Hello everybody!

I am so sorry that this update has been a while. I've not been very well lately but this is a pretty long chapter to make up for it. Thanks go out to my Beta Reader DensiLovestory. All of your reviews really make my day.

This chapter is set somewhere after City of Heavenly Fire but before Lady Midnight. Spoilers from Born to Endless Night and possibly some of the stories in the Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy series (I haven't had a chance to read them yet so there may be a few details out of place). I only own Leslie and Ria who I created for the purpose of this chapter. Also there is a trigger warning for hints of rape towards the end of the chapter.

Please feel free to leave a review. I hope you all enjoy it and hopefully the next chapter will be up sooner than expected.

Enjoy!

The Lightwood Bane Chronicles

Magnus Bane and the Case of the Missing Child

Magnus smiled fondly at Max and the little blue warlock giggled as a sparkling blue bubble popped on the tip of his nose. Max laughed clapping his hands excitedly from his seat on the floor. Max crawled over to Magnus and touched his knee twice.

"Again? Okay Blueberry, this is the last time and then Papa has to get back to work." Magnus raised his hands and wiggled his fingers. Max watched with wide eyes as Magnus conjured up thousands of glittering bubbles, scattering them all around them both with a gentle flourish of his hands. Max let out a loud squeal of delight, stretching up to pop a particularly fat bubble which had formed the shape of a parrot. Magnus ruffled Max's blue hair as he stood up and left his son to play, returning to his shelf that contained various bottles and vials of magical plants and fungi. Though he didn't like to do it often, Magnus had been asked to create a potion for one of his clients. This particular client had an unfortunate mould infestation in his garden near Central Park which had attracted the attention of a herd of Kelpie.

Kelpies were dastardly creatures of the Fair Folk variety that liked to lure unsuspecting mundane children into nearby ponds and streams to drown them for fun. Naturally, Magnus thought that if you were stupid enough to go near the horse-like beings then you deserved what you got, but his client had offered Magnus as much money as it would take to get rid of them. Magnus couldn't exactly reject his money. He had a family to support now.

Magnus's phone buzzed suddenly from where he had left it on his desk. Picking it up, Magnus answered it as he made his way back into his living room. "Hello?"

"Magnus? It's Catarina. Have you got a minute?"

Magnus smiled. "Catarina! For you, I have all the time in the world." He looked over at Max as he spoke and found his son had abandoned the bubbles and was now on the couch playing with the switch button of Alec's forgotten Sensor.

"Good. Magnus, I need your help with a young woman here at the hospital." Catarina replied. Magnus could hear the sounds of someone crying hysterically on the other end of the phone. "She was found unconscious about an hour ago and she's just woken up. She says that her daughter's been kidnapped."

Magnus frowned, leaning against the back of the couch. "Isn't that a job for the mundane police? Why are you calling me?"

"The woman saw through my glamour Magnus." Catarina said in a hushed and serious tone. "I think it was only for a second but if she can see through my glamour then who knows what else of the shadow world she saw. I suspect her child has been abducted by a Downworlder."

"So you want my help in finding her child." Magnus guessed, looking down at Max as he spoke.

"Please Magnus. If you do this for me, I'll look after Max for an evening for you and Alec."

Magnus was quite tempted by the offer. He hadn't had a date with Alec for some time since they had adopted Max. "Okay it's a deal. Bring her round to my place as soon as you can. I'll call Alec and see if we can get some help from the Institute."

"Thank you Magnus. I'll see you soon."

Magnus hung up and turned to Max who was staring up at him curiously. "Well Blueberry, we're going to be getting a visitor soon. It's time to get my old suit out again." Max frowned in confusion before he turned his attention back to Alec's Sensor.

Magnus headed to his bedroom and flung open the doors to his wardrobe with a flourish, rifling through his many outfits until he had found his favourite pinstriped suit. He held it up admiringly, remembering the last time he had worn this outfit in the 1950s and fondly smiled at the memory of when he first found Raphael. "It looks like Magnus Bane Private Eye is back in business!"

Magnus looked at his reflection in the mirror and tweaked his hat until it sat just right on his head. Once he was happy with the way it sat, he headed out into his living room and held up his arms with a grin. "Well Alexander, how do I look?"

