Chapter 24

On the night before Halloween, the group assembles at Il Bastone. Amid blueprints of Sterling and Dawes’s whiteboard, Alex reflects on the allure and brutality of magic after witnessing Manuscript’s grotesque songbird ritual. Turner, juggling the faculty-murder investigation, presses forward despite Tripp’s nerves and Mercy’s excitement.

Alex hints to Turner that the faculty-murder quotes lead to the execution of Charles I and his son’s vengeance, urging him to recheck Professor Lambton’s alibi without revealing her meeting with Anselm. Dawes calls the meeting to order and outlines the plan: arrive at Sterling at eleven, hide under a simple shrouding glamour in the Linonia Room, and keep a metronome beating throughout.

Dawes assigns Gauntlet roles by station order—soldier, scholar, priest, prince. Alex insists on soldier, Dawes takes scholar, Turner becomes priest, and Tripp is prince. Mercy, as sentinel in the courtyard, carries death words and will help maintain rhythm. Protections include salt armor, and they will mark entrances with mingled blood to wake the path.

The team confirms the Selin Courtyard as the locus: four doors for four pilgrims, Shakespeare’s “Ignorance … Knowledge” inscription, and Dürer’s magic square as a sign of containment. They plan to converge to the central fountain—built over a troubling seep—and then descend, expecting visions or disembodiment.

Dawes reveals the cost: anointing with datura, then a literal burial or submersion, a necessary death to cross. After securing Darlington’s soul in a vessel, they must close the Gauntlet swiftly to prevent pursuit, recognizing the act as a theft that could draw demons.

Debating the vessel, they reject lost or destroyed items and seek something intrinsically compelling to Darlington. Alex chooses an object from his childhood—a small keepsake box he once believed was magical—trusting its deep personal resonance to call his soul back.