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“We’ll be back by eleven, are you sure you’ll be okay?” Tessa hovers in the doorway, unsure, pretty grey dress – the exact shade of her magic – floating around her. Kit smiles, hoping it looks reassuring.
“Yeah, Mom. I have all the emergency numbers in my phone, dinner ready to put in the microwave, and a pile of books to read her. Bedtime is at eight, and she likes the blue ducky in the bath. We’ll be fine.” Calling her mom is still new, but it feels right on his tongue, and it seems to soothe her nerves a miniscule amount.
“Qin ai de, come on.” Jem appears beside her, sliding a gloved hand around her waist. Kit translates the Mandarin in his head, courtesy of the Duo Lingo owl: darling. Together, dressed like this, they look like they could have walked right out of an old painting. “This isn’t the first time we’ve left Kit alone with her.”
“I know,” Tessa concedes, and then a frown creases her forehead. The skin there is so smooth that it hurts Kit’s brain remembering how old she really is. She doesn’t look that much older than him. “But it’s the first time since… you know.”
“Since she’s discovered her magic?” Jem laughs fondly, and Kit has to admit he is a little worried.
A month ago, his little sister came back from a sleepover with the Lightwood-Bane children, cackling maniacally, making everything she could lift float with a flick of her chubby toddler wrist and a trail of muted gold. It’s been chaos ever since. None of Tessa’s other children could do outright magic like this, but she has promised that they were powerful enough with their own abilities, and at least with Mina’s magic she knows how to teach her.
“I can handle her, I promise!” Kit spent his entire childhood haunting the Shadow Market. He’s fought demons. He can babysit a magical toddler. Besides, with everything that’s happened recently, he hasn’t had much time to spend with his little sister. He’s looking forwards to tonight.
“Wo de ai, they will be fine.” Jem tightens his hold on Tessa’s waist and presses a kiss to her perfectly curled hair, avoiding upsetting any of the carefully placed silver pins. My love, Kit translates again. That one is easy; it’s a common phrase in this household.
“Of course they will.” A soft smile spills over Tessa’s lips, and Kit follows her line of sight to where Mina is sprawled out on her belly in the middle of the floor, feet kicking in the air and tongue caught between her teeth as she scribbles happily over the top of a picture of a fairy. “Thank you for agreeing to watch her.”
Shrugging like it’s no big deal, Kit ushers them towards the front door. They have tickets for something fancy tonight, and Tessa has been looking forwards to it all week. She misses the clothes and social etiquette of her time, Kit knows, and she was beyond excited when Kit had offhandedly mentioned a masquerade ball being held for charity, playing it off like he just happened to stumble across it, like he doesn’t know that the reason his parents have been melancholy this past week is because it’s coming up on William Herondale’s birthday, like he hadn’t been researching something fun for them to do to take their minds off it.
He isn’t sure where Tessa got the dress. It looks genuine, like she might have somehow reached back through time into her old wardrobe from when she was truly twenty-five, and Jem’s suit has been tailored to match. Tessa’s hair is half-way up, the rest spilling around her shoulders in a way Jem loves to run his fingers through. She’d done it herself, and Kit had heard her from the bedroom talking to the past the way she does sometimes when she thinks nobody can hear. Talking to the memory of someone named Sophie.
Silver half-masks dangle from their hands, and Kit sort of wishes he was going with them.
“Go, Mom. You’ll be late.”
“I love you both,” Tessa tells her children, and lets her husband guide her to the door, joking about how odd it will feel taking a car and not a carriage.
Kit watches his sister colouring calmly, and smiles. This will be easy. It’ll be fine.
..
It’s not fine.
It’s only been an hour, and Kit is exhausted. He’s covered in something sticky, there is glitter in his hair, and Mina is currently floating on the ceiling. Curse Max Lightwood-Bane and his anti-gravity spells. Kit drags another couch cushion into the pile he’s made on the floor beneath her, and tries again to coax her down.
“Mina-Moo! Don’t you wanna come have snacks?” Cirenworth is a big house, with very high ceilings. Kit can’t even reach her with the broom handle.
In response, the toddler cackles: a proper evil villain laugh that would be impressive if Kit wasn’t so stressed.
“Up, up, up!” she calls down to Kit, like she’s inviting him to join her, and part of him wishes he could. She’s clearly having the time of her life.