Alec looked up in surprise as Max gurgled in his lap, drinking from the bottle of milk in his hand. Alec blinked. "You look…good."

"Good? I look good?" Magnus replied disbelievingly. "Come on Alexander, you can do better than that."

"Magnus you know I'm not one for fashion." Alec sighed, taking away Max's bottle before lifting the young boy and resting him against his shoulder, lightly patting the toddler's back. Magnus brushed some lint off his waistcoat.

"Oh well. Did I ever tell you about the time I wore this suit last? I decided to open up a detective agency back in the 1950s." Magnus sat down beside Alec, stroking Max's head as he wriggled uncomfortably in Alec's arms.

"Yes, you wrote it down for me, remember?" Alec chuckled, turning to Magnus. Max let out a little burp against Alec's shoulder just as the front door buzzed. Magnus waved his hand and they faintly heard the front door click open from downstairs. Alec passed Max over to Magnus before going to open the door to the apartment. A moment later, Jace and Clary walked through the door dressed in gear. Alec gave them both a hug. "Thanks for helping."

"It's no problem." Clary replied, waving at Magnus as Jace closed the door behind him. "Maia's offered the pack's help as soon as we can get a description of the woman's child."

"Catarina's on her way with the woman. Apparently this woman could have the Sight so she might have seen a glimpse of the Shadow World but Catarina's not sure how much." Magnus said as Clary came over and cooed at Max, who tugged one of her curls and put it in his mouth to suck on.

"We'd better keep our glamours up just in case." Alec suggested as he started to roll up one of his sleeves, Jace mirroring his movements from beside him. "We can't risk exposing this woman to the shadow world any more than she already is."

"Relax Alec." Jace said clapping his hand on his parabatai's shoulder. "We're just helping her find her child. It's a straight forward easy job."

Alec raised his eyebrow at Jace. "When have things ever been easy for us?"

Magnus rolled his eyes before he turned and pressed a small kiss to Clary's temple. "So how's our little Nephilim-in-training?"

"You mean Simon? He's doing good, a bit nervous about his Ascension but Izzy's visiting him at the moment." Clary said. "I'm sure he'll be fine." She added almost as if she was reassuring herself as well.

"Of course he will. We've failed to get rid of him so far, I doubt we'll succeed now." Jace said nonchalantly, checking over his weapons with Alec who had started etching on runes with his stele. Clary rolled her eyes as a small smile crept on to her face.

A loud buzz came from the intercom announcing Catarina had arrived and Alec buzzed them in. Catarina opened the apartment door a moment later, leading in a young girl no older than nineteen with blonde dreadlocks and dressed in a long yellow summer dress. She had moss green eyes which had turned red and puffy, probably due to the hysterical crying earlier Magnus thought as he placed Max on the couch next to Clary and stood up. Catarina squeezed the young girl's hand reassuringly and looked up at everyone in the room. "Thanks again for helping. This is Leslie, the young woman I was telling you about. Leslie, this is Magnus Bane. He's going to try and find your daughter."

Leslie looked up tearfully at Magnus. "Y-you are?" Magnus nodded opening his mouth to speak before the young girl let out a sob and pulled him into a desperate hug. "Oh thank you! You don't know what this means to me. I don't know what I'd do without my little Ria." She spoke with a sweet welsh accent, sobbing loudly into Magnus's waistcoat.

Magnus glanced at Alec who looked at the girl in concern. "Uh it's okay…" Magnus awkwardly patted the girl's back. "We'll do our best. Do you mind telling us what happened?"

Leslie sniffled as Catarina pulled up a chair and she shakily sat down, looking around at everyone in the room. Magnus crossed his arms and looked at her seriously. Clary offered the girl a box of tissues and Leslie took one, staring at Max in her lap for a moment before she dabbed her eyes with it. She began her tale.

"We had won this holiday to New York last year and my Mum told me that I needed to use up the tickets before they expired next month. So I packed a couple of bags and brought Ria with me here. It was going so well. We saw the Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty and I was able to take Ria to see The Lion King on Broadway – it's her favourite movie – and we had ice cream and we had fun. But then I decided we should go to Central Park." Leslie blew her nose into the tissue. "I had never been to Central Park but you see it all the time in the movies so I thought why not? We walked along this path by a pond when suddenly we were attacked by these grubby little creatures! I was so scared! One of them hit me over the head and when I woke up, Ria was gone! They took my little girl! And now I don't know what to do. Our plane leaves for London tomorrow but I can't leave without her!"

