Howdy everyone. So, here's the next chapter, and the plot thickens as they run into yet another complication. Remember that flashback of Jem's at the end of Chapter 22- when Mortmain had a proposition for him? *evil smirks*

Don't forget to review if you liked it- or if you didn't. Thank you to those of you who reviewed the last one! (I'm trying to update as often as I can because after tomorrow I'll be back at school, so I won't have as much time.)

CP2 CHAPTER 27

SEALED FATE

Sophie looked on worriedly as Tessa tossed and turned, her whole body writhing in the infirmary bed, sudden movements shaking the weak foundations of the bed. She glanced up as the door opened, revealing Charlotte and Henry, both hurrying in looking extremely tired.

"Has there been any improvement?" Charlotte asked, folding her arms across her chest as she grew nearer, peering down at Tessa. Sophie shook her head grimly.

"Nothing, ma'ame," she said. "She's been moving like this for a while now- talking some, too."

"Did she say anything important?" Henry inquired.

"Nothing to my understanding," Sophie replied. "Just bits and pieces… something about her parents…"

"Sophie, what on earth is going on?"

"I don't know, Miss," Sophie said, chewing her lip. "I was going to check up on Miss Gray- see if she needed anything, you know? She- she ain't had an easy afternoon, I'd think, looked pretty upset if you ask me. Anyway, I was about to walk in when all of a sudden, there's this awful racket coming from inside, and I saw Mr Herondale and Mr Carstairs. They were just leaving the room in something of a hurry- I asked what was happening, and Mr Carstairs just told me to take Tessa to the infirmary. It weren't easy getting her down here. She was talking some nonsense- kept telling me I had to kill her, foolish things like that."

Charlotte glanced at Henry sharply. "Why would she say such a thing?" Henry shrugged, bewildered.

"The poor girl has been through a lot," he said. "We forget that her Aunt died- and her brother. Not to mention she's got no idea what she is. Perhaps it became too much for her." He looked between Charlotte and Sophie hopelessly for confirmation.

"No," Sophie said firmly. "Tessa is strong. And she has her family here. It is something else."

"What we need is to find Will and Jem," Charlotte said decidedly. "Where are they? It isn't like them to have wander off when Tessa is in danger. I am particularly surprised at James." She gasped, a worried look coming over her. "You don't think he has had another of his…attacks, do you?"

"Never fear." A mild voice floated in, and the party of three turned to see Will and Jem at the door to the infirmary, both appearing tussled, and Will bearing his share of bruises and blood. Jem gave Charlotte a weak smile. "I am alright."

"Goodness, you look a fright," Sophie blurted out.

"Thanks, Sophie," Will said sarcastically, but he looked at her in such a way that she held her tongue and questioned them no further.

"How is Tessa?" Jem said at once.

"She would be a great deal better if you could tell us what has befallen her," Charlotte said. "The two of you were there, were you not?"

"Charlotte," Will exhaled slowly. "You must remain very calm-"

"Yanluo," Jem said factually. Charlotte, Henry and Sophie each stared blankly at him.

"What?" Henry said, confused.

"Tessa attempted to Change into Yanluo," Will explained, guilt thick in his tone, and he went on to retell the tale of how Tessa had come to the state she was in.

"You-" Charlotte said incredulously when he had finished. She shook her head, burying her face in her hands. "Will Herondale, what were you thinking? And here I always thought you were the clever one-"

"Him?" Jem and Henry said in united indignation.

"Yanluo is here, then," Sophie interrupted. "Inside the Institute…inside Tessa." Her features were unreadable.

"We must find a way to force Yanluo out of her," Jem said. "Will and I have summoned the warlock Magnus Bane to help."

"You'd better hope he can help us," Charlotte said, rolling up her dress sleeves. She looked at Tessa, who had stopped tossing so violently and was now panting very quickly and lying on her back, unmoving. "Because I fear that our Tessa will be hard to reach. Yanluo is strong."

"What else can we do?" Will hissed.

Charlotte held up her hands. "I am by no means saying that we should give up- of course not. We must do whatever it takes to save Miss Gray. Henry and I will check the books now, shan't we? Sophie, could you alert Gideon of the situation? And Gabriel and Cecily, too. It is best that everyone is aware of what is happening. We need as much help as we can get. When will Magnus arrive, Will?"