She flicks her meaty little toddler hands, and all of the cushions he’s carefully arranged go flying around the room. Kit rubs his temples, feeling the start of a migraine. He needs backup. He can’t call his parents. They deserve a night off and besides, he doesn’t want them to think he’s too irresponsible to babysit his sister.
Magnus Bane would know what to do, but Kit is still so in awe of the man that he’s scared to ask, and he’d tell Tessa anyway. His mundane friends are out of the question, which really only leaves one person.
..
7:04PM
Watson: yo are u busy? kinda need ur help
..
Mina is on the ground again – landing safely on a cushion, thank God – and she’s gone back to her colouring book. Stickers in the shape of glittery little stars litter the page, her arms and face, and any of the furniture and floorboards she can reach while lying on her belly. Kit will have to scrape them all off later but it’s fine. It’s okay. She’s safe on the floor and nothing is magically floating. Kit can leave her for a second to grab a glass of water. She’s fine.
..
7:16PM
Holmes: Sorry, I only just got this message. Do you still need help?
7:17PM
Watson: nah i think we all good<3
..
7:19PM
Watson: NEVER MIND YES I NEED UR HELP PLS COME OVER
..
There is no toddler in the living room. Kit follows the trail of glittery little footprints, slapping himself mentally for taking his eye off her. How do Jem and Tessa do it? And was Kit this much trouble for his own father? Honestly, it gives him a little stab of vindication that he very well might have been. He sort of loves the idea of a stoic, distant Johnny dealing with a little curly-haired menace. Albeit one without magic, but Kit’s certain he was chaotic enough to make up for it.
“Mina-Moooooo!” he calls through the house, forcing his voice into a sing-song pitch so it sounds like a game. “Where are youuuuu?”
A giggle floats down the hall, coming from what sounds like the training room. Bingo. There’s only one door. He can corner her there. Then, Kit remembers the vast array of weapons, and breaks into a sprint.
As he reaches the training room, he hears the telltale magical crackle of a Portal opening somewhere in the house. Thank God and Raziel and whichever other deities might be out there for Clary Fairchild and the permanent Portals she installed in every Institute, because Ty would have never been able to get here in time otherwise.
“Baby on the loose!” Kit calls by way of greeting, and in a flash his boyfriend is by his side.
“I thought you said you could handle this on your own?” Ty sounds serious, but he’s grinning, bumping his shoulder against Kit’s.
Ignoring the jab, Kit motions to the training room door, and ushers Ty inside.
..
Of all the people in the world, Ty Blackthorn might very well be Mina’s favourite. She adores her parents and Kit, of course, but ever since the first time she laid eyes on Ty she’s been absolutely smitten. Kit tries not to be jealous – he loves Ty too, after all – but Mina is his little sister. He’s never had one of those before.
“U’cle Ty!” she shrieks from across the rather large room, scrambling off the high shelf she’s found her way up to.
Kit watches from the door, pushing down his jealousy as she sprints across the wooden floor, calling Ty’s name in delight like it’s been a year since she’s seen him. He was here for dinner three nights ago, and she reacted the same way.
There’s something in her hand, but with the way she’s waving her chubby little arms, he can’t make it out. That is, until Ty says:
“What do you have?” He sounds wary. Kit inches closer.
Mina stops, raising her fist to proudly display the object. She looks very pleased with herself.
“A knife!”
“NO!” Ty lunges forward, but he’s miscalculated the distance. Hugging her new treasure to her chest, Mina cackles and takes off like a rocket.
She swerves around Ty, and Kit crouches in the doorway, arms spread and ready to intercept. Under no circumstances can he let a toddler loose in the house with a knife. It’s about a million different kinds of unsafe.
Mina barrels towards him, still giggling, and Kit is sure he’s got her. At the last second though, she jumps, waving her free hand and sending out a shower of golden sparks that vault her into the air and carry her right over Kit’s head. She’s hit the ground running by the time he stands and processes what just happened.
“Shit.”
“Does she… do that a lot?” Ty comes to stand by him, hands opening and closing at his sides.
“It’s sort of her new thing,” wearily, Kit shrugs. “We need to catch her though. Got any ideas?”
Ty thinks for a moment, then nods and pulls out his phone.
..
7:26PM
Brother #3: Can I ask you a favour?
7:31PM
The Spooky One: you can ask…
..
Mina has abandoned the knife. That’s the good news. The bad news is that it’s only abandoned because it’s stuck so deeply into the ceiling that she couldn’t possibly pull it out. How she even got it stuck in there so hard is a mystery to both Kit and Ty.
