A #1 New York Times bestseller! “A rip-roaring adventure merged with satisfying romance.” — Entertainment Weekly “[A] swashbuckling launch to the Eldest Curses series.” — Publishers Weekly From #1 New York Times and USA TODAY bestseller Cassandra Clare and award-winner Wesley Chu comes the first book in a new series full of “swoon-worthy romance [and] abundant action” ( Publishers Weekly ). The Red Scrolls of Magic is a Shadowhunters novel. All Magnus Bane wanted was a vacation—a lavish trip across Europe with Alec Lightwood, the Shadowhunter who against all odds is finally his boyfriend. But as soon as the pair settles in Paris, an old friend arrives with news about a demon-worshipping cult called the Crimson Hand that is bent on causing chaos around the world. A cult that was apparently founded by Magnus himself. Years ago. As a joke. Now Magnus and Alec must race across Europe to track down the Crimson Hand before the cult can cause any more damage. Demons are now dogging their every step, and it is becoming harder to tell friend from foe. As their quest for answers becomes increasingly dire, Magnus and Alec will have to trust each other more than ever—even if it means revealing the secrets they’ve both been keeping. “Sexual tension abounds as the two steal moments of sizzling romance while fighting demons and solving the mystery…Peak champagne-filled indulgence.” ― Kirkus Reviews "Magnus and Alec’s swoon-worthy romance explores the transformative power of love, while abundant action drives the tale to a harrowing finish." ― Publishers Weekly "It’s hard to get more star-crossed than demon-spawn and angel-spawn, immortal and mortal, but this is Clare in her element, and Chu (Time Siege, 2016) brings his deft hand at writing thrilling action and combat as Clare’s newest coauthor." ― Booklist "With her usual dry humor and suspenseful action, Clare takes readers on a rollicking trip." ― School Library Journal Cassandra Clare is the author of the #1 New York Times , USA TODAY , Wall Street Journal , and Publishers Weekly bestselling Shadowhunter Chronicles. She is also the coauthor of the bestselling fantasy series Magisterium with Holly Black. The Shadowhunter Chronicles have been adapted as both a major motion picture and a television series. Her books have more than fifty million copies in print worldwide and have been translated into more than thirty-five languages. Cassandra lives in western Massachusetts with her husband and three fearsome cats. Visit her at CassandraClare.com. Learn more about the world of the Shadowhunters at Shadowhunters.com. Wesley Chu won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. His debut novel, The Lives of Tao , earned him a Young Adult Library Services Association Alex Award and a Science Fiction Goodreads Choice Award Top 10 slot. He is also the coauthor of the Eldest Curses series with Cassandra Clare, the first book of which debuted at #1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Chapter One: Collision in Paris CHAPTER ONE Collision in Paris FROM THE OBSERVATION DECK OF the eiffel tower, the city was spread at Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood’s feet like a gift. The stars twinkled as if they knew they had competition, the cobbled streets were narrow gold, and the Seine was a silver ribbon twined around a filigree box of bonbons. Paris, city of boulevards and bohemians, of lovers and the Louvre. Paris had also been the setting for many of Magnus’s most embarrassing mishaps and ill-conceived plots, and several romantic catastrophes, but the past did not matter now. This time Magnus intended to get Paris right. In his four hundred years of wandering the world, he had learned that wherever you traveled, it was the company that mattered. He looked across the small table at Alec Lightwood, who was ignoring the glitter and glamour of Paris in order to write postcards to his family back home, and smiled. Each time he finished a postcard, Alec wrote Wish you were here at the end. And each time, Magnus snatched the card and wrote, with a flourish, Except not really . Alec’s broad shoulders were hunched over their table as he wrote. Runes flowed along the muscled strength of his arms, one rune already fading against his throat, just under the clean line of his jaw. A lock of his always-disheveled black hair was falling into his eyes. Magnus had the fleeting impulse to reach over and push his hair back, but he repressed the urge. Alec was sometimes self-conscious about public displays of affection. There might be no Shadowhunters here, but it was not as if all ordinary humans were totally accepting of such gestures either. Magnus wished they were. “Thinking deep thoughts?” Alec asked. Magnus scoffed. “I try not to.” Enjoying life was essential, but sometimes it was an effort. Planning the perfect trip to Europe had not been easy. Magnus had been forced to invent several brilliant schemes single-handed. He could only imagine