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Jem wakes up and rolls over, finding the other side of the bed empty. He rubs his eyes, sitting up. The bedroom of the London flat is silent, and Jem languidly rises, unconcerned. He’s used to Tessa waking before him. She’s an early riser, often reading a few chapters of her book before the rest of London is awake.
He’s not used to Tessa having guests over so early, though.
“Magnus?” Jem asked, a little self-conscious about his bed head.
“Morning, James,” Magnus says, without much of his usual enthusiasm. There’s an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face, and Tessa’s face matches.
“Is everything alright? Emma? Jace?”
“Everyone’s fine,” Tessa reassures him. His mug is sitting on the counter already prepped with a teabag. He turns the electric kettle back on to make sure his tea is steaming. “Magnus has . . . an issue.”
“I do not have an issue,” Magnus protests. “Warlocks have an issue. This affects you, too, dear.”
The kettle whistles softly, and Jem pours the hot water into his mug. “Go on.”
“There’s a . . . thing.” Magnus looks loath to say anymore, and Jem raises his eyebrows.
“Tessa?”
Tessa sighs and grabs Jem’s hand. “It’s a secret to all, even the Silent Brothers. It’s kept in the Spiral Labyrinth and . . . well . . .”
Jem is patient with the uneasy pair. “What is it?”
“An object,” Magnus says. “A magical artifact. Something that, in the wrong hands, could mean the end of all magic . . . forever.”
“Okay . . .”
“Magnus lost it,” Tessa blurts out.
“I did not!”
Tessa shrugs. “Well, Magnus saw it last.”
“Yeah, when a faerie was running away with it!”
“A faerie?”
Tessa turns to Jem. “A faerie stole the, um . . . thing and we can’t alert the Clave, because, I mean, you know how the Clave is.”
“Okay, wait – what is it?”
Magnus runs a hand down his face. “Don’t laugh.”
“Okay?”
“A piñata.”
“Oh.” The corner of Jem’s lips twitches, and he can’t help but picture Will’s reaction – a laugh, for sure, and some hideous pun or other ridiculous joke. Maybe something about demon pox? Jem can’t quite make the connection, but he’s sure Will could’ve.
Tessa smirks a little, too, and Jem can tell they’ve had the same train of thought. Tessa turns to Magnus. “You never got to why you were bringing us this information.”
Magnus sighs. “Alec has a lot on his plate, you know. Catarina will make fun of me and Ragnor is off the grid and you’re the only other warlock I really trust. And Jem isn’t exactly a Shadowhunter anymore, so he holds no allegiance to the Clave.”
“I wouldn’t say that,” Jem mutters, but lets it go.
“And you want our help?” Tessa asks.
“In a sense of the word, yes,” Magnus hedges.
Jem raises an eyebrow.
“I want you to go get the artifact,” Magnus admits. “I have a date with Alec tonight . . .”
Jem opens his mouth – to protest, probably, although he’s not sure what to say – but Tessa raises a hand to stop him. “Okay, Magnus.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” Tessa says with a sly smile. “But you’ll owe us.”
“Fine, anything,” Magnus says. “Just get it back, please.”
“Right,” Jem murmurs. “Retrieve the magical piñata. No problem.”
Tessa grins at Magnus. “We’ve got this.”
Jem and Tessa cross into Faerie, a little discombobulated.
“Hey, Tessa?” Jem whispers.
“Yes, Jem?”
“How are we going to find one specific pink hair, grey skin faerie in a vast land of faeries?”
“Hm. Good question.” Jem sighs, and Tessa squeezes his hand. “I guess just . . . feel for the power source?”
“Right.”
And so they begin, wandering through the dense forests. Every now and then Tessa will pull Jem in a specific direction. He’s not quite sure what she’s sensing, but given he has no other plan, he follows along with her anyway.
Tessa abruptly closes her eyes. “It’s near,” she whispers. “There’s some serious power on the other end of the clearing.”
Jem slowly draws his sword. “Stay behind me,” he says instinctively, and then sighs.
“I can handle myself,” Tessa grumbles.
“I know, darling, I’m sorry.”
Tessa elbows past him and sneaks forward, presumably towards the power source, leaving Jem no choice but to follow. She comes up to a huge tree and points around it, mouthing On the other side! to Jem. He nods, stepping to the side. On Tessa’s count, they each move around one side of a tree to surround the criminal faerie.