Kit has raided the cupboard and set out a veritable feast of all of Mina’s favourite snacks in the hopes that it will tempt her into the kitchen. Ty is sitting behind the door, ready to slam it closed the second the toddler runs through. So far, no luck. Ty may be her favourite person, but he tried to take her knife, which is apparently unacceptable. Mina has disappeared again, and with all the hiding places in the enormous house, Kits has almost given up on ever finding her. She’s not making any noise, which is violently unsettling.
Kit is listening into the corridor so intently that when a Portal swirls open behind him, he jumps so hard his elbow bangs painfully into the door.
“Fuck!”
“Language!” A young female voice chides, and Kit turns to see Dru standing in the kitchen, looking as usual like a rather large bat in a floor length black velvet dress. It suits her.
“So, this was your plan B?” Kit grins at Dru as Ty shrugs, not in the least embarrassed.
It’s a good plan, Kit has to admit. Mina has only met Dru a handful of times, but each time she was mesmerised by her clothes and all of the buckles on her impossibly high boots. Maybe she’ll come close enough for them to grab her and bundle her somewhere safe until their parents get home.
“Mina!” Dru calls down the hallway, high and sweet. “Where is my little munchkin?”
“Auntie Dru!” There’s a squeal from somewhere close-by – far closer than Kit would have guessed – and the thudding sound of enthusiastic little footsteps barrelling down the hall.
Kit allows himself to feel a single moment of relief and triumph, until he catches sight of his little sister. Then, his heart sinks. Mina is coated, head to toe, in something clear and dripping and very, very sticky. Her hair is sticking directly up on all sides, and her fingers look sort of… gummed together. She also looks supremely proud of herself.
“Munchkin!” Bravely, ignoring the mystery-goo, Dru sweeps Mina into her arms. When Mina immediately plunges her gloopy hands into Dru’s carefully arranged, waist-length hair, the goth only flinches a little. “What have you been up to, Miss Madame?”
“Be like Kit!” Mina trills, petting at her own hair, and Kit’s stomach sinks further as he begins to understand.
“Mina-Moo, did you… use my hair gel?” He tries to keep his tone even. That particular brand of gel had been a gift. A very, very expensive one. And by the looks of it, his little sister has used the entire tub.
“Yup!” she proclaims, petting her hair again.
“Well,” Dru hoists her higher on her hip. “I think you’ve done a wonderful job. “Very stylish. But I was thinking that maybe it’s time to wash it off now? How about we have a-”
It happens in slow motion, Kit and Ty both lunging forwards to make frantic “STOP” motions at Dru, and Dru turning to see it just a moment too late. It’s been done. She’s said it. The dreaded “B” word.
“-bath?”
Immediately, Mina screams. Dru tries valiantly to keep her hold on the toddler, but Mina has the advantage of being completely coated in slime, and before any of them can react, she’s rocketing for the ceiling, yowling like Church when someone steps on his tail.
“NO NO NO NO NO NONONONONO NO BATH!”
“Okay Munchkin! No bath!” Dru tries, raising her hand placatingly, but the damage has been done. Mina bobs along the ceiling, ducking down just enough to clear the doorframe, and vanishes up the stairs.
“Fuck.” Dru slumps to the floor, fruitlessly brushing at her gummy dress and hair. Mixed with the glitter Mina was already covered in, it looks like sticky constellations. “I’m sorry.”
Ty flops down beside her, raising an arm to invite Kit to follow. Kit goes, breathing out a sigh worthy of an old man and leaning against his boyfriend’s shoulder.
“It’s okay. You didn’t know.”
“I thought she loved the bath?” Dru sounds like the ten minutes she’s been in the house have aged her fifty years.
“She used to. But now she thinks the plug hole is a monster. I don’t know.” Kit shrugs helplessly. Ty pets his hand in sympathy. “What do we do now? I can’t ask Tessa and Jem to come home yet. They were so excited about tonight.”
“Emma and Julian are busy,” Dru raises a hand before anyone can suggest it. “And not the usual kind of Emma-and-Julian-busy. They have actual work to do.”
“Helen and Aline would know what to do, right?” Kit asks hopefully, but Ty shakes his head.
