Wild Warriors: A Shadowhunters Fanfic

18. Blood Calls to Blood

          The man-presumably Jace's father- pulled himself into a shaky standing position with the aid of the locker around him. Now that his face was in the light, I could see the striking resemblance between him and Jace. They both had the bright blond hair and the strong jawline. Their eyes were also the same color blue, sparkling dully.

"Dad?" Jace choked out. He was starting to have trouble standing upright as the demon venom started taking effect.
"Son," the man surged forwards as if he was falling and caught Jace up in a tight embrace. "I can't believe it's you," Jace's father told him softly. Then they broke apart and the older man stepped back to look at his son. "Son, you're hurt," he observed. "How'd you find me?"
"No, no, you're dead," Jace was whispering. "You're dead. Valentine killed you, Valentine...Valentine is here." He was running a hand across his father's cheek and squinting at his face as if he was staring into the sun.
"No, Jace. It's really me." The man smiled lovingly down at Jace and clapped him on the shoulder. Then he turned his blue eyes on Clary and I and said, "I'm Michael Wayland, Jace's father."

I nodded, not exactly knowing how to respond. "Look, I know what Jace might have told you about me. But I've been here for ten years," Michael explained. "Valentine took off and left me here."
"And Jocelyn Fairchild?" Clary found her voice. "He took her with him," Michael shook his head. He was still supporting most of Jace's weight as the younger Shadowhunter was starting to sway on his feet. Jace was still clutching the lapels of his father's jacket, in shock.

"Who are you?" Michael asked, not unkindly. "Cara Freerose," I responded. "This is Clary, Jocelyn's daughter. A Seelie told us that Valentine would be here-"
My sentence cut off with a small scream of surprise when Jace's legs finally gave out from under him. He was able to catch himself before he hit the floor and Michael wrapped a sturdy arm around his waist.
"It's Ravener venom," I explained quickly. "We have to get him some help, we closed the Portal!"
"Where's his stele?" Michael asked me. I reached around Jace to slide the cold metal object out of his back pocket.
"Here," I handed it over. "But it isn't going to work, the venom is spreading too fast."
Michael traced the iratze on Jace's abdomen anyways.
"Valentine has a standing Portal," he told Clary and I. "It's over here, let's go."
Clary bent down to retrieve Jace's Seraph blade from the floor and followed the three of us as we crossed the floor of the odd basement. Jace was rocking in and out of consciousness and Michael was half-dragging him across the room. He was talking to Jace in a quiet voice that was laced with comfort and concern. I felt as if I shouldn't have been listening to what he was saying. It felt intimate, between father and son.

Valentine's portal was across the room and hidden behind a large piece of machinery. Thankfully the machinery was old and falling apart so Clary and I had no trouble pushing it away.
We kicked broken pieces of metal away from the wall where the Portal was set it. It was still open from when Valentine had used it to disappear with Jocelyn to Angel-knows-where.

"Where can we go that can help Jace?" I asked Clary. "We can't go to the Institute, not even for this. They'd incarcerate us before they even thought about helping Jace."
Clary thought hard for a moment before saying, "Luke. He can help us."
"Luke?" I repeated. "How can a werewolf help us with this?"
"You asked who can help Jace. Luke can help Jace," Clary persisted. "Now, come on. He doesn't have long."
She reached out and took my hand in her smaller one. I reached out to Michael and wrapped my hand around his forearm that was busy holding Jace up off the floor. Clary led us into the Portal, thinking probably of the Jade Wolf restaurant where the werewolves resided.
The rest of us followed easily into the familiar swirling wind and flashes of color.

-----

The air on the other side of the Portal was warmer and accompanied by a small breeze. When I opened my eyes, I found myself staring up at the Jade Wolf restaurant, just like I had predicted.
The four of us entered the restaurant as quickly as we could without making Jace any more uncomfortable.