The day after the representatives of the Clave's arrival the funeral of the dead shadowhunters took place. Emma had waited for them to see how serious the matter was. They left the funeral as if they hadn't even seen the bodies.
"I can't believe them!" Emma growled and threw her door open. Cristina and Jules followed right behind her. "They didn't even look at them."
"But we'll talk to them. They'll realize we need to find whoever did this", Jules tried to comfort her.
"But what if it will be too late? What if one us are dead by then?"
Both of them got something sad in their expression then.
"We'll talk to them", Jules repeated.
"Yeah, keep telling yourself that", Emma snorted and turned her back to them. She leaned against the windowsill looking out through the window facing the city. Cristina patted her back.
"Don't be like that, Ems. If they don't find whoever it is we will."
She spun around so fast Cristina had to step back not to be hit by her. "About that, who's guarding the girl?"
Last time she'd seen the girl who'd come to the Institute was the night before when it was her turn to guard her.
"Diana is", Jules answered. "That's why she wasn't at the funeral."
"I was wondering why she wasn't. Anyway, we really do need to talk to the girl. If Dylan sent her and thought she could help her we should give it a shot."
Jules went closer to them and stood in front of Emma.
"Why are you trusting Dylan so much?" Jules muttered and crossed his arms. The white fabric of the jacket strained by the elbows as he did so. Emma thought about how he had grown so fast the last couple of years and felt sorry for Mark who had missed both him and his other siblings grow up.
She shook her head to focus and stepped closer to Jules. "I'm trusting him because I know he's trying to help us. I know him."
"You don't even know what he is. None of us do."
"That doesn't matter. Right now he's somebody who's helped us by leading this girl to us. Hopefully she in her turn can help us."
"She could be anybody! Dylan wasn't even who you thought he was. How can you be so sure you know who he is now?"
"I know Dylan, okay? With or without supernatural powers", Emma said and stepped so close to him their noses were nearly touching.
Cristina stepped in between them. "Okay, that's enough tension. Jules, you've gotta trust Emma. She likes you, don't be the jealous guy."
"The jealous guy?" he questioned but she ignored him.
"And Emma, we'll help you but you've gotta understand it's hard for all of us to know who to trust."
"I understand, but this girl is our best chance at the moment."
"She is", Cristina agreed. "We'll go to her. Jules you coming with us?"
He was still dumbfounded by Cristina's comment about him but nodded his head slowly.
They walked out of the door with him following behind them while muttering. Something about not being jealous.
As they reached the room which had been assigned to the girl Emma was confused to why Diana wasn't there. When she asked Cristina she only opened the door and went inside.
"Diana is the only one who's been talking to the girl", she explained. Emma and Jules followed her inside and saw Diana and the girl sitting in two armchairs. "She never stays outside."
Even though they had their backs turned to them Diana heard them as they entered and stood up.
"Is it time to change already?" she asked and looked at clock hanging on the wall.
"No, but we want to start asking questions", Cristina answered. She walked over to the girl. The girl was still sitting in the big armchair.
Cristina sat down in a chair in front of her. "Hello, I'm Cristina."
"I know", the girl muttered. "You've already told me that."
Emma was about to snap at her for being rude but Jules held her back. Slowly he spelled out calm down on her wrist.
"May I know your name?"
The girl was about their age but they all treated her as if she was younger. Her torn down look made her seem so much more vulnerable.
"I don't tell strangers my name."
"But you've talked to Diana for the past few days. Can you tell her your name?"
The question was returned with a look that looked like she couldn't believe her. "Not even we are not friends. Only my family know who I am."
Emma went over to them with Jules right behind her. "Okay, leave it. We don't need to know your name. All we need to know is why we need you." She put her hands on either sides of the girl's chair and looked down at her. "Dylan obviously thought we'd need you. Why?"
"Emma…" Jules warned.
"Why?" she repeated and ignored Jules. The girl didn't back down. The threat in Emma only made her seem stronger and angrier.
"Because I've had more experience with what you have to deal with than any you have had."
"Then tell us what we need to do."
The girl pushed Emma away and stood up. She no longer looked like a little girl. With the dark clothes she had been given she looked like a shadowhunter staring at a demon.
"There's nothing you can do. You'd need to kill the person who's making the runes and you'd never be able to."
"At least tell us who's behind all this", Emma insisted. She was a bit sacred of the transition of the girl but she would not allow herself to be weak in front of her.
"I suspect you already know the name since you", she said and pointed at Jules, "visited one of the novices not so long ago."
