but I can't help you," Magnus said, raising his hand when Lempo opened his mouth. "Even if you don't physically harm humans, there is always a chance that something will escape with you. I'm sorry but the answer is no," he said.

"I thought as much. That is why I came alone. It is also why I offer something in return," Lempo said calmly, forcing his anger down. "In exchange for access to the mortal realm, I offer you a gift, Your Majesty, something that no other being, besides me or one of my people, can offer you. A gift for both of you," he said, including Alec.

Alec looked at Magnus, seeing his own confusion mirrored on his husband's face. What could the demon possibly offer that would make Magnus consider opening the rift? And what could it be that nobody else would be able to offer? He wondered, knowing that Magnus was asking himself the same thing.

"Some mortals think of me as a god when I visit them. I let them think this because it inspires hope. And that is what I feed off. I visit those who despair, who have no hope, and I give it to them in exchange for their emotions. They give me their despair and hope, and I give them the one thing that they don't have, the ability to procreate," Lempo said with a wide smile.

Alec stiffened in his chair, his eyes narrowing. The smile on Lempo's face was a little too forced for his liking. It didn't reach the demon's eyes. His stomach was also sinking. It sounded to him like Lempo was about to offer Magnus...

"If you grant me access to the mortal realm, I will offer you the gift of life," Lempo said to Magnus, ignoring Alec for the moment. "It is no secret that the half-human offspring of demons are barren. It is within my abilities to change that. You could have a child, or many children, of your own, a family for you both to raise," he said before turning to Alec.

"I do not know how what type of creature you are, King Alexander, or how you came to be this way. You look like a human but drink blood and you do not smell like one. You smell of one who has known death. But I think you were human once. Or something like it?" Lempo asked Alec, his smile widening when Alec nodded warily. Alec also smelled of Angel, a mixture that he found curious.

"Surely you must know that you no longer possess the ability to father offspring of your own? Death took that ability away from you. But I can return it to you," Lempo said. Part of his power was being able to sense when a person was able to procreate. Alec's seed was no more able to create life than Magnus' was, something he could use to his advantage.

"In case you hadn't noticed, Alexander and I are both males. Even if you had the ability to do this, it would be of no use to us. Neither of us is able to carry children," Magnus said shakily, staring at the demon. A touch on his hand had him looking down, gratefully gripping Alec's hand tightly when it was offered.

Alec could see Magnus' composure slipping. They had once had a conversation, whilst babysitting Madzie, about becoming parents. Magnus had said that he had never considered becoming a father because he had never had a good role model for what a father was supposed to be. But after they had gotten home and put Madzie to bed, Magnus had forced him to watch some awful movie that he had secretly enjoyed.

During the movie, Magnus had confessed to him that the other part of the reason that he hadn't considered having children was that he was unable to. During Magnus' confession, Alec had realized that it had hurt Magnus too much to dwell on the fact that he would never be a natural father so Magnus had put it out of his mind. Now Magnus was being offered a chance.

"I know how it works, I am the 'god' of fertility after all," Lempo sighed, shaking his head at the ridiculous statement. "That is why I am offering a second part to our bargain. There are many mortal women who are desperate for a child but are unable to conceive, women who do not have partners. If you give me access to the realm, I will bring one back for you. I'll bring you one each if that is what you desire," he said.

"You'll "bring us one back"?" Magnus asked incredulously, snapping the words out in his anger. "Like some broodmares, there to provide us with children with no thought for the women themselves?"

"You can keep the women around if that is your wish," Lempo said. The problem was easily solvable. "They will be able to survive the atmosphere once they are with child and the blood of the offspring mixes with their own. You only have to share the offspring with them until they die of their mortality then the offspring are yours to do with as you please. Or - if you prefer - you can get rid of the women as soon as the offspring are born. Then you wouldn't have to share," he shrugged.

"We need a moment of privacy to discuss this," Alec said to Lempo, knowing that Magnus was on the verge of snapping. He gave Magnus a pointed look when Lempo agreed, waiting until Magnus waved his hand and created a silent bubble around them. "Don't kill him, we need him," he said.

"He can not be serious!" Magnus said furiously. A wild, irrational moment of hope had flashed through him when Lempo had said that he would offer a chance to sire children, something that he thought he had gotten over centuries ago. The thought of keeping women around to birth children for them had dampened it, however.

"Magnus..." Alec started before his mouth snapped shut. He didn't know what to say. He knew that Magnus would never open the rift for a demon, for anything. And Magnus was far too selfless to open it for himself. But the demon was offering Magnus something that he never could. Which hurt.

