Author's Note: Thank you for the reviews! Please enjoy this next chapter!

Chapter 3

The clock downstairs had just struck midnight when Will looked up from his pacing and reading of The Mystery Edwin Drood. Within the small collection of the books Magnus left behind had been a sampling of works by Dickens. Will hadn't planned on picking up any of those stories, not wanting to think of Tessa and a Tale of Two Cites, however, when he happened across Edwin Drood, he couldn't help himself.

The creak of a floorboard outside of the bedroom startled Will, though by time the doorknob turned he had relaxed himself. He crossed his arms over his chest, then dropped them to his side, then lifted them again and flipped to a random page in the book as the door opened and Magnus walked in, carrying a tray with a mug on it.

"You didn't have any tea," Magnus said. "I brought you some hot brandy, to help you sleep." He set the tray on the bedside table and turned for the door.

"I was reading Edwin Drood," Will said. "Do you know anything about the story?" Magnus paused beside the door.

"It's unfinished, right?" Magnus asked.

"Correct. Dickens died midway through its publication. No one knows how he intended for it to end." Magnus nodded.

"Was there anything else you needed? I'm planning to go to bed," Magnus said. He looked over at Will's bed and at the rumpled pile of clothing at the end of it. Will was still dressed in his trousers, but had put on a long shirt intended for sleep.

"I couldn't imagine leaving anything unfinished," Will said. He closed the book and set it on the mantle over the fireplace. "There always has to be some sort of… conclusion." He walked over to Magnus, stepping close to him, the way they were down in the kitchen. He touched Magnus on the waist, and then ran his fingers down to Magnus's hips. He drew Magnus closer and kissed him once gently upon the lips. Magnus looked up into Will's eyes.

"I fear you have gotten the wrong idea," Magnus said. "I don't want you, Will. I helped you, yes. But I can't…" Will kissed Magnus on the cheek, and then twisted his fingers into his hair. Will pulled Magnus's head to the side and kissed Magnus on the neck. His left hand untied Magnus's dressing gown and tossed it onto the floor, leaving the warlock dressed only in flannel pants.

"You can't what?" Will asked. Magnus moaned. "Give into your carnal desires? It's not like you haven't been lusting after me since the first time you ever saw me. If I am to leave here tomorrow and you are to never see me again, wouldn't you want your last memory of me to be…pleasant?"

"Anything more than business between you and I is forbidden," Magnus said. Will kissed his lips again. "Moreover…"

"This is business." Will pushed Magnus's pants down slightly and moved his thumbs over the skin between the warlock's hips. He looked down and smiled as Magnus's cock stiffened just the slightest bit beneath the fabric of his pants. Will kissed Magnus's neck again, tracing his tongue over the pounding pulse beneath Magnus's jaw line. He teased his lips gently under Magnus's ear, and whispered, "Would it shock you, Magnus, if I said I wanted you as badly as you want me?" Magnus shuddered and his fingers suddenly gripped Will at the hips.

"Nothing you said would ever shock me," Magnus said. He pushed Will away and Will staggered backwards, pulling Magnus after him. Together, they fell onto the bed. Magnus shoved his hands up Will's shirt and pulled it off as Will pulled Magnus's pants down. Magnus relieved Will of his trousers, then pushed him onto his back in the bed and fell against his chest. He bit Will on the neck and Will cried out, half in shock, half in something else entirely.

Magnus continued down Will's body, nipping him in some places, licking in others. Will felt himself getting turned on. His body seemed to throb with want and need, and when Magnus's skin wasn't against his in the seconds they were apart, Will missed it, the same way he missed Jem bonded so tightly to him.

"I want you," Magnus said. His hands were all over Will's body, touching the places where the skin would bruise from his bites.

"Then take me," Will said. He flipped Magnus onto his back and grabbed his hips, pulling his body close. It was the same as it always was with Jem, and yet it was different, because it was Magnus, and when Will pushed inside of him the first time, he didn't have to worry about him breaking. Will saw pain in Magnus's eyes but it wasn't frightening, the way it was to see Jem in agony. None of this was the same, and yet Will knew it was, because he had sex with Jem to forget everything else, to feel pleasure and nothing else. The only thing that had changed was the man beneath him. Will still wanted to forget.

And so Will thrust into Magnus and sunk his nails into the warlock's hips, pulling him against him again and again until he finally felt an orgasm rip through his body, and then, there was nothing left to feel.

