Another Sneak Peak

City of Glass excerpt 2

***

"But you're supposed to be in New York!" Isabelle exclaimed. "Jace said you'd changed your mind about coming. He said you wanted to stay with your mother!"
"Jace lied," Clary said flatly. "He didn't want me here, so he lied to me about when you were leaving, and then lied to you about me changing my mind. Remember when you told me he never lies? That was so not true."
"He normally never does," said Isabelle, who had gone rather pale. "Look, did you come here -- I mean, does this have something to do with Simon?"
"With Simon? No. Simon's safe in New York, thank God. Although he's going to be really pissed that I left without telling him." Isabelle's blank expression was starting to annoy Clary. "Come on, Isabelle. Let me in. I need to see Jace."
"So . . . You just came here on your own? Did you have permission from the Clave? Please tell me you had permission from the Clave." There was a pleading note in Isabelle's voice.
"Not as such --"
"You broke the Law?" Isabelle's voice rose, then dropped. She went on, almost in a whisper, "If Jace finds out, he'll freak. Clary, you've got to go home."
"No. I'm supposed to be here," Clary said, not even sure herself quite where her stubbornness was coming from. "And I need to talk to Jace."
"Now isn't a good time." Isabelle looked around anxiously, as if hoping there was someone she could appeal to to remove Clary from the premises. "Please, just go back to New York. Please?"
"I thought you liked me, Izzy." Clary went for the guilt.
Isabelle's eyes widened further. She was wearing a white dress and had her hair pinned up and looked younger than usual. Behind her Clary could see a high-ceilinged entryway hung with antique-looking oil paintings. "I do like you. It's just that Jace -- oh my God, what are you wearing? Where did you get fighting gear?"
Clary looked down at herself. "It's a long story."
"You can't come in here like that. If Jace sees you --"
"Oh, so what if he sees me? Isabelle, I came here because of my mother -- for my mother. Jace may not want me here, but he can't make me stay home. I'm supposed to be here. My mother would want me to do this for her. You'd do it for your mother, wouldn't you?"
"Of course I would," Isabelle said. "But Clary, Jace has reasons --"
"Then I'd love to hear what they are." Clary ducked under Isabelle's arm and into the house.
"Clary!" Isabelle yelped, and darted after her, but Clary was already halfway down the hall. She saw, with the half of her mind that wasn't concentrating on dodging Isabelle, that the house was build like Amatis' -- tall and narrow -- but considerably larger and more richly decorated. The hallway opened into a room with high windows that looked out over a wide canal. White boats plied the water, their sails drifting by like dandelion clocks tossed on the wind. A dark-haired boy sat on a couch by one of the windows, reading a book.
"Sebastian!" Isabelle called. "Don't let her go upstairs!"
The boy looked up, startled --and a moment later was in front of Clary, blocking her path to the stairs. Clary skidded to a halt — she'd never seen anyone move that fast before, except Jace. The boy wasn't even out of breath; in fact, he was smiling at her.
"So this is the famous Clary." His smile lit up his face, and Clary felt her breath catch.
For years she'd drawn her own ongoing graphic novel, which she'd hardly ever showed to anyone, the tale of a king's son who was under a curse that meant that everyone he loved would die. She'd been awfully proud of the dark, romantic, shadowy prince she'd created — and here he was, standing in front of her: the same pale skin, the same tumbling black hair and deep-set, shadowed eyes. The same high cheekbones and black fringe of lashes. She knew she'd never set eyes on this boy before, and yet —
"I'm Sebastian Verlac." He held out his hand. "Aline's cousin."
"Sebastian!" Isabelle's hair had come out of its pins and hung down over her shoulders, and she was glaring."Don't be nice to her. She's not supposed to be here. Clary, go home."