"He should be on his way the moment he receives my word." Charlotte nodded, taking Henry's hand.

"Both of you stay with Tessa," she instructed. "Try to speak to her. If we can communicate with her, we have a much better chance of figuring out how to work against Yanluo without hurting her."

They left the room, Sophie scurrying after them to fetch the others, until Will and Jem were left alone with Tessa in the infirmary.


"No." Tessa said firmly, closing her eyes. "No, it isn't possible. It makes no sense."

"It makes perfect sense, dear," Yanluo said calmly. "You asked for the truth, and there you have it. The night of your mother's wedding to Richard Gray, he was possessed by my brother. From there, you were born. Half Shadowhunter, half Demon- and no accident, either."

"What," Tessa said through clenched teeth, "is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that somebody wanted you to be born," Yanluo said. "Take it as a compliment- for many are born into this world as unwanted and as useless as a parasite."

"And who was that person?" Tessa felt close to tears. "Who was it- and why? What am I? What am I supposed to be- to do?"

"Patience, young grasshopper," Yanluo smirked. "All in good time."

"Leave me," she whispered. "Let me talk to my friends. Let me out."

"So you can help them try to get rid of me? Theresa, I am offended," she said. "I thought we were having a lovely timing getting acquainted."

Tessa spat at her in reply. Yanluo tutted.

"Dear me- is it my face? Do you feel it isn't trustworthy enough?" she mused. "Here. How about this."

With a sickening blur, Yanluo's shape began to shift and grow, until it was the body of James Carstairs that stood before her, black beetle eyes glinting at her.

"Better?" Tessa hated the way she was using Jem's voice- hated that she was associating herself with him in any manner. "Come now, Tessa, work with me here." Jem arched an eyebrow at her. "Not handsome enough for you, is that it?" suddenly, it was Will instead, his features shockingly different now that they were not set with a pair of dark blue eyes. "What about him? You like him, don't you? Or is it love? It is so very complicated here in your mind," he laughed. Tessa snarled furiously.

"Stop it." With a whirl, Will shifted back to the old hag Tessa had originally seen as Yanluo.

"You are no fun at all- has anyone ever told you that?" Yanluo said spitefully.

"You are a Greater Demon," Tessa said. "I doubt you would know much about 'fun'."

"Oh, I don't know," her eyes glinted. "Killing dear Mr and Mrs Carstairs was quite fun indeed."

Tessa clenched her fists, her whole body positively shaking with anger. "You're a monster."

"I'm a demon, child," Yanluo said tiredly. "And call me what you like- I could still peel your flesh off your bones slowly enough for you to remain conscious throughout the whole ordeal."

"But you haven't." Tessa said fiercely.

"Don't flatter yourself into thinking you are at all important- or that you have some kind of power over me, little girl. You are not, and you certainly do not. But the tie between a mother and her children is a strong one, and I have not forgotten what Jian's parents did to my nest. It is a crime that will never be punished enough. With you, I have the chance to truly torture Jian, and his spirited friend, Will Herondale. I saw the both of their faces when they recognised me. Not thrilled to see their precious pet possessed, were they?"

Tessa opened her mouth, but she didn't know what to say. Everything she might have wanted to burst out was swallowed up by the grief, the anger, the fear-instead, somehow, she ended up saying:

"Why was Axel Mortmain at my mother's wedding?"

"Mortmain?" Yanluo said, without much interest.

"The Magister," Tessa corrected herself. Yanluo raised her eyebrows in recognition.

"Why indeed?" Yanluo said. "I know enough about my brother's business that night to know the names of all those present at the wedding. The Clockwork Prince was not one of them."

"Why do you call him that?" Tessa said, déjà vu overcoming her. Clockwork Prince. Yanluo rolled her eyes.

"It is a title his parents came up with for him- for it was he who would inherit their task."

"The Clockwork Army? Was that it?" Tessa asked, heart beating very quickly.

"It is of little interest to me," Yanluo said. "They were shapeshifters- low down as far as the chain of order goes. Word was they wanted to inherit a city or two by their own means."