"Aleyn", Emma heard him whisper.
"That's right and Aleyn is nobody you want to meet."
"Do you know him?" Jules asked.
"Know him?" she laughed. "We grew up together."
"But isn't he like old?" Cristina asked.
"Darling", the girl said and walked over to her. With her index finger she tilted her head up to make Cristina look at her. "How old do you think I am?"
"You tell me." she countered.
"Believe me I'm older than I look, but it's rude to ask about a lady's age."
"Back to the subject", Diana interrupted for the first time and the girl stepped away from Cristina. "Can you help us?"
"I can, but may I?" With a withering glare from Emma she turned serious. "I can help you. You need to talk to the fairies first though. There's somebody in the Wild Hunt who needs to help you too. Without him there's nothing I can do."
"But not even the Seelie queen can get out faeries from the Wild Hunt. Only Gwyn the leader of them decides who leaves."
"But it's not entirely impossible is it?" she said and crossed her arms. She meant Mark, but Emma couldn't figure out how she'd know. They had kept him a secret from her on purpose. Nobody except for the household of the Institute could know he was back. For his safety.
"How'd you know?" Jules asked and stepped forward. He'd kept his place behind Emma but as soon as his brother was mentioned he was the one to speak.
"This Institute may be big, but not even walls can keep all secrets."
"That's not even an answer!" Emma shouted.
"Leave it, Emma", Cristina interrupted. "All we need to know is if there is anything you can do for us, with or without the person from the Wild Hunt."
"For now? No. Not as long as he's still there." With that she sat back down in her armchair and crossed her arms. The hair which had almost been gray when they saw her the first time had got back its original blonde color. It fell down in front of her eyes but for the sake of dramatic effect she didn't break her stubborn expression to push back the strands.
"At least tell us who he is. Then maybe we can do something about it", Clary said.
The girl instantly rewarded her with a smile. Times like that made them wonder if she actually was as old as she said she was. With her childish grin and stubbornness she reminded them of the younger Blackthorn children.
"Kieran. I need Kieran."
Emma was confused to why they would need a faerie's help when they were helping them too, but didn't argue.
"We'll do what we can", she sighed and left the room.
When she stepped out in the hallway somebody ran into her and made them both fall.
"Oh, I'm sorry", Clary excused herself and helped her up. Jace was behind her and rolled his eyes.
"You're clumsy, Clary", he said but smiled. She stuck out her tongue at him and turned back to Emma. Cristina had closed the door behind Jules and her and stood beside Emma.
"You must be Cristina", she said and waved at her. "I didn't see you when we arrived."
"No, I was away." She looked hesitantly at Emma and Jules. She had been with the girl when they'd arrived but wasn't sure if she could tell them. They had agreed that they'd keep her a secret.
"Well, it's good to see you now", she said. "Hey, you guys mind if we use the kitchen?"
"No, are you cooking something?" Jules asked.
Jace grimaced. "I hope not. Izzy is there right now. I think we'll just bake something."
"We'll just go change and then we can join you", Emma said as she looked down at her white dress. They hadn't changed after the funeral.
"See you then", Clary said and continued down the hallway with Jace following her.
Emma watched them until they turned a corner. She had missed them the last couple of months. Especially during everything that had happened with the dead shadowhunters, Jules going to London and meeting Dylan. Clary had always been somebody she could lean on when Jules wasn't there.
"Are we gonna tell them about the girl?" Cristina asked. "I mean, it's not like it could do any harm."
"You're right, but we don't know the girl. She can be trying to kill us for all we know. If they knew about her they might want to meet her and boom she kills them."
Jules chuckled. "You don't like her because she argues with you."
She glared at him and he immediately put on a straight face but she could see he was trying not to laugh. Instead of getting angry she smiled at him and gave him a side hug.
"You argue with me and I don't hate you."
"Thank you very much for that", he said and kissed the tip of her nose. He leaned in closer and whispered in her ear, "I don't hate you either."
"Thank you for that", she laughed.
"Guys", Cristina interrupted, "I'm here too."
"Don't worry, Cristina. We don't hate you either", Emma said and grinned at her.
"Thank you, but back to reality, will we go change or what?"
When Cristina went inside her room on their way back Jules grasped Emma's hand and didn't let go until they came to their rooms. Obviously Cristina already knew they were together, but they could see she felt awkward when they kissed or hugged each other. As they came to their rooms they stopped, but didn't go inside. They stood there opposite each other and smiled. Emma was a little worried somebody would come and see them, but as usual Jules didn't give that a thought.
