Fragile Hearts (TID - Will Herondale fanfic)

Chapter 43: Demon Pox

ELEANORA'S POV
  The room explodes in a hubbub. Charlotte races over to Sophie; Henry calls after her; Will leaps from his chair and starts dancing in a circle. Tessa stays where she is, seemingly stunned, and Jem remains beside her. I slide into the seat Will occupied, watching with my mouth hanging open as Will starts singing a song about how he had been right about demon pox all along.

"Demon pox, oh, demon pox,

Just how is it acquired?

One must go down to the bad part of town

Until one is very tired.

Demon pox, oh, demon pox

I had it all along—

No, not the pox, you foolish blocks,

I mean this very song-

For I was right, and you were wrong!"

  "Will!" Charlotte shouts over the noise. "Have you LOST YOUR MIND? CEASE THAT INFERNAL RACKET! Jem—"

  Jem, rising to his feet, claps his hands over Will's mouth. "Do you promise to be quiet?" he hisses into his friend's ear.

  Will nods, blue eyes blazing. Everyone is looking at Will in amazement.

  Jem lets him go. "All right, then."

  Will slides to the floor, his back against my legs, and throws his arms up.

  "A demon pox on all your houses!" he announces, and yawns as I laugh.

  "Oh God, weeks of pox jokes," says Jem. "We're for it now."

  "It can't be true," said Charlotte. "It's simply—demon pox?"

  "How do we know Gideon did not lie to Sophie?" asks Jem, his tone mild. "I am sorry, Sophie. I hate to have to say it, but the Lightwoods are not trustworthy. . . ."

  "They are to those they care about," I say, leaning forward in the armchair. "I assure you, Gideon will not lie about something like this."

  "I've seen Gideon's face when he looks at Sophie," Will says. "It was Tessa who told me first that Gideon fancied our Miss Collins, and I thought back, and I realized it was true. And a man in love—a man in love will tell anything. Betray anyone." He glances up at me for a split second before looking back at Charlotte.

  "Besides, Benedict was holding a demon woman on his lap at that party of his, kissing her," Will goes on. "She had snakes for eyes. Each man to his own, I suppose. Anyway, the only way you can contract demon pox is by having improper relations with a demon, so . . ."

  "Nate told me Mr. Lightwood preferred demon women," says Tessa. "I don't suppose his wife ever knew about that."

  "Wait." I look at Jem, who has suddenly gone very still. "Will—what are the symptoms of demon pox?"

  "Quite nasty," Will says with relish. "It begins with a shield-shaped rash on one's back, and spreads over the body, creating cracks and fissures in the skin—"

  Jem expels a gasp of breath. "I-I shall return," he says, "in just a moment. By the Angel—"

  And he vanishes out the door. I blink.

  "You don't think he has demon pox, do you?" Henry inquires of no one in particular.

  "Oh, shut up, Henry," Will says. The door bangs open and Jem enters the room, panting, and holding a piece of parchment. "I got this," he says, "from the Silent Brothers—when Tessa and I went to see Jessamine." He flashes Tessa a slightly guilty look from under his fair hair.