"Are you sure this is going to work?" Will asked, giving Magnus a skeptical look.
The Warlock shook his head. "It's discouraging to know how little faith you have in me, William. But still, I don't want to set your expectations too high."
Will rubbed his temples, still unable to accept that this had really happened. That he'd let it happen.
He knew it was his fault that Tessa had been taken and that it was now his responsibility to get her back. But he'd do that anyway, regardless of who was to be blamed.
Magnus stretched out his hand, dangling the Angel in front of Will and waiting for him to take it.
"Will this take me straight to her?" Will asked.
The Warlock gave him a sad look. "I am apprehensive of it," he said, "for that would be like cheating-not that I am judgmental of cheaters; in fact I am very friendly with the word. There are occasions when those opportunities take place, but unfortunately, this isn't one of them."
Will fingered the small ornament in his hands.
"It most likely will take you someplace near her location."
The Shadowhunter nodded and retrieved his stele. He was just about to it to the Angel that open a Portal-when a whirr chu whirring noise prickled his ears.
Will froze for only a second before twisting around and facing the automaton that stood just beyond Magnus' lawn, shrouded by shrubbery and short evergreens.
Then a scream pierced the air.
Will's heart stuttered. He knew that scream.
Abruptly, he launched himself at the machine, preparing to take it apart wire by wire, expecting to see the beast holding Tessa in its long mechanical arms.
But Tessa wasn't there.
Will stopped in front of it, looking around for any signs of Tessa and waiting for the automaton to take action.
But it didn't. On the contrary, the automaton didn't seem threatened by Will, but almost as if he were waiting for something.
William was just about to draw back his blade and plunge it into the machine's false heart, when a voice appeared. He felt the confusion register on his face. No one was around them and Will was almost sure that the voice was coming from inside the machine.
" . . . Deary, does the man you fancy have family?" the voice asked.
Will's breath seemed to tumble from his lungs. He knew the owner of that voice, filled with so much evil and hate than Will would liked to have recall.
A Dark Sister.
"The Dark one. William?" the chilling tone continued.
Will hadn't realized he was shaking. No. Tessa couldn't be-this didn't mean-a Dark Sister couldn't be with . . .
"No," Tessa's voice gasped from inside the automaton.
Then a second scream shattered his ears.
what are they doing to her? Will asked, tears pricking the corners of his eyes. Pain filled his chest, threatening to crack him in half.
"Deary," the voice chimed, "I thought you and I had reached an understanding. This game is not in your favor, I foresee."
Will waited for a reply but none came.
"Very well, I will try a different one. We have time. The Angel, your necklace?" she asked, "where had it come from?"
"My mother."
Tess! Will wanted to scream.
"Pity. And what was her name?"
Will was nearly begging her to answer. He could not endure to hear another of her tortured screams.
But the other end was silent, except for a whooshing sound and a hissing noise that came from Tessa's mouth.
"Come now, Deary, she's dead. What honor would you be keeping by falling to my feet all because of a name that is now buried with its master?"
Silence.
"
Hmm. Stubborn thing aren't you? But I was already aware of that fault."
Tessa's scream blared through the automaton. Will fell to his knees, begging for the sound of her agony to cease, but unable to leave. To move. He could barely breathe.
"See that automaton, Deary?" the Dark Sister's voice asked after a bout of laughter."Part of my reward includes causing not just you to suffer, but your loved ones as well."
The next part came in a low whisper that Will had barely managed to make out:
"And Mortmain has wired this one to record sound. So I will be sending this to your dear little friend William who will just have a fit. Clever isn't it? So before you lose consciousness, let's make this last one count, shall we?"
Tessa's voice picked up again, panic igniting her voice. "No, please, Will!-"
Then the worst kind of agony echoed from the automaton's chest. Will buried his face in his hands as Tessa's scream sliced directly into his heart. Her pain seemed to go on forever, and his followed in her wake.
Then the sound clicked off.
Will roared, fury igniting every part of him, blinding his vision. He struck the automaton and tore at it; slicing every wire, every mechanism, every chain and metal piece from it, stripping it until it fell to the ground in a heap of debris.
Will let out his own scream, nearly falling to his knees again.
But he stayed upright, turning back and facing Magnus, who stood only a few feet away.
The Shadowhunter brought out his stele once more and touched it to the Angel.
Then the world blurred and Magnus blinked out of vision, Tessa's screams still echoing around Will's mind. He promised to kill that Dark Sister who'd caused Tessa so much pain.
He wouldn't stop until she had fallen at his feet.
