Clockwork Prince by Cassandra Clare

Author:Cassandra Clare
Language: eng
Format: MOBI, mobi, epub, azw3, pdf
Tags: Europe, Social Issues, Secret Societies, London (England), Family, Juvenile Fiction, Paranormal, Fantasy & Magic, General, Fantasy, Horror & Ghost Stories, Other, Supernatural, Orphans & Foster Homes, Historical, Demonology, Great Britain, Fiction, Orphans, Identity
ISBN: 9781416975885
Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books
Published: 2011-12-06T00:00:00+00:00

Tessa could not get to sleep. She lay unmoving on her back, staring up at the ceiling. There was a crack across the plaster of it that looked sometimes like a cloud and sometimes like a razor, depending on the shift of the candlelight.

Dinner had been tense. Apparently Gabriel had told Charlotte that he refused to return and partake in the training anymore, so it was going to be only Gideon working with her and Sophie from now on. Gabriel had refused to say why, but it was clear Charlotte blamed Will; Tessa, seeing how exhausted Charlotte looked at the prospect of more conflict with Benedict, had felt heavy with guilt for having brought Will with her to the training, and for having laughed at Gabriel.

It did not help that Jem had not been at dinner. She had wanted so badly to speak to him today. After he had avoided her eyes at breakfast and then been “ill” at dinner, panic had twisted her stomach. Was he horrified by what had happened between them the night before—or worse, sickened? Maybe in his secret heart of hearts, he felt as Will did, that warlocks were beneath him. Or maybe it had nothing to do with what she was. Maybe he was simply repelled by her wantonness; she had welcomed his embraces, not pushed him away, and hadn’t Aunt Harriet always said that men were weak where desire was concerned, and that women were the ones who had to exercise restraint?

She hadn’t exercised much last night. She remembered lying beside Jem, his gentle hands on her. She knew with a painful inner honesty that if things had continued, she would have done whatever he wanted. Even now, thinking about it, her body felt hot and restless; she shifted in bed, punching one of the pillows. If she had destroyed the closeness she shared with Jem by allowing what had happened last night, she would never forgive herself.

She was about to bury her face in the pillow, when she heard the noise. A soft rapping at the door. She froze. It came again, insistently. Jem. Her hands shaking, she leaped from the bed, ran to the door, and threw it open.

On the threshold stood Sophie. She wore her black housemaid’s dress, but her white cap had come askew and her dark curls were tumbling down. Her face was very white and there was a spot of blood on her collar; she looked horrified and almost sick.

“Sophie.” Tessa’s voice betrayed her surprise. “Are you all right?”

Sophie looked around fearfully. “May I come in, miss?”

Tessa nodded and held the door open for her. When they were both safely inside, she bolted it and sat down on the edge of her bed, apprehension like a lead weight in her chest. Sophie remained standing, twisting her hands in front of her.

“Sophie, please, what is it?”

“It’s Miss Jessamine,” Sophie burst out.

“What about Jessamine?”

“She . . . It’s just to say, I’ve seen her . . .” She broke off, looking wretched.

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