"They wanted to inherit London!" Tessa cried out.

"Let them take it. London is but an ant's nest in a whole world," Yanluo mused. Then she raised her eyebrow. "Ah, I see. The Clockwork Army has risen. Credit to the mudane, I must say. It would have been fairly well thought through for him to have made it thus far, what with his parents' being…absent. Of course, he still has you."

"He does not have me."

"Oh, but he does," she said, "you just don't know it. Therein lies the answer to your question, Theresa."

"Which question?" she snapped.

"The question as to who made the deal," Yanluo said. "You think that powerful Demon's such as my brother would bother with such simple tasks as fooling a Shadowhunter into giving birth to a monstrous hybrid? No. He was commissioned. Paid. By the Clockwork Prince."

Tessa gulped, closing her eyes for a very long moment.

"And the reason you knew so much," she whispered. "About the wedding- my parents? Why did you know the names of all the guests?"

At that, Yanluo smiled as genuine a smile as Tessa had ever seen. "Why, Tessa, why do you think you have no other living relations? Why do you think your parents died in a 'carriage crash'? Once Mortmain had you arranged, he commanded my brother to kill each person present at the day of the unhappy union between Elizabeth and Richard. I chipped in, of course- completely free of charge to the mundane. A deed straight out of the goodness of my heart. Anything to help out a sibling, after all."


Without a second thought, Tessa threw herself at Yanluo with every ounce of strength she had, arm drawing back wildly, and she jammed her elbow heavily into Yanluo's ribs-

There was a loud crack and Tessa fell to the ground of the dead field around them, blood from a fresh cut on her forehead dripping down her face. Yanluo's amused smirk was gone, and suddenly Tessa felt completely terrified of the demon before her.

"That wasn't very nice, Tessa," she spat, kicking her hard in the stomach so she doubled over, wincing. "I suppose that's what I get for trying to be civil with the half-breed."

"Tell me this," Tessa said, more than anything in hopes of distracting Yanluo so she would not attack her, "how am I alive if I am half Shadowhunter and half…" she couldn't bring herself to say it. "I mean, I had heard that any child of the two races would be born dead."

"That is what the Shadowhunters would tell you," Yanluo said colourlessly. "That is a myth- although they would not know- there have been very few cases of Shadowhunter and Demon crossbreeds- most Shadowhunters are vigilant enough to see the signs of Demonic Possession in partners," she smirked. "Even so, when exceptions are made- when mistakes are made, those women who were deceived by our kind are too proud to bare it. They kill their newborn half-breed children and say that they were born dead, to save themselves the shame." Tessa flinched. "What would genuinely happen, if a half demonic shadowhunter were to be born, is an oddity indeed."

"Is that what I am?" she asked stiffly. "Am I genuinely half of each?"

"You were when you were a baby," Yanluo said mildly. "These days, you are more demon than the latter."

"What?"

"The oddity is," Yanluo explained, "that, while Nephlim blood is supposed to be dominant, so is demon blood. Your body has been a warzone of demon and angel blood, each fighting the other for majority. Sooner or later, however, you will become one or the other- one half of your origin will dominate- though, of course, you will still probably have the benefit of the abilities that come with either." She tilted her head to the side. "I notice you trapped me here by Changing," she mused, "that is a shape-shifting ability- it is demonic, not angelic. Each time you Change, you are inviting the Demon blood in- you are encouraging it. I expect that is what the Magister wanted when he instructed the Dark Sisters to train you."

"How can you possibly know about that?" Tessa said, bewildered.

"I know all that you know- I am in your head," Yanluo said. "I also know everything my brother told me about the mundane who made a deal with him. It was not the most interesting case- but the memory a demon has of it's deals is comparative to none."

Tessa exhaled choppily, processing what she had just been told. It was odd; while before, she had felt completely normal, now that Yanluo had told her about the demon blood, it was almost as if she could feel it- a slow poison creeping through her veins.

"You can feel it- can you not?" Yanluo said. "Getting stronger… ironic, is it not, that the same blood that is poisoning your beloved Carstairs is the source of all your power?"

