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Woolsey Scott spread his hands. "I'm sorry, Charlotte, but I cannot help you."
"Why not?" Charlotte demanded.
Scott raised his eyebrows. "Firstly because you are raising your voice at me."
Jem stifled a grin. Charlotte tended to forget that many Downworlders were extremely sensitive to any perceived form of bad manners.
Charlotte visibly restrained herself. "I apologize. But Woolsey, I don't understand. Why can't you help us?"
"The werewolf you spoke of is no werewolf I know. He does not belong to my pack."
"Your pack consists of all the werewolves in London," Will said. He was sitting next to Jem, eating an apple and regarding Scott lazily.
"Evidently not all of them." Scott looked a bit disgruntled that a werewolf had somehow managed to slip through his fingers. "As it so happens, I don't know who this werewolf is, and as such I have no jurisdiction over him."
"Charlotte." Jem spoke quietly, as he always did. Seeing Charlotte so agitated was not a regular occurrence in the Institute. "If the head of the London werewolf pack does not know of the Magister and his dealings with Downworlders, then it is a good sign. It shows that the werewolves, at least, are not turning on the Clave."
Charlotte turned to face Jem, and her face relaxed. "You're right," she agreed.
Scott cleared his throat. "Actually, that's not entirely true."
Charlotte whipped around. "What?!"
Will leaned forward. "Now this is getting interesting."
Scott sent Will a withering look and continued. "I've heard rumours about this Magister. Whispers in Downworld say that he is recruiting rogue Downworlders, those who are unwilling to belong to packs or clans or acknowledge any authority, to help him achieve an unknown end. But I don't know who he is."
"And you didn't think to mention this?!" Charlotte sounded incredulous. "You withheld this information from the Clave?"
Scott held his hands up in a placating gesture. "I had no way of knowing whether the rumours I'd heard were true or not. What you've told me today is as new to me as it is to you. I didn't tell you before because – well, secrets are worth a lot, especially in Downworld. You don't want to risk telling an untrue secret. There are often dire consequences for such actions."
Charlotte wrung her hands.
"All is not lost, Charlotte," Jem said quickly. "Scott has proven that the Downworlders are not uniting against us – it's only a few rogues."
"This information is certainly of interest to me and my pack," Scott went on. "And to the Praetor Lupus. I'll send word to them immediately to step up their patrols around the city. We'll have to remain vigilant, to ensure no new Downworlders go wayward and turn against the Clave."
"Any help you could give us would be appreciated," Charlotte said heavily.
In spite of her words, Jem could tell Charlotte was unhappy with what she'd heard. He reached over and held her arm comfortingly. "It's going to be all right, Charlotte," he promised her. "It'll be fine."
Scott smiled at them. "Well, if that's all, I'm going to go. I've got work to do, now that I know about this Magister and how he's recruiting Downworlders. Believe me, it'll be of great interest to the Downworlders of London to know that some of their own kind are going around behind their backs and doing clandestine things." He got to his feet and headed for the door – Charlotte rose as well and followed him to show him out.
After Charlotte and Scott left the room, Will announced he was going to the library to read for a little bit. Jem liked that about Will – no matter how much of a bad boy he pretended to be, he always had a soft spot for books and wasn't afraid to show it. He waved goodbye fondly as Will sauntered off down the corridors of the Institute. Once he was sure his parabatai was out of earshot, he took out his cell phone.
The phone rang for a little while, and Jem was surprised to find how impatient he was for the recipient to answer.
"Hello?"
"Scott just left."
"How'd it go?" Tessa sounded as curious as ever. "Sorry I didn't answer for the first few rings – I've just gotten out of the shower."
Jem felt the blood rushing into his cheeks. "That's okay," he stammered, trying to dispel the images that were now filling his mind. "Anyway, Scott basically confirmed what I'd thought all along – the Downworlders have no idea who the Magister is, and we're still at square one."
"Oh, dear." Tessa sounded sympathetic. "Well, don't worry. I'm sure you'll find new leads."
"We have to." Jem sat himself down in a big, comfortable armchair. "It's our job."
"It's your job to protect yourselves if Downworld is turning against you, you mean?"
Jem smiled. "Amongst other things."
Tessa laughed, and Jem closed his eyes. There was silence for a moment.
"Jem?"
"Hmm?"
"You're really not supposed to be telling a mundane about Shadowhunter things, are you?"
"No, I'm really not."
"You don't mind, do you?"
"Nah, of course I don't. You're a special mundane."
Another silence.
"What's your plan now? What're you going to do to find out who this Magister is?"
"I suppose we'll probably have to look through the library to look for any references to the Magister."
"Can I help?!"
Jem was taken aback at Tessa's enthusiasm. "You really want to help a bunch of Shadowhunters sift through piles of dusty old books in a gloomy library that hasn't been used for anything but war strategies and tactics in its entire history?"
"Yeah! If it's anything to do with books, I've got to do it."
Jem sighed. "Well, I'd have to ask Charlotte, but – "
"Thanks, Jemmy! You're the best."
Jemmy? Jem's heart gave a strange thump at the nickname, and he felt himself flushing again. Then he heard footsteps down the hall.
"I've got to go, someone's coming."
"Okay. Bye."
Jem hung up just as Will came back into the room. He entered with a flourish, then collapsed dramatically into a chair.
"Alas, I am not in the mood for literature at this time," he moaned.
"How highly unusual."
"I've got a lot riding on my mind."
"I can think of a place where you've got plenty riding, but it certainly isn't your mind."
Will shot Jem a mock scowl, and Jem laughed.
"Who were you talking to just now?"
"Sorry?"
"When I came into the room, you were talking to someone. Were you on the phone?"
Jem nodded. "I was talking to Tessa. She demanded that I tell her everything the minute Scott left the Institute, so I had to oblige."
"Oh." Will was quiet. When he glanced back up, Jem noticed that his eyes were glittering with an unreadable emotion. That was odd. Jem could usually read Will like an open book, they'd been friends for so long.
Will got to his feet and stretched. "Well, seeing as I'm not going to be reading, I think I'll leave the Institute. There's a pretty girl whose number I got the other day. What was her name? Molly?"
"Mildred," supplied Jem, who had been there when Will got the girl's number and left her swooning at the bar.
"Ugh. What a horrible name. If that's the case, I think I'll call up Bernice instead. She's great, if you know what I mean." Will winked.
"Her name's Bianca."
"Oh, whatever." Will sauntered out, but Jem noticed he didn't have the swagger he usually did. Somehow, Jem doubted he was off to see Bianca, or Mildred, or whoever. He just didn't seem to have it in him today.
I wanted to write a chapter from Jem's POV. What did you guys think? Tell me in the reviews!
