Better Angels

Chapter Sixteen: William

I knew no one here, none of these people were my friends. They were just strangers that Victoria had never told me about, and I didn't know why. I always knew that she had secrets but I never expected her to be living double or even triple lives.

After Victoria had brought our minds together and we all saw what Gaea was turning her into, everything just seemed overwhelming, and I felt powerless. I was incapable to help her and heal her when she needed me the most. The Shadowhunters were mainly in shock of what they'd seen happen to their childhood friend or more practically their sister. The one with the black hair, Isabelle, seemed to be the most torn up about it, but she didn't cry. All she said was, "Please not again, not like Max."

Max.

Another Shadowhunter had whispered that name before in sorrow as I held her on the beach last summer. She'd been unwilling to share who Max was or what had happened to him, but now it seemed clear. He'd died and Victoria and Isabelle blamed themselves. And I blamed myself for what happened to Victoria, because that's what you do when a loved one is hurt: you blame yourself. Even if it's not something that you can control you feel guilty.

I feel guilty.

Victoria had been tortured for weeks on end with whips, poisoned blades, and an Infernal Cup. I couldn't protect her. Not that she often needed protecting, in all honesty she could kick my ass in any form of combat, and she was the one that did the protecting by always taking out that one enemy you didn't see behind you. But the one time that she needed protecting was the one time that I wasn't there.

I sighed in frustration as I ran my hands across my scalp attempting to ease the pressure that had taken up residence there for the past few days. All of this fighting seemed to be pointless, there always seemed to be a newer and bigger bad guy out there, and this time we all just happened to get settled with the worst of the worst. People... things that had no remorse. That Sebastian guy just radiated crazy, and I knew that when I had the chance I would kill him for what he did to Victoria and to everyone else. The Shadowhunters still had yet to give me the full story on this guy they obviously all knew, and the Flamels were just as secretive with their information. I really hoped that there wasn't another enemy from their life that teamed up with Gaea. Gods know that we already had a tough enough battle ahead of us without more powerful douchebags joining her.

"Are you leaving?" A voice came from the doorway. I looked up from my small backpack now filled to the brim with armor and t-shirts. I nodded and stood up from the bed slinging the backpack and, striding across the room to meet Magnus at the door.

"There isn't anything for me here, and there is this thing called a war that's going on." A sad smirk spread across my face as I knew that it was something Victoria would have said.

"Yeah, I noticed." Magnus' cat eyes flicked to the window on the other side of the room as if trying to assess the war from just that tiny patch of cool sunlight.

"It's getting bad out there isn't' it?" I asked quietly thinking about my mom and her family. We still had no idea how anywhere else was affected after Gaea rose.

"Bad enough for the Council to summon all Shadowhunters back to Idris," Magnus replied sadly as he ran his palm through thick black hair. I picked up that it was a nervous habit of his, and decided not to push on the subject of Idris.

"Where will you go, Will?"

"Back to Camp Halfblood, I kinda left in the middle of a Civil War."

Magnus raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You should probably be getting back then." I nodded suddenly put on edge by the warlock's persistent stare. He knew something that I didn't and he wasn't going to share.