Cassandra Clare

"Meanwhile," Simon added, "I wanted to tell you that lately I've been cross-dressing. Also, I'm sleeping with your mom. I thought you should know."

"What?" Simon looked alarmed. "I'm not really sleeping with your mom, you know. I was just trying to get your attention. Not that your mom isn't a very attractive woman, for her age."

"It's a girl," Jace said, recovering his composure. "Surely you've seen girls before, Alec. Your sister Isabelle is one."

"Hi, I'm one of the knife-carrying hooligans you met last night in Pandemonium? I'm afraid I made a bad impression and was hoping you'd give me a chance to make it up to- " "SIMON!" Clary held the phone away from her ear as he cracked up laughing. "That is so not funny!"

"Jesus!" Luke exclaimed. "Actually, it's just me," said Simon. "Although I've been told the resemblance is startling."

"I'll get the coffee if you find us a seat. What do you want?" "Just coffee. Black – like my soul."

"Do you want to tell me what this is about, or should I just call the police?" "And tell them what?" Jace said witheringly. "That invisible people are bothering you? Trust me, little girl, the police aren't going to arrest someone they can't see."

"Is there anything I could get for you?" he asked. "Something to drink? Some tea?" "I don't want tea," said Clary, with a muffled force. "I want to find my mother. And then I want to find out who took her in the first place, and I want to kill them." "Unfortunately," said Hodge, "we're all out of bitter revenge at the moment, so it's either tea or nothing."

"Just because you call an electric eel a rubber duck doesn't make it a rubber duck, does it? And God help the poor bastard who decides they want to take a bath with the duckie."

"You guessed? You must have been pretty sure, considering you could have killed me." "I was ninety percent sure." "I see," Clary said. There must have been something in her voice, because he turned to look at her. Her hand cracked across his face, a slap that rocked him back on his heels. He put his hand to his cheek, more in surprise than pain. "What the hell was that for?" "The other ten percent."

"I figured all your classes were stuff like Slaughter 101 and Beheading for Beginners."

"Well there goes my plan for selling them on eBay," Clary muttered. "Selling them on what?" Clary smiled blandly at him. "A mythical place of great magical power."

"If you were half as funny as you thought you were, my boy, you'd be twice as funny as you are."

"I've never asked, but I'm sure he has a fairly stringent policy about random teenagers lurking in his shrubbery."

"Yeah, well, you clearly also couldn't be bothered to call me and tell me you were shacking up with some dyed-blond wanna-be goth you probably met at Pandemonium. After I spent the past three days wondering if you were dead." "I was not shacking up," Clary said, glad of the darkness as the blood rushed to her face. "And my hair is naturally blond," said Jace. "Just for the record."

"He's probably never met a six-foot-tall hot elf-woman in a fur bikini, either,"

"I thought it'd be something cooler, like a van with 'Death to Demons' painted on the outside, or . . ."

"He cut his glance toward Jace, who was walking a few paces ahead of them, apparently conversing with the cat. Clary wondered what they were talking about. Politics? Opera? The high price of tuna?"

"Hodge sent me to wake you up. Actually, he offered to wake you up himself, but since it's five a.m., I figured you'd be less cranky if you had something nice to look at."

"Oh-Simon!" "No, I'm Jace," said Jace patiently. "Simon is the weaselly little one with the bad haircut and dismal fashion sense."

"I always thought cab drivers didn't pay attention to traffic, but this is ridiculous,"

"I suppose you don't have much time for enjoying music," Clary said, thinking of Simon, for whom music was his entire life, "in your line of work." He shrugged. "Maybe the occasional wailing chorus of the damned."

"If you wanted me to rip my clothes off, you should have asked."

"Don't order any of the faerie food," said Jace, looking at her over the top of his menu. "It tends to make humans a little crazy. One minute you're munching a faerie plum, the next minute you're running naked down Madison Avenue with antlers on your head. Not," he added hastily, "that this has ever happened to me."

"Good idea," said Jace. "I shall be Baron Hotschaft Von Hugenstein."

"I didn't," said Jace. "At least, I didn't finish it. It's Magnus Bane." He grinned at Alec mockingly. "Rhymes with 'overcareful pain in the ass.'"

"A diary with no drawings of me in it? Where are the torrid fantasies? The romance novel covers? The-"

"To love is to destroy, and that to be loved is to be destroyed."

"Well, I'd certainly hate to interrupt your pleasant night stroll with my sudden death."

