Tessa knelt down near Jem's still-warm body. He had passed on like Will, his children and grandchildren standing around his bed, watching him breathe his last.
It gave Tessa a strange sense of deja vu, Jem's death. It was just like Will's, only then Jem had been present as a Silent Brother. Still, Tessa thought she had felt Will's presence near Jem's sick-bed, watching over his parabatai, even in death.
Now facing an eternity on her own, Tessa could not help feeling abandoned. Will and Jem had been the axis of her world, the same world that was now spinning out of control.
Tessa didn't know what to do. On any other occasion she would have taken herself off to Magnus' but he couldn't deal with loss any better than she could - he was still heartbroken, even ten years after Alec's death.
To Tessa the days after Jem's death seemed longer and they made her feel weary. She felt completely and utterly alone.
Then the letter arrived.
Dear Mrs. Carstairs,
It is extremely important that I meet with you. I have some documents with me that concern you - it is unsafe for both of us if they got into the wrong hands.
Alice Grayson.
That was it. Any elaborations Tessa might have expected were absent.
In all her life she had never met an Alice Grayson so it was more out of curiosity than politeness that she sent a letter saying she would be there.