You don't. That's what Luke wants to say. He wants to tell Reid what he does is leave it alone, forget he ever saw it. He wants to be able to send a message to one of the Institutes, he wants them to call in the Clave or even the Praetor. Anyone who's able to deal with rogue Downworlders, anyone who has been trained in how to dispatch a vampire, anyone who isn't Reid. Luke has long grown used to the idea that the people he cares about will be put in danger; for a very long time he had thought he would die before seeing thirty simply because so many Shadowhunters did. Even being turned into a werewolf hadn't done much to dispel that feeling, not when he had taken over a pack as large as the one in Idris, not when he was constantly a target for wolves who wanted to prove themselves, wolves who wanted to be the leader of his pack. It was only leaving Idris and finally settling in Manhattan that had changed the way Luke looks at the future and he wonders if maybe it's all worn off. Maybe he's so worried about the idea of Reid getting caught up in anything to do with vampires not because he's not Nephilim, but because Luke isn't. Because he's so far removed from that life now that the very idea of the people he cares about being in danger is something he's forgotten.
But instead of saying that, instead of asking Reid not to get involved or telling him he can't -- because Luke already has a fairly good idea of how well that might go over -- he mulls over the question thoughtfully. It's different here in Darrow in a lot of ways, but it can't be entirely dissimilar. For the most part it seems like the vampire population has been relatively quiet until recently and Luke doesn't know what it might be that's shaken them up, but things like this usually don't happen without a reason. Vampires can and often do feed without killing, many of them with powerful abilities to compel their victims to forget the attack has happened at all, so to kill people outright and to leave their bodies in such obvious locations speaks to something bigger than just simple hunger. He doesn't know the politics in Darrow, but he has a feeling this is bigger than it might seem.
"Where I'm from there are laws in place to prevent vampires or werewolves from killing," he says carefully. "They're not enforced by police officers and that's... I don't want to say that's a problem, but it does raise some roadblocks. Regular officers aren't trained to fight vampires. They're incredibly strong, much faster than regular humans and difficult to kill, which puts people in increased levels of danger when they're not expecting it." And it makes him incredibly aware of just how vulnerable Reid is. Even just sitting here next to him, Luke is terribly aware of the steady beat of his heart, the delicate pulse in the hollow of his throat. It's right there under the surface of his skin, so easily accessible to any sort of creature that might want to spill his blood and Luke has to draw in a deep, steadying breath.
"I know you can't have me with you when you're working, but if there's any time when you think you might... when a danger like that might be present, please call me," Luke says, then smiles again, a faint, shy expression. "Before you rush headlong into a vampire's next, preferably." Being a werewolf doesn't make him a vampire hunter, but between his increased strength and being trained as a Shadowhunter, he's more than capable. He wants to be there if Reid needs him, he wants to be able to keep him safe, and he knows such a thing isn't truly possible, that there will always be dangers in this world and any other they may find themselves in, but at least he can offer this is nothing else. To be there if he ever needs to face down something other than human.
"The thing with vampires is that they're still very much like humans in a lot of ways, especially when they're young," he says. "They can be very stupid, but they can also be brilliant. They can be cold and calculating, or they can be like you would expect any regular person to be. The older they get, the more wrapped up they become in their world's politics and the more likely they are to make a stand when challenged. A show of force. Being a vampire doesn't necessarily make them evil, but it does make them strong and fast and anyone who lives for hundreds of years gets bored eventually."
no subject
But instead of saying that, instead of asking Reid not to get involved or telling him he can't -- because Luke already has a fairly good idea of how well that might go over -- he mulls over the question thoughtfully. It's different here in Darrow in a lot of ways, but it can't be entirely dissimilar. For the most part it seems like the vampire population has been relatively quiet until recently and Luke doesn't know what it might be that's shaken them up, but things like this usually don't happen without a reason. Vampires can and often do feed without killing, many of them with powerful abilities to compel their victims to forget the attack has happened at all, so to kill people outright and to leave their bodies in such obvious locations speaks to something bigger than just simple hunger. He doesn't know the politics in Darrow, but he has a feeling this is bigger than it might seem.
"Where I'm from there are laws in place to prevent vampires or werewolves from killing," he says carefully. "They're not enforced by police officers and that's... I don't want to say that's a problem, but it does raise some roadblocks. Regular officers aren't trained to fight vampires. They're incredibly strong, much faster than regular humans and difficult to kill, which puts people in increased levels of danger when they're not expecting it." And it makes him incredibly aware of just how vulnerable Reid is. Even just sitting here next to him, Luke is terribly aware of the steady beat of his heart, the delicate pulse in the hollow of his throat. It's right there under the surface of his skin, so easily accessible to any sort of creature that might want to spill his blood and Luke has to draw in a deep, steadying breath.
"I know you can't have me with you when you're working, but if there's any time when you think you might... when a danger like that might be present, please call me," Luke says, then smiles again, a faint, shy expression. "Before you rush headlong into a vampire's next, preferably." Being a werewolf doesn't make him a vampire hunter, but between his increased strength and being trained as a Shadowhunter, he's more than capable. He wants to be there if Reid needs him, he wants to be able to keep him safe, and he knows such a thing isn't truly possible, that there will always be dangers in this world and any other they may find themselves in, but at least he can offer this is nothing else. To be there if he ever needs to face down something other than human.
"The thing with vampires is that they're still very much like humans in a lot of ways, especially when they're young," he says. "They can be very stupid, but they can also be brilliant. They can be cold and calculating, or they can be like you would expect any regular person to be. The older they get, the more wrapped up they become in their world's politics and the more likely they are to make a stand when challenged. A show of force. Being a vampire doesn't necessarily make them evil, but it does make them strong and fast and anyone who lives for hundreds of years gets bored eventually."