The Mortal Instruments 1
by Cassandra Clare
While waiting to get into a dance club called Pandemonium, a blue haired boy shows a fake weapon to the bouncer at the door. Later on inside the club, Clary notices the boy go into a room with a pretty girl dressed in all white. She also sees two boys dressed in all black follow them with some sort of knife. She tells her friend Simon who goes to get security. Clary goes in the room and sees that the girl, Isabelle, lead the blue haired boy into the room for the other two boys, Jace and Alec, to kill him. Clary tries to stop them, but when the blue haired boy breaks free from his restraints, he attacks Jace, who kills him The body disappears and Jace explains that it was a demon. Jace isn’t positive that Clary sin’t just another “mundie” because she can see them. When Simon arrives with help, they only see Clary alone in the room. Clary decides to keep the events to herself so she doesn’t sound crazy.
Clary agrees to go with Simon to watch his bandmate read poetry at a coffee house near her house. When her mom, Jocelyn, comes home with her friend Luke, she tells Clary that they are going to Luke’s farmhouse for the rest of the summer. Clary is upset she will miss out on her remaining summer activities and unsuccessfully tries to convince her mom to let her stay home. She overhears Luke telling Jocelyn to tell Clary the truth. Simon arrives and Clary leaves with him, denying her mom’s request to talk. She points out how odd her family situation is (having no extended family and her mom’s box of a few things from her dad). Simon points out Jocelyn’s scars that Clary never seemed to notice. Her mom leaves a voicemail and Clary changes the subject to Simon’s band and his lack of a girlfriend.
At the coffee house, Clary finds a seat while Simon gets their drinks. A girl asks Clary if Simon is her boyfriend, and when Simon returns, she tries to tell him about it. Simon tries to get out that he likes her, but Clary is distracted by Jace sitting nearby. He leaves and she follows to get answers. Jace tells her that he is a demon hunter called a Shadowhunter. He checks her for any marks and shows her how to see his. His tutor, Hodge, wants to talk to Clary and Jace is supposed to bring her to him. Clary gets a frantic call from her mom telling her not to come home, to stay with Simon. She says to tell Luke that “he” found her. Jace offers to help, but Clary is too freaked out. He grabs her wrists, trying to calm her down, but Clary scratches his face and starts running home. When she looks back, Jace is gone.
When she arrives home, the apartment is torn up. She calls out for her mom, but is instead answered by a Ravener demon. She tries to fight it off as it talks about eating her. Clary shoves the sensor she took from Jace in its mouth. Before the demon dies, it stings Clary in the back of the neck. the next thing she knows, she is outback with Jace. He explains that she was poisoned and puts a rune on her hand to hide her from the demons disguised as police. Jace says she needs to come with him, but Clary passes out into his arms.
It is three days before Clary wakes up in the infirmary of the Institute. Isabelle gives her clothes and goes to let everyone know that she is awake. Clary wonders around and finds Jace playing the piano. He takes her to Hodge in the library and they all (Hodge, Jace, and Alec) start asking questions. Jace seems protective of her and doesn’t want Hodge to tell the clave about her. He admits that he used a mark on her, which could have killed her if she didn’t have Shadowhunter blood. Clary calls Luke, hoping she can go to him and get the rest of the answers, but he says that he is too busy to help her. Hodge dismisses Jace and Alec. Clary says that both demons she encountered mentioned Valentine. Hodge explains that Valentine was a Shadowhunter that lead an uprising because he believed that Downworlders (vampires, werewolves, fey, and warlocks) were demonic while the clave did not. He died 15 years ago. Clary asks if she can get some things from home. Hodge sends her off to ask Jace to take her while he writes a letter.
Clary finds Jace and Alec in the weapons room putting the finishing touches on a seraph blade (each one is named for an angel). She asks if they use magic to make them and Alec explains that they don’t use magic because it is considered dark. Jace agrees to take Clary home to look around and leaves Alec, his paraboti (perfectly matched fighting partner) behind. When they get to the apartment, everything is cleared out. Clary goes to open her bedroom door and a Forsaken comes out. They make it out of the apartment, but it follows and Jace kills it. He explains that the Forsaken are humans with no Shadowhunter blood that have been marked with several powerful runes. Clary’s neighbor, Madame Dorothea, warns that there are more Forsaken upstairs. Jace threatens her with a visit from the clave in order to get information. She agrees and invites them in.
