They got back to the Institute and up to Emma’s room without getting noticed. Emma didn’t understand what Jem had been thinking when he’d said the book mustn’t be seen. It was a big ass book according to Emma. Out of all places they hid it in Emma’s closet. Among her socks.
“You don’t think they will see it like disrespectful?” Cristina asked carefully. “It is an old book. Personally, I would have got quite angry if you put me among your socks. Nothing personal.”
“Then you’re lucky you aren’t a book.” Emma closed the closet and stood up straight. “They can’t just assume I have a suite ready and a waiter waiting with a bottle of Bordeaux from -61.”
“But can’t they assume you have a bookcase at least?”
“And reveal it to the whole wide world? No, thank you.”
Emma went over to her phone which she’d left on her desk and hadn’t even thought about for days.
No battery
“Yeah, I came to that conclusion too”, she muttered to no one.
She put it on charge.
Cristina sat down in a chair. “So what now?”
“What?”
“Where are we gonna go from here?”
A knock on the door stopped her from answering. Octavian and Livvy opened the door without waiting for Emma to. Ty stood in the back and seemed totally uninterested. The others looked like they’d run for miles.
“Have you seen Dru?!” they shouted in not so much a choir. Emma managed to make out the words anyway.
“No, why?”
“She hasn’t been home for over two hours”, Octavia answered.
“You mean as away away?”
Livvy looked at her as if she tried to figure out if she was truly stupid or not. “She hasn’t been in the Institute.”
“Okay, wait another hour and if she isn’t home by then come back to me. Tell me if you find her too.”
They disappeared out into the hallway again.
In that moment Emma’s phone started beeping from missed calls and texts.
She checked it.
22 missed call(s) and 14 message(s) from Jules
She laughed out loud.
“What?” Cristina asked and stood up to look over her shoulder. “22? Really? He sure has a soft spot for you, girl.”
“We’re parabatai. We look out for each other.”
3 missed call(s) and 4 message(s) from Dylan
“Dylan? You two are still a thing?”
“We’re not a thing. We like each other.”
“Emma, you’re basically repeating the things you said about Jules.”
She ignored her and read the messages from Dylan instead.
YOU ARE READING
The Dark Artifices: Lady of Los Angeles
FanfictionA few years after the war Emma and the Blackthorns have tried to adapt to their new family, their uncle who now lives with them and the Mexican girl, Cristina. Emma tries to hide her feelings for her parabatai all while she still tries to figure out...
