Chapter 42

Past 1 a.m., Alex and Darlington return to campus and regroup with Dawes, Turner, and Mercy at Sterling. Alex steels herself, texts her mother, and prepares Mercy in the courtyard with salt armor, death words, bone dust, a salt sword, and a foul-smelling deterrent, warning Mercy she can still walk away. Mercy chooses to stay.

They begin the circuit through Sterling, cutting their arms and marking each threshold: Alex as soldier, Dawes scholar, Turner priest, and Darlington prince. At Darlington’s doorway, he recounts New Haven’s Phantom Ship, a parable of doomed returns. Turner holds at the sundial door while Alex and Dawes continue. At Selin’s arch, Dawes can now read the hidden script: “None go free,” deepening their dread. They complete the loop back to the Daniel window and await the signal.

The building shudders as the metronome sounds. In the courtyard center, instead of bracing the basin, Mercy produces Pierre the Weaver’s spindle. It cracks open into an egg sac, releasing tiny spiders. Following Darlington’s instruction, all four endure the painless but nauseating bites so the spiders will accept their mandate.

The spiders balloon upward and weave a vast, shimmering canopy in time with the metronome, a web heavy with sorrow meant to lure and bind demons. A wave of despair presses over them as glass begins to shatter inside the library. Drawn by the beacon, demons surge toward the courtyard. On Alex’s count, the four grab the basin together, committing to the descent as the demons close in.