Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy

There’s a scientific phenomenon to describe something that happens when an object is in motion. You think you know exactly what path it will take and where it will end up. Then suddenly, for no reason you can see . . . the arc changes. It goes somewhere you would never have expected

“They are not like Brangelina,” Simon said. “What would you even call them? Algnus? That sounds like a foot disease.”

“Obviously you would call them Malec,” said Beatriz. “Are you stupid, Simon?”

“I’m telling you that. I’m telling you that you saved us, Simon. You did it more than once. Not because you were a vampire, not because of anything you’ve lost. Because of who you were. Who you still are.” She stepped away then and took a deep breath. “I promised myself I wouldn’t do this,” she said fiercely. “I promised.”

I knew nothing but shadows, and I thought them to be real.
—Oscar Wilde

We all change the world, with every day of living in it,” Magnus said. “You just have to decide how you want to change the world. I brought you into this world, the second time around, and though your choices are your own I do take some responsibility

I wish I was good at something that could add beauty to the world rather than painting it with blood, I really do, but there you have it.”

They would have to be even blinder than a Silent Brother, Uncle Jem agreed. Because I can see you, James. I will always look to you for light.

If you saw humanity as I can see it, Uncle Jem said, a whisper in his mind, a lifeline. There is very little brightness and warmth in the world for me. I am very distant from you all. There are only four points of warmth and brightness, in the whole world, that burn fiercely enough for me to feel something like the person I was. Your mother, your father, Lucie, and you. You love, and tremble, and burn. Do not let any of them tell you who you are. You are the flame that cannot be put out. You are the star that cannot be lost. You are who you have always been, and that is enough and more than enough. Anyone who looks at you and sees darkness is blind.

“I abstain on the grounds that beauty is sacred, and there is nothing beautiful about these exercises.”

“Your mother says she will be brave and keep a stiff upper lip,” said Father. “Americans are heartless. I will cry into my pillow every night.”