Author's Note: I'm sorry for the late update. Please enjoy this chapter! Remember, I own none of these characters.

Chapter 10

"You," Cecily said, to no one in particular. "You."

"You mustn't tell Charlotte," Jem said desperately. "If you care for Will you won't tell Charlotte."

The three of them were sitting on a bench, Will and Jem with their coats on their laps, Tessa between them, her panties mercifully kicked beneath a bookshelf. It was hard to say what Cecily had seen. His sister. Will wanted to cry aloud. It could have been anyone else but his infernal baby sister had walked in on him… Oh, it was mortifying.

"You, Mr. Carstairs, are unbelievable," Cecily said. "Fooling around with a lady… never mind your fiancée… but a lady, before your wedding day… And you, William, you are despicable to allow it and encourage it and participate in it… And you, Miss Gray, you are a whore." Cecily's eyes flashed an angry blue as she said the last word.

"I beg your pardon!" Tessa exclaimed. She leapt to her feet, stomping towards Cecily, who folded her arms across her chest and glared, not backing down, unafraid. "You have no business calling me a whore, you…. you…"

"Whore," Cecily said. "you are a whore." Tessa gasped, her hand on her chest.

"Oh, my, this day can't get any better," Will remarked. Jem, who been last seen up Tessa's skirts, kissing only the Angel knew where (but Will had a good idea, given Tessa's heavy breathing) just crossed his legs and squirmed. He was blushing furiously.

"William, you have a visitor. Charlotte sent me to find you. He's in the drawing room. A warlock," Cecily said.

"Magnus," Will said, standing up. He pulled on his coat.

"I wonder what he could possibly want," Jem said, also standing up. His coat slipped to the side, revealing his still evident arousal which Will doubted would subside any time soon. Tessa's face turned bright red. Cecily had picked that moment to glare at Will, and looked back only when Jem sat down quickly and cleared his throat. "Never mind. I'm sure Will can give us a full report."

"Do any of you have any sense at all?" Cecily demanded. "You do know where babies come from, yes?" Jem mumbled something. "I said, do you know where…"

Will slipped quickly from the alcove, praying to the Angel Cecily would keep this affair between the four of them.

Magnus was sitting beside the fireplace, gazing into the flames, when Will walked into the drawing room. Anyone else would take in Will's bright cheeks and messed up hair and excuse it, thinking it was only the careless nature of a teenage boy, but Magnus saw past that. Though Will was always slightly harried and disheveled looking, sometimes he contained it. This was not one of those times.

"Mr. Bane? I was under the impression that our business was finished," Will said, pushing the door closed. Magnus heard the lock turn and recalled the night Will had first come to him, cold, wet, and desperate.

"It was finished, but then you came to Woolsey's house once and followed me to the symphony, and so…" Magnus said. "I didn't think you thought it was over." He climbed to his feet as Will approached him, all shadows and pale skin, the same way he always was, the same way Magnus would always remember him being. Light and dark. Bruises and blood and skin so thin, Magnus could see blue veins in the back of his hands.

"Have you a need for me?" Will mumbled. He stepped close to Magnus, dropping his hands down to take Magnus by the wrists. He smelled of sweat, the same husky scent that clung to his body all of the other times he was this close to Magnus, but this time, there was no scent of smoke and night time or even fight. His sweat was sweet smelling, mixed with lavender and vanilla and yin fen, the demon drug. Will smelled of himself, with light accents of Jem and Tessa.

"I will need you no longer," Magnus said, pulling his hands away from Will's grasp. "I only wanted to stop by and tell you that should you require the assistance of a warlock, I have instructed Ragnor Fell to aid you in any way necessary. He is a close friend of mine, and will take good care of you." Will nodded quickly. He fell into a chair beside the fire place, kicking his feet up. Magnus took the chair opposite him.

