"I had been trapped for twenty years in that thing," Marbas snarled. "Of course I remember being freed. Imagine it, if you can, idiot mortal, years of blackness, darkness, no light or movement-and then the break, the opening. A nd the face of the man who imprisoned you hovering just above your gaze. "
"I am not the man who imprisoned you-"
"No. That was your father. But you look just like him to my eyes. " The demon smirked. "I remember your sister. Brave girl, fending me off with that blade she could hardly use. "
"She used it well enough to keep you away from us. Thats why you cursed us. Cursed me. Do you remember that?"
The demon chuckled. "A ll who love you will find only death. Their love will be their destruction. It may take moments, it may take years, but any who look upon you with love will die of it. A nd I shall begin it with her. "
Will felt as if he were breathing fire. His whole chest burned. "Yes. "
The demon cocked its head to the side. "A nd you summoned me that we might reminisce about this shared event in our past?"
"I called you up, you blue-skinned bastard, to get you to take the curse off me. My sister-El a-she died that night. I left my family to keep them safe.
Its been five years. Its enough. Enough!"
"Do not try to engage my pity, mortal," said Marbas. "I was twenty years tortured in that box. Perhaps you too should suffer for twenty years.
Or two hundred-"
Will s whole body tensed. Before he could fling himself toward the pentagram, Magnus said, in a calm tone, "Something about this story strikes me as odd, Marbas. "
The demons eyes flicked toward him. "A nd what is that?"
"A demon, upon being let out of a Pyxis, is usual y at its weakest, having been starved for as long as it was imprisoned. Too weak to cast a curse as subtle and strong as the one you claim to have cast on Will. "
The demon hissed something in a language Will didnt know, one of the more uncommon demon languages, not Cthonic or Purgatic. Magnuss eyes narrowed.
"But she died," Will said. "Marbas said my sister would die, and she did.
That night. "
Magnuss eyes were still fixed on the demons. Some kind of battle of Will s was taking place silently, outside Will s range of understanding. Final y Magnus said, softly, "Do you really wish to disobey me, Marbas? Do you wish to anger my father?"
Marbas spat a curse, and turned to Will. Its snout twitched. "The half-caste is correct. The curse was false. Your sister died because I struck her with my stinger. " It swished its yel owish tail back and forth, and Will remembered El a knocked to the ground by that tail, the blade skittering from her hand.
"There has never been a curse on you, Will Herondale. Not one put there by me. "
"No," Will said softly. "No, it isnt possible. " He felt as if a great storm were blowing through his head; he remembered Jems voice saying the wall is coming down, and he envisioned a great wal that had surrounded him, isolated him, for years, crumbling away into sand. He was free-and he was alone, and the icy wind cut through him like a knife. "No. " His voice had taken on a low, keening note. "Magnus . . . "
"Are you lying, Marbas?" Magnus snapped. "Do you swear on Baal that you are tell ing the truth?"
"I swear," said Marbas, red eyes rol ing. "What benefit would it be to me to lie?"
Will slid to his knees. His hands were locked across his stomach as if they were keeping his guts from spil ing out. Five years, he thought. Five years wasted. He heard his family screaming and pounding on the doors of the Institute and himself ordering Charlotte to send them away. And they had never known why. They had lost a daughter and a son in a matter of days, and they had never known why. And the others-Henry and Charlotte and Jem-and Tessa-and the things he had done- Jem is my great sin.
"Wil is right," said Magnus. "Marbas, you are a blue-skinned bastard. Burn and die!"
Somewhere at the edge of Will s vision, dark red flame soared toward the ceiling; Marbas screamed, a howl of agony cut off as swiftly as it had begun.
The stench of burning demon flesh fil ed the room. And still Will crouched on his knees, his breath sawing in and out of his lungs. Oh God, oh God, oh God.
Gentle hands touched his shoulders. "Will," Magnus said, and there was no humor in his voice, only a surprising kindness. "Will, I am sorry. "
"Everything Ive done," Will said. His lungs felt as if he couldnt get enough air. "Al the lying, the pushing people away, the abandonment of my family, the unforgivable things I said to Tessa-a waste. A bloody waste, and all because of a lie I was stupid enough to believe. "
"You were twelve years old. Your sister was dead. Marbas was a cunning creature. He has fooled powerful magicians, never mind a child who had no knowledge of the Shadow World. "
Will stared down at his hands. "My whole life wrecked, destroyed . . . "
"Youre seventeen," Magnus said. "You cant have wrecked a life youve barely lived. And dont you understand what this means, Will ? Youve spent the last five years convinced that no one could possibly love you, because if they did, they would be dead. The mere fact of their continued survival proved their indifference to you. But you were wrong. Charlotte, Henry, Jem -your family-"
Will took a deep breath, and let it out. The storm in his head was ebbing slowly.
"Tessa," he said.
"Well. " Now there was a touch of humor to Magnuss voice. Will realized the warlock was kneeling beside him. I am in a werewolfs house, Will thought, with a warlock comforting me, and the ashes of a dead demon mere feet away. Who could ever have imagined? "I can give you no assurance of what Tessa feels. If you have not noticed, she is a decidedly independent girl. But you have as much a chance to win her love as any man does, Will, and isnt that what you wanted?" He patted Will on the shoulder and withdrew his hand, standing up, a thin dark shadow looming over Will. "If its any consolation, from what I observed on the balcony the other night, I do believe she rather likes you. "
Magnus watched as Will made his way down the front walk of the house.
Reaching the gate, he paused, his hand on the latch, as if hesitating on the threshold of the beginning of a long and difficult journey. The moon had come out from behind the clouds and shone on his thick dark hair, the pale white of his hands.
"Very curious," said Woolsey, appearing behind Magnus in the doorway.
The warm lights of the house turned Woolseys dark blond hair into a pale gold tangle. He looked as if hed been sleeping. "If I didnt know better, Id say you were fond of that boy. "
"Know better in what sense, Woolsey?" Magnus asked, absently, stil watching Will, and the light sparking off the Thames behind him.