Leslie burst into tears and Catarina patted her shoulder. Alec came to stand by Magnus, quickly followed by Jace who crossed his arms in front of him. Clary held Max in her lap, completely unfazed as he played with Clary's hair. Alec crouched in front of the girl and placed a comforting hand on her knee. "Can you tell us more about these creatures who took your daughter? What exactly did they look like?"

Leslie blinked at Alec in surprise, taking in his appearance from his bow and quiver to the runes peeking from the collar of his shirt. "T-they were small, brown…a bit knobbly. They smelled horrible. They were wearing rags and they tried taking Ria's hair clips. I managed to kick one of them and I think it swore at me."

"Goblins, it must be." Jace said quietly to Magnus with a grim look on his face. "Did you have anything else on you that would have sparkled? A necklace or earrings perhaps?"

"You believe me?" Leslie asked as a crease appeared between her eyebrows. She turned to Catarina with wide eyes. "I've seen creatures like them before but I…I thought I was just going mad."

"It's okay, you're not going mad." Catarina gave Leslie a warm smile. Leslie stared at Catarina for a moment before she let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh thank god. I was starting to think I was the only one who could see the blue baby." She gestured to Max who giggled as he sucked on a lock of Clary's hair. Magnus blinked in surprise as Catarina pulled up a chair and turned to Leslie.

"I think we'd better have a small chat, Leslie." Catarina said.

Magnus clapped his hands together in front of him. "Okay, well I think we've got enough information for now. There's coffee in the kitchen and Catarina, make sure Max stays away from the knives. Come on everyone, let's go."

Max let out a small gurgle and waved a pudgy little hand as everyone left the apartment, softly closing the door behind them. Catarina turned her attention to Leslie. "Right, tell me everything."

"This is definitely the work of goblins." Jace frowned from where he crouched, observing the upturned grass and mud. "Look Clary, you see that? Claw marks – signs of a struggle."

Clary knelt down beside Jace and looked at him seriously. "What makes you think it's our victim though?"

Jace reached out and picked up something small that was half buried in a clump of wilting grass and handed it to Clary. "Leslie said her daughter was wearing hair clips in her hair, right?"

Clary peered closely at the object in her hand. From what she could see it was the remains of a small hair grip – the kind that her mother Jocelyn used to put in Clary's hair in an attempt to tame it before school when she was small. There were a few small strands of white blonde hair hanging from the clip. "They must have ripped it from her head and dropped it during the struggle." Clary said.

"Goblins don't care. If they see something shiny then they'll take it." Jace sighed as he stood up and waved over to Alec and Magnus who were busy patrolling the area in case of another attack. "They're almost like Magpies really."

"Then why take the girl instead? Why leave the clip here?" There was something niggling at the back of Clary's mind at the strangeness of this kidnapping. The facts told her that the attack was on a mundane with the sight and it was done in the middle of the day in broad daylight. Now they had found a hair clip here and no girl. Clary knew that there was something wrong with this but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Find anything?" Alec asked as he and Magnus arrived, holding his bow ready in his hands with an arrow already knocked in to the string as if anticipating another attack. Clary gave the hair clip to Magnus who peered more closely at it.

"I think I may be able to use this to track the girl. Give me a minute." Magnus said frowning in concentration as a small flickering blue flame sparked to life in his fingers.

"There's something not right about this." Clary murmured to Alec and Jace. They nodded in agreement.

"I know." Alec replied as Jace and Clary readied themselves with seraph blades. "I've got this odd feeling that we're being watched. I don't like it."

Magnus let out a breath he didn't even realise he had been holding before he headed off towards a tall copse of trees. "Got it. She's this way."

"Are you sure?" Jace said unsheathing his seraph blade as Alec hurried after Magnus, his attention wary of the area around them as he went.

Magnus tutted and rolled his eyes. "Oh, ye of little faith, of course I'm sure. Come on."

Magnus felt his magic pull him along the trail to the missing girl. It almost felt like a small hook under his skin tugging him back on course if he went the wrong way. It was a little uncomfortable but if it led them all to the little girl then Magnus could bear it for a little while.

