CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
SLAYING DEMONS

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     There were a total of three small boats at the waterfront. Adrian followed the Lightwoods onto one and only half-listened when they described the plan. Adrian thought the plan was rather obvious. The first group of Shadowhunters—the boat Adrian was on—would sneak onto Valentine's ship. The other two groups would follow soon after. If anyone saw Valentine, they wouldn't hesitate. Adrian had an awful feeling that Valentine wasn't planning on getting involved with the fighting. He'd stay out of the way, safe, and let his followers and demons do the fighting for him. He could see creatures prowling along the top of the ship as they neared. Valentine's ship was farther away than he had thought, the ship growing larger and larger as they drew closer. Adrian was beginning to understand why Imogen thought this fight was over before it even started. He had never been in a battle this large—nor had any of the teenagers currently on their way to fight—so he nervously fiddled with his stele and leaned against the railing along the side of the boat.

"Alec?" he said at last, turning his head toward where Alec was sitting down, looking as calm as ever, doing something with his bow that Adrian had seen him do a thousand times before, yet still didn't know the name of. He had been horrible with a bow, or any long-range weapon. Alec looked up, frowning when he noticed Adrian twisting his stele around his fingers. "You don't happen to know the Fearless rune, do you?" Still frowning, Alec stood and put his bow on his back, coming forward and gently taking Adrian's stele away from him.

"I only saw it once," he said, sounding apologetic, "and I was kind of anxious considering I was letting her test it out on me. Trust me, if I remembered it, I'd be drawing it on myself right now." Alec didn't look particularly nervous. His hands were still; he wasn't fidgeting. Then again, Adrian's hands weren't shaking either. They were trained to ignore their nerves. Adrian just found that harder to do now that Valentine's ship was in sight. Seeing Adrian glance nervously at the ship, Alec sighed and twirled the stele to get his attention. "Don't play with this when you're so close to the railing. The last thing you need is to drop it in the water." Adrian scowled at him.

"I'd like to think I'm a little more skilled than that." Alec rolled his eyes while Adrian leaned his hip against the railing. "Besides, when have I ever accidentally dropped a weapon? You're the clumsy one, not me." Alec's nose wrinkled at that, and then he was reaching forward, grabbing Adrian's right arm and stretching it out. It was empty of any runes, aside from the permanent ones. He had never quite mastered drawing runes with his less dominant hand, so he let Alec do it now. He watched him for a moment before his eyes went to the parabatai rune on Alec's right forearm. "How are you doing? Do you feel anything?" He reached out to touch the rune to show Alec what he was referring to. Alec paused in his drawing, frown deepening, before he let out a small sigh.

"Well, he's alive," Alec said, voice quiet. Adrian figured as much. If Jace had died, Alec wouldn't even be able to function, much less talk. Adrian had never witnessed a parabatai lose their other half, but he had read up on it, had heard the stories. Just breaking the parabatai bond, without either dying, was extraordinarily painful and traumatizing. He didn't want to think of what would happen if Jace were to die. "I think he's hurt, but not severely. Hopefully we'll get there soon. It's taking forever."

"Really? Feels like it's going too fast to me," Adrian mumbled as Alec finished drawing the last rune and gave his stele back. Adrian put it back into the small holster on his belt. "You know, it's times like these I wish I had my own parabatai."

"Thought you liked working alone," Alec said, sounding amused now.

"I do. Doesn't change the fact that parabatai are stronger in battle."

"You and Izzy could have done it a long time ago."

"Yeah," Adrian said with a sigh. He and Isabelle worked well together. They had discussed becoming parabatai before, but neither had gone through with it. The thought of being bonded to someone so intimately—the thought of losing that other person and being even more destroyed by it than normal—terrified them both. "We still could." He looked over at Isabelle, who was on the other side of the boat, staring at the unfamiliar Shadowhunters around her with narrowed eyes, her hands on her hips. Adrian smiled watching her. When he looked back at Alec, he saw that Alec was staring at him again, only this time he didn't look away after being caught. Adrian's smile grew wider. "Are you about to confess something, Alexander?"

"It's not really a deep confession, but..." Alec shrugged and ducked his head, hand coming up to rub the back of his neck. His cheeks were going red. "This morning, when you asked me why I kissed you back. I told you I didn't know why, and I...well, I lied. I'm sorry." Adrian raised his eyebrows, then automatically glanced around them, his first reaction being making sure no one was in hearing distance. More specifically, that Maryse and Robert weren't in hearing distance. It wasn't like Alec to talk about his sexuality so openly, especially when surrounded by Shadowhunters. His second reaction was to look sharply at Alec, finally processing what he had said. Alec grimaced at the look. "I didn't lie to hurt you. I just thought the truth would have hurt you even more."

"Alec," Adrian said, stepping closer and lowering his voice, "tell me the truth quick, before people start activating their hearing runes. We're getting close to the ship." Alec gave a wary glance around. People were getting ready, making sure all their runes were either drawn or activated, gathering their weapons. Everyone had either lowered their voices, or had gone completely silent. The only person who seemed to be aware of Alec and Adrian was Isabelle, who turned her face away when both of them looked at her.

