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Magnus wasn’t sure what to expect of his childhood home. It had been centuries since he’d run away. As he stepped into his father’s study, he could see a few differences. More books on the shelves. The desk moved a few feet. A darker aura than he remembered.
His former sanctuary now terrified him. Only Alec’s worried face kept him from curling up underneath that old desk and waiting for his punishment, like he had as a child. He would get through this, for Alec’s sake.
“Who dares enter the lair of Asmodeus unannounced?” his father’s voice asked, deep and echoing.
Magnus scanned the room, but he couldn’t see his father. At the faint change in magic behind him, Magnus turned around. His father stared at him, and Magnus stared back.
Magnus hadn’t seen Asmodeus in at least a century, but he looked exactly the same. Strong. Regal. Deadly. And so much like safety that Magnus wanted to cry. Be that scared little boy again who could run to his father’s arms and feel safe. But that wasn’t who Magnus was anymore.
“Be still my beating heart,” Asmodeus said. “Is that my beautiful boy?”
Magnus wanted to deny being Asmodeus’s anything, but his tongue was tied. It took every bit of Magnus’s strength not to run when Asmodeus prowled closer. The familiar click of his cane brought back bittersweet memories.
“Or do my eyes deceive me?” Asmodeus said. His eyes changed to familiar gold as he pulled Magnus into a hug.
For a brief moment of weakness, Magnus leaned into the embrace. He was relieved when his father released him before Magnus could do something silly, like burst into tears. Magnus hated that he missed Asmodeus so much.
“My son,” Asmodeus said as he circled Magnus. The pride in his voice had to be fake, because Magnus had turned out the opposite of what Asmodeus had wanted. “Magnus Bane. High warlock of Greenwich. Back in Edom.”
Magnus felt himself bristle with irritation and tried to hold on to that feeling. “Not that it matters anymore, but I was the high warlock of Brooklyn,” he said stiffly. Maybe if he exuded enough annoyance, his father would stop looking at him with such fondness.
From the amused glimmer in Asmodeus’s eyes, he had purposefully named the wrong city. His father always excelled at making Magnus speak when he didn’t want to.
Asmodeus scoffed. “Well, you’ll have to forgive me for being out of touch. It’s not like you write, or call, or preform the occasional blood sacrifice.”
Magnus had a box of unsent letters in his apartment, warded off so that even Alec couldn’t find them, but his father didn’t need to know that. “Well, you’ll have to forgive me,” Magnus said. “Considering how we left things.”
It felt like a dance between them, where one wrong move would end in disaster. Unfortunately, his father always won their dance of words. “I can only assume that your presence here means you’ve finally come to your senses.”
“About what?” Magnus asked before he could stop himself. His father was in complete control of this conversation, and Magnus had no idea how to combat it.
“Banishing the only person who ever truly cared for you.”
Magnus flinched at the words and then hated himself for displaying his reaction. “You really are out of touch with my life.”
“Perhaps Ragnor Fell might have cared, but he’s gone now, too weak to fend off a single demon,” his father said cruelly. “Or do you mean dear Catarina? But she’s so busy, what with her obsession with mundanes and her child. She barely visits you anymore. Or maybe you’ve let Camille back in your life? Except I heard that you handed her over to the Nephilim. How harsh, considering you once told me that you could never love another quite so much.”
“I was wrong,” Magnus said. “My love for her was acrid because she could never love me back. Alec taught me that.”
“Oh, the Nephilim,” Asmodeus said, circling Magnus again. “Alexander Gideon Lightwood. So brave. So handsome. So young. How many times has he broken you heart already? Once? Twice? He lies to your face, and yet you always take him back. Perhaps with experience he will learn, but then he will die, and you will be alone again. To fall in love with a mortal is such a shame.”
Magnus clenched his fists. “I would rather love Alexander and lose him, than never have met him at all.”
“Tis better to have loved and lost.” Asmodeus stopped in front of Magnus again. “Pretty words. But never fear. You know where to find me when you realize the human world is too much for your weak, bleeding heart.”
“I would never come crawling back to Edom,” Magnus said.
Asmodeus arched an eyebrow. “And yet, here you stand before me.”
“I came to ask for a favor, not for shelter,” Magnus said.
Asmodeus threw back his head and laughed. “A favor? You come back to Edom, after centuries away, to ask for a favor?” He lifted his hand to cup Magnus’s face, but Magnus flinched away from the tender touch. “There was a time when I would give you anything, before even being asked.”
“But at what cost?” Magnus spat.
“Your obedience was such a small price for everything that I gave you,” Asmodeus said. “I kept you safe and happy, which is more than I can say for your mortal lover. You’ve almost senselessly died countless times since meeting him.”
“Alec doesn’t keep me in a prison!” Magnus said.
“No, just on a tight leash to do his bidding,” Asmodeus said. “This favor – it’s for him, isn’t it?”
“He didn’t ask this of me,” Magnus said. “He didn’t even want me to go. This was my idea and my decision.”
“Whatever you need to tell yourself, ocelle,” Asmodeus said. “Tell me, then, about this favor.”
“Lilith has Alec’s parabatai,” Magnus began and then explained the situation.
Asmodeus remained expressional as he listened. When Magnus finished, Asmodeus said nonchalantly, “No.”
Asmodeus turned away to peruse his books. It was a tactic that Magnus had experienced before but never could get used to. He felt desperate at his father’s callous dismissal. “Just a little demonic power to help free my friend – that’s all I’m asking for.”
Asmodeus looked up from the book he’d picked up and raised on eyebrow.
“Please,” Magnus added.
Asmodeus set down the book. “Why would I ever give you the means by which Lilith could be banished back here to lord over us all? Edom may not be Marseille, but it’s a hell of a lot less miserable with her gone.”
Magnus took a deep breath and steeled himself. “Name your price.” Everything had a price. It all came down to what one could afford.
His father’s mouth twisted into a smug smile. “There is a time when we all must return to live in the houses of our fathers. Come back to me, ocelle.”
It felt like an ice-cold hand was clenching Magnus’s throat. “I never should have come,” Magnus snapped and turned to leave. Then he remembered Alec’s desperate face. “Father, I have never once come here to ask you for anything. There must be something else I can give you. Please, Ayah.”
His father lips curved in victory. “Actually, my son, there is.”