"If there was such a thing as terminal literalism, you'd have died in childhood,"

"Where's Simon?" Clary interrupted. Isabelle wobbled. "He's a rat," she said darkly. "Did he do something to you?" Alec was full of brotherly concern. "Did he touch you? If he tried anything-" "No, Alec," Isabelle said irritably. "Not like that. He's a rat"

"When the self-congratulatory part of the evening is over, maybe we could get back to saving my best friend from being exsanguinated to death?"

"Vials of holy water, blessed knives, steel and silver blades, electrum wire-- not much use at the moment, but it's always good to have a spare--silver bullets, charm of protection, crucifixes, stars of David-" "Jesus," said Clary. "I doubt he'd fit."

"There might be a God, Clary, and there might not, but I don't think it matters. Either way, we're on our own."

"This is bad," said Jace. "You said that before." "It seemed worth repeating."

"I thought you guys said only some of the vampire bikes could fly?" "Only some of them can!" "How did you know this was one of them?" "I didn't!"

"Do you remember back at the hotel when you promised that if we lived, you'd get dressed up in a nurse's outfit and give me a sponge bath?" "Actually, I think you misheard," Clary said. "It was Simon who promised you the sponge bath." Jace looked involuntarily over at Simon, who smiled at him widely. "As soon as I'm back on my feet, handsome." "I knew we should have left you a rat."

"Much like postal service, demon hunters never sleep. 'Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these-'" "You'd be in major trouble if gloom of night did stay you."

"A picnic? It's a little late for Central Park, don't you think? It's full of-" He waved a hand. "Faeries. I know." "I was going to say muggers," said Clary. "Though I pity the mugger who goes after you."

"She was afraid you'd freak out? Start seeing demons in the White House?"

"Well, when I was five, I wanted my mother to let me go around and around inside the dryer with the clothes," Clary said. "The difference is, she didn't let me." "Probably because going around and around inside a dryer can be fatal," Jace pointed out, "whereas pasta is rarely fatal. Unless Isabelle makes it."

"Maybe. Although I doubt most Shadowhunters get a tattoo of Donatello from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on their left shoulder."

"In future, Clarissa," he said, "it might be wise to mention that you already have a man in your bed, to avoid such tedious situations."

"Maybe you should have thought about that before you kissed me," he said. "I kissed you?" "Don't worry, it wasn't that memorable for me, either."

"You really want to know what else it was my mom said about you?" he asked. She shook her head. He didn't seem to notice. "She said you'd break my heart."

"Well you'll have to wait 'til tomorrow. I'm out of commission." He pointed at himself. "Look. Jammies."

"Don't tell me," he said. "You've got a drawing emergency. You need a nude model. Well, I'm not in the mood. You could ask Hodge."

"Jace was still staring at her as if she'd told him she'd found out one of the Silent Brothers doing nude cartwheels in the hallway."

"I can't wait 'til you draw something really complicated, like the Brooklyn Bridge or a lobster. You'll probably send me a singing telegram."

"Only Jace could look cool in pajama bottoms and an old T-shirt, but he pulled it off, probably through sheer force of will."

"You know, most psychologists agree that hostility is really just sublimated sexual attraction." "Ah, that might explain why I so often run into people who seem to dislike me."

"Sorry, are you telling me that your demon-slaying buddies need to be driven to their next assignation with the forces of darkness by my mom?"

"I forgot that's what gets you all hot and bothered, Jace. Girls killing things." "I like anyone killing things," He said equably, "Especially me."

"The nod means, 'I am a badass, and I recognize that you, too, are a badass.'"

"Demonic activity levels? Do they have a device that measures whether the demons inside the house are doing power yoga?"

"Seeing through glamour is easy. It's people that are hard."

"Unfortunately, Lady of the Haven, my one true love remains myself." "At least you don't have to worry about rejection, Jace Wayland." "Not necessarily. I turn myself down occasionally, just to keep it interesting."

"It's the Mortal Cup, Jace, not the Mortal Toilet Bowl."

"Drive fast, mundane. Drive like hell was following you."

"Wait a second." "I never understand why people say that," Luke said, to no one in particular. "I wasn't going anywhere."

"Well, you can go ahead and hang your head out of the car window if you feel like it." Luke laughed. "I'm a werewolf, not a golden retriever."

"That sounds terrific. Just you, your comatose wife, your shell-shocked son, and you daughter who hates your guts. Not to mention that your two kids may be in love with each other. Yeah, that sounds like a perfect family reunion."

"So she had a box. Lots of people have boxes. They keep things in them. It's a growing trend, I hear."

"Honestly Jace, don't you know better than to play with broken glass?"

"Was it weird hearing from Jace? I mean, since you found out . . ." "Yes? Since I found out what? That he's a killer transvestite who molests cats?" "No wonder that cat of his hates everyone."

