Pale Kings and Princes Read Online Free PDF Page A

phone call away—why wait until he was back at the Academy to reach out? Why reach out at all?
    Maybe because it would be easier to reject him for good when he was safely on another continent?
    But in that case, why Portal all the way to Idris to do it face-to-face?
    “Maybe you need some time to think about it?” Helen said finally.
    He’d forgotten she was there. “No!” Simon blurted out. “I mean, no, I don’t need time to think about it, but yes, yes, she can come visit. Of course. Please, tell her.”
    Stop babbling, he ordered himself. Bad enough he turned into a driveling fool every time Isabelle was in the room with him these days—was he now going to start doing so at the sound of her name?
    Helen laughed. “See, I told you so,” she said loudly.
    “Er, you told me what?” Simon asked.
    “You heard him, come out!” Helen called, even louder, and the bedroom door creaked open.
    Isabelle Lightwood didn’t have it in her to look sheepish. But her face was doing its best. “Surprise?”
    When Simon had regained his power of speech, there was only one word available in his brain. “Isabelle.”
    Whatever crackled and sizzled between them was apparently so palpable that Helen could sense it too, because she swiftly slid past Isabelle into the bedroom and shut the door.
    Leaving the two of them alone.
    “Hi, Simon.”
    “Hi, Izzy.”
    “You’re, uh, probably wondering what I’m doing here.” It wasn’t like her to sound so uncertain.
    Simon nodded.
    “You never called me,” she said. “I saved you from getting decapitated by an Eidolon demon, and you didn’t even call .”
    “You never called me, either,” Simon pointed out. “And . . . uh . . . also, I kind of felt like I should have been able to save myself.”
    Isabelle sighed. “I thought you might be thinking that.”
    “Because I should have, Izzy.”
    “Because you’re an idiot , Simon.” She brightened. “But this is your lucky day, because I’ve decided I’m not giving up yet. This is too important to give up just because of a bad date.”
    “Three bad dates,” he pointed out. “Like, really bad dates.”
    “The worst,” she agreed.
    “The worst ? Jace told me you once went out with a merman who made you have dinner in the river,” Simon said. “Surely our dates weren’t as bad as—”
    “The worst ,” she confirmed, and broke into laughter. Simon thought his heart would burst at the sound of it—there was something so carefree, so joyous in the music of her laugh, it was almost like a promise. That if they could navigate a path through all the awkwardness and pain and burden of expectations, if they could find their way back to each other, something that pure and joyful awaited them.
    “I don’t want to give up either,” Simon said, and the smile she rewarded him with was even better than the laughter.
    Isabelle settled beside him on the small couch. Simon was suddenly extremely conscious of the inches separating their thighs. Was he supposed to make a move right now ?
    “I decided New York was too crowded,” she said.
    “With demons?”
    “With memories,” Isabelle clarified.
    “Too many memories is not exactly my problem.”
    Isabelle elbowed him. Even that made a spark. “You know what I mean.”
    He elbowed her back.
    To touch her like that, so casually, like it was no big deal . . .
    To have her back, so close, so willing . . .
    She wanted him.
    He wanted her.
    It should have been that easy.
    Simon cleared his throat and, without knowing why, rose to his feet. Then, like that wasn’t enough distance, retreated safely to the other side of the room. “So what do we do now?” he asked.
    She looked thrown, but only for a moment. Then she barreled ahead. “We’re going on another date,” she said. Not a request; a command. “In Alicante. Neutral territory.”
    “When?”
    “I was thinking . . . now.”
    It wasn’t what he expected—but then, why not? Classes were over for the