"The Long Kiss Goodbye"
Sorry for the long delay on this chapter. Everyone that has been awesome enough to send me reviews and request alerts to my stories thanks for hanging in there. I was considering axing this story, but a few people seem to like it so I will do my best to keep it up. My schedule is pretty packed this summer though and I don't have much time for writing so bare with me. I'll be able to update more frequently in a month or so. Thanks for the support and please keep reviewing, I like hearing your thoughts
Magnus glanced up from his crouched position beside the fireplace. A long day was behind him and yet a long night still lay ahead. An inability to sleep was disrupting his usual free-spirited disposition. Immortality had become a very lonely existence; along with a never ending monotony of days filled with only more of the same. Tonight however his troubled mind was on Tessa. Her gift was like nothing he had ever seen. What frayed on his nerves now was the fear of what it could mean. He had shared his theory with William, knowing that it might mean danger for the both of them. He also knew that the easiest way to protect her, protect her from what might be coming, was to tell Will. He loved her that much was obvious for anyone willing to see. Magnus knew the boy would guard Tessa with his life. This much he was sure of, but beyond that Miss Gray and her fate was still very much a mystery.
A light draft swept through the room. It swirled the fire, creating crackling embers that escaped the hearths embrace. He was no longer alone. Shadows stirred, filling the pitted worry that lingered in Magnus' gut. He began to wonder if maybe he was too late. Too late to change the course of actions that had been put into place...or to stop the man who had put them there.
Will stood by the library window, Shadowhunter gear glinting in the moonlight against an all black background of durable leather. Straps belted several Sereph blades firmly to his upper arm. From the outside of the Institute he was unseen by the mundanes walking by. Had they the ability to look through the glamour, they would uncover a fierce warrior in his perch prepared for a fight. None would face him down if they could see the cold stare that illuminated his icy blue eyes at this very moment. This was the look of a man that had been threatened. Not his life in particular, but worse was the only life that mattered to him now. His beautiful Tessa had become his only reason for anything. He feared the separation of leaving her behind to aid Magnus. Not even being able to hold her or kiss her goodbye among the crowded party that had formed in the lobby below awaiting his departure. This was necessary he was sure, it would ultimately protect her but it didn't make it any easier. Magnus had sent a fire message to the Institute only moments ago. All it had said was "He's here Will, you must come alone."
Downstairs Tessa paced the length of the foyer at a frantic pace. Her concern unshielded from the eyes that looked upon her sharing concern of their own. The others were mostly confused at the moment and leery of allowing Will this journey alone. Jessamine as usual, the only one perfectly willing to let Will walk into danger. Jem however, was frustrated at the prospect of not accompanying him. Tessa took a long look at Jem and wondered if he was in any condition to aid any one at the moment; noting his pale and weary complexion for the second day in a row.
Will rounded the corner into the room with a bitter sadness scorned on his face. It was often there and often had bothered Tessa. Now she felt like an insider to his pain. Understanding it and feeling it too. His stance was proud and stride set on a mission. A quick tilt of the head and a look away was shared between them, carrying with it a subtle tension. She wanted to wade through the bystanders, reach him and throw her arms around him and cry. Instead she stood proud and wiped the concern clean from her face knowing it was what Will wanted. Here walked her love on display. Her noble soldier off to fight a war for her but he would receive no hero's farewell. No long kiss goodbye from his damsel in distress. Charolette and the others had been led to believe that Will wore gear only as a precaution and that Magnus was not in danger but Will had been called there for council.
Tessa moved across the room matching Will's stride, catching up to him just as he reached for the door. A light brush of the arm was all that time would allow. That would have to be enough. Despite the brevity of the moment something passed between them. It was a lingering memory from a previous night when they had been able to speak more freely.
***"Tell me about your parents Will." Tessa had adopted a doe-eyed demeanor. She hated causing him pain, but at this point the pain seemed inevitable.
She was desperate to learn as much as possible about Will while she could. It was these occasional nights that they could spend together that she looked forward to the most. These dreams had become so much her new reality that she clung to them for sanity. Although the tempting thought to use this time for another purpose was always present. Tonight it would have to wait; there were too many unanswered questions. The weight of danger seemed to stir the corridors of the Institute lately. Something was coming and Tessa needed to understand her role in it all.
"My parents were Shadowhunters, brave and good. I did not deserve their loyalty."
"But you're their child; those ties run deep and there's no undoing that. No matter how badly you feel like you may have disappointed them, they would still love you. Believe me I know, I still love my brother despite everything."
"Would they? Would you love me still if you found out that I'm not what you perceive me to be?"
"William, I love you despite myself. I don't believe there is another option where you and I are concerned."
"Then hold fast to that inevitability. Know that even when we are in a crowded room and I cannot put my love on display as you deserve. I will be feeling it desperately in my heart and I will fight for us." With that, he scooped her up into his arms and kissed her with the longing of the decades that they would eventually spend apart. Tessa felt the sting of a future life without Will, her immortality punctured by the whole left by his passing.***
Tessa felt that kiss now all the way to her knees as she stood on the front steps of the Institute, separated from her love by mere inches. It was an unspoken; all the nights shared lying wrapped up in one another, heeding no boundaries. Will pulled away with those lingering thoughts in mind. He would fight for her so that he could come back to her. That was his fate; Tessa had always been his fateā¦.
