Contents
Chapter Fifteen
Overview
Holland refuses a hospital run for the wounded Gabe and diverts home to retrieve a suspiciously stamped package she believes the Professor mailed—possibly her journal. While Gabe deteriorates and questions about Adam and “the devil” deepen, Holland arms herself with first aid. An ominous noise by Gabe and the package ends the chapter on a cliffhanger.
Summary
Fleeing the gunfight, Holland drives while Gabe, shot and fading, refuses a hospital and insists she stitch him up. A flickering Halloween billboard triggers Holland’s memory of a “Happy Halloween” stamp on a package from the Professor, which she now suspects could be the Professor’s journal.
Despite Gabe’s objections, Holland heads to her Santa Monica house to retrieve the package. On the way, she weighs clues: the Watch Man’s prophecy, competing hunters, Gabe’s claim of a reappearance schedule for the Alchemical Heart, and Adam Bishop’s likely connection to the same employer who hired Jake.
Holland presses Gabe about whether Adam works for “the devil,” but Gabe sidesteps. Gabe drifts in and out, and Holland rushes home. Gabe resists crossing her pristine threshold, but she helps him inside, aiming to tend his wound and grab the mailer.
Holland collects towels, peroxide, and the oversized first-aid kit January once gave her, realizing her sister may have anticipated danger. As she returns, a sound from the front of the house—where Gabe and the Professor’s package are—signals someone or something has moved, leaving the scene on a knife’s edge.
Who Appears
- HollandDrives the wounded Gabe, insists on retrieving a mailed package, tends to him, and hears ominous movement.
- Gabe CabralShot and weakening; refuses hospital, guides Holland, wary of other hunters, resists entering her clean house.
- Adam BishopOff-page threat; likely hired by the same employer as Jake, tied to Holland’s dangerous thesis.
- The ProfessorMissing mentor; likely mailed Holland a package, possibly her journal, crucial to the Heart.
- JanuaryHolland’s sister; previously sent Gabe and a massive first-aid kit, hinting at foreknowledge.