Fragile Hearts (TID - Will Herondale fanfic)

Chapter 41: 16 Cheyne Walk

ELEANORA'S POV
  I shiver from the cold, which causes Will to glance at me. I force myself not to return the look.

  16 Cheyne Walk. Funny Magnus would go there. I've been there several times, to say the least. I'm familiar with the walk, and don't have to pay much attention to where I'm turning. We reach, and I realise we haven't spoken to each other the whole walk here.

  The house is tall, with a wrought iron fence about it and a prominent bay window. Set into the fence is an ornately worked gate; it is open, and we slip inside and make our way up to the front door, where Will reaches out to ring the bell.

  I stop him before he can.

  "Are you ready?" I ask, my fingers encircling his wrist.

  Will looks at my fingers. He takes my hand and presses it to his lips gently. His warmth seems to spread through me.

  "I couldn't be any more," Will says confidently.

  I nod and he goes and rings the bell.

  Woolsey Scott opens the door. He carries a pipe in his left hand, and as he examines Will and I at his leisure, he exhales, sending out a cloud of sweet-smelling, cough-inducing smoke. "Finally broken down and admitted you're in love with me, have you?" he inquires of Will. "I do enjoy these surprise midnight declarations." He leans against the door frame and waves a languid ringed hand. "Go along, have at it."

  I look at Will, and he seems speechless. Will Herondale is speechless. I laugh. I can tell by his look that this isn't a position he finds himself in often, and he does not like it.

  "Hello, Woolsey," I say, still laughing, which makes Will look at me. "No, no midnight declarations for tonight. So, Magnus came here?"

  "Eleanora Nightstorm! It has been a while," Woolsey says. "They told me you left for the Institute but I never saw you there."

  I shrug. "Where is Magnus?"

  "Here," Magnus says, appearing behind Woolsey. "I told you that Will was coming."

  Woolsey grinned. "You never said Ella was. Magnus, I thought he loved the other girl."

  I'm confused by that. The other girl would be Tessa.

  Woolsey laughs at my reaction. "You two would make a good pair. They would, wouldn't they, Magnus?"

  Magnus rolls his eyes.

  "Your note to me did have something to do with demon summoning, didn't it?" Will asks, looking at Magnus. "This isn't you . . . calling in your favor, is it?"

  Magnus shakes his rumpled head. "No. This is business, nothing else. Woolsey's been kind enough to let me lodge with him while I decide what to do next."

  "I say we go to Rome," says Scott. "I adore Rome."

  "All well and fine, but first I need the use of a room. Preferably one with little or nothing in it."

  Scott removes his monocle and stares at Magnus. "And you're going to do what in this room?" His tone is more than suggestive.

  "Summon the demon Marbas," says Magnus, flashing a grin.

  Scott chokes on his pipe smoke. "I suppose we all have our ideas about what constitutes an enjoyable evening . . ."

   "Woolsey." Magnus runs his hands through his rough black hair. "I hate to bring this up, but you do owe me. Hamburg? 1863?"

  Scott throws his hands up. "Oh, very well. You may utilize my brother's room. No one's used it since he died. Enjoy. I'll be in the drawing room with a glass of sherry and some rather naughty woodcuts I had imported from Romania."