Deeper and deeper into the trees they went, the trail leading them in a twisted convoluted path over moss covered logs and through mud filled ditches (ruining a perfectly wonderful suit in the process) until they arrived at a small empty grove unlike any place they had ever seen. Despite it being the middle of Spring where all of nature was born anew, this place was dead. Giant frostbitten trees towered over them, bearing rotten peaches and something akin to apples. The grass beneath their feet was brown and wilted.

"What the hell happened here?" Jace wondered aloud looking around the grove as a small crease appeared on his brow. Clary knelt down by the roots of one of the trees and reached out to touch a fallen fruit but as soon as her fingertips brushed across its skin, it crumbled into dust with a wheezing Pfft.

"Never mind that, I don't see the missing girl." Alec frowned from beside Magnus, tightening his grip on his bow handle with unease. "Something's wrong."

"No need to worry Nephilim. She is right here." A woman's voice echoed around the grove sending them all on edge. Magnus's fingers glowed with flickering blue flames as a woman cautiously appeared from between two trees ahead of them, quickly followed by two faerie Knights guarding a little girl of about five years old with dark skin between them. As they appeared in the light, the woman held up her hands in defence. Even in the dim light, Magnus could see that her skin was pale white and that her eyes held almost no pupil or colour at all.

"Kaelie? What are you doing here?" Jace demanded, his eyes flickering between the faerie Knights, Kaelie and the little girl who was currently trembling and crying quietly. "What is the meaning of this?"

Kaelie ushered the Knights forward with a flick of her hand. "We mean no harm or trouble. We've come unarmed. Look, she has been cared for. We only wish to make a trade."

"Why?" Alec asked suddenly, his bow trained on one of the Knights' head though his eyes were watching each of them carefully. "Why did your goblins kidnap her in the first place?"

"We needed to get your attention, of course."

Magnus raised an eyebrow at them. "Well you've certainly got it."

"Please, we don't have much time. We need your help." Kaelie said stepping forward into a sliver of amber sunlight. "Our Queen has vanished."

"Vanished? What do you mean vanished?" Clary said narrowing her eyes at the Fae in suspicion. It wasn't the first time that they have had to deal with the fair folk and they were known for their tricks.

Kaelie turned her attention to Clary. "We have not seen our queen in several months. We fear something has happened to her."

Alec shook his head stubbornly. "We can't help you. Technically, we shouldn't even be speaking now. And seeing as you deliberately attacked a mundane, the cold peace states that we should kill you on sight."

"But you haven't."

"Not yet." Alec replied in a tone that made Magnus look over in concern.

Kaelie glared at Alec before deciding to turn her attention to Magnus instead. "We'll make a deal. You can have the child if you help us find our queen. The Seelie Court never wanted this child in the first place. We did not realise she was of the Shadow World."

Magnus blinked in surprise. "Come again?"

"She is a child of Lilith." Kaelie said gesturing to her guard behind her to bring the child forward with a wave of her hand. The little girl stepped shakily into the sunlight next to Kaelie, her wide brown eyes glancing anxiously around the grove for a way out. Magnus peered at the girl closely and was shocked to see her skin covered in dark grey-brown scales, like a crocodile's hide.

The little girl – Ria, Magnus was sure she was called – started to cry as she rubbed her face with the back of her scaly hand. "W-where's my mummy? I want my mummy!"

Clary held her hands up calmly as she stepped forward. "Don't worry sweetheart. We'll take you to her soon."

"I want my mummy now!" Ria cried, fat tears rolling down her cheeks as she wailed. Kaelie kept her hands on Ria's shoulders as if she was her last bargaining chip and the alternative wasn't worth thinking about.

"Let her go, you're scaring her. She's just a little kid." Alec snarled as he shifted his aim to Kaelie's head instead whilst Jace kept his attention on the two faerie knights behind her.

Kaelie straightened up and stared at Alec defiantly. "She'll be free to go as soon as you agree to help us find our queen."

Alec huffed annoyingly. "We told you we can't -"

"We'll talk it through." Magnus interrupted, earning shocked and annoyed looks from everyone except the Fae and the little girl.

Kaelie narrowed her eyes at Magnus in suspicion. "You're not planning on tricking your way out of our trade are you? Because I can inform you now Warlock, you will not succeed."

