A/N: AHHHHHH! We cannot say how sorry we are for not updating! It's been like what? Six months since we last posted. We're terribly sorry and (hopefully) promise this won't happen again. Between finishing senior year, graduation, and moving into college, life has just been so hectic. Anyways, since you've probably waited a hell of a long time for this chapter, we'll end this note here. So read on!
Chapter 3 - Shadows of Darkness
Juliet Verlac held the crinkled paper in her hands. She glanced down at it and then up at the townhouse in front of her, verifying that the address was correct.
This confirmation made her feel nervous for some reason; a sense of uneasiness tugged at her gut. Ignoring her anxiety, Juliet took a deep breath and pushed the gate forward. She walked up the stone path and reached the door, where she grabbed the elegant lion knocker and banged thrice at the door.
"Who dares disrupt my peace?" boomed a deep, loud voice.
"It's me, Juliet Verlac," Juliet replied in a strong voice. She removed the hood of her cloak and let her blonde curls tumble down her back. The door opened wide and revealed Magnus Bane, who looked disappointed at first, but his disappointment quickly disappeared as his façade was replaced by one of content.
"Juliet," Magnus said relieved, opening his arms up wide. Juliet immediately accepted the invitation and embraced Magnus, seeking his comfort and warmth.
"What brings you here?" Magnus asked as he released her.
Juliet looked around nervously. "May I come in?" she asked.
"Of course," Magnus replied, gesturing Juliet inside. Once inside, Magnus removed Juliet's damp cloak and placed it on the coat rack adjacent to the door. Her clothes were fully in view and Magnus stared in shock. She was wearing a lavender gown, which would have been elegant and fitted beautifully to her body if it wasn't so torn up. There were tears everywhere to the extent that Magnus could see Juliet's corset. Dirt smudges and grass stains covered the dress too. Her shoes looked like she had ran miles in them, and her hair was even worse. Magnus thought her hair looked fine in the doorway, but then again the lighting was poor and he did not have a good view until she had come into the home in the bright light. What would have been immaculate golden curls were a tangled mess, damp and dull in color and intertwined with grass, dirt, and bits of earth.
"Oh Magnus," she sighed. And with that Juliet embraced Magnus once more, but this time she clung tighter to him and started shaking. Magnus then realized that she was wracked with sobs, and immediately started stroking her hair to try and comfort and reassure her.
"They came Magnus," she said huskily, "they came in the middle of the night and attacked us."
"Who?" Magnus inquired.
And Juliet said the one name that Magnus was dreading: "Mortmain. Mortmain and his automatons."
"By the Angel, wh-," but Magnus was cut off.
"Magnus, what in bloody hell is going out there? Do you always invite guests without my own knowledge?" a voice boomed nearby. Magnus and Juliet suddenly broke apart to see a looming figure at the end of the hallway. As the person approached them, Magnus sighed in relief.
"Woolsey. Why do you always have to choose the wrong time to come?" Magnus asked, slightly irritated.
"And there you are wrong, my dear." Magnus threw Woolsey a puzzled look. "I did not choose. Choose is the act of deciding when to come. Oh no, no. I simply was at the wrong place at the wrong time. I just happened to be here. I would call that happenstance."
Magnus, choosing to ignore Woolsey's comment, rolled his eyes and simply introduced Juliet to Woolsey, who for once behaved himself around their guest.
After introductions,Magnus turned back to the girl. "First and foremost, we should take you to the London Institute. Charlotte Branwell is of best service and will take care to make sure you are comfortable. Which reminds me, why did you come here first? You should have gone straight to the Institute during an emergency like this," Magnus told Juliet.
"I needed your help first," Juliet said matter-of-factly.
Magnus straightened up at this. "Very well. What shall it be?"
Charlotte sunk into the couch in pure exhaustion. She was seated in the drawing room completely in shock after reading a letter that was addressed to the Institutes all around the world. Henry was busy in the crypt, Jem and Tessa were busy upstairs doing wedding planning, Cecily was training with Gideon and Sophie, and Will was out and about somewhere no one knew about, as per usual.
The letter she held with trembling hands was addressed to her and Henry, from Consul Wayland regarding the Paris Institute. She had to read the letter over and over again to finally grasp what had happened. She had never thought that something like this could happen; it was beyond the unimaginable.
A rumbling in the hallway interrupted Charlotte's exhaustion.
"It always smells like something's bloody on fire in here," she heard Magnus Bane swear before he dramatically entered the room. As usual, he made an entrance with his lavish purple waistcoat, sparkling cat's eyes, and air of audacity. Trailing behind him was a pretty woman of about sixteen. Blonde hair tumbled down her shoulders in a fashion that belonged more on the body of a debutante than a Shadowhunter. However, she was not composed, to say the least. Her neck was lacerated with shallow wounds and bruises mottled her arms. She wore a lavender gown that was ripped everywhere and covered in stains. As Magnus and the girl approached Charlotte, Charlotte could only assume that this girl was somehow linked to the Paris attack.
"Charlotte Branwell, may I introduce you to Juliet Verlac of the Paris Institute," Magnus announced with a flourish of his hand towards Juliet. The woman, nodded her head ever so slightly at Charlotte before looking solemnly away.
Charlotte furrowed her brow in confusion. "I heard about the attack," she managed to say, "and I am deeply sorry about what happened. My heart goes out to everyone who lost their lives in the Institute. But I was wondering, I just received a letter from Consul Wayland and it said that everyone had perished..."
"Not her," Magnus replied. Charlotte would have guessed that Juliet wouldn't say anything, especially after the events of the night. "She narrowly escaped the attack, and first thing she did was come to me. Smart girl."