"How do I stop it?" she said frantically. "How do I… get rid of the demon in me?"

"Dying?" Yanulo suggested unhelpfully. "First you ask me for answers, now you ask for solutions- no. I am not your fairy godmother. May I remind you that I am here to torture you?"

It all sunk in. "That is why you have told me this," Tessa concluded. "You want me to know…because you want me to know there is nothing I can do. You want me to know that I am a monster."

"Don't look so betrayed," Yanluo said. "You asked, I supplied. You should be thanking me. I may be a demon, but I told you the truth."

"I don't care," she scowled, determined. "I don't care what you say. I will not become a demon. I am not demonic. I Change for the benefit of the Shadowhunters- my friends." She remembered what Jem had said, about everything mattering less than what your heart contains, and she ached to see him- to speak to him again. Will's face flashed before her eyes, and then Sophie's, and Charlotte's. "I want to talk to them. Now. I want to wake up."

"We all want things we cannot have," Yanluo simpered. Slowly but surely, an odd sense of strength came over Tessa, and she was strangely confident when she looked Yanluo in the eye.

"I was not asking permission."


The silence between them was growing ever uncomfortable when Tessa gasped wildly, eyes flying wide open.

"Tessa," they both said at once, stepping closer to her.

"Is it you?" Will added cautiously.

"Will," she said. "Jem. It's me… I…oh, god…"

"Tessa," Will said. He moved to touch her arm, but, catching sight of Jem in his peripheral vision, he stopped. "Are you alright? What's happening?"

"I know." Her face was gaunt. "Yanluo, she… showed me…"

"Showed you what?"

"My parent's wedding…" she looked from Will to Jem. "Mortmain," she said at last. "He was there- the Magister. He was at my mother's wedding. A demon- Yanluo's brother, he possessed my father on his command… I know what I am. I am half Shadowhunter, half Demon. I saw it- it is true. And it grows worse." She beckoned them closer. "Yanluo said that I am a weapon. She said that the blood inside me- demon and angel, it would fight for dominance, and that every time I Change, the demon part of me grows stronger. She said a day would come when I would be almost entirely one or the other, and Mortmain wants the demon part of me to win…the demon part is winning. He's been planning this the whole time, his Clockwork Army, and I am a part of it." She said all of this very quickly, and by the time she had finished, Will and Jem both exchanged sombre looks, startled.

"That is impossible," Will said at last. "It's lies, Tess- there has never been a Shadowhunter and a Demon child- it would be born-"

"Dead," she finished. "Apparently not so. I don't want to believe it, Will, but…" she trembled. "It looked so real- and it feels…I can feel it." Indeed she could, her skin getting hotter and hotter as she turned, twisted- as every part of her body was slowly taken by the darkness in her own heart.

"Tessa, listen to me," Jem said soothingly, "you are not a demon. Take a deep breath. Do you remember what I told you- that day on the bridge?"

"About what your heart contains- about your soul." She nodded, smiling bitterly at him. "I was thinking about it just now." Jem reached for her hand and held it reassuringly in his own.

"Hold on to that, Tessa," he said. "For it is true- I have never believed anything to be more true in my life." Tessa sighed, relieved to feel his cool skin against hers- but she caught sight of Will then, eying their joined hands as though they were taunting him, and she pulled away.

"How are you able to talk to us?" Will said, glancing away. "Did Yanluo let you through?"

"No," she said. "I don't quite know how I did it…it was as if this sort of…power came over me. I wanted to wake up- to speak to you. I just…did it." She shivered. "Yanluo isn't happy about it."

"Stay with us," Jem said at once. "For as long as you possibly can. Magnus is on his way."
"Magnus," she said, as if dazed.

"You will be alright," Will told her forcefully. "You will be better than alright. I promi-"

"Don't." She closed her eyes. "Don't promise me that, Will- for it is a promise I may have to ask you to break, if Magnus cannot help me."

His jaw tightened. "Tessa-"

"Will is right," Jem said. "You will be okay. There is no need for such talk. The two of you, stop it. No one is dying for me."

"No one is dying at all," Will said, with a piercing look at his parabatai. Jem just looked away, not answering.


