"!Deja de molestarme, estoy despierta!" protested Cristina, batting Emma's hands away. "Emma! Stop it! I'm awake!" She sat up and put her hands to her head. She prided herself on not ever mixing up her first language with English while she was in the U.S., but sometimes when she was tired or barely awake it slipped out.
"Come with me to breakfast," Emma wheedled. "Or it might be brunch. It's almost noon. But whatever--I want to introduce you to everyone. I want you to meet Julian--"
"I saw him last night from the top of the stairs," said Cristina with a yawn. "He has nice hands."
"Great, you can tell him that in person."
"No, thank you."
"Get up," Emma said. "Or I'll sit on you."
Cristina threw a pillow at her. "Go wait outside."
A few minutes later, Cristina--having dressed quickly in a pale pink sweater and pencil skirt--found herself being marched down the hall. She could hear voices, raised in chatter, coming from the kitchen. She touched the medallion at her throat, the way she always did when she needed a bit of extra bravery.
She'd heard so much about the Blackthorns, especially Julian, since she'd arrived at the Institute that they'd taken on an almost mythical status in her mind. She was dreading meeting them--not only were they the most important people in Emma's life, but they were also the ones who could make the rest of her stay either pleasant or miserable.
The kitchen was a large room with painted walls and windows looking out over the blue-green ocean in the distance. A massive farmer's table dominated the space, surrounded by bench seats and chairs. The counters and table were tiled in what looked like bright Spanish designs, but if you glanced more closely, they formed scenes from classical literature: Jason and the Argonauts, Achilles and Patroclus, Odysseus and the Sirens. Someone, once, had decorated this space with a loving hand--someone had picked out the copper cooking range, the porcelain double sinks, the exact shade of yellow on the walls.
Julian was standing over the stove, barefoot, a dish towel slung around his broad shoulders. The younger Blackthorns were crowded around the table. Emma came forward, pulling Cristina behind her. "Everyone, this is Cristina," she said. "She's saved my life about sixteen times this summer, so be nice to her. Cristina, this is Julian--"
Julian looked over and smiled. The smile made him look like sunlight in human form. It didn't hurt that the dish towel around his neck had kittens on it, and there was pancake batter on his calloused hands. "Thanks for not letting Emma get killed," he said. "Contrary to whatever she might have told you, we need her around here."
"I'm Livvy." The pretty girl who was one half of the twins came forward to shake Cristina's hand. "And that's Ty." She pointed to a boy with black hair who was curled up on a bench seat reading The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes. "Dru has the braids, and Tavvy is the one with the lollipop."
"Don't run with a lollipop, Cristina," said Tavvy. He looked around seven, with a thin, serious face.
"I . . . won't?" Cristina assured him, puzzled.
"Tavvy," Julian groaned. He was pouring batter from a white ceramic pitcher into the frying pan on the stove. The room filled with the smell of butter and pancakes. "Get up and set the table, you useless layabouts--not you, Cristina," he added, looking embarrassed. "You're a guest."
"I'll be here for a year. I'm not really a guest," Cristina said, and went with the rest of them to get cutlery and plates. There was a buzz of pleasant activity, and Cristina felt herself relax. If she had to admit it, she'd been dreading the Blackthorns descending, disrupting the pleasant rhythm of her life here with Emma and Diana. Now that the family was here, here and real, she felt guilty for having resented them.
"First pancakes are up," Julian announced.
Ty put down his book and picked up a plate. Cristina, reaching into the refrigerator for more butter, heard him say to Julian, "I thought you forgot it was pancake day." There was accusation in his voice, and something else besides--a slight edge of nervousness? She remembered Emma saying in passing that Ty got upset when his routine was interrupted.
"I didn't forget, Ty," Julian said gently. "I was distracted. But I didn't forget."
Ty seemed to relax. "All right."
He went back over to the table, and Tavvy bounded up after him. They were organized, the Blackthorns, in the unconscious way that only a family could be: knowing who got pancakes first (Ty), who wanted butter and syrup (Dru), who wanted just syrup (Livvy), and who wanted sugar (Emma).