And they both end up flung backwards. Jem rolls to stand, his fighter reflexes kicking in to face – well, two people who certainly don’t match the description Magnus gave.
There’s a girl, maybe twenty years old, standing with her back to the tree and her sword drawn. Her brown curls are a mess around her, and she breathes heavily. And a boy with black curls, pale skin, and – is that a tail? Yes, a tail – stands right in front of her, almost on top of her, with his hands raised on either side of him.
“Who dares disturb the High King and Queen of Elfhame?” The boy hisses.
Jem gapes and catches Tessa’s eye across from him. She shrugs and drops her head, so he does the same.
“We’re so sorry, Your Majesties,” Tessa murmurs. “I thought – well, that answers the immense power I sensed . . .”
“Who are you?” The girl asks, stepping forward past the boy. “What are you doing in Faerie?”
Jem realizes, shockingly, that she’s mortal. A mortal High Queen of Faerie? “We’re Shadowhunters. We’re here on a mission.”
“Shadowhunters?” she demanded. “Speak plainly!”
The boy cringes. “Jude, there may be something I forgot to tell you about being the leaders of Faerie . . .”
Jude raises her eyebrows at the boy, an expression that Jem can only describe as pissed crossing her face. “Uh-huh.”
Tessa takes a tentative step forward. “We come in peace, Your Majesties. We want to right a wrong against our people.”
The boy looks at Jude, and she shrugs, sheathing her sword. “You can deal with this, Cardan. And when you come home tonight, you can explain everything you so conveniently forgot to tell me.” She looks first Jem up and down, and then Tessa. “You look like a smart one,” Jude tells Tessa, and a surge of protectiveness surges up inside Jem – followed by a delayed affrontment.
“Thank you,” Tessa murmurs.
Jude shoots Jem a look, and then turns to Tessa. “Come. I want to talk to you.”
“Tessa–” Jem starts to protest, but Tessa waves him away.
“I would love to learn more about your positions,” Tessa says. Jem feels a bit of fondness as the familiar curiosity crosses Tessa’s face, and the two wander off.
“Right, what’s your name,” Cardan mutters.
Jem sheathes his sword reluctantly, realizing he needs this boy’s help. “James.”
“You can call me Your Majesty.”
Jem considers responding with the boy’s name, but withholds. “Very well.”
“And what’s the mission?”
Jem explains with the least amount of information he can give, trying to both convey the importance without giving away the warlocks’ weakness.
Cardan nods. “Although I deplored being interrupted, it was in your favor. I happen to know who your suspect is.”
“Will you help me find her?”
Cardan’s jaw clenches. “I’ll have you know I am not in the business of helping Shadowhunters.”
“That’s unsurprising,” Jem mutters.
“What was that?”
“Nothing. Ca- Your Majesty. I need your help. What can I do to–”
“But, James, it appears today truly is your lucky day,” Cardan interrupts. “It seems my wife has taken a liking to your wife.”
“She’s not–” Jem blushes.
Cardan raises an eyebrow and waves a hand. “No matter. I will help you in order to stay in my wife’s good graces. But you will follow my lead completely.”
He doesn’t like saying it, but Jem says, “I understand.”
They’ve been walking in silence for upwards of fifteen minutes when Jem says, “Where are we going, exactly?”
“Rusalka’s cave. She’s the only faerie who fits your description and is bold enough to pull a stunt like that.”
“And . . . the plan?”
“Demand entrance. Find the artifact. Offer a strict warning. Leave.”
“Right.”
Cardan stops and turns to look at Jem. “Did you have something better to offer, James?”
Jem purses his lips, and then sighs. “Maybe you could distract her while I sneak in and find the artifact? Magnus – the warlock who told us of the situation – described it as ‘a large object that you'll just know, because of your past’, so I should be able to find it fairly quickly.”
Cardan stares at Jem before turning and continuing to walk. They walk in silence, Jem frowning. Will would’ve been more pushy about his plan, if it was a good plan, he thinks. Although . . . knowing Will, it probably wouldn’t have been a particularly good plan.
“It’s a good plan, James,” Cardan says shortly. “Very well.”
And that is all they say.
When they’re in eyeshot of the cave, Cardan stops. “You sneak around from the side. I will draw her out. Be fast.”
“Will do,” Jem whispers.
