The Mortal Instruments: Marked – Chapter One: Burned and Broken

July 14

Kat cursed in Latin. The swearing kind, not the killing one. She'd spotted a demon, and it wasn't supposed to be there.

She fumbled for her phone in her pocket and hastily dialed Isabelle's number. "Izzy! Demon spotting here at- Wait, I see you," she said breathlessly and raised her hand to catch the group's attention. She pointed to the alley on her right. She ducked into it with the others right behind her.

Drawing her dagger, she stalked silently and let Isabelle and Alec move forward. It was always their position- Isabelle and Alec would cover the front, Kat would keep on look-out and stay in the middle, and Jace would keep defense on the back side.

They stalker slowly. The demon had disappeared again. Isabelle was about to tell the others that there was nothing to be found when her necklace pulsed.

The demon appeared three feet in front of them. It had a green, lizard-like body that ended in a narrow glittering tail. In closer inspection, they were actually the sharp edges of bones. Where its eyes should have been were teeth, and it had another set of mouth below that. It had a forked stinger tongue. It was large. It was frightening.

Isabelle yelped and lashed her whip. It hit the demon on its left side, but not fatally. Still, it cried out in pain. Jace raised his sword and sliced through one of the demon's arms. It hissed and attacked with the group by swinging its tail.

"Scatter!" Alec screamed, and Kat dived left. She hid behind a dumpster while the Ahiab demon- she remembered what it was called- sensed around for them.

Isabelle, standing on a wooden crate, lashed her whipped again and the demon turned toward her. Alec, who climbed up a fire escape, aimed his bow and arrow and fired. It hit the demon's hide and bounced off, leaving only a light wound.

"Aim for the mouth!" Kat remembered and instantly clamped her hand over her mouth. But it was too late. The demon faced her, tongue out oozing poison.

Jace slashed his sword again, but the wound it inflicted was not enough for the Ahiab demon to turn its attention on him. He was intent on Kat. She raised her dagger as the demon opened its mouth to scream when Isabelle's whip lashed out once again. She threw it with perfect aim, effectively slicing off its tongue and impaling the dagger on the back of its throat. The demon choked, leaving its mouth undefended. Alec aimed and shot straight into its mouth, thus finally killing the demon.

It imploded into a pile of ashes and ichor.

"Damn," Kat muttered. "I really liked that dagger."

"We'll get you another one," Jace said with a tight smile. He wiped his sword with a piece of cloth that came away smoking when he was finished.

"You guys hungry? Let's get some take-out from Taki's," Isabelle said. Typical day for the group.

"Katherine, you have a letter," Hodge said when they were seated at the dinner table. Kat reached for it and looked at the back. Hastily, she opened the letter.

Dear Ms. Collins,

We, the people at the Preston Gallery, have heard many wonderful things about your talent in photography. We would like to make this as brief as possible: We would like to invite you to come join us in a month-long summer program at The Gallery, located at London, as you well know. It would serve as not only training, but job experience.

Lodging and travel fee will obviously be provided. The only requirements are your presence, and of course, a camera.

The letter spoke more about the schedules and perks of the program.

We hope you'd consider coming. It would definitely open up many wonderful opportunities for you.

Sincerely,

Michael Preston, President

"By the Angel," she mumbled, reading the letter again.

"What?" Jace asked, muffled by the food in his mouth. "What?" he asked again when she didn't reply, still dazed by the opportunities ahead her. "God," he muttered, and snatched the letter from her.

That snapped her out. "Hey!" she complained, but Jace had already finished reading and had passed the letter to Alec and Isabelle.

"You're not going," Jace said, glaring at her.

"I haven't even decided yet!" Kat exclaimed, but that wasn't true. She had been dreaming of being invited at the workshop since she was young.

"It's in London, Jace," Hodge said, coming to the brunette's defense. "I'm sure the Enclave will take her in for a while."

"And The Prestons are really famous and prestige, so I doubt they'll turn out as demons," Isabelle said.

"And people who 'graduate' from their training become, like, internationally famous," Alec said.

"See? She'll be famous! Shadowhunters can't be known in the mundie world," Jace said smugly.

"Face it, Jonathan, I'm a mundane!" Kat exclaimed. "It's not your decision to make!" She stood up and slammed her fork on the table, where it stuck and vibrated. She stalked off.

The whole table glared at Jace.

"What?" he asked, taking another bite of his paella from Taki's.

"Men are hopeless," Isabelle muttered, and went away to find her sister.

After a few minutes of walking around the institute, Isabelle finally found Kat on the roof, sobbing, with her camera in her arms.

"Hey," Isabelle said as she slid down next to Kat on the roof. "Jace is an idiot."

"I know," Kat muttered.

"We're so proud of you."

"I know."

Isabelle sighed. "I don't want you to leave, but I want you to go."

"Doesn't make sense, Iz," Kat said, turning her head to the older girl. Isabelle wrapped an arm around her adoptive sister.

"I could go with you, if you want. I'm sure there would be plenty of cute boys there," Isabelle said with a wink. Kat laughed lightly.

"No thanks. I think I need a vacation from the Shadowhunting world. You know, interact and associate with fellow mundies," Kat said grimly.

"Well, mundie or not, you're still my sister," Isabelle said, hugging Kat tighter. "Even if you end up being a werewolf, for all we care." Kat's smile met her eyes this time.

"But Kat, there's one more thing," Isabelle said. Kat raised her eyebrow. "You sounded frantic on the phone today. It's like you haven't done this a million time already. What happened back there?"

Leave it to Isabelle to be so observant.

"Just worried," Kat lied, turning her camera around in her hands. "Ahiab demons aren't supposed to be out just like that. They rape their victims before they kill them, Iz. I was worried." Kat looked up to see if Isabelle bought her story, and it was clear she didn't, but she let it go- for now.

But how could Kat tell her about her dreams? If they were even dreams; they were more like haunting nightmares. No, she would keep that burden to herself.

That night, as she lay in bed, she removed her thick bracelet from her left wrist. Indeed, it was there: a bright red mark encircling her wrist, and a small white star atop the veins below the palm of her hand.

The mark of the Angel, where he touched her in the dream.