"How did you get here? To London?" Charlotte asked Juliet. Before Juliet could reply, a voice came from the doorway of the drawing room.
"Charlotte? What's going on in here?" Henry stepped in, followed by Jem and Tessa.
"Oh Henry, thank goodness you're here."
"I was on my way back from the crypt when I bumped into Jem and Tessa. We heard voices from the corridor and decided to check it out," Henry said matter-of-factly. The three of them entered the drawing room and stood by Charlotte.
"Glad you could join us," she said to them, a tone of relief in her voice. "As we were discussing earlier-"
"Well, well, well. What do we have here? Are you having your biannual everyone-thinks-Will-is-a-lunatic-meeting?" Will peeked around the corner of the door and sauntered into the room. He looked around with an intense interest in his eyes. Tessa couldn't help but notice he looked somewhat ragged, though Juliet was plenty enamored with him already. When he walked in, she had perked up instantly.
Not that Tessa cared.
"I've got a guest," said Magnus proudly as he presented Juliet with a flourish yet again.
Will raised one eyebrow at Juliet's scratched arms and torn dress. "It doesn't look like you've been treating her very nicely."
"Will, stop it!" Charlotte scolded, giving him a look of scorn. Will grinned at that, while Charlotte rolled her eyes. "I think it's best if we all sit down," Charlotte announced, ignoring Will completely. Everyone settled down and grouped around the hearth.
"So what's happened?" Henry asked as he shot a worried look at Juliet. Henry wasn't one to deal well with damsels in distress like Juliet.
Charlotte took a deep breath and started, "I received a letter earlier this night from Consul Wayland informing me of an attack that occurred in the Paris Institute this late afternoon. The battle was very brutal, and everyone who resided in the Institute was killed. The attack was done by none other than Axel Mortmain himself, accompanied by his automatons."
At that, everyone in the room had gasped. "Mortmain? How?" Will was the first to speak, looking absolutely appalled, "we haven't seen or heard of him in months."
"Apparently he was plotting," was Charlotte's terse reply.
"And apparently not everyone died," Magnus added as he nodded to Juliet.
Juliet still hadn't spoken a word during the entire meeting. Absentmindedly, she brushed at her skirt.
"Which reminds me, how did you get here Juliet?" Charlotte asked, looking directly at the girl. Everyone turned towards Juliet, curious about the same matter.
Juliet cleared her throat nervously. The entire room was rapt with attention. She took a deep breath.
"Mortmain sent me." The whole room went dead silent. "He sent me to you through a portal. He has a message. It's the only reason I was spared."
Jem was the first to recover from this shocking bit of news. "How fortunate," Jem remarked with a genuine smile.
Juliet's eyes narrowed with anger and filled with tears at the same time. "My entire family and all of my friends were slaughtered in front of me. I do not consider that fortunate."
Jem was on the verge of apologizing for his offense, but Charlotte interrupted him.
"But, how do we know we can trust you?" Charlotte asked, a bit wary of the fact that Mortmain sent her directly to them.
"You can trust her alright," Will said unexpectedly. Everyone then looked at him. Tessa narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Who was Will to know that a girl that had just turned up in the Institute could be trusted? Then again, why would Tessa care about who Will trusted and did not trust? It's not like they were really speaking. It was nothing for Tessa to dabble in, so she shook the thought out of her head.
"Then how do you know that, Will?" Charlotte inquired, breaking Tessa out of her thoughts. Juliet and Will looked across the room at each other, midnight eyes meeting emerald ones, some silent conversation being exchanged between them. Tessa eyed them again, a sour wave of jealousy coursing through her. She quickly brushed it off. Still, she couldn't help but notice that the moment seemed to be just between Will and Juliet, some untold secret she'd never be a part of. Because I chose not to be a part of it, Tessa reminded herself, shooting a quick glance at Jem.
Jem.
Her fiancé.
Her future husband.
Tessa's chest tightened at the thought, though she couldn't tell if it was because of happiness or fear.
"We're good friends." Will's voice brought Tessa back to reality.
"In what way?" Tessa couldn't help but blurt out. "I mean," she corrected, "how do you two know each other? If we are all to trust Juliet..." Tessa trailed off, trying to cover up her blunder in the matter at hand.
A faraway look crossed Will's face. He didn't even seem to see Tessa, or anyone else in the room for that matter.
Except Juliet.
"We knew each other from before," Juliet finally said, her French accent slightly reminiscent of Camille's. "Our families were close friends, but I had not heard from Will until a couple months ago. When he came to visit me in Paris,"Juliet paused. "We... trained together."
An odd sensation settled across the room; another one of Will's mysteries no one would ever come to know.
"I cannot help it if you do not trust me yet," Juliet continued, her voice growing stronger. "But I still have Mortmain's message. You may make what you will of it."
"We trust you," Charlotte said. "Any friend of Will's is a friend of ours as well." Will perked up at this and a ghost of a smile played across Juliet's lips.
"Well... what is it?" Henry asked curiously, unable to contain himself.
Charlotte shot Henry a look, as if to say to take it easy on Juliet, but Juliet was no weakling.
"He's coming for you. For all of you." Juliet looked directly at Tessa, acknowledging the shape-shifter girl for the first time that night. "And especially for you."
A/N: Yeah, that probably wasn't as climactic as you were expecting, but we promise, this sets the scene for pretty much the rest of the story. And we decided to create our own character because Cassie tends to introduce new characters in each book, and we thought Juliet would be fitting. So please, please, please review! And we'll try and update faster next time!