The Red Scrolls of Magic (The Eldest Curses #1)(13)

“Is that Alec? Give the phone to me!”

“What was that noise?” Alec asked, mildly alarmed.

“Oh, it’s just Jace,” Isabelle said dismissively. “Hands off, Jace! He called me.”

“No, the sound like a thousand trash-can lids falling out of the sky.”

“Oh, Jace was swinging a big ax on a chain when you called,” Isabelle said. “Jace! Your ax is stuck in the wall. It’s not important, Alec. Tell me about your trip! How is Magnus? And I don’t mean his well-being.”

Alec coughed.

“I mean, how are his skills, and I’m not talking about the magical ones,” Isabelle clarified.

“Yes, I picked up on your meaning,” said Alec dryly.

He did not exactly have an answer for Isabelle on that topic. When he and Magnus had been dating in New York, there had been several times when Alec really wanted to take things further, but he was scared off by the immensity of his feelings. They had kissed, they had fooled around a little. That was it, so far, and Magnus had never pushed. Then the war came, and after the war, Magnus asked him to go on vacation to Europe, and he said yes. Alec had presumed they both understood that meant he was ready to go anywhere and do anything with Magnus. He was over eighteen; he was an adult. He could make his own decisions.

Only Magnus had not made a move. Magnus was always so careful with Alec. Alec wished he was a little less careful, because Alec was not very good at conversations, especially awkward conversations about feelings—that is, all conversations about feelings—and he could not work out how to bring up the topic of going further. Alec had never even kissed anyone before Magnus. He knew Magnus must have a lot of experience. That made Alec even more nervous, but at the same time, kissing Magnus was the most fantastic feeling in the world. When they kissed, Alec’s body moved naturally toward Magnus, getting as close as he could, in the instinctive way his body only otherwise moved when he was fighting. He hadn’t known that it was possible for anything to feel so right or mean so much, and now they were in Paris together, alone, and anything could happen. It was exhilarating as well as terrifying.

Surely Magnus wanted to go further too. Didn’t he?

Alec had thought something might happen on the night of the hot-air balloon, but Magnus had become understandably distracted by the demonic cult.

“Alec!” Isabelle shouted into the phone. “Are you still there?”

“Oh—right, sorry. Yes.”

Her voice softened. “Is it awkward? I know the first vacation is the make-or-break time for a couple.”

“What do you mean ‘make-or-break time’? You’ve never gone on vacation with anyone!”

“I know, but Clary loaned me some mundane magazines,” Isabelle said, her voice brightening. Clary and Isabelle’s friendship had been hard-won, but Isabelle seemed to value it all the more for that. “The magazines say that the first trip is a crucial test for a couple’s compatibility. It’s when you truly get to know each other, and how you work together, and decide whether the relationship will work long-term.”

Alec felt something drop in his stomach and quickly changed the subject. “How is Simon?”

It was a sign of Alec’s desperation that he brought up Simon, since he did not much like the idea of his sister dating a vampire. Though for a vampire, he seemed like a good enough guy. Alec didn’t know him that well. Simon talked a lot, mostly about things from the mundane world Alec had never heard of.

Isabelle laughed, a little too loudly. “Fine. I mean, I don’t know. I see him occasionally, and he seems fine, but I don’t care. You know how I am with boys; he’s like a little toy. A little fanged toy.”

Isabelle had dated plenty of people, but she never got defensive like this. Maybe that was what made Alec feel uneasy about Simon.

“Just so long as you don’t become his chew toy,” said Alec. “Listen, I need a favor.”

Isabelle’s tone went sharp. “Why are you using the voice?”

“What voice?”

“The ‘I’m a Shadowhunter on official business’ voice. Alec, you’re on vacation. You’re supposed to be having fun.”

“I am having fun.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Are you going to help me or not?”

Isabelle laughed. “Of course I am. What are you and Magnus getting into?”

Alec had promised Magnus he wouldn’t tell anyone, but surely Isabelle didn’t count.

He turned away from the crowd and covered the phone with his free hand. “I need you to keep this quiet. Mom and Dad don’t need to find out. I don’t want Jace to know either.”

There was a rustling on the phone. “Alec, are you in trouble? I can be in Alicante in half an hour and Paris in three.”

“No, no, it’s not like that.”

Alec abruptly realized he had neglected to glamour himself undetectable, so that mundanes wouldn’t overhear his conversation, but just as in New York, the crowds of Paris streamed by without paying the slightest attention to him. Cell phone conversations, no matter how public, were to be ignored; apparently this was a universal law. “Can you search through the Institute archives for a cult called the Crimson Hand?”

“Of course. Can you tell me why?”