Clockwork Princess

turning from the fireplace. Her cheeks were flushed carnation pink, whether from the heat of the fire or from the stress of the situation, Will could not tell. “Not immediately, but—within the week. His body cannot sustain itself without the powder.”
    “How does he take it?” Woolsey inquired.
    “Dissolved in water, or inhaled— What has that got to do with anything?” Will demanded.
    “Nothing,” Woolsey said. “I was only wondering. Demon drugs are a curious thing.”
    “For us, who love him, it is a sight more than curious,” Tessa said. Her chin was up, and Will remembered what he had said to her once, about being like Boadicea. She
was
brave, and he adored her for it, even as it was employed in the defense of her love for someone else.
    “Why have you come to me with this?” Magnus’s voice was quiet.
    “You helped us before,” Tessa said. “We thought perhaps you could help again. You helped with de Quincey—and Will, with his curse—”
    “I am not at your beck and call,” Magnus said. “I helped with de Quincey because Camille requested it of me, and Will, once, because he offered me a favor in return. I am a warlock. And I do not serve Shadowhunters for free.”
    “And I am not a Shadowhunter,” said Tessa.
    There was a silence. Then: “Hmm,” Magnus said, and turned away from the fire. “I understand, Tessa, that you are to be congratulated?”
    “I …”
    “On your engagement to James Carstairs.”
    “Oh.” She flushed, and her hand went to her throat, where she always wore Jem’s mother’s necklace, his gift to her. “Yes. Thank you.”
    Will
felt
rather than saw Woolsey’s eyes on all three of them—Magnus, Tessa, and himself—sliding from one to the other, the mind behind the eyes examining, deducing,
enjoying
.
    Will’s shoulders tightened. “I would be happy to offer anything,” he said. “This time. Another favor, or whatever you wanted, for the
yin fen
. If it’s payment, I could arrange—that is, I could try—”
    “I may have helped you before,” Magnus said. “But this—” He sighed. “
Think
, the pair of you. If someone is buying up all the
yin fen
in the country, then it is someone who has a reason. And who has a reason to do that?”
    “Mortmain,” Tessa whispered before Will could say it. He could still remember his own voice:
    “Mortmain’s minions have been buying up the
yin fen
supply in the East End. I confirmed it. If you had run out and he was the only one with a supply …”
    “We would have been put in his power,” said Jem. “Unless you were willing to let me die, of course, which would be the sensible course of action.”
    But with enough
yin fen
to last them twelve months, Will had thought there was no danger. Had thought that Mortmain would find some other way to harry and torment them, for surely he would see this plan could not work. Will had not expected a year’s worth of the drug to be gone in eight weeks.
    “You do not want to help us,” Will said. “You do not want to position yourself as an enemy of Mortmain’s.”
    “Well, can you blame him?” Woolsey rose in a whirl of yellow silk. “What could
you
possibly have to offer that would make the risk worth it to him?”
    “I will give you anything,” said Tessa in a low voice that Will felt in his bones. “Anything at all, if you can help us help Jem.”
    Magnus gripped a handful of his black hair. “God, the two of you. I can make inquiries. Track down some of the more unusual shipping routes. Old Molly—”
    “I’ve been to her,” Will said. “Something’s frightened her so badly, she won’t even crawl out of her grave.”
    Woolsey snorted. “And that doesn’t tell you anything, little Shadowhunter? Is it really worth all this, just to stretch your friend’s life out another few months, another year? He will die anyway. And the sooner he dies, the sooner you can have his fiancée, the one you’re in love with.” He cut his amused gaze toward Tessa. “Really you ought to be counting with great eagerness the days till he expires.”
    Will did not know what happened after that; everything went suddenly white, and Woolsey’s monocle was flying across the room. Will’s head hit something painfully, and the werewolf was under him, kicking and swearing, and they were rolling across the rug, and there was a sharp pain in his wrist, where Woolsey had clawed him. The pain cleared his head, and he was aware that Woolsey was pinning him to the