Cassandra Clare

“For a moment she just stared, wondering if there were another girl staying here, or if Sebastian had taken to cross-dressing.”

“Speaking of hope, did you see that shot Alec got off with his bow? That's my boyfriend.”

“Though Alec had never seen the occupants of the first floor loft, they seemed to be engaged in a tempestuous romance. Once there had been a bunch of someone's belongings strewn all over the landing with a note attached to a jacket lapel addressed to "A lying liar who lies." Right now there was a bouquet of flowers taped to the door with a card tucked among the blooms that read I'M SORRY. That was the thing about New York: you always knew more about your neighbors' business than you wanted to.”

“I've noticed the Fair Folk often say 'perhaps' when there is a truth they want to hide," Clary said. "It keeps you from having to give a straight answer.""Perhaps so," said the Queen with an amused smile."'Mayhap' is a good word too," Alec suggested."Also 'perchance,'" Izzy said."I see nothing wrong with 'maybe'," said Simon. "A little modern, but the gist of the idea comes across.”

“No one blames her.""That never matters," said Alec. "Not when you blame yourself.”

“Basia coquum," Simon said. "Or whatever their motto is.""It's 'Descensus Averno facilis est.' 'The descent into hell is easy," said Alec. "You just said "Kiss the cook.""Dammit," said Simon. "I knew Jace was screwing with me.”

“Church was doing what he often did when dropped - lying on his back with all four legs in the air, pretending to be dead in order to induce guilt in his owners.”

“You are the central point about which his world spins.”

“It was strange how your world could shift on its axis and everything you trusted could invert itself in what seemed like no time at all.”

“Excellent. I've been told I have a lovely, melodic reading voice." He flipped the book open to the front page, where the title was printed in ornate script. Across from it was a long dedication, the ink faded now and barely legible, though Clary could make out the signature: With hope at last, William Herondale.”

“You may have the worst timing since Napoleon decided the dead of winter was the right moment to invade Russia.”

“How was the Seelie Queen?""Same as usual.""Raging bitch, then?""Pretty much.”

“There is no one religion, no one truth and no myth lacks meaning”

“And what if I'm the one who kills him?" "My heart is your heart," he said, "My hands are your hands.”

“Isabelle was holding an umbrella. It was clear plastic, decorated with decals of colorful flowers. It was one of the girliest things Simon had ever seen, and he didn’t blame Alec for ducking out from under it and taking his chances with the rain.”

“Simon rolled his eyes. “It’s a good thing we know the person who’s dating Magnus Bane,” he said. “Otherwise, I get the feeling we’d all just lie around all the time wondering what the hell to do next. Or trying to raise the money to hire him by selling lemonade or something.”Alec looked merely irritated by this comment. “The only way you could raise enough money to hire Magnus by selling lemonade is if you put meth in it.”

“Do you remember,” he said, “when we first met and I told you I was ninety percent sure putting a rune on you wouldn’t kill you—and you slapped me in the face and told me it was for the other ten percent?” Clary nodded.“I always figured a demon would kill me,” he said. “A rogue Downworlder. A battle. But I realized then that I just might die if I didn’t get to kiss you, and soon.” Clary licked her dry lips. “Well, you did,” she said. “Kiss me, I mean.”He reached up and took a curl of her hair between his fingers. He was close enough that she could feel the warmth of his body, smell his soap and skin and hair.“Not enough,” he said, letting her hair slip through his fingers. “If I kiss you all day every day for the rest of my life, it won’t be enough.”

“Of course it's not okay with me, I'm a teenage boy. As far as I'm concerned, this is the worst thing that's happenedd since I found out why Magnus was banned from Peru" - Jace”

“For as is often the happenstance with that which is precious and lost, when you find him again, he may well not be quite as you left him.”

“He does what he wants, and I don’t ask,” he said. “He could bring a six-foot tall pink rabbit in a bikini back home with him if he wanted to. It’s not my business. But if you’re asking me if I’ve brought any girls back here, the answer is no. I don’t want anybody but you.”

“She opened her mouth to answer, but he was already kissing her. She had kissed him so many times—soft gentle kisses, hard and desperate ones, brief brushes of the lips that said good-bye, and kisses that seemed to go on for hours—and this was no different. The way the memory of someone who had once lived in a house might linger even after they were gone, like a sort of psychicimprint,herbody rememberedJace.Remembered the way he tasted, the slant of his mouth over hers, his scars under her fingers, the shape of his body under her hands.”

“You mean you haven’t been going on romantic dates with Sebastian while you’ve been away from me?”“I tried,” Jace said, “but no matter how liquored up you get him, he just won’t put out.”

“There is that. I might have better luck telling him I’m in love with him. Jace thinks everyone’s in love with him anyway.”“But I,” said Clary, “actually am.”

“She closed her hands around his and shut her eyes, imagining their bed cut free of this strange prison, floating through space or on the surface of the ocean, just the two of them alone.”

“He remembered Simon warning him, with wryness, that Clary had the nuclear bomb of boyfriends.”

“Does she still love you?""I don't think so," Magnus said dryly. "She wasn't very pleasant the last time I saw her. Of course, that could be because I've got an eighteen year-old boyfriend with a stamina rune and she doesn't."Alec sputtered. "As the person being objectified, I ... object to that description of me.”

