CHAPTER THREE
GETTING APPROVED

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     "What exactly is the parabatai process?" Maia asked a few days later, while she, Adrian, and Oliver were shoved into a booth at Taki's Diner. Adrian glanced up from his banana pancakes, a piece of fruit left hanging at the end of his fork. He was tired and more than a little dirty. A demon had been sighted at Columbus Park, and Adrian had been the only one awake at three in the morning to answer the call. He'd ran into Oliver and Maia on the way, both of them running around in their wolf forms to let off some steam, and the three of them had taken down the small demon together. Now here they were, eating away and waiting for their adrenaline to die down.

"Why do you want to know?" he asked, more surprised than anything. He couldn't remember ever really discussing his and Isabelle's parabatai planning with either Maia or Oliver. He had, however, complained a few times to Magnus about how long it was taking, how the Council was taking their sweet time approving the ceremony. Magnus must have mentioned it to Oliver, and Oliver must have passed it along to Maia. Or maybe Max had brought it up. He wasn't sure if there was a sign for parabatai, but perhaps Max had created one. He was clever that way.

"The real question is why didn't you tell us?" Maia challenged, pointing her own fork at him. "Why all the secrecy, huh? Are we not allowed to know your secret Shadowhunter cult-like practices?" Adrian stared for a moment, bewildered, then let out a loud peal of laughter, just at the fact that Maia had called Shadowhunters cult-like. The fact that she wasn't even wrong wasn't lost on him. They had a lot of ritualistic practices, a lot of beliefs that seemed odd to outsiders, a lot of secrets. It wasn't actually a cult, of course, but Valentine's Circle had been, and for some reason that was hilarious to him. His laughter caught the attention of the other patrons, but he ignored them as he fought his giggles back.

"Sorry," he gasped, setting his fork down to wipe his hands down his face. Oliver and Maia were staring at him in slight concern. "Sorry, I'm just stressed. The Council has to approve parabatai ceremonies because they're rare and sometimes they don't end well, and they're taking forever to approve me and Izzy. Which doesn't make sense because we trained together and that's pretty much the only thing needed to get approved. We haven't even had our tests yet—"

"Woah, there, pretty boy," Oliver cut in, sliding across the booth to get closer to Adrian. His hand went to the back of Adrian's neck, squeezing softly before his fingers went lower, digging into the tense muscles there until Adrian started to slowly relax. "Wasn't Idris a complete mess the last time you were there? I'm sure the Council's just busy." Adrian already knew that, but it didn't make him feel any better. Oliver squeezed the back of his neck again, then nudged him gently in the side. "What tests do you and Izzy have to take?"

"We don't know," Adrian admitted, which made it all the more stressful. Tests for parabatai were always different and always given at random times, without either party knowing. It was a test of compatibility. They wanted to see how a pair of people worked together before they went ahead with the ceremony, which typically happened the day after the test, if the pair passed. Adrian had tried asking Alec what it would be like, but Alec had only smiled and said that even if the tests were different, he still wouldn't be able to tell. There wasn't technically a rule in place to keep Alec and Jace from sharing the process, but it was like an unofficial code of silence. Parabatai just had to experience it all on their own. "We won't know until we get approved and they throw the test at us at a random time."

"Random time?" Maia asked, brow furrowing in confusion. Adrian didn't blame her. The Shadowhunter world was strange even to other Shadowhunters sometimes. To a Downworlder, his people's customs seemed illogical at best and downright evil at worst. "How can you pass a test if you don't even know what it is?" Adrian grinned at her.

"It's not the type of test you can study for, not really," Adrian reminded her. "It's a test to prove that you and your parabatai are one and the same. It's said that parabatai share half a soul. It's the deepest bond any of us can have, so the tests are necessary, to make sure that the bond won't be a mistake. There have been parabatai in the past who fell in love with each other romantically, or parabatai who simply started hating each other, and it never ended well. Tragedy or insanity follows parabatai bonds that weren't meant to be, so that's why the Council has us take these tests. To make sure the pair is suited for each other." Maia and Oliver stared at him for a moment, their disbelief at how dramatic being parabatai sounded crystal clear, and it made Adrian laugh again. This time, it was much softer, more genuine.

