Chapter Twenty Four
Luke woke in the bed at Renwick's by himself. The sun was starting to rise, only a hint of light in the darkness. It was cold, the fire having gone out sometime in the night. He listened for any sound of Valentine, but heard nothing. Sound did not carry far in this manor, with its stone and solid wood doors.
He rose, grabbed his duffel bag and outerwear and headed to the bathroom. When he walked out, fully dressed, including his winter gear, he startled to find a woman sitting on the love seat by the big picture window, holding a candlestick, watching him. When she realized he'd spotted her, she spoke.
"I'd wondered who Valentine was holed up here with. I figured he was chasing someone's tail, but I hadn't figured it was literal tail. And what a tail you are, Alpha wolf of the New York pack. So, you're an Alpha on the streets, but you're rolling over in the sheets?"
The woman was petite and curvaceous, with dark, dark skin and hair to match. Her tone was friendly, cheerful even.
"But who are we kidding? It probably wasn't much of a chase was it? I mean, look at the man. He's got people throwing themselves at him left and right. It's more like, 'Get in line.' Well, I got my ticket, if you know what I mean. I was hoping to get on board again actually – of course you know why, he's a fantastic lover – but I heard he was in town and he didn't stop by to see me.
"I asked around, thinking maybe he was with someone I knew, but no one could claim him as their bed partner this trip. Now I know why. He's here with his former parabatai. How romantic.
"Don't worry, Sugar. I'm not angry with you. Jealous, but I more than understand. When I get an opportunity, I take it. If I got mad at you, that would certainly be the pot calling the kettle black. Besides, when you've lived as long as I have, you learn to let things slide, like water off a duck's back. Or slide like what you two were up to last night?
"Honestly, I just find it fascinating, who is sleeping with whom. It's like watching my favorite soap opera. Oh, speak of the Devil! Hello, Valentine. You are looking fine."
"Rita, how did you get past the warding without me knowing it?" asked Valentine, a slight edge to his voice as he walked into the room, fully dressed in his outerwear, holding his witch-light.
"I put up that warding. You are off your game." responded Rita, teasingly.
"You will have to enlighten me."
"Everything has its price! Of course with you, I'm sure we can come to an arrangement."
Valentine turned to Lucian. "Are you-"
"He's fine." Rita interrupted. Rita was engaging, but there was an undertone of danger to her as well. Luke had the feeling he did not want to get on her bad side. "We've just been talking. Right, Sugar? Trading notes on you. Besides, I'm friendly with many of your lovers. Why stop now?
"Though, I am surprised. Don't take this the wrong way, Sugar, but you really aren't his type, from what I know- which is a lot, by the way. Though you two have a Prince and the Pauper vibe going on, it's charming.
"Like I said, don't take it the wrong way, because, Pauper, I would be more than happy to keep you company once Valentine leaves, and he always does."
"Rita, I know you enjoy your gossip, but I assume there is another reason you are here?"
"Can't fool you." Rita said, rolling her eyes. "Yes, there is, but I'd like to talk about that privately. So as much as I would like to stay and chat with you Pauper, because I think you are mighty fine in your own right, would you excuse us?
"How about this? Valentine, I will wait for you in the study, give you two love birds some privacy, but don't keep me waiting long, you hear? Goodbye, Lucian Graymark. I will call you when I am looking for some canine companionship. I would keep you on a short leash."
"For you, Rita, no leash would be necessary."
Rita laughed with delight. "See! He is fine, Valentine." She rose from the love seat and walked to the double doors and out into the hall, carrying her candlestick with her.
Valentine waited until they could no longer hear her footsteps echo in the hall before stepping forward and addressing Luke. "How long was she in here with you?"
"Only a few minutes. She is a warlock?"
"Yes, and a powerful one at that. As you can attest, she is sociable, but I do not want to keep her waiting. I will walk you downstairs. You have all your things?"