"Do you think it was a coincidence?" "Do I think what was a coincidence?" "That we wound up in Pandemonium the same night that Jace and the others just happened to be there, pursuing a demon? The night before Valentine came for my mother?" Simon shook his head. "I don't believe in coincidences." "Neither do I." "But I have to admit, coincidence or not, it turned out to be a fortuitous occurrence."

"It's been so long that I think I was unsettled by the idea of feeling like I belonged anywhere. But you made me feel like I belong."

"I'll just have them change the entry in the demonology textbook from 'almost extinct' to 'not extinct enough for Alec. He prefers his monsters really, really extinct.' Will that make you happy?"

"I'm pure at heart. It repels the dirt."

"I don't see anything you need protecting from here," said the boy. "Except some bad decor and a possible mold problem. But you can usually clear that up with bleach."

"Then again, it was Jace. He'd pick a fight with a Mack truck if the urge took him."

"I don't want to be a man. I want to be an angst-ridden teenager who can't confront his own inner demons and takes it out verbally on other people instead."

"A werewolf. Like everyone else here. Except you, and the asshole. And the asshole's sister."

"Jace hadn't seemed perturbed, but knowing him, Simon had no doubt he could kill several people in a single morning and go out for waffles afterward."

"Maybe I should ask for blessings on my mission against all those who wear white after Labor Day."

"However, there is something you should have. Something every Shadowhunter should have." "An obnoxious, arrogant attitude?"

"This kind of reminds me of the time my grandfather gave me his old golf clubs." "Yeah, except you never use those." "And I hope you never have to use that."

"Looks like a bite mark. What have you been doing all day, anyway?" "Nothing. I went walking in the park. Tried to clear my head." "And ran into a vampire?" "What? No! I fell." "On your neck?"

"You see, cuckoos are parasites. They lay their eggs in other birds' nests. When the egg hatches, the baby cuckoo pushes the other baby birds out of the nest. The poor parent birds work themselves to death trying to find enough food to feed the enormous cuckoo child who has murdered their babies and taken their places." "Enormous? Did you just call me fat?" "It was an analogy." "I am not fat."

"I was trained to be an evil mastermind from a young age. Pulling the wings off flies, poisoning the earth's water supply - I was covering that stuff in kindergarten. I guess we're all just lucky my father faked his own death before he got to the raping and pillaging part of my education, or no one would be safe."

"I'm not sure anyone can make Jace do anything. But I think you can remind him that he has something to live for."

"It was like a bad movie, except he didn't actually twirl his mustache."

"Yeah, he's terrified I'll tell everyone that he's always really wanted to be a ballerina."

"Does he normally just lie on the floor like that without moving?"

"Nearly unlimited supernatural power, and all you do is use it to watch reruns. What a waste."

"We need to talk. All of us. About what we're going to do now." "I was going to watch Project Runway. It's on next."

"Magnus snapped his fingers again, menacingly. "Get up." "Or you'll be the next one to go up in smoke," said Simon with relish. "There's no need to clarify my finger snap. The implication was clear in the snap itself.""

"I love round tables. They suit me so much better than a square."

"Is standing by the window muttering about blood something he does all the time?" "No, sometimes he sits on the couch and does it."

"He's quoting Dungeons and Dragons. Ignore him."

"We seem to be trapped in an episode of One Life to Waste. It's all very dull."

"Sure. And Madonna wants me as a backup dancer on her next world tour."

""They can't be worse than vampires. And you did all right with them." "Did all right with them? By which I take it you mean we survived?" "Well. . ." "Faeries," Jace went on, as if Simon hadn't spoken, "are the offspring of demons and angels, with the beauty of angels and the viciousness of demons. A vampire might attack you, if you enter its domain, but a faerie could make you dance until you died with your legs ground into stumps, trick you into a midnight swim and drag you screaming underwater until your lungs burst, fill your eyes with faerie dust until you gouged them out at the roots-" "Jace!" Clary snapped."

"Never doubt my weaseling abilities, Shadowhunter, for they are epic and memorable in their scope."

"Isabelle with her whip and boots and knives would chop anyone who tried to pen her up in a tower into pieces, build a bridge out of the remains, and walk carelessly to freedom, her hair looking fabulous the entire time."

"Traded him for Alec," Clary said. "Not permanently." "No," said Jace. "Just for a few hours. Unless I don't come back. In which case, maybe he does get to keep Alec. Think of it as a lease with an option to buy." "Mom and Dad won't be pleased if they find out." "That you freed a possible criminal by trading away your brother to a warlock who looks like a gay Sonic the Hedgehog and dresses like the Child Catcher from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?" Simon inquired. "No, probably not."

