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EPILOGUE:
❝ The Ascent Beckons ❞
Esme sat debating with Simon over if naming the band Pumpkin Squash was a good idea or not. Simon thought it was, she did not. "No, it's not."
"Yes, it is."
"No, it's not."
"Yes, it is."
She kicked him in the shin. "No, it's not."
He looked more offended than hurt and said ceremoniously, "Ow."
They were sitting in Eric's van that idled at the curb of the hospital's main exit, waiting for Clary to come out. And perked up as she did. Jocelyn was still in her self-induced coma, resting soundlessly in the hospital - but for once the days dragged instead of tumbling. The sky arced overhead, the perfect blue of a china bowl, darkening to sapphire over the Hudson River, where the sun was going down.
Simon leaned over to pop the door for her, and she scrambled up into the seat beside him. "Thanks."
"Where to? Back home?" he asked, pulling the van out into the traffic on First.
Clary sighed. "I don't even know where that is anymore."
Simon glanced at her sideways. "Feeling sorry for yourself, Fray?" His tone was mocking, but gentle.
If she looked past him, she could still see the dark stains on the backseat where Esme now sat and where Alec had lain, bleeding, across Isabelle's lap. "Yes. No. I don't know." She sighed again, tugging on a wayward curl of copper hair. "Everything's changed. Everything's different. I wish sometimes it could all go back to the way it was before."
"I don't," said Simon, to her surprise. "Where are we going again? Tell uptown or downtown at least."
"To the Institute," said Clary. "Sorry," she added, as he executed a terrifically illegal U-turn. The van, turning on two wheels, screeched in protest. "I should have told you that before."
Esme, rubbing her forehead like she'd just smacked it, said, "Ya think?"
"Huh," said Simon. "You haven't been back yet, right? Not since - "
"No, not since," said Clary. "Jace called me and told me Alec and Isabelle were okay."
"Apparently," Esme added, her tone conversational, "their parents are racing back from Idris, now that someone finally actually told them what's going on. They'll be here in a couple of days."
"Is this from the Nico channel on the radio?" Simon teased, catching her eyes in the rearview mirror. She thought about hitting the back of his head, then restrained because he was driving.
