"Seriously?" she asked Ed as he climbed down the other side of the fence to the Praetor Lupus manor of the area.

The manor, called castle by the locals, was by no means hidden. Edward liked the fact that in Occitania – a southern region of France – most of the supernatural creatures actually enjoyed hiding in plain sight. The manor was used as a venue for many events, conferences and weddings for mundanes and the shadow world alike, but some parts of the edifice were reserved for the training and education of newly turned Downworlders of the area. For the most part, the rehabilitated vampires, warlocks and werewolves left the Manor to join a clan, a mentor or a pack, but a few, called the praetors, decide to remain and help.

In Praetor Lupus' Houses all over the world, praetors were usually exclusively werewolves, but not at the Manor. The head of the house, Chastel, thought that to help a vampire, you needed someone who understood vampires, and there was no one better for it than vampires themselves, and the same thing applied to all creatures. While they could simply send them to clans directly, the House in Occitania took charge of rehabilitation. Only well taught Downworlders were allowed to leave the premises and join the 'real world'.

Most of the time, Ari was proud to live in an area where the accords were respected, where mundanes were mostly safe and the relations between shadowhunters and Downworlders were this good; but sometimes, Ed reminded her that maybe, just maybe, it was because there were only three annoyingly noisy and smug Shadowhunters.

Edward challenged her to follow him with a simple look. That look that she hated. That look that said she would never dare. She grunted and climbed down the other side.

"One day Ed, if we keep sneaking in, we're gonna get struck down by Benoît."

"But in the meantime," said her parabatai, "We're gonna go in and have fun. The twins texted me earlier. Seems there's gonna be a showdown between Ellie and Tomas after class."

Ellie was a young vampire and Tomas a young werewolf. They were both a year older than the shadowhunter duo and when to different mundane universities. They did not truly know them, but just like everywhere else, some people were so popular you knew who they were. What they did know, was that they were always bickering, and their little feud was usually the talk of the entire House.

"I'm sure Lisa is team Ellie, because I mean, girl power," Ed said as they both walked alongside the wall of the main building.

"And Marion is definitely team Tomas," she told her parabatai. "Cause, I mean, he's hot." He turned to her his brow knitted together. "What? Can't I find a guy hot?"

"Guys aren't usually your type," he snickered.

"Some of them are," she insisted. "Not many of them, granted, but some of them."

"I don't believe you, no one can like men and be immune to my charms," he said showing his perfectly white teeth with a grin. She rolled her eyes, and squinted towards him, taking a step closer, seemingly looking for something.

"What are you looking for?" he said leaning back, as she was dangerously close.

"Your charms, can't see them," she said and as he shoved her again, she puffed out laughing.

"Not that we want to break your beautiful shadowhuntery duo or anything," Lisa shouted as she appeared around the corner of the building.

"But the fight is in five minutes," Marion, her identical twin, said as she joined her sister.

"Well, hello to you too!" Ed said with a smirk looking at one specific twin. Lisa looked down, hiding her blushing purple cheeks behind her blond hair. Marion rolled her eyes but turned excitedly to Arianne.

"You ready for a shirtless guy?" she asked as the four of them started walking towards the gym.

"It's Praetor Lupus," Ari answered. "When are there any dressed guys?"

"True," the warlock twin replied. "But I'm not gonna complain."

"You know," the shadowhunter said playfully as she turned to face her parabatai shamelessly flirting behind her. "Guys at this school should really learn to obey the rules, cause all these shirtless dudes are starting to make Eddie feel a little insecure."

He squinted his eyes at her. They entered the gym, packed full of students of all kind, ready to see the fight.

"Do not transfer your insecurities on me," he told her. "You're the one that needs to up her game if you want Veronica to notice you."

He got her. She would have hit him, but he was a bit far. Marion's lips, a darker purple than her skin, were agape.

"Veronica Lans-"her way too loud voice was interrupted by Ari's hand covering Marion's mouth.

"Shhhh!" she said looking around them to see if anyone had heard her. "No need for your entire school to know, okay?"

They all found some space to sit down in the bleachers.

