Summary: you are a shadowhunter investigating the sudden rise of yin fen in the Downworld, the trail leads you to Small Heath and a blue eyed gangster.
Since your first encounter with Thomas Shelby, you had been following him everywhere, day and night. A week had passed and you could tell that the man was getting more and more paranoid each day, clearly aware that he was being followed. He even commented on it to some of his peers but they simply told him to relax.
From what you had been able to observe, it was clear to you that Thomas was not a vampire. You had seen him walking in broad sunlight and drinking alcohol although you had not caught him eating something solid yet. Also, you were almost sure that he wasn't one of the fey despite being pretty enough to be one of them.
He didn't seem to be a werewolf either, because many times you were able to see the shine of his silver cigarette box in his hand. Besides, at that precise moment you were watching him under the light of the full moon and he wasn't showing any sign of changing.
At this point you still needed to find out if he was a warlock, a demon or just a mundane with the Sight. Despite Greater Demons often taking the form of handsome men wearing suits, which you did find quite funny, you were almost sure that it wasn't the case here. So, warlock or mundane it was, but in order to figure it out you needed to see him completely naked.
Warlocks were the offspring of a mundane woman and a demon, and they always had a mark that indicated their true nature such a weird skin or eye colour, horns, claws, a tail, scales... but you couldn't see any with him wearing so many layers of clothing. If he had a mark, it was well hidden.
You were in a narrow alley near the Garrison, so distracted thinking about how you were going to make him undress that you didn't notice the moment he disappeared from your sight. You returned to reality after noticing a presence behind you. Slowly, you turned around until you were facing Thomas Shelby, who was pointing his gun at your face.
"You're following me," he said through clenched teeth. It wasn't a question, he already knew the answer.
You looked at the way he gripped the handle of the gun, his knuckles white from the pressure, and shrugged slightly.
"Well, that's true. I was hoping you wouldn't notice. In fact," you said, raising an eyebrow, "if I hadn't gotten distracted thinking about... uh, something, we wouldn't be in this situation right now", you finished with a small smile.
He stared at you impassively with his serious face, like a cold mask. "Are you Russian?", he questioned. You looked from his face to the barrel of his gun and back to his face. He seemed exasperated at your lack of response. "Italian? Why are you following me?"
"I was born and raised in Idris but now I live in London. I want to know more about yourself, Mr. Shelby, that's all. Could you stop pointing your gun at me? I don't think those are good manners", you stated simply.
Thomas let out a hiss but never put the gun away. He seemed like a trapped animal and you didn't doubt that he would shoot you if he wanted. With a sight, you slowly raised your hands showing him your palms in an attempt to let him know that you weren't going to hurt him.
"I would like to talk to you, Mr. Shelby", you said softly. "I know you've been sending yin fen to America, but do you even know what you are selling?"
His lips parted as if he were going to say something, you could almost imagine the hinges inside his head turning over and over again. And behind all that, a confused expression.
"What do you know about magic Mr. Shelby?" you continued without taking your eyes away from his blue ones.
"My aunt can talk to the dead and I could tell your fortune and charm dogs," he said bitterly. You couldn't tell if he was serious or messing with you.
Tilting your head to the side, you dedicated him another smile, this time wider. "Oh, I see. If I were you, I would speak a little quietly because they are going to think that you have lost your mind, talking alone in the middle of an alley and pointing your gun to the void."
"What?"
A pair of footsteps were approaching, they were probably heading in the direction of the Garrison but at some point they would pass by the entrance to the alley and they would see you. Well, not you. Those who approached were talking in low voices, a man and a woman as far as you could tell. Her heels clicked melodically against the wet cobblestones.
When Thomas turned his head in their direction, you took your chance and jumped away from him with a series of fluid movements thanks to years of training. From the top of a roof a couple of buildings away, you watched the scene.
The woman asked Thomas what he was doing there. He was still holding the gun with his arm outstretched, pointing at nothing. When he realised that you had disappeared, he lowered the gun and rubbed his hand over his face in a dejected gesture.
"Don't pay attention to him Ada", said the man, who now you identified as Arthur. "Lately our Tommy has been acting like this, trying to convince us that he's been followed. I bet he was talking to the ghost before we arrived, am I right Tommy boy?"
Arthur laughed but Ada seemed to be worried. She took a few steps and grabbed Thomas by the arm, pulling him out of the alley. "Have you been taking opium, Tom? Are you seeing things again?"
Thomas shook his head. After taking one last look at the alley, he let his siblings drag him to the Garrison.
Oops! Questa immagine non segue le nostre linee guida sui contenuti. Per continuare la pubblicazione, provare a rimuoverlo o caricare un altro.
I thought that I had published this part, I just realised it had been in my drafts for like two months 😔