It was strange to see someone exerting influence on Valentine in this way, since he usually marched to the beat of his own drum. But Luke agreed, he too did not want to make Rita wait.
"I do."
They walked out into the hall. When they passed by the office, Valentine stopped and told Rita he would be back in a few moments.
"You're walking him to the door?! You never did that with me!"
They walked downstairs in silence to the front door. It was getting brighter, but Valentine's witch-light was still necessary for now.
Luke stepped forward and kissed Valentine briefly. "Thank you for letting me stay the night. Will you contact me, when you are in the area again?"
"Yes. I apologize for Rita's intrusion. This is not how I wanted to say goodbye to you."
"She's quite the handful."
"That she is. Farewell, Lucian. Take care."
"Farewell."
Valentine opened the door for him, and Luke walked outside. It was bitterly cold and gusty. He started walking to his truck. With the wind, he could not hear when Valentine closed the doors. He did not look back.
That encounter with Rita spooked him. Now someone else knew about him and Valentine. He had flirted with Rita, but he had done so to keep the peace. It felt strange, to flirt with someone else after such an intimate evening with Valentine. It left a bad taste in his mouth.
Rita saying she and Valentine were lovers, and mentioning others had thrown him too. He himself suspected Valentine had many lovers. Jocelyn had been Valentine's lover, but he wished he had not had to face that the morning after, in the room they had been in together.
Luke wondered about his impulse to stay the night. If he had just gone home, none of this would have happened, but now he'd been confronted with how little he truly knew of Valentine's life.
Magnus Bane stood outside of the former Renwick's Asylum this horrid winter morning. In exchange for letting a minor offense slide, a warlock had told him he should check out Renwick's. "That's all I'm going to say, and you didn't hear it from me, got it?"
"As long as you get not to sell anymore Zenzite crystals. This is your last warning."
Magnus liked to think of himself as a nice guy, but sometimes he did need to draw the line. Zenzite wasn't the worst substance around, but it could make Downworlder's a little too happy, and it had led to Magnus needing to do some memory altering spells on Mundanes. He'd woken early this morning, and he decided to check this off his to do list, though the weather had not been so ghastly when he left his apartment.
Now that he was here, he could feel the presence of warding. A very skilled warlock had done this. He could also sense there was a semi permanent portal somewhere on the grounds. Again, very skilled warlock. He was scoping the perimeter when he saw a familiar green pick up truck. He looked at it more closely, looked inside. Yes, this was Luke's truck. He had gone to retrieve it himself. What was it doing here?
He looked around, and saw a figure approaching. In the split second as he was determining should he stay or hide, he realized it was Luke. He was carrying a small duffel bag and bundled up against the cold. Luke had still not noticed him, which surprised him. Normally, Luke had excellent spatial awareness.
"Luke!" Magnus called to him, raising his voice to be heard over the wind.
Luke looked up, shock evident on his face. That was odd as well. Luke was not a jumpy person.
"Magnus? What's happened?" Luke's shock was evident in his voice as well.
"I will tell you, but only for a trade. Will you tell me why you are here?"
Luke looked at him, paused, then sighed, eyes downcast. "Valentine is here. I was just leaving."
Oh. Magnus had wondered if the two of them had been in contact. Now he knew the answer was a resounding yes, because unless Luke often visited people at half past six in the morning, he had spent the night here. With Valentine. He knew the amount of trust it took for Luke to tell him that, and he wanted to reciprocate. Magnus explained why he was here.
"A portal? I didn't see one inside, but that would explain why Valentine is staying here. There is another person inside. A woman. She said she put up the warding. Valentine called her 'Rita.'"
"A short bombshell of a black woman, who is amazing intuitive about and forward discussing everyone's sex lives, including her own?"
"Yes." Luke answered, numbly.
Magnus doubted Valentine planned for Rita to show up. Was that why Luke was so uncharacteristically out of it? Magnus had already thought of Rita as a possible suspect after seeing this spell craft. Magnus had not seen her in a long time, in over two centuries. But apparently some things never change. How comforting.