"I wouldn't dream of it." Magnus said catching Alec's eye and gesturing behind them to the small area where they can huddle in private. Alec seemed to catch his meaning and relaxed his aim, looking at both Clary and Jace and passing on Magnus's plan with a nod of his head. Magnus turned to Kaelie with his most dashing smile. "We are merely going to discuss our decision."

"Be sure that you do, Warlock." Kaelie replied, tightening her grip on the little girl's shoulder. Magnus turned and faced his companions.

"What the hell Magnus?" Jace snapped tapping his seraph blade against the side of his leg in agitation. "I'm assuming you have a plan to get us out of this with the girl."

Magnus rolled his eyes. "No, I thought we would improvise like we always do."

"There is no point in getting into an argument." Clary said crossing her arms in front of her. Alec nodded in agreement as he shouldered his bow. "We need a plan."

"Very true Biscuit." Magnus replied, casting a slow look over his shoulder back at Kaelie and her knights who watched them closely from afar. He turned around and smiled warmly at Alec. "Alec, darling, have you any ideas?"

Alec straightened to his full height and his face took on a serious expression. "The Clave are very clear on the terms of the Cold Peace treaty. We cannot offer help to the Fair Folk nor can they ask for help either. So our only option is to get the girl out of harms way and back to her mother. How we do that, I don't know."

"She looks so frightened. Poor girl…" Clary whispered as she looked forlornly at Ria who continued to cry.

"Focus Biscuit," Magnus touched Clary's shoulder and she nodded with a frown of concentration.

"Ultimately the Fae do not have any grounds on which they can enter into a bargain of any sort with the Clave." Alec continued. "So they must have been desperate to come to us for help."

"Indeed." Magnus nodded. "If the Queen really has disappeared then those of the Seelie court, including the goblins that kidnapped the little girl, may just decide that there is no point in following the rules of the court."

"What would happen if they didn't follow the rules?" Clary asked with a look of concern.

"There would be complete anarchy." Jace sighed. "Babies would be snatched from their cribs and replaced by changelings. Goblins and trolls would attack openly in the streets. Pixies would cause mischief. Basically every story you have ever heard about the fair folk would happen in earnest."

"That's terrible." Clary gasped. Magnus grimaced as he remembered his client from this morning with the request of ridding a herd of Kelpie. Perhaps, Magnus thought with a shudder, the Fair Folk have already begun to realise this. Magnus thought of Max and a small bubble of protectiveness appeared in his chest. What if when Max was old enough to venture out alone, he was suddenly kidnapped by Faeries? What if Max was mugged by some clueless Mundanes and neither he nor Alec was around to save him? Magnus had lived long enough to know that the world was cruel but Max was still only a baby. Alec looked over at Magnus and his mouth tightened into a grim line.

Magnus straightened up and looked at each of his companions. "Alexander is right. They have no power here. That little girl shouldn't even be here."

"What are you going to do?" Alec asked casting a look at Magnus. Jace and Clary turned their attention to Magnus in interest. "Magnus, don't try to make a deal with them. You know you can't trust them."

"Time's up!" Kaelie called loudly from across the clearing. "Will you agree to the Seelie Court's bargain?"

Magnus looked at each of his companions and sighed. "They came here to trade with the Institute whereas I was only employed by the mother to bring her daughter back safe. This is your call."

Jace, Clary and Alec looked at each other with blank expressions before Jace nodded and stepped forward. They readied their weapons in anticipation. Magnus followed suit, spreading out around the clearing with Clary and Alec whilst Jace faced Kaelie.

Kaelie watched his every move anxiously. "Well shadowhunter, what have you decided?"

"We cannot accept your bargain." Jace replied with a note of finality. "We cannot defy the Clave in this matter."

"Your disregard of the Clave's laws has never stopped you before." Kaelie frowned.

"I've done a lot of growing up since then." Jace shrugged. "Now, are you going to hand over the girl or are we going to have to have problems?" Magnus watched the stand off with bated breath, his fingers flickering with sparkling blue fire.

Ria suddenly stomped her feet, looking up at her captor and Jace with teary eyes. "I want my mummy!" she demanded screwing up her face angrily. Magnus felt the air around him grow thin like the start of a thunder storm and looked at Alec worriedly. He felt it too. He caught his eye and worriedly nodded back before running towards Jace. Magnus ran over to Clary.

