Chapter 16

Zane walked beside Mia through the noisy halls of the Shadowhunter base, none of them spoke until they had reached a more secluded spot.

As they passed other hunters, Zane could feel their eyes drilling into him.

He knew most of them had probably heard what his shadow could do, they probably didn't know what to make of him right now, truth be told even he didn't know what to make of himself.

Strange things just kept on happening to him.

Soon he noticed that Mia had led him towards the living quarters—specifically, her room.

Mia had never invited him into her space before. Hell, she didn't let anyone in her space. It was well-known among the others that Mia's room was off-limits.

Yet here she was, standing in front of her door, unlocking it without hesitation.

She stepped inside first, leaving the door open behind her. 

Zane followed.

The room was… surprisingly warm. Not in temperature, but in atmosphere. The walls weren't bare and lifeless like he'd expected. A large wooden bookshelf lined one side of the room, stacked haphazardly with books, some well-worn, others pristine. A sleek desk sat in the corner, papers and notes scattered across its surface. The bed was neatly made, the dark sheets contrasting against the soft glow of the small rune lamps hanging overhead.

It felt lived in, unlike most of the rooms in the base, which were kept sterile and impersonal.

Mia walked to the center of the room before turning to face him, crossing her arms thinking about how to start the conversation.

He decided to just apologize first and try to talk things through.

Zane sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Look, I—"

"I'm sorry."

He blinked. "Huh?"

Mia exhaled, shaking her head as if annoyed with herself. "For what I said before and for hitting you. I wasn't thinking clearly.....and i didn't mean what i said"

Zane raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms. "Seemed like you meant it at the time."

She gave him a look but didn't argue. Instead, she ran a hand through her hair, struggling to find the right words.

"It's just…" She clenched her jaw, obviously struggling, he decided to not force it.

"It's okay, let's ju-"he tried to help her out of her predicament but she seemed determined to talk about it.

"I was worried." She finally spat it out

That caught him off guard.

"I know you think you can survive anything because of that restore rune," she continued, her voice quieter now. "And maybe you're right. Maybe you'll always come out fine. But I can't—"

She took a breath, this time the struggle was real, she even had to close her eyes to take deep breaths.

Zane knew this was against her nature, being vulnerable.

To others this might not be as big of a deal but to her, this was probably one of the hardest things she had done.

Deciding to take a risk he pulled her into a hug, she stiffened slightly, more surprised than anything. Mia wasn't someone who appeared to like physical affection so he was worried she would push him away.

But her arms hugged him back eventually, slowly tightening around him, like she was holding onto something important, not willing to let it be taken away from her.

"I can't afford to lose anyone else," she murmured.

His chest tightened.

"Is this about your family?" he asked softly.

She nodded against him.

They stood there for a moment, neither saying anything.

Eventually, Mia pulled back, looking up at him. "Sit down," she said. "There's something I need to tell you."

Zane sat on the edge of her bed while she pulled up a chair in front of him. She took a moment, inhaling slowly, before speaking.

"You can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you," she said seriously.

Zane held her gaze. "You have my word."

Mia took a deep breath, looking away for a moment before she spoke. "I was eight when it happened."

He didn't interrupt, he just let her pour her heart out.

"My parents were researchers," she continued, still staring at the floor. "Not scientists, exactly, but they were obsessed with the supernatural. They always believed that there was more to the world than what people saw."

Zane tilted his head. "They weren't wrong."

Mia let out a humourless chuckle. "No, they weren't. And they were determined to prove it. They spent years digging into old texts, searching for answers, travelling the world. And one day… they found something."

"Found what?"

She shifted slightly before forcing herself to speak. "An ancient book found in Nigeria; it was said that the book was cursed. But the truth.... it was something that shouldn't have existed in this world."

"You see this book came from the Fairy Realm, a powerful realm that even Shadowhunters don't have access to." 

"At first, it was just a case of curiosity after all Nigeria was a very spiritually inclined place so most things they didn't understand were blamed on spirits and curses, But then the book opened for my mother for some reason while any body else who tried to even look at the inside received a headache and if they forced it they bled from their orifices and died."