“They’re away. Baby’s first vacation and all. I’ve already sent Helen a text, and she just sent me this in response.” Ty turns his phone, and Kit smiles ruefully at the image displayed on his screen:
Aline in her swimsuit, looking stressed and halfway covered in a thick layer of sunscreen. Their baby in her arms, mouth open in a scream Kit imagines he can hear from here. Helen in the lower corner, arm extended to hold the phone, face twisted in a grimace. Behind them is a very scenic beach, but neither of them seem to be doing much relaxing.
“Understandable,” Dru nods sympathetically. “At least we get to give this baby back at the end. I don’t envy those two.”
“Neither.” Ty’s brow furrows. “But we’re running out of options here. Tavvy is going through his I-hate-babies phase, so he’s going to be no help.”
“Well,” Dru sighs. “I guess that leaves-”
“Angel, please no.” Ty groans, covering his face. “Not him. Please. I love him, but absolutely not.”
Kit understands immediately.
“Yeah, probably not the best help. Like you said, love him, but he really isn’t the most responsible person on the planet.”
There’s silence for a moment while the three of them think, and then a very loud crash from upstairs.
“Fuck!” Kit scrambles to his feet. “She’s a walking chaos machine!”
Ty’s up next, already pounding his way up the stairs.
“I’m texting him,” Dru pulls out her phone. “We literally have no other choice.”
..
7:48PM
Goth-zilla: hey so like remember how you owe me a favour…
..
This is the longest night of Kit’s entire life. It hasn’t been even two hours since Jem and Tessa left, but Kit is sticky and glittery and exhausted and now there is an entire giant bookshelf on its side on the floor, spilling books and trinkets all the way to the door.
Mina has not stopped moving for more than a few seconds at a time. She has refused to even entertain the idea of dinner, so Kit has no idea where she’s pulling her endless supply of energy from. Dru thinks she’s siphoning it from the three of them like some sort of demon. Ty wonders if that’s actually possible, and his fingers twitch like he wants his research materials. Kit isn’t above suggesting they just catch her in a really big net.
She’s content for now, hidden in the shadows of Kit’s bedroom, systematically emptying everything he owns out of his drawers and closet. She’s still leaving gluey handprints on everything she touches, but Kit can’t bring himself to care at this point. She doesn’t have a knife and she isn’t in immediate danger of crushing herself under a large piece of furniture or falling to her death, so Kit’s the closest he’s going to get to happy right now.
The three of them watch her from the doorway, fully aware that the moment they step into the room she’s going to do something wildly unpredictable and possibly dangerous, so they’ve agreed to withdraw and wait for backup. Not that they have much faith in the backup they’ve lined up. Right on cue, a Portal flashes in the garden. Kit sighs and rises to his feet to answer the front door.
Mark wanders around the house, taking everything in with wide eyes.
“A toddler did this.” It’s more of a statement than a question, but Kit nods.
“Yup. And now she’s pulling apart my bedroom and I don’t know how to stop her. Ty and Dru have given up, too.”
“And now you want me as backup?” Mark grins, and Kit remembers stories of ruined kitchens splattered with food. He sighs.
“Yeah. Please.”
Mark ushers his sibling away from Kit’s bedroom door, and plops himself down on the carpet.
“Wow,” he says, turning his hand over and peering at the back of it. “I never realised how boring this Voyance rune is before. It’s just black lines. And this rune here? Huh. Could really use some colour. I think I’m going to colour them in.”
With that, he draws a handful of markers from his pocket, shuffling through them on the floor until he selects a green one.
“What are you doing?” Ty hisses through gritted teeth, eyes narrowed as his brother completely ignores the toddler in the corner, humming to himself as he shades in the space around the stamina rune on his forearm.
“Shhh,” Dru tugs both of their arms. “Look!”
Sure enough, Mina’s path of destruction has slowed. Cautiously, she peers around Kit’s bed, watching Mark with big, unblinking eyes. She’s never met Ty’s half-brother, and he is certainly doing his best to make an impression. She looks so like Church in this moment that Kit has to bite his knuckle to stop himself cackling.
“This is fun!” Mark exclaims, shuffling further into the room under the pretence of selecting another colour.
As he begins filling the inside of the rune with vibrant pink, he slowly raises his head to look in Mina’s direction. Instantly, the toddler withdraws behind the bed. Mark doesn’t react, and goes back to colouring. Kit watches from the hall and wonders what the hell his plan is.
After another minute or so of silence, Mark speaks again.
“Aw, man! I can’t reach this one! I wish I had someone who is reeeeally good at colouring to help me.”
“’m a good colourer,” comes a mumble from the corner.