"Jules, we can't stand here", she whined.
"Don't worry so much, Ems. You heard Clary, the others are in the kitchen."
"Some of them, yeah, not all of them."
He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss and then looked her in the eyes. "Who cares about them? What could they possibly do?" He stopped and realization dawned in his eyes as he took a step back. "Oh, right."
"They could separate us. They wanted to send me away five years ago and can still do that. They could send away both of us and you'd never see your family again."
As she mentioned his family he winced. Nothing affected him as much as his family.
"I get it. All I say is that it's not fair", he said and took a step closer again. "Just promise me that when all of this is over and the others go back again we will be as we are now. They won't affect us. They won't make us break up. Okay?"
She stood on the tip of her toes as she gave him a kiss. "I promise", she whispered against his lips.
After a quick shower she changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. When she stepped out of her room she bumped into Jules. His hair was wet from a shower and the water dripping from the tips of his strands fell onto her forehead.
"Hello again", she laughed.
He was about to kiss her when they heard somebody cough. Immediately they stepped back from each other only to be relieved when they saw who'd caught them. Cristina was walking toward them. "Hello, lovebirds, nice to see all up in each other, but really? Here?"
"Sorry", Emma groaned.
"Don't say sorry to me. I'm not the one whose life they'll ruin if they find out."
"Okay, okay. We get it, Cristina", Jules said and put an arm around Emma instead of kissing her again.
Emma sighed and snapped her fingers. "Enough with this seriousness thing. Now, let's go to the kitchen."
"You're here!" Isabelle exclaimed as the three of them stepped into the kitchen. She ran over to them and hugged them all at once. "We're baking a cake."
"What kind?" Emma asked and looked confused by all ingredients lying on the kitchen counter.
"We haven't decided yet."
"We chose vanilla", Jace said. He was sitting next to Clary by the table. Clary frowned at him.
"No, we didn't. I want strawberries."
Emma looked at the ingredients again. "And banana, chocolate, blueberry, almond, and passion fruit?"
Isabelle sighed. "As I said, we haven't decided yet."
Simon sneaked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. Isabelle smiled until he leaned closer to her ear and whispered, "But we're still going with blueberry, right?"
She snorted and pushed him away. "Never, I want passion fruit."
"I'm going with Izzy on this one", Magnus cut in. He and Alec came into the kitchen.
"Technically you agree with all of them because you want all ingredients", Alec muttered.
Magnus pointed at him and pouted. "That's not true. I've never liked the mix of almonds and blueberry."
"Are we gonna bake anything?" Emma asked.
"Are you baking?" they heard a voice ask from the doorway. They turned around to see Dru and Tavvy. Behind them was Diego. His dark hair was messy and he looked tired.
"Hello, Diego?" Cristina said. She said it as a question wanting him to tell them why he was there.
He ran his fingers through his hair and looked quickly down at the floor before he looked up at her again. "The kids saw me sleeping in the living room and woke me up. Then they practically dragged me here." When meeting Cristina's disapproving look he added, "Sorry."
Cristina shrugged and put on a smile. "You wanna bake a cake?"
Diego waited a while before answering, uncertain whether she would change her mind or not. "Sure."
"What about us?" Tavvy exclaimed.
"Do you like vanilla?" Jace asked.
Clary glared at him but Tavvy grinned. "Absolutely!"
He was answered by a big smile from Jace. "Welcome to the baking team then."
They ended up baking two cakes, one with vanilla and chocolate and another with different fruits and berries. The baking hadn't only consisted of baking though. Sometimes it had been flour fights and jokes other times had been serious talk.
Clary and Emma had stood next to each other icing one of the cakes.
"Any progress with the murders?" Clary whispered nervously watching Dru and Tavvy as she didn't want them to hear. Dru was soon going to be more involved with investigations, but Tavvy was still too young.
Emma was also a bit hesitant before she answered, "Depends on what you mean by progress, but we have somebody who says she can help us."
"Does she know who's doing this?"
"I don't know and she's barely telling us anything. To make any progress she told us we needed to bring somebody. She also told us that that somebody is in the Wild Hunt", Emma said. They were done with the icing and started topping the cake with strawberries.
"But that's impossible. You couldn't even get Mark out of there and he's half shadowhunter."
Emma froze for a moment before she nodded and mumbled, "Yes, exactly."
"So what's your plan?"
"I haven't told you this yet but these runes have been used before like long ago and the Clave was responsible for them then. My plan now is for them to help us with something they are the reason for."