"But I thought you were into Jacob," Marion demanded more explanation, as she tied her hair up, in the hot and damp room.

"That asshole tried to bite me," Ed said.

"Yeah, and he was a jerk to me on our first date last week," Arianne explained.

"Like, the guy was like exhaling smoke in her face, telling her that she looked good for a Nephilim and-"

"Yeah, yeah," his parabatai said waving a dismissing hand, shutting him up. "We've got it."

"Quand on parle du loup," Lisa let out in French.

Jacob was walking up the stairs of the bleachers, his nose covered with a bandage, his skin blooming purple and yellow around it as if a very ugly butterfly had landed on it and spread its wings under his eyes. When he noticed the two shadowhunters, his eyes went wide, and he lowered his face pretending he did not see them.

"Edward," Arianne turned to her parabatai with warning eyes. "What did you do?"

"Ari, he deserved it-"

"By the Angel, Ed!" she exclaimed burying her face in her palms. "What were you thinking? If anyone hears that a shadowhunter beat up a wolf-"

"Ari, it has nothing to do with the Downworld and you know it!"

The twins looked at each other above the shoulders of the two Nephilim in between them, trying to find out if one of the sisters knew what the heck was going on. Ari continued her rant about the responsibilities he had as a Shadowhunter and representative of the Clave.

"You told him to stay away and he wouldn't take no for an answer," he said. "And no one disrespects my parabatai, got it? It was just one single punch anyway," he then added.

She rolled her eyes, shoved him slightly and without looking at him, muttered a thank you under her breath, trying to hold back a smirk.

"But, I'll have you know," she said looking at him in the eyes with a smirk. "I can fight my own battles." He smiled in turn and mussed her hair, which owed him an elbow in his ribs.

"I know," he said. "But your battles are my battles, right?"

"The Angel do so to me!" she recited part of their vows.

The crowd around them was becoming restless. The two contestants to the fight weren't showing, and more and more of them found a new interest in the two marked up fighters in the room. Shadowhunters weren't supposed to show up at the Manor; why would they unless something was wrong? The two teenagers had made sure not to wear gear, to draw less attention. A lot of the students their age, did not even pay attention to them anymore. twenty-year-olds often saw them two sneaking into the twin's dorm room. Apparently, however, it was a well-kept secret. Ed and she shared a worried look. She readjusted her sleeves and her scarf to hide her marks, but Edward was wearing short sleeves, which did not help.

"Ari," he said laying a hand on her back. "Maybe we should go." Her eyes scanned the room.

"We know most of them, even if they never saw us here," she whispered to him.

"Maybe, but a lot of them are adopting defensive stances or worse being hostile."

"Nonsense," Marion interrupted linking Ari's arm with hers.

But he was right. Since Sebastian and his Endarkened had started attacking institute after institute, covens, clans and packs, none of the two had set foot in a House unless on official business. All over the world, Downworld relations were worsening, but having had no more altercations than usual, Arianne didn't think that people's behaviour towards them would change. Maybe she had been wrong.

Their worry was soon squashed however when Ellie and Tomas erupted into the room. The crowd's focus turned to the two downworlders with cheers and boos and claps. Ari took her camera out —she had put in a new film — and took a picture of her parabatai as he rose to his feet, cheering for one of them, or maybe the two of them. She laughed.

"You guys should come over more often," Marion told her. "We barely see you anymore." She pouted. "I saw you what? Once in the past three months?"

"Yeah, well, in case you forgot," she said with a sad laugh. "We were at war two months ago, and obviously, it's not over so…"

"Arianne, you guys are so young," Marion went on. "It's not like you're gonna fight in a battle any time soon."

"We are of fighting age-"

She was interrupted by a fire-message descending in front of her. The flames snapped Edward from his conversation with Lisa as Ari grabbed the letter with a hiss.

"The institute is under attack," Ed read over her shoulder.

Her hand went to her brother's dagger at her waist and her letter to her sister in her left pocket. Edward turned to Lisa and told her to warn the head of the House. If the Institute was targeted, surely other Downworlders should know.

"You were saying?" Ari asked Marion before springing to her feet and running towards the institute.