"You make it sound like parabatai are soulmates," Oliver noted eventually, dropping his hand from the back of Adrian's neck. Adrian, appetite now gone, pushed his plate away from himself and put his elbow on the table, leaning his cheek on his hand as he gave Oliver a sweet smile. Oliver scowled at him and flicked him gently on the nose, making Adrian scrunch it up. Maia made a mocking cooing noise across the table, and Adrian used his free hand to flip her the middle finger as Oliver continued. "I was under the impression parabatai were just glorified murder partners."

"Don't get me wrong, some have been," Adrian said quickly, letting out another laugh. Glorified murder partners. Jace would get such a huge kick out of that. "Valentine and Luke were parabatai...but that's actually a good example of a bond that didn't end well. Robert had a parabatai—my godfather, actually, Michael Wayland—but he died a long time ago. They had a falling out before that, though I don't know why. And then there's Jace and Alec..."

"I can't see those two being that close," Oliver admitted. Adrian shrugged.

"You've never seen them in a real fight together," he said, reaching to drain the rest of his coffee. "And they love each other to death. They just show it differently. Doesn't make their bond any less strong. God, I want to be Izzy's parabatai so bad." Groaning, Adrian folded his arms on the table and let himself face-plant into them. Oliver let out a sympathetic sound and rubbed his back comfortingly. His voice muffled, Adrian added, "Someone change the subject before this parabatai shit drives me insane."

"Shit, okay, um..." Maia said, sounding a little panicked, like she wasn't used to Adrian's dramatic antics by that point. Adrian peeked up at her through his hair, watching her chew on her bottom lip for a moment. Eventually, she blurted out, "How's the search for your parents going?" Her words were immediately followed by a mortified expression, and then she was sinking her face into both her hands. Beside him, Oliver's eyes widened.

"How is that supposed to make him feel better?" Oliver demanded, seeing that Maia regretted the question immediately but having a need to voice his disbelief anyway. Maia murmured something into her hands that Adrian didn't catch, and then she was shaking her head and sinking further down in the booth. Oliver pushed the subject by adding, "You could've easily brought up your date with Simon."

"I wasn't thinking of Simon, I was thinking of Adrian!" Maia said defensively, dropping her hands and pointing a finger at Adrian, who was still resting his chin on his arms and staring between the two of them from behind his bangs. His hair was getting a little too long. He made a mental note to ask Maryse to cut it later, when she stopped being so busy. She and Robert had arrived back from Alicante the previous night, but almost immediately, Robert had gone back. Maryse had been sleeping ever since, not that that was surprising. It wasn't even four in the morning yet.

"Wow, your boyfriend will love to hear that—" Oliver was saying. Maia, her face getting steadily darker from a blush, cut him off.

"He's not technically my boyfriend, Simon and I are just...dating," she corrected.

"That sounds like a boyfriend," Oliver said, voice flat. Maia scowled and threw a strawberry at him from her plate of waffles, staining his shirt with syrup. Oliver cried out in offense, while Adrian was frowning at Maia in confusion. He could have sworn Isabelle mentioned going on a date with Simon, too...

...but Adrian certainly wasn't about to get in the middle of whatever was going on there, so he decided to change the subject again.

"It's okay, Ollie," Adrian cut in, reaching over to pat Oliver on the shoulder as he gave Maia and wide, sweet smile. Maia relaxed at the sight of it, relieved that bringing up his parents hadn't upset him. They both knew how sensitive the subject of his parents was, had both witnessed more than a few breakdowns when Adrian didn't know how to feel about the parents he'd never known or how to process not really feeling anything. Not feeling anything, in particular, was usually towards his biological dad, who he hadn't even known existed for most of his life. They said it was normal, that processing it all took time and he wasn't a bad person for not feeling a connection to him, but that didn't mean the guilt wasn't eating him alive most nights. Clearing his throat, he added, "And to answer your question, it's not really going anywhere. We haven't been able to find anything, even with Magnus's magic."

"Even with your blood and everything?" Maia double-checked, and when Adrian nodded, she let out a thoughtful sound and pierce a piece of waffle with her fork. "Maybe they're glamoured by another warlock. Have you tried the Shadow Market? That place is crawling with banished and de-runed Shadowhunters, or at least crawling with their descendants, and it's crawling with even more warlocks who are pay-for-hire." She popped the piece of waffle into her mouth, and she didn't notice the way Adrian suddenly straightened, not until he reached over the table and grabbed her other hand.

"Do you think they would have gone there?" Adrian demanded, squeezing her hand almost desperately. "To the Shadow Market?" Maia shot a glance over at Oliver, then slowly lowered her fork.

