Clockwork Princess

balefully. Will swung himself up into the saddle.
    “Come on, old boy,” he said. “The sun’s going down, and we ought to make Hockliffe by nightfall, for it looks liable to rain.” He dug his heels into the horse’s sides, and Balios, as if he had understood his rider’s words, took off like a shot.
    “He has gone off to Wales
alone
?” Charlotte demanded. “How could you have let him do something so—so stupid?”
    Magnus shrugged. “It is not my responsibility now, nor will it ever be my responsibility, to manage wayward Shadowhunters. In fact, I am not sure why I am to blame. I spent the night in the library waiting for Will to come and talk to me, which he never did. Eventually I fell asleep in the Rabies and Lycanthropy section. Woolsey bites on occasion, and I’m concerned.”
    No one really responded to this information, although Charlotte looked more upset than ever. It had been a quiet breakfast as it was, with quite a few of them missing from the table. Will’s absence had not been surprising. They had assumed Will was at his
parabatai
’s side. So it had not been until Cyril had burst in, breathless and agitated, to report that Balios was gone from his stall, that the alarm had been raised.
    A search of the Institute turned up Magnus Bane asleep in a corner of the library. Charlotte had shaken him awake. On being asked where he thought Will might be, Magnus had replied quite candidly that he expected that Will had already left for Wales, with the object of discovering Tessa’s whereabouts and bringing her back to the Institute, whether by stealth or main force. This information, much to his surprise, had thrown Charlotte into a panic, and she had convened a meeting in the library, at which all the Shadowhunters of the Institute, save Jem, were commanded to appear—even Gideon, who had arrived limping and leaning heavily on a stick.
    “Does anyone know when Will left?” Charlotte demanded, standing at the head of a long table around which the rest of them were seated.
    Cecily, her hands folded demurely before her, suddenly became very interested in the pattern of the carpet.
    “That is a very fine gem you’re wearing, Cecily,” Charlotte noted, narrowing her eyes at the ruby about the girl’s throat. “I don’t recall you having that necklace yesterday. In fact, I recall
Will
wearing it. When did he give it to you?”
    Cecily crossed her arms over her chest. “I will say nothing. Will’s decisions are his own, and we already tried to explain to the Consul what needed to be done. Since the Clave will not help, Will took matters into his own hands. I don’t know why you expected anything different.”
    “I did not think he would leave Jem,” said Charlotte, and then she looked shocked that she had said it. “I … I cannot even imagine how we will tell him when he wakes.”
    “Jem knows—” Cecily began indignantly, but she was interrupted, to her surprise, by Gabriel.
    “Of course he knows,” he said. “Will is only doing his duty as a
parabatai
. He is doing what Jem would be doing if he could. He has gone in Jem’s place. It is only what a
parabatai
should do.”
    “
You
are defending Will?” Gideon said. “After the way you’ve always treated him? After telling Jem on dozens of occasions that he had dismal taste in
parabatai
?”
    “Will may be a reprehensible person, but at least this demonstrates that he is not a reprehensible Shadowhunter,” said Gabriel, and then, catching Cecily’s look, he added, “He might not be that reprehensible a person, either. In entirety.”
    “A very magnanimous statement, Gideon,” said Magnus.
    “I’m Gabriel.”
    Magnus waved a hand. “All Lightwoods look the same to me—”
    “Ahem,”
Gideon interrupted, before Gabriel could pick up something and throw it at Magnus. “Regardless of Will’s personal qualities and failings or anyone’s inability to tell one Lightwood from another, the question remains: Do we go after Will?”
    “If Will had wanted help, he wouldn’t have ridden off in the middle of the night without telling anyone,” said Cecily.
    “Yes,” said Gideon, “because Will is well known for his carefully thought-out and prudent decision making.”
    “He did steal our fastest horse,” Henry pointed out. “That bespeaks forethought, of a sort.”
    “We cannot allow Will to ride off to battle Mortmain alone. He’ll be slaughtered,” Gideon said. “If he really did leave in the midst of the