Jem stayed with Tessa and Will for well over an hour before he knew, with a sinking feeling, that he could not hold up the pretense any longer. So, telling them that he was going to ask Sophie whether she had informed the others of the situation yet, he took his leave. He did so just in time- for as soon as he reached the hallway, everything around him started spinning, and he scrambled against the wall, catching his breath. He needed yin fen, and quickly. Stumbling, he made his way to his bedroom. By the time he reached it, the coughing had begun- the endless coughing, as though something was lodged firmly in his throat, suffocating him. His whole body felt as if it were simmering over a hot fire, and sweat coated his skin. Hands shaking, he reached to the silver box by his bed, opening it hurriedly. There and then, he froze.

The drugs were gone, and in their place, a note.

Your choice –M


Cecily ran into Jem's chambers at once when she heard the coughing, only to find him standing over the box, the tiny note in his hands now.

"Jem?" She glanced quickly over the note, understanding dawning on her. " 'M'. Mortmain. What does this mean? What choice?" Jem just shook his head, shoving her away- but he could not control what he was doing, and he ended up sprawled across the floor. Cecily leaned towards him, alarmed now.

"Leave it, Cecily," he panted. "The 'M' is not for Mortmain. It is no concern of yours."

Darkness clouded over her features. "I am no fool, James. I was Mortmain's pet once. I recognise that writing." He doubled over again, jerking suddenly, and her expression changed quickly.

"Jem, you need medicine."
"You mean poison," he said. "You mean the drug. There is none left. He has taken it."

"No," she said, after a moment of shock. "It's impossible- he would have had to come here, to the Institute-"

"Cecily," he said tiredly, "it is no use. Do you not see how powerful he is?"

"What are you talking about?" she said in a guarded tone. "Listen here, you have to tell me what the note means. What choice? What did he threaten you with?"

"Do not burden yourself with such things," he tried, but at one look at the resolve on her face, he gave up. "Our escape from the Magister's hell house… it went smoothly, did it not? Far too smoothly. We all got away, with nothing but a few Automatons on our tail."

"Charlotte almost died," Cecily said tightly.

"That's not… what I mean to say is, if you think about Mortmain's plan for Tessa- the sheer lengths he went to in order to retrieve her from the Institute in the first place, with all those servants, all those contacts, the effort it would have taken- would you not therefore believe that, once he had her in his grip, he would guard her above all else? And yet, at the rather hastily set up goose chase that Charlotte and Henry set for him, he was off at once, barely leaving the place guarded."

"What are you implying- that he allowed us to escape? That he wanted us to?" her brow furrowed. "That makes no sense."

"Perhaps it makes more sense than you think," he said bitterly. "After all, we were there for no short time, and Tessa had not complied to whatever it is he wanted from her. That, and…"

"And?"

"I believe he has an alternate plan," he said. "And one… one that would involve my cooperation."

Realisation dawned over Cecily. "He wanted you to help him get Tessa on his side- or else he would ensure your deprivation from the one thing that is keeping you alive." She swallowed hard. "Jem, this is important. You must tell me what he asked of you."

"Cecily," Jem said seriously, "I have told no one of this. If I tell you, I must have your word that you will tell nobody else- not even your brother."

"It depends what it is," she said carefully. Jem looked at her imploringly. "Well, what if I have to? What if it's the only way to save you?" she retorted defiantly.

"Then I'm afraid I cannot tell you."

"Jem-" she began, but she broke off, thinking, hard. After a short silence, she sighed her surrender. "It is not as if Will and I are on good speaking terms, anyway. Very well, Carstairs. You have my word."

Jem nodded his appreciation, and cleared his throat. "It was our last day," he said, "and I had just been dragged to the balcony, too see…well. Anyway, needless to say, I was not in a very stable state, factoring in all things. That was when Mortmain came to me. It was the first time I had encountered him personally since arriving. Now, you understand, I was angry- of course I was, and I wanted answers. I should have given the bastard a difficult time, as Will would have done- as you did." His mouth twitched into a smile. "But I was too tired, too weak, to be smart, so I just listened." He started coughing again, and Cecily looked around in alarm for a tissue or a bucket, but he held up his hands to stop her and kept talking. "He began by telling me, in short, that Tessa did not love me- that I had no true friends. Tried to isolate me, I think- as is often done in a prison situation. Then he gave me a decision to make."

