a/n: hello, all! So FF has been malfunctioning on my computer recently. I dont know what it is, but I tried it on my laptop and it works fine enough, so with all that said and done, I apologize for the delay and I'll end my little tirade here so you all can read and I can update my other FFs!cc: Enjoy!
"Damnit, Tess, move!"
It was an odd welcome to heaven, Tessa had to admit, but the voice definitely belonged to an angel of Heaven.
What didn't belong in Heaven was the screeching sound of ripping metal, coming from right next to her ears. Suddenly Tessa was shoved to the floor, a lean muscled body jumping on top of her. She opened her eyes just long enough to see that it was Will, shielding her from two of the robots who had just exploded, raining sparking bits of cogs and wires.
Will's arms were tensed as he wrapped them around Tessa and brought her to her feet. "Get out of the tent, Tessa," he ordered, his voice low and urgent. "Stay there until we come and get you."
"Will!" Jem shouted in warning.
Will spun, shoving Tessa back as two more clockwork creatures came whirling toward the two. Tessa tripped over her skirts and went down, staring up in horror as Will fought a mechanical man with a mace instead of an arm. While he was preoccupied, two other clockwork creatures came up from behind and snagged him by the arms. He gave a cry of fury, kicking out at one of the clockwork people in front of him and crumpling the midsection of the one he made contact with in half.
Jem, who had been handling the remainder of the creatures with more grace than he should have had, looked just as horrified as Tessa felt when Mortmain walked up and pressed the same knife he used on Tessa underneath Will's jaw.
"This wasn't exactly how I planned, but it will have to do," Mortmain said, a wicked gleam in his eye.
He turned to Tessa then, who was still sprawled on the floor looking up with shock and fear. "My dear Tess," he said. mocking sweetness and sincerity. "Unless you want the Nephlim boy to die, you will swear to come with me on your own accord."
"Tessa," Will said dangerously, "don't."
"I wouldn't run that obnoxious mouth of yours too much," Mortmain warned, pressing the blade harder into the skin at Will's throat.
Will hardly seemed to notice, he was focusing intently on Tessa. Almost imperceptibly, he shook his head. Be smart. Make the right choice, his eyes seemed to say.
Tessa slowly reached into her pocket, an idea blossoming in the back of her head like a freshly blooming flower. "And what happens when I leave with you?" Tessa asked quietly.
Will looked furious. His gaze was absolutely lethal. "Tessa," he warned.
Tessa looked away from Will to Mortmain, afraid Will would cause her mind to wander in the wrong direction.
Mortmain looked at her with steady gray eyes, the face of a hard working sailor. An honest man. But Tessa knew the truth. "Well out of the way of your Shadowhunter friends to interfere, we would carry on with my original plan."
Tessa was inconspicuously digging through the pockets of her skirt, reaching slowly until- her finger brushed the smooth round button. Tessa had no idea why she had kept it in her pocket at all, even as a sort of keepsake to remember the past it was odd to keep something so trivial on her person.
"Let Will go," Tessa yelled to the mechanical men holding Will down.
Mortmain chuckled as Will looked at me, his eyes intense but giving nothing away. "Silly girl, my army only obeys my commands. My voice is what controls them."
"Oh," Tessa said, closing her fist around the object in her hand and squeezing her eyes shut, "I was counting on that."
In no time Axil Mortmain appeared in her dress. Too big for the build, the fabric ripped, but Tessa hardly had time to notice. "Let Will go," she commanded steadily.
True to his word, the creatures dropped Will and walked away.
"You little-" Mortmain began, making his way toward Tessa, knife raised.
And suddenly Will was there between them, looking murderous. "This doesn't end well for you," he said calmly, his tone dangerously measured. He seemed as though he was merely stating a fact, not instigating a threat.
Mortmain glared daggers at Tessa as she changed back into her regular form. "I brought you, a raw power, into this world, Theresa Gray. And I can sure as hell take you back out of it."
Before anyone could say a thing, he had disappeared.
"That damn ring of his," Will muttered. "I imagine that ring, and the finger along with it, will be mine next time I see his damned face..." he trailed off darkly.
"Will," Jem said, "let's get back to the institute. We must tell Charlotte right away."
Will took a deep breath and then nodded. He crouched down before Tessa and studied her face. "Are you alright?" he asked quietly. She noticed Jem averted his eyes. She had also noticed that this was the most eye contact the two of them had made in a very long time.
Mortmain's words came back to her as soon as he asked. He said your name as well...
Blushing, Tessa merely nodded.
Will offered and hand and helped her to her feet. "Good," he said, "because we're going to be running through the whole bloody town hunting down Jessamine."
In the end it took a good hour to track down Jessamine. When Will finally appeared beside the carriage with her, she looked scornfully at Tessa as she settled onto the seat next to Jem. "You look dreadful," she said as Will climbed in and closed the door behind him. John, the new coach driver, pulled on the reigns and steered the coach into the afternoon traffic.
Mindful that her dress was horribly ripped from the transformation, Tessa crossed her arms tightly over her chest. She was thankful that Will had draped his coat over her shoulders to cover her up, but even that didn't feel like enough. "Fitting trouble with the dress," she muttered.
"Not that," Jessie said, her eyebrows pulling down in what looked like concern, "your face, Tessa. It's cut."
Tessa reached up and tenderly touched her cheek. Sure enough, it came away wet with blood. "Just a scratch," Tessa reassured everyone. From the corner of her eye she could see Will looking at her intently, though she couldn't figure out what exactly the gaze meant.
Once the others were reassured that Tessa was alright, they all lapsed into silence.
Well, almost all of them.
Will gloated the whole ride back. "I don't understand why no one listens to me," he began. "It isn't as if I'm ever wrong. Why can none of you ever accept that fact?"
"Maybe because you make up silly things such as demon-pox," Jem said, seemingly bored.
Will's stare turned dark. "There is such a thing," he said defensively. "I've seen it myself."
"Where?" Jem challenged.
That shut Will up.
The carriage pulled up to the front of the Institute and everyone climbed out. It was all Tessa could do not to shove everyone out of her way and sprint to her wardrobe.
Until a terrible pain wracked through her chest, lighting starbursts of pain behind her closes eyelids. She knew she was screaming, but couldn't focus on anything but the horrible pain. I'm dying, she thought. She could feel her back arching, and she knew she was falling, though her mind was going dim.
Distantly she felt arms wrap around her as she plummeted and knew it was Will. She could barely hear him saying her name.
And then she heard nothing, felt none.
a/n: well theres the second chappie! I threw in some more Will/Tessa action for those of you who requested it. (I rather enjoy some Wilessa myself) Im def coining that term. anywho, reviews are much appreciated! They motivate me to work that much faster! Thanks guys! Peace!