"Every time I annoy him, he retreats into his No Mundanes Allowed tree house."

"That does it, I'm going to get you a dictionary for Christmas this year." "Why?" "So you can look up 'fun.' I'm not sure you know what it means."

"Faeries have no sense of humor." "Oh, I wouldn't say that. There's a pixie nightclub downtown called Hot Wings. Not that I have ever been there."

"Well, I'm not kissing the mundane. I'd rather stay down here and rot." "Forever? Forever's an awfully long time." "I knew it. You want to kiss me, don't you?"

"I guess it's true what they say. There are no straight men in the trenches." "That's atheists, jackass. There are no atheists in the trenches."

"It's not often you get to see someone drool. Especially with such total abandon. Mouth wide open and everything."

"Oh, for goodness' sake, is he really waking us up at this ungodly hour just to prove his love to you or something?"

"Look. In all the years I've known him, there's always been exactly one place Simon wanted to be, and he's always fought like hell to make sure he got there and stayed there." "Where's that?" "Wherever you were."

"It was hard not to laugh. Determination like that in a ten-year-old is something to see. He was like a pit bull." "If pit bulls wore glasses and were allergic to ragweed."

"How to Come Out to Your Parents," she read out loud. "LUKE. Don't be ridiculous. Simon's not gay, he's a vampire."

"I keep thinking about blood. I dream about it. Wake up thinking about it. Pretty soon I'll be writing morbid emo poetry about it."

"Because I foresee many romantic picnics in our future. You, drinking a virgin pina colada. Me, drinking the blood of a virgin."

"Here, I'll practice on you. Mom. I have something to tell you. I'm undead. Now, I know you may have some preconceived notions about the undead. I know you may not be comfortable with the idea of me being undead. But I'm here to tell you that the undead are just like you and me. Well, okay. Possibly more like me than you."

"What they had between them was still as fragile as a flickering candle flame, as delicate as eggshell - and he knew that if it shattered, if he somehow let it break and be destroyed, something inside him would shatter too, something that could never be fixed."

"If you're calling me up just to chat, mundane, you must be lonelier than I thought."

"With Jace, you don't really get to choose your insulting nickname."

""Nothing," chorused Clary, Simon, Alec, Magnus, and Jace, in a surprising and probably never-to-be-repeated unison."

"I wish I could hate you. I want to hate you. I try to hate you. It would be so much easier if I did hate you. Sometimes I think I do hate you and then I see you and I-" "And you what?" "What do you think? Why should I tell you everything about how I feel when you never tell me anything. It's like banging my head on a wall, except at least if I were banging my head on a wall, I'd be able to make myself stop."

"She was thinking of Simon, leaving for a house that no longer felt like home to him, of the despair in Jace's voice as he said I want to hate you, and of Magnus, not telling Jace the truth: that Alec did not want Jace to know about his relationship because he was still in love with him. She thought of the satisfaction it would have brought Magnus to say the words out loud, to acknowledge what the truth was, and the fact that he hadn't said them-had let Alec go on lying and pretending-because that was what Alec wanted, and Magnus cared about Alec enough to give him that. Maybe it was true what the Seelie Queen had said, after all: Love made you a liar."

"You might want to lie down. I find that helps when the crushing sense of horrible realization sets in."

"No offense to anyone involved, but the only one among you who seems formidable is Jace. An untrained Shadowhunter and a scared vampire. . ."

"There might simply be nothing going on that might activate it. Perhaps there isn't anything here that Alec is afraid of." Magnus glanced at Alec and raised his eyebrows. "Boo."

"What about the dark? We could lock you in the basement." "I'm a demon hunter. Clearly, I am not afraid of the dark."

"Admiring yourself? You won't look so pretty when the Clave gets through with you." "You do seem obsessed with my looks. Could it be that all this is because you're attracted to me?"

"He waited, but nothing happened. "Boom? Was something suppose to happen there?""

"You don't know my father. He'll laugh in your face and offer you some money to mail my body back to Idris." "Don't be absurd-" "You're right. Coming to think of it, he'll probably make you pay for the shipping charges yourself."

"No, I'm just a very naughty boy. I do all sorts of bad things. I kick kittens. I make rude gestures at nuns."

"What? I thought you came down right on the side of go directly to jail, do not pass Go, do not collect two hundred dollars. 'The Law is the Law, Isabelle.' What was all that you were spouting?"

"I thought I'd lie on the floor and writhe in pain for awhile. It relaxes me."

"Hearing my achievements recited is certainly gratifying, but I'm not sure what your point is, Alec."