Clary's eyes widened. "I did not know that. But that explains why they don't want you to investigate it. They don't want people to know what they have done."
"Exactly. That's why you are here. We need as many people as possible on our side. Then they can't hide it." Emma put the last strawberry I her mouth and jumped up to sit on the kitchen counter. Clary jumped up to sit next to her. There they sat dangling with their legs. Some of the others were working on the other cake. Emma's eyes traveled over the group. Tavvy was struggling to see what the others were doing but Dru quickly found him a chair to stand on. Alec stood with Isabelle who was making lemonade. Emma frowned when she saw Cristina and Diego sitting beside each other talking. It also made her relax a bit because Cristina was smiling and didn't seem as bothered as Emma had thought she would have been. Jace and Jules were talking in the background when Emma locked eyes with Jules. He smiled at her and she smiled back.
"How are you guys doing?" Clary asked.
"Huh?" Emma said and looked at her.
"You and Jules, how are you?"
"We're good I guess. He worries about his family, I try to help him out, you know, the normal", Emma said and sighed.
"If there's anything I or any of the others can do, tell us", Clary said sincerely.
"You're helping us now. Both with the Clave and this. It's been a while since we've really done something together." She looked into her eyes. "Thank you."
"Clary smiled and patted her shoulder. "You're welcome. If this is what you need us to do I'd gladly do it every day." She looked at Simon and Magnus decorating their cake. It was a mix of chocolate and sprinkles. Both of them had the ingredients all over them. Including their hair. "Maybe something less messy though."
Cristina and Diego had been helping Clary and Emma with their cake earlier but had later sat down on a bench by the wall. Cristina was smiling. In fact she had been smiling the whole time they had been baking. For one hour she had been allowed to think about something else than runes and murderers.
Diego tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. She jumped a little as if she had forgotten he was sitting there.
"Sorry", he muttered.
She didn't answer.
"Sorry."
"You already said that and it wasn't like you hit me. You touched my hair. I'm not mad", she said and rolled her eyes.
"I meant I am sorry for what I have done by coming here. Intruding in your life. It's clear you don't agree with our parents and I shouldn't have tried to make you think like them. Sorry."
She looked down on her hands resting on her lap. "But you agree with them. Why?"
"It's just…It's weird how it really wasn't that long ago that we spent every day together. You, me and Jaime. Ever since we were little. I remember how when we were really young, six or seven or something, and we said we were getting married. Jaime was the priest and you had that beautiful dress."
"It was awful!" Cristina laughed. "It had these massive bows and-"
She was interrupted by Diego who stopped her by putting a finger on her lips.
"It was beautiful. Now let me continue. You forgot about that pretend wedding the day after but I kept thinking that maybe one day I would see you walking down that isle with a dress like the one that day. With massive bows and everything", Diego added and tried to laugh. It came out as a sigh.
Cristina stared at him, but tried to not be affected by his words. "What you're saying is that you actually…"
"That I like you? Yeah." He chuckled and looked away. "Sorry."
"Diego, I'm sorry but I see you as a friend…"
"I know", he muttered.
"Let me finish", she sighed, but smiled. "You and Jaime both have been great friends to me my whole life. You can't believe how sad it made me when our parents told us we should get married. Within seconds my dream of growing old together, with separate families, was crushed. My plan was never to move here, away from you."
She rested her head on his shoulder. He didn't move but stiffened a bit. They were quiet for a while before Diego talked again.
"You had a plan?"
She chuckled and said, "Yeah. Wanna hear?"
She looked up at him and waited until he nodded. "I was going to live in the Institute. You and Jaime would choose between living there with me or living in those houses over the street. You know those houses with porches and everything?" She waited until he nodded again before she continued. "That's where you would live if you wanted more privacy for your family. Maybe even I would have one of the houses. I would only need to cross the street to be back at the Institute. You and Jaime would have wives and kids. Jaime would have a big dog too. You were gonna have two cats. Your wife would be lovely. Tall with dark hair. Good sense of humor too. A badass fighter. Almost like me."
She stopped herself when Diego laughed. "What?"
"You are describing yourself now, Tina. You sure you don't like me that way?"
"No, I'm not! There are a lot of girls like that. It's a very vague description", she explained herself and sat up straight.
"I'm kidding with you", he laughed. "I know you don't feel that way."
"Good", she said and rested her head on his shoulder again.
"So we're good?"
"Are you still on our parents' side?" she questioned and glanced at him. She saw he was hesitating, but she hoped it only was because he had always been the boy who was on his parents' side. She could see it pained him to go against them.
