Chapter 39

The team settles behind Il Bastone’s wards: Darlington in the Virgil room, Dawes on the parlor couch, Turner in the armory, and Alex with Mercy in the Dante room. Alex tries and fails to reach Tripp and plans with Turner to look for him in the morning.

In the dark, Mercy asks about Lethe’s pilgrim killings. Alex, refusing to lie, admits she has killed many people and feels little remorse, framing her moral deficit plainly. Mercy, unsettled yet loyal, says she’s still glad Alex is on her side.

After Mercy sleeps, Alex visits Darlington. They share brief talk of Armagnac and Michelle Alameddine’s diary, which describes Darlington as eager but offers little help. Darlington blames Sandow’s greed for the chain of events that led to his damnation and survival, noting he and Alex were both not meant to survive.

Alex presses Darlington about his horns and why her body flared with hellfire when he used them. Darlington explains Alex bypasses the Gauntlet’s gates; Belbalm’s dying claim that “all worlds were open to Wheelwalkers” and the blue Wheel of fire confirm Alex’s nature. He connects the Wheel to imagery like Lawrie’s Atlas and says he once saw not only a wheel but a crown over Alex at Manuscript.

Darlington warns that Alex broke rules entering hell and stealing him back, which left consequences. Transforming momentarily into his demon aspect, he shows golden bands at his wrists and throat. He reveals they are marks of binding in service, not to hell or Golgarot, but to Alex herself: he is bound to serve her until the end of days.