Madame Dorothea explains that she was adopted by a witch and taught a few tricks. She tries to read Clary’s tea leaves, but thinks something is blocking her memory. She reads Jace’s and tells him he will fall in love with the wrong person. Madame Dorothea pulls out tarot cards Jocelyn painted for her. Clary pulls the ace of cups - a powerful card indicating love. Jace points out that the old woman harbors downworlder refugees. She admits that Jocelyn was a Shadowhunter. Jace pulls back a curtain to reveal a five-dimensional door. clary wants to see where her mother would have escaped to and gets sucked in when she opens the door.
Clary, with Jace following, ends up at Luke’s book store and home. They go around back and since no one seems to be home, Jace jumps the fence to break in. They find Simon hiding in the bushes. He was worried about clary and came to talk to Luke. He saw him packing a duffle bag of weapons and got even more worried. Clary tells him everything. They go inside Luke’s and start looking around. Jace finds chains and then the picture of Luke, Jocelyn, and Clary that she had thrown at the Ragener demon. Luke makes his way in with two Shadowhunters dressed in Accord Warlock’s robs. He tells them he doesn’t intend to interfere with Valentine’s plans. he has no interest in Jocelyn or Clary (who he says is probably dead). He leads them out, promising to let them know if he remembers anything. When they are all gone, Jace lets them know that the two men are the ones that killed his father.
Jace takes Clary and Simon back to the Institute. Church, the cat, takes them to Isabelle in the kitchen. Simon is struck by her and decides to stay in the kitchen while Jace and Clary go to find Hodge. They find him in the greenhouse and Jace fills him in. He takes them to the library and tells them about Valentine and his group of followers, the Circle, that wanted to eliminate Downworlders. Hodge admits that he was part of the Circle as was Valentine’s wife, Jocelyn.
Luke was the first one to leave the Circle, then Michael Wayland (Jace’s father) and lastly Jocelyn. Hodge and the Lightwoods (Alec and Isabelle’s parents) didn’t leave for fear of Valentine. They have been banished to the New York Institute as punishment. Hodge, not having connections or any children to factor in, was cursed to never leave. Isabelle interrupts, announcing dinner. Jace and Hodge head to the Kitchen and Clary asks Isabelle if Jace is a terrible liar as she suggested. She says that Jace doesn’t lie, but will tell horrible truths. Hodge recounts information to Alec, Isabelle, and Simon in the kitchen. Jace wants to start looking for Jocelyn so they can find the Mortal Cup before Valentine. If he finds it first, he will force children to drink, converting some to Shadowhunters, but killing most. Hodge says the Clave will handle that. Jace suggests that Clary see the Silent Brothers to get her memories back. The next morning, Jace wakes Clary up. Brother Jeremiah is there and Clary agrees to let him into her head. He isn’t able to get pas the block and suggests taking her to the Bone CIty to involve the other Silent Brothers. On the way, in the Brothers’ carriage, Jace tells Clary about his revenge plan. He wants to kill Valentine for sending the men to kill his father, which he was forced to watch while hiding. They arrive at the cemetery and descend into the Silent City. The counsel is able to reveal a small string of memories and a name: Magnus Bane. Clary will have to go to him to have the block removed. Jeremiah leads them out.
Jace calls Alec and tells him to meet them at a diner. Isabelle brings Simon along. When Jace says the name of the warlock that put the block in Clary’s head, Isabelle produces a flyer for Magnus’ party that night. Back at the Institute, Clary can’t sleep. She goes to the library and sees a picture of the Circle before it was truly formed. Hodge explains how they were idealistic kids who had all been hurt by Downworlders. Clary asks to keep the picture and Hodge requests she doesn’t show it to Jace. She goes back to her room where Jace is looking through her sketchbook. She reprimands him and he offers to tell her a bedtime story. He tells her about his father giving him a falcon with the instructions to make it obedient. However, Jace made the falcon a pet that loved him instead. His father broke the birds neck, saying it was broken, not tamed. Clary later wakes up to Isabelle frantically trying to get her ready for Magnus’ party. She gives her some clothes and does her hair and makeup. Clary asks Isabelle if Alec is gay. Isabelle confirms and asks that Clary not tell anyone, even Jace. She concedes and they join the others. Jace gives Clary a dagger and undoes her hair to let it flow while Simon complains that her dress is too short.