Alec wanted the rift to stay closed as much as Magnus did. They both had people on the other side that they cared for. Not to mention the rest of humanity. But he would never deny Magnus that opportunity if it was within his husband's grasp.

"You can't possibly think that I would go along with this?" Magnus asked, his head snapping around to stare at Alec when he heard the unsure tone Alec had spoken in.

"Of course not. I have more respect for you than that," Alec said, a small amount of heat creeping into his voice before he let out a deep sigh. "He's offering something that you never thought was possible," he said.

Magnus took a deep, calming breath, thinking about what the ability to father children would mean to him. Yes, he would want a family. But raising children in Edom? That would never have been a part of his plan if he had been able to have his own kids. And certainly not at the expense of some poor desperate woman. A thought cut through his own musings.

"Did you consider the fact that you won't ever be able to father children when you turned?" Magnus asked, tightening his grip on Alec's hand. He hadn't even thought about it. But he was thinking about it now with a lead weight where his stomach used to be.

"When I used to see my future, I saw a faceless wife and faceless children. But I never considered myself making children. I didn't want to think about having to... perform husbandly duties in the name of honor and duty," Alec said with a shudder.

"Husbandly duties?" Magnus chuckled, leaning out the way of Alec's elbow.

"You know what I mean. I couldn't see myself... I never wanted to think about that. But when we got together, I did consider us having a family. An adopted family. When I thought about coming to Edom, I knew there weren't going to be any adoption agencies. I accepted it," Alec said with a tight smile. The, and I came anyway, was implied.

Alec hadn't factored being unable to father children naturally into his decision to turn because he had expected them to adopt when they started a family, ever since they'd had the conversation. He hadn't considered carrying on his own line.

"So you aren't considering his offer?" Magnus asked.

"No!" Alec said, horrified by the thought of keeping women around for the sake of having children. The image that flashed through his mind, of women sitting around in cages or shackled to their thrones, pregnant with their "offspring", filled him with the worst kind of horror. It made him feel physically sick to his stomach.

"Beside's what would I even do with a woman?" Alec asked with a shake of his head. He didn't need to add that he wouldn't be interested even if he could force himself to sleep with one. Magnus knew that he was the only one he wanted. And he knew that he was the only one Magnus wanted.

"Fertility treatment has come a long way, Alexander. You wouldn't have to "do" anything with a woman," Magnus said, wanting to be sure Alec knew what he was refusing.

"Magnus, I don't want what he is offering. If you do..." Alec started before Magnus shook his head.

"No. I think I made peace with not being a father a long time ago. I too thought about adopting but this is the life we have chosen," Magnus said. It wasn't worth the risk.

"Maybe we could find some cute demon baby to adopt?" Alec said to lighten the mood. The sick feeling in his stomach refused to budge, growing instead. It had him shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"Maybe. But we can't let him through that rift, whatever he's offering. He obviously has no compassion or regard for human life. He's just as much a danger to mortals as any demon who would eat them," Magnus said. He was about to drop his silencing spell when a hiss escaped from Alec. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Yeah... I... I'm fine," Alec said breathlessly, shaking off the ache in his stomach. A sharp pain had knifed through him for a second before it had gone. Shaking it off, he gestured for Magnus to drop the spell so that they could give Lempo their answer. "I'm fine," he repeated when Magnus looked uncertainly at him.

"We've discussed it. I'm sorry but I can not open the rift," Magnus said to Lempo when he dropped the spell, still side-eying Alec.

"You mean you won't open the rift," Lempo said, narrowing his eyes at the two kings. "My people will perish if we cannot get through," he said, his voice getting lower with each syllable that grated out.

"We can't help you," Magnus said firmly. He didn't want to be the cause of Lempo or his people's deaths. Unfortunately, the risk they posed to the mortal realm made his decision for him, he had to put his own people first. As much as he didn't like it, tough decisions like these were part and parcel of ruling. One of the reasons he had never wanted the crown in the first place.

Alec gritted his teeth when another pain knifed through his stomach, his fangs snapping out. The pain built, along with a feeling of dread. He hadn't had many occasions since turning where he had felt pain. The mark on his forehead usually took care of that. The pain of hunger struck now and then but was easily appeased with a glass of blood. The ache in his stomach didn't seem to want to let up though.

"Is this how you wish to rule? By condemning me and mine?" Lempo growled, standing when he saw the set of Magnus' jaw and the grimace on Alec's pale face.

"No, it is not how we wish to rule. But we have no choice. We will not endanger our people," Magnus said, his eyes once more flicking to Alec when he caught a movement out the corner of his eye. Concern flooded him when he realized Alec was practically hunched over in his seat, gripping his stomach with his free hand.

