Ed Westwick to return to TMI Family.

YES Shadowhunters! sexy, awesome Ed Westwick is going to return to the recording studios for the Audiobook of Clockwork Prince. Which means that he'll talk in his amazing british accent. Are you exited? because I am. 

YA Sisterhood interviews Jace!

We all shadowhunter fans know that a while ago was this huge YA Crush Tourney and our beloved Jace won. Now YA Sisterhood has an exclusive inteview with Jace:

Exclusive Interview with Jace, Winner of the 1st Annual YA Crush Tournament

First off, congratulations to you, Jace, on the winning the very 1st YA-Sisterhood Summer Crushin' Tournament!  All of your fans turned out in full force to throw their support behind you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

YA-Sisterhood:  How does it feel to be the winner of the YA Crush Tourney bringing in over 20,000 votes just in the last round? How big is your ego now?

Jace:  It's not that I have a big ego. It's that I'm realistic. No one likes the falsely modest.


YA-Sisterhood:  Going into the tournament, who did you think your biggest competition was?

Jace:  I've heard a few people mention that Edward Cullen fellow so I admit he had me on my toes. We had some plans once to form an emo band together, paint our nails black, and go on the road, but a cage match works too.

YA-Sisterhood:  Were you intimidated by the Zachary fan's rhymes, Braveheart quotes, and army of kilts?

Jace:  Well, it reminded me of some advice my dad gave me once. That would be my adoptive dad, not the evil one or the dead one. Very confusing, I know. Anyway, he said it isn't that brave men don't feel fear, it's that they forge on regardless. There may have been a few moments when my competition's flawless command of iambic pentameter caused me some anxiety, by I trusted I would win out in the end.


YA-Sisterhood:  Would you ever wear a kilt?

Jace:  Perhaps if Clary were to insist on it, and I could get her to wear, say, a cheerleading uniform, I would consider it. The thing is I'm used to doing a lot of jumps and flips when I fight demons and I don't quite see how one manages to keep the kilt from flying up when you're upside-down, and suddenly everyone's looking at your underwear. And I don't think people should just get to see me in my underwear without paying a respectable sum beforehand.

YA-Sisterhood:  Now that you are officially The King of YA Crushes, what is your next goal in life?

Jace:  I think I'll probably return to the thing I was doing before, which was saving the world and looking hot doing it.

YA-Sisterhood:  If we have a tournament of Heroines, how do you think Clary will fare?

Jace:  My girl would kick ass, as she always does.


YA-Sisterhood:  BTW-What did Clary say about you winning the tournament?

Jace:  I believe she said, "Oh, great, now you're going to be intolerable." What she meant of course, was, "I love you even more now than I ever thought possible."

YA-Sisterhood:  If we have a tournament of villains, who would you pick to win, Valentine or Sebastian? Why?

Jace:  Sebastian. Valentine honestly thought he was doing the right thing, however misguided he was in the end. Sebastian just wants what he wants and will do anything to get it. I think there are things he'd be willing to do that even Valentine would have recoiled at.


YA-Sisterhood:  How do you feel about having all your thoughts aired to the public during the Manor Scene? It was lovely for us, but how was it for you?

Jace:  I think I came off pretty well. Sensitive, with that touch of torment. I would have liked more description of my excellent technique, but I suppose it was my viewpoint.

YA-Sisterhood:  So, Dirty Sexy Club Scene...

Jace:  What can I say. I'm a giver.


Here are a few final questions from your YA Crush Tourney Fans:


YA-Sisterhood:  If you weren't a Shadowhunter, but a Mundane, what do you think you'd do with your life? School? Career?

Jace:  Well, I have an aptitude for killing things, so it's good that I have a job that channels my abilities. Clary says that as a mundane I would probably wind up being either an actor or a serial killer, although I don't think they pay you for the second one.

YA-Sisterhood:  We know your real name has been a big confusion, what do you consider your real name?

Jace:  Jace Lightwood.

YA-Sisterhood:  Will you marry me? Sorry I had to ask.... (That was actually from many fans)

Jace:  I don't think Clary would be pleased, but you can put your name on the list — it's in alphabetical order.