"The curse never existed. Marbas is gone. I won't be requiring of a warlock's help any longer," Will said. He looked at his hands and spun the ring he wore on his right ring finger. "But you knew that. You were there. And if there is anything else I might need, I'm sure you could still… help me." He peered up at Magnus, then returned his gaze to his hands, biting his lip and smirking like a mischievous boy would. This was the way Woolsey wanted Magnus to see Will, as nothing more than a mischievous boy.

"He's manipulative, you know that," Woolsey said, just that morning. They had been standing bare-chested in the kitchen waiting for the tea kettle to boil. The scratches down the front of Magnus's chest, a fraction of an inch to deep for his liking, had throbbed then and now. This was the day that Woolsey was going to gather his pack and resign his post as leader of the London werewolf pack. "He'll do anything and say anything to keep you in his web. He'll play to your strengths by acting weak. Just like Camille always did." There was nothing weak about Camille, the same way there was nothing weak about Will. Every move the boy had ever made was calculated, shrewd….

"Magnus," Will said, his voice breaking as he tried to keep it just above a whisper. "Why are you asking me to see Ragnor? Why can't I keep my business with you?" Will was rubbing his hands together, twisting the joints, not looking Magnus in the eyes.

"I'm going to Rome with Woolsey," Magnus said. "I didn't want to leave without… making sure you were alright. I wanted to say goodbye." Will sat back in his chair, nodding slowly. He stared into the fire, his jaw set hard.

"A moonstone," Will said.

"What?" Magnus asked.

"Your ring. It's a moonstone," Will said. He pointed to the ring on Magnus's right hand. "The werewolf gave you a moonstone. That is laughable." He gave a forced, half hearted laugh. "Rubies are symbolic of happiness and diamonds are symbolic of purity but he gave you a moonstone because he's a werewolf." Will attempted another laugh, this one more convincing then the first.

"It's none of your business what he gave me and why," Magnus said. Will shook his head, rolling his eyes.

"Well, I guess if you'll accept his abuse, you'll accept anything he gives you," Will said.

"Excuse me?" Magnus asked. "What do you mean, abuse?" He tried to keep his voice strong. He failed at doing so. The moment he said abuse, Magnus saw Woolsey's hand connect with the side of his face. He saw his eyes blur with tears and he saw the fist, raised, aimed for his face. His breath caught in his throat.

"I didn't leave right away," Will said. "I was down the hall when I saw him… he hit you, Magnus. He raised a hand to you and he slapped you across the face. He treated you like an animal that has misbehaved. And you accepted a ring from him."

"I did misbehave," Magnus said. "I shouldn't have… I cheated on him. I was unfaithful. He had every right to be angry."

"He had no right," Will said, looking Magnus in the eyes. "Do you remember when you were sitting at dinner and he excused himself to go outside and smoke a cigarette with that dark haired character sitting to his left?" Webster. His name had been Webster. He was the one who invited Woolsey and Magnus over to smoke after the symphony. "It was halfway through the soup course. I know you remember. You let your wine glass go empty because he said he was going to buy the next bottle." Magnus searched his mind for a memory of Will's presence at the restaurant but found none. Of course, Will had been heavily glamoured, meaning that if Magnus wasn't looking for him, he would have never seen him.

"I remember," Magnus said. Will leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees.

"He didn't smoke a cigarette," He mumbled, and smiled. "Woolsey took that dark haired character against a brick wall. It was very carnal. Incredibly animalistic. I've never seen anything like it and I've been to the ifrit den before. There, men fuck anyone or anything, but this…" He shook his head. "You and I in the coat closet was nothing compared to Woolsey against the brick wall. You never made me bleed."

"He will tell you anything you want to hear, just to keep you with him. He'll turn you against me because he knows he can," Magnus remembered Woolsey saying.

"I wouldn't have followed you if I thought you and he were committed to each other," Will continued. "And I wouldn't have been with you, that way, if I knew he was going to hurt you because of what we did. I didn't think he felt that way about you. He was with someone else. He was the one who was unfaithful." Magnus closed his eyes and shook his head.

