Contents
Book Five: Save Yourself — 13.
Overview
Allie, newly sober, resolves to relapse as a calculated move to get Donna so drunk she can steal the iron key to the Cabinet. Guided by Tana’s “next right thing,” she accepts the moral cost to save Gwen before Easter in late March. Meanwhile, Colin departs for New York amid a PR crisis, leaving Donna at The Briars, where Allie arrives with gin.
Summary
Fourteen days into sobriety, Allie concludes she must get Donna extremely drunk to slip off the iron key to the Cabinet—and that means drinking with her. She reframes this relapse as the “next right thing,” an AA principle she absorbed at meetings with Tana Nighswander.
Tana’s story of devastation and recovery, centered on doing the next right thing, reshapes Allie’s priorities. Allie realizes the meetings weren’t a pretext for secret strategy sessions with Gwen and Robin; instead, Gwen and Robin have been escorting Allie toward the help she needs. The countdown is clear: Easter falls in late March 2016, giving them seven weeks to stop King Sorrow and save Gwen.
Allie fixates on Donna’s key—a whispering iron that unnerves her when pressed to Donna’s chest. She judges her best chance is when Donna is blackout drunk, a state Allie has witnessed before, and accepts the personal cost of breaking her two-week sobriety to make it happen.
Meanwhile, Colin flies to New York to appease furious investors after viral footage shows him shoving Gwen, worsening Dragonware’s woes. Allie expects fallout at work from attacking Colin at Rackham, yet prepares to act anyway.
Allie texts Donna about an unopened bottle of Port of Dragons gin. Invited to The Briars, she arrives intending to hand it over but stays when Donna opens the door in a silk kimono and heels, the iron key still hanging at her throat—confirming both the temptation and the target.
Who Appears
- Allie (Allison)Fourteen days sober; decides to drink with Donna to steal the whispering iron key to the Cabinet.
- DonnaWears the iron key; Allie plans to get her blackout drunk to slip it off; meets Allie at The Briars.
- Tana NighswanderShares AA story; her “next right thing” mantra guides Allie’s resolve and plan.
- Gwen UnderfootAlly and catalyst; saving her before Easter drives Allie’s risky decision.
- ColinLeaves for NYC to soothe angry investors after viral shove; his absence opens Allie’s window.
- RobinCo-conspirator with Gwen; meets after AA, supporting the broader plan.
- JettTana’s son; nearly died in Tana’s relapse memory, underscoring Tana’s recovery ethos.
- King SorrowImminent threat; Easter deadline frames urgency to obtain the Cabinet’s key.