YA-Sisterhood:  I know this probably doesn't surprise you, but many of your fans are of an older age (Cougars), what do you think about that? 

Jace:  These ripped abs and badass tats are available to be admired by all, regardless of age or gender. Just as long as you remember that Jace Wayland-Morgenstern-Herondale-Lightwood is strictly a "look, don't touch" proposition. I am taken.

YA-Sisterhood:  Anything else you'd like to say to #TeamJace and your many supporters in the Tournament?

Jace:  Never have so many given so much to someone so hot.

Thank you so much Jace for letting us interview you!  Congratulations again on your victory!  Enjoy your year on the Crush Tourney Throne!

Source: YA Sisterhood

Clockwork Prince ARCs

Cassie has shared this photo to all of us shadowhunters. She likes killing us bit by bit.

Clockwork Prince Teaser Trailer!

Teaser Trailer is here!!! Thank you so much Vania, now I'll kill to the full trailer.

Latest on Lily Collins

Hi fellow Shadowhunters! This will be a post about the latest news about Lily Collins for a week or so. 

Recap!

Lily in Abduction LA premiere. (Sept 15)

Lily in the cover of Teen Vogue Magazine

Lily shopping with her mom Jill. (I just posted this because I love her outfit)

A picture of Lily in Abduction movie. (Because I think she looks beautiful)

And lastly Lily on Jimmy Kimmel Interview, she's so awesome, and I loved the 'Uncle Elton' thing that is totally cool. 

CoLS September Teaser

City of Lost Souls September teaser  

Magnus and Izzy, mid-book.


“Alec isn’t happy,” said Magnus, as if she hadn’t spoken.
“Of course he isn’t,” Isabelle snapped. “Jace —”
“Jace,” said Magnus, and his hands made fists at his sides. Isabelle stared at him. She had always thought that he didn’t mind Jace; liked him, even, once the question of Alec’s affections had been settled. Out loud, she said:
“I thought you were friends.”
“It’s not that,” said Magnus. “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, it’s only by love and sacrifice so great it destroys the giver.”
Isabelle shook her head slowly. “You’ve lost me. Jace is our brother, but for Alec — he’s Jace’s parabatai too —”
“I know about parabatai,” said Magnus, his voice rising in pitch. “I’ve known parabatai so close they were almost the same person; do you know what happens, when one of them dies, to the one that’s left —”
“Stop it!” Isabelle clapped her hands over her ears, then lowered them slowly. "How dare you, Magnus Bane,” she said. “How dare you make this worse than it is —”
“Isabelle.” Magnus’ hands loosened; he looked a little wide-eyed, as if his outburst had startled even him. “I am sorry. I forget, sometimes . . . that with all your self-control and strength, you possess the same vulnerability that Alec does.”
“There is nothing weak about Alec,” said Isabelle.
“No,” said Magnus. “To love as you choose, that takes strength. The thing is, I wanted you here for him. There are things I can’t do for him, can’t give him . . .” For a moment Magnus looked oddly vulnerable. “You have known Jace as long as he has. You can give him understanding I can’t. And he loves you.”
“Of course he loves me. I’m his sister.”
“Blood isn’t love,” said Magnus, and his voice was bitter. “Just ask Clary.”

Lily Collins for ASOS

Pretty Lily Collins covers ASOS mag october edition. 



Photos:

Clockwork Prince Book Trailer

Today lovely Vania (who shoots the TMI and ID book-trailers) has start shooting the CP Book trailer. We have a very interesting choice for our Will. And he's a face that pretty much any of us know. I'm talking about Carson Nicely who has already portrait another beloved character, Alec Lightwood in the City of Fallen Angels book trailer.


If you want to follow Carson on Twitter, his account is in the Links tab.


Here are some pictures of Will, Jem and Tessa.

Romantic Scene Alec and Magnus CoLS

This will be the last teaser (and reward) because of Jace's victory in the YA Crush Tourney.

***

So here's the bonus part of the reward teasers: A scene from CoLS about Magnus and Alec. I get asked constantly if they will be in it and I hope this is somewhat reassuring that yes, indeed, they will be, with their very own plotline and all that. It's a short scene because it's smack in the middle of a giant spoiler. In fact I had to take out everything that even indicated where they were. Somewhere dark . . .but light can come from the strangest of sources.




