Emma Carstairs is a 17 year old Los Angeles resident, whose parents were killed in the Dark War by Sebastian Morgenstern…or were they? Emma is parabatai with Julian Blackthorn, and may also be forbiddenly in love with him. Emma loves to fight and kill and hates blonde jokes, as she is a blonde. She carries with her her stele, given to her by Jace Wayland, and Cortana, the blade that has been passed down the Carstairs line for generations.

Julian Blackthorn is 17 years old and lives in Los Angeles with his four younger siblings, uncle, and parabatai Emma Carstairs. Julian’s mother died about 11 years before The Dark Artifices takes place, and Julian was forced to kill his father during the Dark War, as he had become a part of Sebastian Morgenstern’s army. Jules began painting around his mother’s death, and often foes it to get away from the world and the responsibility he feels of taking care of his siblings.

Mark Blackthorn is a sixteen year old, part-fairie, and shares the faerie mother with his sister, Helen Blackthorn. He is also half-sibling to Julian, Livia, Tiberius, Drusilla, and Octavian Blackthorn. Mark was taken by the Wild Hunt, a faerie faction that does not associate with the Seelie or Unseelie Court, during the Dark War. He was made to believe his whole family was dead, so he became one of the Hunt, and one of his eyes turned gold. It was decided after the Dark War not to save Mark from the faeries since he was half-faerie, and faeries were deemed untrustworthy.