"Would you mind coming back inside with me? I would like to have a chat with her."
"Is that wise?"
"Rita and I, we go way back."
Magnus and Luke walked back up the front steps, and pushed the door in.
"Rita, Honey! I'm home!" yelled Magnus as soon as they crossed the threshold.
Magnus waited until he heard footsteps coming down the stairs, and Rita appeared, followed by Valentine.
"If it isn't Magnus Bane! I'm sorry, I don't have breakfast cooked and waiting for you. And hello again, Mr. Pauper. I'm sure your Prince is pleased to see you return so soon. You two might as well come up.
Rita already had nicknames for them. Yes, she had definitely said something.
"Magnus, I hear you are seeing a Shadowhunter! A somewhat stuck up Shadowhunter, from what I've heard, but you always did like the ones who played hard to get. I suppose that's why you and I never slept together."
Magnus sighed. "I see you are in rare form, Rita."
The four of them made their way upstairs.
"So, this has been used as a safe house for some time now. Right under my nose. I'm more embarrassed than anything else." said Magnus.
Magnus and Rita were talking privately in the study. Magnus asked Luke to come in as his back up, thinking Rita would be alright with it since she and Valentine clearly knew each other. And he hoped Luke and Valentine would feel more comfortable if each other were present, hence Rita being more comfortable, but he and Rita talked like it was only yesterday since they last spoke. This was all going smoothly. Magnus was relieved.
"What are you going to do about it?" asked Rita.
"I won't report this to anyone if you'll agree to vacate the premises. Spread the word; this safe house is busted. Remove the portal and the warding.
"You could live here, Magnus." said Rita thoughtfully.
"It's not really to my tastes. Besides, I could never find my cats in a place like this."
"Your loss." replied Rita, airily.
"I'm only doing this because I haven't heard of you causing any trouble, Rita. Keep it that way."
"And Valentine? We both know you're a romantic at heart. You won't ruin those two's chances will you?"
"Same deal. I haven't heard of Valentine causing any trouble. I've already talked to him about this. I help you, you help me. We'll all be good."
"Well, this worked out well, didn't it? Magnus, we must have lunch together, introduce me to your Shadowhunter."
"We can have lunch, Rita, but I cannot introduce you to Alexander. He isn't here right now."
"Do I detect relief in your voice? Even if he were here, you wouldn't want to introduce us, would you?"
"You know not everyone can handle your... how shall I put it? Candidness."
"Really, Magnus, you know I only say the truth as I see it."
"That's exactly the issue, Rita."
"We'll agree to disagree. Now, let's tell them what we decided."
Magnus and Rita stepped out into the hall.
"Ahem! Ahem! We're ready to talk with you, so make yourselves decent!" yelled Rita.
Luke and Valentine stepped out of one of the empty rooms, then joined them in the study. Magnus highly doubted they had needed to 'make themselves decent.'
"Magnus and I have settled things. Valentine, you will stay here and help me transport my belongings to a new location. Magnus, I will see you for lunch. Pauper, I will be arriving at your house this evening in a fur coat and nothing else, so be ready for me."
Magnus' eyes went wide. Flirting was par for the course with Rita, but Luke was not an obvious choice of someone to flirt with, and Rita was flirting hard, in front of Luke's – dare he say– lover.
"It's terribly cold today, Rita. I wouldn't want you to be uncomfortable for my sake."
Rita laughed, and Magnus relaxed. "Oo Valentine, you better keep this one chained up, because I'm coming for him."
"I will keep that in mind, Rita." Valentine's tone managed to be both polite and dismissive.
"Well, we have a lot of work to do." said Rita, ignoring him, but dropping the subject. "I kept more furniture here than I thought I did. Valentine and I will see you out."
They walked as a group down the stairs to the front door.
