Title: Clockwork King

Authors Note: Hello, and for those of you who have read my stories before, hello again. As those of you know, I am not one be a constant writer on this site. Sometimes I am just struck with a fit of passion and need to write down everything, like now for instance. I have just finished reading Cassandra Clare's, Clockwork Prince, and can we just fangirl for a second because OMG HOLY SHIT IT WAS FANTASTIC.

Also, I hope you enjoy this story. Those of you who are returning readers know that I am not one for constantly updating. I lose interest easily, which is one of my lesser traits. But with Winter break coming up and my ACTs over (for now at least) I may have time to write a bit (maybe more) of this story, for those of you who care to enjoy it. That's basically it. If this gets a good amount of feedback, I will definitely write more. As it is for many writers, feedback is a great motivator. But I think I will continue to write this story even if it gets few or no reviews. I desperately want to know what will happen next in this series, so why not create it? Thanks for reading! -Jolie.

P.S. My chapters aren't usually this long so don't get used to it.

I went left I got right at some big hotel

There was a devil at the bottom of the wishing well

He said you better give me something

Give me something good

Like everybody else I'm misunderstood

-Devil in the Wishing Well, Five for Fighting

Chapter One

"Tess, what's wrong?"

That had been the third time Jem had asked her that, maybe more. She wasn't exactly counting.

Tessa stared out the window of the drawing room letting the massive arm chair envelope her. She shrunk back into it and watched as the hard, sporadic rain hit sideways across the glass. It was a strange rain for London. Usually all there was was a foggy mist that curled the hair against your neck, and almost made you as soaked as a down pour would. But these large raindrops, like hail, sounded with a plunk every time they hit and made shiver start down her spine.

The past few days had been by far strange. Charlotte and Henry expecting a child had left a warm glow on the house, but it was shadowed by Will's looks. The ones hardly ever given to her, a mix of confusion, anger ad yearning. The looks he gave his sister were odd as well. Tessa had been sure that the night she had arrived Will would have shot up in his chair and with two easy strides held her in his arms. His Cecily, his sister who he was now able to love like he never thought he could. That Cecily would hold his forearms and push him back and look at him, as if she hadn't seen him in a lifetime. Which was almost true, and then they would be happy, a re-joined family, almost

Oh, Will had done just that. He had stridden across the room, the brightest smile she had ever seen. Or at least the second, the only other had been when he had told her that he loved her, just before she had pushed him away. The moment still made her heart contract and even though there were so many other things to think about, this was the one that haunted her sleep. That stuck to the back of her eyelids. She desperately wished for it to be Jem. His slim fingers on the back of her neck or sliding across her collar bone, and when she was awake it was. He was all she saw in her waking hours. But at night, when she was most vulnerable, he covered her dreams.

Will had opened his arms to his sister, ready to hold her the way that he had dreamed of holding his family for five long years. But she had pushed him away, downcast her eyes and locked her hands behind her back. Tessa couldn't fathom why. This was her brother. She would have given anything to have Nate back, even through the horrible things he did, he was still her brother. Will had taken a step back with a look of unimaginable hurt in his eyes. He had had his heart broken twice that day. Tessa hated to think that she was one of those reasons. That it was her fault will was yet again broken.

"Tess?" Jem said and came to kneel in front of her, thumb running across the expanse of her bare knuckles. She brought her gaze down from the rain to him, met his silver plate eyes. He looked back at her and quirked half of his mouth up into a smile. She couldn't help but smile back. It was like he had this power over her, to take away her fears, her pains before they had even become a problem. To reach into her heart and remove the thing that was hurting it, if only for a moment she was filled with her feelings for him.

"James?" She said and watched his smile go. There was no need for him to ask her what was wrong again, because there was no longer anything on her mind but him. He took her hand in his and lifted her up out of her chair, taking all her worries with him.