"What makes you think that Valentine's change of plans had anything to do with your brother?" "Because only Jace can piss someone off that much."

"If you're texting Magnus to say 'I think u r kewl,' I'm going to kill you."

"If I made a joke about just dropping in, would you write me off as a cliche?"

"Any last words?" Simon knew what he was supposed to say. Sh'ma Yisrael, adonai elohanu, adonai echod. Hear, oh Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. He tried to speak the words, but a searing pain burned his throat. "Clary,"

""You disappear so completely into your head sometimes. I wish I could follow you." You do. You live in my head all the time."

"What did he promise you?" "Oh, you know. The usual. A lifetime's supply of Knicks tickets."

"We have to get out of here." "No offense, but that's pretty obvious."

"The greatest fear in Jonathan's life is the love he feels for his sister."

"When did you get that?" "The shirt? At Macy's. Winter sale."

""I know you don't have to help us out-it's a favor-" "Stop. I don't do favors, Alec. I do things for you because-- well, why do you think I do them?"

"This is so weird. I keep expecting the truck to start sinking." "I can't believe you just went through what we went through and you think this is weird."

"No. I've always known just who you are. Ever since the first time I saw you getting off the ship from Idris, when you were ten years old-you walked into my heart, just as my own children did when they were born."

"Forgive my parental panic. I tend to get a little nervous when you're not in my immediate line of sight these days." "Oh yeah? How long do you think that's going on for?" "Not long. Five, maybe six years." "Luke!" "I plan to let you start dating when you're thirty, if that helps."

"I really was sick. I swear. I almost died back there on the ship, you know." "I know. Every time you almost die, I almost die myself."

"Or maybe she's trying to take the attention off you," Simon said, almost absently. "You know since your parents don't know you're gay and all." Alec stopped in the middle of the road so suddenly that Simon almost crashed into him. "No," he said, "but apparently everyone else does."

"I know how you think you feel about me, you don't though. You just like me because I'm safe. There's no risk. And then you never have to try to have a real relationship because you can use me as an excuse."

"Love makes us liars. The Seelie Queen told me that. So don't judge me for lying about how I feel. You do it too."

"There is no pretending, I love you, and I will love you until I die, and if there is life after that, I'll love you then."

"I think it's strawberry juice," Isabelle said. "Anyway, it's yummy. Jace?" She offered him the glass. "I am a man," he told her, "and men do not consume pink beverages. Get thee gone, woman, and bring me something brown." "Brown?" Isabelle made a face. "Brown is a manly color."

"Well, when a mommy vampire and a daddy vampire love each other very much..."

"I'm taking that away from you before you get to the India part, Magnus in a sari. Some things you don't ever forget."

""Stay with me. We can see the whole world." "I am with you. I'm not going anywhere." "Is there anything special you want to see? Paris? Budapest? The Leaning Tower of Pisa?" Only if it falls on Sebastian's head, she thought."

"Well, what kind of thing does make you feel calm and peaceful?" "Killing demons. A good clean kill is very relaxing. The messy ones are more annoying, because you have to clean up afterward--" "No. No killing. We're trying to make you feel peaceful. Blood, killing, war, those are all non-peaceful things. Isn't there anything else you like?" "Weapons. I like weapons." "I'm starting to think we have a problematic issue of personal philosophy here."

"I'm a warrior. I was brought up as a warrior. I didn't have toys, I had weapons. I slept with a wooden sword until I was five. My first books were medieval demonologies with illuminated pages. The first songs I learned were chants to banish demons. I know what brings me peace, and it isn't sandy beaches or chirping birds in rain forests. I want a weapon in my hand and a strategy to win." "So you're saying what brings you peace is war." "Now you get it."

"You're pining." "Look who's talking. 'Oh, I love her. Oh, she's my sister. Oh why, why, why--'"

"What does she want?" "Constant meetings. Depositions. The Clave keeps wanting to hear what happened when we fought Sebastian at the Burren. We've all had to give accounts, like, fifty times. How Jace absorbed the heavenly fire from Glorious. Descriptions of the Dark Shadowhunters, the Infernal Cup, the weapons they used, the runes that were on them. What we were wearing, what Sebastian was wearing, what everyone was wearing... like phone sex but boring."

"I have to buy Hanukkah presents. It's mandated by Jewish law. The God of the Jews is an angry God. And very gift-oriented."

"I know Shadowhunters. I have for a long time. You are odd creatures. All fragile nobility and humanity on one side, and all the thoughtless fire of angels on the other. You especially, Herondale, for you have the fire of angels in your blood."

"Defining relationships over here? I see that even as the world plunges into darkness and peril, you two stand around discussing your love lives. Teenagers."

