Alec found a parking spot nearby, but he felt a strong temptation to stay in the car and read the Red Scrolls of Magic for a while longer. He’d already noticed a few differences between the copy they’d found in Venice and the pages Isabelle had sent. Instead he made his way to the Institute door. Looking up at the imposing edifice, he dreaded all the strangers inside it, even though they were fellow Shadowhunters. He wanted his parabatai. He would have given a lot for a familiar face.

“Hey, Alec!” a voice behind him called. “Alec Lightwood!”

Alec turned and scanned the line of stores on the other side of the street. He found his familiar face at a small round table in front of a café.

“Aline!” he called in surprised recognition. “What are you doing here?”

Aline Penhallow was looking at him over her coffee cup. Her black hair fluttered at her jawline, she was wearing her aviator sunglasses, and she was beaming. She looked a lot better than the last time Alec had seen her. He and his family had been staying at the Penhallows’ manor the night the wards fell in Alicante. The night Max had died.

“Had to get away from things for a bit. They’re rebuilding in Idris, but it’s still a mess. My mom’s in the thick of it.”

“That’s right, she’s the new Consul. Congratulations!”

Alec couldn’t even imagine how Jia Penhallow must feel, being chosen by all the Nephilim to be closest to the Angel and charged with carrying out their mandate. He’d always liked Aline’s mother, a calm, clever warrior from Beijing. She could do so much good now. Being the leader of the Shadowhunters meant being able to make changes, and Alec was becoming more and more aware the world needed changing. He crossed the street and jumped the rope encircling the café tables.

“Thanks. How about you?” Aline asked. “What are you doing here? And where did you get your incredibly sweet ride?”

“Long story,” said Alec.

“How’s everyone back in New York?” asked Aline. “Doing all right?”

The last time they’d seen each other had been not long after Max’s funeral.

“Yeah,” Alec said quietly. “We’re all right. How about you?”

“Can’t complain,” said Aline. “Is Jace with you?”

“Uh, no,” said Alec.

He wondered if Aline was asking for a specific reason. Aline and Jace had kissed in Alicante, before the war. Alec tried to think of what Isabelle usually said to girls about Jace.

“The thing is,” he added, “Jace is a beautiful antelope, who has to be free to run across the plains.”

“What?” said Aline.

Maybe Alec had gotten that wrong. “Jace is home with his, uh, his new girlfriend. You remember Clary.” Alec hoped Aline was not too heartbroken.

“Oh right, the short redhead,” she said. Aline was tiny herself, but refused to ever admit it. “You know, Jace was so sad before the war, I thought he must have a forbidden love. I just didn’t think it was Clary, for obvious reasons. I thought it was that vampire.”

Alec coughed. Aline offered him a sip of her latte.

“No,” he said when he got his voice back. “Jace is not dating Simon. Jace is straight. Simon is straight.”

“I totally saw scars on Jace’s neck,” Aline said. “He let that vampire bite him. He brought him to Alicante. I thought: classic Jace. Never makes a mess when a total catastrophe will do. Wait, did you think I wanted a ride on that disaster train?”

“Yes?” said Alec.

As a loyal parabatai, he was starting to find Aline’s tone a little insulting.

“I mean, Jace is empirically very cute, and I have always liked blonds, and I do like Jace,” she said. “He’s been great to me. Very understanding, but I hope he’s very happy with his—whatever. Or that vampire. Or whomever.”

“He’s called Simon,” said Alec.

“Right. Of course,” said Aline. She fiddled with her cup for a moment, not looking at Alec, then added, “I saw you and your Downworlder. You know. In the Accords Hall.”

There was silence, awkwardness hanging like the haze in the air. Alec remembered kissing Magnus, under the eyes of the Angel and everyone he loved, and also hundreds of complete strangers. His hands had been shaking. He’d been so scared to do it, but more scared that he would lose Magnus, that one of them might die without Magnus ever knowing how Alec felt about him.

He couldn’t read Aline’s face. He’d always gotten along with Aline, who was quieter than Isabelle and Jace. He’d always felt they understood each other. Perhaps Aline could not understand him now.

“That must have been terrifying,” she said at last.

“It was,” Alec said reluctantly.

“Now that you’ve done it, are you happy?” Aline asked tentatively.

Alec did not know if she was simply curious, or if, like his dad, she thought that Alec’s life would be better if he kept hiding.

“It’s hard sometimes,” said Alec. “But I’m very happy.”

A tiny, uncertain smile flickered across Aline’s face.

“I’m glad you’re happy,” she said eventually. “Are you still together? Or is it all, oh, now he knows you like him back, he doesn’t like you as much? Maybe it was all about the lure of what he couldn’t have? Do you ever worry about that?”