The plan went well – at first. Jem was only halfway through searching the room when he heard a deep, feminine voice behind. “What’s all this, then?”
Jem whips around, hands raised. Cardan was right behind Rusalka, a tense look on his face. He held his hands ready to use his power if needed, but Jem shook his head once at the boy.
“Rusalka, right?” Jem says. She tilts her head to the side, waist-length pink hair swishing around her. “Did you or did you not encounter a tall, fashionable warlock today?”
“If by encounter you mean avoided as he chased me needlessly throughout New York City, then yes.”
“Chased you needlessly?” Jem asks skeptically. He took as many small steps to the side of the room he hadn’t gotten through as he could. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted something suspiciously large and piñata-shaped. Magnus didn’t say the piñata was shaped like a large glittery rainbow . . .
“Well I did nothing wrong!”
“Is that so?”
“It is,” sneers Rusalka. She turns to Cardan. “Don’t you believe me, High King?”
Jem takes his chance. He dashes across the room and whips the blanket off of the artifact. He hears Rusalka scream behind him, but then Cardan restrains her as Jem snatches up the piñata. It pulsed energy.
“Let’s go!” He shouts, and runs out, Cardan quickly behind him. At the mouth of the cave, Cardan turns and raises his hands. Jem hears him call upon the earth, and suddenly the grass shoots up, blocking off the entrance of the cave.
“That won’t hold her for long,” Cardan huffs. “Follow me!” Cardan took off at a sprint, and Jem followed, his arms full with the artifact. Cardan was performing some sort of magic on the land, making the space shrink around them until suddenly they found themselves in front of a massive castle. The pair stopped, breathing heavily.
“You did not tell me,” Cardan murmurs, “that this important, magical, world-changing artifact was a giant rainbow piñata.”
“I didn’t know it was a giant rainbow,” mutters Jem.
“Come. Let’s find our wives.”
The boys find Jude and Tessa in a library, drinking tea and chatting good-naturedly.
“Were you really so certain that cutting off his head would turn him back into himself?” Tessa inquires.
“No,” Jude admits. “But I couldn’t stand the serpent smell any longer!”
The girls giggle, and Cardan clears his throat.
Tessa jumps, and then does a double take. “Jem, dear,” she starts. “What is that?”
“Magnus’ magical artifact, apparently,” Jem grumbles.
Jude stifles a laugh. “Cardan, what a shame you have waited so long to tell me about Shadowhunters!”
“She isn’t a – never mind,” Cardan mutters. He turns to Jem. “James, it was nice working with you. You’re a solid Shadowhunter. You may call me . . . King Cardan.”
Jem is a little taken aback. “Thank you. You seem to be a good king. You can call me Jem, if you’d like.”
“I would not like.”
“Okay.”
Tessa stands and takes the piñata out of Jem’s arms. “Time for us to go,” Tessa says apologetically. “It really was nice meeting you two. Perhaps we can stay in touch? It’s always good to have resources with such power.”
“I agree,” Jude answers. “Send me one of your mystical fire-messages – I’m intrigued.”
The girls exchange gentle hugs and the boys exchange curt nods before the two couples part ways.
Magnus answers on the fourth ring. “Magnus Bane,” Tessa says in her sweetest voice. “Get your ass to London. Now.”
“Did you find it?” He asks.
“Unfortunately.”
Five minutes later, a Portal is forming in Tessa’s living room and the tall, fashionable warlock of the hour steps through. “Oh, thank the Angel you found it.” Then he puts his hand over his mouth. “Alec is rubbing off on me!”
“You could’ve warned me I was going to get glitter all over myself,” Jem complains.
“And look how handsome he looks in glitter,” Magnus remarks to Tessa, who can’t help but smirk. “Thank you,” Magnus says genuinely. “I owe you two.”
“Yeah. You do.” Tessa hugs Magnus. “Don’t let this happen again!”
Magnus laughs. “I won’t.”
That night, when they are laying on the couch together, Tessa and Jem can’t help but laugh about their day.
“I thought my retirement from the Shadowhunters freed me from events like these,” Jem gripes good-naturedly.
“You’re never retired from Shadowhunting,” Tessa replies easily. “It was so nice to learn about Elfhame, though, and how it’s different from the Seelie Courts. I think I will share some of what Jude told me with the Spiral Labyrinth.”
“Okay, my dear,” Jem says. He plants a kiss on her head. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”