Clockwork Prince (The Infernal Devices 2)

"As dull as Nate Gray is," Will said, "his head is not actual y fil ed with gears, Henry. Hes a human. "

"He may bring one of those creatures with him. We dont know hel be there unaccompanied. If nothing else, that clockwork coachman of Mortmains-"

"I think Henry is right," said Tessa, and they all whirled to face her. Jem flushed again, though more lightly this time, and offered her a crooked smile; Will s eyes ran up and down her body once, not briskly.

He said, "You dont look like a boy at all. You look like a girl in boys clothes. "

She couldnt tell if he was approving, disapproving, or neutral on the subject. "Im not trying to fool anyone but a casual observer," she replied crossly. "Nate knows Jessamines a girl. And the clothes Will fit me better once Ive Changed into her. "

"Maybe you should do it now," said Will.

Tessa glared at him, then shut her eyes. It was different, Changing into someone you had been before. She did not need to be holding something of theirs, or to be near them. It was like closing her eyes and reaching into a wardrobe, detecting a familiar garment by touch, and drawing it out. She reached for Jessamine inside herself, and let her free, wrapping the Jessamine disguise around herself, feeling the breath pushed from her lungs as her rib cage contracted, her hair slipping from its twist to fal in light corn silk waves against her face. She pushed it back up under the hat and opened her eyes.

They were all staring at her. Jem was the only one to offer a smile as she blinked in the light.

"Uncanny," said Henry. His hand rested lightly on the object on the table.

Tessa, uncomfortable with the eyes on her, moved toward it. "What is that?"

"Its a sort of . . . infernal device that Henrys created," Jem said. "Meant to disrupt the internal mechanisms that keep the clockwork creatures running. "

"You twist it, like this"-Henry mimed twisting the bottom half of the thing in one direction and the top half in another-"and then throw it. Try to lodge it into the creatures gears or somewhere that it Will stick. It is meant to disrupt the mechanical currents that run through the creatures body, causing them to wrench apart. It could do you some damage too, even if you arent clockwork, so dont hang on to it once its activated. Ive only two, so . . . "

He handed one to Jem, and another to Charlotte, who took it and hung it from her weapons belt without a word.

"The message has been sent?" Tessa asked.

"Yes. Were only waiting for a reply from your brother now," said Charlotte.

She unrol ed a paper across the surface of the table, weighting down the corners with copper gears from a stack Henry must have left there. "Here,"

she said, "is a map that shows where Jessamine claims she and Nate usual y meet. Its a warehouse on Mincing Lane, down by Lower Thames Street. It used to be a tea merchants packing factory until the business went bankrupt. "

"Mincing Lane," said Jem. "Center of the tea trade. Also the opium trade.

Makes sense Mortmain might keep a warehouse there. " He ran a slender finger over the map, tracing the names of the nearby streets: Eastcheap, Gracechurch Street, Lower Thames Street, St. Swithins Lane. "Such an odd place for Jessamine, though," he said. "She always dreamed of such glamour-of being introduced at Court and putting her hair up for dances.

Not of clandestine meetings in some sooty warehouse near the wharves. "

"She did do what she set out to do," Tessa said. "She married someone who isnt a Shadowhunter. "

Will s mouth quirked into a half smile. "If the marriage were valid, shed be your sister-in-law. "

Tessa shuddered. "I-its not that I hold a grudge against Jessamine. But she deserves better than my brother. "

"Anyone deserves better than that. " Will reached under the table and drew out a rol ed-up bunch of fabric. He spread it across the table, avoiding the map. Inside were several long, thin weapons, each with a gleaming rune carved into the blade. "Id nearly forgotten I had Thomas order these for me a few weeks ago. Theyve only just arrived. Misericords-good for getting in between the jointure of those clockwork creatures. "

"The question is," Jem said, lifting one of the misericords and examining the blade, "once we get Tessa inside to meet Nate, how do the rest of us watch their meeting without being noticed? We must be ready to intervene at any moment, especial y if it appears that his suspicions have been aroused. "

"We must arrive first, and hide ourselves," said Will. "It is the only way. We listen to see if Nate says anything useful. "

"I dislike the idea of Tessa being forced to speak with him at all," muttered Jem.

"She can well hold her own; I have seen it. Besides, he is more likely to speak freely if he thinks himself safe. Once captured, even if the Silent Brothers do explore his mind, Mortmain may have thought to put blocks in it to protect his knowledge, which can take time to dismantle. "

"I think Mortmain has put in blocks in Jessamines case," said Tessa. "For whatever it is worth, I cannot touch her thoughts. "

"Even more likely he Will have done it in Nates, then," said Will.

"That boy is as weak as a kitten," said Henry. "He Will tell us whatever we want to know. And if not, I have a device-"

"Henry!" Charlotte looked seriously alarmed. "Tel me you have not been working on a torture device. "

"Not at all. I call it the Confuser. It emits a vibration that directly affects the human brain, rendering it incapable of tell ing between fiction and fact. "

Henry, looking proud, reached for his box. "He Will simply spil everything that is in his mind, with no attention to the consequences . . . "

Charlotte held up a warning hand. "Not right now, Henry. If we must utilize the . . . Confuser on Nate Gray, we Will do so when we have brought him back here. At the moment we must concentrate on reaching the warehouse before Tessa. It is not that far; I suggest Cyril takes us there, then returns for Tessa. "

"Nate Will recognize the Institutes carriage," Tessa objected. "When I saw Jessamine leaving for a meeting with Nate, she was most decidedly going on foot. I shall walk. "

"You Will get lost," said Will.