"I tried not to kiss you back, because I knew you'd get upset if I did," Alec said, his whispers rushed. "But when you kissed me, I just...stopped thinking. About everything except you." Those seemed to be the only words he was able to get out, which was just as well. People were starting to bring their steles to their necks, where the permanent hearing rune was drawn beneath their ear. Robert and Maryse had moved closer. Even though they didn't seem to be paying the two of them any attention—in fact, they seemed to be in a heated argument—Alec seemed to go as stiff as a board, pressing his lips together and taking a step away from Adrian, putting distance between them. Adrian didn't like that at all, so he stepped forward and threw his arms around him, hugging him close. Alec slowly hugged him back, arms wrapping around Adrian's waist. No one would do a double-take at them hugging. Everyone knew they were close.

"Thank you for telling me the truth," he whispered, still hugging him. Alec's arms tightened around him. "And I stopped thinking about everything, too." When they finally pulled away, he saw that Alec's face was even redder than before, eyes downcast. Adrian bit back his smile. He was relieved when Isabelle walked over to them, because it gave him a distraction from the growing excitement in his chest. Isabelle eyed him. When she glanced at Alec, she was smiling.

"What are you boys talking about?" she asked, twirling her long braid around her hand. Alec rolled his eyes at her.

"None of your business," he said, making Isabelle scowl immediately. She dropped her braid and turned toward Adrian, who just grinned at her. Her eyes narrowed.

"You're going to start taking his side, aren't you?" She sniffed. "So unfair. You were my backup when he was being a stereotypical older brother, Dri." Rolling his eyes, Adrian threw both his arms over her shoulders and pulled her into his side. She grinned up at him. "Try not to stray too far away from me, by the way. Gotta have you guarding my back." Alec eyed them, then made a show of rolling his eyes.

"Remind me why you two aren't parabatai again?" was all he said before he turned away. They had finally reached Valentine's ship. The other two boats were circling around to the other side. Imogen, Maryse, Robert, and the other adults started scaling up the side of the ship. Adrian, Alec, and Isabelle were some of the last to start climbing. All was dead silent as they climbed, the Shadowhunters stretching out so that they'd all be able to jump over at the same time. This was more of an ambush than an attack. Adrian found that he was glad it was nighttime, because Alec and Isabelle both eased up to look over the side. Holding onto the side with one hand, Adrian reached for his stele and quickly activated the runes to heighten his hearing and his eyesight. Immediately, his vision sharpened, the shadows brightening so that he could see in the dark. He eased up as well, clenching his jaw when he saw both Circle members and demons prowling the ship. The Circle members seemed to be avoiding the demons as much as possible, and Adrian didn't blame them. They ranged from harmless to deadly, though he was relieved to see that the majority of them were fairly easy to kill. Of course they were. Valentine wouldn't risk losing control of stronger demons when his plan relied on manipulating them. Not before the ritual was complete.

It would make taking them all out easier. The Circle members would steer clear of the demons as much as possible, and during a fight, they'd be distracted. Like Valentine, they were ordered not to hesitate where Circle members were concerned. Any survivors would either escape, or they'd be taken to Idris and be dealt with by the Clave. Even though Adrian was fully prepared to follow orders, he had never killed another Shadowhunter before. He imagined it wasn't much different than killing rogue Downworlders, the ones who killed innocent people for fun. These Circle members were no different just because they were Nephilim and had runes on their skin.

Maryse was the first to move, jumping onto the platform with the same kind of grace their kind had. She had slayed one demon before anyone even realized what was going on, and then Shadowhunters were pouring over the side, Adrian included, the blades swinging out of his shaft right when he brought it down across what he thought was a demons neck. Isabelle had a seraph blade in her right hand, and was lashing out with her left, her whip circling a Circle member's neck, nearly decapitating the woman. Maryse cut her down before Adrian or Isabelle could, so Adrian turned away and focused on taking out as many demons as he could. Isabelle was right beside him. They had lost Alec in the chaos, but he wasn't worried. He had probably gone to find Jace; they always seemed to know where the other was when they were fighting.

"Adrian, duck!" Isabelle yelled. Adrian did immediately, watching as her whip soared over where his head used to be, wrapping around the leg of a demon that seemed to have wings. Adrian stood and twisted his staff around, cutting the thing to ribbons as soon as Isabelle had pulled it into range. Ichor rained down on them, and Adrian cursed in pain when it touched his skin. It burned like acid. Luckily, it didn't seem to melt their gear. Still, they wouldn't be able to continue like this if the ichor continued to burn through them. "Cover me," Isabelle ordered, thinking the same thing as she fumbled with her stele. He took down what looked like an Oni demon as she drew a messy iratze rune on her chest. As soon as she was done, she starting lashing out around them with her whip, covering Adrian as he did the same thing. Immediately, the pain subsided, the burn marks fading away like they were never there.

"Are there any more of those flying things?" Adrian demanded, having to raise his voice. The other Shadowhunters had finally joined the fight, and there was nothing but pained screams and demonic screeches that hurt his ears.