The sun was just starting to come over the horizon when Will opened his eyes. He felt Magnus curled against his back, breathing lightly. There was a soft blanket tossed over their naked bodies, and their skin was warm where it touched. Will sensed someone standing close by and opened his eyes to see a blonde haired man leaned over the bed. The man was dressed in clothing at barely matched and wore a monocle over one eye.

"Woolsey," Magnus said. "I didn't expect you…"

"Obviously," Woolsey replied. He clasped his hands and grinned at the sight of the two boys naked in his house. "Who wants breakfast?"

Some time later,after Magnus had washed Will's seat from his skin, he had come downstairs to find Will in the kitchen sipping tea as Woolsey fried bacon. When they sat down to eat, Magnus found himself placed across the table from Will, with Woolsey at the head of the table. The meal was spent making awkward conversation.

"This is delicious," Magnus finally said.

"I'm glad to know you enjoy it," Woolsey said. "So, what demon did you summon last night?" Will looked up quickly from his plate. All though breakfast, Will avoided Magnus's eyes, and they barely spoke, only asking to pass the syrup and butter. Magnus figured it was due course for them, having spent the night together having… had sex. Magnus's cheeks turned red and he looked back at his plate of scrambled eggs and bacon. When he looked back up, Will was gripping his fork tightly as he stared past Magnus, a tense look on his pale face. As Magus watched, he dropped his fork and ran his fingers over the rune at his wrist, flinching as if it hurt him.

"I need to get back to the Institute right now," Will said.

"I can draw a Portal-" Magnus said.

"You've done enough," Will replied. He stood up. "I'll see myself out." And then he was gone.

When Magnus and Woolsey were finished eating, they sat at the table and Magnus listened to Woolsey talked about his night spent with his pack. It was a position that suited him, working for people he cared for. There was always something going on in Woolsey's world, which was why Magnus didn't mind spending time with him. Sometimes, immortality was monotonous, and if anything, Woolsey's mortality was a breath of fresh air.

When the talking was finished, Magnus washed the dishes while Woolsey went to freshen up. He was lost in his thoughts about the broken boy he had spent the night with, and when Woolsey walked up and placed his hands on his shoulders, Magnus shivered with a shock.

"You could do worse, you know," Woolsey said. He pushed some hair away from Magnus's neck and kissed beneath the ear, in the same place that Will had kissed him.

"Worse then you? Perhaps. I could move in with a faerie. We could spend our days drunk on spiked lemonade," Magnus said. He turned around and leaned against the countertop, inviting Woolsey to step closer. Perhaps if he could pretend that Woolsey hadn't walked into the room and hadn't found him naked in bed with Will Herondale, perhaps, things could continue between he and Woolsey as they had in the times when Will wasn't around. True, Magnus had many lovers, but there was a reason why he always came back to Woolsey.

"I mean, with the Shadowhunter. You could do worse," Woolsey said. His green eyes were playful, but his mouth was set tightly, as if he might frown or smile at any moment. "He's very good looking, and I know you've had your eye on him for some time. Way to go in bedding him." Woolsey stepped back, putting some distance between he and Magnus.

"I didn't bed him. I didn't… it was nothing. He wanted to replay his favor and-"

"I thought he already did," Woolsey said.

"Woolsey, I…" Magnus began. "I didn't know…I thought…"

"You're right, I don't care," Woolsey said. Magnus wasn't sure what hurt worse: that Woolsey didn't care that he had been with Will, or that he did care, but thought so little of their relationship that he wouldn't tell the truth.

"Woolsey, I love you, you should know that," Magnus said.

Woolsey frowned. "It's far too soon for that."

The Institute was silent when Will pulled open the door and walked inside. He hurried up the steps to the second floor and turned left, already feeling in his bones where he was meant to be. His suspicions were confirmed when he looked up to see Tessa hurrying towards him. Her hair hung loosely, billowing behind her. She was tying a dressing gown around her waist and talking with Sophie, who hurried along beside her. Will met Tessa just outside the doors to the infirmary and grabbed her hands in his.

"What happened?" Will asked.

"How did you…" Tessa said, "Never mind." She would have known that Will could feel Jem's pain, and could feel when his parabatai was close to death. "It must have happened during the night, when he was asleep. He had one of his episodes…"

"You didn't hear him?" Will asked. He could hear Jem roll over at night. One of his awful, agonizing withdrawal attacks could wake up the whole Institute, nevermind Will, who slept next door. "You weren't with him?"

