Summary

In Chapter 26, Alex is back at Il Bastone with Dawes. Alex still has hope that Darlington is alive, as she feels there is a connection from what they heard at the new-moon ritual to what she heard at the last prognostication. However, Dawes insists that only a demon could survive an attack from a hellbeast.

Suddenly, Alex hears a man outside the door yell, “Let me in” (377). Dawes immediately opens the door, and Alex realizes that the man is using compulsion magic. Dawes is thrown back and Blake enters the building. Alex runs up the stairs, blasts music through the house, and puts in headphones so she will not hear Blake’s voice. When she realizes that Blake is behind her, she throws random objects at him, but he manages to yank out her headphones.

Blake commands Alex to stay still and her...