Lady Midnight

Chapter 32

The next few days were alright. The mall had been raided by Emma and Ciara. Julian could swear that the mall had half its inventory now than before the girls entered the its doors.

The most exciting event was when Livvy finally woke up. She was disoriented and thought it was a dream at first. Julian could tell that Ty was the most relieved out of all of them. Taylor and Livvy would have to stay bedridden for a week.

"Julian, can you come to my office please?" Jules turned and followed Arthur to his office. A cup of coffee sat on the desk, no doubting it once contained a double shot of espresso. "It has come to my attention that Mark and Emma will be going out tonight." Julian tried his best to keep his face stoic and calm.

"I believe that Gwyn will probably send people to watch them. I need you and a person of your choosing to go and follow their date. Make sure they don't know you're there, because I want those kids to have a good time. But if things fly south, intervene."

He nodded silently.

"So who will be going with you?" asked Arthur. Julian thought for a moment,"Tina." Jules didn't think his own girlfriend would want to spy on another couples date.

"Alright then. I want you both to be light on your feet and do not, I repeat, do not let them see you," instructed Uncle Arthur. "Yes, uncle," Jules said respectfully, like a true shadowhunter.

He headed upstairs and knocked on a door. It swung open to reveal Tina. Her black hair was loose and the red strip in it looked freshly redyed. "Hey Jules. What's up?" She leaned against her door frame.

"Uncle Arthur is afraid that Gwyn might send some people after Emma and Mark on their date. He wants us to follow them and keep them safe." Tina nodded her head,"Sure." "Okay. See you later then," said Jules. Christina softly closed the door with a soft click.

"JU-JUWIANNNNNN!!!!!!" A loud scream erupted from the end of hallway. There ran Tavvy. He ran full speed and would have face planted into Julian's knee if he hadn't held his arms in front of him.

Tavvy quickly tried to hide behind Jules, when Diana came around the corner,"Octavian Blackthorn, I told you that you need to finish your history lesson before you get to play." Tavvy shook his head,"I don't like it." Diana huffed and looked with pleading eyes at Tavvy's older brother.

The message was loud and clear,"hey buddy. What do you wanna be when you grow up?" Jules asked his brother. "I want to be like you and Emma and Ty-ty and Livvy. You are all big and fight the demons. You guys help keep all of the mundanes safe from evil demon creatures." Jules nodded,"all of us had history lessons too. Trust me, they weren't my favorite thing in the world, but it's important to know this stuff. And if you do well, you'll become a good shadowhunter."

"Really?"

"Of course. And if you really hate it, just keep looking forward to the future where you begin training in a few years. Emma will teach you how to use a shortsword. I will teach you archery. Ty and Livvy would love to teach you how to throw a knife. Doesn't that sound fun?" The young boy smiled happily. Julian put his hands on Tavvy's shoulders,"we will only be able to teach you after you know all of your history lessons, got it?"

"Okay Jules," his little brother gave him a big hug before following Diana out of the hall.

A slow clapping erupted from behind him. Jules turned to see Mark. "I remember you trying to get out of history lessons. You and Emma would somehow sneak out of your seats and hide for hours."

Julian laughed at that memory. He and Emma had their own little written language and sometimes they would plan their escape using that method. When they did escape, they would just sit on the roof the entire time, watching and pointing at clouds.

"You handle kids better than I ever did. You can actually find that sweet spot that convinces them to do something,"said Mark. "Thanks. I just think like a child sometimes, that's how I convinced Tavvy,"smiled Jules.

"I should go get ready for my date. I need to look nice for Emma,"said Mark. Jules stiffened at this, but Mark didn't notice. "Uhhh, I hope you guys have a great time. Where are you taking her?"

"I'm making it a surprise. Plus, you might end up telling her. You guys used to be Parabatai and are closer than best friends," said Mark.

Used to be Parabatai.

This was probably the first and only scenario that sentence could ever be used for. Julian and Emma's case was suppose to not even be possible. Both of them were alive, but the bond was severed.

"Okay. But you better treat her well,"said Jules. "Wow. I didn't know you were her father,"joked Mark. He had a big smile on his face. Julian looked at him with a completely serious face. "Don't worry. I will treat her with respect and be a perfect gentleman,"assured Mark. He did this in an English accent that sounded almost exactly like Uncle Arthur's.

"Well, I need to go. See you later," Mark said, patting Julian on the back as he passed him. Jules walked to his room to get ready. He strapped on his black gear and laced his boots up tightly. He then went down to the weapons room and got his signature bow and arrows and he picked up a few more weapons.

He was picking up a few throwing knives when Tina walked in and started picking a few seraph blades. Her hair was scraped back into a tight ponytail,"you ready to start stalking your brother and Parabatai?" Jules grunted,"yeah. It's strange, but we have to do it. I want them to be safe."

Tina nodded her head, pleased with the answer,"I think they make a cute couple. Don't you think?" Jules kept his head low,"yeah they are perfect together." She continued,"Emma told me a long time ago that she used to have this crush on Mark when she was younger. She would look at him when he wasn't looking. Wondering if he would ever like her back."

"I guess that proved to be true, because they obviously like each other," he said. She said,"you would think that Mark would have loved her more like little sister than girlfriend. Well, considering how he was always babysitting you guys. I guess things are different when it comes to them."

Julian was not comfortable with the conversation, so he quickly finished strapping on his weapons and left Tina in there to finish up. He couldn't go around to many places in the house at the moment, for if Emma or Mark saw him dressed in his gear, they would demand that he tell them the reason. And Jules didn't want to try and lie literally right to their faces. Emma would be able to tell right away if he was lying.

He just hung around the lower level of the Institute. The both of them rarely came down here. If Emma wanted a place to think, she would go to the roof. If Mark wanted to have a quiet thinking place,  he would always stay curled up in his room.

Ciara was currently spending time with Livvy  and Taylor. They were all becoming good friends and talked about whatever typical girl-talk was about. Jules didn't know what teenage girls usually talked about. Clothes? Boyfriends? Celebrity crushes?

Jules never knew. It was like some kind of unspoken rule between girls that prevented them from telling boys about their private conversations. He usually just talked to Emma all day and they never really talked about that kind of stuff. Jules guessed that was because Emma refrained from having the burden of "girl talk" weigh him down.

He wandered around the lower level of the institute until he heard car doors slamming and a vehicle driving away. He met up with Christina in the main floor and they both piled into his car and started following them. Mark and Emma had taken Emma's car.

They sped through the the roads on the warm L.A. night.