Chapter 9: New Dye-Job and Pig Pens
(Previous Chapter) (Next Chapter)
Eljah surprised himself when he stayed for breakfast. Maybe it was him being selfish, soaking up what could be the only time he had with Magnus. Or maybe he felt bad because of Alec’s semi-rejection upon first waking, staying to keep the old, lonely warlock company.
“Are your Arepas to your liking?” Magnus sought confirmation. His apartment smelled heavenly, the food fusing with Magnus’ refreshing scent relaxed Eljah.
“God, yes,” Eljah giggled in pure delight, reaching for another filled flatbread. He normally would contain his reactions to things, but Magnus could read him like a book (el anciano old man).
“I’m surprised you said you haven’t had them in a while, being a warlock and all.”
“Honestly, I’ve adjusted to the DuMort’s schedule and because, you know… they don’t eat human food, I just forget to eat, you know?”
“If you need a place to stay, you know I have the space. I love Raphael, but the vamp’s lifestyles aren’t always best for a warlock. And I can see the lack of sleep practically whirling off you.”
“I can see it off of everyone, too. I guess I’m so used to it I’ve stopped noticing it in myself. You’re giving off green, so I’m guessing you slept well last night.”
“How could I not? I was practically laying on your lap, Eljah,” the two giggled, Eljah’s face turning bright red as he hid behind his hands. Magnus turned his head, reminiscent of Eljah’s habit when confused. “Can you literally see the color of my energy?”
“Yes. I can see everyone’s aura most of the time. When I’m… not mentally present, though, it looks more like television static. It’s a constant.”
“How did Alexander look earlier? Was he angry?” Eljah paused, trying to remember the exact change in the tall shadowhunter’s appearance.
“I don’t think so.” He was fresh from sleep when Alec rushed out, so it was rough to remember. “I think it was white and a slight purple.”
“What does that mean?” Magnus refilled Eljah’s glass of iced tea with a snap of his fingers. His hair was still completely intact despite last night’s hectic events.
Eljah sighed. “It means he was nervous and a little aggressive. Probably from stress.”
“I meant what I said. Liquor might have been a bad idea, but I had fun. I’m not trying to play your or Alexander.”
“And I don’t want you to stress over my reactions to things! I mean-” Eljah groaned, more aggressively, “I think I like you too… I’m just not good at any of this, much less with two people involved. The last time…” Eljah zoned out and Magnus jutted his head into his point of view, both eyebrows raising.
“You don’t have to tell me. It’s okay,” he reached forward and grasped the smaller boy’s hand, “I’ve had my fair share of poor relationships.” Magnus meant it to be light-hearted, but Eljah closed his eyes and exhaled. It wasn’t just a poor relationship… it wasn’t a relationship at all. It was a soon-to-be eighteen-year-old being taken advantage of.
At Eljah’s silence, Magnus reached up a hand and carefully brushed back the hair that fell in Eljah’s eyesight. The younger warlock opened his eyes, expecting to meet Magnus’, but a portion of Eljah’s hair distracted the other man.
“When did you have time to bleach your hair?” Magnus tittered, but he was genuinely confused. Now, so was Eljah.
He rose instantly and directed himself into the bathroom. He shut the door with an unintentional slam and locked it (not that it could keep Magnus out, but it was habitual). Eljah practically threw himself forward over the sink to check the strands of hair.
Eljah’s hair had always been borderline black, with random strands of highlighted hair. It hadn’t been bleached or dyed. It hadn’t looked genuine growing up, leading to lots of different situations, but now, in more modern times, he could fit in.
There were still highlights around his head, but a small section of pure white appeared on the right side, like it had changed overnight.
“Eljah?” Magnus knocked on the bathroom door. “Luke and Clary are awake. Do you want to send them off?” Eljah felt panicked. He stared at his reflection, trying to take deep breaths. His eyes were watering uncomfortably, and he tried to rub the emotions away.
He swung the door open, Magnus standing with his fist up like he was about to knock again, and faked a smile. “Better yet, I’ll accompany them.” He sped to grab the phone he left on the table while he hastily tied his hair up in a bun.
“Are you sure?” Magnus chased him down, hot on his feet. “Yesterday took a lot out of you.”
