Change [Book 1 of The Elemental Marks]

Chapter 17

"Tommie! I was hoping I might run into you!" Vic was grinning at Tommie from a little ways down the hall. The young Shadowhunter was put off by the look. In that moment, he decided he didn't like fake people.

"Well, it seems you've found me." Tommie had been on the way to the music room. His visits had become more and more infrequent since Lina left. He felt he owed the room something, since it led to his friendship with Dex.

Vic, on the other hand, had no good reason to be here. The pair was far from his office and even the living quarters of other Shadowhunters. Was he waiting for me? In answer, Vic said, "I stopped by the atrium but I never ran into you there."

Definitely here for me. "Was there something you needed?" Don't ask about Dex. Don't ask about Dex.

"A mission came to my attention, and I thought you would be the perfect candidate. Just like old times." Vic was smiling again. Tommie was tempted to turn him down right then and there, but he knew, technically speaking, he couldn't. Vic was the head of the Institute. What he said went, even if Tommie suspected he had ulterior motives.

"Just, without Lina," Tommie said as lightly as he could manage.

"I've found someone else to accompany you, actually. She's a really great girl who could use some guidance from someone as experienced as you."

Suddenly, things were starting to make sense for Tommie. There was just one other question he had to confirm his suspicion, but he wasn't quite sure how to ask it. "Where's she from?"

"She's a few years out of the Academy. She was from an old Shadowhunter family that removed itself from the cause a few generations back." There it is. "Like I said, a great girl."

Tommie suspected that he would say the same of any pure Shadowhunter. "What's the mission?"

Vic smiled a little larger. "I've already given Corinne the information. You can find her in her room, 125. If you need anything, you know where to find me."

And with that, Vic and Tommie went their separate ways, the young man's mind suddenly anywhere but the music room.

Vic had cornered him. He was forced to go on a mission with some girl that Vic thought could replace Lina so that Tommie didn't continue using Dex to replace Lina. "That's not what I'm doing," Tommie said aloud. He glanced around, but no one seemed to hear him. Dex was a great Shadowhunter in his own rite. Very different from Lina.

Sensing he was getting off track, Tommie left himself to worry about that task at hand. He had no choice but to find Corinne and go on this mission. This would suck a lot less if I could bring Dex.

Unless he could.

Tommie couldn't explicitly remember any times he and Lina had taken someone with them on a mission from Vic, but that didn't mean it wasn't allowed. Vic hadn't said that Dex couldn't come, and if no one said anything, he would never find out. What really mattered was that they got the job done.

And defying Vic along the way would be nice.

"So are you in?" Tommie asked Dex not long after he formulated the plan. He had yet to go find Corinne, awaiting a chance to talk to his friend.

Dex cocked his head to the side. "Ordinarily," he began, "I would say that I stay out of trouble if I can." Tommie was about to reassure him that it was totally fine and that he understood when the other hunter continued. "But I know you aren't the type to break the rules often, so for this one, I'm in."

Tommie grinned at him. "Awesome. Now I just need to get to the bottom of what it is we're doing."

"You're Tommie? Wow, hi!" The girl behind door 125 had big, brown eyes and straight black hair. She didn't exactly resemble Lina, but if Vic had a few options with pure blooded hunters, she would certainly do the trick.