The Lost Book of the White (The Eldest Curses #2) - Cassandra Clare Page 0,61
I’m not some two-bit crook like Johnny Rook.”
Magnus pressed the money into his hand anyway. Peng Fang tried to hug him again, and with a final no, Magnus headed down the spiral staircase, with Alec following. They retraced their steps back through the cellar and up the stone staircase into the stall.
The ground floor of the shop was dark, but they could still easily see the glass cabinets covered in Chinese labels and their contents. The amount of blood on hand was beginning to get to Alec, and he was happy to go out the front door and back onto the streets of the concession, where it was still a fine, sunny afternoon. “Who’s Johnny Rook again?” Alec muttered as they left.
Magnus shrugged. “Some two-bit crook.”
CHAPTER NINE The Celestial Palace
ALEC WAS SILENT ON THE way to the bookstore, and Magnus, for the first time in a couple of years, felt an odd feeling. He felt awkward about the meeting with Peng Fang.
“I really don’t know Peng Fang that well,” he said. “I’ve just bought information from him a few times over the years.”
Alec nodded, distracted.
“It’s just… I know there’s a lot of sketchy stuff in my past,” Magnus went on. What was wrong with him? “I don’t want you to worry that any of it will come back to… well…”
He trailed off, and Alec stopped walking and gave him a curious look. “What’s this about?” he said.
“When we were meeting with Peng Fang, I just started to think about how shady it all was, how shady a lot of the things I have to do are. I mean, Peng Fang is harmless, it’s just that I’m very big with weirdos. They all think I love them.”
Alec grinned affectionately. “It’s your devilish charisma,” he said. “You can’t help it.”
“Yeah, but some of the weirdos I know have turned out to be dangerous. And I know we don’t want to put Max in danger,” Magnus began, and Alec began to laugh. “What?” Magnus demanded.
“Magnus, I’m the one with the dangerous job,” Alec said. “I literally fight demons for a living. We’ve adopted Max into an incredibly dangerous family situation. I know that! I mean, forget the actual fighting, the monsters, the dark magic. I’m a gay Shadowhunter in a relationship with a famous Downworlder, who is himself the son of a Prince of Hell. My father is the Inquisitor and my parents were members of a hate group. My parabatai has been imprisoned in the Silent City. More than once!”
“When you put it like that,” Magnus murmured, “it doesn’t sound like a great home environment.”
“But it is,” said Alec with more force than Magnus would have expected. “I like our life, Magnus. I like that I don’t know what will happen next. I like that we get a chance to give Max the kind of life that warlocks rarely get. I like that we’ll be doing it together. You remember what the note said when we found Max? ‘Who could ever love it?’ We could, Magnus. We could love him. We do love him.”
Magnus’s mind was torn. On the one hand, he was filled with affection and appreciation, for Alec, for Max, for a life he never thought he could have. On the other hand, he thought of the magic growing within his chest, and whatever had happened in the alley. He thought of Ragnor, currently lost in thrall to a demon after hundreds of years of doing only good with his powers.
“How will we ever explain to Max?” he said quietly. “Where he came from. Where I came from. That people will look at him and make decisions about who he is without knowing him at all. That his parents put themselves in danger over and over again, but that we’ll always come back to him.”
“I think you just said it pretty well,” said Alec. “And… I don’t know. I’m a beginner at this too. But we’ll figure it out together. That’s the whole idea.” He put his hand behind Magnus’s head and pulled him in for a kiss. Magnus expected something quick, but Alec kissed him deeply, his mouth slightly open, warm, reassuring, and full of love and desire. Magnus allowed himself to relax into the kiss, but as he did, he felt his tongue pass over his own teeth. They felt different. Were they bigger? Was he growing fangs? What was happening to him?
He decided that he would take things one step at a time, and this step was