Change [Book 1 of The Elemental Marks]

Check out the next book in the TEM series...

Read on for a snippet of the first chapter of the next book in Lina and Tommie's adventures, The Elemental Marks: Power.

Dex Holtent stood outside the Philadelphia Institute on a warm June night, unsure which way to go. He hadn't really thought this far in advance, just knew he made a promise to Tommie that he had to keep.

But now it seemed he had real decisions to make.

When you want information, where do you go?

Dex turned to the Philadelphia Downworld to find information about lots of things. He knew a few warlocks particularly interested in faerie gossip and politics, a werewolf clan with relatives on mundane police forces, and vampires that would review recent Broadway shows without him even asking.

This request was unlike any other the Shadowhunter had gotten. "You Nephilim never want to hear when one of your own is different. She's different in a very dark way. You're own people did it to her." Dex promised to use his Downworld connections to figure out what it all meant. The information, this Water Girl concept, originally came from a Kelpie. And yet, the solitary fey was unlike any other Dex had heard of. Faeries and Shadowhunters have hated each other since the Dark War. Why would this fey give away so much information so freely? It all spelled out bad news.

This was part of the reason Dex felt he should help Tommie. True, just a small part compared to the fact that Dex was totally in love with the other boy and would do nearly anything for him. But yeah, who could say what the real motivation was?

They were friends, anyway. This was totally a friendly gesture. Dex was just doing his part, trying to solve a mystery that might have no answer. If Tommie liked him better because of it, that would be a nice reward.

Dex forced those thoughts away, telling himself to get back to the task at hand. He opened up his phone, clicked on a familiar app and pretty soon an Uber was picking him up and taking him to Center City.

Dex arrived at his old home still without a plan. All he really knew was that Bohden had given the boy a lot of answers in the past. Since Dex's adopted father was gone, this apartment was the next best thing.

Dex had been here only one other time since the High Warlock's death. After he graduated Shadowhunter Academy and was relocated to Philly, he came here equipped with runes, training and Angelblood in his veins. He used all that to break into the apartment.

New tenants had moved in. No one from the Shadow World, just a mundane couple with enough money to rent the penthouse. Covered in soundless and invisibility runes, Dex snuck in while they were sleeping.

He had no intention of messing with anything of theirs. He only wanted what he knew Bohden left. The apartment hadn't come with an attic. Shortly after he moved in, Bohden magicked one in as an inconspicuous storage space. He hadn't kept much up there in terms of magical artifacts. It was mostly memories: photo albums, passports containing fake identities, treasures from around the world. The night Dex broke in, he sat and went through piles of it. 

At the time, he had been looking for his father's memory.

Now he wanted answers.

Dex stopped outside the building as darkness fell on the city. He was contemplating the best way to the top floor when a voice called out, "Dex! Demetrius!"

The Shadowhunter turned fast, ready for whatever had just found him (and called him by his full name). He hardly expected a teenage mundane girl to be smiling at him. "Do you remember me, Dex?"

He composed himself and smiled back. "Riley. Of course. You still live here?"

She beamed. "Yep. Apartment 607. God, it's been years. What are you doing back here?"

Dex last saw Riley four years prior, sometime before the Clave took him. She had been a lot younger then, just some neighbor Dex was polite to. He had never pictured her grown up before this moment, but she looked as expected. Taller, longer hair still in its iconic two cornrows, no longer wearing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle t-shirts.

"I came back to see the old place," Dex explained. "Make sure these new folks were taking care of it."

Riley shrugged. "They're quiet. I don't see much of them." Dex had to stop himself from asking if they were home now.

There was a beat of silence. Then Riley asked, "So did you stay in the area? No one really knew where you went after..." She trailed off and he was reminded of the way mundanes handle death. Apologetic, better not to be spoken of. It was a nice change.

"Boarding school."

Riley looked shocked but forced the look away, probably because Dex didn't fit in with the stereotypical boarding school student. He was, after all, only half white, and it was barely the visible half. His curly hair was grown out and dyed blonde in the front, though he did keep up a clean shave. He was lanky and usually hidden under baggy clothes. He couldn't think of the last time, if ever, he wore a tie. 

"Nice," the girl managed.

"How's the family?" Dex didn't remember anything about the Montes' except that Mr. Montes was from Mexico and Mrs. Montes was black and they both worked a lot.

"They're good. Busy. My mom went back to school."

"That's great." Dex was about to suggest that he get going when she spoke again.

"This is going to sound strange, and I could've just been a kid with an overactive imagination...but the people your dad had over all the time, were they kind of weird?"

Dex managed to fake an easy grin. "He had weird friends, yeah."

"But beyond the usual. I remember stuff like pointed ears, colorful skin, real live claws. Star Trek stuff."

The Shadowhunter hesitated, knowing that what she saw wasn't aliens but warlocks and downworlders. The fact that this girl could see it all was a rare gift for a human. "Yeah, I know that kind of weird. All you really need to know is that magic is real and its dangerous." He already said too much, but Dex knew how hard having Sight with no explanation could be. Besides, it wasn't like Vic could hate him much more.

The girl seemed to process this, so Dex took the opportunity he needed. "I actually have something to do, sort of magic related, so if you could let me into the building that would be a big help."

Still looking dazed, she managed to nod. "Yeah, sure." She tapped a magnet against the pad and the door opened. Dex grinned at her then took off up the stairs.

"Nice seeing you!" he called. "Don't take what I said too seriously!"

He was on the top floor in no time. He stood outside his old door, waiting. Inside looked dark from here, but he knew that could mean anything. So he knocked.