"William," Tessa snapped. "I never heard a thing, and neither did Gideon, who was on the other side of Jem's room. It wasn't until Charlotte checked on him early this morning that she found him. He was unconscious and bleeding, and it appeared he had been bleeding for a while, because…" Tessa went pale and Sophie covered her mouth. "He's lost a lot of blood. He was barely breathing when Henry and Gideon carried him down here." Will gaped at Tessa, unsure of who to be angry with, she a, or himself. He opened his mouth, prepared to say something awful and cutting, when the Infirmary door opened and Gideon looked out.

"Will," he said. "We need… Will." Will didn't look into Gideon's eyes and didn't look at the blood that stained the older boy's clothes. He merely walked into the Infirmary to find Henry and Charlotte and Jem's bed side. Jem's shirt was off and he lay on his side, blood clots dripping from his mouth and nose as he gasped and remained mercifully unconscious. The white sheets beneath him were already stained crimson.

"You should summon one of the Brothers," Henry said quietly.

"They might not get here for a few hours," Charlotte said. Henry looked up at her, frowning, not needing to say that the Brothers might need to come anyway, to collect Jem's body in the event of his death.

"No, I'm here," Will said. He grabbed a stele from a bedside table and drew an amissio to help Jem's blood clot faster, knowing that the runes he could draw were far more powerful than any Henry could draw. The rune worked. Jem's bleeding slowed, as did his breathing. Will rested a hand on his shoulder, then looked up at Charlotte. "Make certain you clean him up before he awakes. He always gets upset when he sees blood."

"Will," Henry said, but Will had turned on his heal and walked back across the Infirmary. He pushed open the doors and walked out to find Jem's fiancée cowering beside the doors.

"You," Will said. "You plan on marrying him, and yet you can't keep him alive for a single night. You let him think he was getting better because of you. He didn't take any of his drug, because of you. He almost bled to death in his bed, because of you. This is your fault."

Tessa's eyes filled with tears. "I didn't hear him. He was fine at dinner," Tessa said. "Even before we went to bed, he was fine."

"So what caused him to go from perfectly fine to drowning in his own blood?" Will asked. "Did you and he do something that taxed him a bit too much? Maybe he asked to take your virtue and you thought, why not?"

"I resent you thinking-"

"When I left, he was perfectly fine. No, you know what, Tess? Before you ever got here, he was perfectly fine. Now you've gone and nearly killed him!" Will exclaimed. "Bad things happened before you got here, but they've multiplied tenfold since you showed up."

"Will," Tessa said. She was crying now. "This isn't my fault." Will stepped close to her, forcing her back against the wall.

"Oh yes it is!" Will yelled. "If you hadn't-"

"Will!" A girl exclaimed. She grabbed Will by the arm and hauled him around. Will came face to face with a girl who looked just like him. Tessa hurried down the hallway, Sophie in her wake.

"Angel, Cecily!" Will cried. "You're like a ghost."

"That is enough out of you," Cecily snapped. "If Mother heard you berating a woman like that…" Will groaned and sunk his fingers into his hair. "That is just not acceptable."

"By the Angel!" Will cried. "Why did you have to show up now?" He felt flabbergasted at the sight of his dear, sweet, baby sister, halfway grown up, standing before him.

"Angel," Cecily said. "The Angel Raziel, right? Why do you say "By the Angel?"

"Because it's improper to curse in front of a lady," Will said. Cecily smiled and folded her arms across her chest.

"Is he going to be alright? Your parabatai, I mean?" Cecily asked. Dear, sweet Cecily, was so naive. She didn't know about Jem, she didn't know anything, which was how it should have been. And yet she was here, his only bit of family left.

"He lost some blood but he'll pull through. He just needs to rest," Will said.

"Well, then, there is no need to yell at Tessa. She's done nothing wrong," Cecily said. "Right?"

"She's done nothing wrong," Will said. "It's just…" He thought about everything he and Tessa and Jem had been through in the past few weeks. It seemed so much to take in and think over.

"What is it?" Cecily asked. Will sighed and put an arm around Cecily's shoulder. He kissed her lightly on the forehead, and then pulled her down the hall, away from the Infirmary.

"Oh, little sister, you have much to learn about this world," Will replied.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Please review!