Children of Heroes

This Remarkable Love

By the end of dinner, it had become increasingly more obvious that Beth did, indeed, like Rafael.

Lexi studied her sister's face closely as Rafael followed the group of mundane girls out of the door; Elizabeth had always been good at concealing how she truly felt, but Alexa could see the facade. She'd confronted Lizzie about her feelings for Rafe before - her twin sister seemed appalled by the insinuation, and had frantically denied she felt anything but platonic love for him. Lizzie rarely hid anything from her sister, but Alexa knew that this was one of the rare occasions upon which she had lied.

About half an hour after Beth and her friends had entered Taki's, she'd shyly approached the Shadowhunters (and Max)  again, and requested that Rafe accompany them to a movie they were going to watch. Lexi had been highly entertained by everyone's reaction to this: Rafe was so transparent - he tried to act nonchalant and failed; Max was smirking at his brother's inability to string sentences together; and Elizabeth just sat gaping at the girl who seemed to have entered so inconveniently into her life. Alexa didn't quite understand Lizzie's infatuation with Rafe; there was an almost four year age gap between the two of them, and they were close as siblings. She thought Lizzie fancied herself in love with him - Alexa knew for sure that Elizabeth was exaggerating her feelings in her own mind.

"Your dads are gonna be so annoyed," Elizabeth said finally, matching Rafael's abilities in attempting to look flippant. The two of them were so alike, in a lot of ways; together, they made a constantly entertaining comedy act.

Max shrugged. "I don't think they will. They have no problem with mundanes - Papa actually quite likes them. Thinks they're fascinating. I'm pretty sure if Rafe brings home a mundie girl, they'll just consider it an increase in the biodiversity of our family." He chuckled to himself.

It was clear - maybe not to Max, but to Alexa it was obvious - that Lizzie was struggling for words. She wanted to say something, but what she wasn't quite sure. Lexi wondered when exactly their roles had reversed: when had Lizzie become the one who felt the need to fill the silence? Elizabeth had once appreciated the quiet, and had basked in it whenever she had the chance.

Before she could dwell on the matter any more, the necklace which hung around Alexa's throat pulsed, filling her chest with a strange, steady beat which fell into synchronisation with her hm
heartbeat. She couldn't help but feel a rush of adrenaline in her blood; most of the time nothing was wrong.

Absently, she held the pendant, trying to formulate an excuse to escape her sister and Max. It swelled and warmed beneath her fingers, and her heart leapt  - every pulse it issued triggered something inside her, a sensation she was only just adapting to.

"Is that new?" Lizzie queried, gesturing towards the necklace. "Does it work like Aunt Izzy's? Are there demons nearby?" There was a slight hint of ecstasy in her sister's eyes at the mention of demonic activity, despite her injury.

"Yeah, well no, it's not for demons. It's... something else. Not really important."

Lizzie didn't question her, but her eyebrows drew together in a frown. She clearly wasn't enjoying having things hidden from her.

Apologetically, Alexa shimmied out of the booth. "I do have to go, though. I'll see you guys later?"

The other two muttered their goodbyes - Lexi could already tell that once she was out of the door they'd start trying to pluck her apart, figure out what she was doing. They'd definitely opt for the usual: she would be partaking in a solo demon hunt; or spying on vampire dens.