Alex Stern, #2
Hell Bent
by Leigh Bardugo
Contents
Chapter 27
Overview
Alex, Turner, Dawes, and Tripp arrive in a hellish Yale, navigate to Black Elm, and find Darlington trapped in a compulsion. Alex draws his soul into the Arlington Rubber Boots box, but the Gauntlet above is disrupted and wolves attack. Darlington escapes the box to defend them as Alex summons the Wheel, opening a chasm that swallows them and incinerates the wolves.
The rescue works only partly: Darlington is not returned, the path home collapses, and the ritual’s safety is compromised by an intruder with Mercy.
Summary
Alex awakens in a black orchard buzzing with golden bees, meeting Turner, Dawes, and Tripp dressed as archetypes while blue fire flickers over Alex’s armor. Through a reflecting pool, they see Mercy guarding their bodies. Recognizing a drab, empty Yale replica, they choose Black Elm as their destination.
Time and streets warp as they travel. At the fenced lot where Black Elm should stand, Alex passes through metal on blue flame and finds the house reduced to rubble. Misshapen black wolves begin stalking them. Within the ruins, Darlington methodically rebuilds a wall under compulsion; Alex alone glimpses a golden-horned demon and a vow that none go free.
Alex opens the Arlington Rubber Boots box and, invoking the memory of “Danny,” draws Darlington’s blue flame—his soul—into it. Their armor vanishes and the landscape shifts to a desert highway. The wolves close in; Turner’s gun becomes a bloody rabbit. A wolf breaks Alex’s arm in its jaws. Darlington erupts from the box as a horned man-demon hybrid, tearing wolves off the others and ordering the team to flee.
As they run, more wolves block the road and speak scripture, accusing them of theft for taking Darlington. With the metronome above gone and an intruder confronting Mercy, Alex lashes out with blue fire that forms a circling Wheel. The earth splits; they and the wolves fall. The wolves ignite like comets as the team plunges into darkness, while Darlington resumes carefully setting stones behind them.
Who Appears
- Alex SternProtagonist; aflame with blue fire, extracts Darlington’s soul into a box and summons the Wheel to escape wolves.
- Daniel “Darlington” ArlingtonFound rebuilding Black Elm under demonic compulsion; soul drawn into box; escapes as horned hybrid to defend the team.
- Detective Abel TurnerStaunch ally; steadies the group, confronts speaking wolves with scripture; gun becomes a bloody rabbit.
- Pamela DawesScholar; identifies dangers, warns against eating fruit, recognizes the Wheel; injured while fleeing wolves.
- Tripp HelmuthRattled by visions; fights panic, observes intruder with Mercy; struggles during wolf attack.
- MercyKeeps vigil over their bodies at Sterling; confronted by an intruder as the metronome stops.
- Demonic wolvesMisshapen hunters that stalk and attack, speak scripture, and try to prevent the team’s escape.