On their way to Magnus’ party, Clary starts to wonder if she wants to know the truth. She asks Jace what he would do and he says he would always want to know. They find vampire motorcycles outside of Magnus’ apartment and Clary sees Jace do something before they go inside. Magnus leads them in and Isabelle and Simon go to the dance floor. The others follow Magnus to his room to talk privately. Magnus is reluctant to answer any questions until Jace threatens him with a visit from the Silent City. He admits that he made her forget seeing anything of the shadow world, even as she saw it. Her mother paid him to create the block.
Magnus explains there really sin’t any way to undo the spell without potentially harming Clary’s mind. With the block fading, he gives her a reveal and memory rune to look at the help speed along the process. He tries to convince the girl that her mother wanted her to be able to have a normal life. they all go back to the party and Isabelle rushes over to tell them that Simon turned into a rat from one of the drinks. Clary finds him under the bar and puts him in her book bag. As everyone leaves, Jace watches out for Clary as a vampire gets too close. Magnus reminds Clary that it was the Shadowhunters that her mom was running from. Clary realizes that Simon ins’t in her bag. Jace inspects it to find a cut from the outside. they go back to Magnus to see what he knows. He tells them he saw a vampire leaving with a rat, probably thinking it was one of their own that got too drunk. Jace asks where their lair is, but it is Clary’s begging that gets Magnus to reveal the Hotel Dumont. Jace asks for a holy place before the leave the warlock.
Jace and Clary go to the Catholic church Magnus directed them to. Jace puts his hand to the door and asks for admittance. The door swings open and they go in. He finds a spot on the floor marked with the rune for Shadowhunter. He uses his stele to open it and reveals weapons below. He loads up and they head out to the Hotel Dumont. While trying to find a way into the rundown building, Raphael comes along to warn them away. When they refuse to leave without Simon, he shows them how to get in. Once they are in the lobby, Raphael disappears. Vampires start to notice them and Jace hurls his knife at Raphael when he shows up again. Clary has Jace hold him and offers the vampires Raphael (their temporary leader) for Simon. No one is willing to swear an oath first (as a Shadowhunter, Jace will be bound to the oath), and Clary lunges for Simon. The vampires grab her and Jace comes back to her rescue. He pulls out a seraph blade to hold them back once Simon frees them by biting Raphael. THey are cornered when werewolves crash through the windows.
One of the wolves half transforms back to its human form to explain they are there for Clary. Raphael refuses to give her up and the two groups of rivals start fighting. SImon jumps from Clary’s arms to lead them to a locked door. Werewolves start to charge at them and Clary throws her knife at the leader. Jace finally busts the door open and is able to use his stele to seal it. They carefully start up a shabby flight of stairs and to the roof, but have to start running when they hear the werewolves make it through the door. They make it to the propped open door that leads to the roof and go through. After they close the door and hear it lock, they start looking for a way down. Clary pictures a rune in her head that looks like wings, but Jace finds the vampires’ altered motorcycles (some of which are rumored to fly). They get on one at random and he drives off the roof. The bike takes flight and Jace is celebrating their escape. Simon points out the sunrise. Jace does his best to get the bike to a safe landing spot, but they are thrown off and skid across a parking lot. When Clary starts to get up, Simon is human again. They embrace and Jace stops rushing towards her to turn away.