"Everything was going well, the people they found it with was more than happy to let go of a 'cursed' book for some cash so it was easy for my parents to receive the book and then they read through it, discovering wondrous things about the world they could not interact with but somehow felt it's influence"

Mia took a deep breath before she said with a heavy tone "then they found a passage. Something called 'The Veil Incantation.'"

Zane's brows furrowed. "Veil Incantation?"

"They thought it was a way to open their eyes to the supernatural," she said, voice heavy. "Like some kind of spell that would let them see vampires, werewolves, demons—everything that hid from normal people."

"But that's not what it did."

Mia finally met his eyes, something dark in hers. "No. It didn't open their eyes, Zane." She swallowed. "It opened a portal."

Zane's expression hardened.

"They activated it, and it didn't just show them the supernatural—it broke the barrier between realms albeit temporarily. The spell didn't give them 'sight.' It ripped open the veil between our world and the demonic realm."

Zane exhaled through his nose, leaning forward slightly. "Shit."

She nodded. "I wasn't home when it happened. I was at a neighbour's house. It was supposed to be just for an hour, but…" She swallowed. "When I got back, nobody was around and i searched everywhere"

She hesitated.

Zane's voice was softer now. "They were gone?"

Mia's jaw tightened. "Just… gone. No bodies. No signs of struggle. Just gone."

Zane sat with that for a moment, letting it sink in.

She exhaled shakily before continuing. "But the book stayed. For some reason, it wasn't taken. Maybe the demons didn't realize how important it was. Maybe they didn't have time to grab it. But I found it in our home."

She ran a hand over her arm, as if brushing off an old ghost.

"I didn't tell anyone. I kept it a secret, hid it from the Shadowhunters, from Alaric, from everyone. And over the years, I studied it. Learned from whatever i could understand. That's how I became the best Shadowhunter here." A bitter smirk played at her lips. "Turns out, the language of the gods is something fairies understand better than anyone else."

Zane's fingers drummed against his knee. "Wait so when you said i shouldn't tell anyone about the restore rune it was because that's where the Restore rune came from?"

Mia nodded. "It's not in any official Shadowhunter compendium. It's something I found in the Book of secrets."

Zane raised an eyebrow. "The Book of Secrets?"

"That's the book's name," she explained. "And it has so many things' Shadowhunters don't even know exist."

Zane processed that for a moment. "So do you think… your family is still alive?"

Mia opened her mouth, then closed it.

 "I don't know," she admitted finally "And I don't want to raise my hopes just to find out they were dead later on."

Zane didn't press. He could see how deeply this still affected her even though she acted like it didn't.

Instead, he reached forward, resting a hand gently over hers. "For what it's worth… I hope they are still alive."

Mia looked down at their hands, but she didn't pull back.

Then, finally, she smiled, just a little. "Yeah. Me too...though that would mean they have been in constant danger for 10 years"

There was nothing but silence as she got lost in her thoughts.

He really wanted to get in her head and see what she was thinking of but not wanting her to relive the experience again he leaned forward, squeezing her hand. "… I'm sorry you had to go through this alone Mia."

"It's not your fault, besides there is nothing you could have done" She shook her head and sighed before her expression turned bloodthirsty "It's the demon's fault, and they will pay immensely for whatever they did to them." 

He hesitated, he knew he didn't have any right to say some bullshit like "it was bad to hold on to anger for so long'' after all he could only sympathize with her situation since he himself didn't know how violently he would have reacted if something similar happened to his sister back on his earth.

Thinking about his sister, he suddenly had an intense urge to complete this mission and go back to his original world, this world was fun sure and he met so many amazing people especially mia, and it wasn't as chaotic as his world even with the supernatural problems, but he didn't feel comfortable leaving his sister on her own."

Squeezing her hand he made his decision, sure it was a bit hasty, and he hadn't fully matured as a Shadowhunter, heck as powerful as the restore rune was it was still just one rune, still he spoke with conviction "I now know why you've been on edge recently Mia"

Mia looked at him puzzled.

