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Part One

Exterels

There are sicknesses that walk in darkness; and there are exterels, that fly wrapt up in the curtains of i nature; e cannot see, but we feel their force, and sink under their sword

-Jeremy Taylor, "A Funeral Sermon"

1

THE MASTER

"Just coffee, please"

The waitress raised her penciled eyebrows "You don’t want anything to eat?" she asked Her accent was thick, her attitude disappointed

Simon Lewis couldn’t bla for a better tip than the one she was going to get on a single cup of coffee But it wasn’t his fault vampires didn’t eat Sometimes, in restaurants, he ordered food anyway, just to preserve the appearance of norht, when Veselka was almost empty of other customers, it didn’t seem worth the bother "Just the coffee"

With a shrug the waitress took his laainst the hard plastic diner chair and looked around Veselka, a diner on the corner of Ninth Street and Second Avenue, was one of his favorite places on the Lower East Side-an old neighborhood eatery papered with black-and-whiteas you ordered coffee at half-hour intervals They also served what had once been his favorite vegetarian pierogi and borscht, but those days were behind him now

It was mid-October, and they’d just put their Halloween decorations up-a wobbly sign that said TRICK-OR-BORSCHT! and a fake cardboard cutout vampire nicknamed Count Blintzula Once upon a time Simon and Clary had found the cheesy holiday decorations hilarious, but the Count, with his fake fangs and black cape, didn’t strike Silanced toward theIt was a brisk night, and the as blowing leaves across Second Avenue like handfuls of thrown confetti There was a girl walking down the street, a girl in a tight belted trench coat, with long black hair that flew in the wind People turned to watch her as she walked past Siirls like that before in the past, idly wondering where they were going, who they were uys like him, he knew that much

Except this one was The bell on the diner’s front door rang as the door opened, and Isabelle Lightwood came in She s off her coat and draping it over the back of the chair before she sat down Under the coat she earing one of what Clary called her "typical Isabelle outfits": a tight short velvet dress, fishnet stockings, and boots There was a knife stuck into the top of her left boot that Simon knew only he could see; still, everyone in the diner atching as she sat down, flinging her hair back Whatever she earing, Isabelle drew attention like a fireworks display

Beautiful Isabelle Lightwood When Simon had uy like hiht Isabelle liked boys her parents disapproved of, and in her universe that meant Doorlders-faeries, olves, and vaularly for the past month or two amazed him, even if their relationship was lis like this one And even if he couldn’t help but wonder if he’d never been changed into a vampire, if his whole life hadn’t been altered in thatat all?

She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear, her slance at himself in the reflective surface of the dinerIsabelle’s influence was clear in the changes in his appearance since they’d been dating She’d forced him to ditch his hoodies in favor of leather jackets, and his sneakers in favor of designer boots Which, incidentally, cost three hundred dollars a pair He was still wearing his characteristic word shirts-this one said EXISTENTIALISTS DO IT POINTLESSLY-but his jeans no longer had holes in the knees and torn pockets He’d also grown his hair long so that it fell in his eyes now, covering his forehead, but that was more necessity than Isabelle

Clary made fun of hi about Simon’s love life borderline hilarious She couldn’t believe he was dating Isabelle in any serious way Of course, she also couldn’t believe he was also dating Maia Roberts, a friend of theirs who happened to be a olf, in an equally serious way And she really couldn’t believe that Simon hadn’t yet told either of them about the other

Simon wasn’t really sure how it had happened Maia liked to come to his house and use his Xbox-they didn’t have one at the abandoned police station where the olf pack lived-and it wasn’t until the third or fourth time she’d coood-bye before she’d left He’d been pleased, and then had called up Clary to ask her if he needed to tell Isabelle "Figure out what’s going on with you and Isabelle," she said "Then tell her"

This had turned out to be bad advice It had been aon with hi And thesorew So far he’d made it work Isabelle and Maia weren’t really friends, and rarely saw each other Unfortunately for hiti married in a feeeks, and both Isabelle and Maia were invited to the wedding, a prospect Sih the streets of New York by an angry mob of va him out of his reverie "Why here and not Taki’s? They’d serve you blood there"

Si if not unsubtle Fortunately, no one see in, not even the waitress who returned, banged down a cup of coffee in front of Si her order

"I like it here," he said "Clary and I used to coreat borscht and blintzes-they’re like sweet cheese duht"

Isabelle, however, was ignoring hi past his shoulder "What is that?"

Silance "That’s Count Blintzula"

"Count Blintzula?"

Sied "It’s a Halloween decoration Count Blintzula is for kids It’s like Count Chocula, or the Count on Sesarinned at her blank look "You know He teaches kids how to count"

Isabelle was shaking her head "There’s a TV shohere children are taught how to count by a vampire?"

"It would make sense if you’d seen it," Siical basis for such a construction," Isabelle said, lapsing into lecturey Shadowhunter ends do assert that varains of rice in front of the and count each one There’s no truth in it, of course, any arlic And va children Va"

"Thank you," Simon said "It’s a joke, Isabelle He’s the Count He likes counting You know ’What did the Count eat today, children? One chocolate chip cookie, two chocolate chip cookies, three chocolate chip cookies’"

There was a rush of cold air as the door of the restaurant opened, letting in another customer Isabelle shivered and reached for her black silk scarf "It’s not realistic"

"What would you prefer? ’What did the Count eat today, children? One helpless villager, two helpless villagers, three helpless villagers’"

"Shh" Isabelle finished knotting her scarf around her throat and leaned forward, putting her hand on Si dark eyes were alive suddenly, the way they only ever ca about hunting deaze There were two lass-fronted case that held bakery iteelach, and cream-filled Danishes Neither of the h Both were short and painfully gaunt, so much so that their cheekbones jutted froray hair and pale gray eyes, and wore belted slate-colored coats that reached the floor

"Now," Isabelle said, "what do you suppose they are?"