The Infernal Devices Reimagined

A Hive of Scum and Villainy

"How could you know?" Will demanded, "How you possibly know?"

"I'm beginning to think that you'd rather I let your new friends die," Jem said, leaning against the bricked alleyway.

"I want to know, James, because I'd rather people not have the inexplicable ability to find me whenever it pleases them. They could find me when I'm doing something terribly illegal, for one."

"You could rectify it by not committing whatever terribly illegal act you were going to commit."

"Why would I do something so sensible, James?" Jem chuckled, "To be severe for a moment-"

"Will Herondale asking for severity? The world must be at its end."

"-I would like to know how you did it."

Jem sighed and shuffled his weight. Will cast a look back at Ada and Oscar's Magical Solutions. Both Ada and Oscar were working diligently to clean up the mess he and those automatons had left. Surely there would be thousands of shillings in damages they'd have to pay for. Though he had done all he had to help them, Will could not help but feel a pang of guilt. He tore his eyes away from the shop to keep it from eating him alive.

"I'll tell you , Will," Jem said, "It's not at all what you think it would be. I somehow... know. Whenever you're in trouble, I suddenly just know where you are, that I have to go there."

"Why do you reckon it happens, Jem?"

Jem shook his head, "I don't know." Will leaned against the wall next to Jem, looked up at the fogged over sky. His top hat threatened to fall off his head."You don't think I'm lying to you, do you Will?"

"Of course not, I just don't understand it. If you can sense when I need help, why can't I?"

"You tend to need help more than I do."

"I suppose that's true," Will readjusted his hat, "In any case, did you finally find anything in that mountain of papers that might help us find Mortmain?"

"Nothing pertaining to his location, but I did find out that he 'inherited' the company from his 'father', Dr. Hollingworth Mortmain, who he looks a great deal like. It gave him the incentive to change the course of his business from trading to mechanics."

"Ah," Will clucked his tongue against his teeth, "The old Vampire Trick."

"Very clever of him," Jem nodded, "How do you think he extended his life so much? Warlocks were surely involved."

"Well, if warlocks are the concern, there's only one place to go."

"How do you suggest we have a civil conversation with Ragnor Fell? Even if the man's distain for shadowhunters wasn't so well documented, we can't quite walk up to his house with things the way they are now."

"Who said a thing about Ragnor Fell?"

***

"I can't believe you've done this," Jem said as he stared at a an ifrit and a Kelpie drunkenly argue, "I cannot believe that we are here."

"Be quiet sometimes," Will squinted into the crowd of merrymakers, scanning for the man he needed.

"I will certainly not be quiet, William Herondale. You really have outdone yourself this time. A an ifrit den in the East End? I try to defend you in front of Jessie and Charlotte, but you make it quite difficult with the ways you act."

Will frowned. Though it was true that Jem never truly approved of his activities, it was unlike him to be adamantly against them. He studied Jem's face and saw not disgust, but anger in his eyes. "Is there a special reason you take such offense with this place?"