…

Will Herondale had never enjoyed roaming the streets of London. He had never enjoyed roaming at all really. But he had forced himself, afraid of growing attached to anybody. He had made himself wander the grim ridden streets of his poor old London. He made himself watch the wisps of smoke and cold air float off the Thames. He made himself stare at his feet as he walked further, with a small amount of determination, away from his life.

But that was going to stop. There was no longer any curse to bind him to these cold, dreary nights. No longer any reason for him to be alone, or so he had thought.

The way Cecily had looked at him, with years of hurt and anguishes in her eyes. He had been sure that she would accept him with open arms. But after all the years that he had discarded her, after all of the burned birthday letters, he should not have expected less. It felt that there was no one left in this life that he could have.

There was Jem, of course. But there would always be, always had been, Jem. The pole that tethered him to this life, who kept him from self mutilation and death, Jem was the one thing he had- his one heavenly sin.

But now Jem had Tessa, another tether that held him here. But slowly the knot was slipping and he would lose her too.

But he had accepted that, he was okay with it. He agreed to let her knot slip for the sake of tightening Jem's. So that he would stay here for him longer.

It hurt to think, but the thought had occurred to him. It was a horrible thing to have even crossed his mind. He, at first, had pushed it away; slammed it with the force of a thousand doors, but the thought still crept in him. Jem's death, that is. The day that Jem would horribly die in a fit of coughing and would leave this world for what Will truly believed to be a better place. Time would pass, some wounds would heal, and some never would. The thought had plagued him. That maybe after an appropriate amount of time Tessa and him could help each other, heal each others wounds. That it would turn into need. The need for her to have somebody to hold, somebody to press their chapped lips against hers and tell her everything was going to be alright. Someone that would hold her close, press themselves against her and console her, at least for a moment. Maybe then Tessa and he would have a chance.

One thing he knew for sure, he was definitely going to hell. For thinking that, along with everything else in his life, he deserved it.

Will found himself in front of Woolsey Scott's house, his hand teetered on the latch of the gate as he pushed it opened. He didn't mean to come here. Usually it was Jem he went to for comfort like this. But Jem had much on his mind right now. So Magnus would have to do. Magnus would understand, he hoped.

Will walked with purpose for the first time that day. He needed someone to scream at, to ask why everything was so unfair. Will rapped on the door hard and when no answer came, he did it again. It did not occur to him, nor would he have cared, that it was past midnight. A rushed footfall came from inside the house, then a crash and a series of inexplicable words, some of which Will had never heard before.

"What?" came a bark as the door flung open. Inside was Woolsey Scott, decked head to toe in an Indian dressing gown of sorts. It wrapped up his torso, but left a deep V down his chest. His eyes, still half lidded, were glazed with anger and Will saw a slash of blood across his wrist, where he must of hurt himself.

"It's Will Herondale. I'm here to see Magnus." Will said it matter-o-factly, as if it were the most obvious thing, as if he did this every other Monday night.

"Young Shadowhunter what, in the name of all that is good, are you doing here?" He pointed a finger at him and Will glanced at the rings that he was wearing. Encrusted jewels of blue, green and red caught the light in strange ways.

"To see Magnus." Will replied, almost exhausted. Woolsey stared at him with a glare that was so uncharacteristic of his normally happy, enchanting demeanor. Will guessed he was not a night person.

"Well I hate to inform you. Guessing by the most unusually distraught look on your face I would guess you need him, but he does not reside here any longer."

"What?" Will's mouth gaped. He had thought if he could rely on one thing it would be Magnus.

"This is no longer his place of residence." Woolsey said and when Will didn't reply, "He's gone."

Will hated to admit it, but it hurt. Even though Magnus was a warlock, a downworlder that shouldn't be trusted, he was still a friend, one that he was beginning to trust. Will turned, scorned. It was the third time today that his now available heart had let him down.

Will ran, he didn't care where he ended up.

