Once Upon A Time In Brooklyn

Chapter Eighteen: Vogue

"So Magnus is staying at the Hotel Dumort now..." Simon said, sitting down at Taki's and ordering the blood shake.

"What?" Clary did a double-take. They were all there - shadowhunters, himself, Raphael and Ragnor- a weekly check in to make sure that things were good between the shadowhunters and the Downworld. Simon felt Raphael press his thigh against his leg.

"Yeah. He and Camille seem to have this weird... thing going on," Simon continued. Alec's face looked pale.

"He's helping us restructure now that we have fewer vampires left," Raphael cut in and Simon was glad that he had the sense to see that Alec wasn't himself.

"I'm pretty sure that's not all he's doing," Isabelle said and she sounded angry but the way she looked at Alec made Simon wonder who her fury was directed at.

"I'm pretty sure it wasn't his idea either," Ragnor said. "You may stay silent, Alec Lightwood, but I know you played a hand in this."

Alec straightened in his chair, trying for nonchalance and failing.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Ragnor," he lied. Simon glanced around the table and saw that everyone could tell that it was far from the truth.

"You do not have Magnus' gift for lying," Ragnor pointed out. It was Jace though, who looked most taken aback.

"Alec, you... You orchestrated this somehow?" he asked. Alec looked away.

"I don't want to talk about any of it," he said, closing off the conversation firmly. Simon was about to say something more when Isabelle reached and took his hand. He felt Raphael's hand on his knee under the table squeeze his thigh slightly.

"Does Magnus seem... happy?" she asked. Simon dropped his hand down to his lap, prying away Raphael's possessive fingers.

"That would be like asking a statue if it was happy. I haven't seen an expression on his face since he arrived," Simon replied. Clary sighed and sat back in her chair.

"At least Magnus is finally taking the curse seriously," she said, though she didn't look convinced by her own words.

"Yes. It seems so, doesn't it?" Ragnor replied, voice dry and skeptical.

"Ragnor, you don't seem convinced," Raphael said and Simon wondered if the two of them had talked about this before when he wasn't around. They both had a vested interest in Magnus after all.

"I am in no doubt that Camille was Cinderella, and at the time, I thought it was the curse trying to tell us what to do next, the way to break it. But I have my doubts now. Even if it were true, there may not be enough time left for Magnus to forgive Camille... or thaw her heart," Ragnor said and Simon saw both his boyfriend's and the warlock's eyes zero in on Alec, who was staring fixedly at the salt pot.

"It's a better chance than zero," Alec replied without even looking up, his voice flat.

"Alec..." Isabelle's tone was so pitying that Simon saw a shiver of some raw emotion go down Alec's back.

"I'm going for a walk," he said, getting to his feet and walking away.

"Nice going, you two," Simon hissed. "Did that go just as planned?"

"He has to take ownership of his own life, his own actions," Ragnor said and gazed at the back of Alec's back sadly. "At least now he is thinking."

*

"If we're going together, we absolutely must match."

"Whatever you wish, my dear."

Magnus tried to sound enthusiastic as Camille pulled dresses from her wardrobe, holding them up against herself.