Alex Stern, #2
Hell Bent
by Leigh Bardugo
Contents
Chapter 35
Overview
Alex rushes to Black Elm, falls into the basement, and discovers Darlington’s parents’ corpses with their hearts torn out and a devoured husk nearby. She draws their Grays into herself for strength and escapes, only to face the returned Anselm. As a presence hammers at the ballroom’s sealed door, the house shakes and the ceiling caves in.
The chapter heightens suspicion that Darlington is killing and consuming lives, while Lethe’s oversight (through Anselm) collides with immediate supernatural danger.
Summary
Driven by the realization that Andy’s “ram” is Darlington, Alex goes alone to Black Elm. She descends into the basement and finds the Grays of Harper Arlington and Daniel Arlington IV hovering over their own corpses, each carved open with hearts torn out. In a dark corner lies a withered husk—evidence of someone whose life was devoured.
Harper and Daniel hint their killer was “their son but not their son,” implying a changed Darlington who threatened to “eat their lives.” Injured but resolute, Alex decides to use the dead as allies and invites both Grays into her, gaining overwhelming strength and flashes of their memories and bitterness.
Empowered, Alex smashes through the bolted basement door and encounters Michael Anselm, newly returned and claiming he came to deliver the board’s ruling after meeting them in New York. Suspicious and unwilling to explain, Alex tries to usher him out of the house.
Before they can leave, heavy booms echo from above—the sound of something trying to break through a door that should never open, likely the ballroom’s protective circle. As plaster rains down and Anselm panics, Alex insists they flee. The tension peaks when the ceiling collapses, cutting short any escape or explanation.
Who Appears
- Alex SternProtagonist; investigates Black Elm alone, finds Darlington’s parents murdered, hosts their Grays for strength, and confronts Anselm amid escalating danger.
- Michael AnselmFormer Praetor; reappears to deliver the Lethe board’s ruling, is caught in Black Elm as supernatural pounding begins and the ceiling collapses.
- Harper ArlingtonDarlington’s mother; murdered with heart torn out, appears as a Gray, implies her killer was her transformed son.
- Daniel Arlington IVDarlington’s father; murdered with heart torn out, appears as a Gray, terrified of being “eaten” and lends Alex strength.
- Daniel “Darlington” ArlingtonAbsent but implicated; suspected of killing his parents and devouring lives, possibly pounding at the sealed ballroom door.