"If there is nothing else?" Magnus asked Lempo, sending an inconspicuous boost of soothing energy into Alec's hand where it gripped his own. Tightly. They couldn't afford to show an ounce of weakness.

Lempo had to fight his anger, furious that Magnus would dismiss him so easily. Only the memory of Shinigami's demise stopped him from launching himself at the pair. King Alexander had decimated Shinigami without so much as touching him. With one last withering glare for the two Kings, he turned on his heel and stormed from the palace.

Alec let out a deep, guttural growl when Lempo left the building, the pain in his stomach building to a crescendo. Unable to stay in his seat, he slid to the floor, gasping automatically, even if he didn't need the air.

"Alexander! What is it?" Magnus asked, unable to keep the alarm from his voice as he threw himself down on the floor next to Alec, pulling his husband into his arms.

"I... don't... know," Alec panted. He curled into a ball, a hiss escaping from between gritted teeth. With blurred vision, he looked up when he heard footsteps approach, to see Cain before the pain stopped. A wave of lonely emptiness crashed through him, as though some vital presence had disappeared as the ache subsided. The feeling of loss was unbearable, bringing tears to his eyes.

"I saw Lempo leaving. What did he do?" Cain asked, staring down at Alec and Magnus. Alec lay with his head in Magnus' lap, Magnus' hands hovering over Alec's curled up body as though unsure how to help.

"Nothing. He didn't do anything," Magnus said, completely bewildered. The tears that rolled down Alec's cheeks scared him more than the sound of Alec's pain-filled grunts. Using the sleeve of his shirt, he wiped them away.

"It wasn't Lempo, I don't think. I felt sick then there was... horrific pain. And now it's gone," Alec said, looking up at Cain. "It's just... gone," he repeated, his voice hitching in his throat.

The entire experience reminded Alec of when his Parabatai bond with Jace had broken the first time - when Valentine had killed Jace. But it couldn't be that - he and Jace weren't bonded anymore.

"What has gone?" Magnus asked, looking from Cain to Alec, and back to Cain. "What is it?" he asked, seeing understanding dawn on Cain's face.

"Your Sire," Cain said, kneeling down next to Alec, gripping Alec's shoulder gently. "I have seen this before. When a vampire dies, all of the vampires that they have sired feel it. It is a loss that is felt deeply. I'm sorry, Alec," he said softly.

"Simon is dead?" Alec asked, staring up at Cain in shock, his thoughts immediately focussing on his sister. He gripped Magnus' hand when Magnus' arms stiffened around his shoulders.

Magnus knew of the phenomenon but had never witnessed it with his own eyes before. His mind went blank. It can't be true, he told himself, over and over again.

"Simon is your sire?" Cain asked, sadness welling up in him when both Alec and Magnus nodded at him through masks of shock. "I'm sorry for your loss. Simon wasn't the best vampire but he was a good man. A kind man. He gave me hope and a fresh start. I shall keep his memory in my heart," he said, bowing his head.

"But how?" Magnus asked through numb lips. Cain wasn't the only one who Simon had given a fresh start. Before Simon had turned Alec, he had been facing Lilith and his immortal existence alone.

Alec just stared up at Cain, at a total loss. He didn't want to believe it. The missing connection, to Simon, that he hadn't even been aware of told him it was. "The grave dirt," he mumbled, extracting himself from Magnus' grip and standing, pulling Magnus up with him.

Magnus and Cain followed when Alec bolted for the loft. They found him in his training room, already pouring a message out onto the concrete floor, asking for any information on what had happened.

Magnus snapped his fingers with an ache in his heart and gut, setting fire to the message and sending it when Alec looked up at him. His hand found Alec's shoulder as they watched it flame up before disappearing.

Cain gave them a minute, making himself useful by making his way into the kitchen. The sadness he felt as he prepared a couple of glasses of blood weighed heavy on his heart. He knew it was nothing compared to what his friends must be feeling. Returning to the living room with the glasses in hand, he mixed Magnus a drink and handed it over when Alec and Magnus emerged from the training room.

Alec accepted his glass of blood, staring down into the dark red depths of his glass when he flopped onto the couch next to Magnus, in view of the training room. He wanted to be able to see when a reply was sent.

Magnus gripped Alec's hand tightly, his stomach-churning as he thought about Simon, about all of his friends. Another loss was too much to take right now. No matter how many he had suffered through over the centuries, it never got any easier. The wait for information was already getting on his tightly wound nerves. He had a feeling that it was going to be a long night.