“Jordan doesn't really care about the blood," Simon said now. "His whole thing is about me being comfortable with what I am. Get in touch with your inner vampire, blah, blah."Clary slid in next to him onto the bed and hugged a pillow. "Is your inner vampire different from your...outer vampire?""Definitely. He wants me to wear midriff-baring shirts and a fedora. I'm fighting it."Clary smiled faintly. "So your inner vampire is Magnus?”

“Maia pulled on a braid. "I ran into Eric of all people. He told me what happened and that you'd backed out of Millenium Lint's gigs for the past two weeks because of it.""Actually, they changed their name," Jordan said. "They're Midnight Burrito now.”

“He grinned. It was a wicked grin, the kind that made the blood in Clary's veins run a little faster. "You want to go on a date?"Caught off guard, she stammered. "A wh-what?""A date," Jace repeated. "Often 'a boring thing you have to memorize in history class,' but in this case, 'an offering of an evening of blisteringly white-hot romance with yours truly.""Really?" Clary was not sure what to make of this. "Blisteringly white-hot?""It's me," said Jace. "Watching me play Scrabble is enough to make most women swoon. Imagine if I actually put in some effort.”

“Despite the heat in her face, it felt as if cold needles of ice were running up and down her veins. "What are you doing here?"He drew back slightly, looking disappointed. "That isn't really an answer to my question, you know. I was expecting more of a "Hallelujah Chorus.' I mean, it's not every day your boyfriend comes back from the dead.""I already knew you weren't dead." She spoke through numb lips. "I saw you in the library. With--""Colonel Mustard?""Sebastian.”

“She turned and looked at him. "Ducks?" she said again.A smile tugged the edge of his mouth. "I hate ducks. Don't know why. I just always have.”

“And then we met you, and it was like he woke up. You couldn't see it, because you'd never known him any different. But I saw it. Hodge saw it. Alec saw it -why do you think he hated you so much? It was like that form the second we met you. You thought it was amazing that you could see us, and it was, but what was amazing to me was that Jace could see you too.”

“He grinned. “I was trying to remember all the deadly sins the other day,” he said. “Greed,envy, gluttony, irony, pedantry…”“I’m pretty sure irony isn’t a deadly sin.”“I’m pretty sure it is.”“Lust,” she said. “Lust is a deadly sin.”“And spanking.”“I think that falls under lust.”“I think it should have its own category,” said Jace. “Greed, envy, gluttony, irony, pedantry, lust, and spanking.”

“And I don’t see how Sebastian can be all that fond of Jace, either. He was horribly jealous of him all his life. He thought Jace was Valentine’s favorite,” added Clary.“Not to mention,” Magnus noted, “that Jace killed him. That would put anyone off.”

“I’d do almost anything for you,” Simon said quietly. “I’d die for you. You know that. But would I kill someone else, someone innocent? What about a lot of innocent lives? What about the whole world? Is it really love to tell someone that if it came down to picking between them and every other life on the planet, you’d pick them? Is that—I don’t know, is that a moral sort of love at all?”

“I don’t like keeping her in the dark,” Jace said.“We’ll tell her in a week. What difference does a week make?”Jace gave him a look. “Two weeks ago you were dead.”“Well, I wasn’t suggesting two weeks,” said Sebastian. “That would be insane.”

“Now that I'm in your mind, want to see some naked mental pictures of Jace?”

“That thing that looks like me but isn't? He'll burn down the world if Sebastian wants him to, and laugh while he's doing it. That's what you're saving, Clary. That. Don't you understand? I'd rather be dead—”

“Missing, one stunningly attractive teenage boy. Answers to 'Jace' or 'Hot Stuff”

“There are some people—people the universe seems to have singled out for special destinies. Special favors and special torments. God knows we're all drawn toward what's beautiful and broken; I have been, but some people cannot be fixed. Or if they can be; its only by love and sacrifice so great that it destroys the giver.”

“I know what you said! My mother would never have belonged to something like that. Some kind of-some kind of hate group.""It wasn't-," Jace began, but Hodge cut him off."I doubt," he said slowly, as if the words pained him, "that she had much choice."Clary stared. "What are you talking about? Why wouldn't she have had a choice?""Because," said Hodge, "she was Valentine's wife.”

“Scrawny little mundane bastard.”

“There’s more to honesty than … than an arrangement of words. They say faeries can’t lie, but you lie in your intentions, your attitude, your demeanor —”

“He banged on the side of the carriage. "Thomas! We must away at once to the nearest brothel. I seek scandal and low companionship.”

“First, the candy and flowers, then the apology letters, then the ravenous demon hordes. In that order." -Jace Wayland”

“In Will's experience, when someone who ought to be afraid wasn't, the reason was rarely bravery. Usually it meant that they knew something you didn't.”

“I am brave," Will said..."Yes, you are," Magnus said, and kissed him. It wasn't the most dramatic kiss, but Will failed his free arm as if a bee had landed on him; Magnus had to hope Camille would assume this was passion. When they broke apart, Will looked stunned. So did Camille, for that matter....Will swung sideways...He dashed across the room, retrieved it, and tucked it into Magnus's waistcoat pocket. Then, with a wink at Camille that, Magnus thought, God alone knew how she would interpret, he sauntered out of the room.”

“I have the benefit of experience which tells me that sulking solves nothing”

“No one can live with nothing.”

“We who are immortal, we are chained to this life by a chain of gold, and we dare not sever it for fear of what lies beyond the drop.”