Chapter Nineteen – No Light, No Light.
London was quiet. Quieter than New York was at night at any rate, Magnus had always found it strange the silence of London compared to the raucous noise of New York. Even the lights of the numerous clubs seemed dimmer in London, Magnus stared down at the streets that were seven floors below him, the shadows of the buildings loomed right over the pavements casting any late night walkers into shadows making them impossible to see even for Magnus's cat's eyes. 'I'm going home. I'm going back to Brooklyn. To Alec.' Magnus thought, as a cold wind blew his spiky hair back from his face and numbed his hands that were clinging to the metal railing. Why anyone would choose to have a party on a hotel rooftop, Magnus had no idea, but here he was. On the rooftop with a bunch of random people he didn't know. His mind went back to Alec as he stared out over the not-home city skyline.
As much as he had tried to pretend that he was fine in front of everyone, everyone had seemed to be right. He did miss Alec and all he wanted right now was to be by Alec's side whether Alec wanted him there or not. An image of Alec smiling, his deep blue eyes sparkling with happiness appeared in the front of Magnus's mind and the warlock smiled to himself. 'I find myself drowning in those blue eyes every day, whether I'm near him or not.' He thought as the music started blasting loudly through the silent night air scattering Magnus's thoughts of a certain dark haired and blue eyed Nephilim. The party was running throughout the whole hotel, with most people remaining on the rooftop but Magnus had no desire to remain so high up so instead he turned to the door leading to the stairs and returned down to the hotel lobby.
Playing with a lock of his dyed black hair the shadowed figure stepped forward just slightly, the tips of his tattered trainers just visible in the silver of the moonlight. He had a job to do and he had to finish it tonight. He glanced down at his left forearm to check that the Stealth rune he had placed there earlier was still active. It had taken a lot of time and effort to be made to look like that boy, he already had the blue eyes for it. But the hair dying, the runes, borrowing the Gear from the one he was doing this for. Sebastian Morgenstern. He watched as the warlock made his way down towards the stairs leading down off of the rooftop. The boy followed, he'd desperately been wanting to leave the rooftop since he'd followed the warlock up here - he was afraid of heights - but he'd had his orders from Sebastian and he knew what would happen to him should he disobey him. The minute his feet touched the top step the urge to run down them filled his every urge, he really hated heights, but he had to remain inconspicuous which meant silently tagging along behind the warlock until he had to make his move.
He wasn't sure exactly when that would be but he didn't have much of a choice or even a say in the matter. What Sebastian said, went and if he didn't like it, tough. He knew that Sebastian could just as easily get rid of him as fast as he had recruited him but it would come at a price if he was to fail Sebastian now. The price would be his death. He followed Magnus down into the hotel lobby, pressing his side up against the stair rail as people pushed past heading up onto the roof or to the other floors to do God knows what. His mind went back to his family, how their lives were at risk if he was to fail, how he would have to watch them all be slaughtered before being killed himself; he couldn't allow that to happen, he wouldn't and couldn't fail in the slightest way.
Magnus leapt down the last few steps his mind was still in a whirlwind about Alec as he threw himself down at the bar. 'An hour or two then I'm going home. I'm going to find Alec and I will make this right.' He thought as he ordered a drink, his eyes roved around the room that was full with people dancing in the middle of the room, people heading for the stairs or even just sitting in the corner of the room in the deep secluded shadows. 'Alone in a crowded room.' Magnus thought as he stared sullenly down at his drink which he no longer had the desire to drink. No longer having the energy to even attempt to enjoy himself he let his mind wander, plotting maps from the memories that swirled in his head like a gathering storm:
They were sat on the sofa. The TV was switched on with a film playing but Magnus wasn't paying it any attention, he couldn't even remember what it was titled and he was the one who had chosen it. His thumb lightly traced across the intricate curls of the thick black Voyance rune on the back of Alec's pale hand, faint scars from past battles shimmered when the light caught them but Magnus didn't care. To him, nothing had looked more perfect. Alec's fingers twitched as Magnus held onto his hand, causing the warlock to glance up at him. His bright blue eyes were still watching whatever was happening in the film, his long eyelashes casting thick shadows across his cheekbones. His dark locks stuck out in odd angles like hands had been run through it multiple times, and his lips were curved into a slight smile. A small ball of fur - Chairman Meow - was curled up in Alec's lap purring contently, one of Alec's hands resting lightly on the cat's fur.
'What I wouldn't give to be you Chairman.'Magnus thought, hurriedly erasing the thought from his mind as heat flared into his cheeks. At the moment Alec seemed completely unaware that Magnus was watching him instead of the film but Magnus preferred it that way, he'd done it many times before. Secretive glances that allowed him to watch every change of emotion in the young Nephilim's face: humour which made his eyes brighten and his mouth curl into a smile, shock which made his fingers twitch on occasions or the odd unshed tear which resulted in multiple hurried blinks. Magnus smiled and tried to turn his attention back to the TV screen. He had no idea what was happening now, a tall guy with curly black hair wearing a long coat was stood next to a smaller man. "The name is Sherlock Holmes and the address is 221B Baker Street." And with that the tall man winked and left the room, Magnus was definitely confused - he knew what the programme was sure enough but he had no idea what had happened.
"He just offered him a room in an apartment." Alec whispered as he noticed the slight frown on Magnus's face. "But why?" Magnus questioned, smiling slightly as Alec rolled his eyes.
"You weren't paying any attention were you?" Alec asked, a hint of a smile curling his lips upwards.
"I was paying attention to something much more interesting." Magnus muttered, pressing his lips against Alec's, whose face flushed scarlet.
"I'm not interesting." Alec muttered, his smile slightly more wider than before, his blue eyes unfocused as he turned them back to the screen.
"Remember when we had that little chat about you? About not playing hard to get anymore?" Magnus questioned a smirk forming on his face. Alec shook his head although Magnus knew he was lying, he remembered, Magnus knew he did. It was obvious from the fact that Alec's blush had deepened in colour. "You are interesting," Magnus whispered in Alec's ear, "interesting to me." With that Magnus reached over and kissed Alec.
A flicker of movement from beside Magnus drew him out of his flashback and he glanced over to look at the boy who had sat beside him at the bar. Half of the boy's face was hidden in shadow but Magnus could still see the bright blue of his eyes and the dark black of his hair and pale skin that seemed to shimmer in the pulsing lights illuminating runes. 'Shadowhunter.' Magnus thought, beginning to turn his attention back to the full glass in front of him. "Strange to see Magnus Bane so far away from Brooklyn." The boy muttered, the tone sounded so much like Alec's voice that Magnus actually cracked his neck as he twisted to look at the boy. Rubbing at his neck, Magnus struggled to see any discerning features as his mind began screaming: 'Alec?! Is it Alec?! Why is Alec here?! Did he come looking for me?!' The boy turned his face to fully look at Magnus and grinned. 'Not Alec.' Magnus's mind sighed and he slumped back in his seat interest gone, he did look a bit like Alec however. 'But there's no light in those blue eyes.'