"Clary get ready to duck." Magnus murmured in her ear.

She looked back at him in confusion. "What do you mean? What's going on?"

Magnus didn't even get a chance to speak before there was an almighty crack in the air and Magnus and Clary were blown back through the air, landing in a painful heap on the ground. Magnus rolled onto his side with a groan and searched the clearing for Alec. He found him lying unmoving across Jace, three feet away from where Ria lay on the ground. Kaelie and her knights were nowhere to be seen.

"Alec!" Magnus scrambled to his feet and ran to Alec's side, rolling him carefully on to his back. There was a horrible smell of singed hair and burning skin coming off Alec as he stared unblinking at Magnus. Magnus shook Alec's shoulders. "Alec love, speak to me. Are you alright?"

Alec blinked and shook his head out of his shock, looking at Magnus in confusion. "What just happened?"

Magnus sighed in relief. "A little girl had a tantrum."

"Right."

Jace let out a groan and lifted his face from the dirt. "I'm alright. You know, don't get over here too quickly."

Magnus helped Alec sit up as he glanced over at Ria who was currently being checked over by Clary. "Is she alright?" Alec called to her.

Clary nodded. "Yeah she's fine. A bit shaken though I think." Clary scooped up the little girl in her arms and brought her over to them. Jace looked over Clary anxiously as he sat up and let out a slow breath. "The Fair Folk have gone."

"Good riddance." Alec said as they all got to their feet. Ria stared at them all quietly in shock, trembling. "I think we'd better get her back to her mother." Alec added gesturing for Clary to hand Ria over to him.

"Jace and I will check the area and file a report back to the Clave. You two go home." Clary said to Magnus and Alec. "We'll call you later tonight okay."

Magnus caught a smell of something burning so he looked down at his suit and sighed, taking in the smoking hole in his waistcoat. "Oh, this suit was vintage."

"Mummy!"

Magnus watched the happy scene unfold with a smile as mother and daughter were reunited at last in the middle of his living room. Leslie fell to her knees and kissed her daughter's face with tears of joy falling down her cheeks. "Ria, my poor baby. Mummy's here." Leslie pulled her into a tight hug and looked up at everyone over Ria's shoulders. "Thank you so much for your help. How can I ever repay you?"

"It was no trouble really," Alec replied, picking up Max for a hug and standing beside Magnus.

"Well, there was a little trouble but think of this as service from one concerned parent to another." Magnus shrugged reaching up to take Max's hand in his. Alec looked at Magnus for a moment before turning his attention to Max.

Leslie looked at Max. "That baby is yours?" Magnus and Alec nodded proudly. Leslie smiled. "He's such a sweet little boy. He kept making these colourful lights appear in the air whilst you were gone to distract me from worrying."

"Really?" Magnus asked surprised turning to Max with a grin. "Good boy Max! Your Papa is so proud of you." Max gave them a gummy grin whilst Alec kissed the top of his head and gave him a cuddle. Max giggled and suddenly a little green light, almost as small as a firefly, appeared in front of Magnus and Alec and filled them with a feeling of joy. Ria let out a gasp as she stared up at the light with fascination.

"Mummy look! It's magic. Are they wizards Mummy? Like Harry Potter?" Ria asked gleefully, patting Leslie's arm excitedly as she pointed at the light. More had started to appear, ranging in colours from purple to red and even to bright periwinkle blue.

"Why is it always Harry Potter?" muttered Magnus turning to Alec. "I'm so much cooler than him. Come on, I don't even need a wand to do magic."

Alec frowned in confusion at Magnus. "Who's Harry Potter?"

Magnus blinked in surprise before he shook his head with a wry chuckle. "Oh, he's no one, some weird English kid who lives in a cupboard under some stairs. Samuel will know who he is."

Alec shrugged and stared at the lights that were now starting to flicker out with wisps of smoke. Magnus turned back to Leslie who was staring quietly at them. Her mouth had turned into a thin line and Magnus caught the faintest tremble of her bottom lip. "Alexander, be a darling and take the children to go play in Max's room for a moment please? I need to have a little talk with Leslie."

