A Love Worth Saving (A Will/Tessa - Infernal Devices Fan-Fiction)

Chapter Twelve

Chapter 12

Tessa

"Do you, Theresa Gray, take James Carstairs to be your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both shall live?"

Those words barely penetrated through Tessa's mind. Magnus, their chosen magister and beloved warlock friend, stared down at her with anticipation. All around her, people looked up to the dais where she currently stood opposite Jem. He wore a delightful black and white suit, with a delicate bow tie just below his Adam's apple. His silver hair was most definitely in contrast to his black blazer. But his smile... now that was something she would never get used to. It wasn't crooked like Will's usually was; Jem's smile was warm and kind, inviting, but not forceful. She held his hand in her own and swallowed back the lump of sudden fear that threatened to overwhelm her.

Tessa glanced over to Will, almost by accident. Her eyes swept over his features and then back to Jem before Will caught her looking at him.

Back in the moment, she suddenly remembered the question she was being asked.

"I do." she said, looking up at Magnus whose eyes were sparkling with emotion. He cast a look over to the audience behind her and then cleared his throat. Tessa smiled lovingly at Jem.

"And do you," Magnus turned to Jem. "James Carstairs, take Theresa Gray to be your lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in health, for as long as you both should live?"

Tessa couldn't help notice the slight hesitation in Jem's expression when he himself processed those words. "In sickness," was the worst to hear. Because they all knew, most certainly Jem, that he was ill. And that thought alone was enough to shake them all up.

Jem smiled at Tessa and squeezed her hand once to reassure her, and she thought, that he still wanted this.

He turned to Magnus and grinned, seeming much more relaxed and sure of himself. "I do."

Magnus grinned back and with a raise of his arms, gesturing to everyone in the room, he said in a loud voice, "Then in the name of the Angel, I now pronounce you hus-"

Tessa's eyes shot to the back of the hall as the manor house doors crashed open. Will alertly jumped out of his seat and had his stele out of his pocket before the situation even registered in her mind.

Dozens of figures marched into the wedding room. Clockwork army.

Tessa stood stock still as all around her chaos blossomed into full frantic hell. She couldn't believe what was happening.

It was only when someone – she thought it was Magnus but she couldn't be sure in all this haze – started to drag her away from the growing battle, that she blinked and rearranged her thoughts. She wiped at her face and her hands came away wet with tears.

Magnus put a hand on her shoulder once they were safe. Safe was a relative term. She noticed they were in a side room with a delightful coffee table and a window facing the gardens outside.

"Listen, Tessa, will you be okay?"

Shaking her had manically, she focused on Magnus's face. "Why- W-w-what's happening?" To say she was in shock would be an understatement. His eyes were sympathetic as he tried to calm her but nothing was getting through to her.

"It seems we've got some unwanted company."

Before Tessa could say so much as protest - that this could not possibly be happening on her one perfect day - Magnus had left her standing open-mouthed.

Will:

It was painful enough to attend the wedding, but watching Tessa and Jem exchange wedding vows were nearly unbearable. Just when the worst was about to come, chaos suddenly ensued. Will instinctively reached for his stele and leapt to his feet in full alert. Looking around, he saw that Charlotte, Henry, and majority of the other Shadowhunters had followed the same stance as him. He vaguely wondered where Tessa was, but decided now was not the time. Now was the time to fight. He would deal with the consequences later. Shaking his head of distracting thoughts, he charged for the clockwork creatures coming towards him.

The creatures came bursting out of everywhere: through the doors, the windows, even busting down the walls. It was a flood of metal against flesh. Will drew out a blade and immediately named the blade, all the while running towards the automatons.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Magnus's blue haloed hands sparking against metal. Then his attention snapped to Charlotte and Henry in the distance battling a massive clockwork creature. Noticing that they were in need for assistance, he ran towards them, blade ready in his hand. Suddenly, an automaton stepped in his way. Will quickly slashed his way through the great metal body and continued to run toward Charlotte and Henry, without looking back at what he had just did.

Will almost reached the two when a shriek abruptly disrupted the pandemonium. He spun around, glancing around for the source of the noise and saw Jessamine lying spread eagle on the floor, blood pooling around her head and torso. Next to her was her newly reformed parasol, now slashed to threads. He stared in disbelief and horror at Jessamine, now a deathly white colour, her gold dress splattered with red. She desperately needed an iratze, but Will knew it was too late; he was used to farewells now, so he turned around to help Charlotte and Henry, who seemed unhindered by the disruption.

Will began drawing more blades from his coat and slashed at the creature in multiple areas. He was able to climb up the back and position himself on top of the head, as Charlotte and Henry worked on the bottom half of the creature's body. With one precise move, Will stabbed the area at the center of the nape of its neck, and the creature began to crumble, crinkling towards the floor. Will deftly jumped off of it, landing perfectly on his feet unscathed. He looked around the wreckage of the manor; the fighting had completely subdued, but that was not the worst. Chairs were broken, bits of glass were strewn everywhere, and blood splattered here and there. Bodies lying helplessly everywhere. He scanned the room to see if he could recognize anyone. Jessamine lay still where she had been before. Gabriel was in a corner with Gideon huddled next to him, and Will felt a twang of sadness run through him. He was almost done searching the room when he saw one figure out in the distance by the pew with a shock of silver hair… Jem.

Heart racing fast, Will ran towards his parabatai. Sweat broke out around his face and he could see his hands visibly shaking. After what seemed like an eternity, Will reached Jem. Jem's face, hands, and arms were covered in lacerations, and his chest was cut open and bleeding openly. Jem was still breathing, but it was ragged and shallow.

"Will…" Jem managed to croak through rasping breaths, as Will grasped hishand in his.

"Shh," Will answered soothingly, "hush now. Save your strength."

"Like I have any strength left," Jem smiled meekly, giving a slight laugh but choked a little on blood.

"Your hands are growing cold," Will whispered worriedly, staring down at their entwined fingers and praying to the Angel that he would survive. Even if it was a lost cause, he would never give up. "Jem, please don't leave me." Will felt stupid for saying this, but it was the most he could choke out. He could not bear to think what would happen in a world without Jem. He always thought that his brother would die of his illness, not in a fight. Jem had stayed strong to this point, and Will would have to continue to stay strong for Jem's sake.

"William, promise me one thing," Jem said meekly, gasping for air.

"Anything," Will managed to say, reaching out to move a strand of sweat soaked hair from his parabatai's forehead. It was all he could do not to break down.

"Keep Tessa safe. Whatever happens, keep her safe. Please."

"I promise, Jian." And with that, Jem let out his last breath.