Alec dropped his witchlight. The light winked out, and he fell to his knees, scrabbling on the ground among the trash and the dirt, grit under his fingernails. At last something lit up before his eyes, and he rose to see Magnus standing before him, the witchlight in his hand. It shone and flickered with a strangely-colored light.

“It shouldn’t illuminate like that,” Alec said, automatically. “For anyone but a Shadowhunter.”

Magnus held it out. The heart of the witchlight was glowing a dark red, like the coal of a fire.

“Is it because of your father?” Alec asked.

Magnus didn’t reply, only tipped the runestone into Alec’s palm. As their hands touched, his face changed. “You’re freezing cold.”

“I am?”

“Alexander . . .” Magnus pulled him to his feet, and the witchlight flickered between them, its color changing rapidly. Alec had never seen a witchlight runestone do that before. He put his head against Magnus’ shoulder and let Magnus hold him. Magnus’ heart didn’t beat like human hearts did: it was slower, but steady. Sometimes Alec thought it was the steadiest thing in his life.

“Kiss me,” Alec said, tipping his head up; Magnus eyes were sad and shadowed, and unreadable.

Magnus put his hand to the side of Alec’s face and gently, almost absently, ran his thumb along Alec’s cheekbone. When he bent to kiss him he smelled like sandalwood. Alec clutched the sleeve of Magnus’ jacket, and the witchlight, held between their bodies, flared up in colors of rose and blue and green as their lips touched.

* * *

 

Love Scene from Clockwork Prince

So here's the second part of the reward teasers: A love scene from Clockwork Prince. It is VERY SPOILERY. It is interesting, I think, because it shows us a different side of a character we know. Whereas yesterday's teaser was, ah, very physical, this one is more ..psychological and romantic. If you don't like being spoiled, really, don't read it! It's only 3 months till the books comes out anyway. ;)


Tomorrow: Magnus and Alec.








He flinched away from her, and Tessa dropped her hand, hurt. “Jem, what it is it? You don’t want me to touch you?”


“Not like that,” he flared, and then flushed even darker than before.


“Like what?” She was honestly bewildered; this was behavior she might have expected from Will, but not from Jem: this mysteriousness, this anger.


“As if you were a nurse and I were your patient. You think because I am ill I am not like —” He drew a ragged breath. “Do you think I do not know,” he went on more quietly, “that when you take my hand, it is only so that you can feel my pulse? Do you think I do not know that when you look into my eyes it is only to see examine my pupils, to see how much of the drug I have taken? If I were another man, a normal man, I might have hopes, presumptions even; I might -—” His words seemed to catch; either because he realized he had said too much or because he had run out of breath.


She shook her head, feeling her plaits tickle her neck. “This is the fever speaking, not you.”


His eyes darkened, and he began to turn away from her. “You can’t even believe I could want you,” he said in a half-whisper. “That I am alive enough, healthy enough —”


“No.” Without thinking, she caught at his arm. He stiffened. “James, that's not at all what I meant —”


He curled his fingers around her hand, where it lay on his arm. His own scorched her skin, hot as fire. And then he turned her, and drew her toward him.


They stood face to face, chest to chest. His breath stirred her hair. She felt the fever rising off him like mist off the Thames; sensed the pounding of the blood through his skin, saw with a strange clarity the pulse at his neck, the light on the pale curls of his hair where it lay against his paler throat. Prickles of heat ran up and down her skin, bewildering her. This was Jem — her friend, steady and reliable as a heartbeat. Jem did not set her skin on fire or make the blood rush fast inside her veins until she was dizzy.


Did he?


“Tessa,” he said. She looked up at him. There was nothing steady or reliable about his expression. His silver eyes were dark, his cheeks flushed. As she raised her face, he brought his down, his mouth slanting across hers, and even as she froze in surprise they were kissing.

Lily Collins for Esquire Mag

Beautiful Lily Collins tells a joke for Esquire Magazine and Photoshoot.

Source: Esquire Mag

Dirty Sexy Club Scene Here!

