James recovers at the Institute while Cordelia convalesces at home with a broken leg after the cemetery battle. In the days since the incident, the wounded have recovered, but none remember chanting James’s name. James told his parents about meeting Belial, but they reassured him that his ancestry does not determine his identity. They are also unworried about Belial’s return, since Cortana’s wound would have disabled him for at least a century. The other adult Shadowhunters don’t yet know about Belial, though they know James and his friends slew a Mandikhor.

One day, Grace visits James, entering the room and kneeling by his side, taking him by surprise. Grace confesses that Tatiana used necromancy all these years in the vain hope to resurrect Jesse. Since Tatiana woke up from the Chiswick attack, she learned Jesse can never be resurrected and blames James for it. In her Idris manor, Tatiana has installed a charmed automaton that will activate to kill all the Shadowhunters upon Tatiana’s death; she plans her suicide that very night. When James insists on alerting the Clave, Grace refuses because revealing her mother’s necromancy will implicate Grace, too. She must first marry Charles to receive the protection of the Consul’s family.