"Heroes aren't always the ones who win. They're the ones who lose, sometimes. But they keep fighting, they keep coming back. They don't give up. That's what makes them heroes."

"But the Silent Brothers have tried everything to separate Jace from the heavenly fire, and they can't do it. It's in his soul. So what's their plan, hitting Sebastian over the head with Jace until he passes out?" "Brother Zachariah said pretty much the same thing. Maybe with less sarcasm."

"We work through this together, remember? No shutting me out. No epic sulks." "I was figuring I could sulk for Idris in the next Olympics." "You and Alec could go for pair sulking. You'd get the gold."

"Whatever it is, don't do it! It's a bad idea." "And why would you say that?" "Because they're the only kind you have. I have known you a long time, and I am absolutely certain on the subject. If you are planning to become a pirate again, it's a bad idea." "I don't repeat my mistakes." "You're right. you make all new and even worse mistakes. Don't do it, whatever it is. Don't lead a werewolf uprising, don't do anything that might accidentally contribute to the apocalypse, and don't start your own line of glitter and try to sell it at Sephora." "That last idea has real merit."

"You said not to do anything that might accidentally contribute to the apocalypse. I know you were joking. But it's less funny when I can't rid myself of the feeling that the apocalypse is coming, somehow. Valentine Morgenstern nearly wiped out the Shadowhunters, and his son is twice as clever and six times as evil."

"If you flinch from it, you give it power over you. Take it, and cut your brother's throat with it, and take back the honor of your blood."

"He said the Brothers owed the Herondales because of old ties. If he dies, it will be--" "--No one's fault. I remember when he put the protection spell on you. I told him I never wanted you to have anything to do with the Shadowhunters. He said it might not be my choice. He said that the pull of the Shadowhunters is like a riptide-- and he was right. I thought we had fought free, but here we are, back in Alicante, back in a war, and there sits my daughter with blood on her face and a Morgenstern blade in her hands."

"Everyone should die with someone holding onto them."

"Clary looked down at herself. She was wearing a pair of flannel pajamas, too short in the leg and tight in the chest, with fire trucks on them. Luke raised an eyebrow. 'I think those were mine when I was a kid.' 'You can't seriously tell me there wasn't anything else you could have put me in.' 'If you insist on trying to get yourself killed, I insist on being the one who chooses what you wear while you recover,' Jocelyn said with a tiny smirk. 'The pajamas of vengeance,' Clary muttered."

"I want to see Brother Zachariah." "He is well. You need not worry yourself about him." "I want to see him. I nearly killed him at the Citadel--" "That was not you. That was the heavenly fire. And it did anything but harm him." "He said when I met him that he believes a debt is owed to the Herondales. I'm a Herondale. He'd want to see me." "And then you intend to depart the Basilias?" "There is nothing wrong with me. I don't need to be in the infirmary. Surely you could be using your resources more fruitfully on the actually wounded. Look, you can either bring me to Brother Zachariah or I can wander around yelling for him until he turns up." "You are a great deal of trouble, Jace Herondale." "So I've been told."

"Jace Herondale. Once more a Herondale is the bringer of my deliverance. I should have anticipated."

"Herondales. I had almost forgotten. No other family does so much for love, or feels so much guilt for it. Don't carry the weight of the world on you, Jace. It's too heavy for even a Herondale to bear."

"Weapons, when they break and are mended, can be stronger at the mended places. Perhaps hearts are the same."

"Above her another window opened, and Alec leaned out. 'What's going on?' His gaze landed on Clary and the others, his eyebrows drawing together in confusion. 'What is this? Early caroling?' 'I don't carol,' said Simon. 'I'm Jewish. I only know the dreidel song.'"

"I'm sorry. It's just-- you know me. I only have two reactions to bad news. Uncontrollable rage and then a sharp left turn into boiling self-hatred."

"'There,' he said, pointing to the leafy tunnel. 'That goes farther into Faerie. And that'--he pointed ahead--'is the road to Hell. That's where we're going.' 'I always heard it was paved with good intentions,' said Simon. 'Place your feet upon the way and find out, Daylighter,' said the Queen."

"You don't all have to look so worried. I was doing fine." "Fine? If your definition of 'fine' suddenly includes becoming a snack for a flying death turtle, then we are going to have words, Jace Lightwood--"

"'Help? Of course we can help,' Malcolm said, turning around to face them. 'You need to get a message through? There's always carrier kittens.' 'You mean pigeons,' said Bat. 'Carrier pigeons.' Malcolm shook his head. 'Carrier kittens. They're so cute, no one can deny them. Fix your mouse problem, too.'"