Finally to recap what we won (because Jace won the Tourney) here's what Cassie will post for the next three days.

1) The unedited version of DSCS (Dirty Sexy Club Scene) 

2) A spicy teaser of a scene from CP (Tessa and .. someone)

3) And one of Magnus and Alec's romantic scenes from CoLS 

plus, she will donate $500 dollars to Reading is Fundamental the same charity that The Mortal Instruments jewerly store supports.

And now, what we've been waiting for, what we fought for, here it is DSCS!!

Now keep in mind a version of this does still exist in the books, but it is much less . . . well. You'll see. I wrote this in Mexico, probably having had too much mezcal, and I was trying to capture a mood of really dark, tipping over the edge sensuality, doing things that are probably a bad idea, you get the picture. I also recall reading bits of this aloud to Holly Black, Paolo Bacigalupi, Ellen Kushner, Sarah Rees Brennan, and Delia Sherman, who never dropped her knitting. So it can't be that naughty...can it?
I think for those who really hate spoilers you might want to avoid this because the things about it that may be the most shocking are not the sexy bits but the beginning....
* * *
"What's going on?" It was Jace, having fought his way free of the pack of dancers. More of the shimmering stuff had gotten on him, silver drops clinging to the gold of his hair. "Clary?"
"Sorry," she said, getting to her feet. "I got lost in the crowd."
"I noticed," he said. "One second I was dancing with you, and the next you were gone and a very persistent werewolf was trying to get the buttons on my jeans undone." He took Clary's hand, lightly ringing her wrist with his fingers. "Do you want to go home? Or dance some more?"
"Dance some more," she said, breathlessly. "Is that all right?"
"Go ahead." Sebastian leaned back, his hands braced behind him on the fountain's edge, his smile like the edge of a straight razor. "I don't mind watching."
Something flashed across Clary's vision: the memory of a bloody handprint. It was gone as soon as it had come and she frowned. The night was too beautiful to think of ugly things. She looked back at her brother only for a moment before she let Jace lead her back through the crowd to its edge, near the shadows, where the press of bodies was lighter. Another ball of colored light burst above their heads as they went, scattering silver, and she tipped her head up, catching the salt-sweet drops on her tongue.
Jace stopped and swung her toward him. She could feel the silver liquid trickling down her face like tears. He pulled her against him and kissed them, as if he were kissing tears away, and his lips were warm on her face and made her shiver. She reached for the zip on his army jacket, ripped it down, slid her hands inside and over the cotton of his shirt, then under the hem, her nails scratching lightly over his ribs. He stopped and cupped the back of her neck with his hand, leaning to whisper in her ear. Neither of them could be said to be dancing any more: the hypnotic music went on around them, but Clary barely noticed it. A couple dancing past laughed and made a derisive comment in Czech: she couldn't understand it, but suspected the gist was get a room.
Jace made an impatient noise and then he was pulling her after him again, through the last of the crowd and into one of the shadowy alcoves that lined the walls.
This alcove was conical, with a low stone pedestal in the center on which an angel statue, about three feet tall, stood. It was made of black basalt, but its eyes were glass, like doll eyes, and its wings were silver. The floor was slippery and damp. They skidded across it to fetch up against a wall, Jace with his back to it, and then he was kissing her, bruising hard and hungry kisses. He tasted salt-sweet, too, and moaned as she licked the taste off his lips. Her hands threaded through his hair. It was dark in the alcove, so dark Jace was just an outline of shadows and gold. She gripped the edges of his jacket, pushing it off his shoulders; it fell to the ground and he kicked it away. Her hands came up under his shirt, clawing at his back, fingers digging into the skin there, softness layered over hard muscle.
He kissed her harder and she clutched his shoulders as he sucked her bottom lip into his mouth and bit down on it, sending a shock of pleasure mixed with pain through her body. She squirmed to get closer to him and felt his breath quicken; she could taste blood in her mouth, salt and hot. It was as if they wanted to cut each other apart, she thought, to climb inside each other and breathe each other's breath and share each other's heartbeats, even if it killed them both. There was blood under her nails where she had clawed his back.
Jace pressed her forward, spinning them both around so she was pinned between his body and the wall. As they turned, he caught the edge of the angel statue, toppling it to the ground and shattering apart in a cloud of marble dust. He laughed and dropped to the ground in front of her on his knees among the remnants of broken statuary. She stared down at him in a daze as he ran his hands up her boots, to her bare legs, to the lace that edged the bottom of her slip dress. She sucked in her breath, as his hands slipped like water up and over the silk, to her waist, to grip her hips, leaving streaks of silver on the silk.
"What are you doing?" she whispered. "Jace?"
He looked up at her. The peculiar light in the club turned his eyes an array of fractured colors. His smile was wicked. "You can tell me to stop whenever you want," he said. "But you won't."
"Jace..." His hands bunched in the silk of her dress, dragging the hem up, and he bent to kiss her legs, the bare skin where her boots ended, her knees (who knew knees could be so sensitive?) and farther up, where no one had ever kissed her before. The kisses were light, and even as her body tensed that she wanted to tell him she needed more, but didn't know what, didn't know what she needed exactly, but it didn't matter because he seemed to know it. She let her head fall back against the wall, half-closing her eyes, hearing only her heartbeat like a drum in her ears, louder and louder still.