"No. Just friends", he answered and smiled when he looked down at her.
"Then we're good."
"Done!" Tavvy shouted when he put on one final strawberry on the cake Emma, Clary, Cristina and Diego had been working on. When they said they were done with it he was shocked.
"It has like no strawberries!" he had exclaimed. He had then covered every part with it with strawberries.
"Are we gonna taste them now?" Jace asked and went to stand close to the one with chocolate and vanilla.
"Wait!" Cristina said and shot up from her seat next to Diego. She had picked up her phone and snapped a picture before she said, "You may now proceed." She then sat down again and showed the picture to Diego.
Magnus was the first one to cut the vanilla and chocolate and gave it to Jace who had stared at it ever since they'd started. When he was handed the plate he immediately got a big grin all over his face.
When Emma got her plate she went to sit next to Jules who was already eating.
He smiled at her and put an arm around her shoulder while eating with his other hand.
"You like the cake?" he asked. She only nodded and smiled. In fact what she had liked more than the cake – and the cake was pretty good – was the time all of them had spent together. She could also see it had helped Diego and Cristina who could finally talk and laugh with each other.
Of course it would all be destroyed within seconds.
Arthur stepped into the kitchen and frowned at the scene but shook his head and headed over to Jules and Emma.
"You need to be at the gate", he said.
Emma sighed as soon as the words had left his mouth and stood up. Jules remained sitting. Emma tugged at his sleeve to get him to follow but he refused.
"Why do you need us?"
"Jules, don't do this now. I've been in a meeting with the Clave ever since the funeral. All want from you is to follow me to the gate. A faerie is waiting for us there", he added.
Jules and Emma looked at each other.
"What do they want?"
"They have found two dead faeries and now they want us more than ever to find the murderer or they will –" he leaned in closer to whisper, "take back Mark."
The color dropped from Jules' face. "Mark?" he whispered and shot up from his chair. "We're coming."
The faerie waiting for them was the same as the one they had met at the café. This time she had her blonde hair up in a ponytail but it still reached the middle of her back. Diana was waiting there with her.
"Hello again", the faerie said with a smile. Jules and Emma nodded at her as a greeting. They were suspicious to what she wanted to talk to them about.
Arthur was the one to start talking instead. "Please, repeat what you said to me before."
"Two more faeries are dead. To get Mark back you would help us. From what I have seen you haven't come any closer than last time we saw you."
"We are closer", Emma insisted and stepped forward. They were only a few feet apart. "In a matter of fact it's good that you came now. We were gonna try to contact you." The faerie furrowed her eyebrows. "To find out who the murderer is we need one of you."
"One of us?" she said and took a step back.
"We need Kieran from the Wild Hunt."
The faerie looked confused before she laughed out loud. "The Wild Hunt you say?" She stopped to look into Emma's eyes, to get her full attention. "The Wild Hunt and The Seelie Court are two different things. We can't do that. Find another way."
"But you got Mark out of there", Emma said.
She didn't answer right away but crossed her arms and looked like she was working out her answer. "Gwyn ap Nudd allowed us to free one and that's it."
"Please, at least try", Emma pleaded. This had been with her for five years. For five years she had thought about her parents' deaths and she could not risk this opportunity of finding out what happened to slip through her fingers.
"You said his name was Kieran?" Emma nodded. "I'll see what I can do."
Without another word she left and Arthur turned to them.
"Kieran?" he questioned.
"We talked to the girl and she wanted Kieran. That's all she said", Jules explained.
Arthur sighed put his hands in his pockets. "I hope we work this out. But I should inform you that the Clave are still negative about this. We need to be as discreet as possible."
They both nodded.
"So what now?" Emma asked.
"Well, I am gonna finish my cake if you excuse", Jules answered and ran back to the door.
"I can't believe I'm trying to work with kids", Arthur muttered under his breath.
"Hey, we're almost eighteen!" Emma said offended.
"That's what's worrying me", he kept muttering and followed Jules.
"Hey!"
Diana walked beside Emma. "Who's with the girl?" Emma asked.
"I told her to show her we trusted her we were going to leave her alone. Only for an hour or so", she added when she saw how worried Emma was.
Emma finally nodded. "Only an hour a day. That's okay. But make sure she doesn't meet Mark. We can't afford to lose him so soon after he's come back."
"Don't worry, Emma", Diana said. "I've been talking to her and she's a nice girl. I'm sure you would like her. You're very alike."
"That's the problem."
Hey! I'm gonna change the cover soon.
Just so know...
Hope you liked the chapter!