~Magic, love and betrayal~
Lisa Cartwright's mundane life, as a demon-killing shadowhunter, was shaken at its foundations by a series of mysterious murders. As she starts her quest, determined to find the cause of these assassinations, she finds th...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"When I have a little money, I buy books; and if I have any left, I buy food and clothes." -J.R.R. Tolkien
They were still waiting for their food in Ambrosia. Olivia couldn't resist commenting that she had expected faster service in a downworlder's restaurant. She heard Arthur's stomach rumbling, everyone looked up happily when an ifrit brought their order. He had white horns sticking out of his head and gave them a gentle smile.
Lisa recalled an excerpt from the codex about ifrits: they were warlocks who had a warlock's sign, but no powers. They never came among the mundanes because they could not hide themselves with a spell. It would be strange if people suddenly saw a man with horns walking down the street. Lisa had, as always, ordered a cheese and ham sandwich and quickly started to eat it. It wasn't too early to call it lunch, but it would pass for it.
"So," Arthur started, "are two you family?" He prodded her and Anna with his fork. The two girls exchanged glances before Lisa answered.
"Not really," she hesitated, "our families have known each other for a long time. I have just been living with them for many years."
Olivia now also caught up with Arthur's curiosity. "And Lotte and Maxim? They don't look like you." Olivia looked at Anna with an unfathomable stare.
"They look more like Marianne," Lisa said before her friend could answer. She liked to talk about the Starkweather's, that way she felt a bit part of them.
"What about your parents?" Olivia accusingly pointed her knife at Lisa. That's a subject she liked to talk about less, she felt Anna tense her muscles.
Lisa sighed silently: "My mother lives in Idris, she is part of the Clave's Council and therefore chose not to live here anymore."
"So she's just doing some political business stuff there and leaving you here?" Olivia asked without much emotion in her voice, "nice."
"It was my choice to live in the Institute, before that I lived with my mother in a mansion in Wijnegem," said Lisa with a shrug.
Arthur turned to her abruptly, with sudden interest. "What about your father?" he muttered, his mouth full of bread.
"He- I've never met him." Lisa stared at her sandwich, without realizing it, her hand went to the ring around her neck. As always, everyone immediately looked down at their own plate, in uncomfortable silence. Except for Moira, she smiled encouragingly at her. As well as Olivia, who kept staring at her, as if she was waiting for the rest of the story. Lisa averted her gaze. Normally she could read people's thoughts and emotions reasonably well. But with Olivia that trick didn't work, she was very unpredictable and that irritated Lisa. She glanced at Anna, who also frowned at Olivia.
Anna.
Lisa had kept thinking about what she had told her. She had received a few signals from Anna, things she said, she was doing. Hoping Lisa would get it without having to tell her. She'd beaten herself a thousand times for not seeing it. Although Anna didn't seem angry about it. She had ordered two extra sandwiches for Lotte and Maxim, who had to take lessons from Marianne first. Suddenly, Olivia reached for her glass of water and drank it all in one firm gulp.
"Hot," she said breathlessly. Lisa looked at her sandwich, according to her it was the Solare, a sandwich with hot chilis. She saw Jonathan holding back his laugh and Anna poked his arm.
"Ow," he said dramatically, "why do you always have to hit me?" He rubbed his hand excessively on his upper arm. Before Anna could answer that, Lisa's phone rang. She looked at the screen and saw that it was Marianne. She quickly handed the phone to Anna, knowing she'd forgotten hers back home. Anna answered the phone.
"Mom?" Lisa heard Marianne's voice through the device, she sounded angry. Lisa swallowed, when Marianne was angry with them, she was usually only angry with Anna and Jonathan, even if it was sometimes her own fault. She saw Jonathan examine his sister. Lisa wondered if he understood Anna as well as she did. She glanced at Anna, who shook her head slightly at her. Lisa relaxed a bit again, so Marianne was not angry.
"Yes, Mom, yes, okay, see you soon." Anna hung up and handed the phone back to Lisa. "We have to go back to the Institute," she said in answer to all the questioning looks. Anna quickly ate her sandwich and Jonathan stood up.
"I'll just go pay." He walked to Nyssa, the so-called sexy waitress. Lisa rolled her eyes. Olivia had fished all the peppers out of her bun and was now quickly eating it, Arthur and Moira were already ready. Lisa looked questioningly at Anna, who seemed slightly stressed.
"Remember those exams we took last week?" she said as if she knew what Lisa was thinking. Lisa nodded, they had to take a number of mandatory exams from Marianne, the grades went directly to Idris and were very important. They had had exams of languages such as Latin and Chthonian - a demon language - as well as demonology and fighting. She had passed an exam with her bow and seraph dagger, as well as a hand-to-hand fight. Lisa swallowed hard, looking at her friend, waiting to hear her result. "She didn't say anything about the results, but that's why we had to come back."
Moira got up. "Well, I will leave as well, because I still have an appointment with an important customer. I'll pay you back later," she said, glancing sideways at Jonathan. They waved her goodbye, Arthur the most enthusiastic of all. It was weird hanging out with Moira sometimes, Lisa thought. She had lived through the two world wars, but she treated them as if she were their age, and that's what she looked like. Lisa assumed she wanted to keep up with the youth.
Jonathan returned and looked around in a daze. "Has Moira become invisible again?" Jonathan asked, scanning the room. Anna sighed and pulled him by the collar to the door. Lisa ran after them with a broad smile. A loud sigh escaped Olivia's lips as they walked out.
"What's wrong?" she heard Jonathan, who was walking behind her, ask.
"I expected a shadowhunter's life to be a bit more exciting. With more near-death experiences and all," Olivia sighed.
"Didn't you just nearly suffocate in that chili?" Arthur asked almost curiously. Olivia threw her arms in the air, Lisa had to hold back her smile, they turned in the street on the right.
"Besides, demons usually come at night, as they can't stand daylight," Jonathan defended. Their discussion continued, but Lisa no longer paid attention to it. She stared aimlessly ahead.
"Are you okay?" Anna whispered next to her, looking at her with concern. "You're quite quiet."
"Sure, everything is fine," she said with a crooked smile. She knew she couldn't lie to her, but she hoped Anna would understand that she just didn't want to talk about it.
______________ What did you think of the chapter? Be sure to let me know in the comments!
Who do you think is going going to pass their exams? (I wouldn't bet on Jonathan) New chapter coming tomorrow! -> And remember: Don't trust anyone
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