"Probably," Maia said slowly, then raised her free hand in a placating gesture. "But they could have also avoided it. Since the Circle was very active at the time, it would make sense if your mom avoided asking any Downworlder for help, especially at the Shadow Market. It's not exactly known for legal activities, remember?"

"Still," Adrian said, releasing Maia's hand. Excitement was growing in his chest. Finally, there was a new lead, and even though he knew that it could be a dead end, it didn't stop him from smiling. "It's an idea, right? And a brilliant one. I can't believe none of us thought of it. Maia, I love you." Maia blushed and muttered the three words back, ducking her head. Adrian squeezed her hand one more time, then let her go and turned toward Oliver. "Can we go? Please? I won't buy anything suspicious if it doesn't look pretty."

"That..." Oliver trailed off, blinked rapidly a few times, then scowled. "That is not helping your case. Besides, aren't Shadowhunters like...forbidden from going to the Shadow Market?"

"So is looking for my exiled mother," Adrian said flatly. "Why do we even bother pointing out that something is illegal? We're just going to do it anyway." Oliver tilted his head as if Adrian had a valid point, then sighed and stared hard at the tabletop. He was silent for so long that Adrian raised his hand to poke him in the cheek, and only stopped when Oliver shot him another scowl.

"Fine," Oliver grumbled, leaning back against the booth and crossing his arms over his chest. "You win, I'll take you to the Shadow Market. You're not going." Across the table, Maia's mouth snapped shut, and a pout started to pull at her mouth, her eyes widening in an adorable—and very intentional—way. Adrian grinned as he watched them. "Don't give me that look. Luke will kill me if he finds out I'm going to the Shadow Market, especially with Adrian. I'm not making it worse by bringing you. You're practically his second at this point, anyway. If the Clave finds out our pack's second went to the Shadow Market, it'll cause problems." At that, Maia's pout disappeared, and a shadow passed over her face. Adrian shifted, a little uncomfortable, but brightened when Oliver turned toward him.

"When do we go?" he asked, even more excited. It wasn't just because of his parents anymore. He had never been to the Shadow Market. The thought of experiencing it made fresh energy run through him.

"Well, not now, the sun's about to come up," Oliver said with a fond scoff, sending his elbow into Adrian's side. "The Market's the busiest in the middle of the night. I'll tell you when we go. I'll have to warn some friends before showing up with an active Shadowhunter, just because of some—"

"Don't say anything else," Adrian said quickly, raising his hands. "If I, God forbid, ever get put under the Mortal Sword, I don't want to accidentally say anything that could incriminate any of you. The Sword forces us to tell the truth, so best not tell me the truth at all. Got it?" Neither of them must have known that about the Sword, because both of their eyes widened in alarm. They quickly nodded, and Adrian smiled in relief, dropping his hands. "Thanks, by the way. For helping me with the demon earlier."

"Even though you didn't look like you needed it," Maia said warmly, "we were happy to help. It was actually kind of fun. Why'd you go hunting alone, anyway?"

"Everyone else was asleep," Adrian explained, shrugging. "I was in the library looking at the Rosewell family tree." He didn't bother mentioning that the family tree had a long list of people who had died rather young, had never gotten married, and plenty who were labelled as missing in action just like his mother. It made him wonder just how many people in his bloodline had been exiled, or had been like him, in love with people the Clave never wanted to recognize. It made him sad, too, to realize that the family line would most likely end with him. It was depressing to think about, so he didn't. He opened his mouth then, to change the subject once again, but stopped when something flashed at the corner of his eye.

Recognizing the spark of orange flame, his hand lashed out before his head even turned, grabbing the piece of paper out of mid-air. He leaned back in his seat and unfolded the fire message, reading over the message quickly. It was scrawled in Isabelle's pretty handwriting, though the paper was ripped in some places because she had pressed down too hard with her pen.

In capitalized letters, all the message said was, WE WERE APPROVED.

Adrian jumped immediately to his feet, or tried to. He ended up banging his knees on the table and shifting the entire booth instead, forgetting briefly that he wasn't sitting in a normal chair. Maia and Oliver jumped with him, looking alarmed, but Adrian was grinning from ear to ear and waving the fire message at them, too excited to speak. Oliver took the paper from him, read it, then started grinning as well. By the time the fire message got to Maia, Adrian was gathering his leather jacket and sliding out of the booth. He only doubled back to kiss them both on the cheek, and then he was rushing out of the diner.

