The Shadowhunters

Wrath of Herondales

Tessa sat in Jem's white Jeep. Jem was helping Cecily with her things and Cecily was going to live with Jem and Tessa –

at least until she cools down.

They were going to go to Tessa's house first to pick up her things before heading to Jem's house.

As the car began to move, heading to Tessa's house, she looked at the Herondale property. The twinkling lights, the ballrooms, even the fountain and the lift in their house…

Tessa was not poor, but compared to them, she was. Compared to them, she was practically a beggar on the streets. That was the crazy part of it all – just because Tessa struggled

with her living finances, she's immediately seen as a gold digger. She would never do that though. She didn't even know who the Herondales were until she arrived at the Institute.

Cecily and Tessa were sitting in the backseat and Tessa was in the middle seat so that Cecily could use her shoulder as a pillow. Cecily's eyes were closed and she was softly

snoring, but her cheeks were still wet with salty tears.

"Don't believe a word she says, Tessa," Jem said, eyes firmly on the road. Tessa thought back to the time when Jem was yelling at Mrs. Herondale. His silver eyes were steeled

with anger and hatred, cold and haunting. His posture was rigid and not like the relaxed Jem Tessa had came to know.

That Jem had scared Tessa, but it offered cool comfort when the anger was not directed at her, but for her.

"I don't," Tessa sighed. "I just hate that she judges so quickly."

"Do you still want to date Will?" Jem asked abruptly.

Tessa didn't know how to respond. On one hand, she wouldn't mind dating Will… But on the other… being friends with him was so comfortable, as easy as breathing. But he was also

unpredictable, able to surprise Tessa. Will was Tessa's stress­reliever, someone she could banter with easily.

Would dating him change that?

"Never mind," Jem said. Tessa could not see his face, but something told her that she would be better off not seeing it. "Would you like to stay friends with Will?" Jem asked.

"Yes," Tessa said immediately.

"Then you cannot, under any circumstance let Linette know," Jem said grimly. "Most likely, we're on her black list because we 'took away her children' or something bogus like that.

She can ruin you very easily. You could be kicked out of the Institute. For me, Linette isn't going to do anything yet, because I'm still powerful and I have things she wants. So

you're going to be under my protection until you're out of the Institute. Then, it's out of my hands," Jem sighed.

"Under your protection?" Tessa asked.

"From tonight, Linette can immediately see that you're friends with the most influential people in London – me, Will, Cecily, Gabriel and Gideon. She's not going to completely mess

with you if we're your friends because that could risk her business relationships with me and Benedict Lightwood.

"Oh…" Tessa said. "I really hate business," she sighed.

Jem chuckled. "Me too."

…

Jem's house was absolutely… Jem­like. There were plants everywhere, offering fresh air and oxygen. The house had plenty of large windows, making it seem very open and it was