A/N: Sorry it's such a short chapter today, we're going out at 10 so I didn't have long to write before we have to leave. Hope you enjoy anyway!

CHAPTER XVI

Mundanes

Just as the last time I was traversing this halls, I soon lost track of the twists and turns and left corners and right corners, but before long, we were in the library. The exquisite site did not fail to momentarily transfix me again, and it did a good job of somewhat calming my fray nerves, finishing the job Tessa had started. I had to believe that Darcy would endure, would survive so that I could do all I could to ensure that. I had to trust in them. Well, maybe I was on my way to believing in them, but trust? That was going to take a fair bit longer. But it was a start. Absorbing my surrounding, I pulled a chair from the table and collapsed into it, one leg propped and curled beneath me (I never was one to sit normally in a chair). Julian came to stand in front of the end of the table diagonally from me, and dropped him arms to rest on the table top so it was supporting him. He was still in his pyjamas and looked somewhat rough, like he hadn't had much sleep and I was prepared to just put that down to his rude awakening (courtesy of me) but he looked... well, like me. Not as bad by far, but, on his way. Something was definitely bothering him, unfortunately, it wasn't my place to ask. Emma was pacing the floor before the table, also still in her pyjamas -if you call leggings and a tank top pyjamas- with a determined look on her face. Then she stopped her pacing, and fixed me with her determined eyes.

"Look, I'm not going to ask for a full and detailed account of what happened today since it's clearly too hard to say, don't think I didn't notice the way you were dodging all the looks and questions earlier, and quite frankly, we don't have the time and neither do I want a crying mundane girl on my hands" she said, ever the charmer, and then resumed her pacing, this time coming to stop before a bookshelf behind the table.

"But is she a mundane though? We learnt from a first meeting that she can bear marks, that's not your average mundane" Julian added speculatively.

"Some mundanes can bear small marks like that, you know that. We can't assume she's another Clary Fray just because survived a stupid iratze rune"

"But should we assume she isn't either?"

"Erm... guys. I'm right here, you know" I interrupted.

"Yes, yes. We're well aware imp" she spat back. That's the second time she's called me that, why? I decided to ignore it as she crouched down before the bookcase, running her hands over the spines, searching for something, "Now, we need to find out what this demon was, if we have any hope of healing your friend back there" she straightened, leaned back and threw a book down at the table which slammed onto the surface and slide before me, "Here's a codex"

"Oh" I unintelligibly replied, taking the copy in my hands. It was old, hard backed and gorgeous though we obvious signs of use. It looked vastly different from, "It's different from mine"

"You have a codex!?" Emma exclaimed with a tone of sarcasm and disbelief, flashing me a look.

"Anyone can buy them" I shrugged.

"Right, of course" she replied earnestly, seeming to remember something.

"Yeah" I couldn't help myself, "How is that?"

"Well" she began, stretching to a book to high up for her to reach, "The Clave saw it as a way to awaken mundanes to even the possibility of demonic presence, teach them a bit of our history, open their minds, even teach them a bit of ways to protect themselves" she finished, stopping her stretching for a moment which Julian took to walk around the table and retrieve the book she was reaching for, for her, using his superior height. She didn't seem to overly appreciate the help.

"So, are all the events in the books true?"

"More or less" she shrugged nonchalantly, "Now read"

I dropped the subject and opened the cover to the front page (no, it wasn't like in the films where the main character opened the book at a random page which just so happened to contain the exact information they were looking for) and skimmed the index, searching for the page number that contained the information on the types of demon. Finding it, with a huff I flipped to that section and began reading the page titled Demonology.

This is going to be a long day...

But, with Darcy's image behind my eyes, I started to scroll through the page.