Source: DSCS

Highlights and Questions to Jace

Highlights after Jace won the YA Crush Tourney ! We stood up for him shadowhunters and I know it was a difficult battle, Zach fans stood up pretty good too but at the end the best wins and our beloved Jace had to. :)

• “to Jace: What does it feel to be so elected by so many girls?”  Jace: Again we see that there is nothing you can possess which I cannot take away.
• Sorry, I was watching Raiders of the Lost Arc.Jace wouldn't say that."How does it feel 2 b so elected by so many girls?" Jace: Unsurprising.
• “no wonder Clary is liking evil Jace, he’s hot!” Really, he was a lot of fun to write. He’s pretty much up for doing anything… anywhere.
• “PossessedJace is still Jace only more determined” *coughp up tea giggling* Determined to do what exactly? No, I know, this isn’t how normal!Jace would act, really, he’d be more inclined to let Clary go at her own space and uh, not like so much not caring about all the people around. But even normal Jace has an edge of wickedness and that’s why this Jace is fun to write, because now it’s a lot more than an edge.
• " When do we find out who wins the CP arc?" There's 1600 entries or so — it's gonna be a few days! Monday.
•  ..bad Jace is bad. There is naughty and there is bad. He still loves her, tho, so not rapey.

Highlights and Questions for Characters

Ok guys I should say before you go on that this post contain MAJOR SPOILERS of City of Fallen Angels, we don't want to spoin anything for you but you are warned now.

