“There’s no need to clarify my finger snap,” said Magnus. “The implication was clear in the snap itself.”

“Magnus, standing by the door, snapped his fingers impatiently. “Move it along, teenagers. The only person who gets to canoodle in my bedroom is my magnificent self.””Canoodle?” repeated Clary, never having heard the word before.”Magnificent?” repeated Jace, who was just being nasty. Magnus growled. The growl sounded like “Get out.”

“Malachi scowled. “I don’t remember the Clave inviting you into the Glass City, Magnus Bane.””They didn’t,” Magnus said. “Your wards are down.””Really?” the Consul’s voice dripped sarcasm. “I hadn’t noticed.”Magnus looked concerned. “That’s terrible. Someone should have told you.” He glanced at Luke. “Tell him the wards are down.”

“He remembered Tessa weeping in his arms in Paris, and thinking that he had never known the loss she felt, because he had never loved like she had, and that he was afraid that someday he would, and like Tessa he would lose his mortal love. And that it was better to be the one who died than the one who lived on. He had dismissed that, later, as a morbid fantasy, and had not remembered it again until Alec.”

“I didn’t call you because I’m tired of you only wanting me around when you need something. I’m tired of watching you be in love with someone else – someone, incidentally, who will never love you back. Not the way I do.”

“I just don’t see why the past has to matter.”

“He knew Alec enough by now to know the conflicting impulses that warred in him. He was conscientious, the kind of person who believed that the others around him were so much more important than he was, who already believed he was letting everybody down. And he was honest, the kind of person that was naturally open about all he felt and wanted. Alec’s virtues had made a trap for him; these two good qualities had collided painfully. He felt he could not be honest without disappointing everyone he loved. It was a hideous conundrum for him. It was as if the world had been designed to make him unhappy.”

“Of course he loves me. I’m his sister.”“Blood isn’t love,” said Magnus, and his voice was bitter.”

“You endure what is unbearable, and you bear it. That is all.”