…

Tessa stared as Sophie tended to the fire. She watched it crack, as ash fell to the floor and died out in a series of soft embers. Sophie stood; sweeping her skirts with her dirty hands.

"There you are, Miss. I hope it is satisfactory." It wasn't often that Tessa had a fire in her room, it wasn't often that she asked Sophie for much either. But tonight felt like a night that needed a warm glowing center that she could stare at until she drifted off into sleep.

"It is, thank you Sophie." She gave a little nod of her head and exited to room, leaving Tessa with her own thoughts. But she did not want to be left with them. She needed a distraction, something that would take her off into another world and make her forget the troubles of the day. She reached for the book that Will had given her, still unread. But she thought better of it; it would not help her forget. She sat up in her bed and let the pillows she had been laying on flop forward so they pressed against her back. She stared at her hands, locked and unlocked her fingers. She thought of all the staring she had done today, out the window, at Jem, the fire, Sophie, her changeable hands. It was all worth nothing. She needed a purpose. She could not just sit here and lay in wait. Waiting for something to happen, for Jem to die, for Will to return, for Mortmain to come for her, she need to do something. With this need came an over whelming feeling of exhaustion, she felt hopeless. A knock came on her door, but Tessa did not have the energy, or the want to get up and open it. She thought she would leave it be. Not answer, it was late anyway, they would assume she was asleep. But Tessa felt the need to talk to someone. To pour out the feelings that mixed inside her, just to be held. So she said,

"Come in." Still looking at her hands and the lines that they held Jem poked his head through the door. He still wore his clothes from the day. A stark grey woolen coat that made his hair and his eyes shine with the quality of early morning light. She suddenly felt incredibly improper in her white night gown that did her no justice compared to him. Even though it was Jem she felt that she maybe should have pretended to be asleep so they could surpass another improper moment, even though she seemed to live for those now.

He grinned at her and padded across the floor, closing the door. He came to sit at the end of her bed resting his back against the banister. He stretched out his legs so that they took up the whole expanse of the bed. She, comparatively, leaned up against the back board. But if she had wanted to stretch the length of the bed she would have had to lie flat on her back. Jem looked at her, a smile twitching at his lips. He had been in a mood like this all day, and she loved it. She loved making him happy. But she couldn't share his feelings. Of course she was glad, she may have been ecstatic even if everything hadn't turned out the way it had. But she did love him.

"What is it Tessa?" He asked a patted her leg under the quilt. She sighed and closed her eyes.

"Nothing" She shook her head, "Nothing, nothing is wrong." She caught the look in his eyes of disbelief and she sighed again. "It's just…" She motioned with her hands around her, trying to describe what she was feeling but was at a loss for words. Jem came to move closer to her so he was at her side, cross-legged. He ran the back of his hand against her cheek and she leaned into it. His eyes shone.

"I know." He said it almost like a secret. He took his hand from her cheek and rested his face on it, leaning his back over so that they were closer together. He almost looked like an angel. All sliver hair and eyes and pale skin, slender and strong and everything she needed. She imagined if they had known each other when they were little. Imagined the games they would have played, the jokes they would have laughed at. They would have held hands when they were walking with their parents and everyone would laugh about how they would get married when they were older, and Jem and her would just walk along, none the wiser. She thought of how different everything would have turned out if he wasn't a Shadowhunter and he had grown up in New York with her and if her parents had been human and if they were just two normal kids. She wondered if things would have ended up the same, with a dead mom and dad and aunt and brother and a split heart. She wondered what would be of Will without Jem? What of Henry and Charlotte? For a moment she wished it had turned out like this. She wished that everything was normal. But then she would not be the woman she was today.

"What is it?" Jem asked, breaking through her thoughts and she realized she was smiling. But she did not have the urge to speak, just the urge to continue smiling and look at him. She pulled Jem closer by the fabric of his coat and they fell with each other into what she hoped, but knew would never be, a peaceful eternity.