Page 6 (1/2)

And he was cheered that Alec wanted to cohted for the pretext to exit an unco

Magnus threwnoise, he grinned "Please," he said "You have no idea how e Nephilio"

As they went out the door they heard the waiter yell "Werewolf rights!" at their backs

The Beauty Bar was usually crowded at this ti out of the door were not doing it with the casual air of those who hadunder the shining white sign that had "Beauty" written in spiky red letters and what seeolden Medusa’s head underneath The whole crowd had the air of people ere desperate to escape, yet who hovered, pinned in place by a horrified fascination

A girl clutched Magnus’s sleeve and gazed up at hio in," she whispered "There’s a ht And monsters are his specialty

He didn’t say it Instead he said, "I don’t believe you," and walked in He nus was a ht hih his mother, the man he’d called his father, and a thousand others had told him it was true

Magnus would not believe the girl in there was a ht look like to mundanes and Nephilim She had a soul, and that meant she could be saved

It was dark in the bar, and contrary to Magnus’s expectations, there were still people inside On a norht the Beauty Bar was a kitschy little place full of happy people getting manicures from the staff, perched in the chairs that looked like old-fashioned hairdresser’s chairs withon the black-and-white tiled floor that suggested a chessboard

Tonight nobody was dancing, and the chairs were abandoned Magnus squinted at a stain on the chessboard floor and saw that the black and white tiles were slanced toward Alec to see if Alec had noticed this too and found hi froht?"

"I always do this with Isabelle and Jace," said Alec "And they’re not here And I can’t call thenus realized what he meant Alec couldn’t call his friends because he didn’t want thenus He especially did not want Jace to know It was not a particularly pleasant thing to think about, but it was Alec’s business

It was also true that Magnus certainly didn’t want any h justice, but he saw Alec’s problem From what he’d seen of Jace and Alexander’s showy sister, he was sure that Alec was used to protecting the them from their own rash actions, and that

"You’ll do great without theed "I can help you"

Alec looked skeptical about that, which was ridiculous since Magnus could do actual et when they were deep in conteh, he nodded and ht puzzlee ahead, Alec put out an arnus in a protective stance

The people still in the bar were flattened against the walls as if pinned there, un

There was a low, rattling growl coe of the bar

Alec crept toward the sound, Shadowhunter-soft and swift, and Magnus followed

The lounge was decorated with black-and-white pictures of women from the 1950s and a disco ball that obviously provided no useful light There was an e lamp that provided the only real illumination There were couches in the center of the room, chairs at the back, and shadows all around