He cast a smile at Cristina now, his even white teeth flashing. His Centurion pin glittered at his shoulder, the words Primi Ordines visible against the silver. He wasn't just a Centurion; he was one of the First Company, the very best of the graduating class from the Scholomance. Because, of course, he was perfect.
Across from Diana and Diego sat two figures who were very familiar to Emma: Jace Herondale and Clary Fairchild, the heads of the New York Institute, though when Emma had met them, they'd been teenagers the age she was now. Jace was all tousled gold handsomeness, looks he'd grown into gracefully over the years. Clary was red hair, stubborn green eyes, and a deceptively delicate face. She had a will like iron, as Emma had good cause to know.
Clary jumped to her feet now, her face lighting up, as Jace leaned back in his chair with a smile. "You're back!" she cried, rushing toward Emma. She wore jeans and a threadbare MADE IN BROOKLYN T-shirt that had probably once belonged to her best friend, Simon. It looked worn and soft, exactly like the sort of shirt Emma had often filched from Julian and refused to give back. "How did it go with the squid demon?"
Emma was prevented from answering by Clary's enveloping hug.
"Great," said Mark. "Really great. They're so full of liquid, squids."
He actually seemed pleased about it.
Clary let Emma go and frowned down at the ichor, seawater, and unidentifiable slime that had transferred themselves to her shirt. "I see what you mean."
"I'm just going to welcome you all from over here," said Jace, waving. "There's a disturbing smell of calamari wafting from your general direction."
There was a giggle, quickly stifled. Emma glanced up and saw legs dangling between the railings of the upstairs gallery. With amusement, she recognized Ty's long limbs and Livvy's patterned stockings. There were nooks up on the gallery level that were perfect for eavesdropping-she couldn't count how many of Andrew Blackthorn's meetings she and Julian had spied on as kids, drinking up the knowledge and sense of importance that being present at a Conclave meeting brought.
She glanced sideways at Julian, seeing him note Ty and Livvy's presence, knowing the moment he decided, as she had, not to say anything about it. His whole thought process was visible to her in the quirk of his smile-odd how transparent he was to her in his unguarded moments, and how little she could tell what he was thinking when he chose to hide it.
Cristina went over to Diego, bumping her hand gently against his shoulder. He kissed her wrist. Emma saw Mark glance at them, his expression unreadable. Mark had talked to her about many things in the past two weeks, but not Cristina. Not ever Cristina.
"So how many sea demons does that make it?" asked Diana. "In total?" She gestured for everyone to take seats around the table. They sat down, squelching slightly, Emma next to Mark but across from Julian. He answered Diana as calmly as if he wasn't dripping ichor onto the polished floor.
"A few smaller ones this past week," said Julian, "but that's normal when it storms. They wash up on the beach. We ran some patrols; the Ashdowns ran some farther south. I think we got them all."
"This was the first really big one," said Emma. "I mean, I've only seen a few that big before. They don't usually come up out of the ocean."
Jace and Clary exchanged a look.
"Is there something we should know about?" Emma said. "Are you collecting really big sea demons to decorate the Institute or something?"
Jace leaned forward, his elbows on the table. He had a calm, catlike face and unreadable amber eyes. Clary had once said that the first time she'd ever seen him, she'd thought he looked like a lion. Emma could see it: Lions seemed so calm and almost lazy until they exploded into action. "Maybe we should talk about why we're here," he said.
"I thought you were here about Kit," Julian said. "What with him being a Herondale and all."
There was a rustle from upstairs and a faint muttering. Ty had been sleeping in front of Kit's door for the past nights, an odd behavior no one had remarked on. Emma assumed Ty found Kit unusual and interesting in the manner that he sometimes found bees and lizards unusual and interesting.
"Partly," said Jace. "We just returned from a Council meeting in Idris. That's why it took us so long to get here, though I wanted to come as fast as possible when I heard about Kit." He sat back and threw an arm over the back of his chair. "You won't be surprised to know there was a great deal of discussion about the Malcolm situation."
"You mean the situation where the High Warlock of Los Angeles turned out to be a spree killer and a necromancer?" Julian said. There were layers of implication clear in his voice: The Clave hadn't suspected Malcolm, had approved of his appointment to the post of High Warlock, had done nothing to stop the murders he committed. It had been the Blackthorns who had done that.