Alec nodded and held out his hand to Ria, leading her out of the room. Magnus knelt down and took hold of Leslie's shoulders, lifting her up and sitting her on the couch. With a flash of blue fire, two cups of tea and a box of tissues appeared on the coffee table with the logos for Taki's diner printed on the sides. Tugging a tissue out of the box and handing one of the cups to Leslie, he waited for her to speak.

"Your little boy…he's different isn't he? Like Ria." Leslie asked quietly, taking a small sip from her tea.

Magnus nodded. "Yes."

Leslie sipped her tea for a moment before she looked up at Magnus. "Your friend Catarina explained a few things to me before she had to get back to the hospital. About how Ria was born and how…" She trailed off and stared past Magnus as if she was in a trance. One of her dreadlocks fell forward into her face.

Magnus touched her hand comfortingly. "It's okay. You don't have to tell me."

Leslie shook her head and took a deep breath. "It's fine. I was fourteen at the time. I didn't know what was going on. All I know was that he was a…he was a monster."

"I know it must have been hard for you. Especially at such a young age."

Leslie nodded. "It was hard. I told my mother what happened to me and she was in shock for months after I told her. I didn't even know I was pregnant until it was too late to get an abortion…" Leslie shook her head and sipped her tea. "It doesn't matter now. When Ria was born, I knew she was different but I just thought she had some weird skin condition. But when she started to grow she started to do these incredible things." Leslie smiled suddenly and pulled a chain from around her neck. Hanging on the end of it was a clear glass pendant. "When Ria was three we went to the beach and she made these little glass pebbles out of the sand. I had no idea how she did it but I knew it was her."

Magnus smiled quietly at her as she tucked her pendant back into the hem of her dress. Leslie placed her cup on the coffee table and turned to Magnus seriously. "What will happen to Ria when she gets older? Will she turn bad like…like him or will she still be good?"

"I can't tell you what she'll be like when she gets older because I don't know. Every child is different."

"What about you? What were you like when you were Ria's age?" Leslie asked glancing at his cat like eyes.

Magnus remembered his childhood growing up in a Spanish monastery, discovering he could do magic and teaching himself everything he could with no help from anyone else. Magnus shrugged his shoulders. "I don't remember, it was a very long time ago. But your daughter is luckier than most because she has you."

"I won't be enough for her though." Leslie frowned. "What if something like this happens to her again? What use is a mother like me if I can't even protect my own child?"

Magnus suddenly had a thought. "There may be something I can do to help." He snapped his fingers and a notepad and pen appeared in his hands. "This is the address for the High Warlock of London, whoever that is now. Go there with Ria and tell them Magnus Bane sent you and ask for their protection." Magnus scribbled down the address and ripped it from the pad, handing it over to Leslie. "I can't promise anything, but it's hopefully a start at least. And before you go home, I can teach Ria the basics of creating a glamour to cover her skin, just in case anyone thinks of snatching her again."

Leslie stared at Magnus with wide eyes. "Really, you can help?" She took the paper and stared at it in amazement. "I don't know what to say."

"I meant it when I said she's luckier than most to have a mother like you. Her life's not going to be easy but it shouldn't have to be as hard as it was for the rest of us." Magnus said just as Alec, Max and Ria came back into the room. Ria ran around the couch to her mother with a big smile on her scaly face, holding Chairman Meow in her hands.

"Mummy, look at the kitty. Isn't he fluffy?" Chairman Meow yowled in contempt but didn't try to wriggle from her grip. Magnus felt Alec's hand touch his shoulder.

"Chairman Meow was hiding underneath Max's bed again. I think he knew we were coming." Alec murmured into Magnus's ear as Leslie talked to her daughter. Max wriggled in Alec's arms, stretching out for Magnus who held him against his chest as he fell asleep. Magnus gently rocked Max in his arms and Alec perched beside him on the arm of the couch. "You're really warming up to this parenting thing aren't you?"

Magnus half shrugged. "Well, what can I say? I'm a changed man." Magnus looked over at Leslie who was currently holding Ria in her lap whilst she tickled Chairman Meow's whiskers. Leslie mouthed a quick thank you over Ria's shoulder at them with a smile. Magnus looked up at Alec. "You've finally domesticated me. Consider that a great achievement."

"I'll be sure to include it in my memoirs." Alec replied dryly and bent down to kiss Magnus's mouth.