“Yep! Just fine, just fine,” he echoed his words, his nerves on full display for everyone, which made him want to jump out of his skin and run. It angered him to no avail when he couldn’t conceal his feelings. “I’ll meet you two downstairs. Thank you for breakfast, Magnus.”
He left the red accented door wide open for the shadowhunter and werewolf, flying out the door to the elevator and passing a bewildered Jace in the hallway.
The group of four approached the massive NYPD building. It was a horrid amount of dirty gray concrete against fresh blue tinted windows. The air was slightly humid, but the wind made up for it, sailing away the smell of farm animals (no offense, Luke). Jace and Luke walked calmly in their usual attire, Clary and Eljah taking up the middle of the group and looking around.
A siren sounded in the distance as Luke laid the plan out. “All right, cards are on my desk. It shouldn’t take long,” turning to face the others in his blue, collared shirt. He had his gun strapped along his jeans. Eljah hadn’t had access or time to grab any weapons once again, so he was told to stay with Luke.
Jace mumbled, “all right,” but Luke placed a hand out, interrupting him.
“It’ll be easier to avoid unnecessary attention if I do this alone.” No one had objections, and the three shadowhunters stayed put, watching Luke’s figure descend into the police department. Jace and Eljah mirrored each other, arms crossed and eyes taut on high alert from being out in the open with Valentine’s daughter. Clary was more than that, but he couldn’t help but be realistic; she was in danger at all hours of the day.
“It sounded boring anyway,” Jace whined, making Eljah snicker. Clary smiled sarcastically and shook her head at Jace’s humor.
Minutes had passed before Eljah’s gut dropped. Clary verbalized Eljah’s thoughts.
“I have a bad feeling about this. What is taking him so long?”
“I know a way we could find out,” Jace hinted. “Just go in and see for ourselves.”
“Luke told us to stay put, so that’s what we’re gonna do,” Clary stood her ground. Her inability to break the rules when needed disappointed Eljah. Before Eljah could confront her about letting other people run her life, the redhead’s phone went off. “That’s probably him now.”
Jace and Eljah were looking at the same thing. Their alpha werewolf was being walked down the hallway by his own colleagues.
“I doubt it,” Jace and Eljah echoed simultaneously, looking at each other weirdly before shaking it off.
“Just so I’m clear, he did mention something about trying to avoid attention, right?” Clary’s attention lined up with the other two, now realizing what Jace was hinting at. “From the looks of it, he’s doing a terrible job…”
“Circle members?” Clary asked. Jace’s energy grew exponentially, and Eljah could see it from the corner of his eye. The two were focusing on the agent’s identities through the glass corridor. Eljah didn’t actually know much about mundane positions in society, but the badges looked official to him.
“No, mundanes. Internal affairs officers,” Jace explained. It didn’t lighten their worries much, because either way Luke was in trouble, but mundanes are better than the Circle!
“You can tell all that just by looking at them?” Clary mocked.
“I can tell all that by reading their badges.” That woke Clary up, looking back to confirm if it was possible to see their identifications. She furrowed her eyebrows, but then eased up when Jace revealed his rune. “Better than binoculars. Luke had his chance. Let’s go.”
Clary’s knowledge of the basic layout of the police department made Eljah and Jace incredibly lucky, as the never-ending weird backroom-looking offices would have left them lost without her. Luke sat across from the bald internal affairs officer whose earlier vibe threw Eljah off immensely. The man just looked mean!
Waiting for the right moment to walk in, the three huddled outside the interrogation room. The bald officer finally made his exit, holding the door open a smidge, just enough for the three to sneak in behind. The three had activated their unseen rune so there was no need to worry about being caught by the mundanes surrounding them.
Luke made the mistake of ignoring a question and following us with his eyes. He must’ve looked deranged to the mundane officer.
“Garroway! Coffee?” He repeated himself. Luke shook him off and declined his offer distractedly.
“Suit yourself,” he finished, shutting the door as he left. Everyone stood casually, silence interrupted by Luke ripping a tissue out of a box before him. He faked blowing his nose to notify the shadowhunters of the camera in the corner, Jace being the first to jump into action and turn it off.