Hodge is furious with Jace and Clary when they return to the Institute. Not only did they put themselves in danger, Jace broke Clave laws. Clary goes to clean herself up before visiting Jace and Simon in the infirmary. Simon says he wants to talk to her later and she tell him to meet her in her room when Hodge is done with him. He kisses her cheek and she leaves. Alec chases her down and tells her she should go home. Clary explains that she doesn’t have anywhere to go. Alec blames her for Jace’s recent actions. She points out that Jace will do whatever he wants. She calls Alec selfish for never having killed a demon and admits she knows he is in love with Jace. Alec shoves her against the wall and threatens her life if she ever tells him. Clary goes to her room, but can’t sleep. She starts drawing Jace with wings and then her mom. Simon comes by and thanks her for coming after him. Clary is surprised at Simon thinking their relationship was only one way. He explains that he was jealous of her new world and took the drink to try to be a part of it. Eventually Simon falls asleep. Jace knocks on the door. Hodge told him it was her birthday and he invites her to a picnic in the greenhouse.
Jace leads Clary to a spot in the greenhouse for them to sit and eat. They talk about their parents. Jace explains that his birthday was the only time when his father would give him anything he wanted (when he was five, it was a spaghetti bath). He gives her a witchlight stone of her own to always be able to light the darkness. As they go to leave, Clary stumbles into him while avoiding the knife he left on the floor. She turns to apologize and he kisses her. When Hodge’s bird, Hugo, shows up, they decide to leave. He walks her back to her room and they start kissing outside the door. Simon opens it to find them together. Both boys are furious. Simon goes back in and Jace pretends it doesn’t bother him, walking away from the situation. Clary goes in to find Simon gathering his things to go home. He admits that he has loved her for ten years and was using Isabelle to make her jealous. He can see the way she looks at Jace and knows there is no chance for him. Simon leaves. Clary is upset and reaches for her sketchbook. As she runs her hand over the wings in her drawing, she realizes that the runs on the page make them feel real. She draws the cup on her nightstand and puts it on the paper, drawing runes around it.
Clary pounds on Jace’s door until he finally answers. She takes the mug out of the drawing for him and explains that the mortal cup is in Madame Dorothea’s tarot cards. He gathers everyone together and they all agree not to involve the Clave just yet. They need transportation to get the cup back to the Institute. Jace has Clary call Simon. He is shocked when he hears her voice asking for a favor. She reminds him that this is to get her mom back and he agrees. When Simon picks them up, Clary does her best to dissolve the awkwardness. They go to speak to Madame Dorothea and explain Jocelyn’s situation. Clary explains that the cup is in the tarot deck and borrows Jace’s stele to retrieve it, turning the card to ash.
Madame Dorothea asks to see the cup, but the Shadowhunters refuse. The old woman opens the portal behind her to reveal Abbadon, a greater demon, that has been possessing her (now engulfing her to become its true form). They make it out to the foyer, but the exit is locked with a spell. Jace starts fighting and Isabelle joins him. Alec jumps in front of Jace and is thrown aside by the demon with a crunch. Isabelle runs to her brother. The demon advances on Clary and the cup. Jace is torn for a moment until Isabelle yells at him to help Clary. Abbadon is able to pin him. Simon comes in with Alec’s bow and arrow. He shoots out the skylight which kills the demon. Clary goes to check on Jace and give him his stele, but he pushes her aside to get to Alec, who is poisoned. The marks are not working on him. They get Alec into the van to get him to Hodge. When they get to the Institute, Clary stays behind to talk to Simon before going in. She finds Jace outside the infirmary, beating himself up. He explains Alec is hurt because of him, because all he could think about was Clary and keeping her safe. Hodge says he needs to contact he Silent Brothers to help Alec. When Clary tells him they got the cup, he disables Jace while Hugo attacks her and grabs the cup. Valentine arrives by portal and takes Jace and the Mortal Cup. Clary realizes that Valentine can’t see her. He lifts Hodge’s curse and disappears, saying Jace will soon be reunited with his father.
Clary, stuck being an invisible wall, tries to convince Hodge to let her go He writes a letter and leaves her stranded. Clary remembers that she still has Jace’s stele and uses it to shatter the wall with a rune. She chases after Hodge and when she catches up, she asks him where Valentine is. He refuses to tell her and throws a chakram (sharp throwing disk) at her head, barely missing. A large wolf comes out of nowhere and attacks him until he is unconscious Clary tries to run, but the wolf grabs her leg and she hits her head, knocking her out. Clary wakes up in a jail cell. A man approaches her and when she realizes it is Luck, she about faints. She is furious with him for abandoning her and Jocelyn. He starts to explain, but decides she needs to hear the whole story.
