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Unexpectedly, Isabelle added, “I agree with Dru. Do you think they’ll ever accept a Consul with a Downworlder husband?”

“Zara’s father was a zealot,” said Alec. “But I don’t think Zara is the same. I think she’s an opportunist. And things are getting pretty desperate inside Idris. They’re running out of food. They have gardens, and they can hunt in the forest—”

“It would give me great pleasure to know they’ve been living on squirrels,” said Dru. “Or that they’ve eaten Manuel. Please tell me they’ve eaten Manuel.”

Alec laughed. “It’s true I haven’t heard from him lately.”

“Yuck,” said Isabelle. “Either way, we have cause for celebration. The peace process is on.” She hopped down from her stool. “Let’s dance.”

Thais and Dru put their red cups down and followed the others out onto the dance floor. They danced in a group, laughing and spinning, and Dru’s nervousness eased. If they thought of her as a little kid, they weren’t showing it.

Thais danced a little distance away. She always lost herself in the music, eyes closed, body swaying. Her gold hoops glittered against her brown skin. Dru tried closing her own eyes for a second, twirling across the sticky floor…and immediately banged into Magnus. “Sorry,” she laughed.

“No worries,” said Magnus, the glitter around his eyes sparking under the strobe lights. “Everything good with you?”

“Fine, but I wanted to ask you something.” Dru tugged at a blue lock of her hair, a bad habit. “Has anyone heard anything new about Jaime?”

Magnus looked regretful. “Still no news about Jaime Rosales. Before he left, I gave him a ring he could use to summon me, but he hasn’t. I promise I’ll send you a fire-message the minute anyone hears anything.”

“I’m sure he’s still alive in Faerie,” Dru said. “Jaime’s smart—”

But the patterns of the dance spun her away from Magnus. She shivered as a draft of cold air passed her. Someone must have opened the front door. Or maybe it was just her worry about Jaime. He’d been gone so long, with no word. She’d had such a crush on him when she was younger; she’d told Thais all about it when she first came to the Academy. She still had the hunting dagger he’d given her: gold, inscribed with a pattern of roses.

She didn’t know what she felt for him now. It didn’t matter. What mattered was whether he was all right.

When she returned to the group, Clary had gone to look for Maia to talk about some wedding-related thing (Maia and her longtime boyfriend Bat had tied the knot over the summer) and Isabelle was dancing with Jace. Every once in a while she’d step on his foot and say, “No, no, not like that,” and it made Dru smile a bit. Siblings were siblings everywhere, she thought. And she missed hers. It would be ages before they were all together again for the holidays.

“Dru,” whispered a voice in her ear. A familiar voice. Thais? Izzy? She turned and saw—no one. None of her friends were close enough for her to hear them whisper. She turned to look behind her. No one there, either.

“Dru,” said the voice, again, and this time Dru started. “Don’t freak out. You can’t see me, but I’m here.”

Dru inhaled a shaky breath. She’d hoped for this day, but she hadn’t thought it would leave her so shaken. So—unsettled.

“Livvy?” she murmured. “I thought you couldn’t go far away from Ty.”

“I’ve been trying to train myself.” Livvy’s voice echoed inside Dru’s head, like the voice of a Silent Brother. Dru went back to dancing; she couldn’t just stand still in the middle of the dance floor as if she were concussed. “Going a little farther away each time. Mostly to the borders of Idris, but tonight…”

“You wanted to hear Simon’s band play?”

Livvy didn’t laugh. Did ghosts laugh? Dru wanted badly to see her sister’s face, not just hear her voice.

“Come with me,” Livvy whispered. “We haven’t got much time.”

But something occurred to Dru. “What if you’re not Livvy, though? What if you’re some kind of demon trying to trick me? No offense,” she added, hastily.

She thought she heard the voice in her ear sigh. “Honestly. No one trusts anyone these days.” There was a pause, and Livvy said, “Okay. When you were six, I made you a peanut butter and mustard sandwich, and you ate it and then threw up.”

“Because it was disgusting,” said Dru. “That was cruelty to children, if you ask me.” She felt herself smile a little. “I believe you. You’re Livvy.”

“Thank the Angel,” Livvy murmured. “Come with me, all right? I need to lead you through the crowd.”

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll see,” said Livvy.

Dru turned to Thais, who was still dancing with her eyes closed. “I’ll be right back. Bathroom.”

Thais frowned. “The bathrooms here are gross.”