Mae
"I think 'trouble' may be an exaggeration, Nephilim," a voice said with a deep chuckle. "We wouldn't be stupid enough to harm you."
"Yet you were stupid enough to contact us in the first place," Marlow said, drawing her seraph blade. The glow seemed duller, giving each girl a ghostly pallor in its dim light. In front of the door stood the owner of the voice; a painfully beautiful faerie, his features cold and measured. His hair was a deep, unnatural red, though it looked more black in the dull light. It made his almost silvery skin glow, like a perfectly carved crystal. And his eyes. His eyes made Mae breathe a sigh of relief. They were an identical green, so green she could practically see the winding forests of the Seelie court, the tangled and wild grass and flowers that were as beautiful as they were deadly. She found herself glad she could only see green. Two colors meant the WIld Hunt, and the Hunt was danger to shadowhunters, especially since one of their own rode among them.
"That was a calculated risk, yes," the faerie said, looking at each of them individually. His gaze sent shivers down Mae's spine, though she tried her hardest to meet his eyes defiantly.
"You said 'we'," Mae said, breaking the tense silence. "'We wouldn't be so stupid.' You're not alone."
His gaze returned to hers, taking a longer look. In the absence of light, she looked more demonic than anything else. A monster.
"Mae Applewell," he said thoughtfully. "I remember her sister quite well."
"You didn't answer me," she said, her voice steely to her own ears. Scarlett laid a gentle hand on her shoulder, which she shook off.
"Yes, we," the faerie said, his unnerving eyes still trained on her. "Me, and someone you desperately want returned to you."
For a moment, Mae's mind flicked to Mark Blackthorn, who had been taken by faeries in the attack on the Los Angeles Institute. Being half-fae, he was captured and not killed, but instead condemned to ride with the Wild Hunt. But it would not make sense to use Mark as a bargaining chip with them, none of them knew the Blackthorns as anything but a cautionary tale.
"We're not missing anyone," Lily said angrily, interrupting Mae's thoughts.
"Ah," the faerie said, a sickening amused grin crawling onto his face. "So many secrets between you Nephilim."
"What do you mean?" Mae asked. "If you don't tell us, we'll report you to the Clave."
He let out a laugh that was cold and harsh, like ice breaking.
"If only I can lie as you do, Mae Applewell," he said with what almost sounded like affection. "Find the map before you go looking for the treasure, little shadowhunters."
And with that, the lights flickered back on, and the faerie was nowhere to be seen.
Leanna
"Emilio!" Marlow's unmistakable yell echoed through the Institute. Leanna was in her room, which Rose had shown her quickly before they all left. Nobody had invited her to go patrolling, it was like the shadowhunter version of not having a date to prom. She seemed to be old news compared to the faerie message. And she was fine with that. At least, she told herself she was. She wasn't sure it was working.
"You called?" Emilio's voice rang out, muffled slightly by her closed door. Looks like he did occasionally adhere to the call of socialization.
"Get to the library," Marlow shouted. "And bring Leanna with you!"
Great.
"Is that her name?" He answered, sounding like he found the final clue to a Sherlock Holmes mystery.