Instead of handing her a marker like Kit expects him too, Mark squints suspiciously into the shadows where Mina is still half-hidden by furniture.
“Are you? Hmmm, I don’t know… I need someone who is the absolute best.”
“I am!” She stomps her little foot in indignation, revealing herself at last, in all her sticky, glittery glory. Mark, to his credit, doesn’t bat an eye at her dishevelled state.
“Hmm… well, I suppose I could let you try. What colour do you want?”
Cautiously, Mina approaches, careful not to get too close to this strange man in case he snatches her up and suggests a bath like her clearly horrible Auntie Dru. When he simply continues colouring, giving no sign that he even sees her, she settles on the floor and snatches up a blue marker.
“Oh, good choice!” Mark puts out his arm. “Would you like to do this one? It’s very tricky. Needs a lot of detail.”
Kit watches, incredulous, as Mina crosses her legs and plops down beside him, tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth in concentration as she begins to colour. Over her tousled head, Mark catches his eyes.
“Go, I got this!” he mouths, before turning his attention back to Mina’s artwork.
..
As soon as they’re out of earshot of the bedroom, Dru bursts out laughing.
“Oh, Raziel, we should have called him sooner! He’s going to look like a rainbow threw up on him!”
Kit, though, is staring around the room, eyes wide as he takes in the mess.
“This is going to take forever!” he groans. It’s eight-thirty. Less than three hours until Tessa’s return. Mina has completely destroyed the place, and Tessa is never going to let Kit babysit ever again.
“I’ll help.” Ty slides a reassuring hand around his shoulder, leaning over to bump his head against Kit’s like a cat. Kit relaxes against him, smiling softly when he’s rewarded with a forehead kiss. He likes forehead kisses.
Dru, either missing the moment or choosing to ignore it, wraps her arm around Kit’s other side.
“I’ll help too!” she beams. “We’ll get all of this done in no time!”
..
It’s not no time, but it certainly takes the three of them far less time than it would have taken Kit alone. They sweep up glitter and peel off stickers, scrub at dried hair gel and set furniture upright, pick up books, and mop sticky floors. Then, they gather under Mina’s ceiling knife and stare at it. Dru puts her hands on her hips.
“Well, that’s impressive.”
“Yup.”
“Do you know how to get it down?”
“Nope.”
After a brief debate, the knife is proclaimed a lost cause. Desperately, Kit hopes Jem and Tessa won’t notice it until at least a few months later, when this entire ordeal will be nothing but a funny story. Sadly, he doesn’t think he’ll be that lucky.
His room is still out of bounds for cleaning, on account of it currently containing the chaos demon known as his little sister, but Kit takes a moment to heat up dinner, and decides to chance attempting to feed her. He makes it all the way into the room with her plate before he notices what she’s done to Mark.
Every single visible rune, from his neck to the ends of all four limbs, are various shades of the rainbow. Some are a block of single colour, others filled with scribbled toddler-designs that are probably supposed to look like something but just resemble a mess, and others are full of little stars that Mark must have added himself. And, to top it off, Mina has moved onto his hair.
The white-blonde curls have been scooped into an array of little piggy tails, and Mina is standing behind him with a marker in her hand, happily colouring away at the strands. Several piggy-tails have already received similar treatment.
“Um. Looking good!” Kit tries, and Mark grins up at him. “Mina-Moo, you hungry?”
“Nope.” She scowls, gripping the marker tighter. Shit. Kit really doesn’t want to let her sprint off holding that. But he did promise Tessa that he would feed her. “Busy.”
“Oh, look at that!” Mark cranes his neck to look at the plate. “Sausages! Wow, you’re so lucky! Those are my favourite! Can I have them?”
Kit’s about to protest, when Mark winks. Oh. So this is part of his plan.
“If you want. I guess Mina isn’t hungry.” Kit sits the plate down next to him.
“Oooh! Mina, look!” Grabbing the fork, Mark spears a piece of broccoli. “A tiny tree!”
“Broggli.” Mina glares.
“No, a tiny tree. Look, it even has little leaves. I bet this tastes like magic.” Careful not to touch the food to his mouth, Mark takes a massive pretend bite, chewing thoughtfully for a full minute before he swallows. “Yup. Tastes like magic to me!”
“Magic?” Her tone is dubious, but Mina’s attention is definitely more on the broccoli now than Mark’s hair. Kit watches as she reaches out tentatively to take the fork.