****

•     You can have twin warlocks
•          Alec’s middle name is Gideon
•          What flavour of jello did Magnus and Alec wrestle in? :3" Mango.
•          Jace doesn’t have a middle name
•          Why is Magnus banned from Peru?" We only know it has something to do with llamas.
•          Clary has a middle name, and we’ll find out in City of Lost Souls
•          Warlocks can’t have children
•          who would win in an arm wrestling contest: Will or Jem?" Will. But hey, there is inner strength.
•          City of Lost Souls take place two weeks after City of Fallen Angels
•          Who would win in a fight Alec or Will?" Tough call.
•          Faeries can have children but Faeries just tend to have them very rarely and often they're sickly which is why they steal human children. And they can have children with humans
•          will jace change his last name?" AGAIN? poor schizoid boy.
•          Jace will remain as Jace Lightwood
•          CoLS is mostly by Clary’s POV
•          In CP are we going to find out what's wrong with Will?" Yes.
•          Simon will narrate on CoLS just like he narrated on CoFA?" No. Mostly Clary tells CoLS. But it's mixed.
•          You already have planned the end of 'TMI'?" Yes, I do.
•          “When is Jace’s birthday? Will it ever be mencioned in one of the books?” I know there is this extreme fascination with Jace’s birthday. I promise if Jace’s birthday was in any way important it would have been mentioned. Jace himself spend most of his life not knowing his birthday because it’s the day he was cut out of Celine Herondale, which he didn’t know. You can back figure his birthday to being in the winter before the Uprising. He’s older than Clary by like 5, 6 months.
•          will there be any steamy jace-clary moments in CoLS?" Yes, that there will be.
•          Don't forget about Mia and Jordan...what's next?" I would never forget them! They have a complicated relationship in CoLS.
•          Jace, boxers, briefs, or comando? XD" I believe boxer briefs were previously established.
•          Will: what would you do if you found put that Jem is in love with Tessa?" Will: What a ridiclous idea!
•          “Clary, do you find yourself more physically attracted to evil Jace?” I think Clary would be too embarrassed to answer that. But I think the truth is a little bit yes.
•          Jace: if you were allowed a pet (Church doesn't count), what would you pick and why?" Every boy wants a pet wolf.
•          “Jem, do you compose your own music?” No. My father was the better violinist and since there aren’t as many pieces for solo violin as he would have liked, he adapted a great deal of Chopin from piano to violin. I play that a lot.
•          Isabelle isn’t a virgin.
•          Jace:What's the greatest lesson you've learned the hard way?" I'm really not so bad. Or at least I didn't used to be.
•          Jem Do you have a nickname??" Jem is a nickname. :) For James.
•          Is Jace a virgin?" Guys, I am never going to answer that. It gets answered in the books. I promise. :)
•          “will Jace and Clary have sex?” Okay, gather ‘round, and avert your eyes if you do not like spoilers. Yes. They will have sex. I am not going to say if they have sex in the books, or on the page, or after the books are over (in which case hey, at least they survived), but at some point in the space time continuum they have sex.
•          " Jace; Were you ever in love before Clary ?" Answer: No.
•          any Simon and izzy moments in cols like ahem makeout sessions?" Hmm, a lot of perverse questions. They have some . .moments.
•          Jonathan, you got any plans for Jocelyn?" Rest assured Sebastian can't wait to see dear old mom again.
•          THE LAST COUNCIL is name of the first chapter of CoLS
•          Does Simon think that Clary is a virgin?" yes, because she is his best friend, and also, it is true.
•          speaking of virgins , would Will let Jem die a virgin?" Gaaah! Well, what's he supposed to do about it???
•          Maryse; Have consider about leaving Robert before, or just recently now?” Definitely considered leaving him before; decided to stick it out because she was pregnant with Max.
•          “I know this is weird but... Have Isabelle ever kiss Jace or Alec?” ALEC??? *rolls around laughing* *gets up and brushes self off* Oooookay. Look, you know, I can actually see Isabelle maybe kissing Jace when she was like 13 before the Westermark effect really kicked in. But now I think she would think it was gross. I mean, I don’t have brothers or sisters which probably allows me to write the “incest plotline” without feeling much of anything about it, but I do understand that this would be widely considered grody by most, and the idea of two people brought up together hooking up does squick me. Also--- Alec is gay! He does not want to kiss girls, whether or not they are his sister.
• ·         ...Max was actually Robert's kid, right?" He was. MARYSE didn't cheat.

Sexy Manor House Scene Jace's POV

Here's what Cassie has to say:

Okay, first, THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO VOTED FOR JACE IN THE YA CRUSH TOURNEY. http://bit.ly/ndzenu Tomorrow will be an even tougher battle but for now enjoy the fruits of your victory....



Over the years, many people have asked for this — Jace’s point of view of the “hot and heavy” scene in THIS GUILTY BLOOD, Chapter Nine of City of Glass. (Page 206-211 in the American hardback CoG.) I’ve taken a few liberties here — the scene goes on a few moments past what happens in the printed version of CoG — but then so did the original draft!

The bits below in italics are the bits from the original book, to help you mentally locate the placement of the scene.

Clary heard a sharp pattering noise all around her. For a bewildered moment she thought it had started to rain—then she realized it was rubble and dirt and broken glass: the detritus of the shattered manor being flung down around them like deadly hail.
Jace pressed her harder into the ground, his body flat against hers, his heartbeat nearly as loud in her ears as the sound of the manor’s subsiding ruins.

