A Malec Story

Chapter 3: First meet - Magnus

Magnus

With a deep sigh Magnus led Clary and the shadowhunter boys to his bedroom. This was just what he needed, he thought sarcastically, shadowhunters and Clarissa Fray at his party. He couldn't very well make them leave, so he hoped they would get bored soon, assuming he could convince them that he didn't know anything. So far they seemed to believe he didn't know them, which was only true for the mundane and the blonde. The dark haired brother and sister he recognized as Lightwoods, and of course he recognized Clary. He couldn't believe he found her at his doorsteps with the Nephilim of the Institute. So far the only good thing he got out of it was a look into the gorgeous blue eyes of the eldest Lightwood. He was captivating, Magnus thought, and he had enjoyed staring in those eyes and find in them a mixture of guilt, intrigue and pleasure at Magnus's attention. He was gay, the boy. Alec. Magnus chided himself for being happy about that. Why would he care if a shadowhunter, a Lightwood even, would be gay. As if he would ever make a move towards a shadowhunter, he knew better than that. Right?

"Nice place," said the blonde one, drawing aside his curtains. "Guess it pays well, being the High Warlock of Brooklyn?"

"It pays," Magnus said. "Not much of a benefit package, though. No dental." He shut the door behind him, leaned against it and crossed his arms. "So," he said. "What's on your devious little minds?"

"It's not them, actually," Clary said. "I'm the one who wanted to talk to you."

Magnus wasn't surprised to hear that, but he still tried to keep up appearances. "You are not one of them," he said. "Not of the Clave. But you can see the Invisible World."

"My mother was one of the Clave," Clary said, which did surprise Magnus. So she found out, it made sense, she was here, wasn't she? With a bunch of shadowhunters. "But she never told me. She kept it a secret. I don't know why."

"So ask her."

"I can't. She's ..." Clary hesitated. "She's gone."

"And your father?"

"He died before I was born."

Magnus exhaled irritably. "As Oscar Wilde once said, 'To lose one parent may be regarded as a misfortune. To lose both seems like carelessness.'"

Clary looked annoyed, "I didn't lose my mother. She was taken from me. By Valentine."

"I don't know any Valentine," said Magnus fast. He got the feeling it would be hard to bluff himself out of this now that Clary brought up Valentine. "I'm sorry for your tragic circumstances, but I fail to see what any of this has to do with me. If you could tell me—"

"She can't tell you, because she doesn't remember," the blonde boy interrupted him suddenly. Magnus disliked him even more than he already did. The boy breathed trouble. "Someone erased her memories." He went on. "So we went to the Silent City to see what the Brothers could pull out of her head. They got two words. I think you can guess what they were."

Shoot. There it was, he was busted. Busted by shadowhunters. He silently cursed himself for ever listening to Jocelyn Morgenstern when she asked him to erase her daughters memories. There was no more need to deny it though. He smiled bitter. "My signature. I knew it was folly when I did it. An act of hubris ..."

"You signed my mind?" Clary said in disbelief.

Magnus raised his hand, tracing the fiery outlines of letters against the air. When he dropped his hand, they hung there, hot and golden, MAGNUS BANE.

"I was proud of my work on you," he said slowly, looking at Clary. "So clean. So perfect. What you saw you would forget, even as you saw it. No image of pixie or goblin or long-legged beastie would remain to trouble your blameless mortal sleep. It was the way she wanted it."