"Whoa, hold up, slow down. Your legs are a lot longer than mine!" Simon called, out of breath. Magnus approached him a cafe. They talked about music, then Magnus went into the whole spiel. All the stories are true, showed him some small magic: fire in the hand, always a stunner.
He'd been in something of a quagmire what to tell Simon, in regards to Jocelyn and Clary. Amatis would surely recognize them, if Simon mentioned them, and why wouldn't he? If asked now, he would say he knew Luke through Jocelyn and Clary, and if he knew there was a secret society of demon hunters, Luke's sister among them, he might start connecting some dots. Yet again, Jocelyn still wanted to hide. But how could she, if her daughter's closest friend knew her history? However, how on earth could Magnus explain otherwise, for Simon not to mention their names to Amatis?
So, the cat had to come out of the bag. There was nothing else for it. His only compromise was to keep Jocelyn hidden a tad bit longer, so he explained to Simon why Jocelyn and Clarissa had truly run, who Valentine really was, and asked Simon to keep their identities covered for a tad bit longer, by saying nothing of them to Amatis.
Simon was of course, terribly excited by the whole thing, while agreeing wholeheartedly to abide by knowing Luke from his bookstore and nothing more. "This is my Harry Potter moment. I'm Harry, you're my Hagrid, and Luke is Professor Lupin. Got it. Whoa! I wish I could share this with Clary!"
Then of course, Magnus needed to explain the man of the hour's current predicament, the whole reason he was telling Simon all this in the first place, though omitting the suicide attempt.
"But he's going to be okay, right? Now this doesn't seem nearly as fun. Oh, crap. Okay, lead the way. If you need someone to talk, no one can talk more than me when I'm nervous, and I'm gonna be nervous, because I'm gonna be talking to a frickin' werewolf. It's Luke, but it's a frickin' werewolf."
Magnus brought Simon into warehouse. "Here we are. Luke is in the room behind this door. Try to connect with him. Give it your best shot."
"I'm not great at sports, so sports metaphors don't really do it for me."
"Break a leg?"
"Ha, ha."
Magnus opened the symbolic portal, the point of no return for Simon Lewis, the sight he could never unsee, and led the way to Luke's cell, Simon trailing a few steps behind. The lights were dim, but not enough to hide the werewolf resting behind the warding.
"Oh, Jesus, that is terrifying. Okay, deep breaths. Don't make a joke about a Jew saying 'Oh Jesus' – I know you were thinking it, Magnus, but hey Luke, it's me, Simon! Your friendly, normal, neighborhood Simon. So you're stuck as a werewolf? That's a bummer… Geez, great start me." Simon scratched his head. "So what's that like? Can you hear me? Could you do something, like bark two times? Oh, wait, is that demeaning? How about stomp your foot, your paw, your paw-foot." Simon groaned, "I'm dying out here, Magnus!"
"What would you talk to him about, if he weren't in wolf form? Just let him hear the sound of your voice. Let him know you're here," Magnus reassured.
Simon sighed, then nodded. "Okay, I can do that."
The kid wasn't lying. He could talk up a storm, and sometimes Luke did seem present. Amatis had been saying she thought so, but hadn't been able to get a clear sign. The wolf seemed focused on her, once it started spending more time conscious, and on Simon now as well, but it was getting late.
"Head on home for tonight," Magnus advised.
"Now that I'm here I don't want to leave. I felt like I was this close," he replied, palms a hairsbreadth apart, "to getting a sign. Is that just wishful thinking?"
"Come on back tomorrow, if you'd like," Magnus offered, feeling proud of him, even though they'd just met.
"You bet I will," Simon promised.
Simon and Amatis were comparing notes, the following afternoon, after Magnus introduced them and Simon had sat with Luke for a time. "I'm sorry I couldn't get a sign. I just rambled on about my band, about that time I had terrible razor burn on my face and Luke had to teach me how to shave, what I ate yesterday. Whatever I could think of."
"Don't blame yourself, Simon. You're doing admirably," Amatis soothed.
"Thanks," he accepted, still disappointed, then stood. "I'm going out. Text me if anything changes." Magnus saw him out, then returned to let Amatis know: "You too. Don't blame yourself."
"That's my baby brother in there. I feel like I'm failing him again." Magnus reached over and clasped her arm briefly, hoping to offer comfort. "You're here. That's the best thing you can do for him."
"I've got a better idea. I want to go in the cell." Magnus had been using magic to clean and provide food and water so far, but he understood why she wanted to try it. It would be proof, who was in control of the wolf's body. Still risky, of course, but he offered, "Let me monitor you, and I'll take down the warding."
"Deal. Let's go." The wolfsbane seemed to finally be losing its effect, and the wolf was starting to heal faster – still resting often, as it was now – as they approached the cell.
"Lucian, I'm coming in there," Amatis announced, to Magnus' amusement: her bossy tone, in spite of the fact she was talking to a supernaturally large wolf. Even though Luke was not able to respond, Magnus had a good sense of how these two interacted with each other. Amatis had shared she'd been Luke's caretaker from a young age. "We grew up like little savages. Maybe that's inappropriate to say with Lucian in his current condition, but it's true. Two kids alone in a little cabin in the woods. Sorry darling, I did what I could, but sometimes I just felt like partying!"
But for now, the savage wolf was making eye contact with her, laying down, Amatis looking right back. "Do it, Magnus." With a wave of his arm, the warding came done and Amatis crept closer. "Lucian, it's me, Amatis. Your sister, Amatis. I'm not leaving this cell until you give me a sign. I know you're in there, otherwise this wolf would be coming at me now."
Magnus agreed. He'd been prepared for an attack scenario, however the wolf continued lying down, in the center of the cell, remaining in eye contact with Amatis but making no other move, and she took another step forward. When the wolf did nothing, she took another. She continued until she was within arm's reach, then the wolf stood up slowly, walked to the side wall of the cell, laid down again and looked back at her.
She and Magnus exchanged a quick glance. "It's up to you, Amatis. I've got you covered."
She nodded, then followed the wolf over to the wall. When she got close again, the wolf let out a whine. Magnus and Amatis both startled, it had never done that. Emboldened, Amatis reached her hand forward, and the wolf whined again.
"Lucian, please can you give me a sign you understand me? A bark?"
The wolf stared, for a few seconds, then barked. A rough, spooky, spine-tingling bark, but a bark regardless.
"Two for yes. One for no. Do you know I'm your sister?" Two rumbling, nightmare inducing barks.
"Do remember Magnus saving you?" Yes.
"Are you aware all the time?" No.
"Now, we're getting somewhere," Amatis grinned.