When she bites into it, Kit tenses, getting ready for the inevitable spray of half-chewed vegetable across his already wrecked bedroom. It doesn’t come. Instead, Mina swallows.
“No magic. Just broggli.”
“You couldn’t taste it? You must be doing it wrong!” Mark snatches it back and pantomimes another bite, making exaggerated “mmmm” noises and nodding his head. “Yup, definitely tastes like magic.”
Without another word, Mina snatches her food back.
And so it goes for the rest of the meal: Mark “samples” the food, announces a ridiculous flavour that Mina simply must try, and the disgruntled toddler grabs it just to prove him wrong. Kit watches in disbelief that boarders on awe. He has never managed to get his little sister to do more than chew and spit a single bite from most of her vegetables, and here Mark is, convincing her to eat them all. Kit makes a mental note to corner him later and ask for the secret.
For now, he just breathes a sigh of relief and returns to the kitchen. The worst part of the night seems like it’s over.
..
Mina is screaming again. She was supposed to be in bed a long time ago, but since she is still sticky and gloopy and altogether gross, she needs a bath. And, just like before, she is adamantly refusing. This time, at least, she appears to be too tired to use her magic, so her tantrum has been mercifully reduced to the scale of a normal child’s fit of rage. Still, she is very, very loud.
“This one is outside of my skillset.” Mark claps Kit on the shoulder as he hands over the toddler, who has now added tears and snot to her collection of gloops. Kit can’t help the face he makes as he takes her.
“Count me out, please.” Dru scrunches her nose. There is still gel on her dress and in her hair, and Kit can’t blame her.
“Guess it’s up to us,” Ty gives him an encouraging smile, stepping aside for the other two to make their escape, and then holds open the bathroom door.
It goes about as well as Kit is expecting. There is water everywhere and toys are thrown and if they had close neighbours he would be expecting a knock at the door from the pigs. But as it is, Cirenworth is fairly secluded, so it’s only their own eardrums that Mina is desperately trying to burst. Kit wraps her in a towel and takes her out of the room before Ty pulls the plug, just in case the gurgling of the drain makes her somehow gain the ability to scream even louder.
It’s only once she’s been dried off and dressed in her favourite pyjamas that she finally calms.
“Story.” she demands, and Kit gives her a smile.
“Soon, Mina-Moo. We gotta say goodbye to your uncles and auntie first.”
This makes her pout.
“Want U’cle Ty to stay.”
Kit’s not going to argue with that one. He wants her “U’cle” Ty to stay as well.
Dru drops a kiss to her no-longer-sticky curls, and Mark thanks her solemnly for her artwork. Kit had expected him to wash it off while she was in the bath, but he still proudly sports the tapestry of multicoloured marker.
“I’ll clean my room tomorrow,” Kit tells Ty, and is pleasantly surprised when his boyfriend informs him that it’s already been done.
“Dru started while we were bathing her, and I helped while you got her dressed.”
“I owe you,” he promises Dru, and she grins and tells him she’ll hold him to it. Then he turns to Mark, squinting as he can’t help but ask, “How did you know what would calm her down like that?”
Mark grins back at him, and it’s a nostalgic kind of grin that makes Kit remember how long Mark’s life has been.
“I grew up with Emma Carstairs. She may not have had magic, but your little gremlin here has nothing on that girl.”
Kit conjures up an image of the mighty, rule-breaking warrior, most legendary Shadowhunter of her generation, and understands. He hopes that when Mina grows up, she’ll be that powerful, too. And, hopefully, a hell of a lot safer.
Kit shows them to the illegal Portal hidden in the second-floor linen closet (having Clary Fray as your cousin-in-law comes with its perks), and with a last round of tired goodbyes, they disappear into the swirling blue.
Mina likes her bedtime stories better in Kit’s bed, so he props her up between them while Ty searches for a book, and when he reads he makes sure to do the funny voices.
That’s how Tessa finds them an hour later, when she comes home tired from dancing, face flushed with laughter and pins falling from her hair. Kit is still half-propped against the pillows, book dangling from one hand, and Ty is on his side with his shoes still on, one hand wrapped up in both of Mina’s. Tessa smiles mistily and pulls the blanket over all of them, turning off the light as she leaves.
Jem stands in the living room, hands on his hips as he stares up at the inexplicable sight of his best dagger lodged firmly in the ceiling. There’s a story there, he guesses, but he’ll wait a few months to ask. Long enough for it to be nothing but a funny anecdote.