The last thing he heard before the door closed behind him was Maia screaming, "You didn't even pay, asshole!"

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When he arrived at the Institute, he didn't bother leaving his jacket at the door or kicking off his dirty boots by the mat. He just ran inside and made a beeline for the kitchen. Isabelle would have woken up everyone with the news, too excited to wait, which could only mean everyone was inside the kitchen, drinking coffee and probably preparing breakfast. His theory proved to be correct when, halfway down the hall, he smelt eggs being cooked. Church was also there, waiting in the middle of the hallway for him, his tail swishing back and forth on the marble. Adrian bent to pick him up, cuddling him to his chest as he walked the rest of the way to the kitchen. Pushing open the door, he saw Maryse at the stove, Max sitting at the island eating cereal, and Jace, Isabelle, and Alec all sitting at the dinner table.

At the sight of him, Isabelle let out a scream and shot up from her chair. Church hissed at the sound and jumped out of Adrian's arms, right over his shoulder, but that was for the best. Adrian barely had enough time to open his arms, and then she was crashing into him and screaming into his ear. Adrian laughed and wrapped his arms around her, picking her up and spinning her around. Off to the side, Maryse gave a sound of alarm.

"Not inside!" she snapped, though she didn't sound very serious. It wasn't often she actually cooked for any of them either, much more comfortable ordering in or fixing something simple, but this morning must have been a special occasion. Glancing over at her, a grin still on his face, he saw Maryse wave the spatula at them. "Sit down. And where have you been?"

"Went hunting with Maia and Oliver," Adrian said shortly, dropping Isabelle and heading for the dinner table. Alec was sipping at a mug of coffee, his hair still a mess and his eyes still sleepy. Adrian kissed him as he sat down, lingering a little longer than necessary. Alec chased after him when he eventually tried to pull away, and Adrian didn't have the heart to stop him, so he offered one last small kiss. They only broke apart when Jace complained loudly and threw—of all things—a pop-tart at them. They were forced to break apart just to avoid it, and Adrian turned his head to watch as it sailed across the room and broke apart on the checkered floor.

"Jace!" Maryse snapped, sounding far more serious this time. She scowled as she brought the eggs over. "Clean that up right now."

"But the eggs—" Jace started to whine, and Maryse threw the hand towel she was using to carry the pan at his face after she had set the hot pan down in the middle of the table. Adrian laughed out loud as Jace pouted and stood from the table, and earned a smack on the back of the head as Jace went to pick up the pop-tart as a result. Maryse made a show of rolling her eyes as she sat down, directly across from Adrian and beside Isabelle. Adrian eyed her for a moment, then reached to fill up his plate, which was already waiting for him on the table.

"Is this breakfast a celebratory thing," Adrian asked curiously, "or do you have news to share?" Maryse folded her hands on top of the table, not bothering to eat herself. Around them, things got a little calmer, a little quieter. The only one not really paying attention was Max, and that was only because he was too busy reading a manga on the counter and wasn't giving them an ounce of his attention.

"It's both," Maryse said slowly, offering them all a smile that seemed a little too calm. "First of all, I want to say that I'm happy for you two. Isabelle, Adrian, be on your best behavior from this moment forward. You won't know when the test will come. Be prepared." She waited until Isabelle and Adrian nodded before she let her smile drop. "Well, first things first. Robert isn't coming back to the Institute. He's being considered for the Inquisitor position, so he'll be staying in Alicante until further notice. As for more pressing news, there was a body found in vampire territory. We've determined that it was a Shadowhunter, so I just wanted to gather all of you here and tell you to be careful." She pinned her gaze on Adrian then. "No more going out hunting on your own, or going out alone at all. Is that understood?"

Slowly, every single one of them nodded in understanding. When Maryse spoke like that, it was easier to just nod and accept the order for what it was: an order given to them not by their guardian, but by the head of their Institute.

"Good," she said pleasantly, reaching for the food. "Now let's eat."

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: I was originally going to have Izzy and Adrian become parabatai much later in part one, but then I reread CoFA and I realized it would be literally impossible. This book is short but every single page is plot, plot, plot. So I'm going to get the big moments of Adrian's story out of the way before the book plot really digs in. I'll let all of you decide which one you want to see first. Parabatai tests/ceremony, or Adrian finding out something about his parents?  I'm going to combine both regardless, but I can't decide which one I should dedicate more time to.