As James closed the door behind Thomas and the others, he exhaled a long breath. It was a cold, clear night, with no hint of snow. The moon burned like the solitary light at the top of a watchtower, and the shadows cast by lampposts and carriages were stark and black against the icy white ground.

James wondered if he would sleep tonight without fear of nightmares. He felt gritty with exhaustion, his throat and eyes dry, but there was a bright wire of excitement that ran underneath his tiredness. For the first time today, he was about to be alone with Cordelia.

He closed the front door and went back to the drawing room. The fire was burning low. Cordelia was still on the sofa; she had raised her arms to readjust the combs in her hair. He watched silently from the doorway as a few unruly red locks spilled over her hands: the fire turned their edges to blood and gold. It was beautiful, but so was the upraised curve of her arms, the turn of her wrists, the shape of her capable hands. So was everything about her.

“Daisy,” he said.

She slid the last comb into place and turned to look at him. There was an incredible sadness in her eyes. For a moment, he felt as if he were seeing the girl she had been, every time her father had let her down, every time she had been lonely, disappointed—all the pain she’d borne silently, without tears.

He ought to have been there for her. He would be now, he told himself, striding across the room. He sat down beside her, reaching for her hands. They were small in his, and freezing cold. “You’re cold—”

“I cannot be Lucie’s parabatai,” she said.

He looked at her in surprise. “What do you mean?”

“I am bound to Lilith,” she said. “Her paladin—I cannot raise a weapon save in her name. How can I train with Lucie? I cannot touch a seraph blade, raise a sword—”

“We’ll fix it,” said James. “We’ll get help—from Magnus, from Jem, Ragnor—”

“Perhaps.” She didn’t sound convinced. “But even if we can find a solution, our ceremony is barely a month away. I cannot ask the Clave to—to delay it without explanation, and I cannot explain without awful consequences. And the result would be the same. The Silent Brothers would never approve Lucie binding herself to someone who serves a demon.” Her voice was full of loathing. “I could not put that burden on Lucie either. I will tell her tomorrow that there isn’t any—that it can’t happen.”

“She won’t give up hope,” said James.

“But she should,” said Cordelia. “Even if we could free me from Lilith, I will always have made this mistake. I will always be someone you shouldn’t trust to be your sister’s parabatai.”