“You are mortal. You age, you die. If that is not hell, pray tell me, what is?”

“But unlike you," said Jace, "there is nothing of hell in us.""You are mortal; you age; you die," the Queen said dismissively. "If that is not hell, pray tell me, what is?”

“Hell is cold. Do you remember when you told me that? We were in the cellars of the Dark House. Anyone else would have been panicking, but you were as calm as a governess, telling me Hell was covered in ice. If it is the fire of Heaven that takes you from me, what a cruel irony that would be.”

“Tell me you love me. Tell me you love me and will fight with me.”

“If Jem dies, I cannot be with Tessa,” said Will. “Because it will be as if I were waiting for him to die, or took some joy in his death, if it let me have her. And I will not be that person. I will not profit from his death. So he must live.” He lowered his arm, his sleeve bloody. “It is the only way any of this can ever mean anything. Otherwise it is only —”“Pointless, needless suffering and pain? I don’t suppose it would help if I told you that was the way life is. The good suffer, the evil flourish, and all that is mortal passes away,” Magnus said.“I want more than that,” said Will. “You made me want more than that. You showed me I was only ever cursed because I had chosen to believe myself so. You told me there was possibility, meaning. And now you would turn your back on what you created.”

“Please tell me you did not bring me out here so you could tell me a very boring story about your sister.”

“You can tell me to stop any time you want, but you won't.”