"'We don't have a mouse problem,' said Maia. 'We have a megalomaniac problem.' She looked at Catarina. 'Sebastian's determined to drive wedges between Downworlders and Shadowhunters. Kidnapping the representatives, attacking the Praetor, he won't stop there. All of Downworld will know soon enough what's going on. The question is, where will they stand?' 'We will stand bravely with you!' Malcolm announced. Catarina looked darkly at him, and he quailed. 'Well, we will stand bravely near you. Or at least within earshot.'"

"Warlocks are independent. And hard to get hold of. Like cats, but with fewer tails. Well, there are some tails. I don't have one myself--"

"I want to be mad at you." "Oh? What for?" "Risking your life. Except you didn't, really. You were just standing there and the demon grabbed you. Admittedly, you were being obnoxious to Simon." "If a demon grabbed me every time I was obnoxious to Simon, I'd have died the day you met me."

"I just... I don't know how I got here." "I could probably retrace our steps. Straight through the faerie corridor, left at the decimated village, right at the blasted plain of the damned, sharp U-turn at the heap of dead demon--"

"Shadowhunters. They get in your blood, under your skin. I've been with vampires, werewolves, faeries, warlocks like me-- and humans, so many fragile humans. But I always told myself I wouldn't give my heart to a Shadowhunter. I've so nearly loved them, been charmed by them-- generations of them, sometimes: Edmund and Will and James and Lucie... the ones I saved and the ones I couldn't. And Clary, too, I loved, for I watched her grow up. But I've never been in love with a Shadowhunter, not until Alec. For they have the blood of angels in them, and the love of angels is a high and holy thing."

"Sometimes it comes down to a choice. Between saving one person and saving the whole world. I've seen it happen, and I'm selfish enough to want the person who loves me to choose me. But Nephilim will always choose the world. I look at Alec and I feel like Lucifer in Paradise Lost. "Abashed the Devil stood, And felt how awful goodness is." He meant it in the classic sense. 'Awful' as in inspiring awe. And awe is well and good, but it's poison to love. Love has to be between equals."

"'I did not make a pie,' Alec repeated, gesturing expressively with one hand, 'for three reasons. One, because I do not have any pie ingredients. Two, because I don't actually know how to make a pie.' He paused, clearly waiting. Removing his sword and and leaning it against the cave wall, Jace said warily, 'And three?' 'Because I am not your bitch,' Alec said, clearly pleased with himself."

"I always thought being a Shadowhunter meant that I had to approve of what the Clave did. I thought otherwise I wasn't loyal. I made excuses for them. I always have. But I feel like whenever we have to fight, we're fighting a war on two fronts. We fight the enemy and we fight the Clave, too. I don't--I just don't know how I feel anymore."

"The first time you saw me, I bet you didn't think, He's going to get me killed." "The first time I saw you, I wished you'd go back to Idris. You know I don't like change." "I grew on you, though." "Eventually. Like a moss, or a skin disease."

"'Sure, he likes you,' said Alec. 'You're heterosexual and have low expectations of father figures.' 'I think they'll probably put that on my gravestone. "He Was Heterosexual and Had Low Expectations."'"

"'Who's there?' he called, then frowned. 'Of course,' he added, addressing the darkness all around, 'even I, as a Shadowhunter, have seen enough movies to know that anyone who yells 'Who's there?' is going to be instantly killed.'"

"Jace shook his head. 'I don't care if I did just set myself on fire,' he said. 'I'm not hugging you.' Simon sighed and dropped his arms. 'Your loss,' he said. 'If you'd gone in, I would've let you, but honestly it would have been a pity hug.'"

"'How do you people stand snow?' he demanded. "'You people'?" Bat bristled. 'Do you mean werewolves?' 'I mean East Coasters,' said Malcolm. 'Who would have weather if they could avoid it? Snow, hail, rain. I'd move to Los Angeles in a jiffy. Did you know that a jiffy is an actual measurement of time? It's a sixtieth of a second. You can't do anything in a jiffy, not really.'"

"'You know,' Maia said. 'Catarina said you were pretty harmless--' Malcolm looked pleased. 'Catarina said I was pretty?'"

"Why are you filming this?" "When the cat is away, the mice will play... Always good to remind the mice that in this case, when the cat is away, the mice will all be eaten by demons. I'm going to send this video file to everyone one of our Downworlder contacts around the world. Just a reminder that there are demons we need Shadowhunters to destroy. That's why they exist."

"Why didn't you say something?" "Because, it's not like there's animals I can feed on here." "There's us." "I don't want to feed on my friends' blood." "Why not? We've been here before, haven't we? Last time you were starving, I gave you my blood. It was a little homoerotic, maybe, but I'm secure in my sexuality."