Dagger in one hand, Seraph blade in another, Ari emerged on the other side of the portal, her parabatai close behind her, ready to fight anyone that could be standing on the other side.

The Sanctuary was empty, but the two teenagers could hear some commotion upstairs.

Ari hung her Seraph blade at her weapon's belt and took out his stele. She tugged at the collar of her shirt for him to draw the marks on her, he made quick work of it. A few seconds, and she found herself covered in agility, sound, strength and rapidity runes. He put his stele back in his boot, as he took hers out. He grabbed her hand, ready to direct her movements on his skin, but before the warmth of it touched his skin, they heard a shout coming from above.

Silent communication was easy for them, they had practiced it for years during battle and in their daily lives. Never had it been so strained. She could feel her own heart pounding loudly in her chest, his own beat echoing through their parabatai bond. Fear twisted her insides with the ice grip that had her frozen all those years ago. She would not freeze this time. Almost shakily, she made it upstairs, Ed in tow, following the noise.

The door to the library was ajar, allowing her a peak inside. Eight fae, mostly gentry, including one knight, were ransacking it, looking for something very specific. Turned out, Benoît had been right, they were here for the Black Volume of the Dead. There was a boy, a shadowhunter, with them, with white blond hair and eyes so dark, she swore they were a window into hell itself. He was probably an Endarkened.

Her eyes scanned the room and despite all her years of training, all her growth, everything she had done so it would never happen again — cold spread all over her, and with a blocked shiver she froze. A shape, limp, heavy lied below the table. She felt the warm comforting hand of her parabatai find her shoulder, felt his eyes try to look through her in question. He unfroze her. And she did the stupidest thing in her entire life.

"Benoît," she whispered.

They heard her, the Fae's face saw hers in the door. She swirled around and ran with her parabatai as they heard the man say:

"Catch her."

She reached Ed and grabbed him by the sleeve. She was still holding her brother's dagger. A knight lunged on her, but with one swift movement, her feet not slowing down, she planted her blade into his stomach.

Arrows started to fly past them as they reached downstairs. Edward heard one whistle past his ear and gave a look behind him. He saw an archer aim at Ari and release the deadly arrow. The Shadowhunter's hand clenched on his seraph blade, as he moved behind his parabatai, his back to her, and sliced the arrow in two before it reached them. He ran backwards, having his friend's back as she fought assailants from the other side. Another Faery emerged right before the Sanctuary door. This one was not Gentry. Its ugly face resembled the twisted bark of a tree. She kicked the Fey and he bumped the door to the Sanctuary open.

In a few strides she was right in front of the Portal, the ever opened portal. The one thing that made this Institute special. How could she have been so fucking stupid? It was an easy access to Idris, the closest to Alicante, its capital. Fuck! It needed to be destroyed. Her eyes darted to the lever, as she still felt Ed's back lifting and collapsing with the heaviness of his breaths against her own back.

"What are you waiting for?" Ed asked, almost sang nervously as he eyed down all the Faeries that were slowly entering the room. They looked like poachers finding their prey had fallen into their trap. Her hand clenched on her brother's dagger.

"Eddie, I need to tell you one thing, okay?" she said, as she took the letter to her sister out and carefully put it in his pocket.

He looked back over his shoulder, his eyes darting back and forth between her reflection in the blue portal and the sanctuary doors. He heard the way her voice wavered, and he could see her glossy eyes, her jaw tightening and her brows knitting. But he did not have the time to ask what was going on.

"I love you!" she exclaimed, and before he could realise what she was doing, he felt her grab his arm, and use his weight to throw him into the portal.

Faeries started to swarm towards her, but her hand reached the lever and smashed on it. Everything stopped, the Faeries, the Endarkened, even her. Eyes wide, she could feel her heart pounding so hard she could hear the blood pumping in her ears.

Her hand was still on the handle as she stared at the blue shimmery mass that made the portal. It turned to glass and cracked, slowly yet so fast. With the sound of centuries of passages being paved from this place, the portal shattered into millions of pieces, leaving a gaping hole behind. And then silence.

All Ari could hear was her own breathing.