"He was with someone and he slapped me because I was with you?" Magnus asked. He remembered the crazed look in Woolsey's eyes. Then, Magnus took it that Woolsey was irate with his infidelity, but now, it was clear that he was only shocked that Magnus had the audacity to be with Will. He never actually expected Magnus to go behind his back and be unfaithful. Magnus felt ill.

"I thought you knew," Will said. "I didn't think you would care, and I was shocked that he cared about us. Angel knows I'm not a threat to your relationship… right? You don't feel anything for me, do you?" Magnus was still back in the hallway at the symphony, playing the encounter over in his mind, over and over. Woolsey was angry. Magnus had been unfaithful. Woolsey was shocked. He never thought Magnus would be unfaithful.

"I don't believe you," Magnus said softly. "You're manipulating me. You're just jealous he gave me a ring, just like you can't stand knowing that Jem is marrying Tessa and leaving you alone. You'll come between Woolsey and I and you'll come between Jem and Tessa because you can't bear to be alone. You'll destroy relationships, good, happy relationships, because you don't want to be alone."

Will clenched his jaw hard enough to bring out the veins in his neck.

"I know exactly what you are doing. Do you not think I can smell Jem and Tessa all over you?" Magnus asked. "You dare to cause me to question my relationship when you were messing around with Jem and Tessa not ten minutes ago? How dare you?"

"I wasn't messing around…" Will said. He looked into Magnus's eyes as tears filled his own. "I love them both and they love me and…"

"He's going to marry her," Magnus said evenly. "He's going to marry her and you'll be left with no one but yourself. You can fuck with them both, all you want, but he's going to marry her. And you can say Woolsey was unfaithful. You can tell me he's the devil wrapped in a pretty package. I will never believe you. You are nothing more than a boy to me, Will, and I need more than you can give me. I need forever and that is something you will never give me."

Magnus stood up and started for the door.

"He'll hurt you again," Will said, quickly regaining his composure. "He'll say he won't, but one night, he'll snap like he did at the symphony and he'll hurt you again. He'll say it was your fault. He'll say you made him do it. He'll beg for your forgiveness and you'll forgive him and it will happen again and again and one day you'll wake up and you won't recognize yourself because you're not a person. You're a punching bag."

"It was one time!" Magnus exclaimed.

"You and I both know it will never be just one time," Will said. Magnus just shook his head again. He couldn't bear to be in this room with Will any longer. No, it was that he couldn't bear to have his relationship questioned any longer. Already, he was wondering how Woolsey had spent the night after Magnus had left him at the symphony. How many of the things he said to Magnus in the time before and after he offered the ring were the truth, and how many were things Woolsey wanted Magnus to believe?

"I'm leaving for Rome tomorrow morning," Magnus said. "Goodbye, William." He pulled open the door and walked out, never looking back.

When Magnus was gone, Will stared into the fireplace until he was sure he wouldn't cry. Then he stood up and walked out of the room, thinking of going back to his room, crawling into bed, and never waking up. He was halfway there when Tessa and Jem walked out of the dining room. They were holding hands, Jem leaning against Tessa, their heads bowed close together, talking quietly. They looked up when Will got to them, and each gave him a smile.

"Pity about Cecily catching us," Will said sheepishly. Tessa smiled and nodded. Jem nodded as well, blushing. He bit his lip. "What?"

"Representatives from the Clave came to speak to Tessa and I. The Clave has come to a decision regarding Tessa's ascension and our marriage," Jem said. "They will not recognize the union between a Shadowhunter and a warlock. Under Clave law, we will are not allowed to be married." Will exhaled and tried to keep from smiling.

"I'm sorry to hear that," he said.

"It's something we expected," Jem said, giving Tessa a sweet smile. "So much so, Tessa went yesterday and bought her wedding dress."

"But the Clave…" Will said.

"Fuck the Clave," Jem said easily. "Tessa and I are getting married. Tomorrow night."

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! Please Review... I could use a little encouragement at the moment.