The Dark ArtificesBy K.N Butler

Chapter Two

Emma stared at Julian as he threw a beach ball at Livvy, who was balancing the youngest Blackthorn on her shoulders. Unconsciously Julian would flinch when she stumbled back every now and then, only to catch herself.

Julian hadn't even attempted to ask Emma to join them in the water. The way she turned her head from the ocean like that would calm her fears, as she watched Mark's body shaded under the umbrella he'd set up the moment he stepped foot on the sand.

"So I hear you've got Jace Lightwood to thank for your intense training." Mark didn't glance up from his book. His blue and golden eyes bored from a conversation he'd started.

Her eyes scanned the sand for shells, or those tiny crabs that drag your clothes across the white sand. There were none so she was forced to relive the moments where she'd kneel down on the institute training room floor heaving in pain from a pulled muscle.

"I guess you could say that." She held back a smile.

"We're grateful for you." Translation, he was grateful for everything she did for his family. Risking her life in order to make sure that they were safe when she could have been concerned with her own problems.

"It's nothing, I love you guys."

Julian was making his way out of the water, leaving the ball to the twins and Tavvy. His messy brown hair was perfectly untouched by the water. He watched Emma as she watched him and Mark studied the both of them silently behind the pages of his book.

"I was thinking maybe we could go get an ice cream," Julian said falling flat in the sand beside his best friend. His pale, lean body perfectly free of scars unlike her own.

"I was saving my appetite." She pet her stomach softly. "Cameron and I are going out later. He's taking me to the movies and to that fancy new restaurant."

"Pappy's?"

Mark injected himself into the conversation for the first time since Julian approached, "Never heard of it, but it doesn't sound fancy."

She sneered at the boys as Julian laughed. He ran his hand through his hair as he gave her a small smile. He nodded toward his brother, "He's right you know."

"Shut up." Emma shot sternly. Standing to her feet she turned her back to the two of them and stared at the institute. From here she could see the glass windows free of glamour, the spires rose in the air just like the New York Institute's and that seemed miles away now that Emma thought about it. Well, looking on a map it did. With the magic the warlocks and Shadowhunters possessed they could be there in a split-second, not to mention the Seelies and vampires.

"Well, I should get dressed."

"Can I come?" Julian asked abruptly.

As soon as the looks of shock registered with him he stepped back. "I mean, can I help you pick out what to wear? Having a boy's opinion should be good...in this case."

Mark shrugged returning his gaze to the book with a short whistle.

"Sure, yeah." Emma smiled remembering what he'd said about being jealous of Tina. Maybe that meant doing the things she did with Emma, all the sleepover things he'd heard other girls talk about, hanging out and talking about boys, that sort of stuff.

Emma didn't mind, not one bit.

In her room Jules sat on the edge of her bed fiddling with his stele as he waited for her to appear from behind the shoji room divider with her clothes hanging off the top of it. After a few moments she appeared with a red lace dress and a shorter black dress with slits around the chest area.

"So, which one looks more appealing?"

"I guess the black one." Jules said leaning back on the bed. "But what are you going to do about your hair?"

"I thought leaving it down was OK."

"I guess, but wouldn't it look better different?"

"So you're a bonafide hairstylist too, huh?"

Julian waved her over. "Come over here."

Following his instructions she sat below him. He tangled his hands in her hair, shaping the loose strands and placing them behind one another. She watched him as he performed his own magic in the mirror on the other side of the room. He had artists hands, and she often had to remind herself that he was more than just a creative mind, he too was a fighter.

"There." He said letting her raise up. "Done."

She stared at herself in the mirror as she got closer like she expected her reflection to leave her. Two skinny braids wrapped around the back of her hair followed by an onslaught of blonde curls.

"Jules, this is amazing. Where'd you learn to do this?"

"Not from staying up all night and watching hair tutorials." It was a form of art, nothing to be ashamed about, right?

"Thank you so much." She wrapped her arms around him so that they almost fell back on the bed. It made his heart pound a bit faster, Emma assumed it was the rush of the fall that had made her heart skip a beat. "You're a lifesaver. Now get out." 

Julian paused in the door as suddenly as Cristina appeared. She has a pair of flat irons in her hand along with a bunch of makeup and makeup remover. She looked from Emma and back to Julian, who was wearing a smug grin that was actually supposed to come off as friendly.

"Why am I the last one to be alerted in this house?" She dropped the makeup on the floor, letting the irons swing a few inches off it before trailing back from which she'd came. "I'm going back to sleep!"

Julian stepped back into the room cautiously as if he's set it on fire. He stopped right behind Emma, who'd turned back and was staring at her reflection. She fingered her blonde hair holding back the smile that crept onto her lips. She had to contain herself.

"Have fun tonight." He touched her sides with both hands and kissed the top of her head. "But not too much fun. Remember I can feel your pain..."

"Hey, it wasn't like I could tell them that you felt them too. Besides, I don't think other guys want to hear that. It's the perks of having a girl for a parabatai. You should've thought of that-"

"I was thirteen! I was thinking about hitting Mark with sticks and beating you in fights." He laughed, it was forced, they could both tell. "Just..."

"I will." She said.