Cristina ate hers plain. It was buttery and not too sweet, crisp around the edges. "These are good," she said to Julian, who had finally sat down on a bench seat beside Emma. Up close she could see lines of tiredness at the edges of his eyes, lines that seemed out of place on the face of a boy so young.
"Practice." He smiled at her. "I've been making them since I was twelve."
Livvy gave a bounce in her seat. She was wearing a black tank dress and reminded Cristina of the stylish mundane girls in Mexico City, striding purposefully around Condesa and Roma in their sheath dresses and delicate strappy heels. Her brown hair was streaked liberally with gold where the sun had bleached it. "It's so good to be back," she said, licking syrup off her finger. "It just wasn't the same at Great-Aunt Marjorie's without you two looking after us." She pointed at Emma and Julian. "I see why they say you shouldn't separate parabatai, you just go together, like--"
"Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson," said Ty, who had gone back to reading.
"Chocolate and peanut butter," said Tavvy.
"Captain Ahab and the whale," said Dru, who was dreamily drawing patterns in the syrup on her empty plate.
Emma choked on her juice. "Dru, the whale and Captain Ahab were enemies."
"True," Julian agreed. "The whale without Ahab is just a whale. A whale with no problems. A stress-free whale."
Dru looked mutinous. "I heard you guys talking," she said to Emma and Julian. "I was out on the lawn, before I went back in to get Tavvy. About Emma finding a body?"
Ty looked up immediately. "Emma found a body?"
Emma glanced a little worriedly at Tavvy, but he appeared absorbed in his food. She said, "Well, while you guys were gone, there've been a series of murders--"
"Murders? How come you didn't say anything to Julian or us about it?" Ty was bolt upright now, his book dangling from his hand. "You could have sent an e-mail or a fire-message or a postcard--"
"A murder postcard?" said Livvy, wrinkling up her nose.
"I only found out about it the night before last," Emma said, and explained quickly what had happened at the Sepulchre. "The body was covered in runes," she finished. "The same kind of markings that were on my parents' bodies when they were found."
"No one's ever been able to translate those, right?" Livvy said.
"No one." Emma shook her head. "Everyone's tried to decode them. Malcolm, Diana, even the Spiral Labyrinth," she added, naming the underground headquarters of the world's warlocks, where a great deal of arcane knowledge was hidden.
"Before, they were unique as far as we knew," Ty said. His eyes were really a very startling gray, like the back of a silver spoon. A pair of headphones hung around his neck, the cord snaking down into his shirt. "Now there's another example. If we compare them, we might learn something."
"I made a list of everything I know about the body," Emma said, producing a piece of paper and setting it on the table. Ty picked it up immediately. "Some is what I saw, some I heard from Johnny Rook and Diana. The fingertips were sanded down, teeth broken, wallet missing."
"Someone trying to hide the identity of the victim," said Ty.
"And probably not that uncommon," said Emma. "But there was also the fact that the body was soaked in seawater and showed signs of burning, and was lying in a chalked ring of symbols. And was covered in writing. That seems unusual."
"Like the sort of thing you could search for in back archives of mundane newspaper articles," said Ty. His gray eyes glowed with excitement. "I'll do it."
&n
bsp; "Thank you," Emma said. "But--" She glanced toward Julian, and then around at the others, her brown eyes grave. "Diana can't know, okay?"
"Why not?" asked Dru, frowning. Tavvy was paying no attention at all; he'd gotten down on the floor and was playing under the table with a set of toy trucks.
Emma sighed. "Several of the dead bodies were fey. And that puts this squarely out of any territory we should be messing with." She glanced over at Cristina. "If you don't want to do any of this, that's fine. Faerie business is tricky and Diana doesn't want us involved."
"You know how I feel about the Cold Peace," said Cristina. "Absolutely I will help." There was a murmer of agreement.
"Told you not to worry," Julian said, touching Emma's shoulder lightly before standing up to start clearing the breakfast dishes. There was something about that touch--light and casual as it was, it sent a jolt through Cristina. "You've got today off from classes, Diana's gone up to Ojai, so now's a good time for us to do this. Especially since we've got Clave testing this weekend."
