Free Nothing But Shadows by Cassandra Clare

said Father.
    He sounded tempted, though. Matthew was sparkling wickedly up at him, and Father enjoyed wickedness. Besides which, he was no more immune to The Smile than anyone else.
    â€œFather, please,” James said in a quiet voice.
    â€œMr. Herondale, please!” said Matthew. “We cannot be parted.” James braced himself for the explanation about truth and beauty, but instead Matthew said, with devastating simplicity: “We are going to be parabatai .”
    James stared.
    Father said: “Oh, I see.”
    Matthew nodded encouragingly, and smiled encouragingly.
    â€œThen nobody should come between you,” said Father.
    â€œNobody.” Matthew shook his head as he said “nobody,” then nodded again. He looked seraphic. “Exactly.”
    â€œVery well,” said Father. “Everybody get into the carriage.”
    â€œFather, you did not steal Uncle Gabriel’s carriage again,” said James.
    â€œThis is your time of trouble. He would want me to have it, and he would have given it to me if I asked him, which as it happens I did not,” said Father.
    He helped Matthew up, then heaved Matthew’s trunk into place and tied it securely. He gave it a puzzled look as he did so. James imagined Matthew’s trunk was significantly heavier than James’s.
    Then he helped James up beside Matthew, and then swung himself up to sit on James’s other side. He grasped the reins and they were off.
    â€œWhen the south wing collapses, there could be flying debris,” Father remarked. “Any one of us could be injured.” He sounded very cheerful about this. “Best to stop on our way home and see the Silent Brothers.”
    â€œThat seems excessi—” Matthew began, but James elbowed him. Matthew would learn how Father was about the Silent Brothers soon enough.
    Anyway, James did not feel Matthew had a right to characterize anyone else’s behavior as excessive, now that he had blown up the Academy.
    â€œI was thinking we could split our training time between the London Institute and my house,” Matthew went on. “The Consul’s house. Where people cannot insult you, and can get used to seeing you.”
    Matthew had really meant it about being trained together, James thought. He had worked it all out. And if James was in Idris more often, he could perhaps see Grace more often, too.
    â€œI’d like that,” said James. “I know you’d like to see more of your father.”
    Matthew smiled. Behind them, the Academy exploded. The carriage jolted slightly with the force of the impact.
    â€œWe don’t . . . have to be parabatai ,” Matthew said, his voice quiet under the sound of the blast. “I said it to make your father take me with you, so I could execute my new plan, but we don’t . . . have to. I mean, unless you . . . maybe want to be.”
    James had thought he wanted a friend like himself, a parabatai who was shy and quiet and would enter in on James’s feelings about the terror of parties. Instead here was Matthew, who was the life and soul of every party, who made dreadful hairbrush decisions, who was unexpectedly and terribly kind. Who had tried to be his friend and kept trying, even though James did not know what trying to be a friend looked like. Who could see James, even when he was a shadow.
    â€œYes,” James said simply.
    â€œWhat?” said Matthew, who always knew what to say.
    â€œI’d like that,” said James. He curled his hands, one around his father’s coat sleeve, and one around Matthew’s. He held on to them, all the way home.
    Shadowhunter Academy, 2008
    â€œSo James found a parabatai and everything worked out great,” Simon said. “That’s awesome.”
    James was Tessa Gray’s son, Simon had realized, a long way into the story. It was strange to think of that: It seemed to bring that lost boy very close, he and his friend.