Chapter 1:
The name is Herondale, Jessica Herondale. My friends call me Jessie, but since my "friends" consists of gutter rats and stray cats, I'm Jessica to most.
You see, I'm a shadowhunter. I know exactly what I am, because I've seen crazy things and met creatures that shouldn't be real. Nephilim, my informants tell me.
And as a Nephilim, I apparently have a responsibility to rid the world of evil. But I'm fine in my little cardboard box I've lived in for nearly eighteen years. I see no need to help these New York shadowhunters, because they haven't helped me.
As a child, soon after I discovered who, and what, I was, I went to the New York Institute. A girl with black hair like charcoal answered the door, but refused to let me in.
"Jace said not to."
I looked up at her "Why?"
She rolled her eyes, which were the same pitch black color of her hair, and said, "He said he doesn't want his sister here. So scram."
