Alex Stern, #2
Hell Bent
by Leigh Bardugo
Contents
Chapter 37
Overview
Newly freed, Darlington reels at Black Elm, confronting his parents’ mutilated bodies and the husk of the false Anselm. Alex reveals she can now hear the dead, including Darlington’s grandfather. Accepting an uneasy truce, they decide to regroup at Il Bastone and acknowledge they must return to hell.
Summary
Darlington wakes in Black Elm, freezing, bloodied, and disoriented, feeling both human and monstrous. Avoiding the ruined ballroom, he dresses, packs a small bag, and struggles with the realization that his parents are dead and that Golgarot exploited his darkest resentments. He steels himself to keep moving, one small task at a time.
In the kitchen, Darlington and Alex study each other warily, sharing cereal as a tentative peace offering. Darlington resolves to see the bodies and descends to the basement, where the stench and the brutal mutilation of his parents’ corpses, as well as the husk of the real Anselm, stop him cold. He can only offer, “Mors vincit omnia,” then replaces the broken door and returns upstairs.
Alex updates him: Dawes knows something is wrong at Black Elm. Darlington asks about his parents’ grays; Alex confirms they helped her escape and have moved on. She also reveals she can now hear the dead clearly, including Darlington’s grandfather, and relays both the comforting lie and the Arlington-legacy truth he would have expected from the old man.
They acknowledge their shared, thorny history—Darlington’s choice that saved him from the hellbeast and Alex’s capacity for lethal decisions—finding unexpected comfort in being past the point of shocking each other. Darlington dismisses his grandfather with death words as a concession to Alex, and they postpone decisions about the bodies and the house.
Outside, Darlington is overwhelmed by the ordinary beauty of winter after hell’s confinement. Alex delivers bad news and good: they must return to hell, but Dawes is making soup. Accepting the grim necessity, they leave Black Elm without looking back, heading to Il Bastone to regroup.
Who Appears
- Daniel Arlington (Darlington)Newly returned from hell, grapples with trauma, views his parents’ mutilated bodies, rejects Black Elm’s pull, and agrees to return to hell.
- Alex SternOffers wary truce, reveals she can hear all the dead including Darlington’s grandfather, coordinates next steps, insists they must go back to hell.
- Michael Anselm (husk)Exposed remains of the real Anselm lie in Black Elm’s basement, underscoring Golgarot’s impersonation and crimes.
- Darlington’s parentsMurdered and mutilated at Black Elm; their grays briefly aided Alex before departing.
- Darlington’s grandfatherA talkative gray Alex can now hear; urges conflicting messages about Black Elm and Arlington legacy.
- GolgarotDemon who posed as Anselm; recently slain by Darlington, blamed for the murders and desecration at Black Elm.
- DawesOff-page ally; monitoring cameras and preparing to receive them at Il Bastone.