The One That Got Away (The Bounty Hunter Trilogy)

Chapter four

The club was not as crowded as they feared but the music was certainly louder than they expected it to be. "Are you sure he'll be here?" Isabelle shouted over the music, almost not making herself heard. The place was quite big, not as huge as Pandemonium back in Brooklyn, the club that Magnus apparently owned. That was how Alec got the idea of meeting him here. It was secluded enough, a lot of other people around and a public space, so he need not to be scared about them grabbing him and taking him in. Alec thought of this as a peace offering. Besides, Magnus was known to party. "I'm sure!" Alec shouted back. They looked around.

In the middle of the room was the dance floor, which was pretty crowded. Opposite to the front door and themselves, was a DJ stand on a higher pedestal. On the sides of the room were secluded areas with sofas and tables in front of them. They stepped a little further into the room, scanning it. Jace suddenly nudged Alec and indicated with his head. Alec looked at the direction Jace was pointing to and saw that Magnus was sitting on one of the sofas, sipping a margarita. He was wearing the most sparkling silver shirt Alec had ever seen. His hair were styled upwards and shone with glitter, his eyes scanned the room. On both sides of him, standing next to the red sofa, were two men, who looked exactly like bodyguards. They started towards him but suddenly, Magnus, who had spotted them, held a hand up, making them stop in their tracks.

He nodded towards the sofa opposite to his, across the dancefloor. Clever, leaving a mass of people between us, Alec thought. They approached the indicated sofa and found, that in front of it on the table, were earpieces. Three of them. Isabelle eyed them suspiciously, but Alec nodded and they took a seat, putting them inside their ears. Magnus soft voice spoke and Alec looked across the dance floor, meeting his green eyes and seeing his mouth move "You didn't think I'm stupid enough to let you near me, did you?" Jace scoffed but said "Smart thinking, I'll give you that. Otherwise, you'd be on our jet right now, with a bag over your head." Magnus seemed to laugh and he said "I doubt that." Isabelle rolled her eyes and cut in "We weren't sure you'd come." Magnus seemed thoughtful, he sipped his drink and they could hear it through the ear pieces. Then he said "I have to say, I was surprised when Liang sent me the message, that you wanted to meet. But, you had me intrigued. I mean, how many of bounty hunters you know of, that ask to meet with their bounty. It's ridiculous, so naturally, I complied."

Jace mumbled something that seemed like "What a show-off" but Alec rushed in "We have a proposition for you, Magnus. More like a deal." Magnus' eyes seemed to sparkle when he answered with amusement "If it involves me, you, handcuffs and a blindfold, I'm in." Jace spit out the water he had just drank and Isabelle didn't even hide the loud snort she let out but Alec said calmly "Keep it in your pants, will you?". He could see Magnus' raised eyebrows and he most definitely heard Isabelle's gasp and Jace's audible "Oh snap!". He continued boldly "It involves Valentine Morgenstern. And don't act like you don't know who I'm talking about." Magnus' posture didn't change one bit and he said with boredom "Everyone knows who he is. So what?" Jace replied "So, you worked for him." Magnus waved his hand, which had multiple ring on it and they caught the gleaming light from the disco ball "Emphasis on worked."

Isabelle chimed "Well, imagine our surprise when we learned that not just 6 months ago, you had a little meeting with his accountant. Catarina Loss?" Magnus eyes seemed to flinch but his lean posture didn't crack "Not sure what you're getting at." Alec talked again "Well, you can imagine what Morgenstern has done. You have possibly witnessed it. We want to take him down. This is personal to us. Our brother..." He stopped, unsure if he should be saying this. Jace cut in "He's dead because of him. So if there's any way to take him down, we will jump for it." Isabelle nodded, looking sad all of a sudden. Magnus eyes didn't betray anything when he said "My condolences for your brother, but I didn't know him. Nor you. So why should I help you? Valentine knows I've cut all ties. He will never trust me again. So I am not quite willing to let myself be sacrificed for your folly plan."