"What star crossed lovers you two be! You become even more so the more I look at you. Parabatai, betrayal, revenge. Now, living in two different worlds. Beauty-" indicating Valentine, "and the Beast-" a flourish to Luke. "Romeo and Juliet! We don't need none of those shenanigans, you hear? Stay away from the poison and the knives."
Magnus willed himself to not react to that last line. Luke and Valentine kept a straight face.
"Don't worry. There will be none of that." said Luke calmly.
Magnus honestly did not know how Luke got that out without betraying the fact that he had recently poisoned himself then attempted to kill himself with a knife.
"Good, good. I'll be upstairs, Valentine. Magnus, give these two unfortunate souls another chance to say goodbye, and step outside. Oh, parting is such sweet sorrow! Goodbye, Pauper!"
"Goodbye, Rita." said Luke.
"Alright." Magnus said, then turned to face Valentine. "Remember, Valentine. You owe me."
"I will. Thank you, Magnus."
"I'll wait for you outside, Luke."
"Thank you."
Magnus stepped out into the howling wind. He sighed and thought of Camille. She and Rita, were similar in some ways. Camille was fiery, larger than life. She and he, when they were together, threw lavish parties, painting every town they were in red. And while that fire of hers was invigorating, it could also burn. She was hard to handle in large doses, just like Rita.
Luke stepped outside a couple of minutes later. They started walking down the stone steps.
"Are we alright? You and I?" asked Luke, somewhat apprehensively.
"We are fine. I've learned to pick my battles. If I really thought they were up to no good, I would do something, but in this case, I say, let sleeping dogs lie."
"Thank you, Magnus. I need to be getting back home now. The shop will be opening soon. I like to greet Maia and Malarie at the beginning of their shift."
"I'll see you soon, then."
"See you soon."
Magnus watched Luke walk off. He felt unsettled. Something about the reminder of Luke's suicide attempt, combined with how Luke appeared the first time he saw him this morning.
He had been the one who had forced Luke to talk about him and Valentine the first time, but this time Rita had stumbled upon them, and Magnus knew she had not been shy. Luke had gone along with the flirting, but he knew Luke well enough now to know that was outside of his comfort zone, no matter how easeful his reply had been.
Magnus felt strongly he needed to follow him. He headed in the direction of Luke's truck, hunched over at the force of the wind. As he walked he could see Luke's truck parked at the end of a poorly maintained road. He hadn't turned it on yet. He tried calling out to Luke, but the sound of the wind was uncomfortably loud, and his voice did not carry.
As he made his way closer, he saw Luke sitting back in the driver's seat, seemingly staring off into space. Magnus knew this would be delicate, but he made his way to the passenger side and knocked on the window.
Luke looked up, alarmed, then relaxing when he saw it was Magnus. Luke unlocked the door. Magnus opened it and sat down.
"Is there something else, Magnus? Do you want a ride?" asked Luke.
"No, it's not that. It's… I've accidentally happened upon you and Valentine, again, and this time so has Rita. You two just can't seem to get any privacy. I know Rita can be quite shocking, she leaves no stone unturned. This is none of my business, but what I'm trying to say is – Are you alright, my friend?"
Magnus looked at Luke in the growing morning light. He could see the pain in his eyes, but it did not break through. "It's darkly funny, really." Luke said, his hands gripping the steering wheel.
"I know." Magnus said soothingly. "Love makes fools of us all. Take me, for example. My dear Alexander enjoys waking up at 5 o'clock in the morning. I, left to my own devices, have not even gone to bed at 5 o'clock in the morning. Yet, look at me now. I awoke at 5 this morning, when Alexander is not even here – I might add – which is why I was able to make this delightful trip at this god awful hour."
Magnus reached over, placing one of his hands atop Luke's, and squeezed it. "Please know that I am here, if you need me," letting go of his hand after he had spoken
He was glad to see his words seemed to have some calming effect on Luke.
"Thank you." Luke was quiet for a moment, before speaking. "Magnus, Rita isn't really going to show up at my house later, is she?"