"Straight people. Why can't they control themselves?"

"Maybe you should try looking a little less smug about what you did last night." "I do not look smug. Well, no more than usual." "Please, I can read your face like a very open, very pornographic book. I wish I couldn't."

"Is our strategy when we actually see him still 'trust me,' by the way?" "It's still 'trust me.'" "Oh, good. For a second there I was worried there was going to be an actual plan with, like, steps we could follow. You know, something reassuring."

"Are we long-lost friends, by chance?" "No, we never got along all that well. Long-lost acquaintances? Compadres? My cat liked you."

"Brother Zachariah. Months January through December of the Hot Silent Brothers Calendar."

"I remember you said this war was a story of Lightwoods and Herondales and Fairchilds, and it is, and Blackthorns and Carstairs as well, and it's amazing to see them. But when I do, it's as if I see the past that stretches out behind them. I watch Jace Herondale play, and I see the ghosts that rise up in the music. Don't you?"

"I feel a kinship with you, too, you who have lost both brother and father. I know you have been judged and spoken of as the daughter of Valentine Morgenstern, and now the sister of Jonathan. There will always be those who want to tell you who you are based on your name or the blood in your veins. Do not let people decide who you are. Decide for yourself. That freedom is not a gift; it is a birthright. I hope that you and Jace will use it."

"Has anyone seen Church? I think Zachariah just stole our cat. I swear I saw him putting Church in the backseat of a car."

"Simon was looking at Jace as if he were both fascinating and also a little alarming. 'Did I-- did we ever-- did I bite you?' Jace touched the scar on his throat. 'I can't believe you remember that.' 'Did we... roll around on the bottom of a boat?' 'Yes, you bit me, yes, I kind of liked it, yes, let's not talk about it again,' said Jace."

"One must always be careful of books," said Tessa, "and what is inside them, for words have the power to change us."

"Inanimate objects are harmless indeed, Mr. Mortmain. But one cannot always say the same of the men who use them."

"I recall what you said to me once, that words have the power to change us. Your words have changed me, Tess; they have made me a better man than I would have been otherwise. Life is a book, and there are a thousand pages I have not yet read. I would read them together with you, as many as I can, before I die."

"When two people are at one in their inmost hearts, they shatter even the strength of iron or bronze."

"'No glamour?' Magnus inquired. 'You said that you wanted me to join you on travels that would be a ceaseless round of debauchery,' Ragnor told him. Magnus beamed. 'I did!' He paused. 'Forgive me. I do not see the connection.' 'I have found I have better luck with the ladies in my natural state,' Ragnor told him. 'Ladies enjoy a bit of variety. There was a woman in the court of Louis the Sun King who said none could compare to her "dear little cabbage." I hear it's become quite a popular term of endearment in France. All thanks to me.'"

"Don't worry. I can teach you every word that you need to know right now. One of them is fiesta. "What does that mean?" "It means 'party' Another important word is juerga. "What does that word mean? [...] Magnus, does that word also mean 'party?'" "I would apologize, except that I feel no regret at all."

"Try to be a little sensible." "We're on holiday!" "You're always on holiday. You've been on holiday for thirty years!" "I can't get enough adventure. And adventure can't get enough of me."

"He paused and admired the bromeliads, huge iridescent flower-like bowls made out of petals, shimmering with color and water. There were frogs inside the jewel-bright recesses of the flowers. Then he looked up into the round brown eyes of a monkey. 'Hello, companion,' said Magnus. The monkey made a terrible sound, half snarl and half hiss. 'I begin to rather doubt the beauty of our friendship,' said Magnus."

"But of course you should have retreated at once from the dominant male. Are you an idiot? You are extremely lucky he was distracted from ripping out your throat by the fruit. He thought you were trying to steal his females." "Pardon me, but we did not have the time to exchange that kind of personal information. I could not have known! Moreover, I wish to assure both of you that I did not make any amorous advances on female monkeys. [...] I didn't actually see any, so I didn't get the chance."

"You could not tell a potential customer, expecting a learned and ancient magician, that you were not eve fully grown. Magnus had started lying about his age young, and had never dropped the habit. It did get a little embarrassing sometimes when he forgot what lie he'd told to whom. Someone had once asked him what Julius Caeser was like, and Magnus had stared at him for much too long and said, 'Not tall?'"

"It is something to remember, if we feel distant from humans. We owe a great deal to human love. We live forever by the grace of human love, which rocked strange children in their cradles and did not despair and did not turn away. I know which side of my heritage my soul comes from. Our fathers were demons. Our mothers were heroes."