Valentine's Arrow

18: Aftermath

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

JACE

Not much had changed at Magnus's since the first time Jace had been there. The same small entryway and single yellow bulb. Jace used an Open rune to get in through the front door, took the stairs two at a time, and buzzed Magnus's apartment bell. Safer than using another rune, he figured. After all, Magnus could be playing video games naked or, really, doing practically anything. Who knew what warlocks got up to in their spare time?

Jace buzzed again, this time leaning firmly on the doorbell. Two more long buzzes, and Magnus finally yanked the door open, looking furious. He was wearing a black silk dressing gown over a white dress shirt and tweed pants.

His feet were bare. His dark hair was tangled, and there was the shadow of a day-old stubble on his jaw. "What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"My, my," said Jace. "So unwelcoming."

"That's because you're not welcome."

Jace raised an eyebrow. "I thought we were friends."

"No. You're Alec's friend. Alec was my boyfriend, so I had to put up with you. But now he's not my boyfriend, so I don't have to put up with you. Not that any of you seem to realize it. You must be the - what, fourth? - of you lot to bother me." Magnus counted off on his long fingers. "Clary. Isabelle. Simon-"

"Simon came by?"

"You seem surprised."

"I didn't think he was that invested in your relationship with Alec."

"I don't have a relationship with Alec," said Magnus flatly, but Jace had already shouldered past him and was in his living room, looking around curiously. One of the things Jace had always secretly liked about Magnus's apartment was that it rarely looked the same way twice. Sometimes it was a big modern loft. Sometimes it looked like a French bordello, or a Victorian opium den, or the inside of a spaceship. Right now, though, it was messy and dark. Stacks of old Chinese food cartons littered the coffee table. Chairman Meow lay on the rag rug, all four legs sticking straight out in front of him like a dead deer.

"It smells like heartbreak in here," said Jace.

"That's the Chinese food." Magnus bustled past him and discreetly snatched a piece of paper from the table and shoved it into the pocket of his dressing gown. Then he threw himself down onto the sofa, stretched out his long legs, and sighed dramatically. "Go on, get it over with. Say whatever you came here to say."

"I need a favor," said Jace.

Magnus rolled his eyes up to the ceiling. "Of course you do."

"It's important," Jace said. "It's about Rebecca."

That seemed to catch Magnus's attention, if only slightly. He sat up a little straighter, his eyes narrowing. "What about her?"

"Well, you know she's... missing."

"I wouldn't say that, exactly," Magnus muttered, swinging his long legs off the sofa. "I think we know exactly where she is."

"With Sebastian," Jace said, his voice tight. "And who knows what that bastard will do to her."

"And I'm assuming you want my help to find her?"

"Yes."

Magnus shrugged. "No can do, little Shadowhunter."

Jace felt a surge of annoyance, coupled with the constant worry that had plagued him ever since the battle at the Burren. "Why not?"

"Because I've tried it before. And it hasn't worked."