“Luke, what is going on?” Clary interrogated. Eljah was cringing at the walls of the building, becoming less interested in helping as the minutes passed, not liking the amount of germs he could practically sense coming off the surfaces. It gave him the icky rush of energy in his neck.
“I think I’m about to be the prime suspect in a murder investigation.” Nevermind. He was interested. Clary and Jace didn’t seem surprised, like Eljah, though. The latter was staring into the one-way mirror like a goofball.
“What do we do?” Clary asked. Her hair flipped graciously as she looked at everyone in the room. She was such a gorgeous girl, it made Eljah wish he looked like her momentarily.
“Get the cards,” Luke ordered plainly. “In my desk, bottom drawer.” Clary agreed, already turning to walk out. Both Luke and Eljah reminded her swiftly of the lack-of-visibility and how it wouldn’t slide with the downworlders.
“You can’t glamor yourselves. I’m not the only downworlder on the force, and we don’t know who’s working for Valentine. If anybody spots you-”
“We’d be leading them right to the cup,” Eljah finished, ahead of the werewolf leader.
“Exactly. Better to assume that everybody has the Sight than gamble that they don’t.” He quit speaking just in time, the lock clicking and startling the group. “I can handle myself.”
While the returning officer was busy asking about the dead camera, the crew rushed back out the way they came, Eljah almost clipping the door as baldy slammed it shut.
Eljah could gag being confined with the two lovers in this random case file-filled closet. The two were giggling at the awkward placement, but Eljah kept lifting his collar away from his neck, like it would make him less claustrophobic.
“You need help with that?” Jace smirked.
“I can deglamorize myself, Jace.” Eljah thought, and I can change the trajectory of your lives myself if I could just find some rope and a bucket sarcastically out of pure discomfort. The energy in the room pulsated and spread as Clary ultimately accepted the aid from Jace.
“The cards?” Clary prompted.
“Right.” Right! “How exactly are we gonna get them?”
“Not from here,” Eljah mumbled. However awkward Magnus’ place would’ve been right now, anything was better than watching straight people flirt.
“I doubt we can make it out of this closet without drawing attention, let alone Luke’s desk, and you are covered in runes.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve got a plan.” Clary explained with more hints of flirtatious tone.
“90%. Eljah, stay close behind me, yeah?”
“You don’t have to tell me twice. I want out of here.”
“Just follow my lead,” she turned to Jace, “oh, and I apologize.”
“You son of a bitch!” Clary shouted, smacking Jace square on his cheek. Eljah bit back an actual cackle, hand closing over his mouth to keep him from exploding. The noise Jace made in shock only spurred Eljah on.
“Stop following me!” Clary ordered. Holy shit, Clary is kind of fun.
“Hey, what happened to being discreet?” Jace whispered, awed and alarmed. He made the mistake of grabbing Clary’s arm.
“Hmm? Wait, what did you say?” she propelled on. “You cheated on me!?” Eljah was baffled, barely able to think of an excuse for him being in between this lover’s quarrel. Jace was stammering, Huh? And playing it safe.
Eljah placed his hand on his chest, making distance between him and Clary. “Dude, go home.”
“You will never see me at your crappy apartment again!” Clary yelled as she flung open Luke’s desk drawer. Eljah tried his best to look intimidating, standing like a guard between the two.
“That girl means nothing to me. Nothing!”
“Is that the boyfriend that I heard so much about?”
“Shut the fuck up,” Eljah subdued, standing strong in his place. Making eye contact with the blonde shadowhunter at that moment was comical on a different level. Eljah stuck out his tongue while the cops weren’t looking, teasing Jace further with a scrunched-nose smile. Jace fought not to laugh, either.
“-I’m dumping him. Where is all of Luke’s stuff?”
“IA took everything. What are you looking for?”
“I, uh… I lost a house key and Luke normally keeps a spare in his desk, so is there any way I can get it?”
“Uh, not ‘til he’s cleared.” Well, that’s awkward.
Clary played dumb, “cleared? Of… of what?”
“Oh, don’t worry about it. We’ll get it handled.”
