Chapter Twenty-Eight

Cleo, buoyed by lighthearted children’s illustrations, is interrupted when Clover appears and warns that Dobbs is attacking Sonya in the library. Cleo grabs a BB gun, sage, and lighter, then forces the stuck doors open with unseen help. Inside, Dobbs dangles Sonya and taunts Cleo. Cleo fires crystal-loaded BBs—obsidian, tourmaline, selenite—into Dobbs, who screams, whirls, and disperses into foul smoke. Sonya collapses, retches, and Cleo tends her bruises and bleeding nose and mouth.

Downstairs, Sonya ices her knee and ankle, texts Trey, and steadies herself while Cleo explains the BBs came from her grand-mère’s protective crystal beads. Sonya finds spent, blood-marked beads in the library and saves them with tweezers. Both women feel the spirits’ growing aid—Clover, especially—and resolve they must soon take the fight to Dobbs.

Trey arrives angry and worried; Clover reassures him from a window and fades. Trey and Owen enter to find Sonya bruised but functional. Over cooking and wine, Sonya recounts Dobbs’s attack and Cleo recounts Clover’s warning and the shooting. They confirm the beads pierced Dobbs and carry her blood, and note Jones had previously ripped a piece of Dobbs’s dress.

Discussing strategy, they agree Dobbs is escalating because the house’s spirits and the living quartet are stronger together. Cleo identifies Samhain/Halloween as a pivotal night when light can overcome dark. Trey sets a deadline: by October 31, if they lack the rings or a clear path, they will go on offense. Cleo amends that all four should enter the Gold Room together, using Dobbs’s blood and cloth as leverage. Sonya insists they also need Astrid’s portrait first. The group aligns on preparing for a united confrontation.