Book Four: The Trap — 19.

Colin tells Gwen they shouldn’t give up on Arthur, but after three more days in Cornwall he decides he must leave, offering to fly her back on the Gulfstream. Gwen chooses to remain, while Colin, pressured by Dragonware’s upcoming DHS pitch and venture interest, arranges his return to London.

A car collects Colin in Tintagel and takes him to the Savoy, where pilot Ronnie—who has been waiting on standby—greets him with sympathy and an offer to look after him. Colin, aware through her texts that she expects sex to comfort his grief, accepts her attention and heads to his suite to clean up.

While changing, Colin finds the Surrealist’s Glass in his clothes. Looking through it into the mirror, he sees not his reflection but a whirling black absence where his face should be, which he interprets as the Long Dark existing within him rather than beyond the world.

Colin then uncorks the phial of saint’s blood and takes a measured sip. Immediate effects follow: his aches vanish, bruises fade, his knee stops hurting, and he feels as fit as in his mid-twenties, with surging physical vitality. Remembering Finger’s claims, he anticipates testing these effects with Ronnie.

The chapter closes with Colin restored and energized, the Glass’s revelation and the blood’s power suggesting both inner peril and practical advantage as he turns back toward his corporate obligations.