* * *

Later, Jace would remember little about the destruction of the Manor itself, the shattering apart of the only home he’d known until he was ten years old. He remembered only the fall from the library window, scrambling and rolling down over the grass, and catching hold of Clary, spinning her down and under him, covering her with his body while pieces of the Manor rained down around them like hail.

He could feel her breathing, feel the racing of her heart. He was reminded of his falcon, the way it had curled, blind and trusting, in his hand, the rapidity of its heartbeat. Clary was holding him by the front of the shirt, though he doubt she realized it, her face against his shoulder; he was desperately afraid that there wasn’t enough of him, that he couldn’t cover her completely, protect her entirely. He imagined boulders as big as elephants tumbling across the rocky ground, ready to crush them both, to crush her. The ground shuddered under them and he pressed harder against her, as if that might help somehow. It was magical thinking, he knew, like closing your eyes so you didn’t see the knife coming at you.

The roar had faded. He realized to his surprise that he could hear again: small things, the sound of birds, the air in the trees. Clary’s voice, breathless. “Jace — I think you dropped your stele somewhere.”

He drew back and stared down at her. She met his gaze steadily In the moonlight her green eyes could have been black. Her red hair was full of dust, her face streaked with soot. He could see the pulse in her throat. He said the first thing that he could think of, dazed, “I don’t care. As long as you’re not hurt.”

“I’m fine.” She reached up, her fingers brushing lightly through his hair; his body, super-sensitized by adrenalin, felt it like sparks against his skin. “There’s grass — in your hair,” she said.
There was worry in her eyes. Worry for him. He remembered the first time he’d kissed her, in the greenhouse, how he’d finally gotten it, finally understood the way someone’s mouth against yours could undo you, leave you spinning and breathless. That all the expertise in the world, any techniques you knew or had learned, went out the window when it was the right person you were kissing.
Or the wrong one.

“You shouldn’t touch me,” he said.

Her hand froze where it was, her palm against his cheek. “Why not?”

“You know why. You saw what I saw, didn’t you? The past, the angel. Our parents.”

Her eyes darkened. “I saw.”

“You know what happened.”

“A lot of things happened, Jace —”

“Not for me.” The words breathed out on an anguished whisper. “I have demon blood, Clary. Demon blood. You understood that much, didn’t you?”

She set her chin. He knew how much she disliked the suggestion that she hadn’t understood something, or didn’t know it, or didn’t need to know it. He loved that about her and it drove him out of his mind. “It doesn’t mean anything. Valentine was insane. He was just ranting —”

“And Jocelyn? Was she insane? I know what Valentine was trying to do. He was trying to create hybrids — angel/human, and demon/human. You’re the former, Clary, and I’m the latter. I’m part monster. Part everything I’ve tried so hard to burn out, to destroy.”

“It’s not true. It can’t be. It doesn’t make sense—”

“But it does.” How could she not understand? It seemed so obvious to him, so basic. “It explains everything.”

“You mean it explains why you’re such an amazing Shadowhunter? Why you’re loyal and fearless and honest and everything demons aren’t —”

“It explains,” he said, evenly, “why I feel the way I do about you.”

Breath hissed between her teeth. “W do you mean?”

“You’re my sister,” he said, “My sister, my blood, my family. I should want to protect you —” he choked on the words— “to protect you from the sort of boys who want to do to you exactly what I want to do to you.”

He heard her breath catch. She was still staring up at him, and though he had expected to see horror in her eyes, some sort of revulsion — for he didn’t think he’d ever stated so clearly or so tactlessly exactly how he felt — he saw nothing of the sort. He saw only searching curiosity, as if she were examining the map of some unknown country.

Almost absently, she let her fingers trail down his cheek to his lips, outlining the shape of his mouth with the tip of her index finger, as if she were charting a course. There was wonder in her eyes. He felt his heart turn over and his body, ever traitorous, respond to her touch.
“What is it, exactly, that you want to do to me?” she whispered.

He could not stop himself. He leaned down, his lips grazing her ear: “I could show you.”