Luke wasn’t a very good Shadowhunter when he started training in the Glass City, Alicante. Valentine took him and several other under his wing. As they got older, they stayed loyal to him. Valentine wanted to use the cup to create more Shadowhunters, claiming that the Clave was lying about many not being able to survive the process. When Valentine’s father was killed by werewolves, he added in an anti-Downworlder agenda. Luke left the Circle, but came back when Jocelyn requested he try to bring balance. By then, Valentine and Jocelyn were married. While on a werewolf raid, Valentine (Luke’s paraboti) wasn’t guarding Luke’s back like he was supposed to. Luke was bit and had to wait until the next full moon to see if he was infected. He turned and ran off in wolf form. When he returned in the morning, Valentine handed him a dagger and told him to kill himself. Luke couldn’t bring himself to do it, so he challenged a nearby pack leader. He’s rage fueled him through the fight and he surprisingly won. He stayed hidden until Jocelyn found him and told him Valentine’s plans to have the Circle attack during the signing of the Accords Luke and Jocelyn got all of the Downworlders together they could and retaliated during the uprising. Afterwards, Jocelyn feared for her son’s life. She and Luke race to the house to check on Jonathan. Valentine escaped and burned down their house with demon fire, leaving four sets of bones (her parents, him, and Jonathan). Jocelyn knew she was pregnant and was determined to keep the new baby from everyone in her past. Luke tried to go back to his pack, but ended up leaving them behind to find Jocelyn. He ended up in New York and saw a painting of Idris in a gallery window. He finally found Jocelyn and met Clary.
Luke answers Clary’s residual questions as she pieces everything together. Clary wants to go after Valentine right away. She remembers him saying that he used a portal to get into the Institute and Magnus saying there were only two in the city. She calls Simon to have him Google Renwick’s. It turns out to be an abandoned hospital on Roosevelt Island (which Luke explains used to be Blackwell’s island, an old Shadowhunter name). Luke takes Clary and leads his newly acquired wolf pack there. They fight off a small army of Forsaken to get Luke and Clary inside. they find Jocelyn in a room, chained to a bed and looking like she is asleep. Luke figures it is a spell when she doesn’t move. Blackwell and Pangborn come by. Luke kills Blackwell with a scapula and sends Clary ahead while he fights Pangborn. She goes upstairs to find Jace in a room, perfectly fine. She tries to get him to leave with her, but he says there has been a misunderstanding. Valentine walks in and he introduces him as his father.
Valentine realizes that Clary is his daughter. He explains to her how he took Michael Wayland’s name and property to be able to raise Jace in Idris. Clary tries to convince Jace and herself that Valentine is not his father, knowing that he is hers. Jace wonders why until Valentine explains that Clary is his daughter. THey are both sickened by the idea of being siblings. Luke comes in to fight Valentine. Clary covers Luke just as her father is about to kill him. Jace comes to shove them both out of the way and holds a sword to Valentine’s throat. He tells his father to leave, but Luke reminds him they still need the Mortal Cup, which Valentine has hidden somewhere in Idris. He uses the portal to try tempting Jace into returning to their old home. Jace refuses, realizing how horrible the man that raised him really is. Jace wants to kill him, but is unable when Valentine offers him the chance. Valentine goes through the portal and smashes it from the other side. Clary tries to comfort Jace as he keeps repeating her name.
Clary visits her mom in the hospital where they have no idea what is wrong with her. She has Simon take her to the Institute to see Jace. Isabelle finds her first and they embrace, quickly deciding to be friends. Alec, healed by Magnus, takes her to Jace. Along the way, they apologize to each other for their behavior. In the greenhouse, Jace explains that everything is different now that he actually has something to live for: his sister, Clary. She asks him to visit her mom to see if his voice will wake her up. He agrees and shows her his demon energy run motorcycle Magnus let him keep. They take off to go to the hospital and Clary marvels at how different the world looks now that she has her sight.