There was a collective groan. Clave testing was a twice-yearly chore in which students were evaluated to see if their skills were up to par or if they needed to be sent to the Academy in Idris.
But Ty ignored Julian's announcement. He was looking at Emma's paper. "How many have died, exactly? People and faeries?"
"Twelve," said Emma. "Twelve dead bodies."
Tavvy emerged from under the table. "Were they all running with lollipops?"
Ty looked baffled, Emma guilty, Tavvy slightly lip-wobbly. "Maybe that's enough for now," Julian said, scooping up his smallest brother. "Let's see what you find out, Tiberius, Livia?"
Ty murmured assent, rising to his feet. Emma said, "Cristina and I were going to practice, but we can--"
"No! Don't cancel it!" Livvy bounced upright. "I need to practice! With another girl. Who isn't reading," she said, shooting a glare at Dru. "Or watching a horror movie." She glanced over at her twin. "I'll help Ty for half an hour," she said. "Then I'll come to train."
He nodded and slipped his headphones on, making his way toward the door. Livvy went with him, chattering about how she'd missed training and her saber, and about how their great-aunt's idea of a training room was her barn, which was full of spiders.
Cristina glanced back as she left the kitchen. The room was full of bright light, and it cast an odd halo over Emma and Julian, blurring out their features. Julian was holding Tavvy, and as Emma leaned in they made up an odd family picture. "You don't have to do this for me," Emma was saying, softly but earnestly, in a voice Cristina had never heard her use before.
"I think I do," Julian said. "I think I remember making a vow to that effect."
"'Whither thou goest, I will go, whatever stupid thing you do, I shall do also'?" Emma said. "Was that the vow?"
Julian laughed. If there were more words between the two, Cristina didn't hear them spoken. She let the door close behind her without looking back again. She had once thought she would have a parabatai herself; though it was a dream she had long put to bed, there was something about that sort of intimacy that was painful to overhear.
Emma hit the training mat hard, rolling quickly so that Cortana, still strapped to her back, wouldn't be damaged--or damage her. In the early years of her training she'd inflicted more injuries on herself by accident with Cortana's sharp edges than any exercises had, thanks to her stubborn refusal to take it off.
Cortana was hers, her father's, and her father's father's. She and Cortana were what was left of the Carstairs family. She never left the blade behind when she went to fight, even if they planned to use daggers or holy water or fire. Therefore she needed to know how to fight with it strapped to her in every conceivable circumstance.
"Are you all right?" Cristina hit the mat beside her more lightly; she wasn't armed, and was wearing only her training clothes. Cristina had sense, Emma thought, sitting up and rubbing her sore shoulder.
"Fine." Emma stood up, shaking out the kinks in her muscles. "One more time."
The medal around Cristina's throat gleamed decorously as she craned her head back, watching Emma shinny back up the rope ladder. Dark gold sunlight was pouring through the windows--it was late afternoon. They'd been training for hours, and before that they'd been busy bringing the contents of Emma's Wall of Proof (Cristina refused to call it a Wall of Crazy) into the computer room so Livvy and Ty could scan it all. Livvy was still promising to come train with them, though she'd clearly been absorbed into the online search for clues. "You can stop there," Cristina called when Emma was halfway up, but Emma ignored her and kept going, until her head was nearly bumping the ceiling.
Emma looked down. Cristina was shaking her head, managing to look both composed and disapproving at the same time. "You can't jump from such a height! Emma--"
Emma let go and dropped like a stone. She hit the mat, rolled, and sprang up into a crouch, reaching back over her shoulder for Cortana.
Her hand closed on empty air. She shot upright, only to find Cristina holding the blade. She'd slipped it from Emma's scabbard as she was rising to her feet.
"There is more to fighting than jumping the highest and falling the farthest," Cristina said, and held Cortana out to her.
Emma rose and took the blade back with a grudging smile. "You sound like Jules."
"Maybe he has a point," Cristina said. "Have you always been this careless about your safety?"
"More since the Dark War." Emma slipped Cortana back into its scabbard. She drew the stiletto blades from her boots and handed one to Cristina before turning to face the target painted on the opposite wall.
