Book Five: Save Yourself — 22.

In the hospital lounge outside Gwen’s room, Robin, Tana, and Allie confront Donna. Allie refuses to let Donna see Gwen and threatens to bar her from any funeral. Tana backs Allie, while Donna shows unexpected gentleness and steadiness, walking without the crutch.

Donna offers a dusty glass bottle, claiming it holds saint’s blood Colin took from the troll’s cave and has used for years to preserve his youth. Skeptical, Robin and Allie challenge her until Donna reveals her fully healed gunshot foot and tastes a drop from the bottle to prove it is not poison.

Donna urges them to use the blood on Gwen—apply it to the wounds and have her drink the rest—arguing there should be no funeral if they act. Allie demands to know why Donna would help now. Donna confesses that King Sorrow has murdered in their names without changing the world, that their violence created more killers, and that some deaths served Colin’s convenience. She reveals Colin’s admiration for their torturers and cites a dream of Van as her moral turning point.

Donna admits she took Gwen’s messenger bag after the chapel attack and read Gwen’s notes. She confirms she has the robe, mirror, and a small projector but says a green thermos—containing dragon tears—was not in the bag when police returned it. Robin concludes it was likely collected separately and decides it is better gone, fearing Gwen’s temptation to use it.

The meeting ends with Donna rejecting forgiveness but asking to join their effort to “kill the iguana,” insisting she be part of the plan to destroy King Sorrow. Tana takes the bottle to try to save Gwen as Allie, still furious, refuses to let Donna near Gwen.