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" Sorry I overheard that, but I'm glad he's staying," Luke's sister said. "Not just because he'll be near me but because it gives him a chance to get over you."
Jocelyn sounded defensive. "Amatis-"
"It's been a long time, Jocelyn," Amatis said. "If you don't love him, you ought to let him go."
Jocelyn was silent. Clary wished she could see her mother's expression- did she looked sad? Angry? Resigned?
Amatis gave a little gasp. "Unless- you do love him?"
"Amatis, I can't-"
"You do! you do!" There was a sharp sound, as if Amatis had clapped her hands together. "I knew you did! I always knew it!"
"It doesn't matter." Jocelyn sounded tired. "It wouldn't be fair to Luke."
"I don't want to hear it." There was a rustling noise, and Jocelyn made a sound of protest. Clary wondered if Amatis had actually grabbed hold of her mother. "If you love him, you go right now and tell him. Right now, before he goes to the Council."
"But they want him to be their Council member! And he wants to-"
"All Lucian wants," said Amatis firmly, "is you. You and Clary. That's all he ever wanted. Now go."
Before Clary had a chance to move, Jocelyn dashed out into the hallway. She headed toward the door- and saw Clary, flattened against the wall. Halting, she opened her mouth in surprise.
"Clary!" She sounded as if she were trying to make her voice bright and cheerful, and failed miserably. "I didn't realize you were here."
Clary stepped away from the wall, grabbed hold of the doorknob, and threw the door wide open. Bright sunlight poured into the hall. Jocelyn stood blinking in the harsh illumination, her eyes on her daughter.
"If you don't go after Luke," Clary said, enunciating very clearly, "I, personally, will kill you."
For a moment Jocelyn looked astonished. Then she smiled. "Well," she said, "if you put it like that."
A moment later she was out of the house, hurrying down the canal path toward the Accords Hall. Clary shut the door behind her and leaned against it.
Amatis, emerging from the living room, darted past her to lean on the window sill, glancing aniously out through the pane. "Do you think she'll catch him before he gets to the Hall?"
"My mom's spent her whole life chasing me around," Clary said. "She moves fast. "
― Cassandra Clare , City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments, #3)
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" The cord pulled taut and she rebounded, flying back up before falling again. As her velocity slowed, she opened her eyes and found herself dangling at the end of the cord, about five feet above Jace. He was grinning.
"Nice," he said. "As graceful as a falling snowflake."
"Was I screaming?" She asked, genuinely curious. "You know, on the way down."
He nodded. "Thankfully no one's home, or they would have assumed I was murdering you."
"Ha. You can't even reach me." She kicked out a leg and spun lazily in midair.
Jace's eyes glinted. "Want to bet?"
Clary knew that expression. "No," she said quickly. "Whatever you're going to do-"
But he'd already done it. When Jace moved fast, his individual movements were almost invisible. She saw his hand go to his belt, and then something flashed in the air. She heard the sound of parting fabric as the cord above her head was sheared through. Released, she fell freely, too surprised to scream- directly into Jace's arms. The force knocked him backward, and they sprawled together onto one of the padded floor mats, Clary on top of him. He grinned up at her.
"Now," he said, "that was much better. You didn't scream at all."
"I didn't get the chance." She was breathless, and not just from the impact of the fall. Being sprawled on top of Jace, feeling his body against hers, made her hands shake and her heart beat faster. "
― Cassandra Clare , City of Glass (The Mortal Instruments, #3)