Cristina moved to Emma's side and raised the blade in her hand, sighting down along the line of her arm. Emma hadn't thrown knives with Cristina before, but she was unsurprised to see that Cristina's posture and grip on the knife--her thumb parallel to the blade--were perfect. "Sometimes I regret that I knew little of the war. I was in hiding in Mexico. My uncle Tomas was convinced Idris would not be safe."
Emma thought of Idris burning, of the blood in the streets, bodies stacked like kindling in the Accords Hall. "Your uncle was right."
"He died in the war, so I suppose he was." Cristina released her blade; it flew through the air and thumped into the central ring of the target. "My mother owned a house in San Miguel de Allende. We went there, because the Institute was not safe. I always feel a coward when I think about it."
"You were a kid," Emma said. "They were right to send you where you would be safe."
"Maybe," said Cristina, looking downcast.
"Really. I'm not just saying that," Emma told her. "I mean, how does Perfect Diego feel about it? Does he feel like a coward?"
Cristina made a face. "I doubt it."
"Of course not. He's totally well-adjusted about everything. We should all be more like Perfect Diego."
"Hello!" A greeting rang through the room. It was Livvy, in practice gear, heading toward them. She paused to pet her saber, which was hanging on the wall near the door with the other fencing swords. Livvy had chosen the saber for her weapon when she was about twelve years old and had practiced tenaciously ever since. She could discourse on types of saber, wooden grips versus rubber or leather ones, tangs and pommels, and it was better not to get her started on pistol grips.
Emma admired her loyalty. She'd never felt a need to pick a weapon: Hers was always Cortana. But she liked to be at least competent in everything, so she'd sparred with Livvy more than once.
"I missed you," Livvy crooned to the saber. "I love you so much."
"That was heartfelt," Emma said. "If you'd said that to me when you got back, I would have cried."
Livvy abandoned the saber and bounced over toward them. She commandeered a mat and began to stretch her muscles. She could fold herself easily in half, tucking her fingers under her toes. "I did miss you," she said, voice muffled. "It was boring in England and there were no cute boys."
"Julian said there were no humans for miles," said
Emma. "Anyway, it's not like you missed anything here."
"Well, aside from the serial killings," Livvy said, moving across the room to take up two throwing knives. Emma and Cristina moved out of the way as she lined herself up across from the target. "And I bet you dated Cameron Ashdown again, then dumped him."
"She did," said Cristina. Emma shot her a look that said traitor.
"Ha!" Livvy's knife went wide of the target. She turned around, her braid bouncing on her shoulders. "Emma goes out with him, like, every four months, then dumps him."
"Oh?" Cristina cut a glance toward Emma. "Why has he been singled out for this special torture?"
"Oh, for goodness' sake," Emma said. "It wasn't serious."
"Not to you," said Livvy. "Bet it was to him." She held out her second knife to Cristina. "Want a try?"
Cristina took the knife and moved into Livvy's position.
"Who's Perfect Diego?" Livvy asked.
Cristina had been frowning at the knife; now she turned around and gaped at Livvy.
"I heard you," Livvy said cheerfully. "Before I came in. Who is he? Why's he so perfect? Why is there a perfect boy in the world and no one's told me?"
"Diego is the boy Cristina's mother wants her to marry," Emma told Livvy. Now it was Cristina's turn to look betrayed. "It's not an arranged marriage, that would be gross; it's just that her mother loves him, his mother carried the Rosales name--"
"He's related to you?" Livvy asked Cristina. "Isn't that a problem? I mean, I know Clary Fairchild and Jace Herondale are a famous love story, but they weren't actually brother and sister. Otherwise I think it would probably be a . . ."
"Less famous love story," said Emma with a grin.
Cristina threw her knife. It hit close to the target's center. "His full name is Diego Rocio Rosales--Rocio is his father's last name, and Rosales his mother's, just like my mother's last name is Rosales. But that doesn't mean we're even cousins. The Rosaleses are a huge Shadowhunting family. My mother just thinks he's perfect, so handsome, so smart, such a Shadowhunter, perfect perfect perfect--"
"And now you know how he got his nickname," said Emma, going to retrieve the knives from the wall.
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