Clockwork Princess

shouldn’t have run,” said Gabriel, looking at his brother. “I should have stood and fought the creature. Maybe it could be reasoned with. Maybe Father is in there somewhere.”
    “And maybe it would have bitten you in half,” said Will. “What you are describing, the transformation into a demon, is the last stage of the pox.”
    “Will!” Charlotte threw up her hands. “Why didn’t you
say
so?”
    “You know, the books on demon pox are in the library,” Will said with an injured tone. “I wasn’t preventing anyone from reading them.”
    “Yes, but if Benedict was going to turn into an enormous
serpent
, you’d think you could at least have mentioned it,” said Charlotte. “As a matter of general interest.”
    “First,” said Will, “I didn’t know he was going to turn into a gigantic worm. The end stage of demon pox is turning into a demon. It could have been any sort. Second, it takes weeks for the transformation process to occur. I would have thought even a certified idiot like Gabriel here would have taken account of it and notified someone.”
    “Notified who?” asked Jem, not unreasonably. He had moved closer to Tessa as the conversation had continued. As they stood side by side, the backs of their hands brushed.
    “The Clave. The postman. Us.
Anyone
,” said Will, shooting an irritated look at Gabriel, who was starting to get some color back and looked furious.
    “I am not a certified idiot—”
    “Lack of certification hardly proves intelligence,” Will muttered.
    “And as I told you, Father locked himself in his study for the past week—”
    “And you didn’t think to take any special notice of that?” said Will.
    “You don’t know our father,” said Gideon in the flat tone of voice he used sometimes when conversation about his family was inescapable. He turned back to his brother and put his hands on Gabriel’s shoulders, speaking quietly, in measured tones none of them could hear.
    Jem, beside Tessa, hooked his smallest finger through hers. It was a habitual affectionate gesture, one that Tessa had grown used to over the past months, enough that she sometimes put out her hand without thinking when he was standing by her. “Is that your wedding dress?” he asked under his breath.
    Tessa was saved answering by the appearance of Bridget, carrying gear, and Gideon suddenly turning to the rest of them and saying, “Chiswick. We must go. Gabriel and I, if no one else.”
    “Go alone?” Tessa said, startled enough to speak out of turn. “But why would you not call upon others to come with you—”
    “The Clave,” said Will, his blue eyes keen. “He doesn’t want the Clave to know about his father.”
    “Would you?” said Gabriel hotly. “If it were
your
family?” His lip curled. “Never mind. It’s not as if you know the meaning of loyalty—”
    “Gabriel.” Gideon’s voice was a reprimand. “Do not speak to Will in that manner.”
    Gabriel looked surprised, and Tessa could hardly blame him. Gideon knew of Will’s curse, of the belief that had caused his hostility and his abrupt manners, as all in the Institute did, but the story was private to them, and none outside had been told of it.
    “We will come with you. Of course we will come with you,” said Jem, releasing Tessa’s hand and stepping forward. “Gideon did us a service. We have not forgotten, have we, Charlotte?”
    “Of course not,” said Charlotte, turning. “Bridget, the gear—”
    “I am conveniently already in gear,” said Will as Henry shucked off his coat and traded it for a gear jacket and a weapons belt; Jem did the same, and suddenly the entryway was full of motion—Charlotte speaking quietly to Henry, her hand hovering just above her stomach. Tessa looked away from the private moment and saw a dark head bent with a fair one. Jem was at Will’s side with his stele drawn, tracing a rune on the side of Will’s throat. Cecily looked at her brother and scowled.
    “I, too, am conveniently already in gear,” she announced.
    Will jerked his head up, causing Jem to make a sound of annoyed protest. “Cecily, absolutely not.”
    “You have no right to tell me yes or no.” Her eyes flashed. “I am going.”
    Will jerked his head toward Henry, who shrugged apologetically. “She does have the right. She has trained for nearly two months—”
    “She’s a little girl!”
    “You were doing the same at fifteen,” said Jem quietly, and Will spun back toward him. For a moment