"I don't see any—shit!" A demon had jumped in between them, claws taking a swipe at Isabelle, who jerked back just in time to avoid her neck being slashed. The demon was bigger than the others they had killed, so Adrian twisted his staff down the middle, where they could separate, turning the staff into two swords. They seemed to grow larger in his hands, and when they slashed across the demon's back, it burned it's skin. It let out a roar that seemed to shake the platform, rounding on Adrian and swiping at him. He ducked at the same time Isabelle made her own attack. It went like that, back and forth, until they both managed to land hits around it's head when it crouched lower to the ground. It didn't explode in ichor like the winged demon, but rather evaporated in dark smoke.

"Was that a new demon?" Isabelle demanded, breathing hard as she turned and took out another Oni demon. Those things exploded in ichor, too, but thankfully, it didn't burn.

"Does it matter—Izzy!" She didn't quite turn fast enough to avoid the Circle member's sword. Adrian threw one half of his staff, the blade landing in the Circle member's shoulder. The tip of his sword had slashed across Isabelle's shoulder. She was grasping it, glaring at the man as he yanked the staff end out of his shoulder and tossed it away. Adrian cursed and drew his sword off his back, twisting it around his hand as he took a step closer, planning to help Isabelle. She didn't seem to need it, which was just as well, because another Circle member decided that was the time to attack Adrian. He hadn't realized they had moved out of the spot with the most demons until he glanced around and saw nothing but Shadowhunters fighting around him. He brought his sword up just in time to avoid the tip of a sword stabbing him in the neck. Shoving back, he swung the other remaining half of his staff, slashing across the man's chest. He hadn't expected to land a hit so easily. He had assumed Circle members were extremely skilled.

Now, he could see that they were losing. Badly. A bunch of them were already dead, and a few others had simply jumped into the water to swim away. They were all Shadowhunters who had gone into hiding after the Circle disbanded. It seemed like they hadn't picked up weapons since then. With a dawning realization, Adrian realized they were nothing more than a distraction. They were dying for Valentine, and Valentine probably didn't even care.

Adrian didn't let himself think about that. The Circle members had done horrible things, regardless. He swung his sword again, so hard that the man's own sword flew from his hands. That didn't seem to deter him, shooting forward to fight with his hands. Adrian saw a fraction of the skill that he had been expecting. He brought his sword up again, ready to strike him down and be done with it, when something burning hot wrapped around his wrist and yanked him back. For a bewildering moment, he thought Isabelle had stopped him, until he saw the black tentacle wrapped around his wrist. Since most of the Circle members had fallen, the demons had finally spread out. They had more room now, and suddenly the good side wasn't doing so well.

He landed on his back, his sword falling from his hand when his shoulder nearly dislocated. All he had now was the staff half and the seraph blade at his hip. Both seemed very small in comparison. He blanched when he saw a Raum demon towering over him. It had bulging black eyes and a circular mouth. The sound it made had Adrian rolling away before its other tentacles could latch onto him. He was finally starting to feel the stabbing pain around his wrist, could see his blood trickling down. Grabbing his staff, he cut through the tentacle and backed away, having to pry the piece of tentacle off of his wrist. It twisted and turned when it fell to the ground, leaving circles on his skin where its suckers had dug in. He ignored the pain in his wrist and took out his seraph blade, quickly naming it Michael. Luckily, the Raum demon was human-sized, so it was relatively easy to kill, even if its tentacles made Adrian's skin crawl. It was Maryse who ended up helping him, cutting through its back and distracting it long enough for Adrian to get the final blow.

"There you are," Maryse said, looking relieved even when she was covered in both demon and Nephilim blood. She had a long cut down her cheek. They both cut down a sward of Eidolon demons, and as they did, Maryse spoke. "This is turning into a bloodbath. I want you to get back to one of the boats as soon as possible, do you understand?" She cut down a Du'sien that had been about to attack Adrian's back, and he took out an Oni behind her.

"What about Maia and Simon? Valentine?" he demanded.

"Maia is fine. Lucien got her off the ship." For the first time, Adrian noticed the werewolves fighting alongside them. Luke's pack. His heart jumped into his throat when he remembered Oliver. "Get off this ship, Adrian Dieudonne. Do you understand me?" Surprised by her sharp tone, he gave her a nod. She nodded back. "Good. I'll try to find the rest. If you run into one of them, take them with you." Adrian nodded again, and then she was gone. Desperate, Adrian looked over the fighting, trying to see a flash of a whip or an arrow. He didn't see either, so he went to do as he was told, fighting through the crowd, making sure to only get in the way of the demons who were easier to kill. He was nearly to the edge of the ship, where the railing seemed to be melting from acidic ichor, that something knocked into him, sending him to the ground. His seraph blade flew from his hand, and he brought the other half of his staff up just in time to stop sharp teeth from descending down onto his neck. He tried to kick it off of him, but it was no use.

He took his eyes off it for one second to search for his seraph blade when he felt the first sharp swipe of claws across his stomach.

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edited: 11.5.19