War of Hearts

Chapter 14: Sweet Dreams, Alexander

Magnus laid on the bed in his cold cell frustrated. He'd tried reaching Alec in his dream again without success, and he could feel his inner anxiety growing with every failed attempt. Magnus was grateful that at least this form of magic was free for him to use; he wouldn't be able to do magic in his cell if it was applied on material things, like opening the cell door or setting the place on fire – both ideas had crossed Magnus's mind – but visiting Alec in his dream required mental work only and that kind of magic couldn't be blocked from him.

There could be many reasons this wasn't working: Magnus and Alec could be in different time zones, which could explain why Alec wasn't asleep yet; or maybe Magnus's magic wasn't strong enough after spending the entire day working on Valentine's portal; or - Magnus's heart squirmed at the thought - Alec was hurt, making it impossible for Magnus to reach him. Either way, Magnus hated that he couldn't contact Alec, he was so desperate to see him. Alec was like fresh air to a drowning man to him right now; he couldn't think straight without him. He barely had a grip on it as it was.

So Magnus reached into the inner pocket of his blazer and held out a tiny bottle with a blue potion in it. It was glowing softly, casting subtle shimmers over the walls of his cell. It was a kind of magic booster – not nearly as strong as taking people's lives and using their souls for magic – it was more like an energy drink, extremely difficult to make, which could give the warlock an extra kick to keep him going. Magnus had brought three little bottles with him, but had already used up two over the past week to help him with the portal.

He held up the last bottle and stared at its swirling contents. It contained only one gulp of elixir, and Magnus wondered if it would be smarter to keep it for later, for his escape plan. His hesitation didn't last long, though, as he pictured Alec in front of him and the joy seeing him would bring him. So Magnus opened the small bottle and downed its content, hoping with all his might that Alec was asleep and this wouldn't turn out to be a ridiculous waste of magic.

He laid on his back, trying to get as comfortable as the hard bed allowed him to, and closed his eyes, focusing his thoughts on Alec. He felt the magic buzzing in his head first and then slowly vibrating through his body. It involved all his senses, and when Magnus felt like he was floating in space, completely weightless, he knew the magic was working.

It took a while before he could finally sense Alec, and when he did, he didn't hesitate to follow him. He decided to just show up wherever Alec was in his dream instead of pulling him away into a different location; that way Magnus could save a lot of magic.

He only opened his eyes when he felt solid ground under his feet, and he found himself – to his astonishment – in a very familiar place: his own loft.

It was dark; the only light came from the streets of Brooklyn. But the loft seemed exactly the way he had left it, except... As Magnus looked around, he noticed the ceiling was gone and a sky full of stars had taken its place.

That's an interesting idea, Alexander, Magnus thought and sought Alec with his eyes until they fell on a tall dark figure standing taciturnly by the window with his arms crossed, staring out at the city, apparently buried in thoughts. Magnus's heart skipped a beat when he saw him.

"Alexander?" He asked softly, too afraid to speak up, as if that could wake Alec up and scatter the dream away.

Alec turned around slowly to face Magnus, his lips slightly parted in surprise. They just stood there, holding their breaths, unable to believe that they were in front of each other. They didn't even dare to blink, wanting to savour every second they could look on each other, like if the other could disappear in the short moment of a blink.

"Magnus?" Alec replied bewildered and moved towards him with hesitant steps.

And that was it for Magnus. He had been so eager for this to happen and now that it had, he wasn't prepared for all the emotions overtaking him, so he just stood there, paralyzed, staring at Alec with wide eyes and never letting his face out of his sight. When Alec finally stopped in front of him, Magnus felt like he was about to explode, he was so overwhelmed by Alec's beauty. Those big beautiful eyes and those rosy lips and that face full of hope were too much for him. He had spent so much time away from anything beautiful that so much of it now hit him really hard.