11 - Thammuz

When he finished speaking every candle's flame rose a foot and died down to reveal a black figure.

"Be careful to not say your name or leave your circle," Magnus told me. "He will take that opportunity to harm you in endless ways."

I nodded and we watched as the darkness shrouding the figure faded to reveal a dark blue demon no more than three feet high and with three coal black eyes and long red talons on each finger of his eight-fingered hands.

"Who summons me?" it hissed.

"Thammuz, drop the act," Magnus said calmly.

"What do you want?" Thammuz snapped, turning toward Magnus. "I thought you weren't gonna summon me anymore after last time."

"I never said that," Magnus said casually. "I need your information."

"What information do you need?" he demanded. "I am one of the best informed demons."

"There is a bowl of blood at the edge of the circle," Magnus told it. "It contains warlock blood. I need you to tell me which of the demons sired that warlock."

It nodded and crouched down and put its nose right up to the bowl, taking a deep breath. "The smell of the warlock blood in it is familiar," it hissed. "I also smell blood of the Nephilim, though."

"Just tell me what I asked," Magnus snapped.

The demon took another deep breath and looked up at me. "You," he hissed. "You are the warlock whose blood I smell. I also smell the Nephilim blood from you, though."

"Answer the question!" Magnus yelled. The candles flared up and Thammuz screamed before nodding, raising his hands in surrender.

"The demon that sired this warlock is…" Thammuz began. The candles began to brighten again so he continued. "The warlock's father is…Beelzebub."

"Beelzebub?" Magnus said. "Are you completely sure?"

"I recognize the smell of his children from anywhere," Thammuz replied. "Odd part was, I thought he only had one child."

"Where can we find that warlock?" Magnus demanded.

"Last I heard, he was laying low after a mishap with the Nephilim," he said. "He's currently staying in a high rise building in NYC, not far from Broadway."

"Give me an exact address," Magnus growled, making the flames brighten.

"Okay!" the demon wrote an address on a piece of paper in the circle.

"That is all. You are dismissed. Return to the dimension you came from," Magnus said. He turned to me. "Pay attention to the next incantation I use to banish it," he told me. I nodded and he spoke a string of words that were unfamiliar, but I made sure to memorize every word as he spoke it. The demon faded to smoke that soon disappeared.

"It's safe to leave your circle now," Magnus told me. I nodded and Magnus extinguished the candles and opened the blinds to let light in before opening the door.

"Can I come out now?" Alec asked from the room he and Chairman Meow were in.

"Yes, you can," Magnus replied, pulling on a jacket.

"Thanks. Did you find what you…are you going somewhere?" Alec asked us.

"Yes, we need to follow a lead," Magnus said. "You can't come with us, either. The person we will be looking for does not do well with Nephilim, and we need him to cooperate."

"I need to stay with Jacob," Alec said. "I was assigned to keep him safe."

"I can keep him safe enough by myself," Magnus assured him. "We'll stop back here before he goes back to the Institute, though, so you don't need to worry about that."

Alec frowned but nodded as I pulled on my jacket and we walked out.

"How are we going to get to the apartment fast enough?" I asked Magnus.

"We take the subway," Magnus explained.

"Subway?" I asked, unfamiliar with the word.

Suddenly he grinned evilly. "Oh, this is gonna be fun," he said with a weird chuckle. I groaned as we walked to a staircase that led underground. He led me through the gates and into the subway, an underground train.

"So, do you like the subway?" Magnus asked me as we stood up in the subway and the train started to move.

"Please don't make me speak," I growled as I adjusted to traveling at that speed. All the talking around me made me uneasy, causing my powers to leak and cause the lights to flicker.

"Calm your powers," Magnus told me, placing a hand on my shoulder. I nodded and focused on my powers, shutting them down as we traveled.

"We're here," he added twenty minutes later after several stops. I nodded and we walked out and went up the stairs. He wanted to use strange moving stairs, but from the look on my face he decided not to.

"Where is the warlock we're looking for?" I asked Magnus. He looked at the sheet of paper from Thammuz again and pointed to a very large and luxurious apartment building.

"Top floor, penthouse suite," he told me. I nodded and we set off toward the building. For every Downworlder we passed I grew more and more anxious until he reminded me to keep my powers in check. I looked down and saw that sparks were forming around my hands. I nodded and we stopped in front of the correct building and walked inside.

"Hello, how may we help you today?" a security guard said when we walked in. He probably knew by looking at us that we didn't live there.

"We are here to visit someone who lives here, Matthew Garn," Magnus told him.

The security guard's eyes narrowed and turned black as his hands grew claws along with several other guards'. Out of alarm I started to pull out a seraph blade, but Magnus stopped me.

"Tell him that Magnus Bane, High Warlock of Brooklyn, is here to see him," Magnus shouted before any of the Eidolon demons could attack. They all froze and returned to cop appearance.

"He has been notified. Leave the Shadowhunter here and you may go up," the demon we spoke to hissed.

"This boy is the reason I must speak to him," Magnus snapped. "Jacob, remove your sunglasses."

I raised my eyebrows at him but he didn't waver so I shrugged and took off the glasses, looking at the demon again.

The demon looked at me and hissed before nodding. "You may both visit him," it told us. "Elevator at the far end."

Magnus nodded and we walked to the correct elevator and climbed in it before Magnus pressed the 'Up' button.

"This must be only for the warlock's penthouse," Magnus commented as we moved up even faster than the elevator at the Institute.

"I think I left my stomach on the ground floor," I muttered, referring to the speed of the elevator.

"You'll get used to it," Magnus replied before we walked out of the elevator and into a grand foyer.

"Ah, I wondered when you'd visit me again, Magnus," a warlock said as he walked up to us. The weirdest parts, though, were his warlock marks.

They were almost the same as mine. We had the same hair, but my eyes were neon blue and his were neon green.

The warlock walked up to us but stopped short when he saw me. "Ah, I wondered why the security guards were acting so nervous," he muttered, staring at me.

"Nice idea, using Eidolon demons to protect yourself while remaining inconspicuous," Magnus told the warlock, but the warlock's eyes never left mine. "Oh, let me introduce you," Magnus added. "Jacob Branwell, this is Matthew Garn."


A/N: Hello, readers! Sorry it took me so long to update, I was only able to get this out because I'm on spring break. I'm not sure when I'll be able to get another chapter, so I won't be making any promises. Well, until next time, ciao!