Strange Games

4: Pandemonium

The sunlight spilled dimly through the windows lining the wall of Magnus's loft. It was a single golden beam reflected off one of the windows from across the alleyway directly onto her face that woke Clary up. She blinked open her eyes, only to squeeze them shut as soon as the bright light blinded her. Groaning, she shifted to her left so the light no longer shown on her face only to feel the dull edge of her sketchbook dig into her side.

Confused, she opened her eyes again and looked down at her lap. Her sketchbook was open to a page with a half drawn image of a little girl on it that she barely remembered drawing. Then again, she didn't remember falling asleep either. Sitting up, she freed her legs from their bent position, stretching out pleasurably.

A soft hum from next to her drew her attention and Clary glanced over to see little Zoe curled in a ball against the arm of the couch just a foot or so away from her. She smiled and tugged the blanket higher up the young warlock's body before setting her sketchbook aside and standing.

The other warlocks, Elias and Zoe's father Adham, were sitting in the two armchairs across the coffee table from the couch. They both looked like they had fallen asleep while talking. Elias had his cellphone clutched loosely in his hand like a charm. The sight of it reminded Clary of her own phone. She should probably check to see if Simon and Maureen got home okay last night. Clary had run out on them after all.

Yawning, Clary looked around the loft for her messenger bag, pausing when she heard shuffling coming from Magnus's bedroom. Sure enough, Magnus came out dressed in a fresh set of clothes. He wore a deep garnet silk shirt with subtle designs covering the material to give it the faintest texture. The front of the shirt was almost entirely unbuttoned revealing his toned chest and numerous necklaces, the charms clinking against each other rhythmically. Over his shirt, Magnus wore a black jacket with black pants, again with subtle designs decorating the fabric, that hugged his legs flatteringly. His shoes were silvery and reflected the early morning sunlight dully.

It was a testament to his distracted thoughts that Magnus didn't notice Clary's presence immediately. As it was, he only noticed her when she moved, flinching in surprise before relaxing. The move unnerved Clary.

"Hey," she said softly, not wanting to wake the sleeping warlocks. Magnus nodded absently before moving to the kitchen to go through the motions of brewing tea. "Are you alright?" Clary asked, following her uncle.

Magnus sighed and shook his head, setting a mug for himself and one for Clary on the island countertop. "Not particularly, no," he said, his voice soft and morose. "I've sent fire messages to all the warlocks I know of in my domain. I'm not sure if all of them got them, but I tried."

He snapped his fingers and the mugs were suddenly filled with steaming water, a tea bag tag hanging over the rims. Clary jolted at the change, eyes wide. -smoky blue...pulling- Clary shook the weird, intrusive thought away in favor of humming happily and reaching for her own mug. She took a sip and looked back at her uncle, concerned when he made no move for his own mug.

"Were you able to send a message to Dot?" Clary asked when the silence seemed to drag.

Magnus shook his head. "I don't know where she is, so no," he said, finally looping his ringed fingers around the mug's handle. "I can only send fire messages to someone if I know where they are. Alternatively, I could send one to a person's home but seeing as Dot's home isn't somewhere she'll go back to anytime soon..." He shrugged.

"I told my people to spread the word that I'll be at my club this afternoon for an hour if any of them wanted to take me up on my offer of sanctuary in my Lair," he continued after taking a careful sip. "They won't stay here forever, naturally, but they're welcome here until I can send them somewhere safer."