He continued with a question "You are planning on entering the demonic realm, right? Probably during the demonic invasion"

She sighed as she nodded her head "The spell my parents used was a very powerful and dangerous one, it could bypass the natural way of the demonic realm, but it could have dropped them in a very lethal situation"

 "I plan to use the demonic portal as an anchor for a more stable gateway, that way i can follow the natural progression of the demonic realm and find them using the book"

He smiled; his guess had been correct. "It's only natural that someone as stubborn as you won't give up on finding your family that easily"

He added after a bit of contemplation "Or killing the culprit".

She flashed a dazzling smile at him, he allowed himself to get lost in her eyes for a bit before shaking himself out of it.

He stood up and turned facing her with a smile as he stretched his hands forward for her to take his hands.

He stood up, turning to face her with a small, confident smile as he stretched his hand toward her.

"Well, since I have to kill a demon royalty either way then i guess I'll just have to help you find your sister."

Mia stared at him.

For a moment, she didn't move. Didn't blink.

The words lingered in the air, heavier than he'd expected. Then, slowly, something in her eyes shifted, not just gratitude, but something deeper.

"…You mean that?" she asked, voice quieter now.

Zane rolled his eyes. "What, do I look like someone who says things they don't mean?"

Mia scoffed, shaking her head, but there was something fragile in her expression. As if part of her wanted so badly to believe him but was afraid to.

But then, finally—she smiled.

And this time, it wasn't her usual confident smirk or her battle-ready grin. It was something softer, something real.

She reached forward, taking his hand.

Her fingers curled around his, 

Her grip tightened. "Thank you, Zane."

His heart skipped.

Then, just as he was about to say something sentimental, Mia ruined the moment by smirking.

"…But if we're doing this together, you better train harder."

Zane's eyebrow twitched. "Excuse me?"

"I mean, I can't have you slowing me down obviously. You need at least 5 more runes before you're even qualified to follow me in there."

He let out a mock gasp. "Mia, was that an insult?"

She grinned. "Oh, it definitely was."

Zane scoffed. "Keep talking, and I might just leave you in the demon realm."

She punched his shoulder.....hard.

He winced, rubbing the spot. "Okay, ow—what happened to all that emotional vulnerability?"

Mia rolled her eyes and turned away, walking toward her desk. "That's over. Back to normal now."

Zane smirked, shaking his head as he watched her move. 

Yeah, sure. Back to normal.

But as she ran a hand over her desk, her back still to him, he caught something else.

A small, barely-there whisper.

"…I'm really glad you're here."

Zane's smirk softened wanting to respond with a tease.

He didn't get the chance though.

Because the next thing he knew, she had turned around, grabbed the front of his shirt, and pulled him into a kiss.

It wasn't like the first lustful kiss they shared, sure it was fun but this one was what he really counted as their first kiss.

This one was more real.

She held onto him like she was grounding herself, like she needed to make sure he was actually there. And Zane, well, he had no complaints. His hands found her waist, pulling her closer.

For once, his mind wasn't overthinking anything. No mission. No demons. No ancient fairy book or mysterious realms.

Just her.

And judging by the way she pressed herself closer, deepening the kiss, she felt the same.

They probably would've gone further.

If not for the loud, obnoxious knock at the door.

Zane froze.

Mia pulled back slightly, breathing unevenly.

The knock came again, this time accompanied by the most unwelcome voice in existence.

"Yo, Mia! You in there? Alaric wants us in the briefing hall in five!"

Zane's eye twitched.

Of course. Of fucking course.

He didn't know which Shadowhunter was behind that door, but at that moment, he wanted to strangle them.

Mia sighed, her forehead resting against his chest for a second before she finally pulled away completely.

"…We should go."

Zane clenched his jaw, inhaling through his nose. Calm. Stay calm. Don't murder anyone.

Instead, he exhaled and gave the door the nastiest glare known to mankind.

"Yeah," he muttered. "Wouldn't want to keep them waiting."

Mia giggled softly at his suffering.