“Clary! I’m sorry. I apologize, I just want you to know it only happened, like… two or… it just happened a couple of times, and I am totally-”
“Shut up,” the two females and Eljah hailed at the same time.
“Listen, you don’t get to call her ‘babe,’ okay? In fact, you don’t get to call her at all. Clary’s done with you. You got it?” Eljah never learned the woman’s name—he guessed she was a detective like Luke—but it was sweet to think Clary had mundanes in her life that would defend her like that. “Take him out,” she directed the officers.
Eljah turned around to face Clary and the detective. “I’ll take you home, Clary. I’ll buy you something sweet on the way back. How about that?” He tried his best to imitate Jace, the straightest dude he’d ever met.
The lady smiled at Eljah, turning to whisper to Clary, saying something Eljah couldn’t pick up. “Perhaps it’s for the best? The other one’s a cutie, though.” She winked at the younger girl before she clenched her teeth, noticing something on Clary. “Oh, matching tattoos. That’s… a big red flag…” She was a yapper, trying to relate to Clary, but they didn’t have the time.
“I really need that key,” Clary pleaded.
“I’m sorry, Clary, but IA has all of Luke’s things in the evidence vault upstairs.”
The woman carried on. Eljah was getting restless. He just wanted to be home, wherever that even was. He deserved a trip somewhere after doing all this shadowhunter work; maybe Taiwan?
“You know what? I’m gonna bring Alec with me next time! I don’t think he’s ever slapped me in the face.”
Clary sighed desperately, saying, “I’m sorry, I panicked!”
“It was a decent plan! You did perfect, Clary,” Eljah encouraged. The redhead giggled right back at Eljah.
“Not too shabby catching up, yourself, Eljah.”
The deep voice was recognizable from anywhere. Eljah didn’t see Jace call for said backup, but of course he did. Eljah stopped in his tracks at the sight of Alec. His heartbeat picked up and his own aura went wild; he was concerned it would become visible if he didn’t calm down.
“Yeah. What took you guys so long?” Jace asked. Alec was looking Eljah up and down like no one was around them, but his expression morphed when he rotated toward his Parabatai.
“Funny, I was gonna ask you the same thing.”
“It’s complicated.” Eljah wondered why everything was always complicated around here. Everyone was angsty and uptight to the point it killed Eljah’s sense of distraction.
“The Cup?” Isabelle asked. Her clothes were more modest than usual, hair even slicked back like a secretary. Very professional, no fun.
“Yeah, but then we lost it. We have to sneak back into the precinct to get it.”
“It’s not technically lost,” Eljah mumbled, crossing his arms as the temperature started to affect him. “It’s in an evidence vault on the top floor.”
“You think everything is a disaster-” Eljah started, feeling his emotions get out of hand.
“Hey, demon pox is a disaster. This is an inconvenience,” Jace interrupted. “We just need a plan.”
“What about a glamor?” Isabelle spoke up.
“We tried that. Anyone working with Valentine will see right through it.”
“Can we ask Magnus Bane to portal us inside?” Eljah sucked in air through clenched teeth, shaking his head.
“No.” Alec and Eljah said together. They froze and stared at each other.
“That’d be awkward…” Isabelle tantalized, looking away dramatically before gasping in the same fashion. “Magnus can only portal us to places he’s been to before.”
Alec stared off into space with malice in his eyes. Accentuating his emotions further were his thick eyebrows, which made Eljah want to giggle. Distracted once again, he barely noticed Clary’s phone ringing.
“Not again. Just give me a second. Simon, this is-” she walked off before Eljah could hear the rest of the call, too lazy to listen in with any supernatural abilities. Jace, on the other hand, didn’t wait for Simon and Clary’s call to finish. It sounded urgent, but the blonde practically ripped the phone out of Clary’s hand and ended the call for her.
“Simon’s little problem can wait. I’ve got a great plan.”
“Oh, there’s a first.” Tired of the energy between the two, he finally physically gagged, alerting Isabelle and Alec.
“Are you okay?” Isabelle asked sweetly.
“Yeah, dude, just… too much time around straight people,” he shivered. Isabelle giggled as Jace laughed sarcastically at what Clary had said.
“Just follow my lead. Oh, and don’t worry. In my plan, no one gets slapped.”
