The Lost Book of the White (The Eldest Curses #2) - Cassandra Clare Page 0,9

on the back of his hand with his stele. He felt the bit of cloak seem to come alive inside his fist, the strange tickle in the back of his mind that said the rune was working to locate Ragnor Fell.

After a moment, Magnus, eyes still closed, said, “No idea. To practice dark magic in Sammael’s name, I assume. Any news?”

“Yes,” said Alec. “He’s to the west.”

“How far to the west?”

Alec frowned, concentrating. “Very far.”

Magnus opened his eyes. “Hang on.” He got up from the bed with an unexpected alacrity, considering how fatigued he’d looked a moment ago, and went into a desk drawer across the room. He waved a folded paper with excitement. “Here we have an excellent opportunity for warlock-Shadowhunter collaboration. You come here with your rune, and—” He unfolded what turned out to be a map of New York City across the surface of the bed and wiggled his fingers around over it. Then he grabbed Alec’s wrist and wiggled his fingers under that. Then he leaned over and kissed the back of Alec’s hand.

Alec smiled. “How does it feel to kiss an active rune?”

“There’s a little scent of heavenly fire, but otherwise it’s nice,” Magnus said. “Now what do you have, my noble tracker?”

Alec concentrated over the map. “Um, well, he’s to the west of this whole map.”

“Be right back.” Magnus left the room; in a few moments he returned and laid an unfolded map of the whole Northeast over the other map.

“West of all this,” Alec said apologetically.

Magnus came back with a map of the entire United States.

“West,” said Alec. He and Magnus exchanged a look. Magnus left again and this time came back struggling with a gigantic globe of the earth, easily two feet in diameter.

“Magnus,” said Alec. “That’s a bar.” He opened the globe at the hinge, revealing four crystal decanters inside.

“It’s still a globe,” Magnus said, closing it. Alec shrugged and began to move his fist slowly over the globe’s surface. When it came to rest, Magnus squinted to get a look. “Eastern China. Along the coast. Looks like… Shanghai.”

“Shanghai?” said Alec. “Why would Ragnor and Shinyun be in Shanghai?”

“No reason I can think of,” Magnus said. “Maybe that makes it a good hiding place.”

“What about Sammael?”

Magnus shook his head. “The last time Sammael walked the earth, Shanghai was a small fishing village. There’s no connection between them that I know of.” His dressing gown gaped open as he leaned over the globe, and Alec stared again at the place where Magnus’s skin had split open, a grotesque wound, but with no blood, only that eerie light. Magnus caught him looking and primly gathered the collar at his throat. “It’s fine.”

Alec threw up his hands. “Aren’t you concerned at all?” he said. “You have a stab wound. The stab wound is leaking weird magic. That’s serious business. You’re like Jace sometimes. It doesn’t make you weaker to accept help, you know.” He softened. “I’m just worried about you, Magnus.”

“Well, I haven’t become the thrall of Sammael, if that’s what you’re worried about,” said Magnus. He stretched his arms and legs. “I feel fine. I just need some high-quality sleep. We’ll let Catarina confirm that everything’s okay, and then tomorrow morning we’ll go to Shanghai, track down Ragnor and Shinyun, and get the Book back. Easy.”

“We will not,” said Alec.

“Well, someone has to,” Magnus said reasonably.

“We’re not going just the two of us. We need backup.”

“But—”

“No,” said Alec, and Magnus stopped, though he remained smiling. “What happens if I need runes? What happens if Shinyun and Ragnor are too powerful with the Book for us to take on by ourselves? And hey—are we taking Max with us? Because I don’t think we are.”

“I sort of hoped Catarina could watch him,” Magnus said. “For the brief time we’ll be gone.”

“Magnus,” said Alec. “I know you want to solve every problem yourself. I know you hate looking vulnerable—”

“I have help,” Magnus said. “I have you.”

“I will do everything in my power,” said Alec, “and there are lots of things we can do as just us.”

“Some of my favorite things,” Magnus put in, waggling his eyebrows.

“But this could be serious. If we go, we go with backup. I won’t go otherwise.”

Magnus opened his mouth to object, but at that moment, mercifully, the doorbell buzzed, announcing Catarina’s arrival. Alec opened the door for her, and she strode straight past him without a word. She was wearing blue scrubs almost the same color as her skin, and her