"Here we go," Cecily murmured.

"He told me that he could see now that he had been isolating, torturing, the wrong person. That I had no real hold over Tessa, and that the bargain he had thought he held over her with me was useless. He apologised. Said that he did not mean for me to become unnecessary collateral damage in his 'business plans'. And then he said that he would make it up to me." He leaned forward. "He said that I could get what I wanted- I could marry Tessa. He said that once his plans were finalised, he would make sure my friends and I would not be harmed."

"He said you could marry Tessa?" Cecily said. "I thought he wanted to marry her."

"I do not think," Jem said slowly, "that it was the romance of a marriage that he wanted. No, what mattered to him was the binding. The sense of…control, that would accompany such a union- if done in the right way. And so, he came up with something that would give each of us what we wanted, as he put it." He shifted up his left hand sleeve.

"What are you-" Cecily began, and then she gasped. On Jem's arm was a symbol- a symbol carved into his flesh. "That's a binding rune," she whispered, recognising it at once from her studies.

"Mortmain may be mundane," he said grimly, "but he has contacts in high places throughout Downworld. The Angel knows how, but he found a way to bind himself to a Shadowhunter. I marry Tessa, and he would be bound to her. I would get to be with her, call myself her husband- and he would wreak whatever unimaginable havoc he would with the control he would have over her."

Cecily buried her face in her hands. "Angel," she breathed, shaking her head. "That's…"

"I know," he said. "Intricate."

"You are bound to Mortmain," she said curiously.

"Mores the pity, the bond serves for the purpose of the marriage only," he said. "Mortmain was not foolish enough to bind himself to me in such a way that he would be effected by my ill health- or my death. If it did, this would all be much more simple." Cecily ignored the last part.

"And if you did not accept his offer, he would ensure you that the drug was unavailable to you?"

Jem inclined his head, then gestured to the note.

"It seems as if he knows I made my choice."

"I didn't know you had called off your engagement," Cecily said softly. Jem looked at his feet.

"I had to," he said. "Tessa doesn't understand- nor Will. I told her I did it because I loved her- but why would that make any sense to her? Anyway, it does not matter now, for she can never know the true reason why."

"But why not?" Cecily said. At Jem's look, she added hastily, "I know, I promised I would say nothing to anyone, and I will not- but I do not see why you cannot tell her why. That way, she would know that you do love her. And we could all figure out how to retrieve the yin fen from Mortmain, together."

"It is too late," Jem said calmly. "By now, Mortmain is no doubt moving on to his next plan- for I am certain he has many, many alternative ideas as to how to get what he wants. I will be forgotten to him- dispensable. And I believe that if Mortmain truly wants something, he gets it. Right now, he wants me dead. And so you see, I can tell no one. Especially not now, not with Yanluo of all demons possessing Tessa. I am dying anyway, but we can still save her. I cannot have everyone worrying about me to no ends. It will do no good."

Cecily grabbed his hand. "There is still time," she said. "We can kill Yanluo."

"Perhaps." Jem looked out the window, a peaceful look coming over him. "Look, there- a break in the clouds." He smiled. "You know, where I used to live, every night you could see the stars, clear and bright. My parents and I would climb onto the roof of our home and watch them."

"Stop."

"Stop what?"

"Reminiscing," she said. "That's what people do when they think of things they will never see again. But you will, James. You will see the stars again, in Shanghai."

"I have been dying my whole life," he said. "I know Will says I am young, but somehow, living with that knowledge has made me old beyond my years. I am tired, Cecily."

"We're all tired," she snapped. "We are all hurt. That does not mean we get to give up."

"There is a difference between giving up, and letting go." Jem's eyes were almost glassy. Cecily shook her head. She raised her hand, as if to place it on his shoulder, then dropped it, getting to her feet instead.

"Where are you going?" Jem said, surprised.

"To the infirmary," she replied. "I want to see how Tessa is. You see, Tessa isn't giving up, and so I want to help her. But I can't help someone who does not even want to save himself."