Evangeline Rosewell has too much love to give. Fortunately, the three people she loves the most are exactly the same way.
( THE INFERNAL DEVICES TRILOGY )
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CHAPTER ONE HEADLESS LEROY
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Evangeline Rosewell couldn't sleep. That wasn't uncommon for her. Ever since her parents had passed away, she had found that the nights were haunting to her, the darkness pressing down on her, making her mind restless and cloudy. Sleeping alone made her feel alone, and so she didn't sleep at all, or at least, she didn't sleep well. Sometimes, she would light candles and read until her eyes grew too heavy to bear. Other times, she would slip into training gear and sneak into the training room, where she would go through familiar moves until her body ached. But mostly, she would slip on her dress robe and slippers and simply wander through the empty and dark halls of the Institute, humming to herself as she explored familiar halls.
That was what she chose to do that night. She told herself she simply wanted to roam the halls, to lose herself in her own thoughts, but she knew deep in her heart that wasn't true. The truth was that anxiety was clawing at her stomach, embedded in her skin, making her hands shake and her scalp tingle uncomfortably. Her dear friend had become ill three days ago, and it was worse this time, worse than usual. Jem had fallen so ill that the Silent Brothers had to be called, and Evangeline had been so worked up that Charlotte had ordered her away from Jem's room. Charlotte would've ordered Will away as well, firmly believing all their hovering simply wasn't helping, but Will was Jem's parabatai, so he had been allowed to stay close.
Normally, Evangeline would have followed Charlotte's orders. She didn't have much respect for the Law itself, finding many of them too tedious to even memorize, but Charlotte—she respected Charlotte. She loved Charlotte, like an older sister, perhaps. The head of the London Institute had been nothing but kind to her, and Evangeline didn't want to return that kindness with disobedience that would make her worry. But it was Jem, and Evangeline was constantly worrying, so it wasn't long before she found her way to the hall that held Jem's bedroom. She didn't bother knocking. It was late, so Evangeline needn't worry about anyone stumbling upon her. Everyone was asleep. She twisted the handle to his door and eased it open, wincing when the hinges creaked.
It was quiet when she opened the door, far too quiet for her liking. She poked her head through the gap, her curly hair falling past her shoulders. She didn't necessarily want to hear Jem coughing his lungs out, but when he was this seriously ill, she much preferred the sound of coughing over silence. Every time he grew ill, she was terrified that it would be his last time being ill at all. That it was going to be the last time she would see him smile or laugh or hear him play the violin. As she looked into his dark room now, her heart jumped into her throat when she realized how still everything in the room was. Please, no, not yet, she thought desperately, only to release a huge sigh when the clouds shifted outside and moonlight filtered through the window.
