“He wished he could show her the memory of the very first timehe’d laid eyes upon her. A random moment, his window to herworld, and yet ithad pierced his excuse for a soul as if it were destiny. As if shewere his destiny. A thousand times he’d looked through the realms,but oneglimpse had forever changed their paths.”

“When Eleanor's arm touched his he felt his hands grow cold with deadly fear lest he should lose the shadow brush with which his imagination was painting wonders of her. He watched her from the corners of his eyes as ever he did when he walked with her-- she was a feast and a folly and he wished it had been his destiny to sit forever on a haystack and see life through her green eyes.”

“Elias could not have prepared himself for the moment that he walked into that cottage and laid his eyes on her. Her emerald green eyes--the way they gazed upon him like there were no surroundings or time or sounds to distract her, like he was all that existed.”

“Valentine whirled. Clary, lying half-conscious in the sand, her wrists and arms a screaming agony, stareddefiantly back. For a moment their eyes met—and he looked at her, really looked at her, and sherealized it was the first time her father had ever looked her in the face and seen her. The first and onlytime.“Clarissa,” he said. “What have you done?”Clary stretched out her hand, and with her finger she wrote in the sand at his feet. She didn’t draw runes.She drew words: the words he had said to her the first time he’d seen what she could do, when she’ddrawn the rune that had destroyed his ship.MENE MENE TEKEL UPSHARIN.”

“Now very much against her will, she thought of the way Jace had looked at her then, the blaze of faith in his eyes, his belief in her. He had always thought she was strong. He had showed it in everything he did, in every look and every touch. Simon had faith in her too, yet when he'd held her, it had been as if she were something fragile, something made of delicate glass. But Jace had held her with all the strength he had, never wondering if she could take it--he'd known she was as strong has he was.”

“Her fingers clenched against his shoulder blades. “You don’t know what you’re asking.”“Do I not?” He threaded his hands gently around her neck. “I’m asking you to make love with me.”That word again. She opened her eyes. “Gareth,” she whispered. “Please. Don’t. This is hard enough—”She stopped speaking as his gaze pierced her.Incredible. Last night had seemed so intimate. And yet ithad been so dark that she had not been able to see anything other than flashes of light, reflecting off the surfaceof his skin. Now she could look into his eyes. They were golden-brown. They were not cutting or dismissive. Andeven though she could see the desire smolder inside them, there was something else in them that turned her belly to liquid.”