He felt her tremble, but despite the shiver in her body, her eyes challenged him. The adrenaline in his blood, mixed with desire and the recklessness of despair, made his blood sing. I’ll show her, he thought. Half of him was convinced she would push him away. The other half was too full of Clary: her nearness, the feel of her against him — to think straight. “If you want me to stop, tell me now,” he whispered, and when she said nothing, he brushed his lips against her hollow of her temple. “Or now.” His mouth found her cheek, the line of her jaw: he tasted her skin, sweet-salty, dust and desire. “Or now.” His mouth traced the line of her jaw and she arched up into him, making his fingers dig into the ground. Her small, panting breaths were driving him crazy, and he put his mouth over hers to quiet her, whispering, telling, not asking: “Now.”

And he kissed her. Gently at first, testing, but suddenly her hands were fists in the back of his shirt, and her softness was pressed against his chest and he felt the solid earth give way under him as he fell. He was kissing her the way he’d always wanted to, with a wild and total abandon, his tongue sweeping inside her mouth to duel with hers, and she was just as bold as he was, tasting him, exploring his mouth. He reached for the buttons of her coat just as she bit lightly at his lower lip and his whole body jerked.

She put her hands over his, and for a moment he was afraid she was going to tell him to stop, that this was insane, they’d both hate themselves tomorrow. But: “Let me,” she said, and he went still as she calmly undid the buttons and the coat fell open. The shirt she was wearing underneath was nearly sheer, and he could see the shape of her body underneath: the curves of her breasts, the indentation of her waist, the flare of her hips. He felt dizzy. He’d seen this much of other girls before, of course he had, but it had never mattered.

And now nothing else mattered.

She lifted her arms up, her head thrown back, pleading in her eyes. “Come back,” she whispered. “Kiss me again.”

He made a noise he didn’t think he’d ever made before and fell back against her, into her, kissing her eyelids, lips, throat, the pulse there — his hands slid under her flimsy shirt and onto the heat of her skin. He was pretty sure all the blood had left his brain as he fumbled at the clasp of her bra — which was ridiculous, what was the point of being a Shadowhunter and expert at everything if you couldn’t figure out the clasp on a bra? — and heard his own soft exhalation as it came free and his hands were on her bare back, the fragile shape of her shoulder blades under his palms. Somehow the little noise she made was more erotic than seeing anyone else naked had ever been.

Her hands, small and determined, were at the hem of his shirt, tugging it off. He pushed hers up, around her ribs, wanting more of their skin to be touching. So this was the difference, he thought. This was what being in love meant. He’d always prided himself on his technique, on having control, on the response he could elicit. But that required evaluation, and evaluation required distance, and there was no distance now. He wanted nothing between himself and Clary.

His hands found the waistband of her jeans, the shape of her hipbones. He felt her fingers on his bare back, her the tips finding his scars and tracing them lightly. He wasn’t sure she knew she was doing it, but she was rolling her hips against his, making him shaky, making him want to go too fast. He reached down and fitted her more firmly against him, aligning her hips with his, and felt her gasp into his mouth. He thought she might pull away, but she slung her leg over his hip instead, pulling him even closer. For a second, he thought he might pass out.

“Jace,” she whispered. She kissed his neck, his collarbone. His hands were on her waist, moving up over her ribcage. Her skin was amazingly soft. She raised herself up as he slipped his hands under her bra, and kissed the star-shaped mark on his shoulder. He was about to ask her if what he was doing was all right when she drew back from him sharply, with an exclamation of surprise. . .

* * *

“What is it?” Jace froze. “Did I hurt you?”
“No. It was this.” She touched the silver chain around his neck. On its end hung a small silver circle of metal. It had bumped against her when she’d leaned forward. She stared at it now.
That ring—the weather-beaten metal with its pattern of stars—she knew that ring.
The Morgenstern ring. It was the same ring that had gleamed on Valentine’s hand in the dream the angel had showed them. It had been his, and he had given it to Jace, as it had always been passed along, father to son.
“I’m sorry,” Jace said. He traced the line of her cheek with his fingertip, a dreamlike intensity in his gaze. “I forgot I was wearing the damn thing.”
Sudden cold flooded Clary’s veins. “Jace,” she said, in a low voice. “Jace, don’t.”
“Don’t what? Don’t wear the ring?” “No, don’t—don’t touch me. Stop for a second.”